Josephine hopped in front with Jack and I jumped in back with Mahadi and the adventure began. Mahadi's eyes were so BIG as he took in everything around him the cows, the trucks, everything. Mahadi had skipped lunch at school because he was too busy with me and Jack, so we stopped at a local restaurant to get something to eat. Meals on a daily basis for Mahadi consist of porridge in the morning, posho (corn meal made into a very thick and tasteless lump) and if the school can afford it beans and rice. At the restaurant we ordered for Mahadi: rice, Matooke (which is mashed green bananas), chicken, greens and an Orange Fanta to top it off. Jack had bets that Mahadi would not be able to eat all the food on his plate, Jack lost that bet. Mahadi ate everything with the exception of the Matooke (he must be my boy after all...I don't like bananas either).
After lunch, Josephine and I went across the street to buy a few pieces of second hand clothes for Mahadi. If you ever wonder where all of our donated clothes go in the US, if they don't sell in Goodwills, etc, eventually they get bagged up and put on containers and shipped over to Africa. People will then buy the bags of clothing, not knowing what's inside for a little over $200 a bag and then resell the items in the market. The woman we bought a few items from was a very smart and shrewd business woman. I bought Mahadi, 4 shirts and a pair of jeans for $6.00 We then bought him 2 pairs of second hand sandals, one pair being Tevas, I mistakenly said aloud to Josephine "ooh Tevas these are like 50 dollar sandals in the US", I bought them for less than $3.
Part of Josephine's concern about Mahadi staying with me for the night was a lot of kids in orphanages wet the bed. I wasn't too keen on sleeping with a bed wetter, not to mention I'm staying in a guest house, so I really didn't want to have to deal with a wet bed. I had wanted to buy Mahadi a bed anyway, since he slept with his Ja-Ja at the orphanage. So for less than $35.00 I was able to buy him a mattress, sheets and a blanket.
On the way back to the hotel, Mahadi fell asleep in my lap, exhausted I'm sure from all the excitement and full belly of food. Jack and Josephine dropped us off back at the guest house and mentioned I should walk down to the Italian Gelateria for dinner and ice cream. I thought sure I can handle walking with a 5 year old about a 1/2 mile from my guest house, no sweat.
I made Mahadi's new bed, changed his clothes and we set out on our walk to dinner. Did I mention I can't see in the dark? Did I mention they don't have street lamps in Kampala? Did I mention there are no sidewalks either? We walk out of our guest house gate and we are standing in the pitch black. Right, Gulley be brave and find your flashlight. There were plenty of curious stares as we walked down the street, Mzungu (white person) and little Ugandan boy walking down the street at 8pm. Mahadi chatted all the way down to the restaurant and back, I had no idea what he was saying because it was all in Lugandan. He proceeded to eat an entire breast and leg of chicken with probably a cup of rice. When we got back to the guest house, I knocked on the guest house gate and the guard dog, popped his head through the hole where you'd put your hand to open the gate and scared the living daylights out of both Mahadi and I as he ferociously barked his head off.
We got back to our room, Mahadi colored and kept chattering away while I did a few things around the room. I decided it was time to give Mahadi a shower. Mahadi had never had a shower before and his eyes almost popped out of his head as I put him under the water. I climbed into the shower (with all my clothes on mind you) and attempted to scrub him down while he was standing as far away from the water as possible. I then pulled the shower head off it's holder and gave him a quick rinse off. As I wrapped him up in the towel, his eyes still as big as saucers, he had stopped talking I wondered if had rendered him mute by giving him a shower. Much to my relief once he was dressed and coloring again, he was a happy little boy.
At 9:30 he put all the crayons and paper in a neat little stack and gave me a tug on the hand, he was ready for bed. I made sure he went to the bathroom before he laid down, his head hit the bed and he was out. I spent a lot of the night watching him sleep, horizontally, diagonally, off his bed, with covers, without covers. I also began to wonder who was going to have a harder time saying goodbye the next day. The next morning Mahadi woke up at 6:30, I said good morning buddy and he sleepily climbed right into bed with me and fell back to sleep. I'd be lying if I didn't say my heart melted. I'm happy to report he didn't wet the bed either.
I texted Josephine and asked her if she thought I could keep Mahadi for a few more days. She didn't think it would be a good idea, saying it would be harder for both of us the more days we spent together. I knew she was right.
I'll wrap up the rest of Friday in my next blog.
Thanks for reading!
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