One of my co-workers got married on Saturday, and the whole office went to the reception. I didn’t come prepared for dressy occasions, but managed to find something suitable in my boss’ closet. There was a series of speeches (bride’s parents, groom’s parents, bride’s employer, groom’s employer, bride’s friends, groom’s friends, each person on the huge wedding committee). I understood none of the speeches (all in Luganda), but enjoyed the dancing in between, and it was good people watching. The people outside the reception area thought so, too. It seems that at every big occasion I’ve been to, the neighborhood comes to hang out at the fence and do their own people watching.

Unbelievable rain.

Had a lazy Saturday morning today. I’m not sure if you can tell quite how torrential the rain is, but it’s amazing to see the downpours. It was raining hard enough that Leslie couldn’t hear each other talk, standing about 20 feet apart.

I think that song “Africa” by Toto has played in every bar/club I’ve been to.

Drove into a Ditch :(

I tensed myself into one big knot over my first few days of driving. It’s been a couple of weeks now, and I’ve relaxed into the chaos a bit. I won’t say that I’m overconfident, but I did have a little incident on the way to work today.

To be honest, this wouldn’t have happened at all if I hadn’t tried to be a courteous driver. I pulled over a bit to let another car pass on a narrow and rutted back road. Then I pulled over a tad more, to make sure he had enough room. Then I rolled the two left wheels into a ditch.

Not really how anyone wants to start the day. The other guy got out of his car, carrying his daughter, and came over to try to help me out. He was in a nice suit, and carrying a sleeping little girl, so I didn’t really expect him to get me anywhere. A bunch of guys that were hanging came over and all of a sudden I had my own army corps of engineers, surveying the situation and forming a plan of action. They filled the ditch with rocks. Then they rocked my car onto the rocks. After a few attempts, I was out of the ditch and hunting through my bag for some money. I was back on my way to work in less than 15 minutes – better than AAA!

Some of the Local Characters.

There's a troupe of monkeys that hang around the office. The little guy in the last one nearly scared me to death when I looked over and saw him checking me out.

A drive around Kampala

I've been falling down on the job. Not enough pictures lately showing what Kampala and Entebbe look like. So here goes!


*over the hill on the way to work*

*Ggaba Road, on the way home*


*matatus, ladies on boda-bodas*

*sharing the road with the animals*

*our beautiful office garden*

*unbelievably dark clouds - and the start of rainy season*

When the Lights Go Down

You wouldn't believe how useful headlamps are when your power is down a few nights a week! (Oh, and they look good, too)

H.V.A.D./W.A.V.D.

Today was HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (aka World AIDS Vaccine Day). The team organized a march through Entebbe town, entertainment, speeches and some donations to local health facilities.

The March through Entebbe got off to a late start, after morning downpours.

Pop star "Sweet kid" performed for the crowd

The 'Ugandan Shakira' made more than one person blush. Her ability to isolate very single abdominal muscle while singing AND sinking to the ground was amazing. And her finish - going into the splits - was something else.

We Have Contact!

My internet woes seem to be over, or at least mitigated. This morning I was able to Skype with my little sisters. Amazingly, the connection was good enough for us to videochat for a little while. Seeing them made me feel so much better. Emails are good but being able to see them made me so happy.

So anyone wanna Skype me? If you can't find my username through my email addresses, let me know....

My First Boda-Boda

I'm really tired of paying through the nose for taxis. Things are too far away (and it's way too hot) for me to walk. Boda-bodas (motorbike taxis) are convenient for short trips, and you can actually weave in and out of Kampala's terrible traffic. But "DONORCYCLE! DONORCYCLE! DONORCYCLE!" keeps echoing through my head.

After three weeks here, I decided to would conquer my fear - albeit with a short trip on mostly backroads after the morning rush. Terrifying and exhilirating if you don't mind eating dirt. My face is numb from being wind-whipped, and I really wish that I'd bothered to put on my sunglasses before we took off. But there's no way that I'm loosening my grip to fish them out of my purse now!

Meet my first-ever boda boda driver. Don't worry too much mom, I promise not too take them often.

Party Down

The folks in the office threw a great going-away party for my colleague Andrea. I've been told that Ugandans love to throw a good party, and this was no exception. The Turkish restaurant in Centenary Park was pretty good, and I came away a winner. Amongst the games was a dance-off, which I was 'nominated' to participate in. I probably won out of pity; the final dance was to a Lugandan artist. I'd never heard Chameleon, and definitely haven't had time to learn his moves. No matter. A few people told me I "dance like an African", which I'm definitely taking as a compliment.

More nature...

I uploaded some more photos of my trip to the Mabira forest here!

Househunting

I’ve spent part of the last few days trying to find a new home. Leslie’s been great, and would happily (I think!) put me up for as long as I need, but I’m not going to start to feel settled here until I have my own home. And all of the hassles that go along with it, like security and cleaning and all of the rest. I feel pretty uncomfortable with the idea of having staff (live-in or otherwise), but some elements (like security) are probably necessary, and others (like part time housekeeping) would probably make life a lot easier. I’m having a hard time parting with the idea of doing it all myself. Especially having someone else deal with the unmentionables, you know?

I’ve seen a few rentals that were doozies. There seems to be an Indian construction contingent here that favors reflective blue glass on building exteriors. I saw an apartment building today that was a lovely example, complete with an orange paint job outside and a mixture of American Southwest and Louis XIV décor inside. In the end, I’ll probably settle on a small-ish house (okay, ‘small’ here being 3 bed/bath), hopefully with a nice garden and maybe a terrace. And maybe room for a dog?

Progress

I hailed a taxi today! Yes, I realize how completely stupid that sounds. But (1) I don’t really like taking taxis by myself and (2) they’re not all marked here. I wandered around downtown for a while trying to identify a likely taxi park and just couldn’t find one. I walked towards a gas station and struck out and then to a hotel and struck out and then when down to another hotel with tons of forexes in front and still struck out. So I headed down the hill, looking desperately for any sedan with a black band around it. Finally, I hit upon a ‘special’ (taxis that will take you to a destination you request, as opposed to the minibus-taxis that run on routes – really more like bus lines!)!

We seem to be in the midst of a fuel crisis, and my taxi driver was pulling out all the petrol-preserving tricks. We coasted at all possible moments. As soon as we stopped in traffic, the ignition went off. Aside from the traffic, and my stop to buy a chicken (not a live one), it took forever to get home. Each ride to or from town is something around $12. Man do I miss my metrocard.

Driving is a lot scarier than walking

I drove to work today (my very first trip out being on Sunday), and it’s even scarier than when I first learned. Remember the first time you drove off of your street and you hadn’t quite figured out where the edges of your car – or anyone else’s – were? Imagine that feeling, except your sitting on the other side of the vehicle, trying to figure out which direction traffic will be heading from, trying to avoid as many potholes as possible, huge speedbumps in random places, goats, cows, men on bicycles which massive bundles of bananas on the back, and pedestrians that must think they’re invincible. I was so happy when we reached the big road to Entebbe. There are still minibuses pulling on and off with little warning, but at least not so many kids or mopeds to dodge. I had a splitting headache by the time that I got to our office. How am I ever going to get around this place?

Apparently I drive at the speed of an old lady here, too. I knew from all the people trying to pass me that I must be going a little slower than usual. Once I got off the road I realized that I’d been driving less than 40 mph on the highway. LA drivers would be so ashamed of me. And that was the easy drive - now I have to tackle the roundabouts, morning traffic to Kampala and the drive home from Entebbe. Yay. Night driving.

Ron, I need you!

Wow. I really should have tried harder to get a haircut before I left. This humidity makes amazing things happen.

Today was Labor Day, celebrated the world over (except in the US, since we like to celebrate on our own schedule). I spent half of the day inside reading. To be honest, I was a little scared to go out. I don’t know how anything works or where anything is, which resulted in my first meltdown last night. When I moved to New York, I loved being asked directions. Or knowing how to get to work when the A train stopped running or decided to run over some crazy avenue on the other side of town. Transport is a real issue yet, and I’m totally lost.

I decided that I needed to get out and see the neighborhood. So I set out for a walk. And I walked and walked and walked. An hour and fifteen minutes later, I realized that this Bunga area I’m living in might be the boonies (at least for walkers). I got a lot of strange looks and a few “Hey! Muzungu!”s while I was out there in the mid-day equatorial sun with no hat or sunscreen or shoes that don’t rub your feet raw when it’s humid outside. Sure, I could have hopped on a boda-boda. But my mom has instilled a healthy fear of motorocyles, and people drive a little crazy on the road I was walking. Or I could have gotten into a matatu. Except that I haven’t figured out how to hail them, how much it should cost, or where to go. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find my way back, either, so I figured I was safer walking. My feet really disagreed with that decision.

May 2, 3, 4. The internet still isn’t working at home. And the internet at the office doesn’t seem to want me to get online either. I feel cut off. Argh.