OK. So here it goes. My first attempt at a blog. I have been delayed in getting this thing started, firstly because power and internet are very unreliable here. The power has been out for the past 3 days (but is luckily on now!) and internet works sometimes. However, I now have access at the office, so that should make things a bit easier. Before, I had to travel to town on a boda (motor bike) to use internet. That is hard to do because we spend most days in the field (it is not very safe to venture into town as a lone muzungu (white) woman). The other thing that delayed me starting this was the fact that I couldnt think of a creative name for my blog. I have since come up with one, "Nykato Lillian Does Uganda." It may seem like a weird name but I will explain where it comes from. Since I have arrived in Uganda, I have introduced myself (rightfully) as Leanne. However, the people here are unable to pronounce it for some reason. My first day out in the field, the first widow interpreted my name as Lillian and got very excited because her daughter has the same name. Since this time, I have been called Lillian and it gets a much better response from the locals than Leanne ever did. Nykato means twin. Aparently if you are the second born twin, you get this name. I cannot remember the name for the first born twin but the parents also have their names changed if they produce twins! So there it is, an introduction to my blog.
My journey to Uganda was a VERY long one. I was on the plane for over 30 hours, and I had stop overs in Toronto, London, and Johannesburg. We left the airport in London and explored the town with Laura's friend Brad. We had a really great time. London is a beautiful city full of old buildings, statues and of course, the palace. We went and saw all the major sites and it was amazing. London is a place that I really want to travel back to and stay for an extended period of time. Unfortunately, it is prohibitively expensive. Everything is priced as it is in Canada, but it costs 2.5 times as much!
Our arrival in Uganda was fairly uneventful. All of our luggage made it to Entebbe, Uganda and the only problem we experienced was trying to get a fair price on a taxi from the airport to the hotel. We were way overcharged, but it was worth it to flee the mob of men that eventually surrounded us. We stayed in the Green Valley Inn in Entebbe. It was a nice hotel although we had a disrupted sleep. We were awoken by yowling cats, barking dogs, showering rain and what seemed like screaming bugs/birds in the early morning. When we awoke, the site was beyond expectation. The hotel has beautifully landscaped grounds, more green that I could ever expect. The smell of the air is different too. It is very thick and almost has a 'burnt' smell to it. We ventured out into Entebbe, caught our first ride on a boda boda (the main form of transportation here) and went to the Entebbe zoo. We saw chimpanzees playing with their zoo keepers, we pet some monkeys and rhinos and saw all sorts of other animals. It is a safari type zoo, so it was really nice to see. As of yesterday, my camera was full of pictures of these sites, but my travel companion, Sarah, was showing me something on my camera and the pictures of my trip thus far got deleted. I was VERY unhappy about that, but I guess there is nothing for me to do now but take many more pictures. Hopefully I will be able to spend some time back at the Entebbe zoo to get more pictures. Unfortunately, all my pictures of London are lost :(
We got a ride to Kampala from the hotel staff and stayed with Dr. Seifert for the night. We ventured into the city and visited their shopping mall which was very modern. Actually it is a lot nicer than many of the malls we have back in Canada. We were able to buy cell phones and eat at a gourmet Indian resturaunt which overlooked the city for the price of 15,000 shillings, which is equivalent to $10 CND. Not too bad. Our cell phones were cheap too, only $20 or so. We also toured Markere University and looked at the vet school. It is much different from the vet school back home, but it was still with the times, just without many of the luxuries we enjoy.
After our single night in Kamapala we had a car drive us to Mbarara. The drive is typical of something you would see on TV. We passed many villages, mud huts and stores/stands on the side of the road. People walk everywhere and there are bodas that weave in and out of the vehicles. We also passed many vehicles that were overloaded with people, ankole cattle or matoke.
Our arrival in Mbarara was met by a familiar face, Kent! He graduated from the WCVM last year. He has been here for the past 3 months working with FAOC. After a short introduction to our place of residence (the hostels down the street, which are suprisingly nice...) we went for some authentic Ugandan food. We ate matoke (mushed type of banana starchy stuff) with vegetable sauce. It was really good. I am hooked on matoke and g-nut sauce now, which is what I eat most days. The food here is really good, but the only down fall is lack of variety. Each meal consists of a starch (matoke, pocho (millet flour paste), rice, potato (called Irish)) and a sauce (meat, ground nut, vegetable). They feed you so much that 1 or 2 meals per day is sufficient. We also ventured into town on the first day and spent some time in Central market, which is as many vendors as you could imagine packed into a small space. We bought some deliciouos pineapple, passion fruit, cabaragara (small bananas) and went back home. We were also introduced to the ladies at the tea room, a place that Kent frequents twice daily. We met some very friendly people, we took tea (milk boiled with tea leaves) and spent some time chatting and learning ryankore (the local language). The ladies were also facinated by Sarah's long hair. It was hard for them to believe that it was real. Most women here have fake hair (kiwani) woven into their own.
So, we have settled in nicely into Mbarara and I think Kent's popularity here will serve us well. His friends are eager to meet us and have welcomed us to their district. I have yet to receive a marriage proposal, but Sarah has had one, with a bride price of 10 cattle.
My journey to Uganda was a VERY long one. I was on the plane for over 30 hours, and I had stop overs in Toronto, London, and Johannesburg. We left the airport in London and explored the town with Laura's friend Brad. We had a really great time. London is a beautiful city full of old buildings, statues and of course, the palace. We went and saw all the major sites and it was amazing. London is a place that I really want to travel back to and stay for an extended period of time. Unfortunately, it is prohibitively expensive. Everything is priced as it is in Canada, but it costs 2.5 times as much!
Our arrival in Uganda was fairly uneventful. All of our luggage made it to Entebbe, Uganda and the only problem we experienced was trying to get a fair price on a taxi from the airport to the hotel. We were way overcharged, but it was worth it to flee the mob of men that eventually surrounded us. We stayed in the Green Valley Inn in Entebbe. It was a nice hotel although we had a disrupted sleep. We were awoken by yowling cats, barking dogs, showering rain and what seemed like screaming bugs/birds in the early morning. When we awoke, the site was beyond expectation. The hotel has beautifully landscaped grounds, more green that I could ever expect. The smell of the air is different too. It is very thick and almost has a 'burnt' smell to it. We ventured out into Entebbe, caught our first ride on a boda boda (the main form of transportation here) and went to the Entebbe zoo. We saw chimpanzees playing with their zoo keepers, we pet some monkeys and rhinos and saw all sorts of other animals. It is a safari type zoo, so it was really nice to see. As of yesterday, my camera was full of pictures of these sites, but my travel companion, Sarah, was showing me something on my camera and the pictures of my trip thus far got deleted. I was VERY unhappy about that, but I guess there is nothing for me to do now but take many more pictures. Hopefully I will be able to spend some time back at the Entebbe zoo to get more pictures. Unfortunately, all my pictures of London are lost :(
We got a ride to Kampala from the hotel staff and stayed with Dr. Seifert for the night. We ventured into the city and visited their shopping mall which was very modern. Actually it is a lot nicer than many of the malls we have back in Canada. We were able to buy cell phones and eat at a gourmet Indian resturaunt which overlooked the city for the price of 15,000 shillings, which is equivalent to $10 CND. Not too bad. Our cell phones were cheap too, only $20 or so. We also toured Markere University and looked at the vet school. It is much different from the vet school back home, but it was still with the times, just without many of the luxuries we enjoy.
After our single night in Kamapala we had a car drive us to Mbarara. The drive is typical of something you would see on TV. We passed many villages, mud huts and stores/stands on the side of the road. People walk everywhere and there are bodas that weave in and out of the vehicles. We also passed many vehicles that were overloaded with people, ankole cattle or matoke.
Our arrival in Mbarara was met by a familiar face, Kent! He graduated from the WCVM last year. He has been here for the past 3 months working with FAOC. After a short introduction to our place of residence (the hostels down the street, which are suprisingly nice...) we went for some authentic Ugandan food. We ate matoke (mushed type of banana starchy stuff) with vegetable sauce. It was really good. I am hooked on matoke and g-nut sauce now, which is what I eat most days. The food here is really good, but the only down fall is lack of variety. Each meal consists of a starch (matoke, pocho (millet flour paste), rice, potato (called Irish)) and a sauce (meat, ground nut, vegetable). They feed you so much that 1 or 2 meals per day is sufficient. We also ventured into town on the first day and spent some time in Central market, which is as many vendors as you could imagine packed into a small space. We bought some deliciouos pineapple, passion fruit, cabaragara (small bananas) and went back home. We were also introduced to the ladies at the tea room, a place that Kent frequents twice daily. We met some very friendly people, we took tea (milk boiled with tea leaves) and spent some time chatting and learning ryankore (the local language). The ladies were also facinated by Sarah's long hair. It was hard for them to believe that it was real. Most women here have fake hair (kiwani) woven into their own.
So, we have settled in nicely into Mbarara and I think Kent's popularity here will serve us well. His friends are eager to meet us and have welcomed us to their district. I have yet to receive a marriage proposal, but Sarah has had one, with a bride price of 10 cattle.
We have begun our field work and have met many of the wonderful people in the villages outside of Mbarara. I talk more in detail about this in another post, but all I can say for now is that the women and children in the villages are amazing!
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