White Water, World Cup, and Western Uganda

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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 experiences and more a study of the day-to-day life in a Ugandan family. Blythe and I set out on a free shuttle from Kampala to Jinja early in the morning and showed up in Jinja an hour later. When we arrived, I was quickly surrounded by the largest group of whites I had seen since leaving the US. No Ugandans are crazy/stupid/motivated enough to raft the Nile, so we were all from the US or Europe. Our guide, however, ended up being Ugandan--his name was Pallo, and he grew up holding onto an empty jerrycan and going down rapids like that. Now, he leads rafting trips and is also on Uganda's national kayak team. He was really nice. Also on our raft were a handful of med students from the US and two Brits.

Rafting was exhilarating. There were some really scary moments, but in the good, adrenaline-rush way. We flipped a number of times and we went over 6 or 7 grade 5 rapids and 13 or 14 rapids total. It was a lot of fun. At different points of calm, we would just jump out of the raft and float down the river. There were many birds in and around the water, and some of them were very beautiful. When we finished our trip, we were exhausted and we ate a large dinner looking out on the Nile. We checked into our dorm room that we had rented for the night and met our roommates--a really nice couple from the US. After showering and getting situated, we went to the bar and hung out with our guide who invited us to sit with him. Little did we know that by accepting his invite, we had situated ourselves squarely on the Ghana-supporting side of the room. The world cup match came on, and we found ourselves the only whites in a sea of excited Ugandans. All of the Americans/Europeans were on the other side of the room cheering on the US, and we were staying neutral. Very neutral. When Ghana won, it was hard to be disappointed because there was so much celebration on our side of the room. There was dancing, vuvuzellaing (can you use that as a verb?) and drumming. We went to sleep tired and happy.

The next day we wandered around Jinja, which is relatively small, and mostly people-watched. It was low-key and relaxing. We got back to the dorm area in time for the shuttle back to Kampala, which was duly delayed by that night's match--England vs Germany. We got stuck in traffic on the way back, and finally made our way home.

After a couple of days at the office I set off again, this time to Ft. Portal, a town in Western Uganda. We had a workshop about the environment and its ties to livlihood in the Keynjojo district. A lot of local leaders were there, and overall it was a success. I was in charge of running the sign-in table and taking notes, as usual. But, I was also the technology person. Which is absolutely hilarious. Surprisingly, I wasn't a complete failure in this regard, although I think it had more to do with luck than technological know-how.

When we left the conference, we drove to a cave with an interesting local story behind it--the stalactites were supposed to be the breasts of a princess which fed a baby who was abandoned--and there was also a waterfall. It was really beautiful, but it was more of an overhang than a cave. Especially with my perception of caves being shaped by Mammoth Cave, I was impressed at the beauty and the story, but less with the actual title of "cave." We then continued on our way back to Kampala, and stopped at a market by the roadside. I was worried because one of the guys traveling with us decided he wanted to buy some chickens. Which were alive. And tied together, hanging upside down. Our SUV had no real trunk and we had 3 more hours to drive. Luckily, the deal fell through.

As we continued, our driver decided to put on some music. Much to my amusement, Dolly Parton came on. It was actually hilarious--I have never envisaged myself driving through rural Uganda listening to "Coat of Many Colors." But it shouldn't have surprised me much as country music is really popular here.

Last weekend I went to the Uganda museum and spent time with the family. It was low-key, but good. On Monday we had a quarterly staff review meeting. It was nice, and at the end we went to the bar and had drinks. I felt really classy sipping a glass of red wine and chatting with my bosses and colleagues. Alas, casual drinks with friends will have to be put on hold for another two years when I get back to the US. Oh well. I expressed this to everyone there and they were all very surprised. The drinking age here is 18 but it isn't enforced at all. You can send a 5 year-old to buy beer and they'll sell it to them.

I have a bunch of reports to write and so I don't know if I'll have time to update again until I get home.

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Photos

The Cave
Me infront of the Stalactite Breast Cave.

It was Strenuous
Getting to the Cave was hard. Well, not really, but I wasn't exactly in the appropriate attire for hiking around. Oh well.

Fort Portal Sunrise
Out my hotel window

Me infront of the Source of the Nile
The Source of the Nile, where Lake Victoria empties out and the water starts its journey to the Mediterranean.

The Nile
This is in front of the hostel where we stayed. Pretty nice view.

Comments

[Vicky Schaefer]

thanks for the pics and play by play
Have a safe trip home!

[Elise again]

Hey girl hey
So, it seems you're doing well, especially if you're having enough fun not to be on the computer always...rafting sounds awesome and I'll see you soonish!!