Yesterday, someone pointed out to me that I’m sounding like Im having an increasingly bad time. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth; I am still having a fantastic time here. I guess its human nature to complain loudly when things go wrong, but just accept the good stuff as your due. In any case, it’s time to get back to reporting some of the fun stuff. First and most importantly: this country has basically no rules, short of “don kill anyone associated with government” and “don’t try to tackle corruption if you know what’s good for you [View Full Entry]

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They say we never cease to learn - well today, I learned that if it looks nothing like any sunburn you ever had, doesn't feel like any sunburn you ever had, and makes you cry in pain every morning, then it's probably not sunburn. It might, however, be a mean infection of the deeper tissue caused by even meaner bacteria which happened to be let in by the mean sunburn. It might be cellulitis. And no, that's not your doctor's way of telling you you should do more sport - it's your body's way of telling you it's under attack, and [View Full Entry]

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Now, you haven't heard from me in a while, and for good reason: I've been sick. Not home-style, take a few Ibuprofen, give me a chance to secretly catch up on Grey's Anatomy sick. No no. Uganda-style sick. Does this country never do anything half-way? Apparently not, since I spent the last 2 days alternatively sweating and shivering in my bed from what? From malaria? Dengue? The swine flu? NO, from a cold - the common cold, you know, the one where you take a few Ibuprofens and watch... but I'm repeating myself. Anyhow, Monday afternoon I started coughing, Monday evening [View Full Entry]

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Actually, it should be the week with all the party, meaning last week. Now, I know I'm not the biggest party animal in the world, there are people going out a lot more and longer than I do, especially with a little help from their chemical friends. But I think Ugandans could give even them a run for their money. Take my friend Lulu: I met her last week, just when I was despairing of ever discovering the mythological Kampalan nightlife. When I phoned her up, she said my life was going to change quite a lot - I didn't realize [View Full Entry]

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I arrived at the Ugandan border with Rwanda and spotted three other white girls traveling in a group. They turned out to be canadian and, as a respite from being the only white person in sight, I decided to travel onward with them. In Kisoro we booked a shared taxi to the next (slightly larger) town, Kabale. On the 2+ hour ride to Kabale the three girls were irritable, impatient, angry, and frustrated (they had booked this taxi because they had not wanted to wait a few hours for the bus all the way to Kampala and thought - I have [View Full Entry]

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Here we are now, 2 weeks in. I’ve started to settle in, and got over some of the first time hurdle that await you in this city - find a room, drive a boda, get anywhere within a certain frame of time... My room is in Munyenga-Bukassa, which I’ve learned since moving there is not considered Kampala anymore. But at least it’s close to work, and I value my sleep in the morning! It’s a nice place, although it’s the first kitchen with an earth-floor I’ve ever had! The place is locked up like Fort Knox, even though there aren’t any [View Full Entry]

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The joy and excitement of being home with family and friends was all too quickly replaced with loneliness and exhaustion as I stepped off the third plane in 24 hours and finally set foot back in Uganda. I was thankful to have had the time at home with family and dear friends, and especially to have had time with my father during his recovery from surgery. Even though I was home for over a month, it went VERY FAST. Thank you to everyone who made my trip home such a blessing! The trip back to Uganda was relatively uneventful. However, the [View Full Entry]

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Well, the good news is, I'm alive and well. The bad, that I did get to put a single step out of my hotel room this weekend, seeing as I had developed a close personal relationship with the toilet bowl. Of course, every rookie newcomer has to go through this, and it actually happens every time I go to a hot country - but it doesn't make it any more fun. Actually, the only fun connected to me this weekend would have been watching me Sunday night, crouching under the sink, trying to hold it up with my head while disassembling [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Not sure if you have heard but there has been riots in Kampala over the last 2 days. Just a quick email to say we are all safe and at Jinga. We have managed to avoid the riots. We have been told it is safe to travel back today to Kampala and will be doing so later today. Sorry about the group email but easiest way to update everyone. Kath, Jac and Kate xxx [View Full Entry]

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