A place that is constantly moving

I am here in Kampala, safe and sound! Jon and Lauren didn't have internet for a day so I was not able to post. I am nine hours ahead of the central time zone so I am writing this on my second morning here.

Sunday night, Jon and Lauren (J&L) picked me up from the airport which is about 40km from their home in Kampala on Lake Victoria in a city called Entebbe. The first thing you noticed other than the traffic along this busy stretch of road is the amount of people out walking. You could see people gathering for parties, going to shops, getting their hair done. This theme of constant movement would be something that would become more and more apparent in the next day.

When we arrived we went back out for a snack. There are vendors on the street that sell chapati a fried bread that Indian immigrants brought and had a beer at the new bar that popped up below their apartment. One thing that strikes you right away is how important people find the greeting here. In the US it high and a wave, here its a special handshake and often you will hold hands with the person you are speaking with for several minutes. Several people came up to great us and find out who is the new mzungu (more on this later, it means white person).

The night to come might have been the longest night of my life. The constant movement of Kampala does not stop for J&L's street either. All night things are going on, music is playing chickens and dogs are making noise. People are walking up and down the street. Bicycles, Motorcycle taxi's (Boda-Bodas), Taxi vans called (Matatu) pass by, honking their horn instead of stopping at the intersection. Making for this play of what we might call chaos that is more organized than any foreigner could imagine. So, it is loud here. How loud you ask? Like if I lived on Michigan Ave. in Chicago, not an apartment but on the street, that is how loud. Its a loud sort of loud. Thankfully, earplugs do the trick and I sleep in my own little quiet heaven.

The next morning we went out for a day on the town. I took my first forms of public transport here. I had my first motorcycle ride ever. On the back of a boda-boda that is scary. I have decided to consider myself brave after doing that. But, for you parents worried about my safety we didn't take them into the parts of the city where they weave in and out through traffic. We took another taxi to Ugandan Crafts where Lauren has volunteered. They sell fair trade crafts from East Africa. I will post more about this another time.

From there we walked to the central part of Kampala. I don't think a photo can describe to you the amount of people and the craziness that happens on the street. Shops everywhere, selling everything. There are people walking everywhere, some places there are sidewalks some there are not. We walked to a place which overlooks the taxi park. The picture below shows the funnel of taxis going into this Grand Central Station of Kampala. People are walking up and down the street while traffic whizzes by. Still, it all works, we never go hit, people get where they need to go!


As you spend time walking you will find that "mzungu" is a word you will learn to love here, it means white person and is shouted at you routinely. It is not a disrespectful saying it is just a way of acknowledging you. Walking down the street the next day you find that people will say Mzungu this and Mzungu that... Mzungu do you want a ride? etc. Sometimes people will even touch you, just to touch. Standing on J&L's balcony people will look at me from the street and sometimes yell "MZUNGU!" and wave! Little kids will stare and smile if you wave back at them. From my one day of experience people are happy we are here, we have a general interest in their culture and we spend money here.

From the city center we walked to the professional area where we had pizza for lunch and made our way to Garden City shopping center the biggest mall in Uganda where there is a supermarket, cell phone stores, book shops. Everything you could ever imagine. I got my haircut and bought a cell phone. Then Lauren and I went to the grocery. We made our way home by a "special hire" which is a taxi as we know it in the US. It was a long day of walking we crashed and relaxed for a few hours. Then went out again for dinner in Old Kampala where I had goat! Not too bad start to eating here...

One other thing that stand out is that unlike celebrities tell you on TV this is not a place of total despair. Yes, it has problems, there are people who are hungry in places and health care is not the same as in the west. For the most part it is just a different way of living. People have hope, they like working and have time to enjoy life at night. Yesterday, I saw lots of people who seemed content and happy.

Today, the US Embassy and other travels around the city!