Nile craziness!

My weekends are usually limited since I have class scheduled every Saturday from 9-11 am. Granted, the professor has only shown up for two of these classes, but I still try to be around in the off chance that he does come.

This previous Saturday was a slight deviation from the normal trend; the professor still didn’t come for lecture, but this time he at least told us class was cancelled beforehand. This worked out perfectly for me as I had some friends who had invited me to go rafting down the Nile with them that Saturday. I called them Friday evening when I heard my class was cancelled and found out that there was still room for me to join. Letting my sense of adventure drown out the usual caution that I have followed since coming to Africa, I said that I was game for some whitewater rafting down the Nile.

I have done several of these crazy extreme sports in the past – things like skydiving, cliff-jumping, hang-gliding, etc. – and always loved the experience. However, I had not planned on doing something like this when I came to Africa. This was mainly because I knew the safety situation is much different here from places like Australia where I’ve done this stuff before. However, after being here for a few months and knowing several people who went on these rafting trips with no problems, I decided it was definitely worth the slight risk for the experience.

We left Kampala early Saturday morning on a bus supplied by the rafting company – Nile River Explorers – headed towards Jinja, the source of the Nile. When we arrived at the NRE base camp, I felt like I was back in Australia. The company was started by Aussies and definitely had the hostel/backpacker feel to it. The fact that 90% of the people there were white, something I hadn’t experienced since leaving Iowa, also added to the feeling of being in a completely different place. We quickly signed our lives away, which entailed NRE mentioning that there was a terms of agreement form somewhere, no one bothering to look at it, and then everyone signing some random sheet of paper. Things definitely are different when there isn’t a looming threat of litigation like there is in the U.S. or Australia!

After a quick breakfast, we got our safety equipment (a beat up helmet and life jacket) and jumped on a truck headed toward the shove off point. We formed groups of seven, left all of our belongings on the truck (after being warned that anything not attached to us would eventually end up in the Mediterranean), and were on the large, red inflatable rafts within a fairly short amount of time.

Our boat guide was a local named Peter. If I had to guess when I first saw him, I would have said he was probably 15 years old. As it turned out, after questioning him a few hours later, he was 23 years old. At least, that’s the age he told us…I’m still not convinced. He had been doing this for several years and had a very unique sense of humor. The first thing he said to us: “We are very safe company…haven’t lost anyone for several days now.”

Within the first few minutes, I could tell this trip was going to be quite a bit different from previous whitewater rafting I had done. Unlike past trips, where the guides usually manage to keep everyone in the boat the entire time (disregard the time I fell out in the Class IV rapids in Australia…), all of the guides had us jump out into the Nile right away so we could practice getting the boat flipped over in case it got turned upside down in rapids. In hindsight, it was a good thing we got that practice!

The rafting was scheduled to go for the entire day, with a total of 12 rapids – 4 of them being Class V. I was interested in what “Class V” actually meant, so I looked up the qualifications. The description seems spot-on to me:

Class V - Expert
· extremely long and/or violent rapids, often containing large, unavoidable obstacles, holes, steep banks, and turbulent water
· very fast currents with powerful whirlpools and boiling back eddies
· rescue is often difficult for experts
· advance scouting may be difficult

We made it through the first handful of rapids with few problems. We definitely got soaked, and it was exciting, but nothing too intense. However, we got a feeling that something was in store as we approached the second set of Class V rapids, Silverback (all of the rapids have fun names like the Dead Dutchman, Washing Machine, and – my favorite – the Bad Place). The company leader, an Aussie whom we could tell had been rafting for some time, said something to Peter about taking Silverback like he had the day before. It was not until later that we found out Peter’s raft had flipped in Silverback the day before...

As we approached each set of rapids, Peter would give us a run-down on what the rapids were like and what to do in case we would fall out or the raft would flip over (i.e. hold on to the rope, swim to the eddy currents on the left, etc.). As Peter explained, Silverback was the longest stretch of rapids we would do in the day, something like 40 meters. It had 4 large drops, all diagonal to each other. If we fell out, we were to try to hold on to the rope on the side of the raft (emphasis on the word “try”) and, if unable to do that, just enjoy the ride through the rapids, because there wouldn’t be much else we could do!

We could tell that Silverback was definitely a big set of rapids as we approached; the roar of the water was much louder than the previous rapids. I was one of the front paddlers, so I had a great view of the first drop. I remember Peter yelling the usual “Get down! Hold on!” and then we were in the rapids. We got through the first drop fine, but the second drop was our undoing. Before any of us knew what happened, the raft was upside down and we were in the rapids. I opened my mouth to yell but just got a big gulp of Nile River instead. Then I just saw bubbling water until I was back up for a brief second…long enough to see myself collide with a couple other members of my raft who were also getting tossed around like pin balls. The next time I came up I tried to get a breath of air, but to my dismay realized that I couldn’t breathe deeply; I had gotten the wind knocked out of me when we hit that second drop. I was then pulled back under and spent what seemed like an eternity (but was probably just a handful of seconds) being tossed around the remainder of Silverback. When I reached the end of the intense rapids, I found several of the safety kayakers waiting to pick up me and the other members of my raft. I grabbed onto one of them and caught my breath as I looked back at the rapids that had just owned me. What a ride!

Our team eventually got back together, flipped the raft back over, and continued on our way, comparing stories about each of our individual rides through Silverback. We were the only raft out of the seven in total that flipped over in Silverback, and I am all but sure that Peter had something to do with that. However, it definitely made for a more memorable experience!

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. There were some more huge rapids, but once you fall out in a Class V, it’s tough to match that rush. Several other rafts flipped over, but we managed to stay upright the rest of the day. I think that was due, in large part, to a few team members who made it clear to Peter that they were not interested in going back into the river.

In addition to the intense rapids, the Nile also has some gorgeous calm areas. In one of these areas, as our team was nonchalantly paddling through the afternoon, we noticed something moving along the bank. After a minute, we realized that it was a croc! We now understood why the guides had explained that there was to be no swimming in that part of the river!

After nearly 8 hours and 30 kilometers on the river, we made it through the final set of rapids, got our rafts out of the water, and climbed aboard the trucks to head back to the campsite for the victory celebration – a fantastic barbeque. What a day!

Cheers!
Chris

P.S. I will be out of contact for the next few days – I leave tonight for a three day academic conference in Rwanda. It will be similar to the conference I attended in Kenya – the subject will probably be boring; I’m just interested in seeing Rwanda!


Pic: None of us had cameras so we didn’t get any pictures of us on the rapids. This, however, is a picture from the Nile River Explorers website. It looks accurate to me…


Pic: Take this picture (from Australia) and flip the boat - and everyone in it - over and you've got an idea of what it was like :)

A little reflecting...

I have been lucky enough to have done quite a bit of travel thus far in my life, but up to this point all of my travels have been relatively short trips. This is now my 11th week in Africa, which makes this the longest amount of time I have ever spent away from home. Knowing that, I thought this would be a good time to do a little reflecting. Here are a few random things that came to mind…

I have been unbelievably blessed in my life. I knew this before I came to Africa (it’s one of the reasons I chose to come here), but living here really has driven this point home. There are billions of people living in this world with unsafe water conditions, little or no health care, and inadequate opportunities to receive an education. Why was I part of the lucky minority born in a developed country into a family that could give me everything that I needed? It’s a tough question, and I’ll spare everyone from launching into a novel where I try to find the answer!

It just takes a little to make a difference. There is so much wrong in this world that it can be overbearing. Africa especially seems to shoulder a disproportionate load of misfortunes – wars, dictators, famine, genocide, malaria, AIDS…the list could go on for quite awhile. What frustrates me about this, however, is that people have a tendency to be so put off by the problems that they overlook the opportunities. And it really doesn’t take much to capitalize on these opportunities. For example, some students in the Gilbert School District are going to be doing some fundraising to bring school supplies and mosquito nets to students in rural Uganda. It doesn’t seem like much to donate $7 for a mosquito net, but that net could make the difference in whether a child is healthy enough to receive an education or not.

We are more alike than different. Whether we live in a congested developing city like Kampala, a mud hut in rural Uganda, small town Iowa, or a major metropolitan city, we all share certain common desires. We want to our families to be healthy; we want to live without fear; we want a dependable income that will supply those basic needs and provide a comfortable existence; etc. The settings in which we find ourselves can be vastly different, but when it comes down to it, it really isn’t that hard to relate to one another.

Nine months is going to go by quicker than I can imagine. I have been here for over 10 weeks – that’s nearly 2 ½ months already. In other words, I am already ¼ of the way done with my time in Africa! It’s going by quickly, and the remaining time is also going to fly by. It has definitely been frustrating at times, especially with all of the logistics that I have had to go through upfront. However, I’m starting to see some payoffs, and that’s very encouraging. I just hope I can make the rest of my time here be worthwhile!

Ironically, the same week that marked the longest stretch of time I had spent away from home also held one of the events that I most wanted to be home to attend: Fall Festival. As one might expect, I had to battle with some homesickness during the past week. However, I had some help from family and friends in dealing with it. Tracy and my parents gave me updates about Fall Festival late each day (for anyone who didn’t make it out – it was a gorgeous weekend and probably our best festival yet!), and I got some very nice emails from several people.

Still, homesickness is a part of this experience and is part of the inherent challenge of living in Africa for an extended period of time. I have heard the first few weeks in a foreign country described as the honeymoon period, where everything is new and fascinating. Every task is a new adventure (especially in a country like Uganda). As time goes by, however, the tasks/adventures become more routine. And after awhile, the excitement of living in a totally new place starts to fade. This is when the challenge really sets in – it becomes a little harder to laugh off the traffic jams, internet malfunctions, electricity outages, etc each time. That’s the point I’ve reached. I find myself getting more and more frustrated when I want to try to accomplish something but am stopped by breakdowns and inefficiencies.

So what am I doing about it? I’m trying to work the system as best as I can! Case in point: I am in the process of buying a car (crazy, I know)! My host family was looking to sell their car, so it actually worked out perfectly. I will keep the car for the rest of my time over here and then sell it right before I leave. The car is a Toyota Corsa (picture a Toyota Corsica and shrink it a little). It’s small and gets pretty good gas mileage (that was a requirement for me since gas costs the equivalent of $7-$8/gallon over here) which should make it easy to sell off when I’m ready to leave.

I have been driving the car for nearly a week now, and I can already tell that it will be worth the investment! Now I don't have to worry about navigating the taxi park at night and have much more independence to go where I need to go, when I need to go there. Driving, however, definitely is an experience over here. First of all, everything is reversed for me since they drive on the left side of the road here. I’m getting used to it, but it still feels weird to have to look up and left to check my rear-view mirror. Also, the turning signal is on the other side of the steering wheel, so I will frequently turn on my windshield wipers instead of signaling to turn. Secondly, I am convinced that 95% of the drivers over here have never had any type of driving lesson. If they have, they immediately threw out whatever they learned when the lesson was finished. The rule of the road here is every man for himself. Coming from small-town Iowa, this is about the exact opposite of what I know. To say that my first couple times on the road were stressful would be more than an understatement! However, like I said, I’m slowly getting it figured out. My strategy is to just drive like a grandma and bring back the concept of “defensive driving” that my dad taught me back when I was 14!

Anyway, time to get back to my other projects.

Cheers!
Chris


Pic: Sure I know what I'm doing...



Pic: He likes the car too

Grilled cheese & Toby Keith

One of my favorite parts of traveling is getting to experience new cultures. I find it fascinating how certain aspects of life – food, traditional values, work philosophy, social roles etc. – can have such a variety. One of the great parts of being an Ambassadorial Scholar is that not only do I get to experience new cultures, but I am also expected to share my own culture.

One of these sharing moments occurred a few weeks ago, when I decided I would bring American food to Kizito’s kids. Kizito, his wife – Agnes, and their baby daughter – Gloria, were all gone to Norway for a conference, so it was just the other four kids, Lillian, and me in the house for about a week. I got the idea to try cooking for the kids as a fun way to show them a little bit about America.

My meal of choice: grilled cheese. I picked this because (1) it is difficult to mess up, (2) it is a food that basically every American eats and enjoys, and (3) the supplies would be relatively easy to find. I would have rather grilled for the kids, but as you can imagine, the choice of meat is a little limited over here (Ugandan pork just really doesn’t compare with a good Iowa chop) and no one really grills (at least, not like we're used to) in the first place.

After deciding on the meal, I accompanied Charity and Lillian to the open-air market. Cheese, however, is not a popular item for Ugandans, so it was nowhere to be found at the market. Next stop: Uchumi Supermarket (picture a smaller version of Super Target with a full grocery selection). They had a big block of cheddar in their deli, so I ordered 20 thin slices without paying attention to the price. Big mistake. Since cheese is a rarity over here, it costs much more. The wrapped package of cheese they handed me came with a price tag of nearly 20,000 Ugandan schillings – about $12.50!

When we got home after shopping I made sure Lillian knew I was planning on cooking a little bit for dinner that night. She still was going to make the traditional Ugandan meal for the night since I didn’t have enough for a full meal for everyone. About 4 hours before our meal was going to occur, Lillian started preparing her food. As crazy as it sounds to us, this is common in Uganda. The food that Lillian and Agnes make each night takes 4-5 hours to prepare. Although the family has a stove and burners, the vast majority of cooking is actually done outside of the kitchen. I think part of this is because it reflects the traditional means of cooking, but the main reason is because charcoal is so much cheaper than gas. They have several small cooking “pits” outside of the house where they boil water for rice, potatoes, beans, pasta, and whatever else is going to be eaten that night. Knowing that, I was not surprised at Lillian’s surprised (and slightly worried) reaction after she asked me how long I would need to prepare my food and I replied with “15 minutes.”

When the time came, I found all the necessary supplies, fired up the propane (I used a propane tank with an attached burner), and started the “cooking.” The bread that I had to use was a little different, but it worked. Overall, the meal turned out well (see the pictures below), and all of the kids seemed to really enjoy the meal. Well, except Charity, who informed me (after I had made the sandwiches) that she couldn’t eat anything that included butter. Oops! And, believe it or not, these kids had never seen or heard of grilled cheese sandwiches!

For those who know me, they will attest that my cooking skills are limited at best (which is why I chose to prepare grilled cheese). I apologize to all of you talented cooks out there, because there are probably 5 Ugandans who now think that Americans have no idea how to cook! :)

Another fun cultural sharing experience came when I was riding on the bus to Nairobi. I was going through the usual small-talk subjects with the person sitting next to me (What do you do? Where are you from? etc.), and we eventually got to the subject of music. He informed me that he enjoyed American country music. Side note: although it definitely is not the most popular American music in Uganda (sadly, that is probably a toss up between rap and hip-hop/R&B), country music has many more fans than I expected. Also being a fan of country music, I got out my iPod and gave him one of the earphones. I then played through the songs that I had with me. His favorite: “Whiskey for my Men” by Toby Keith.

Among other things, I have introduced Africans to grilled cheese and Toby Keith. I would say that makes me a successful ambassador of American culture, right? :)

Cheers!
Chris


Pic: One plate took 4 hours of preparation, the other: 15 minutes. Can you guess which is which?

Pic: 'Is this what all Americans eat?'

Sorry for the delay...

I want to post a quick message to apologize for the delay between entries, and to let anyone interested know that I haven't been eaten by lions or succumb to ebola. The last couple weeks have seen things really pick up over here. I am now having all of my classes (well, almost all of them) and a few of my side projects are starting to come together. In addition to that, there is one class left from last semester (solar energy) where the students still haven't taken the final exam. So they've agreed to let me try to sit for that exam too...which means a fair amount of cramming will be necessary in the upcoming weeks.

On top of all of that however, is the fact that internet access has been severely limited for over a week now, with all of Makerere University having no connection. The reason (and I swear I'm not making this up) - the university hadn't paid its bill for several months and had its internet service - to all 33,000+ students and thousands of faculty members - cut by the provider. What can I do beyond laugh at that (and make brief 30 minute internet stops at a local coffee shop)? :)

Hope the fall is going well for everyone!

Cheers!
Chris

P.S. For everyone in the central Iowa area, don't forget that this weekend is Fall Festival at Deal's Orchard! If you are able, make up for my absence by attending. Hopefully that way I won't be disbanded from the Deal family for missing it! :)