Uganda Day 1: Kampala

Okay, so I'm just gonna pick up where my last post left off.

We met Sandy and Kristoff for lunch and we walked over to the "food court" a few buildings down from our hotel. Before we ate, though, Kimmie and I needed to exchange our American dollars for Ugandan Shillings. I gave the teller $70 and walked out with over 130,000 shillings! I felt rich, until I started seeing the prices! The food court looked like a one in a mall in America -- the perimeter housed the various food choices -- American, Chinese, Cuban, Lebanese, Indian, Italian -- and the center contained tables. I wasn't expecting the... ahem... ATTENTION we recieved when we arrived, though. Before we could even get seats, we were being hounded by representatives from each restaurant shoving menus on our table in our faces. If we took too long looking at one menu, another one would appear in our hands or the servers would point out items that we might like. There is no concept of personal space here, that's for sure.

After a satisfying lunch of Chicken Tikka Masala and Beef Curry (Kimmie and I shared), we took off to town to run some errands before heading into Gulu. We searched out a place to print the student manuals for our two-day kid's camp this weekend. At the third place, the courthouse, we found someone able to print and bind the manuals. The "printing" was to be done on an ancient copy machine stacked atop an even MORE ancient copier, housed in a "library"-- more like a small bedroom with shelves built around the edges. The walls were dingy ivory, streaked with who knows what flavor of brown gunk. After settling up on a price and a time to return, we returned to the market to "get our shop on".

The market consisted of 15 to 20 stalls of various sizes containing all sorts of treasures -- the typical African-style dresses and shirts, carved masks, baskets, necklaces and earrings, soapstone statues. Before too long, each stall began to look the same, although some did have unique items. Kristoff found an AWESOME drum with beautiful carvings all over it. I bought several things to bring back for people, and the COOLEST part of the whole deal was how inexpensive everything was! I did get some great deals, but it wasn't without it's fair share of stresses. The vendors must have known I was a sucker because they drew me in with a sweet "You come in. I'll give you a good deal!" At one stop, the ladies kept giving me dresses to try on -- dresses I didn't like and hadn't even been looking at! Once I finally said, "No" to each one and said that I would only buy the two items I wanted, they went up on the prices of the items. I managed to talk them down -- calling them on it -- and I think they were rather disgruntled, but they weren't going to fool THIS muzunu (the African term for "white person"... kinna like "gringo" in South America).

By 5:00, we were shopped out. We walked back to the courthouse to pick up the manuals, discovered that they weren't finished and to come back in an hour. An hour later, he still hadn't finished, so we agreed to come back in one and a half hours. At this point, we were exhausted and ready to go to the hotel, so we fought traffic -- and people selling vegetables and street preachers and boda bodas (scooters that carry up to 3 passengers). At times I didn't know where one lane ended and the other began, but Bosco was driving, and we were in a sturdy van, so I felt safe. In fact, I have never once felt threatened or fearful. I shopped at the market alone for part of the time, and I felt just fine. Of course, it was day time, and honestly as we were driving to the hotel last night, some of the things I saw didn't feel welcoming, but I'm not going out at night without at least two others and one MUST be a man -- if not Bosco, our driver.

SO, tomorrow, we are off to Gulu. The road is five hours of dirt, without "decent" bathrooms, and with PLENTY of bumps and potholes. I've come armed with my ginger pills as well as Dramamine in the case of an emergency, but I don't want to take anything if I don't have to. As long as I can get fresh air, I should be fine. Once I start getting hot, I get nauseus. YUCK!

In Gulu, we will not have any internet, but we'll only be there until Monday morning when we'll trek to Murchison Falls, further west. I'll be taking plenty of pictures, but my computer isn't cooperating with the internet here, so I don't know when or if I can get these things uploaded. I'll try to get facebook to cooperate, but the internet is so slow that I think the large sizes of the pictures overwhelms the system. I am trying to upload the photos to facebook and maybe I can link the album on to here? I don't know. Right now the sluggishness of the computer is mixing with the exhaustion in my body, and creating frustration! But, I think a few days away from technology will be good for me. I'll take plenty of pictures, though... and maybe I'll take some videos with Sandy's camera? Hers is far superior to mine!

Anyway, my patience is running short with this computer and I have to be up and at em by 8 in the morning, so I'm signing off for now. Keep praying for us as we journey deeper into the bush tomorrow. Pray that our drive will be swift and without hassels, our hosts would be receptive, and our health will be good!