Evan Fowler

As soon as I stepped off of the plane, my hair grew a halo of frizz. It was hot, humid, and dusty. I was tired, and had just been on a seven hour flight with about 3 hours of turbulence that brought me dangerously close to puking all over the place. But I didn't so it was all good. The airport was all decorated for Christmas, which was bizarre because it was so warm and smelled so much like Africa (cooking oil, dust, and other, less distinct odors) and so little like evergreens or cookies. We picked up all of our stuff from baggage claims, and then we met our program leaders, who helped us load into a van to set off towards our hotel. At this point I was past being tired and was simply ... read more

So. It has been quite a while since I've blogged and I apologize for that. But I am not too apologetic, because when I'm not blogging I am generally in the midst of enjoying Uganda. I'm not going to say that I never had internet while I was traveling around, but I didn't necessarily want to spend any time on a computer. So I didn't. But now, at the office, I have three reports to write, and so obviously this is the best time to update. Two weekends ago, Blythe, who is another intern at ACODE, and I went to Jinja (the second-biggest city in Uganda, situated right on the Nile) for a day of whitewater rafting and sightseeing. This was a change from my general approach to Uganda which had been less pursuit of tourist ... read more

So, not too much to report on this week, mostly because from Sunday to Wednesday I was laid up with a stomach bug (food poisoning?) (can you call it Montezuma's revenge if you are in Africa?) It really wasn't that bad, but I lost a bunch of weight over a short time span (a more defined jawline is a positive development of this occurrence,) and am still working up to the same level of robust activity that I am used to. So during that time span, I became very well acquainted with Nollywood films. What are Nollywood films? They are terribly dramatic love stories that play out very much like American soaps, and involve a lot of crying--crying from happiness, sadness, anger, or any other strong emotion. Almost all of them revolve around similar plot lines ... read more

So, I arrived in Entebbe at the airport on Friday night, and since my plane touched down, I have had a great time. Saturday and Sunday, I got to know my host family, which is wonderful, and I was shown around Kampala. I am living with Lillian and Stonia who are about 30 years old, and have a one-year-old daughter named Michelle. I work with Lillian at Advocates Colition for Development and Environment (ACODE) and so my travel to and from work is easy--I just ride with her. Michelle is getting used to having me around, and we are bonding over our awkward dancing skills and our ability to make funny faces at each other. I am also living with Jane, who takes care of Michelle, and is 17, and Martin, who is a relative of ... read more