Settling in...

Sorry for such a note the other day. It was our first access to internet and we didn’t know when the dean would show up so I was trying to make it quick (of course had to make my stops at Facebook, Gmail and Hotmail as well).

So I am still in the capital Kampala and it looks like I will be heading to Mbarara tomorrow which I am super excited about and ready for. This country is full of culture shocks and on Saturday I was experiencing it in the most real way possible. I felt like I was in a daze the entire day and all I could think was “I can’t do this, I can’t stay in this place for 4 months. I need to think of a reason to get out of here.” I guess it is hard to explain really where the shock is coming from. Already today it seems much less and I am trying to think why it was so bad before. I guess it all started when I got off the plane well more like once I left the airport. The airport itself recently had a huge facelift for an event called CHOGA put on by the UN and it looks more like a Canadian airport. Upon leaving the airport we were subject to the insane driving of the locals. The fact that they drive on the other side is nothing compared to they way they drive. They all drive in the middle of the road so when you approach someone from behind you flash your lights so that they can tell you are coming up behind them. The other thing is no one signals, when you want to change lanes…. you change lanes, making for some very white knuckles on my behalf. To top it off there are these people on what they call “Boda-bodas”. These are like dirt bikes that work somewhat like a taxi service. They consist of a driver and sometimes 2 passengers which whip in and out of traffic like crazy over the huge potholes. Oh yeah the roads here are brutal, Saskatoon residents….we have absolutely nothing to complain about. So aside from the people using motorized vehicles on the road there are people on feet everywhere. And just like the drivers they too dart in and out of traffic, babies strapped to their backs, barefoot, and often with huge amounts of bananas or sticks…it’s hard to watch and often find myself closing my eyes (don’t worry I am not the one driving). Ok and the last thing on driving which is actually really interesting. As crazy as it may sound there really seem to be no accidents and the flow of traffic is really smooth AND there are no traffic control. That means no lights, no signs, just good old round-abouts.
Aside from the roads themselves there are tons of other things to get used to. The shear poverty is amazing. I mean the buildings on the side of the roads that are to serve as homes are shacks at best. I am in a HUGE city right now, like massive and there are goats just wandering on the streets alongside these shacks. The really crazy thing is that no one looks poor. These people dress up no matter what. Sure they may not be wearing shoes but they still have nice pants (NO SHORTS) and nice button up shirts. There are some stark contrasts here, they have these markets and malls where there are actually a lot of white people and operate very “Westerny”. There are bookstores, cappuccino shops, cell phone providers, Wal-Mart-like places and tons of people shopping. Meanwhile down the street goats graze on who knows what. The other thing is that people here don’t eat. I don’t mean the poor, I mean people in general. They basically eat one meal a day. Yesterday I honestly didn’t think I was going eat and then at about 9 pm our host asked if we were ready to eat supper. YES, for about 12 hours now! Unfortunately when I went for supper I didn’t recognize anything. I looked through the menu (whose cover was an old hard cover from a thesis on cattle) and the few things I recognized they didn’t have…including Coke. I ordered a vegetable curry dish that was really good and I had it again tonight when we went back to that same restaurant.

Overall, I haven’t experienced a whole lot yet but I am hopeful that when I reach Mbarara I will settle in more and start to feel even more comfortable. Still working on my cell but will let you know when I get one.