Week 1!

Greetings from Uganda!

Here is the long-promised blog post I have been talking about!

I am going to try to blog at least once a week, with a couple of posts throughout the week for big events or random happenings. So here’s week 1!

It has been an exciting adventure here in Uganda thus far. We boarded a plane in Atlanta at 5:45 on Tuesday afternoon, and headed for our first stop of the flight, Amsterdam! Two of the girls sat together, I was a few rows behind them, and the fourth girl a few rows behind me. I sat on the aisle (PTL!) next to a British family of a mom, dad, and daughter. It was fine at first, but then the daughter and mom would not quiet down, even when it got later and later and people were trying to sleep. The mom was watching some apparently hilarious movie, because she was LAUGHING for most of the duration of the film. Luckily, I had my own movies to watch (Animal Kingdom – weird. I don’t recommend it; and Delivery Man – great movie with a good storyline and message!), so I was not too bothered by her. Delta had a very good selection of movies and TV shows to watch, as well as games to play, so I never ran out of things to do. Because the flight was overnight, I had planned on sleeping during it as to keep a normal sleep schedule. It didn’t happen. I was unable to sleep at all, so when we landed in Amsterdam at 9:30 the next morning, I was exhausted! We got off of the plane in Amsterdam and walked all the way down to the opposite end of the airport where our next gate was, only to find out that there was a gate change! At least we were able to experience the entire airport! By the time we got back to the other side of the airport, we were beyond tired, and all we wanted to do was sit and rest. We did not do that, though, because we wanted to explore the airport! There were so many fancy shops and restaurants to see!

After walking around the airport a bit, it was time to board our next plane. Dr. Ukeje worked it out so that the 4 of us student teachers were able to sit on the same row for this flight! Needing the leg room, I requested the aisle. Instead of Delta, this time we flew KLM. We were not as impressed with the on-flight entertainment selection. However, there were several games that Marissa and I were able to challenge each other at and play together! After playing Connect Four, Tetris, and 18 holes of golf, we had had enough of games. On international flights, it seems as if the flight attendants are constantly bringing food and drinks, so we had lunch almost immediately after takeoff. The food was…alright, but, hey, it is airline food, so we were not expecting Ruth’s Chris or anything. Having been awake at this point for almost 24 hours, I was SO tired, so after lunch, I almost immediately went to sleep. I do not have much to say about this flight due to the fact that I slept SO much, but for the times that I was awake, I enjoyed sitting next to people I knew and could talk to. Speaking of those people, my fellow Student Teachers, they said I talked in my sleep, which I totally believe. When the flight attendant arrived at our row with dinner, they said that I woke up, took the food, said “Oh, dinner!” and went right back to sleep. I vaguely remember doing this, but when I woke up, dinner was on my tray. Looking like French Bread pizza, I tried it. It was alright. I now fully understand the stand-up joke “airline food, what’s up with that?” although no comedian would ever use that in a real routine because there is nothing with which they can follow it. But I digress.

We landed in Kigali, Rwanda, around 9:30pm on Wednesday evening to drop some people off and pick others up (this KLM route works like a triangle – Amsterdam, Kigali, and Entebbe), but because we were not getting off of at Kigali, we stayed on the plane and just hung out for about an hour. Other people had already booked the seats we were moved to for the Amsterdam flight, so the four of us were separated once again for the last 45-minute leg of the trip. We were still close to each other, so it was fine. I was seated on the aisle once again (PTL!), and the guy sitting next to me was a quiet, older gentleman who just sat there and read a book for the duration of the flight. After 16+ hours of plane rides, this last flight felt like a hop, skip, and a jump away! We touched down in Entebbe around 11:00pm.

ENTEBBE!

WE FINALLY MADE IT! From Hartsfield Jackson, to Entebbe International Airport, it was roughly 24 hours. To say that we had had enough of flights and airports would be an understatement. But we were not done yet. We had to stand in a long line of people to wait to get our Visas, but after that, it was baggage claim. Now, normally people hate baggage claim. They have to wait FOREVER, and they cannot find their luggage, and it is crowded. However, we had a very neutral experience. It was not very crowded, and we all found our luggage relatively quickly. +1 for Entebbe International Airport!

When we walked out of the airport, there were people EVERYWHERE. I was so surprised because of how late it was. Most of them were holding signs with people’s names on them, but others were just standing around. Dr. Ukeje had already arranged for drivers to pick us up, so they were there waiting for us. The two men loaded our luggage into the vans, and we left!

CULTURE SHOCK #1 – People in Uganda drive on the left side of the road, and the driver sits on the right side of the car!

This totally threw me off, but it did not take long to get used to. I will not be driving at all while I am here, so I do not have to get THAT used to it, just used to seeing it!

Around midnight or so, we arrived at the Anderita Beach Hotel in Entebbe, where we would spend the night before driving to Kampala the next day. The hotel was very night. Pulling in, our driver said that Lake Victoria was RIGHT across the street, but because it was so dark outside, we could not see it. THE HOTEL HAD WIFI! After getting our stuff situated into our second-floor rooms, we headed back down to the lobby to let friends and family know we had made it, post to our various social media accounts, and get hooked back into our addiction – smart phones, internet, and social media. To be honest, it felt so nice to have wifi again, although it had barely been 12 hours since we last had it. After our fix, we headed to bed.

CULTURE SHOCK #2 – Every bed in Uganda has a mosquito net over it!

It almost felt like sleeping in a fort. What I saw is a “chandelier” of netting that hung over the bed and draped down all four sides, almost to the floor. It was really weird at first, but hey, malaria is no joke, so whatever keeps me safe!

Waking up Thursday morning felt so weird. I had sort of forgotten where I was, so I was expecting to wake up either in my Kennesaw apartment, or my brother’s room in Columbus. Wrong. I woke up in a mosquito net in Entebbe, Uganda. I got ready for the day and headed down stairs to the lobby for breakfast. Looking just like a continental breakfast at any American hotel, there were eggs, sausage, fresh fruit, cereal, milk, tea, coffee, etc. AFRICAN TEA. Dr. Ukeje told us previously that African tea was phenomenal and would change our lives, and he was right! I cannot tell you how they make it or how it is different from anything in the States, but it is, and it is so good. It is definitely one of my favorite things about being in Uganda. The major difference between African and American breakfasts is that Africans do not store their milk in the fridge 24/7. By the time I poured some for my cereal, it was lukewarm at best. Not bad, different (As a group, the four of us decided that food here, among other things, would not be bad, but different. It gets us out of the mindset of “America is better” and really allows us to appreciate the differences between cultures). After breakfast, we headed up to the first floor where there was a big patio of sorts that has an AMAZING view of Lake Victoria! The drivers were not kidding when they said the lake was RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the hotel! We wanted to get to the beach as quickly as possible, so after snapping a few pics (and instagramming one of them!), we ran down to the beach. The water felt so cool and refreshing, and the beach was empty! Not a huge beach, it was still very wonderful. We took pictures (of course we did!) and walked around. Right next to where we were, there was a restaurant on the beach! Talk about perfect! The supervisor saw us walking in front of the restaurant, so he came to talk to us. His name is Bran (short for Brandon), and he was so welcoming and kind to us. He offered us seats at one of the tables and just wanted to talk to us. After talking with him for a bit about Uganda and the States (it’s not “America” here, it is “the States”), it was time for us to leave. Although our time in Entebbe was short (not even 12 hours), the city offered us some of the most beautiful views of Lake Victoria, and the people of the city were so nice and welcoming to us.

KAMPALA!

After too much travelling, we were finally going to Kampala, the place where we would spend the next 3 and a half months! After about an hour drive from Entebbe, we arrived in the city. Our first stop was Kampala International School Uganda (KISU), where Vanessa, Saba, and I would be student teaching. The campus is BEAUTIFUL! While there are buildings on campus, every room opens to a courtyard, and no building is completely closed off from the outside. I love the layout of this school. Coming home to a more “traditional” style school building will be rough for sure! Did I mention how HUGE the campus was?? We all felt SO lost the throughout the entire visit. The secondary (our middle and high schools) principal was kind enough to briefly show us around campus before he had a meeting, but we were also free to walk around. I felt like a freshman again at a brand new school with how lost I was. We stayed long enough to just say hello to a few people and get familiar with the school, but then we left.

A short drive away was where the 3 of us would be living for the duration of our stay. Originally, I was in a 1-bedroom studio apartment, and the girls were in a 2-bedroom, 2 bath apartment. However, after some miscommunication between a few folks, I moved in with the 2 girls, with me in 1 bedroom, and them in the other (The merge is saving is about $400 overall, so we were all totally for it!). The apartment is super nice and we all get along great!

SAFARI TIME!

Friday afternoon, we all hopped in a pop-up van and headed north towards Masindi, Uganda. We were all hungry, so we stopped at a huge shopping mall called Garden City and ventured to the food court.

CULTURE SHOCK #3 – Ugandan food courts!

When going to a Ugandan food court, you sit at a table, and the wait staff from all of the restaurants in the court BOMBARD you with their menus, pointing to various food items, asking you what you want. It was beyond stressful trying to look at several different menus at once, but I decided on chicken and vegetables with a side of fried rice. It was so good!

After lunch, it was roughly 4 hours of driving until we reached the hotel we stayed at for the night, New Court View Hotel.

CULTURE SHOCK  #4 – Not everywhere has wifi!

However, NCVH did! After not having wifi since Thursday morning, we all pulled out our phones and updated family and friends after ordering dinner at the restaurant. I was not too hungry, so I just had some fried plantains, which were delicious! After about 2 hours of sitting at the table on our phones catching up with what was going on in the States, it was time for bed. Yes, more mosquito nets!

Saturday morning began really early. We were all up by 5am, had breakfast by 5:30, and were gone by 6:00. We arrived at the entrance to the reserve around 7, and we thought it was safari time. Wrong. We still had to drive about an hour and a half on a long, bumpy road to the ferry across the river. The NILE RIVER. However, we DID see some baboons, chimps (which the pop-up driver had never seen on the reserve!), and even a sausage tree (So strange, but so cool! Elephants eat the sausages, and apparently it makes them intoxicated?).  We arrived at the river, and I was mesmerized by the view. I was actually standing on the bank of the NILE RIVER. How many people can say that!? As a History teacher (soon-to-be, anyway) the Nile is something I have spent time studying and teaching about, so it was super cool to get to see it with my own eyes.

We got in a ferry (well, we got on a mechanical ‘boat’ and our pop-up drove onto it) and boated across the river. Getting back into our pop-up, it was time for the safari. The van is called a pop-up because the top actually pops up and you are able to stand on your seat and have a much better view of wherever you are.

LET ME JUST PAUSE HERE AND GIVE YOU SOME INSIGHT TO HOW I WAS FEELING. I WAS ABOUT TO GO ON AN AUTHENTIC AFRICAN SAFARI! HOW COOL IS THAT!? I WAS BEYOND CLOUD 9 AT THIS POINT! (Can you tell by the all caps?)

There was a lot of driving and picture taking, but we saw so much!

- Giraffes

- Elephants

- Antelopes (a few species)

- Birds (what up, Zazu!)

- Warthogs (Pumbaa!)

- Water Buffaloes

AND MORE

And that is just the land portion of the safari! After returning back to the river, we got in a boat for a 2-hour tour of the wildlife of the Nile!

- Hippos (TONS of them)

- More birds – including 2 Bald Eagles!

- An elephant that had come down to cool off

- Crocodiles

What. An. Experience. It was definitely one for the record books.

Driving back, our coordinator wanted us to see the top of a waterfall that we could see off in the distance while on the river. It was so beautiful! The view from the top of the waterfall looking out on the Nile was something you only dream of! The cherry on top of a fantastic day!

Although the roads were bumpy, and conditions were less than ideal, I was able to sleep 95% of the drive back to Kampala, about 6 hours or so. The girls say my head was being thrown around like crazy, and I could have gotten a concussion, but I was fine and enjoyed the nap.

We had planned on walking to the school Sunday morning from our apartments just to get a feel for how far of a walk it was, but our coordinator had other arrangements for us. We went instead to the East African Craft Village, the largest craft market in Kampala. Over 40 vendors had stalls set up and were selling all kinds of homemade things – purses, jewelry, home décor, clothes, etc. Knowing we had a long day ahead of us, I did not buy anything because I would have to carry it around all day. We will definitely be back, though, and I am going to load up on gifts and whatnot. Our next stop was Speke Hotel and Resort, in Munyoyo, Uganda, for a quick bite to eat and horseback riding. I did not ride, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and, of course, free wifi. (However, I found that I did not really utilize my phone very much.  I think I am becoming accustomed to not having it, which I like.) Due to time, horseback riding would not fit in our schedule, so riding would have to wait. We had one more event planned for the day – a cultural dancing presentation by the Ndere Troup.

Seated around tables in a large outdoor auditorium, we watched for about 2 hours while the Troup performed various dances. It was such different dancing from what we are used to (no, there was no twerking), and it was really interesting to watch! I was tired from the long day, but I was still engaged as the director and his troup mesmerized us with their beautiful moves and rhythms.

Although this was only Tuesday-Sunday, I will leave you here. The next post will include my first day of school and experience thus far with KISU!

Before I sign off, I want to connect with my readers as well as I can.

I want to hear from you! How are you doing? Tell me about how the nation is getting ready for college football! I am going to miss it so much, so please keep me updated!

Until next time,

Cam

Connect with me though Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

-Facebook is more for general updates on how things are going (Cameron Yarbrough)

-Twitter is more thoughts about things I am experiencing (@TheGrandCameron)

-Instagram is for cool pictures and things! (@TheGrandCameron)

Lake Victoria!

The Nile River!

An African elephant!

On top of a waterfall looking out on the Nile!