Where We Live

I thought we would never make it to Mbale. It was so exciting to see everything, but I could hardly keep my eyes open. When we got here, we got a little settled into our place. We live in a nice house, with 3 bedrooms, and American toilets! We even have showers, although they are cold. Our neighborhood is safe, but there is also barbed wire atop our fence and we have a guard named David. He has been a guard for HELP for 4 years now, so he is familiar with what we do and who we are. He has a bow and arrow. I’m sure that will really come in handy if we get robbed J There is a smaller house thing in the back, and the boys sleep there as well as about 4 girls. (There are 23 of us all together). I sleep in a room with 5 other girls, and we all have bunk beds and mosquito nets to keep the mosquitoes (with malaria) away at night.

The night we arrived we went to an internet café and a grocery store called BAM. We picked up just a few things, and then rode a “boda boda” back to our place. A boda is a motorcycle. You pay the driver to take you where you’re going. Often, the people will sit 2 or 3 to a motorcycle, plus the driver, but our CDs (country directors) told us not to until we’ve been here a week or two. That night our boda drivers were given strict instructions to be safe and drive slowly, because it was our first night in Africa. Without any road laws, and roads covered in potholes, I find it a miracle that anyone makes it anywhere safely, but apparently they all do! Maybe after a few more times I won’t have to close my eyes anymore! ;)

Afterwards we went to dinner at a hotel next door. They had vegetables, chips (which are like French fries), sausage, fruit (the pineapple is SO good!), and these delicious sodas called Mirindas. When we got home, we ate cinnamon rolls in honor of my birthday. I was so impressed they found ingredients to make them, they were delicious! Then David (the guard) had an initiation party for the newcomers. He had fried white ants for us to eat. And YES, I ate one! I was unsure at first, but gratefully, everything fried just tastes fried so you couldn’t taste much. I took a video of my doing it, I’ll try to send it sometime….oh Africa!

We finally made it!

From the airport, we climbed into an old van (used as taxis all over Uganda) and took our 6 hour drive to Mbale. We paid for a driver, and I saw quickly why. Driving here is so different! There are usually no lanes, no stoplights, stop signs, or speed limit. The road is like a living entity, and you just have to move with it. I had so many first impressions, I will try to remember as much as I can:

· - Everything was so green. There were no mountains (minus one near Mbale) and you could see green valleys and foliage for miles.

On the main roads, the streets were lined with shops. I thought it was interesting though how they all seemed to sell the same things: furniture, clothes, and fruit. I’m still not sure where they get other things….

· - There were people everywhere. Selling, buying, talking, walking around.

· - I saw many moms with babies and infants. But I noticed that none of the babies were ever crying. I’m not sure why, but I wondered if it was because they were so hungry. Kids here are also typically very well-behaved.

· - The people were all clean and dressed nicely. Everything seemed covered in red clay and dirt, but the clothes were all clean, pressed, and for the most part, without spot.

· - There were lots of soldiers. They all carry guns and stand outside of banks, some shops or just wander the streets. I found out later they aren’t all soldiers, some are police or other things.

· - Schools get out at different times, but much later than in the US. At around 5 and 6, we would see groups of kids walking home along the road. You could tell they were school kids because they all had uniforms. Some had shoes, some did not. But they all stared at this group of “mzungus” going down the road. “Mzungu” is what they call a white foreigner. It is unusual for kids to see white people, and they seemed somewhat fascinated. A couple of the younger kids even ran behind the bus awhile yelling at us, smiling, and waving. They are adorable.

We stopped once in Campala, the capital, to pay the man who pays the driver. I guess they like to go thru someone instead of paying the driver directly because there is less chance of getting swindled. I waited in the car with a couple of other volunteers while the rest went inside this shopping center. When they came back, they were all singing “happy birthday.” They handed me a birthday hat (I have no idea how they found one here!) and a delicious chocolate cake which we all shared and ate in the car. I enjoyed it, but I believe the people who have already been here for over a month enjoyed it much more J. It was so fun and thoughtful. A birthday in Africa!

Traveling to Uganda

It was a long three days, but I finally made it! Uganda is beautiful, and I'm sure I will fall in love with it here. However, just getting here seemed an adventure of its own...

I left Salt Lake on Wednesday morning. I was a wreck. I knew that coming was the right thing to do, but I was leaving everything for 9 weeks to go live in a place I knew very little about. I was scared. I'm glad that Blake and Debra were around to help comfort me, especially when I couldn't find my passport and it was time to go. Luckily, (I'm sure Heavenly Father helped with this) I remembered that I had made a copy of my passport the night before and i left it on the scanner. (Whew! That was close!)

Blake volunteered to come in with me when we got to the airport (another good thing because I've never traveled internationally and yes, still was a wreck). As we headed to the check in counter someone called out my name and it was Lindsey, a girl I teach with. She is also volunteering with HELP international this summer and traveling to India. (We are going to meet in London on our way back). That sent a wave of relief thru me to see another familiar face. Then we went up to the counter and after getting some help got myself checked in. I was about to pay for my baggage (I brought 2 big bags) but Sarah, my teacher friend comingw tih me, arrived by then and told the man we were told we could bring 2 bags for free. He finally let us, and I said my goodbyes and Sarah and I headed to security. It seemed that all day we just kept looking at other and saying, "we're going to Uganda!".

Our first flight was to Chicago. It went pretty well and excitement was still up. Several HELP volunteers were all given the same flights, so we stuck together and got to meet some of the people going to Lugazi, Uganda (I'm in Mbale). Then came our 7 and half hour flight to London. I tried to sleep, but without luck. But, I did have one of my first on-flight meals! That was exciting. Our plane was so big.
When we got to London, we learned that our luggage had already been sent on, so I wouldn’t have my luggage for another day and a half, but that was okay, at least I didn’t have to worry about it. We put our carry on things in a locker, and then 11 of us headed out for a day in London. We started to count off numbers so that we could keep track of each other! In the few hours we were in London, we saw so much and got to ride the Tube! We saw the London eye, West Minster Abby, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (Blake, I told Prince Harry hello for you J), St. James’ Park and Trafalgar Square. Everything was beautiful, and I couldn’t believe I was in London. It was really like a dream come true. We could have stayed longer, but all of us were so tired, we decided to go back to the airport and wait for our evening flight. We were checked in easily and I slept some on the floor, then we headed in for our 8 hour flight. More meals, more excitement, little sleep, and what seemed an eternity later, we landed in Nairobi, Kenya. This airport was much smaller, and I had my first taste of Africa. Our plane was much smaller too, enough to walk up the steps to get into it. By then, our hour long flight seemed like nothing, and before we knew it, we landed in Uganda. We got our visas without a problem, and then I met our country directors, Whitney and Suzanne. They were so happy to see us, and so were we!