Scared of flying. Scared of insects. Off to Uganda.

So here I am, sitting in an office in the heart of 'the Pearl of Africa', hoping to finish my first blogging entry before the next power cut, wondering how in the Spaghettimonster's name I ended up a few thousand miles from home, at a desk in Kampala, Uganda.

In the words of a British pop band (or several, for that matter): back to the start. I'm not your average bungee-jumping, sky-diving, overall adventure loving type of traveller. Overall, I can live without having had Malaria, I don't think getting stranded in the middle of a foreign country without money and without speaking the language is hilarious, and I don't believe getting mugged by a crazed drug-addict at gun-/knife/-machete point is an essential experience to have in life. I also happen to think my family is wonderful, my home city is lovely, and that sitting at home watching TV is a legitimate activity (well, kinda at least). And I'm scared of flying - seriously I dislike that first take-off intensively, and am so certain that the plane is going to crash every time that I'm surprised it doesn't do so simply on the strength of my conviction (yes, I realize I'm not a deity, and don't have actual mental power over a mechanical object). So why go at all, instead of leading the couch potato life I was obviously meant for? Well, I guess my only saving grace is... curiosity. Plain, old, piercing fierce curiosity about how other people live, what they eat, where they work, what they do in their free time, etc. And curiosity whether any of what I've been taught during my glorious studies about the basic rights of human beings is even remotely connected to reality (yes, there is some slight skepticism here, but don't worry about it, it gets more than made-up for by my naive belief in rights, institutions, and a number of abstract concepts).

So in short, I'm here to practice the time-honored tradition of work-tourism. Volunteering. Helping. Whatever you want to call it. I don't really believe in 'helping' as an altruistic concept, as people usually end up helping themselves more than anyone else. And I don't think there is anything wrong with pure tourism - do it responsibly, make sure the people in the country see some of your money and that you don't accidentally snuff out some rare animal, and have fun. But personally, I usually find that quite boring - not getting into contact with locals (a part from your tour guide), having no idea what they think about their president/king/power-abusing-authority makes me feel disconnected, like I'm experiencing a particularly well-made 3D DVD. Plus, before I even think about dedicating my work-life to working in the field of human rights where the potential for making money is extremely limited and the potential for frustration endless, I would like to see whether anything can be achieved through abstract concepts at all (for those who haven't guessed - I'm a law student).
And of course, I want to see the city, and the second-biggest lake on Earth, and the crocodiles and lions, the gorillas and chimpanzees, and the Nile and its falls.

Just as soon as I dare to venture out of the office.

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