This morning’s vibe was Coldplay, but even that couldn’t calm down Kyrillos after he discovered we only have 9 GB of our 20 GB of wifi left. Our previous hypothesis of google sheets sucking the data seems to be incorrect. At midnight last night right before went to bed we had 19.1 GB, which made us all very happy. Turns out, at 4:12 AM, Kyrillos got a notification that we had less than 70% of our data left. And then, we woke up with 9 GB. So, either our phones are updating all our apps every night… or we have another data thief. Regardless, we all turned low data mode on and we shall see how this saga continues. Also, shoutout to Amber’s family friend Paula for reminding us that we can use Google sheets offline!

Today is the first day (really, truly this time) that the TOTs were in charge of the training, logistics and all. We arrived at 9:15am, and once again there were no boda bodas in site. By 10:07, there was still not a single boda boda in site. After checking to make sure it’s not Monday again, we asked one of our TOTs where everyone was. To our dismay, he said he called 60 last night and 34 confirmed they were coming this morning. We waited around for a little bit, and eventually they began filtering in. We finally started around our 9am training around 11:30!

Fortunately, though, this gave Haleigh and Amber time to brainstorm and draft a potential project proposal, details of which will be revealed later if all goes according to plan :) During this time, Kyrillos started his new job as a DoorDash boda boda. None of us ate very much for breakfast, so he made a beans and chapati run. To his dismay, Kyrillos found out that local restaurants don’t seem to pack food to go. Unless we wanted our beans and chapati dumped in a plastic bag, we couldn’t take food out. Kyrillos went around to buy disposable containers with Timo, brought them back to the restaurant and asked if the food can be served in them. It worked. Kyrillos found a way to get us utensils and successfully delivered beans and chapati to the team on a boda boda. On the ride back, Kyrillos saw a boda boda driver holding a goat. The goats legs were strapped behind the man’s back, straddling his stomach. Innovation that excites!

Lunch began with Haleigh, Kyrillos, and Amber exchanging remarks about our daily visit to the restaurant. We came in having agreed we’d all eat rice (again) but left having tried goat meat. We’d say goat meat is savory and less sweat than beef but slightly sweater than lamb. Basically it was okay for a few bites and then, as Amber would say, diminishing marginal returns. Anyways, leave it to Kyrillos to do spontaneous things.

We got sugarcane again today, which was much better than our second time because Kyrillos was insistent on cutting each piece into fourths to make it easier to eat. During this excursion, we learned that Timothy originally thought Haleigh was 18 and Amber was 16 and George William (correctly) thought Haleigh was 20 and (incorrectly) thought Amber was 18. This pleased Haleigh until Timothy changed his answer to her being somewhere between 14 and 18.

As we approached home, we saw some schoolchildren walking and listening to song called MONALISA by Chris Brown. After saying hi to them, we had a mini dance off with Devir, Timothy, and George William. They showed us some of their dance moves, and we got inspired to teach them the Cotton-Eyed Joe, the Cupid Shuffle, and the Cha-Cha Slide. Unfortunately, Timothy was quite tired by the time we wanted to demonstrate the Macarena, so we’re saving that for another day.

Kyrillos and “the boys” (who vary every day) also had much fun playing monkey in the middle with an avocado and trying to catch chickens here and here (yes, both videos are necessary).

Did you know that the chicken Kyrillos tried chasing may not be from Uganda? Upon venturing to Kiko market after training, Amber and Kyrillos arrived a chicken stall. In addition to watching several chickens be slaughtered, we learned that they not only sold local chickens but also sold chickens from India, Europe, and even cross-breeds!

For dinner, Haleigh had chicken noodle soup with collagen protein powder, Amber had undercooked Mac and cheese, and Kyrillos had lackluster tuna from a can. Don’t worry we also ate some m&m’s (not from the floor this time).

There was a monkey on the roof of the venue! Kyrillos was trying to figure out to pet it. Amber suggested playing “Circle of Life,” but alas, we ultimately came the conclusion that bananas may work better. See a video of Kyrillos thinking the monkey was a lion here.

Taken today at 10:07 am for our 9 am training. If you look closely, you can see a very sad Kyrillos in the back.

We don’t think we’ve properly communicated how much we love this meal. We didn’t have it yesterday and Amber was going through withdrawals. We’re planning on figuring out how to make it back in St. Louis :)

The G.O.A.T. trying goat, aka Kyrillos contemplating every decision he’s ever made as he cuts this goat meat with a fork and spoon.

We gave our colleagues a cookies and cream poptart! Devir said he wished he could only eat pop tarts every day from now on, and, despite George William’s inquisitive expression, he greatly enjoyed it as well.