First Day

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I probably went to bed around 3am before waking up around 7 or 8am. It seems that people don’t sleep very much. I also was tossing and turning most of the night. It’s a bit strange sleeping under a mosquito net again as well as being in a sleeping bag. It was also pretty warm throughout the night so my sleeping bag was making me very hot. I was so tired yet I couldn’t sleep. I think I still had some jetlag as well (7 hours ahead of eastern time zone). It was very frustrating. It started to rain in the night and the temperature dropped a bit so towards the end of the night I was able to get some sleep but by the time I was in deep sleep people started waking up.

I woke up when Martin woke up because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Was I going to start working on my project? Was I going to change rooms? Also I also they hadn’t made me a key for Martin’s room so I always had to keep track of where he was so that I could get back into the room. I went down to the bathrooms to take my shower. There were about five shower stalls and only one of them had a curtain and someone was using it. I thought well that sucks but this is Uganda so I have to suck it up. I showered in the stall without a curtain under a tap that only has cold water. It was pretty much like taking a shower under a hose in 68 degree weather (about 18 or 19 C). It was pretty unpleasant and I finished as quickly as I could. Luckily no one walked into the bathroom while I was showering in my curtainless stall. I got up to the room to change and put on my raincoat and headed out with Martin to go to MUBS (Makerere University Business School). All of the dirt roads had turned to mud. I didn’t see too much because I was constantly looking where I was stepping. We then walked around a wall and through a small area where there were people’s houses. We cut over to the road. We walked along the road until we got to the university. It’s not very fun walking along the roads because the cars don’t stop for people and there isn’t much space to walk on the side of the road. I constantly was looking back to make sure that a car didn’t hit me. We finally got to the university and I was able to check my email and let my parents know that I was alive. I only get wireless internet at the university which is about a 10 minute walk from the hostel so that is why you probably won’t find me online very often. I met some other people and then we went to the city center area. I had to change my money (all $50 of it). To get to town we had to take a “taxi” which is really a communal van that has about 14 people in it. You wait along the side of the road until you find one that has seats and is going in your direction. To get to town it only costs about 500 Ugandan Shillings (the national currency). It takes about 15 minutes to get to town but there was also a bit of traffic, which was a complete mess. The taxis would come within inches of hitting each other. I would sit there and look around at the scenery and the people. All of the guys dressed very nicely. They all wear button down shirts with khaki or dress style pants. I didn’t see too many women. Almost anyone who was trying to sell something or carry something would balance it on their head as they would walk around though which was pretty impressive. I’ve seen anything from bowls to rugs on someone’s head.

We got to town and it seemed like such chaos. Crossing the street is absolute madness. There are almost no stop lights so you have to just find a time when there are no cars crossing, run, and hope for the best. Cars will almost never stop for you and if you’re standing too close to the road you’re more likely to get hit by a mirror or some part of the car rather than them swerving around you. It’s also important to remember to look to the right since they drive on the other side of the road. It was difficult to look around as well because I had my hood on (it was raining) but I even when it stopped raining and it got hot I was a bit nervous to roll up my sleeves and let people see how white I am. In most countries that I have been to when people see that you are white they will start going up to you and asking for money or if you want to buy something. It gets a bit annoying after a while. While walking through the town though I really didn’t have any problem. The boda bodas (motorcycle taxi’s) were really the only people that ask if you want a ride but that’s understandable. Actually everyone in town was very friendly. If you needed directions people were happy to give them to you.

I walked around with Martin for a bit until we found a money exchange place that had a proper exchange. They offered around 2,243 Ugandan Shillings for 1 USD. That seemed good so we went in but they would only give us that rate if we were exchanging “large bills”. To them large bills are 50’s and 100’s. If you wanted to exchange less than that (say a $20 bill) they would only give us a rate of around 1,880 Shillings per dollar. Since I had some “small bills” the best exchange rate I could find was 2,000 Shillings per USD and that’s the exchange that I’ll use in my head. However when traveling in cheaper countries I always like to think in the local currency and not in my home currency. If you always think in your home currency then you’re going to be spending more money than you have to. Although it seems cheap compared to back home, you’re paying more than you should.
After exchanging money Martin and I hopped in another collective taxi and went to Makerere University (MUK). Martin was helping to organize a rafting trip over the weekend so he needed to meet with some people to see make sure that they had paid and were coming. I declined to go rafting because although it sounds fun, it was my first weekend in town and I wanted to relax and also it is $125 (yes USD), which is way more than I think you should pay for rafting. In Uganda the way that the locals live their lives is very cheap but to do something out of their ordinary lifestyle is very expensive (example the rafting). To go gorilla trekking for a day or two costs around $500 because the park entrance fees are so high. So as long as I stay put I should not spent much money but any excursions are probably going to cost a bit.

We got onto another collective taxi (which how they operate still confuses me) to get back to MUBS (the business school campus) so that we could eat lunch. I hadn’t eaten all day because first I wasn’t sure what I could eat and second I didn’t know where to eat. I decided to order the local food because it is the cheapest. The meal was around 2,500 Shillings and with it I got a local seasoned rice that sounds like “pilar”, a plantain mash, a block of something called “posho” (in the picture is the white stuff and apparently made from corn), a bit of sweet potato (also white), and a side “sauce” which is usually a type of meat soup (I ordered the beans in this photo). The foods on the plate are very dry to you typically dip the foods in the “sauce” or pour the sauce on the foods. It’s very good and I was glad to know that everything was thoroughly cooked. I was still a bit nervous though because we were eating in a slum looking type area.

After the meal we headed back to the MUBS campus and went to the AIESEC office where I met some other AIESEC people and got to use the internet.

After that I went back to the dormitory and hung out with some of the people there and watched some world cup soccer. It’s fun being in the dormitory because it’s full of AIESEC interns and Ugandan/Kenyan students. The Ugandan and Kenyan students are all extremely friendly and more than happy to talk to you about their culture. Also they don’t have crazy names as one would expect. So far I’ve met a Martin, James, Nicolas, Joseph, Lisa, Herbert, and more but that’s more of an idea of what types of names people have.

That evening I watched the US soccer game (game times were 2:30pm, 5pm, and 9:30pm). I also became friends with some of the AIESEC people at the dorm and we decided to all go out to dinner. I learned most of their names. There’s probably around 10-15 of us in the dorm. There are a couple of Americans, some Chinese, two Dutch guys (both named Tim), a guy from Greece, an Indian, and a Malaysian girl. I was a bit skeptical to go to dinner because they were going to a very expensive place (around 16,000 shillings per meal) but I thought it’s my first “real” day and I should meet some of the other people. As I was talking to the others I got to get more acquainted with how to live in Uganda. I found out where the grocery store was so after I ordered my food I went to buy some water and toilet paper. I also later learned that it’s not normal to shower without a shower curtain. Tim (brown hair) said that when he arrived there had been more curtains but they started disappearing.
After dinner I watched another soccer game with some people at the hostel. It’s really interesting to see the commercials here for soccer because it seems that regardless of which country you are from in Africa you cheer for the African team. There are billboards throughout the street that say, “Many flags but the same dream”, “Africa United” and “Let’s go Africa. Let’s go 2010”. Although South Africa is very far away, everybody in Africa is happy to have the World Cup here and they feel that the entire continent is home turf. Also Viv might find this funny but I hear the world cup song “Wave your flag” every time I’m near a computer or near a radio.
After the game I once again set up my mosquito net and sleeping bag and went to bed.

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Photos

First Impression
I had gotten picked up from the airport by car and when we finally arrived where I was told I would be staying this was the first thing that I saw. Not the most welcoming sight.

MUBS
This is entrance to the Makerere University Business School.

Collective Taxi
They usually are full and have about 14 people inside.

TV room
This is where we watch the world cup games.