Driving on the Right Side of the Road Again

So as many of you know, I am not in Uganda anymore, but back in the good ol' US of A. Therefore, probably nobody will read this. But just in case:

I am slowly recovering from whatever sickness was trying to claim my life last Thursday and Friday. Alright, a bit of an exaggeration, but I was in some serious s**t that was absolutely no fun at all. The best part? The Boma reception calls me at around 1:45 in the afternoon Friday and is like "Lucy, when do you think you'll be ready to leave? Somebody booked the cottage and we need to clean it." I received this phone call while lying in a puddle of my own sweat and almost unable to walk because every time I stood up my legs would cramp. And now they are asking me to pack and do WHAT exactly until I leave for the airport at 8? So I drag myself out of bed, sit in the tub while water runs over my head, and proceed to try and pack the rest of my belongings into my backpack. I manage, and my last day in Uganda is spent sprawled out on a couch in the lobby of the hotel wishing somebody had already introduced some sort of instant trasnportation device.

But 24 hour flight stories are boring. Although I will say this-AMSTERDAM AIRPORT: YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CHARGE $3.50 FOR A SMALL FRY AT MCDONALDS. THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS. ESPECIALLY COMING FROM AFRICA WHERE THAT WOULD BUY ME ABOUT 3 DINNERS. Ok that is all.

Anyways, my last week in Kampala was awesome. I got to go on a game drive (basically a safari) in a Toyota Corolla driven by a Ugandan named Sam that we hired to drive us around for a weekend. Now that I'm home ya'll can just see pictures of the magestic animals I saw along the road. I've decided that along with a pet dolphin, I would definitely like a pet elephant. I would ride it to work. How eco-friendly am I? Plus I'm sure you could use all that poop to create some sort of alternative fuel source. Ah, Africa has made me so innovative.

I'm realizing as I type relaying stories of what I've done on this thing is pretty much pointless now, because you can just call and ask! I'm still trying to figure out exactly how my trip has changed me. I know it has, but not in the way I was expecting it to. Which is confusing, because if somebody asked I couldn't tell you what exactly I was expecting, but this was not it. A growing experience? Sure. Enlightening? Definitely. But I don't think you can sum it up in a word of even a phrase. Some sort of personal discovery and growth would probably get you closer than anything, I guess. Oh, well. That's the beauty of new experiences.

You Know What Would Suck?

A 24 hour flight home with a fever. Which is what I'm about to embark on. Luckily these malaria meds the clinic doctors gave me have helped a little, so I'm not completely incapacitated. At least I can fathom getting up and walking a few steps without feeling like my legs are about to give out. I was planning on being healthy yesterday and getting to know Entebbe a little bit better, but the whole illness thing sort of got in the way of that. Thanks, Africa!

Before I got shot down by whatever this parasite/virus/bacteria thing is, I did make it to the wildlife refuge my first morning back in Entebbe, which was pretty nice. I'd already seen most of the animals in the wild when I went to Murchison Falls last weekend on my SAFARI, but here there were chimps and lions, the two animals I had wanted to see and missed out on, so that was nice. It's sort of eerie how familar the bodies of chimps look. Super human.

I know this is really lame of me, but I sort of feel like I'm going to faint, so I'm going to go sit with my eyes closed for about half an hour before I head off to the airport. Home so soon!

Today, I Locked my Key in my Locker.

With two different people's money and passports. Ugh, I would. How embarrassing. Andrew had to cut it off with a saw while everybody stood there half laughing/half annoyed. Happy 4th of July to me! Luckily nobody needed anything in there immediately, and we could head to the American Recreation Association without any trouble.

25,000 Ugandan shillings (about $12.50, which for anything here is EXPENSIVE) and one metal detector later we were in mzungu land. I had a strong yearning to go hang out with all of the food servers, who were all Ugandan. This place was like a little oasis where they overcharge you for everything, just like in the states! You couldn't even get one hot dog and one hamburger, you had to choose. Ridiculous! And only one non-alcoholic beverage. Are you kidding me America? So after some food, some sitting on grass, some gross American flag cake, fireworks, and Marine Corps flag salute finale thing, we headed back to the real world. And only after we left did we realize this little grassy knoll with real toilets and a pool was surrounded by a concrete fence and razor wire. Snap back to reality.

Because of Ugandan traffic, our special hire was a bit late. So what did I do in the meantime? Went shopping, of course. Although everybody would be proud of me...I was about to buy a dress before I realized it was $40. No way jose. Too expensive. And I couldn't even bargain! Maybe I've changed? So instead of spending money we sat with Patience and her family outside a small store next to the dress shop and talked about life and Michael Jackson (obviously) until James arrived to take us back to our other little escape, the hostel.

More to come later, I have to gate-crash the WHO office here in Kampala and beg them for information.

I Get Excited When I Can Condition my Hair.

And so begins the update. I really do get excited when I condition my hair, especially because I didn't bring any and was finally forced by humidity and equitorial heat to go to Uchumi and buy some. And now all showers are glorious.

The past week has been fabulous, and gone by way too fast. I have begun to perfect the art of gate crashing, which was demonstrated by two trips to the Ugandan Parliament as well as a trip to Makerere University. I now have contacts at both of those places, and am spending this weekend trying to focus my research on one specific aspect of malaria/economic development/public health policy, which is proving to be much harder than I originally planned. But I've met some interesting people and heard some interesting things.

My trip to Parliament was probably the highlight of the week (besides the Ugandan music video I was in, but I'll get to that later). I am constantly surprised and pleased at how trusting Ugandans are. I simply had to look up the names of the shadow ministers I wanted to speak to, sign in with the receptionist, and was given both the mobile number of the ministers and their office numbers. Score! One wasn't available, and the other (the shadow minister of planning, finance, and economic development) was in the middle of a small meeting, but invited me to sit down nonetheless. There's no way somebody could walk into Congress and be like "So I need to speak to the Democratic Senator of Ohio. Is he available?" and have the answer be "Of course, let me give you his cell phone number." Crazy.

At the end of my interview with Albert Oduman (the aforementioned economic development shadow minister), I happend to ask what these gigantic birds perched on top of a nearby building were called. He didn't know, but instead of brushing me off what did he do? Called the Minister of Environment and asked him. Ahh, I love this country.

The music video was a highlight because it was such a disappointment. As a favor to the manager of Backpackers, who I've become close to, I told her I would make an appearance in the music video of her friend Patrick, an aspiring musical artist. The concept of the video was this:

Two mzungus were looking at art in a gallery, and the gallery attendant was a good looking Ugandan woman. Patrick comes in serenading, swoops said attendant off her feet, and we white people are left alone to ponder which paintings we would like to purchase. There was also dancing involved. When we asked the director if we were dressed appropriately, his response was "You look like tourists, that is perfect." And when he is trying to describe to us what we're supposed to be doing, he said "I mean, I'm not really sure. Only white people go to these art exhibitions, so do whatever you would do there."

Riiiiiight. He knows me so well.

It was a painfully long process, but alllmoooost worth all of the pain and deep fried sausage lunch for a promise of Patrick's demo and a copy of the video. I'll make sure to remember all of you when I become a staple in the Ugandan music video industry. I've officially arrived.

Today Kampala Smelled like Vanilla Wafers

And my feet itch. No malaria-infected bites yet, knock on wood. But how ironic would that be?

Wooee it's been a long time and a lot has happened since I posted last. I've decided to try and focus my research towards the public health policy side of things, and have actually sent emails and gate crashed the university here AND got more malaria slides! Working hard. The past 5 days were spent away from Kampala, which was a much needed break that I wasn't aware I needed until I left the city. It was a relief to cross the road and not think about how close you are to that speeding matatu or become stranded in the middle of the road because cars won't stop going the other way and let you cross. I went to Mukono and a few surrounding villages, as well as Jinja (the source of the Nile) and spent my mini vacation with the group I met the first night I spent in Kampala. It was here I got the news that Michael Jackson had died, which is now the subject that is brought up whenever a Ugandan finds out you're from America. Obama's not the only thing their curious about now. Although I have seen both an Obama Grocery and Obama Butcher, so I think he's more than just a passing fad.

I'm very very happy here though. Besides the semi-dangerous traffic, I'm getting to know the lay of the land and Andrew, one of the people who works at Backpackers is teaching me some Luganda. I've only mastered a few key phrases, but it's better than nothing. I will impress all of you when I get back. Instead of Spanglish I will be speaking Englanda. Or Lugandish.

In other news, my number of marriage proposals is up to three. Only one of the men offered me cows though. I have also been asked to find various women white husbands. So if anybody is interested let me know. I am also supposed to guest star in a video for a friend of a friend tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get paid because I really want to go to Murchinson Falls and check out some African wildlife. I am such a mzungu.

Things to ask me about upon my return:

1. Swimming in the Nile
2. Bilharzia
3. Eating goat
4. How much I love Ugandan food
5. Schistosomiasis
5. Casinos
6. The unfortunate position of having an atrophied right leg and trying to swim against a strong river current
7. Waragi (it's made from BANANAS!)

Miss you all, please remember to email me if you get a chance: lvallejo@oxy.edu. I love emails!

Shopping Kampala Style

Today I went out into Kampala with my new Ugandan friend, Remmy. We met at Fido Dido, and ice cream shop in downtown Kampala. She took me shopping for a top or two, seeing as I came to Uganda woefully unprepared for having any kind of social life and looking to look somewhat decent. As cute as plain white (well, not so white anymore) Haines v-necks are, I decided I needed something a little more Friday-night appropriate. She took me into a couple shops on the main road, where I almost got pickpocketed. Luckily I have lightning-fast reflexes and put my hand over my pocket. We then headed to Oweno Market, this huuuuuuge labryinth of stalls. It's like being indoors everything is so close. There's a roof-like structure and everything. It's ridiculous. If anybody remembers the part in the Disney version of Hercules where he has to get past all of the dead people in the land of the dead to rescue Meg? Well it was kind of like that.

Anyways, imagine a dark, mud path with the owner of every stall reaching out to grab your arm or bag. "Mzungu.. ladies...please come...sistah...lots of tops...mzungu, come look." You finally just have to keep moving and moving and ignore the whispers. But it almost felt like walking through the l and of the dead. We made a few stops, going through piles of second-hand clothing, most of it given to churches or donation centers from Westerners, who then sell it at the market. I see Abercrombie, Chuck Taylors, even an REI bag. Remmy does most of the bartering, even yelling at a man who tried to sell me a top for 2,000 more shillings than she paid. She told him that he was rising the price because I was white and that he was being ridiculous. Needless to say, I paid the lower price. After the shopping, it was time for some lunch: rice and beans, Africa-style. Pretty darn good. Although can you really go wrong with rice and beans? Answer: No. After the huge meal, we went back to the hostel and proceeded to fall asleep almost immediately. Love those naps. The rest of the afternoon passed without incident. I did meet two people involved with a Christian organization that are beginning a pretty interesting way of having Africans pay for their medical expenses. Ugandans pay for healthcare with crops. They can grow food and either donate the food to build up credit or just pay with food when they get ill. The food is then used to feed the children at the orphanage run by the same organization.

Dinner is leftover Ethiopian food, which was very tasty. The rest of the night was spent in a booth at the hostel talking about everything from the significance of drams to ghosts to the accountability of governments to their people. All of this was very intellectual and made me feel very smart. My list of books to read when I get home is getting longer and longer. And my brain is getting bigger and bigger, obviously. It's been awhile since I've been so enthralled with conversation that I stay up until 1:30. Ah, the joys of hostels.

I rafted the Nile in a thunderstorm today, what did you do?

WHITEWATER RAFTING! Starting with an early 6:15am alarm and a plate full of biscuits (or bisquits, as the Africans say), Ben, myself, and two Aussies named Pete and Kristy got on a bus with a Presbyterian chruch group doing mission work here. After a 2 hour bus ride to Jinja, we arrived at the Adrift campsite, rubbed sunscreen on, put on a helmet and lifejacket and hit the NIle, After a few practice situations with our guide, Geoffrey (pronounced Gee-OFF-rey) we hit our first rapid, a class one. The entire day was an adventure, mainly because of Geoffrey. His catchphrase for the day was "Ok paddle foward. Stop. Ok team, now sit back, relax and enjoy the Niiiile." I really wish I had a voice recording, because his voice was half of the entertainment. We continued downstream, increasing the rapid class as we went along. Our first flip, on a class 3, definitely gave me a scare. We flipped, and I was stuck under the raft. I kept trying to surface and find one of the air pockets, but the rapids kept me flipping and pushed me back underwater. Luckily, just when I thought I was about to pass out, I found an air pocket and began coughing up yummy, clean Nile water. Ben, my "buddy" for the duration of the trip, went under the raft himself to make sure I was alright. Later Ben would tell me what Geoffrey said when Ben told him I was under the raft: "Hmm. She should probably come out now."

After that mini scare, we were back on the rapids, enjoying each others company, our surroundings, and Geoffrey's ridiculous non-chalant attitude and hilarious conversation. My favorite of the day had to be when we were silently drifting along in between rapids and out of nowhere Goeffrey tells our boat

"Hey guys, you see that tree over there on the right?"
"Yeah."
"Fuckin' sweet tree man. Badass."

And he begins laughing hysterically because I had keeled over laughign at him. He said the same thing about a rock later that day. But boy was he STRONG. During our expedition, the Ugandan skies decided to open up and pour rain on us. The raindrops were falling so hard and were so big that we thought they were hail. The wind ws blowing the rain almost horizontal and our hair was standing on end because there was so much electricity in the air. Then the thunder started. Geoffrey told us to all get down while he steered us through the wind. I was smitten. After that 30 minute torrential downpour, the clouds started to disappear and we all took a swim in the river, which by this time was much warmer than the air. Geoffrey continued to entertain and we continued to take on more rapids (after a small lollipop break). We only flipped over completely one more time, and I managed to stay out from under the raft this time. All in all, a very, very fun experience. For lunch, we stopped on an island in the middle of the Nile, where they had set up a sandwich station, avacados and pineapple included. Their choice of drink was kool aid, which was a little questionable. But hey, an adventurer like myself needs to hydrate.

Four more rapids later and a small hike to pass a class 6 rapid, we arrived at the end of our journey. We were greeted by a stack of warm chapatti, bbqed skewers, and a cooler of cold soda, water, and beer. It was here that I tried my first Stoney, a ginger soda that everybody drinks here. Mom, you'd like it. It's made by Coca-Cola, like everything here. Honestly, you could walk into the most rural village and they would have a sign advertising Coke. But I digress.

The Stoney washed the chapatti down, and after pictures with Goeffrey and a few of the Pr3esbyterian kids getting scolded for dirnking beer, we headed back on the bus for the 2.5 hour ride home. Those 2.5 hours were spent in my bikini top wrapped in my "large" travel towel. It is DEFINITELY not large and it didn't even cover my torso. Luckily Africa is on the equator therefore warm. Back to Backpackers, email exchanges with the Austrailian couple and an offer to join them in Queen Elizabeth National Park for the weekend, and it was bedtime.

Weekend #1

I wake up at 7:30 due to the fact that my dormitory boasts an open "window", but they didn't bother to put in any glass or shades. So light=wake up time for Lucy. After a relaxing few hours in the lounge, I'm joined by Sam and a few other girls. Two of them (one Irish and one Scottish doing masters work here) and an English girl working in Jinja. While playing pool, I debated whether to take up the offer of another new friend, Benjamin, to go white water rafting on the Nile the next day. According to Ben, "Tuesday is the best day to go rafting". I was finally convinced, and so by the end of the round of pool I agreed to go. After that decision was made, I joined India, a girl from England, in a trip to Logogo mall. Even after being here only a week, walking into a Shoprite (like Target) was bizarre. The flourescent lights, linoleum, and huge space seemed so un-African. We then headed to an amazing lunch at the Good Africa Cafe and headed back to Backpackers. Another relaxing afternoon (I do a lot of relaxing here), and the group headed out to check out a "jam sesion" at the National Theater.

But as always, the first stop is the market for some rolex and chips. There, my lovely friends decided to trade my hand in marriage for 5 cows. Now that I was engaged, he insisted that I meet his brother, cooking chicken over at the other fire.

"Can I have your number? You so beautiful."
"Uh, no. I don't know my phone number, I'm sorry. Oh and my friends are leaving, see you later!"

I also met Chris at the market. He's an Arsenal fan (holla at I-A-N Powell). If you're interested, his email is ctopher54@gmail.com and he can be reached by phone at +2560775823728. After that interaction, we boda-ed ourselves to the National Theater, only to find that the jam session was either over or never happened. Instead, we stopped for some sodas and saw a few guys sitting outside the stand playing some sort of card game. After a few minutes they invited us to sit (probably because they overheard metelling the group I wanted to ask them if we could play). I asked them what the name of the game was. Apparently the name is "cards". And apparently I'm really bad at it. But it was fun nonetheless. And I was taught how to shuffle cards, Ugandan style. I'll show ya'll when I get home.

Kampala-Day 1

After a whopping 2.5 hours of sleep, I awoke and started my first full day in Kampala. For breakfast: a taste of Ugandan street food, rolex. It's basically eggs, onion, cabbage, and tomato scrambled together and wrapped in a fresh chapati. Delicious, but will definitely give you a stomachache. Actually, that's probably just me. For those of you who know how big a taco truck burrito is, a rolex is comparable in size. Price? 50 cents. I walked back to the hostel, met a few mor people, including a guy who was about to go to a pharmacy to buy a malaria test. Ironic, yeah? It turned out negative, but as we started joking about if he died have malaria, what a good story it would make, and then he could just go home and get treated. But that's an option that Africans don't have. Malaria doesn't warrent a medical evacuation. And it shouldn't. Hospitals and clinics should be able to deal with malaria cases.

Anyways, that was my mini-medical rant. Continuing my day of medical experiences, Sunday was my frist interview with Katie Wakeham, an oncologist at a hospital in Kampala. Her house was in an area South of Kampala, where she made some lunch and I got to ask her some questions about malaria and Ugandan healthcare. Fast forward a little bit, and we wound up at Speke Resort for a quick swim. After heading back to Backpackers (my hostel), the rest of the evening was spent getting to know who was left of the group I met the night before. We decided to go to a music festival going on at the National Theater after a stop at the market for a rolex. With a matatu ride and a boda, we arrived to find a stage set up in the parking lot. Lots of stalls selling drinks, candy, and various curios were also set up around the parking lot. The liquor was sold in plastic packets that you ripped open and poured in a cup. Interesting way of carrying around alcohol, I thought. Very portable alcohol. The band playing was an Ethiopian reggae band(holla at Kayla!) who we listened to for quite awhile before decided to check out the silent disco. Our group got split up, and my half wound up wandering into a dark auditorium. Chain of events:

1. Dark auditorium.
2. Lights go up.
3. It's SALSA DANCING!
4. Find the silent disco. It's filled with people wearing headphones with two channels on them, each channel playing two different DJs music.
4.5. Ugandans love Shania Twain.
5. I get really tired. I attribute this exhaustion to the lack of sleep the night before.
6. Boda back with my friend Sam.
7. Sleep.

I should probably be doing more research.

Making Friends! Woo!

It took less than an hour to have plans for that night. I knew I stayed in a hostel for a reason! Katie, my new friend from San Francisco, introduced me to the whole group. After a quick change of clothes, I was in another special hire on my way to The Iguana.

No entrance fee. Excellent.

But it was 11:30 pm when we got there. Andrew, one of the guys in the group, informed me that it's typical to be out until 6. Ugh. I realized that the last time I had stayed up that late was finals week. How nerdy did I feel? Real nerdy. Highlights of that evening include:

1. 12 tequila shots
2. A line of pure Ugandan cocaine
3. Throwing up 4 times and then chugging a beer

JUST KIDDING PARENTS!

We left the Iguana after about an hour and made our way via boda boda to Kyoto, where we stayed until 5. Yes people. 5 am. And we only left because there was a lightning storm. I cannot keep up with the Ugandan party scene, that's for sure. Overall, it was a good night. It felt good to be a part of a group, and I now have friends from all over the world. It's interesting being a mzungo. Cons? Higher prices. Higher as in the equivalent of $2 for a 15 minute taxi ride compared to $1. How am I ever going to justify spending money in the states? I know, devastating news. The economy will probably crash. Oh wait...

So...I'm in Africa? By myself?

June 13th

Today was my first day not spent in complete solitude. After a magnificent breakfast of banana muffins and passionfruit juice, I was invited to have a beer while waiting for a ride to a bus that would take me to Kampala. Time of invite? 10:30 am. (In my defense, I still felt like it was 12:30 am. Plus I was in no shape to refuse friendship). This was my introduction to the two South Africans, Aidan and Steve, that I would spend my day with. How to describe them? Oh I know: chain smokers. They were drinking beer or whiskey and cokes (respectively) ALL DAY. Their life expectancy had to drop at least a year that day. They were friendly enough, asking me about my research and making small talk. The accents were pretty thick, but I found out that they were waiting overnight for a plane to get fixed that would fly them into the African bush to do some work on a rig. Never found out exactly what they did. Somethign with minerals or oil I think.

Anyways, after more drinking and smoking (for them) and a nap (for me) and a 15 minute Ugandan downpour, it was decided that they would come to Kampala as well. So we got a special hire (the equivalent of a US taxi) and experienced Kampala traffic and the insanity that is driving there for the first time. Anybody remember the video game Crazy Taxi? It was exactly like that. Plus a whole lot of pedesterians and boda bodas (motorcycles you can hire to take you places) and matatus (Ugandan taxis). Lots of honking, lots of yelling, NASCAR speeds and weaving. We found my hostel, the two South Africans got yet another drink and asked if I wanted to join them at the casino. No thanks. So I went inside, awkward and alone.

End of Part 1: Oh my God I'm in Africa