You know you've been in Uganda a long time when…

I recently received this fun email detailing life in Uganda. The crazy thing is that I find myself doing much of what is described in it. I have added a couple explanations in italics when necessary.

Not too much fun to write about from this last week…lots of hours in the office with classwork and research as everything is now in full swing. My big news: I finished up my experiment on Tuesday…now begins the stage of spending copious amounts of time staring at a computer screen as I analyze all of my data.

Cheers!
Chris


You know you’ve been in Uganda a long time when…

…when driving, you find yourself using your turn signals as means of communication....i.e. 'the road is too thin', 'don't overtake there is a BUS coming', 'No I'm NOT going to turn here', 'whoopee, we won the football game!'

…you no longer get annoyed when people lie to you and make promises they can't possibly keep

…seeing someone speeding towards you in the wrong lane seems completely normal

…Your phone rings and it is a wrong number and you can keep the Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello's going back and forth like a tennis match until eventually the caller realizes you are the wrong number and abruptly hangs up, after spending at least 2 minutes worth of airtime

…You find yourself pointing with your lips and saying "yes" by raising both eyebrows.

…You can masterfully employ a variety of "Eh!" and "Eh eh!" noises to convey a range of meanings

…You know "Come back tomorrow at 10:00 a.m." means whatever you're trying to get done is NEVER going to happen

…You start using the words "even" and "ever" in places you never would have ("Even me, I'm feeling hungry," or "I have ever done that")

…You start referring to people as "this one" or "that one"

…You know you've, what?, been in Uganda a long time....when you, what?, start each sentence as a question and proceed to, what?, answer it yourself.

…You've figured out the Ugandan difference between food and snacks

…someone asks you "How is there?" You reply "It is there...

…You willingly drive into oncoming traffic just to avoid the potholes

…A car isn't full unless it has at least 7 people in it

…you can speak Uganglish so well that - you talk with a Ugandan accent; use words like 'shocked,' 'fearing,' 'extend,' 'balance,' ''somehow,' 'even me,' and 'can you imagine' and 'are you sure?' far too often...

…someone "flashes" your phone you just flash them back and wait for them to flash you back and then you flash them back and then they flash you back and.... (It doesn’t cost anything to receive phone calls here, so people will often “flash” someone so their number pops up as a missed call and the other person then has to call them back and spend their airtime)

…you know the load shedding schedule by heart

…you keep a jerry can full of water around, just in case…

…you feel exposed without bars on your windows

…When you come back from being out of the country and conversations go as:
Them: "you have been lost!!" and your response: "I have been found!"
Them: "how is there?" and you: "there is fine!"
Them: "you have gone fat!!!" and you are lost for words because you have forgotten how frank Ugandans are

…You emphasize how you like something and they say: "Are you sure?"

…you are asked how you are and your response is: "Me I am fine, how are you?"

…someone calls out your name and your reply is: "I am the one!"

…you end the conversation with "ok please"

…your knees ache from squatting over a long drop 4 times a day as a result of a parasite living in your intestines

…it's 80 degrees outside and there are people wearing parkas ("jumpers"?) and stocking caps

…You ask for someone, and you know the answer "He's within" means everything from "He's within the building" to "He's within the city" or even "He's within the country".

….you refer to others as 'you people' and don't intend to be rude

…you start sentences with 'As for me, I ….'

…you stop using those little 'off' or 'up' bits of verbs. You pick people. And you drop them.

…you get 'Fine' as a reply to your 'hello'.

…'nownow' means sometime soon, possibly in the next day or two, whereas 'now' means anytime in the next month.

….'moving' becomes 'shifting' (but you move with people rather than hang out with them)

…you stand in a line and feel something is very wrong because it is orderly and the person behind you respects your personal space...

…"ok" punctuates, modifies, tags and answers almost every sentence.

…"Bambi", said with that humble look, becomes your standard expression of sympathy. (“Bambi” means “please” in Luganda)

…you use the term "just there" to mean on the other side of the city

…"first let me come" or "first wait" makes perfect sense to you

…at the end of a meeting, you expect people to say, "Ok Please" as opposed to goodbye or have a nice one.

…your stories always have an "eh?" to make sure the people are listening

…you say SORRY! when someone hurts themselves through no fault of yours

…you call white people "muzungu" and forget that you yourself are white....

…you go to a restaurant and order something off the menu and the waiter/waitress looks you right in the eye and says "We don't have that one

…walking by a uniformed officer carrying an assault rifle is completely normal

…Clothes becomes a two-syllable word. Clo - thes.

…You know the man asking for Lose actually refers to Rose. And when someone says "let's play" you should stay seated. (in Luganda, there is no letter “r” and native speakers learning English often confuse/switch “l” and “r”)

…you don't get confused even though the person you're talking to keeps mixing up 'he' and 'she' in the same sentence talking about the same person.

…you are reluctant to let go of a new, CLEAN 1000 shilling note.

…your home does not have an address.

…your handshakes last an entire conversation

…next to a public phone at the bottom of the call cost there is a charge for beeping

…marriage proposals become a normal and almost expected thing from strangers.

…you have time to grab lunch while the bank teller cashes your check.

…you stop noticing how ugly marabou storks actually are

…you think the taxi you're about to enter is too full but the conductor will squeeze you in and let you sit where he was sitting but then he will be standing over you with his bad body odor.

…You have 9 x 10,000UGX bills and you wrap the 10th one around it and put it in your wallet.

…being given a "push" has nothing to do with "push and shove", but being escorted to your car after a visit....

…You lie on the phone that you are about to arrive for a meeting…yet you've not yet left you're home

…people walk into your house and you say "You are all most welcome!"

…you are making a verbal list and trail off saying "what, what.."

…you start calling inanimate objects "stubborn" when they don't work well

…you always use your big notes despite the fact that you have the exact change.

…umbrellas are not for rain but for the sunshine

…you think "eh" in a high pitch tone is the correct way to respond when a boda drivers price suggestion is too high.

…You have constant power supply at your house for a week and you are confused. You begin to think that UMEME is not correctly doing its work: supplying darkness instead
of light.

Africa time at its finest

Almost exactly 8 months ago, I first walked onto the Makerere Campus and began the process of finding a program of study, registering, and attempting to earn a degree from my time over here.

Several times last semester, after having gone through the archaic registration process, I attempted to get my student ID card. Each time, I was met with the same response: “not ready yet, try again in a few weeks.” I eventually gave up on getting the card last semester and decided I would just get it when I came back for my spring semester.

At the end of last week, just before the 4 day Easter Holiday, I again went through the steps of completing an outdated registration process. Here are the highlights of the process (I’ve probably forgotten a step or two along the way):

1. Fill out two hard copies of desired class schedule form
2. Obtain proof of payment
3. Obtain proof of receipt of payment
4. Make photocopies of everything
5. Take two copies of everything to Registrar
6. After “verification” by Registrar (pretty sure they never actually looked at mine), have class schedule form signed
7. Take form to different room in Registrar
8. Obtain slip showing completion of registration
9. Take slip to Faculty of Technology Registrar for signature
10. Make photocopies of completed registration slip
11. Return one photocopy to Faculty of Technology Registrar
12. Guard original copy of registration slip with my life

I remember complaining about the registration process at Iowa State a time or two...if I had only known then what I know now!

At the end of this process, I received instructions to wait for two days before going to get my student ID. On Wednesday of this week, I decided to try my luck. The result:

“Not ready yet, try again in a few weeks.”

Maybe they’ll have my student ID card ready by the time I leave in 7 weeks, but I’m not going to hold my breath!

Cheers!
Chris

P.S. I was telling this story - half joking/half venting - to a colleague over here and he reminded me that sometimes we need to keep everything in perspective and directed me to a webpage with these satellite images of the world at night (I've highlighted where I am on the second map):

Face to face with corruption (Part I)

Sign located at the tourist trap near the equator

Ask most Ugandans (or anyone living in Uganda for that matter) what the country’s greatest problem is and the most common response you’ll get is definitely corruption. As in many African countries, corruption permeates throughout society in Uganda. In fact, the country had the dubious honor of being declared the third most corrupt country in the world by Transparency Internation in 2001 (although in recent years it has improved - click here for the 2008 survey of 180 countries).

I managed to avoid any direct confrontation during my first few months in the country. Of course I still heard about bribes having to be paid, money disappearing within government, grades being bought at campus, etc. but I never actually was confronted with a situation where that was expected of me.

I haven’t been so lucky in the last few months. There have been two instances – beyond the usual "Muzungu price" and other "bonuses" that accompany my skin color – where I have been directly in a situation where I bribe was requested. I wish I could say that I was able to refuse paying the bribe both times and set the proper example, but that unfortunately isn’t the case.

The first instance happened in very early March, about a week before Tracy was to arrive. I had spent most of the day running errands to prepare for my experiments, which included spending copious amounts of time sitting in traffic that day. As a side note, I am thoroughly convinced that the "traffic police" over here actually slow traffic down more than they help it, especially when they consider themselves to be above the programmed logic of traffic stop lights. I remember that this was a day where I sat in my for 25 minutes without moving an inch as a police traffic cop "controlled" one of the main Kampala intersections. And by "controlled" I mean "let all other lanes of traffic flow smoothly while mysteriously letting traffic backup in one direction."

By the time I finally made it through the intersection, I was fairly agitated at the world in general (I have realized that wasting time - especially when stuck in poorly controlled traffic – is probably my single biggest pet peeve). I was running late but had one quick stop in the city center to pick up some luggage (another side note: luggage here in Uganda is ridiculously cheap…unfortunately, it’s quality is a bit reflective of that, so the 3 piece set I purchased will probably fall apart at the first real test of durability) before I was to head back to campus.

I found a parking spot - or what I believed to be a parking spot – jumped out of my car, and jogged the 2 blocks to the luggage store. After successfully bartering the luggage owner down to my price (which was probably still a rip-off, but I was happy with it) I took off, which gigantic suitcase in hand, speed walking back to my car.

When I got there, I found a big blue piece of paper stuck on my windshield. It said something along the lines of "Warning of past-due parking fees: Please present this paper at parking authority to clear fines or risk having car [immobilized]." Apparently, I had some parking fines which were unmet, which made zero sense to me since I had always paid parking costs upfront. Before I had much time to think about it, however, the nearby parking attendant had come up to me.

I immediately asked him to explain how I could have gotten the notice if I had always paid my fees, and he proceeded to tell me that I owed between 20,000-30,000 Ugandan Shillings (about $10-20) in parking fees, which was considerable knowing that each hour of parking costs $0.20. He also mentioned that I was parked illegally at that moment.

Normally, in a situation like this, I’m pretty level-headed and try to work through it. On this day, however, I was in no mood to deal with this and bluntly explained to the parking attendant that there was no way that was correct. I also asked him to explain how I was parked illegally if I was parked exactly like the other cars in front and behind of me and within the white outline on the road. He proceeded to show me a master list that did in fact list my license plate as having unpaid fees (which could have dated back to before I purchased the car) and told me that all of the cars in the area were parked illegally.

He further explained how I technically should have had my car wheels bracketed (the attendants basically lock your car in place with a large metal bracket around one wheel) but he had convinced them not to do so as he had seen that I was in a hurry.

Realizing that this guy wouldn’t be able to do much for me at that point, I opted to just leave the situation and figure it out later. I told him that I would take the paper to the parking authority and figure it out that way. He seemed to agree and then stepped back as I opened my door to get in a drive away.

At this point, the parking attendant loudly cleared his throat to regain my attention, looked at me, and then said "Sir, now for my lunch money."

I stopped, stood back up, and asked him to make sure I had heard him correctly. He repeated the phrase again.

After I registered what he was asking for, I incredulously asked why I should pay him anything. To this he explained how he had gone out of his way to prevent my car from being bracketed. At this point, I had had enough, and I launched into a mini lecture about how this was what was wrong with Uganda and partly why the country was stuck in the underdeveloped world, blah blah blah. Should I have done that? Probably not, but it didn’t matter either way because the guy wasn’t paying attention to what I was saying; he just wanted his bribe.

After stepping off of my soapbox I then asked what would happen if I didn’t pay him. I could tell he was a little taken aback by this question, and he didn't have any response beyond "Nothing."

Upon hearing this, I sat down in my car, wished the man a good day, and drove away. Winner of round one with African corruption: Chris.

While driving back toward campus, I came up with the following scenario to explain what had happened:

1. Parking attendant sees Muzungu park and get out of his car in an obvious hurry
2. Parking attendant checks master list to see if car is listed as having unpaid fees...bingo!
3. Parking attendant sets warning note on car and continues checking other vehicles, but keeping a close watch on Muzugu's car.
4. When Muzungu returns, parking attendant approaches to help "resolve the situation" quickly so Muzugu can be on his way
5. Makes up a story about how there is 20,000-30,000 in unpaid fines (my guess is that even 400 Shillings - $0.20 - in unpaid tickets showed up on that list) and how the car should have been bracketed
6. Claims that parking was done illegally, which is commonly the case in Kampala since nobody knows what is legal or illegal due to the markings being so poor
7. Muzungu calls attendant's bluff and he can't back it up

Is that what actually happened? I'll never know, but I haven't had any further problems (not yet at least) with parking since then.

That was my first brush with corruption on a very small scale. In a later post I'll explain a slightly larger run-in with corruption.

Hope everyone had a very happy Easter!

Cheers!
Chris

Ugandanisms

I realized in December one of the difficulties of coming home (and Tracy can now attest to this as well): no one understands the language idiosyncrasies that I have picked up while living over here. While my friends and I over here throw a little Ugandan “slang” into our every day talk for a few laughs, I just get random stares when I inadvertently do the same back in the United States.

Ugandans definitely have their own format of English. It evolved from British English back when Uganda was a British protectorate (1862-1962) and has taken a style of its own.

So, if you ever hear me utter any of the follow random phrases, now you’ll know why:

• Muzungu: My unofficial name over here; from what I understand, it is Swahili for “white person” and is used throughout East Africa. It is not a derogatory term and is used by everyone – from young kids up to elders – to refer mainly to people of European decent. However, it can also be extended to anyone who is lighter skinned than Africans, such as Latinos and Asians
• Nedda!: Simply means “No!” in Luganda, but much more fun to say – this was Tracy’s favorite phrase while over here
• Fine!: One of the most commonly heard words here; usually said with a very strong emphasis on the first half of the word (especially when said by kids) which I think makes it more fun to say. There apparently is an unwritten rule that “fine” is basically the only answer that can be given to the question “How are you?” or “How is the day?” Slight variations include “very fine” and “not so fine.” I think I'll try to bring supa-fine into the Ugandan context.
• Sorry…sorry…sorry: Ugandans tend to “apologize” for everything, whether it is in their own control or not. Case in point: I was at a meeting the other day and a chair got knocked over. Almost simultaneously about half of the meeting participants said “oooo, sorry…”
• Yes please: Ugandans tend to throw the word “please” into phrases much more than Americans, including in situations that don’t make any sense to us. For example, if I say someone’s name in an effort to get their attention, they’ll usually answer with “yes please.” The irony here is that Ugandans don’t use “please” in the context familiar to us very often. In fact, I’ve made some of my classmates repeat questions of me using the word please (picture a parent emphasizing to their child how to be polite in conversation) when they seemed to be demanding things of me rather than requesting. :)
  
• Okay please: Similar to “yes please” above, “please” gets thrown on the end of “okay” in every-day Ugandan English. For example, I tell a person to have a nice day and they reply with “okay please.”
• “What?” as a point of emphasis: Ugandans – especially Ugandan lecturers at Makerere – will sometimes interrupt their sentences with “what” as a way to emphasize a point (although sometimes I think it is just used as a filler as well). For example: “The fan is used for the what? The drying of the feedstock.” Or, “We will meet at the what? The stadium.” At first, I thought this was an actual question, and a couple times I did answer what I believed to be the question, which actually threw off the speaker a little. Only later did I realize it is used almost entirely in a rhetorical sense.
• “You are welcome” before “thank you”: This is what Tracy noticed first when she got here. Ugandans are generally very welcoming people, and when you first meet someone it is very common for them to say “You are welcome!” to which we would respond “thank you…?”
• Eyebrow raise & “mmmmm”: This one took me awhile to adjust to, but it’s simply a way of answering “yes” to a question. The first few times a Ugandan responded to a question by raising his/her eyebrows and giving a small “mmm,” I thought they were just blowing me off. It took me awhile to realize it was actually them giving a positive response to my question. It’s still a little off-setting when someone does this, but I’ve gotten used to it and occasionally find myself doing it as well. However, it’s a very dry way of responding to a question and I have realized I only do it when I’m annoyed with someone. So, if I do this to you, well, sorry…sorry…sorry.
• Responses to a simple hello: Basically all Ugandans speak a native tribal language outside of English. When you get outside of Kampala, many people know very limited English, if any at all. This makes for some interesting conversations, especially with people who have just a little grasp on English. The most obvious difference is how people will respond to a simple “hello.” Instead of a “hi” or “hello” in return, they’ll usually say “fine.” I eventually realized that this is because in Luganda (the main tribal language in the Kampala area) and most other related tribal languages (all of those that are Bantu-based, I believe), there actually is no translation for “hello.” Instead, it is customary to greet someone with the question “how are you.” So any conversation starter is assumed to be this, and the only response they know is “fine.” Another lost-in-translation occurrence is little kids that will often come running up to me shouting “Bye, Muzungu, bye!” I originally thought it was them mispronouncing “hi,” but I figured out that wasn’t the case. I’m still not sure why this is said, maybe I’ll figure it out in the next 7 weeks…
• Short Call: A Ugandan way of saying I’m going to the bathroom for a #1
• Long Call: A Ugandan way of saying I’m going to the bathroom for a #2

That's all I can think of for now - I may add some more in the future if they come to me.

Cheers!
Chris

P.S. It has nothing to do with this post, but since it's Easter time, here are a few pictures of the church I attend:

St. John's Church of Kawuku - an Anglican church about 10 minutes' walk from my home


A look at the inside of church at the end of a normal service (two weeks before Easter)


The children from the church-run school performed two weeks before Easter


Baptisms occurred the Monday after Easter. I attended for part of the ceremony (I opted not to stay for all 30-40 children) to see what it was like: they're sprinklers, not dunkers :)

Small world

My last few days have been spent coming and going from a conference that is in town regarding efficient stove design for the developing world and methods of reducing indoor air pollution (one of the world’s leading causes of deaths - WHO info). There were some people at the conference who were big into biochar and it was a good opportunity for networking (not to mention that it was also held at probably the nicest resort in the entire country).

Many of the people in the office where I’ve been working/studying also attended the conference. One of which (Dr. Da Silva – the coordinator for the renewable energy master’s program), was able to line up one of the conference attendees to come and speak to all of the renewable energy students about appropriate stove design (sounds like a pretty boring topic, but actually very interesting…at least for me).

The presentation was this morning, and before arriving all I knew was the presenter's topic and that she was from the States. We arrived on campus at the same time and struck up a conversation. She was originally from Minnesota, her name was Nordica (a Minnesotan name if I’ve ever heard one…), and she was now based in Oregon with her company. When I mentioned I was from Iowa, she included that she had gone to school there. As it turned out, not only was she an Iowa Stater, but she also had graduated in mechanical engineering! She just had about 8 years on me, but we were still able to share some stories about professors and classes back in Ames.

I have been hoping that one of these days I’ll see some random person wearing an Iowa State shirt (old shirts from the US are shipped over here in bulk and then sold cheaply in the markets here…you see all sorts of random shirts that one wouldn’t expect to find in the middle of Africa). Beyond the people working with CSRL, I never thought I’d run into an actual alum over here, let alone one from the same department. Guess it really is a small world!

Cheers!
Chris


Nordica (second from the right) being introduced by Dr. Da Silva (far right) before her presentation to the renewable energy students in our classroom

"Tell me about prom."

My experiment is moving along. I have moved on past the bioenergy production aspect of it and am now into the agricultural portion. For 60 days, I am conducting a greenhouse experiment (well, actually four experiments at the same time) using corn plants to compare the affects of different types of biochar that I have created for use as soil amendments. One experiment compares the relative effects of gasifier-produced biochar vs. the effects of kiln-produced biochar while the other just compares different types of kiln-produced biochar. Anyway, that’s the boring, nerdy update that also serves as the backdrop for this story:

I have to water my plants every other day and yesterday, as I was going to the greenhouse to start the process of weighing and watering all of my plants (something that usually takes 1-2 hours), I had a random Ugandan come up to me and start a conversation. This was by no means unique in itself; I obviously stick out a little over here, and that causes me to draw a little more attention then the regular person walking down the street. Still, the people who usually approach me for no apparent reason are also the ones who usually want to get something from me (that usually being money) so this usually puts me on the immediate defensive.


Approximately half of my total pots in the greenhouse. Picture taken on Wednesday, March 25. Seeds were planted on March 7...plants grow very fast over here!

I decided to entertain this guy, however, and we struck up a conversation. His name was Ronnie, and he was a third-year undergraduate student in the Faculty of Agriculture. He had seen me around quite a bit recently in the building and was curious about my work. We ended up speaking for the entire time I was doing my watering, and he seemed to be a legitimately good guy. Granted, he did ask me once how he could get a scholarship to study in the US, but it was definitely more of an inquisition into the process rather than a plea for money directly from me.

During the 90 minutes we talked, we covered several different topics, progressing from studies to research to comparisons of our native countries. The highlight however, came after we had been working in silence for about 5 minutes (as I was watering, Ronnie spontaneously started to help me by picking out a few of the weeds that had just sprouted out of the soil). Out of nowhere, Ronnie turned to me and said, “Tell me about prom.”

I stopped my watering and turned to see if he was serious, which he definitely was. The concept of “prom” is nonexistent in Uganda, and I knew that meant he had seen something about it on TV or on a movie. I asked him if he had seen American Pie, the stereotypical prom movie that came to mind right away. Luckily, he said he hadn’t, so his stereotype of prom at least wasn’t based on that. As it turned out, he had seen a couple different shows and movies, most of which I had never heard of (the only one that struck a bell was One Tree Hill, which I think it a television series, right?), that were based on prom in the U.S. He had taken what he had seen (most of which were the ridiculously ritzy proms where people spend thousands of dollars on dresses and entertainment for the night) and assumed that was the experience for all American teenagers. Ah, Hollywood, how you distort people’s perceptions of us!

Ronnie and I spent the next 20 minutes or so discussing how America is a very diverse country and how everything that is seen on TV is by no means indicative of the average life of an American. He knew that, but I don’t think he understood the extent of it. Yes, I explained, that there were some proms like he had seen on TV in places like Los Angeles and New York, but in Iowa and many other places around the country, most of them are quite a bit more conservative.


From how I understood it, this would be a pretty tame version of the prom that Ronnie had pictured

We somehow then veered off into talking about general life in the US, and Ronnie asked me where I came from. I explained how I was from the central part of the country (the only landmark many Ugandans know that is off the coasts is Chicago) and grew up on a farm. Ronnie was surprised by that; he thought that all of the US was filled with cities or developments. It really hit him when I explained that the United States was over 100 times larger than Uganda in terms of land mass (just a guess, after checking I found out we’re actually only 40 times bigger), yet only have ten times as many people. He had never picture a United States with corn as far as the eye could see, so I explained Iowa to him (romanticizing it a little bit probably, but I’m allowed to be biased).

Although most Ugandans don’t assume everything they see in the movies is real life in the US, there definitely is a lack of understanding of how diverse our country is. People picture it as full of big cities and fancy cars and seem to forget about the rest. I try to explain that there is much more than that, but – beyond the 10 or so Rotary presentations I have given so far – there isn’t too much I will be able to do about it. Oh well, such is the price we pay for being the entertainment hub of the world!

Cheers!
Chris

Where to start...?

As expected, Tracy’s visit flew by far too quickly. However, I’m happy to report that her trip over here lived up to the high expectations and then some.

We have plenty of stories to share, so I’m not very sure where to start. And, additionally, classes seemed to have finally started to pick up: I’ve got my first test of the semester on Tuesday so I’ve some quality hours of good old-fashioned cramming ahead of me these next couple days.

I’ll give the brief overview – with pictures, of course - and then hopefully pick out a few stories to share in a later post.

I’m also trying to pester Tracy into putting together a post for this blog where she shares her reactions to 10 days in Africa. If you will see her any time in the near future, feel free to provide a little additional peer pressure!

Sunday, March 8:
Picked up Tracy at the airport in Entebbe at 9:00 pm; enjoyed hearing her initial reactions to traffic in Uganda during the hour drive back to Kizito’s. Came home to a late supper that had been prepared by Nora (the new maid/nanny at Kizito’s house), and Tracy got to experience the blandness that is traditional Ugandan fare. She was a trooper and put most of it down. Mother Nature welcomed Tracy to Uganda with a continuation of the abnormally hot weather (so much for the early start of the rainy season that I mentioned in a previous post) which prevented a good night's sleep (I really need to break down and get a fan) even though Tracy’s 36 hours of travel and my mad rush the previous weeks to get experiments to a stopping point had us both plenty tired.

Day 1 – Visiting the pen pals in Kamuli (Monday, March 9)
Got up fairly early the next day – thanks in part to the random rooster that has been at Kizito’s house for the last couple months. This rooster has decided that its favorite place to crow is just outside of my window…every day I get more excited for when it finally is made into a meal! We then jumped in my car and made the drive to Kamuli where Tracy was able to meet all of the Ugandan pen pals. Both school visits were great – we got to deliver another round of letters and a few other items from Tracy’s kids (the highlight: soccer balls), and we were greeted with a song & performance by each set of students. Enjoyed the quiet in Kamuli that night…but had the serenity interrupted by a battle between my stomach and African food. Unanimous winner: African food.

Presenting one of the soccer balls to the Namasagali students


The students following us as we left after our visit to Namasagali

Day 2 – Return to Kampala/Tracy show-and-tell day (Tuesday, March 10)
Left Kamuli in the morning and stopped by the Source of the Nile and Bujagali Falls on the way back to Kampala. Went into the office where I introduced Tracy to my co-workers and we were able to do a quick email check. Attended a meeting of my host Rotary Club where I introduced Tracy, and then went to an Ethiopian restaurant for Tracy’s final introduction of the day: my close crew of friends. Thought my stomach was doing better by that time, but Ethiopian food must have set it over the top…another battle that night, and another loss for Chris’s stomach :)

Day 3 – Murchison Falls (Wednesday, March 11)
Got up early to leave for a trip to Murchison Falls in north-central Uganda. 6 hour drive (welcome to Kampala traffic, Tracy) and then arrived at the falls. Murchison Falls is where the entire Nile is squeezed through a 6 meter gap between a couple rock faces…incredible.

Can you see us standing on the right side of the picture?

Day 4 – Ugandan safari & boat ride on the Nile (Thursday, March 12)
Got up at sunrise for a game drive (the area just north of the falls is a savannah and one of the best spots in Uganda for wildlife). In the late afternoon jumped on a boat for a two hour ride that took us up the Nile to the base of the falls. Had an incredible time with some amazing views. Ended the day having seen numerous animals including the following: baboons, monkeys, giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, antelope, gazelles, water buffalo, and – the highlight – a lion.

The highlight of our safari


Posing with our friend, the baboon


Stopping for a picture during our boat ride up the Nile

Day 5 – Rhino park & back to Kampala (Friday, March 13)
Left the base camp at Murchison in the morning and stopped for a few hours at the Ziwa Rhino reserve where we saw 3 pregnant white rhinos being reintroduced to Uganda (all of Uganda’s rhino population was wiped out during Idi Amin’s era in the 1970s when societal regulations basically ceased to exist). Returned to Kampala and took Tracy to a traditional Ugandan “pork joint”…a tasty way that Ugandans do roast pork.

Posing with the rhinos in the background

Day 6 – Kampala…souvenirs, pool, & friends (Saturday, March 14)
Slept in for the first time since Tracy had gotten to Uganda and then took a walk to Lake Victoria (only about 1 km from Kizito’s house). Went into town and walked around the city center to show Tracy some of the chaos that is Kampala (highlighted by a brief visit to the taxi park) while doing a little souvenir shopping. Met up with a few friends for lunch & some more souvenir shopping before heading to Glen’s apartment (a doctor from Canada & good friend of mine over here) to enjoy his pool. Met up with friends for an early dinner at a favorite Chinese restaurant and then went home to pack for our trip the next day.

Day 7 – GIZA!!! (Sunday, March 15)
Woke up at 1:00 am for a drive to Entebbe in order to arrive in plenty of time for our 4:30 am flight…to Cairo, Egypt! Arrived in Cairo at 8:00 am, had a driver from our hostel waiting for us (first time I’ve ever had anyone holding a sign for me at an airport). Went to our hostel, dropped off our bags, and headed straight to the pyramids! Had a personal tour guide for the day (more affordable than you would think!) who was incredible. Saw the Step Pyramid at Saqqara (first pyramid every built…4700 years ago) then went to an authentic carpet manufacturing site (not as affordable as you would think…) before heading to the main attraction: the Pyramids at Giza. Opted to do a tour-by-camel of the pyramids (again, not as affordable as you would think…but so worth it!) for two hours and got some incredible pictures. Can’t really describe it in words. After finishing at Giza went to a perfume/fragrance/oil manufacturing site (good thing Tracy was with me, or I probably would have gotten suckered into buying stuff I really didn’t need) and a store where paintings were done on paper made from papyrus. Went back to the hostel for a quick change of clothes before heading to the riverside for a dinner cruise on the Nile. Got home around 10:00 pm about ready to fall asleep while standing…what a day!!!


A camel ride...what a way to see the pyramids! (notice our 9 year old guide trying to get out of the photo)


Trying to put it into perspective


So cool...


Cliche, we know...

Day 8 – Cairo (Monday, March 16)
City tour of Cairo. Started with a morning at the Egyptian Museum. Incredible. Got to see the artifacts from King Tut’s tomb and then see dozens of ancient mummies face-to-face. Tracy and I can now say we have met Ramses the Great! Afternoon was filled with visits to the Coptic Christian area of Cairo (highlighted by a stop at a location where the holy family supposedly stayed during their flight from the holy land during King Herod’s rule…fascinating!), the Citadel, and the Khan al-Khalili (famous Cairo bazaar). Wandered around the shop area for awhile and enjoyed some Egyptian tea & coffee before heading back to the hostel. Went out searching for a falafel restaurant for dinner, and found a very nice one…in fact, nice enough enough that Jimmy Carter had eaten there before. Still, reasonable prices and very delicious.

Visiting the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo

Day 9 – Cairo (Tuesday, March 17)
Another day in Cairo. Walked around the city for awhile in the morning and then went back to the bazaar area. However, the hectic schedule was starting to wear on both Tracy and I at this point. We got tired of the vendors pretty quick this time (they are much more aggressive than what I was used to in Uganda) and didn’t do much shopping. Visited a few other areas, with my favorite being climbing one of the tallest minarets (the tall towers on mosques that are used for announcing the call-to-prayer 5 times daily). Back to the airport for our 10:00 flight to Entebbe.

Day 10 – Kampala & departure (Wednesday, March 18)
Arrived in Entebbe at 3:45 am. Went back to Kizito’s and crashed there for a couple hours. Woke up and did some preliminary packing before heading into Kampala. Tracy decided to try having a dress & skirt tailor-made in a day (a few of my friends have gotten dresses or skirts made that they’ve really enjoyed…and they thought it should be able to get done in a day). Picked out fabric & design (more of her picking out things and me smiling & nodding) and then went back to the office for a quick check on internet to see what had happened in the world over the past week. Then off to the craft market where Tracy had a list of souvenirs she was planning on checking off (okay…I had a few things I wanted to get too). Wrapped up the shopping and went back to check on skirt & dress. They were later than promised (as expected). Tracy did get to test-fit her skirt, which they adjusted and she was very happy with. The dress, on the other hand, was not as close to being done. We ended up pushing time a little more than either of us wanted, so we just took the dress without Tracy doing a test-fit in order to finish packing and head to the airport. She quickly put it on before packing it away…swing and a miss. However, she has some ideas for how she might salvage it. If nothing else, it was a lot of fabric for a good price. Took off for the airport around 8:00 pm, and I dropped her off and said my final goodbyes (after some hassle from the airport police…but I’ll save that story for another time).

Overall, an incredible trip. Definitely no regrets on either of our parts!

Now my vacation from work/classes is over and it’s back to work. I spent the first few days after Tracy left catching up on emails and research. I’ve got my head above water again and now I’m ready for the sprint to the finish. Only about 10 weeks until I fly back to the States…let’s see what I can get done in that time!

Cheers!
Chris