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.