O.I.A.

You have heard us use and define the term "T.A.B" that a friend gave us. We have deemed our own secret acronym…O.I.A…only in africa. When certain things occur,  one of us will murmur "OIA" under our breaths.

Breastfeeding…everywhere. Just pulling out the boob at random.

Boda boda breaking down in the rain…. or breaking down period. Then causing you to walk for almost an hour to regroup with the rest of the people you are traveling with. 

Going to the government official building at 4pm and it being closed.

Being told we have an expired visa, then being told we are fine.

4 hour church service x 2. 

Goat in the back of a matte.

Coffin or pig on the back of the boda.

Live chickens hanging from the front handlebars of a bike.

Have rice and beans for lunch and dinner 3 days in a row.

Have our hostel reservation be given away to 20 other people simply because because they showed up first.

Poop in a hole. 'Nuff said

Eat beans and rice with our hands.

Talk about STIs with a bunch of men for an hour and a half

Playing "Matatu bingo" and trying to max out the number we have on it. Highest for the trip was 24, 5 short of our 29 person goal. 

Hippos outside our tent in Murchison Falls

Not having power for many, many days at a time

Michelle reading and journaling

Kristen picking up a kitten on her own accord, and then choosing to snuggle it for quite some time

LITTLE kids running around with their baby siblings strapped to their backs

Buying food from a street vendor and loving it

Making banana bread in a steam bath

Ice skating in mud

No pain management when debriding a wounds, abscesses or burns

Waking up at 4:30am to cows, chickens, or cats bringing us mice as gifts

Boda boda drivers blowing into their gas tanks in attempt to restart it

Showing up an hour late can still be considered on time, so can showing up 4 hours late

Making menstrual pads out of sheets, socks and towels

No refrigerating eggs, butter, cheese, jelly, meat, anything for that matter…

Getting REALLY excited over a cold, diet coke bottle

Seeing a guy walk around with cow hooves…only.

Clean being a relative term.

Waiting for 12 hours after your bus breaks down for a rescuing bus to show up, big surprise it never does.

Getting charged 3-4x what something is really worth just because of the color of your skin.

No toilet paper anywhere, pit latrines everywhere.

Pringles as a staple food.

Being served meat only once a week, and that meat only consisting of stomach and intestines.

Kampala Ultimate Frisbee Team playing pick up on the beach of Lake Victoria.

Eating fish eyes

Having a choice between "white coffee" or "black coffee" (white coffee is made with milk not water)

Anything you want to get done takes the minimum of a full day

Waiting 8 hours for a 20 minute wedding ceremony

Being told everywhere "Just wait" someone is coming, and 2 hours later you are always still waiting.

Showers are either freezing cold or burning hot.

Getting tangled up in mosquito netting while sleeping.

Choosing for the last month to not use that mosquito netting. 

Using blood pressure cuffs as tourniquets during a blood drive.

Having warthogs walking around your safari grounds like they are dogs.

Would the airport sell you a bottle of water and then not allow you to take it on the plane

4 people ordering the same thing at a restaurant and getting 4 different things

Complete power outage at the airport

The only milk you have for 2 months is in powdered form.