Go Big or Go Home!

July 5

Invisible Children hosted a 4th of July Party at Acholi Inn. It was a great time to allow us to be ourselves in the midst of trying to fit into Acholi culture, as well as a times to share our American culture with the Acholi. Teachers were invited and though my teacher didn’t come a few others from our school did. Invisible Children Uganda staff was there as well as some mentors. We had great food including chapti burrito and ground beef patties, chips (French fries), brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Yummy! The dancing began around seven and didn’t stop until everyone left. It was a huge dance party and so much fun. The night was only beginning at that point. After being one of the last ones to leave Acholi Inn, I made my way with a group of others to another 4th of July party at a US government house for this guy who works for the military. No one knows exactly what he does. I think its really likely that it is some kind of covert operation. Anyways, that wasn’t enough so we made our way to Havana, a night/dance club in Gulu. At this point, its worth noting that it was probably around 2:30 in the morning. I felt so sketched out going into this club. At this point it was definitely go big or go home. I was in the mood to hang. After all I had been dancing for like 4 hours at Acholi Inn early so why stop then. I just decided to embrace the moment and soak in experiencing all the different types of Gulu. I had many laughs by the end of the night -- whether it be pink polka dot underwear, hearing Billie Jean five times, “America” (in a really twang accent), or other things. Our group dwindled in size as different people ended up in different places at different times because of finding transportation. In the end, Bill, Catherine, Lisa and I walked home from Havana at 4 in the morning after a full night of dancing, laughter, and celebration, and just being ourselves. It was so strange to see Gulu so empty, lifeless, and quiet. It had this ghost town type of feel. Especially after having such a night.

Today was our first day with the morning off we didn’t have an activity scheduled until 12 noon. So we were able to sleep in more than usual which made last night much more manageable. I had banana pancakes and coffee from Kope Café with some girls in my group. Then we all headed off to the IC house for our Song of Lawino book discussion which was with groups 1 and 3. Followed by a visit from the bead lady. She and others make paper beads into necklaces, a local form of jewelry/art.