Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Greetings!

Just as a disclaimer my first blog from Kampala is going to be pretty long. So make sure you’re in a comfortable chair…

May 30-31
On the whole our travels were pretty uneventful, which I guess is a good thing. We made all of our connecting flights without having to wait around for a long time. The flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was roughly 7 hours and so was the flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe. They served curried vegetables as dishes on both flights. And each seat had it’s own screen, and so you could select an watch the movie of your choosing. I only watched one movie which was the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was good. I started some other movies like Marley and Me, but I got bored with them.
When we arrived at Entebbe, there were nurses there to check us for swine flu. All we had to do was fill out a little card, and I’m certain that some people lied on it. I saw one man with a cold pass right through the line. The nurses were dressed in dresses with aprons and those little hats that you have to pin on your head. Getting our visa was not a problem. Everything just took a long time. All of our bags made it, which is something that I was extremely worried about, but they both ripped as I pulled them off the conveyer belt (sorry Christopher). I’m going to have to buy some more luggage at some point. We weren’t sure how to go through customs so we just walked buy without having our bags checked at all. Reverend Obed was waiting for us with his son. I think he was worried that we hadn’t made it because it took us so long to get through all of the lines. His son’s name was Michael. He looked to be about 13 or 14. He texted on his phone the whole way home. It’s funny the things that are the same.
I’m so thankful that Rev Obed came to pick us up because we never would have been able to drive ourselves. Traffic was really scary. They drive on the left side of the road, for starters, and there are people on mopeds darting in and out of traffic. There are very few traffic signals. I was surprised at the number of people that were out and about at the bars that lined the road. There was a lot going on for a Sunday night, but it seems now that it was the normal level of activity. I was getting a little car sick on our drive from Entebbe to Kampala from all of the brake slamming and swerving to avoid other vehicles. We turned and twisted up and down the different roads until we turned onto a dirt road. From this point we progressed very slowly down a steep hill. We came to a heavy metal door. A man peeped out of a hole, and then opened the gates for us. I felt sort of like I was entering the city of Oz because the gates were big and green and heavy.
There was some confusion if anyone was at the house waiting for us because none of the lights were on. It turns out that the power was out, but Grace, who is going to help us around the city and at the house, and her friend Faith was waiting for us. Grace and Faith are their Christian names, but they have other more Ugandan sounding names. They showed us our rooms. They are both very comfortable. We each have our own bathroom, and the kitchen and den are fairly large. Grace had made us a late meal, which was very good. We had fish, green beans, and rice. Some where close to us there is a bar where they play reggaton and rap. I didn’t expect to be able to recognize some of the songs, but I did. I had some tea and then went to bed. I have to sleep under mosquito netting, but I didn’t mind it.

June 1, 2009
I woke up to the sound of roosters and children, both of which were crying. I was the first to wake up. We spend the morning writing and poking at the breakfast food that Grace had set out for us. Wheetabix was the cereal we had. It was different. It came in a whole loaf and you broke some off, but it flaked off a lot. It tasted like all bran. Grace came again. She cooked some more food for us for breakfast. For all those concerned, we never eat enough to satisfy her liking. I don’t think we will be going hungry any time soon. She took us into the city to change our money and buy groceries. The power came back on which was exciting. It was difficult to do anything by candle light like the night before.
The whole affair was pretty overwhelming. Supposedly 1.4 million people live in the city, and that number doubles during the day because so many people work in the city. There is very little personal space to go around. We took a taxi bus into town, which we shared with any where from 10-12 other people. There didn’t have to be an available seat for more people to get on. The taxi just goes a long a route and people get off a long the way. There are so many people on the side walk, that you are constantly bumping into people, but you don’t have to be as polite here and say “excuse me” when you do.
The grocery store was supposed to be the “Western” grocery store, and in a lot of ways it was. They played old country music in the store. One of the songs was a George Straight song. Dustin and I thought it was hilarious because Grace knew all of the words to the songs. It was difficult for us to explain why it was so funny. Some of the things we bought were interesting, like black currant juice and washing powder. We bought so many things that we had to hire a drive to drive us back to the house. I’m really glad we had Grace with us. I would have been a mess without her. I feel like a child again because I can’t hardly do anything for myself and I don’t know where anything is.
Along the way, we stop at an internet café, so that I could briefly write something. I hope no one was too worried about me. There wasn’t any place that we could stop up until that point. By the time we got back I was ready to be done. All of the new things were just overwhelming, and we were only gone for about 4 hours. Behind our house there is a soccer field and the kids were playing there after school today. Tonight the reggaton is going again, and I have spent the majority of the down time writing – trying to capture everything before I forget it. I am still forgetting lots of things.
The bananas are really good
There are only two channels on the TV.
I brought cards, but when we started playing I realized that it was a set of pinochle cards
I can’t figure out how to make the stove burner stay in the on position.
We bought a wheel of cheese =)
We bought powdered coffee, but it tastes like ash.
We still don’t have a phone
We each have a map

We are hoping that Rev Obed will come by tomorrow since we don’t have a phone. This is my biggest concern at the moment. But we do know enough now to be able to get around a little bit, so we won’t be wasting any time.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Ginger it's Mom and Granny and Pops. Just trying to get them set up. Hope you are doing well. Love the update.

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  2. Sounds like you guys are in for a real adventure. Keep us posted.

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  3. Nice head lamp. Some news from Charelston: Ali has moved in, Jackie has yet to move her stuff out. The Apartment is full of fun. I miss you lots. So excited to hear about the people you meet. While I was working on the boat engine today with Reid I was explaining early Human migration from Africa. I thought of you and told him you could probably explain more.
    Love always~ Summer

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