Smashing and crashing

Torrential rain is not our friend. Though it may help to ripen fruits, it

turns Laurence and Holden rotten. This is particularly exasibated when

on a motorbike with flip-flops and t-shirts! It's been on and off all week

like a strobe light, darkening the sky's one moment then giving glimpses

of sunny hope the next.

Laurence first encountered an adverse effect of this on route to school on

monday in order to teach after it has been raining thick slug sized droplets

all night. It was a clear morning with a handful of puddles on the cement

roads no bigger than a frisbee.However the route to school gets slightly

more "traditional" i.e. Mud! to say the least Annabel wasn't equipped for the

African soil which gets baked in the heat all day and when added with water

turns to clay and effortlessly clings to the tyres, hardens and stops them

moving. It was like driving Annabel on an ice-rink. Basically had to abandon

ship and all hope on a road in the middle of no-where with only wheat crops

as companions.

Laurence was stuck for a good hour until a farmer and his stick helped pry off

the parasite and we edged forward only to jam again 1 metre down the road.

This happened all the way home and as you can deciphere this tale unfolds in

a tedious inevitability with a few bails, a load of sludgey mud on the clothes

and an agonisingly long and brain numbing morning. On a positive note it was

actually kind of fun sliding around the muddy roads and completely losing

control. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Holden was in his legion of doom as he was

sick. Neggin hard we picked up our day by the scruff of our balls and went to

town, and met up later with Emily Young and her team. A couple of beers at Adrift

and a fight at drop zone pub completed a day for banterous souls.

Wednesday, and the big day has finally surfaced, attempted only by those with no

fear of lash, gash, and smash. Blossoming in our white gillets, and white tracky

B's, our market trip truely would have made take that proud! We cooked a spicy cake

for Sarah and Jade's (twins) birthday and drank gallons of Ugandan Gin and beer.

After several chunders, we went to the club on the back of a pick up truck with 30

others. Sadly a girl died in the club out the back and she didn't make it. What

makes a banterous night unacceptable is when there is a girl passed out in a bad

way, and there is not ambulance service available, and no hospital open at night.

A shame to experience such thing, but Ben did carry her out over his shoulder.

A hungover day today but it is Rachels 19th Birthday, so a nice dinner tonight

will be much desired... Holden had a Sonrise meeting in town but apart from that

it has been a fairly boring day...

Stay classy world, Banter and the chode. xx