Logistics

The last few days have been spent in language and program training, cruising around town and trying local cuisine. There is surprisingly a large population of East Indians in the city and it proves to be the best food. African food consists of the following FOOD (click on word to see description) I can do bland, but oh how I miss my condiments. I have decided to carry a bottle of hot sauce with me at all times to solve this problem, I would like to give a shout out to the guys at the Denver Rescue Mission for teaching me this trick.

Jinja as you would expect is full of rows of tiny shops with all goods visible on sidewalk, bicycles and motorcycles, taxi vans, potholes, markets, temples/church, street food, banks, music, masses of pedestrians, cute kids, internet cafes, beautiful Africans and Indians and photo-worthy flora and fauna. I plan to post more pictures with examples but haven’t had too much opportunity yet. Here is a good general description as well of GENERAL UGANDA ELEMENTS, I would explain all myself but why reinvent the wheel.

However here is a picture of gigantic, ugly stork that are all around, particularly the trash. I have also included a map of where I am at for those of you who aren’t so familiar with African geography.

Also people still ask what am I do and what is my host family like, two things that I, myself would like to know. As of now I have only been told what to expect but the details of reality will come shortly once I meet my family and begin work later this week.

Make shift

Now let’s play a game of “I spy” along the road.

Let me set the stage, take the busiest road in town (i.e. Montgomery in Abq, Colorado Blvd in CO. or University Ave in UT) then place it in a developing nation, get rid of traffic laws and speed limits, line it with every possible good and living thing, and cram it with cars and motorcycles and you have the Uganda “highway” system.

Then you list the things you see:
Goats, Pool table 5 ft from the road with people playing on it, Auto supplies, Sellers walking among cars, Soccer stadium, Missionaries, Barbers outside, Produce, Shops, Homes, Sugar cane, prostitutes, Electronics, Cell phone ads, tires, Lake Victoria, open fires cooking, shanties, dogs, flora and fauna, trucks with people piled in the back, lots of guns, soccer balls, lazy boys, underwear, metal doors, livestock, furniture, markets, motorbikes, boda boda bikes, children, and basically anything you can find in Africa.

Instant Gratification

Have you heard? I have arrived.
Have you ever had that feeling when you first meet someone or eat something or try on a pair of clothing and instantly you just know that it will be a relationship of long-lasting comfort? I have- when I met Ellen at BYU, tried my first date and discovered what a romper is and now with Uganda. It didn’t happen as I flew in or through immigration or even as I scanned the crowd of little white signs trying to find the one with my name on it. It happened when I stepped outside. Then I knew. My voice softened, my face settled into content and I felt at ease. All my mother’s worries left me, my packing list no longer mattered, and the heat didn’t seem oppressive. Finally, I am here.

I had the first morning to kill till my program picked me up at the hostel. Somehow in all the countries in, all the world, in all of Africa, I happen to have a friend of a friend who is now my friend who is living here, come visit me. Travis. We spent the morning, walking all around Entebbe a- getting to know each other b- walking in a wildlife reserve with monkeys along Lake Victoria and c-working out my Ugandan legs. Uganda has this odd sense of similarity to several places I have been but naturally has its own uniqueness. The weather is hot but incredibly fine, the people are dressed impeccably, and the food is simple and bland. The native language (English is the official language and mostly spoken) is not only entertaining to hear but fun to speak. It’s all said how it looks and its looks ridiculous. It’s like being a kid and making up words only saying them a lower volume (Ugandans speak very softly).

That afternoon I meet the other interns and program directors (see picture below) and made the journey to our hometown, Jinja (see following post).

FIlm Independent

I often declare that I don’t like chick flicks. And in general I don’t. if it wasn’t for Tommy then I probably wouldn’t see any at all. However, today I am grateful for them. The time before a big trip or adventure, your body is being charged with a series of emotions, some complimenting each other and some fighting. Though, I met my journey’s start with anticipation and calm. It was also meet with the sadness of leaving and anxiety over small uncontrollable factors. I boarded the plane to Amsterdam a bit uneasy, heightened by my lack of sleep and familiarity. So I turned to a female testified cure- the mighty chick flick. I turned on “Love Happens” and had no reserves about laughing and crying the whole way through it. I then continued on with “Julie/Julia” and “The Young Queen Victoria”. The happier and more exaggerated love was displayed, the higher my spirits rose. This is the deal with chick flicks, they are contrived to create a specific end result. They skim the surface of human relationships and safely land you at the other side. So sometimes you allow yourself to become subject to the formula, tricking your mind into following right along with their calculated plan. Therefore, I spent my transatlantic travels in rational ignorance that not only do all movies, but my trip will have a happy ending.

Shift happens

Blue starched uniforms, a lovely Dutch couple, a series of trash organizers and tired traveling faces. The moving sidewalk takes me past all of these as my legs awaken back to their traveling stride. My head is a bit heavier but my step is lighter. Life is simplified into following signs and directions among strangers, as emotions and thoughts go into overdrive. It has begun and it is about time. I am en route.

I am amazed at how intermixed the world has become since the first time I traveled internationally. You no longer can tell exactly what your end location is by the population sitting at the gate. The development is good, but I sort of miss the pre-departure concentrated cultural immersion. However, I will take sitting next to an adorable African baby any day, especially when the game of the flight seems to be pass the baby round and round.

Next stop, Kampala.

An elegant adventure

I normally seek out efficiency and organized clarity in my life, I have learned through these past several years that the Lord, lucky for me, has a different system that is superior. So now is the right time. I am going to Africa.

I will stop in Philly for a few days and then on January 14th after a first time, one hour visit to New York, I will board a plane to Amsterdam with the final destination being Kampala, Uganda.

Some people have had a lifelong desire to go to Africa and some have already had an experience that has caused them to fall in love with Africa. I have had neither. But ever since my first weekend journey in Thailand many years ago, I knew that the world no longer had boundaries and I had adapted a mindset of necessary transition. I am a very lucky girl.

I am no longer my younger self, worried if I will love the place, the people, what I am doing or if I will miss my people, my space and my comforts. I feel conciliation that I will be swept up and yes, I will miss all those things, but it will make for a classical bittersweet return at the end of 3 months.

Now the real question is- will I eat the fried termites?

Goldie Locks and Chocolate Boy

Not much has changed, which is pretty great.