Kampala

I am in Kampala now and have just gotten settled into what will become my home for the next six weeks. When flew in early yesterday morning and rode for about thirty minutes into Kampala where we stayed at a hotel for the night.

Originally, we were to stay at TASO (the organization we are with), however it was way too expensive so with the help of the United Methodist Conference here, we are now somewhere else. I am not exactly sure where in Kampala we are but we are staying at a nice bed and breakfast that has internet inside and is owned by a group of Catholic nuns. We are within walking distance to a few restaurants as well as a grocery store and the hospital that we will be at for some of the time. We also have a wonderful view of the city and the surrounding mountains.

Even though everything is settling down for now, we had some difficulties getting here. The Nairobi airport is not known for its spaciousness. The entire airport is one long hallway that goes around in a circle with shops on either side. It would be okay if the hallway was wide but it wasn’t. It was only wide enough for three or four people to stand shoulder to shoulder. It wasn’t very crowded for the most part however, people were constantly pouring out of the gates when they were unloading from their flights which caused serious traffic jams. Not to mention my boarding pass had me on the same seat as another person in the group. So we both had to go back to the transfer desk, wait in line, and get new boarding passes within 20 minutes. It all worked out in the end and we were given a brief ride around the tarmac since the plane was on the other side of the airport.

Since it was early in the morning in Nairobi, the temperature was only about 60 degrees. But when we landed here in Kampala, Entebbe to be exact, the temperature was around 80 or 90. The airport was also surrounded by farmland full of cattle with Lake Victoria in the background.

The food here is also very good. One of the main dishes here in Uganda is called “matoke.” It is green bananas, wrapped in banana leaves, and cooked in water. It has the consistency of a baked potato but tastes almost liked boiled peanuts. They put it in everything. In fact I just ate a plate or rice and beef with matoke right in the middle of it.

The transportation here is pretty crazy since there is no standard system. You can either ride in a small bus or on a “boda boda” which is a two-seater motorcycle in which you ride on the back. I have yet to ride one of these but I eventually will since it is the only means of going straight to your destination.

I will post more pictures up as I get them.

Nairobi part two

Everything is going well. I leave early tomorrow morning to go to Uganda where I will be for the remaining six weeks. I don’t know much about the organization except that it called The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) and it is dispersed throughout Uganda. I will be staying in Kampala for most of the time but I think we will be going around Uganda for some of the time.

Today was the first time that I realized that I am in Kenya. We left the compound that we are staying in for the first time and drove around Nairobi to a UM church and a school for children that was behind it. Most of the roads we were on were one lane dirt roads in which we had to stop several times for a chicken or goat to get out of the way, as well as children running behind us. There was also “Obama” written all over the walls and on the desks at the school.

I am going to try to upload some pictures and videos tonight depending on how well my connection to the internet is.

Nairobi

I am in Nairobi now at the Methodist Guest House. Which is located in a gated compound outside the city. Our plane arrived late Sunday night from London and of course my bag was not on it. So I didn't even get to the hotel until around 1:00 Monday morning.

There are fourteen of us here from Africa, Asia, and the US. Four if us are from the states and the rest are from kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Congo, South Korea, Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malawi. So not many people speak English very well. There is actually a French translator here to help the girl from the Congo. We will be here until Sunday when a guy from Mozambique and a girl from the Philippines go to kampala, Uganda. The language barrier is going to be fun since we all speak different languages. I guess I will have to learn Portuguese, Filipino, and whatever language they speak in Uganda. Not to mention they are both at least 5 years older than me.

I miss everyone and cannot wait to see you all.

By the way, my bag finally came today.

Baltimore

Where is everyone?  There are only about twenty people in the entire terminal and we are all in a bar watching Kill Bill.  I am the only American and am surrounded by Brits.  I take that back, there is one lady from Canada.  The plane leaves in just under two hours but usually the gate is at least half full by now.  The only people sitting there are (is?) an old couple who are both asleep.

By the way, I am still amazed at the type of people that you can only find in an airport.  At the gate in Charlotte I sat beside a woman with her daughter and her mother.  The mother was about 90 years old and just sat in her wheelchair and her daughter was about 9 or 10 and had an iPhone.  At one point the mother and daughter left for about thirty minutes to shop and left the grandmother there by herself.  Not to mention they initially parked her facing the wall until she asked to be moved in front of the window.   To top it off, as I was walking to the international terminal here in Baltimore, I witnessed a kid with a leash around him.  It might have been somewhat okay if it was one of those adjustable ones but no.  It wasn't.  It was a bright red leash which the mother had firmly tied around her wrist.

Currently, I am watching a kid run around the terminal while his mom is trying to catch him.  It's pretty funny considering he is crawling under the benches in order to avoid being captured. 

Next stop, London.

Still at gate B14.

First post

I am sitting in the Charlotte airport awaiting my plane, and thought, what the heck I am going to start a blog.  So here it is.  I am going to try to post pictures of my travels thoughout these next few months.  As well as updating the posts whenever I am able.  Which is probably not going to be very often depending upon where I will be placed.  

For the first week I will be in a convention center in Nairobi, Kenya.  from there we will fly into entebbe airport just southwest of Kampala, Uganda.  I also have a handheld GPS with me so I will try and post my coordinates whenever possible.  Until then, I will be sitting here in gate B14.