So it has been 4 full days in Uganda and there’s been more than a few odd moments.
1. The moment that takes the cake was to wake up to find a relative in my room at 6am asking me for money!
That was a wake up call and a half. I was actually quite angry firstly because I love my sleep and was woken up for what? Money? I was pissed. I felt so unwelcome in a place that I am supposed to call home. I guess it also brought the realization that people are quite desperate over here and have had to overcome that sense of pride to just ask for some help because as you know…you don’t ask…you don’t get!
2. Unrecognizable Kampala
I jumped off the plane in the morning so instead of sitting around the house while all my relatives stared at me I went into town with my cousins. Wasn’t that a bad idea! There we sooooo many people! Too many…actually I was more than overwhelmed. Traffic was crazy, fear of being a victim of crime was installed into me by my family members as townspeople got a bit too close, merchandise was on every inch of the pavement..a pavement that is shared with the ‘boda boda’ or the motorbike taxi’s. It was a lot to take in and I honestly had no sense of direction nothing looked familiar in fact and I guess that came the reality check that the thing that I call independence had been surrendered at Heathrow airport. I can’t do anything or go anywhere alone or at my whim, but I’m thankful for my family otherwise I doubt I would leave the house.
3. The work placement
Since this is a working holiday, I wanted to make sure that I had a daily schedule, because to be honest being idle in Uganda is just so depressing and having had just a few days of it, I am itching to have something to do! So today I woke up early, made effort to look my best, dressed well and headed off to the office of a certain organization I was to be working with. I was told to be there 9am SHARP to start. Can you believe I got there on time but the person, let’s call her Denise, made us wait and wait…and wait some more(by the way we did contact her. She answered the phone with a ‘what!?’ she was so rude I had to laugh. Then she just decided she was going to be late and that was it). After an hour I was out of there. On to the next one.
4. Pork joints galore
There seems to be some obsession with Pork meat. Every corner, every street is a pork joint buzzing with men after work hours devouring what can be described as only FAT like a guilty prize. I happen to have been twice. Sitting there on improvised stools waiting for the guy in the wooden hut to fry up the meat with professionalism and charm. Then it arrives. The short lived happiness it brings rubbed off on me too…the meat was even more tasty due to the fact that our being at this pork joint was our secret…until next time when we shall sneak off and return.
5. Random sights
- Extremely young looking prostitutes wearing platform versions of Cinderella’s glass slippers
-At the Ugandan basketball league game, Sprite’s sponsorship was taken too far when even the athletes were drinking sprite as their half-time refreshments!
-The random power cuts means walking in the dark and falling into pot-holes every now and again
-They say there is drought in East Africa but it is raining everyday
-My mosquito bites
-An increased presence of Ugandan police everywhere
-I’m still quite baffled to see my grandparents, who happen to be in their 90′s, wrinkle-free and with ridiculous amounts of energy. It has truly been a blessing!
I’m not sure what I think of Uganda yet, let me not make too many premature judgements but I wanted the real Africa and I got it.
Tags: Africa, anthropology, east africa, ethnography, fieldwork, Kampala, odd moments, travel, travel africa, travelling, Uganda, working holiday
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