UGANDA!

 

Welcome to the Pearl of Africa!!!  I think I am going to LOVE it here.  Jim and I are both very excited about our upcoming adventures.

We arrived in Uganda yesterday afternoon and were met a the airport by Walter, who is the driver for the Green Valley Hostel in Entebbe.  The owner of the hostel, Frank, actually lives in Gulu and owns one of the bars up there.  He also used to be a tour/safari guide and was so pleased to learn that we will be in his town and plan to explore Africa after the course.  His eyes lit up when we told him of our “plans” to travel and he started rattling off various itineraries and cost-effective travel means and places to stay.  I think he’ll end up being a great connection for us.

Uganda is BEAUTIFUL!  It is very green and lush.  It’s a much cleaner and quieter (so far anyways) country than India.  It reminds me a lot of a cross between India and Costa Rica.  The people are genuinely nice.  Everyone greets you with a, “hello, how are you?”  and they are genuinely curious how you are doing.  If you don’t ask the same question of them, they are a little offended, actually.  It feels very safe here as well. 

We had a nap yesterday and then a very restful sleep all through the night.  I think we are finally getting our clocks “reset”.  After all the flying, touring Egypt, and big layover in Ethiopia (which Jim is now referring to as purgatory), we were exhausted.  I think I slept 5 hours in three days and felt WAY worse than I’ve ever felt on a post-call day.

Today we walked around Entebbe with one of my classmates, Sara Jane, from Galvatin, Texas.  We sipped Ugandan beers and had lunch on the shores of Lake Victoria (not good water for swimming), went to the Saturday market, changed money, and bought bananas for 60 shillings (<10 cents each) from cute little boys.  At the market, Sara Jane was looking to purchase sun glasses and I started wondering away looking at what else there was to offer.  Jim came and grabbed my arm, “please stay closer.  I can’t watch out for both of you if you wonder away.”  It was very sweet of him.  I didn’t even think that it might have been stressful for him to watch out for the both of us…he’s so good that way.

A few more of my classmates arrived this afternoon and we chatted with them over fresh tilapia (entire fish) and chips (French fries).  Leslie goes to school at Ross University in the Caribbean, Kirsten is from somewhere in Georgia, and Leslie goes to UC Irvine.  We also met two of the course instructors, Mike the director and internal medicine physician from Brigham and Women’s College in Boston, and Amy…don’t know her title yet. 

Everyone seems very nice and excited.  The rest of the Americans arrive tonight (I think there are 12 American students, 15 Ugandan students, and 3-4 instructors total) and we will pick up some Ugandan students in Kampala tomorrow before driving to Gulu, which will take 5-6 hours from Kampala.