My first weekend

The rain is falling on the metal roof and my favorite smell (rain on the hot dirt) fills the air. Across several miles of banana leaves and small communities, I can see Lake Victoria from the porch of my apartment – MY apartment! :) My first apartment is in Uganda.

Zoe and I arrived in Entebbe on Friday night and were met at the airport by Patrick and Penny. We drove the hour back to Kampala and Patrick dropped us all off at our apartment.

Zoe is also a sophomore (now junior) at Stanford and received the same fellowship that I did. She is originally from New York and is studying International Relations at Stanford. We met during the application process for our fellowship and decided to live together in Kampala.

Patrick runs a business here called Bridge Africa International which helps short-term mission groups with housing, transport, and logistics. I got in touch with him last February through the friend of a friend and now we’re renting our apartment from him.

Penny is Patrick’s niece. She’s 19 and is hoping to start at University in Kampala in August. She is sharing our apartment and Patrick calls her our “Ugandan guide.” She’s definitely been exactly that to us the last two days and been a huge help as we get settled.

Yesterday morning, Patrick came and helped us set up our computers up for the dial up internet we’ll be using while we’re here. Then he, Penny, Zoe, and I went into town (actually, the outskirts of town, we haven’t gone downtown yet).

First we went to the bank (where the man helping me with the ATM kept rushing me to push the buttons, and then when I finally made my selections and got my debit card back, he informed me that “if you take too long, the machine will chew it up.” “Oh,” I said). We then went to an MTN store and bought phones and then continued on to the market and the Super Supermarket (yes, that’s its name) for fresh food and groceries.

In many ways, Uganda is a lot like Kenya, and it’s weird feeling like I’m in Kenya, but then having it not be Kenya. I keep wanting to speak in Swahili but no one would understand me. I have also never been so aware of (and frustrated by) my “whiteness” and the automatic impressions and stereotypes that go with it. I was the only muzungu on the street most of the places we went, and even though I don’t speak Lugandan, I could hear everyone talking about me.

It’s funny too because everyone thinks that Zoe’s from Africa (until she talks) and that I’m from the US, and they are surprised to find out that it’s the other way around.

“You were born in Kenya?” they ask. “Yes,” I say. “Your family is in Kenya now?” they ask. “Yes,” I say. “Ahh, you are truly Kenyan then,” they say. I think I have had this same exchange with the same several people several times over.

At the market, we bought 1 pineapple, 5 carrots, 6 onions, 3 garlic heads, 3 green peppers, 8 tomatoes, 3 cucumbers, 2 avocados, 1 cabbage head, 2 stalks (stalks?) of sukumawiki, eleven potatoes, 5 passion fruits, 6 oranges, a small stalk of bananas, and a cup of beans for 13,000 shillings…which is about $6.50. I’m so excited for all of the fresh fruit and vegetables I’ll be eating this summer!

In the afternoon, we unpacked and settled into our apartment. The apartment is pretty bare, but all the basics in furniture and dishes are here, so it’s perfect. Downstairs there is a small kitchen and dining room/living room area and upstairs there are two bedrooms and a bathroom. Zoe and I are sharing a room and Penny has her own. There is also a little porch off our room where it is much cooler to sit than inside. The compound we are living in has a high gate all around it and a guard. There are also some (fierce) dogs with the guard at night, so we feel very safe. The compound is located at the top of a little hill and we have a beautiful view of the lake and countryside.

After we cooked and ate dinner last night, Zoe and I both did some writing and Penny watched TV. Penny says she always has to watch a soap opera before she sleeps. Turns out it’s a Mexican soap opera dubbed over in English. I think it might be one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen.

I stayed up “late” (until 12) :) sending emails because we seem to only be able to get on the internet in the early morning and late at night; most of the other times in the day there is no connection (and even when we do get on, the internet is really slow!)

Patrick offered to take us to his church and so this morning we walked to Patrick’s house (about 5 minutes away) and loaded in his van to for the 10 minute drive to Ggaba Community Church. The service was in both Lugandan and English and it was encouraging to worship together with so many Ugandan Christians. After the two hour service, we piled back in the van and drove back to Patrick’s house.

Patrick invited us for lunch and we had sweet potatoes, matoke, peas, chicken, sukumawiki, and fresh pineapple – all cooked in the traditional Ugandan way. It was delicious.

Patrick has a beautiful family. His wife’s name is Sarah and they have three small kids – Mark, Martha and Melanie. They are all so kind and generous and have shown us so much hospitality already. The kids have a lot of energy and it was fun to play with them and get to know them a little bit. Mark (who is 7) and I are going to have a football date sometime soon; he tells me he is “very good at football, especially scoring.” :)

Tomorrow is our first day of work at the Monitor. Patrick showed us where it is located when we were out yesterday. To get there, we’ll have to walk about 20 minutes down to one of the main roads and then catch a “taxi” (the same thing as a matatu in Kenya…basically a small, packed bus) until we get to Kabalagaba (which is a typical street with boutiques and cafes during the day and…the red light district at night) and then walk or take a boda boda another 30 minutes to the Monitor.

I’m nervous and excited to meet Charles tomorrow and find out more of what I’ll be doing this summer. I’m sure it will be an adventure!