Hello, tc! Before the story this month, check this out: http://www.singtotheheart.com/music/Welcome.html Click on "APPEARING..." And read about the Saturday, November 3rd Birthday Show and Chimp-n-Sea fundraiser. This will be one incredible night--you won't want to miss it. Tell your friends and be SURE to make reservations asap by emailing Lindsey at lindsey@chimp-n-sea.org See you there and thanks for supporting the organization which brings you the Traveler's Circle-- And now, back to the regularly scheduled story. Guy writes (Gulu, Northern Uganda), "When I wake up each morning in the small room that Betty has kindly set up for me in her house, I stay in bed for a few minutes and listen to the morning music. From under my mosquito net, I can hear the chickens twittering outside, people talking as they do their morning chores, water running from the tap filling in yellow Jeri cans for bathing, washing, and morning tea, and the occasional boda-boda driving down our dirt road. I get up and look out the window, and the sun is coming up between the two large trees outside my window and it paints everything with a pink glow that reminds me of hope and new beginnings. "The man that comes to take the cows to the grazing field is gathering them together. The road is already busy, small children walking to school in colorful uniform, men on bicycle, and women carrying water. Before starting to get ready for work, I spend a few minutes helping with the morning chores. All the children have something to do. The younger boys are by the water tap washing the dishes from yesterday's dinner. The girls are preparing water for bathing, heating water and then putting it in basins which they carry to the latrines behind the house, and making tea for breakfast. I do my small part by sweeping the living room and entrance to the house. We sweep with a bundle of straw that is neatly arranged and tied with a cloth at one end. As I bend down and start to swing my hand back and forth, and the swish- swish sound of straw on concrete begins to make a rhythm, I am always amazed and how much dust we find each morning. We sweep in the morning, and often once more during the day, and yet the next morning everything is sprinkled with red dust. It is as if nature continuously struggles to reclaim her land, covering our additions with her red earth. People struggle back, shining shoes every morning, sweeping the dust back, washing the floors is a constant struggle for cleanliness and dignity. "My walk to work is very pleasant. We stay slightly outside of town and work is on the other side of town, so I cross all of Gulu each morning, which takes about 40 minutes. The walk into town is along a dirt road, and often a group of curious children walking to school accompany me. There are some fields next to small groups of tukuls, small round structures with grass-thatched roofs where many local people stay. Women are setting up small coal stoves to roast maize, which has become my favorite snack. The working class is impeccably dressed in business attire or colorful African fabrics and is riding boda-bodas to their offices. Some white NGO vehicles are driving around collecting staff. I walk into town through the second hand clothes market, where men and women are hanging clothes on their wooden stools, setting up for the day. As I reach town, the dirt turns to tarmac, and the streets are busy. Gulu town center is a grid of 5 horizontal streets and 5 vertical streets. There are small shops all along the street, though the goods they offer are fairly basic...there is also a big market with many small wooden stalls, piles of plastic shoes, a very organized fruits and vegetable section, and a rather chaotic fish and meat section. "There are many schools, as many of the rural schools have been displaced by the war and have shifted to the town, and so there is always an ocean of children dressed in the same color moving towards or from a school. When you cross the street, you weave between bicycles and motor cycles, as there are so many in this lively little town. Everything is colorful, from the plastic basins sold for washing, to the fabrics people wear, and the buildings cell-phone companies paint for advertising in either blue, red, or yellow..." Guy's story--and more--will be told this Wednesday night, October 3rd, at the DC Traveler's Circle (tc). tc meets 6:30-10pm (show up/leave whenever), at the colorful Kabab House at 1108 K Street, NW, between 11th and 12th, 3 blocks north of Metro Center. This month's tc will be run by Andrew, masterful storyteller, quirky adventurer, meticulous scientist... On behalf of the tc community, a HEARTY congratulations to new couples Aline and Kevin, and Patty and Danny! Long may you travel! Here's a special request from tc management: please help promote the concert/fundraiser mentioned at the start of this email newsletter. Spread the word via email and, if you are able to share a few mini-posters (place in a store or share with friends/family), contact Lindsey and she can mail you a few: lindsey@chimp-n-sea.org Another request from tc management: Chimp-n-Sea is in the process of testing a phone system which is part of a wildlife preservation and storytelling system called vEcotourism (see http://www.chimp-n-sea.org/projects/vecotourism for more info). If you live in a remote area and if you have a phone/cellphone with you, you can help! All you have to do is let Lindsey know your phone number, what country you're in, and a good time to call you. Don't worry, we won't call much. We just need to test the system! We're also looking for folks willing to spend a wee bit of time doing the test calls. Email Lindsey at lindsey@chimp-n-sea.org -tc [distrib 520]