Agandi, agandi!
It's really hard to believe that I've been in Uganda for only three days...I was writing an email to ACTS' director and was trying to figure out how long I had been here. Two weeks? One week? Three DAYS!
Today was quite an eventful day. The highlight was driving for the first time on an African road, on a manual pickup truck that had absolutely no power-steering (Yulia, worse than anything you've experienced!). For my work, I will be responsible for driving local community members to do presentations on topics like good agricultural practices so it was high time I experienced the real deal. To be honest, it was really easy, with the exceptions of staying on the left side of the road (had a scare already) and using all my might to turn the bloody wheel. Apollo, who took Brad and I driving, kept repeating, "Stay on your left! Stay on your left!". A few minutes after Brad took the wheel, we were flagged down by young police officers who jumped on the back of the truck and got a lift to the nearest intersection. Talk about pressure not to screw up your first Ugandan driving experience!
For the moment, I am living in Canada House, outside of Mbarara-town. After a miscommunication with a taxi driver (who we thought was asking for too high a fare) we ended up walking an hour into town to have lunch, pick up supplies and read up on emails. Talk about a walking zoo of muzungus (= foreigner)! Drivers hollered at us, fellow walkers either stared or smiled shyly after we said, "Agandi!", which is Runyankore for "What's up?". During the hour, I was befriended by a man called Frank who insisted on giving me his phone number and having me call him once I arrived in my village of Rubingo. I wasn't wearing my wedding band (a fake one) but I told him a little white lie and told him I was already married, although I wasn't wearing any proof of it.
For those of you who have experienced my double alarm system when living with me (meaning I love to sleep), you'll be amazed to learn that I have been rising at 5am EVERY DAY! I sleep no later than 10pm because there's not much to do after dark, so I'm sure that helps. I've been able to get up, read my Bible and journal all before the sun comes up. Then I can take a walk and see locals doing their morning things: children walking to school, men tending to their small gardens, cows being milked.
My two days spent in Kamapla seem like quite a blur already, but it is an interesting town set on several hills. From my guesthouse, I could see two other hills. The thing that impressed me the most was the relative quiet of the city in the early morning. For a capital city, it is one of the quietest I've visited. I could hear the roosters crow and a man calling the Moslem faithful to morning prayer. Very peaceful. In our yard, there was even an avocado tree and lime tree!
I have another day and a half left in Mbarara before I set out for Rubingo, where I will be living for the majority of my time in Uganda. I'm excited to finally see where I will be living and working, so stay tuned!
Ciao for now!
Today was quite an eventful day. The highlight was driving for the first time on an African road, on a manual pickup truck that had absolutely no power-steering (Yulia, worse than anything you've experienced!). For my work, I will be responsible for driving local community members to do presentations on topics like good agricultural practices so it was high time I experienced the real deal. To be honest, it was really easy, with the exceptions of staying on the left side of the road (had a scare already) and using all my might to turn the bloody wheel. Apollo, who took Brad and I driving, kept repeating, "Stay on your left! Stay on your left!". A few minutes after Brad took the wheel, we were flagged down by young police officers who jumped on the back of the truck and got a lift to the nearest intersection. Talk about pressure not to screw up your first Ugandan driving experience!
For the moment, I am living in Canada House, outside of Mbarara-town. After a miscommunication with a taxi driver (who we thought was asking for too high a fare) we ended up walking an hour into town to have lunch, pick up supplies and read up on emails. Talk about a walking zoo of muzungus (= foreigner)! Drivers hollered at us, fellow walkers either stared or smiled shyly after we said, "Agandi!", which is Runyankore for "What's up?". During the hour, I was befriended by a man called Frank who insisted on giving me his phone number and having me call him once I arrived in my village of Rubingo. I wasn't wearing my wedding band (a fake one) but I told him a little white lie and told him I was already married, although I wasn't wearing any proof of it.
For those of you who have experienced my double alarm system when living with me (meaning I love to sleep), you'll be amazed to learn that I have been rising at 5am EVERY DAY! I sleep no later than 10pm because there's not much to do after dark, so I'm sure that helps. I've been able to get up, read my Bible and journal all before the sun comes up. Then I can take a walk and see locals doing their morning things: children walking to school, men tending to their small gardens, cows being milked.
My two days spent in Kamapla seem like quite a blur already, but it is an interesting town set on several hills. From my guesthouse, I could see two other hills. The thing that impressed me the most was the relative quiet of the city in the early morning. For a capital city, it is one of the quietest I've visited. I could hear the roosters crow and a man calling the Moslem faithful to morning prayer. Very peaceful. In our yard, there was even an avocado tree and lime tree!
I have another day and a half left in Mbarara before I set out for Rubingo, where I will be living for the majority of my time in Uganda. I'm excited to finally see where I will be living and working, so stay tuned!
Ciao for now!
posted by Ruth at
8:12 PM
1 Comments:
Sounds very pastoral!
P.S. Don't forget to wear your fake ring. Is it a diamonelle or CZ?
By
Stephania, at 8:41 AM
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