Home from Kenya

Well, after 24 hours on a bus (Mombasa to Kampala), we're FINALLY back in Kampala. There were a lot of interesting things that we witnessed on our trip, and I'll try to remember it all. 

Highlights of the trip: 

- When you hear the word "Africa" and that stereotypical image pops into your head, that's what almost all of Kenya looks like. It's pretty cool.

- I met some really awesome people at the beach who go to school in Nairobi.

- We went out dancing at a club in Mombasa with them on July 4th. We celebrated Independence Day by requesting the DJ to play a few American songs. 

- On our first day there, we happened upon a cove just north of Mombasa. We sat around, had lunch, watched the tide go out. Then a ton of people showed up to play football. When the tide was low enough, they waded out to a sand bar to play. 

- Vinny got to see the beach for the first time.

- We swam in the Indian Ocean.

- Matatus in Kenya are pimped out. They're like party taxis. There are posters all over the place, and the roofs are upholstered. And music is always rap being played on a fantastic sound system. At night, they all have blue neon lights on the inside. 

- We got to tour Fort Jesus, the old port, and Old Mombasa. 

Lowlights of the trip

- I don't have my camera. So I went to Kenya, and I don't have proof. I have to have a camera before I go to Kitgum.

- I lost my cell phone. Or it was stolen. I'm not sure which. The good part is that whoever has it has to pay to have it unlocked for Kenya and buy a Kenyan sim card. So they didn't really win. 

- It's apparently rainy season in Kenya. So while we did have a few hours of sun, it wasn't as much as I would have liked. 

- We had no idea of the rates in Kenya. It was about 27 shillings to the dollar instead of 2100 like it is in Uganda. So we probably got ripped off all the time because everything sounded so cheap.

- The rest of my stay in Uganda is now on an economy budget. Since we paid $250 each for the apartment in Naggalama but didn't stay there and paid to stay in other places, I'm low on cash. 

- I got car sick every time I got on a matatu in Kenya. Learn to drive well, please.

- It took 22 hours to get there and then another 24 hours to get back. That's 2 days of my life spent on a bus. 

- "Hakuna matata" is not enough Swahili to be respected.

Observations:

- No one made a single Obama reference all weekend. It's strange because half the time when we walk down the street in Uganda, someone yells, "Obama!" But that didn't happen in Kenya.

- Matatu drivers/bus drivers/taxi drivers/street beggars are MUCH more persistent. They will not take no for an answer and will follow you for blocks and blocks trying to sell you on it. 

- While they're persistent, Kenyans are generally nicer than Ugandans. Even after haggling, the matatu conductors still smiled at us, gave us a thumbs up, wished us safe travels,etc. You're lucky if they don't push you out of the matatu while you're exiting in Uganda. 

- We learned a lot of Swahili from the Lion King. 

I'm happy to be back in Uganda, though, as good as the Kenya adventure was. It's nice to be somewhere that you can navigate. And speak some of the language. And know when you're being cheated. It really did feel like I was returning home on the way back in. 

Dustyn and I bought some macaroni and cheese for lunch today. I can hardly explain how excited I am for it. I've been thinking about mac & cheese for days.

Dustyn leaves on Thursday, and then I should be heading up to Kitgum/Gulu around that time. I'm a little nervous and a little excited. Nervous because I have no idea if I have the qualifications for our art project. I'll be writing proposals, offering advice, etc. and what experience do I have in this? Nervous because I don't know anyone in Kitgum except for Bishop Ochola. I'm really hoping I make some friends there. Nervous because I don't know much Luo at all. I'll have to learn a ton of it. But then I'm excited for all of those reasons. It will be new and challenging. I'll make new friends and meet new people. I'll learn Luo. And I'll get to spend so much time in the north. 

Hopefully, I'll be spending my weekends in Gulu (like 2 hours away) with some friends there. I'm not sure if there's much to do in Kitgum on the weekends or if I already have plans made for me. But we'll see how that works out. I'll be traveling back down to Kampala/Naggalama with Lindsay and maybe Jeff for Vinny's art exhibition (and the Harry Potter premier!). Then I'll go back to Kitgum and finish my work.

For the next few days in Kampala, Dustyn and I are researching methods of finding the disposable income of a population for Educate!'s projects. They are looking for ways to be sustainable, and one way might be to charge a fee to attend the class. So our research will hopefully show them some ways to go about that. 

Okay that's a lot of stuff. I hope you read all the way through! I'll try to be better at updating ( I think I say that every time.) I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th! I'd love to hear from you because I'm totally missing everyone at home!