Catch Up

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Hello everyone , I finally have consistent internet. Currently I am at Rugazi village for my four week placement and the weather is hot and I finally got a little sunburnt today. Anyways like the title of this blog I am going to briefly tell you about my first 12 days of my trip.

Day 1- At 05:45 am my lovely friend drove me to the airport where I met up with four other group members from the University of Saskatchewan at the Saskatoon airport. Our flights go from Saskatoon, Toronto, Dubai then Entebbe. Once the four of us landed in Toronto international airport, we had a 10 hour layover there....long but we were able to take the time to get to know each other better. The flight from Toronto to Dubai was a 12 hour flight, which luckily I managed to have a whole row of seats to myself!!!! We used Emirates Airline which I highly suggest because the service was wonderful and the seats are comfortable. I managed to watch lots of movies and sleep during that flight which made it manageable.

Day 2- Landed in Dubai in the evening and used a shuttle service from the airport to our hotel (Holiday Inn Express), which was a decent price, nice room and a really good continental breakfast. Once we arrived to the hotel we quickly freshened up and asked for advice towards touring Dubai at night. The hotel clerk managed to set us up with a tour guide for a good price and we managed to see The Atlantis hotel which is incredibly beautiful, the only 7 star hotel in the world which was also amazing, the Burj Khalifa (worlds largest tour) and the Dubai mall which is beside it. At the Dubai Mall we watched an amazing water show and toured the mall for a while and managed to eat at a little restaurant attached to the mall. The visit at the restaurant was till 1:00 am, trying different foods and smoking strawberry flavoured shisha which tasted wonderful (this was also the first time I smoked shisha and used a hookah, we had lots of laughs about it). We managed to quickly get back to the hotel and settled in quickly to bed (it felt so good to sleep in an actual bed after a very long two days of travel).

Day 3- Boarded for Entebbe in the morning and had a 4 hour flight which was manageable, once we landed in Entebbe we got our visas and walked out of the airport to a welcoming and very friendly Frank (who is our main contact for Entebbe) and Gena (another team member). It was hot and we all hustled to the van and went on our way to Franks motel the Green Valley Guesthouse. On the way we stopped at a restaurant called Phase 3 which provided excellent food, Jamaican music and a beautiful view of Lake Victoria. Once we were done lunch when went to the motel, which has excellent prices, hot showers, good food and wonderful staff. We settled into our room and then walked to the local market to explore our new surroundings. There was lots of little vendors some selling food and others selling clothing and people calling out "Muzungu" aka white people hahaha. It was very interesting people observing and children smiling and wanting pictures. Once our curiosity was satisfied when went back to the guesthouse and had a vegetarian prepared meal-fried cabbage, rice and a form of vegetable soup. After that we settled into bed.

Day4- In the morning we had fresh pineapple, black tea, a Spanish egg and toast which was wonderful. Then off to the mall to the Orange company to get Wi-Fi sticks and cellphones. Once that was solved we went to go pick up our final teammate Lindsay from the airport, once she arrived we went back to the guesthouse to allow Lindsay to unpack. Once she was settled in we all went to the Botanical Gardens in Entebbe and toured around the park with a tour guide, who showed us various plants and animals. At the end of the tour we spent time feeding the wild monkeys nuts which two of them had babies with them. Life lesson number one observe your surroundings and do not just sit anywhere because you may sit on an ant hill and get bit!!! Interesting Fact 1: If you get injured and have a deep cut, you can use a termite to clamp a wound shut!!! Interesting Fact 2: this park was the original site or set for the 1930 movie of Tarzan!!! Once the tour was done we got a cab back to the motel and had a late supper, which seems to be a reoccurring thing and we have chicken, rice, fried cabbage, and vegetable soup.

Day 5- This day we drove 4 hours from Entebbe to Mbarara, which we first crossed over Lake Victoria by ferry (saw a King fisher bird for the first time). During the drive we saw people walking from all over the country and other countries, travelling by foot to Kampala to celebrate their spirituality towards Christianity (some walk from Rwanda to Kampala, Uganda!!!). Some would carry small children and others carry water or crosses and once it became dark they would camp on the side of the road. On the way to Mbarara we stopped at the equator where there was some small shops and took some pictures. Stopped in Masaka for lunch and went to Café Frikadellen, which I had pizza and a coke hahaha. This Café is tucked away on a side road that makes it virtually impossible for you to drive to. It's full of giant potholes and well it makes Kerrobert, sk main road look like gold!!! After lunch we had an two hour drive left from Masaka to Mbarara, once we arrived to our destination we settled into the residence at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (which are really nice and spacious-we have been told that only professor get to stay in there) and then we went to the Golf Course Supermarket for some food and toilet paper (this store has everything). Leandra and myself hauled a large bottle of water 18 litres worth (was challenging and we alternated between the two of us.) It was nice to be able to settle in for a week and well that evening we had poor man chili and sat around the table telling stories and cracking jokes.

Day 6- First day of orientation!!! We woke up scrambled to get ready and walked out of our dorm having no idea where the university was (which happened to be across a busy highway, luckily it had a bridge for the students to walk across the highway). Managed to get to the university, walking up to anyone who would acknowledge us and help us find the classroom the orientation will in, in the end we were to first people there and 30 minutes later all the other students rolled into the classroom (Uganda Time). Orientation was manageable and the accents were not bad to understand, the only embarrassing thing was to introduce ourselves to a very large group of people. In the afternoon I found out my placement Rugazi and met my Ugandan teammates (Ben, Norman, Marsden, Immy, Mariam and Chris) and was partnered up with Gena one other U of S student. For the rest of the afternoon and got familiar with my teammates and learnt new theories towards doing research aka the Challenge Model. In the evening went to the supermarket and bought some groceries and decided to purchase some local wine (red and white). Life Lesson 3: Get advice from local residence towards what brands of wine we should purchase, red wine should not look like soya sauce and taste like the rejected fruit from the vineyard!!!

Day 7- Tried our new theory that if class started at 8:30 am we would leave at 8:30 and well we were one of the first people arriving to class (Ugandan Time). Second day was more learning about the model and breaking it down step by step. Break time we had a cake (muffin) and tired to pay our fees and talked to the Dean of medicine about the program and our roles in it. Lunch time we had Matoke which is mashed green bananas and some beef in sauce (it tasted good). Had a wonderful chat with the Dean. After class we went to the market for food and other items, bumped into some people the other girls knew from this project, who politely showed us to the market. In the market a little girl ran up to Sarah (another U of S student) and I and began playing with us which temporarily separated us from the group but luckily we found each other again. That evening we ate the Classic Hotel and I had pasta and a cola, I also tried Chapati (yummy). We did not realize how fast it is for it to get dark out and by the time we were done our meals it was night time. So we quickly made our way back to residence and kind of cleaned up and settled in for the night.

Day 8-Had a morning quiz which was alright and more breakdown on the Challenge model. Tried there milk tea (very different the milk is more sweet and creamy) and mandazi (tasted like a dense cake doughnut) at break time. Lunch fried cabbage, rice, posho (made from maize flour) and beans which was good as well. After class Gena and I stayed at the residence and did laundry by hand, which is hard and tiring to the arms and time consuming but Im proud to say my clothes are clean and smell clean!!!!

Day 9- Quiz in morning and continual learning. Break time we had milk tea and a boil egg and for lunch we had a flavoured rice with beans and raw cabbage (its a staple in all meals) and posho again. After class went to market again to get supplies for the trip and went to the bakery I had a doughnut covered with chocolate sauce, it was more dense then our American doughnuts. We also ate the Arc Café at the Golf course supermarket, I ordered a cheeseburger which was good p.s. they have the best milkshakes!!! Once back at the residence we tired the white wine which was strong and found away to make moderately ok mimosas!!!

Day10- Lasted day of training and last quiz!!!! training in the morning and group meeting in the afternoon and also received additional funds for food!!! That evening Norman (Ugandan teammate) took us to a trade show that happens once a year and we toured around it and bought some dresses and at Gorilla puffs which are exactly like cheese puffs in Canada except they have several different flavours, I had chili. We took bodas (motorbikes) home which was interesting but my driver was good and went slow maybe a little too slow and then went to supermarket for additional supplies and finished off the night packing clothes.

Day 11- We were up by 7 am and hauled our heavy luggage across the highway from residence to the university which was interesting but everyone made it one piece. There were two large buses and two vans. My group so happened to use the oldest bus and the Ugandan student called it the menopause bus because it the very first bus the owned when the university first opened in 1989. It was interesting large a items were strapped down on a open roof rack on top of the bus and the rest at the back of the bus. We all managed to fit and by 10:30 we were on our way to Rugazi, we made two pit stops first, one was at the Tea field and other was at another groups village. Once we arrived to Rugazi we unloaded the luggage at the health centre, we are staying at hostels located on site with the health centre. The hostel is nice we have running water and rooms with two beds, my roommate Gena and I managed to hang up our mosquito nets and unpacked our luggage. In the evening Gena, Heather, Lindsay, Ben, Mike and I went for a walk around the community, which ended up being an adventured and a jaunt up a large hill to look at the twin lakes (very beautiful view!!!) and then back to the hostel. We saw many homesteads which are all very unique and colorful, many tied up goats and lots of excited children. That evening us girls (U of S students) tried sugar cane for the first time and well very interesting. I felt like a beaver...basically chewed on a portion of the tree trunk. What you do is peel of the bark and rip or chew off the inner part of the plant and chew and suck out the sugar juices, which tasted great but was a lot of work and the Ugandan students enjoyed watching us in learning of to extract the sugar juices. It was quite an experience!!!

Day12- Woke up by rooster calls at 6:30 am and slowly got ready for church that was at 10. We went to church so we could meet to community members and introduce ourselves to the community. We went to the Catholic church for mass which was spoke in local language, majority of the mass I was unable to understand but the Ugandan students helped explained the situations and then periodically I understood basic Catholic practices. What I liked about it was their twist and incorporation of tradition dancing, which was graceful and beautiful. After mass we created weekly menus and then had lunch which was rice, beef, beans, fried cabbage, and matoke. After lunch we went and explored the market.

These past 12 days has been a whirlwind of culture and everyday is a new adventure. I find if fascinating how different we can all be and yet how similar we can be. These students are wonderful, welcoming and full of knowledge and I can not wait for more adventure to come!!!!

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Comments

[Jessi the PTA]

so proud!!!!
I'm so proud of you. A true McNichol; just throwing yourself into the culture and trying out everything they have offered you so far. Just jeep trucking and making us all proud. U can't wait to see pictures and hear all the stories when you get back home. You're gonna learn so much!