Snow, cotton candy and crazy mzungus

This past Saturday we went to a village called Kammengo with our friend Matthias who is a priest in that parish. Matthias lined up some kids for us to meet for a video the Sister School people in Seattle want to make when they come later this month. They were mainly about 11 or 12, speak a little English and are apparently quite gregarious -- until they see a white person.

To get them talking, Bill asked them if they knew what snow was, and they didn't. So he explained how it falls from the sky, and kids slide on it, and make snowmen from it. Their faces got scrunched up as they tried to envision this - and to understand these white people.

So he tried another tack (okay, it was my idea, and I admit not a good one). He described cotton candy, and their faces looked even more scrunchy. So he tried Easter baskets, and dying Easter eggs -- now they just thought he was crazy. At least they laughed.

We met them at the parish churchyard, which is lovely. Bright yellow weaver birds strip banana leaves to make these intricate nests in the trees, and they make lots of noise while they weave. They rejected one of the nests and it fell to our feet so I took it home for an Easter basket, no matter what they think of us.

The church is 60 years old and is crumbling a bit in the humidity. Inside, the benches are mostly broken, the confessionals in ruins. Matthias explained that during the war (which ended in 1986), the soldiers stayed in the church and smashed everything and there is no money to fix it. Also, in the yard there is a gun they abandoned on their way out; it's extremely incongruous to see it in this peaceful setting. But that recent history is evident throughout Uganda and we meet plenty of people who just want peace at almost any cost.

At any rate, we had a peaceful lunch with the pastor and Matthias. And we'll be back to see the kids. Maybe we can think of another story about America for them, something a little easier to grasp.