A Placid Patio

Yesterday and today We did some real media work here in mud shacks perched on the edge of Lake Bunyonyi, Southwestern Uganda. Amazing, the contrast with how rudimentary but rich the lives of these people and the sophistication of our electronic production. 

I did a video interview by the lake to correspond to the blog “Many Happy Returns” Gorilla Highlands blog entry I wrote, which I believe I posted here. I don’t know how I came across, but it was pretty darn scenic.

Miha and I did the hard work of scripting and coordinating the narrations of two substantial videos. A Kigali piece had to avoid certain issues and conform to guidelines of people in Rwanda’s capital. You can see it soon on the GH website. We did another on the GH trek from Lake Burera to Cyanica (Chanika) border crossing, “Fisherman’s Fortune”. We’ll go there tomorrow to see it for ourselves. Miha flies on Final Cut Pro, while I add creative dimensions, sarcasm and humor. It is great fun and the result was something we are proud of.

This morning traveler friends from Germany and Spain animated the morning. A girl from Palma, Mallorca, knew all the places Boomer and I used to haunt and I got to speak Spanish for hours. Nice … and rare … here in the land of African tongues.

I taught string tricks to Boy David, who then taught them to Enoch, the cook. Boy is now the flamboyant “Baciga Magic Man”, bursting with pride. I can’t get my strings back from them. No batteries needed, unbreakable, needing no wifi connection, strings seem the perfect medium for my style of American diplomacy. We need a new text in these days of Trump and his “s___hole countries” comments that every African has noted.

I-phone seminars and Mac Plus instruction has been key for me. It seems that I’ve only been using 10% of the talents of each device. But now I write with a pen Solana gave me on actual paper and it’s fun and functional — because the wifi is on the fritz. I’ll type and send this when the ether clears.

Kingfishers dive and pied wagtails strut across the patio before me in the noonday sun. Farmers and their yield, students bound home from school and travelers developing paddling skills animate the smooth water below as I await a hot lunch of rice and beans from Enoch. 

More video editing and recording will follow after my nap. So nice …