Top 20 Best Things About Uganda

Like Laura was saying earlier, it's shocking how the weeks have gone by - next week we will be going on our midterm retreat, and my program will be halfway done! I wanted to chronicle all the best things about Uganda (so far...).

1. Friendly people
2. Awesome weather and amazing, lush scenery
3. Boda boda rides!
4. Tea time + dubbed over Spanish soap operas = supreme happiness
5. Coming home to your host family and being tackled by your host brothers/sisters
6. Fresh fruit and vegetables - avocados, mangos, bananas, pineapples, passionfruits...
7. Organic/nonprocessed food in general
8. Street food! Chapati, rolex, samosas, pancakes...
9. Sodas. A Stoney (spicy ginger ale) a day makes a happy Mallory.
10. Awesome FSD interns
11. Being so close to the Nile makes for great scenery and tourism opportunities!
12. Our favorite hostel, Backpackers, has an awesome crowd of 20-somethings from the U.S. or the U.K. on weekends.
13. Beer. Big beers. Good beers. My favorite is the Nile Special.
14. Blue Band. It's this margarine spread from Unilever and it's sooooo good.
15. Ugandan friends calling you to update them on where they are and what they're doing.
16. Obama-fever. There are Obama tote bags, hair salons, belt buckles...
17. National football matches! Vuvuzelas, anyone?
18. Copies of your favorite movies and TV shows before they're even in the stores in the US....
19. The Ugandan ice cream truck
20. Chickens, goats, and cows running all over the place. I think I just really like farm animals...
21. The markets in Bugembe and Jinja. So lively and so much good food.
22. The touristy shops selling traditional crafts. It's all I can do to keep from buying them all!
23. Ugandan fabrics. I bought a purse in Kampala that's made out of traditional Ugandan fabric, and it's my favorite thing.

I lied and went over my list! Definitely more good things to come, so I'll just keep this running for now.

The Sweet Sound of 50,000 Vuvuzelas

For my first free weekend here in Uganda, I decided to make it memorable by traveling with another intern to Kampala for an overnight stay. On Saturday, the Uganda Cranes were playing Guinea-Bissau in a football (and by football here I mean soccer) match that was a qualifier for the African Cup. Seeing as how I had never been to a REAL football game, this would be the only chance I would get to put on an Uganda Cranes jersey, break out my vuvuzela, and attend the real deal.

After loading into a crowded mutatu taxi in Jinja, we stumbled out a couple hours later into the crowded, hectic streets of Kampala. The roads twist and turn, and the sidewalks are uneven. Pubs, stores, and restaurants are clustered next to each other, and when the buildings end, small shacks and buildings made of plywood with tin roofs crowd together with vendors selling tomatoes, bananas, or mangos. Even on the sidewalk, vendors sell shoes, books, mints - anything you could possibly imagine. When the sun goes down, even more street vendors come out, selling irons, bras, argyle socks, even grasshoppers. Fried grasshoppers, by the way, are absolutely excellent: a little crunchy, but very buttery and flavorful!

Thankfully, my host uncle lives in Kampala and he kindly rescued us and showed us around the town. Among other things, we toured Makere University, which is the largest and oldest university in Uganda, and ate typical food from the north of the country. Wyclef also helped us bargain with shopkeepers, which saved us a lot of money than if we paid the muzungu price.

On Saturday, we woke up to the sounds of vuvuzelas down on the street. Sam and I had bought Uganda Cranes jerseys, and we couldn't walk down the street without people thanking us for supporting the Cranes. Making it into Nelson Mandela station in Nangoole was a challenge. The stadium holds 40,000 - however someone thought it would be necessary to print 50,000 tickets; so I can't even describe the crush of people trying to get in. Even though we got there an hour early, all the seats in the stadium were filled. So we fought our way to the top and stood to watch the entire game. The sounds of the vuvuzelas and the cheering absolutely unbelievable. We even had a streaker whip off his shirt and run onto the pitch before being tackled by a pile of policemen.

The Cranes clinched their match 2-0 to Guinea-Bissau, and we went home with lots of stories and pictures for our host families. Overall, I think I prefer Jinja and Bugembe to Kampala - in the capital, you constantly have to worry about being pickpocketed, and the street children follow you everywhere asking for money. In Bugembe, life is slower and people greet you on the street, and in Jinja, there are plenty of muzungu cafes where I can feel right at home!

This week, I'm working on developing and implementing my savings mobilization project with the SACCO. More on that later! Now it's time to head back to my host family, sit down for tea, and enjoy a soap opera.

Siri Bulungi!