So this is Uganda......

This morning I woke up in Uganda, tangled in a mosquito net that was supposed to be hanging over my bed. Apparently I need to learn how to better secure mosquito nets.

It was the squawking of a bird right outside my window that woke me up at I don't know what time. It must have been early because the sun was just coming up. After untangling myself from the net, I looked out the window to see some kind of enormous black bird sitting on my balcony. I don't know what kind it was, but it did not look pretty or friendly. It had huge claws and a nasty looking beak. It stayed there squawking for a very long time. I finally got out of bed at 8am, which works out to be about midnight back home.

I arrived in Uganda yesterday morning, I think around 730. I lost track of time after two time changes and no sleep for almost 2 days. It was a 6 and a half hour flight to Heathrow, a 13 hour layover, and then another 8 and a half hours to Uganda. Travel tip #1: Do not go for a 10k run the day you are about to spend 15 hours on a plane. It is a terrible idea.

Thankfully, all my luggage made it here intact! I found it all and went out to arrivals to see a guy holding a sign with my name on it. This was the best African airport experience I've ever had. First time in many years that I have not had a) a man with an AK47 ask for bribe money b) a man with an AK47 interrogate me as to why I want to enter the country, or c) my bags searched by the same man with the AK47. Everyone should come to Uganda.

Unless, of course, you suffer from road rage (or any type of anxiety when driving), in which case you should never come here... or any African country. The airports may be nicer than Nigeria, but the driving is the same. There are no rules. Your horn means “Look out or I will run you over”. So, basically all you do is put the pedal to the metal and lay on the horn. On the 2 and a half hour drive to the University I saw my life, as well as that of several others, flash before my eyes. One time, while entering a round-about doing close to 70, we cut straight through 3 lanes (if you can call them that...more like 2 layers of bikes and scooters in between each of 3 layers of cars and trucks), only to dodge a pot hole, swerve millimeters away from 2 guys on a scooter and narrowly escape being sandwiched between another van and a truck. We emerged from the roundabout doing a little closer to 75. Interestingly, I passed 3 buildings advertising driving schools on the way in.

My room here is fantastic - by African standards. I have a great big window and balcony that looks onto the campus and my own bathroom that even has a shower with lukewarm water! I'm not being sarcastic here. This is wayyyyyy better than throwing buckets of cold water over my head like in Nigeria. Probably the best part is that there are no signs of gigantic cockroaches. Yet.

I share an office in the Save the Mothers building here at Uganda Christian University. With me is Jacq, who is an International Health Professional, and Dr. Eve, who is an OBGYN. Both are from Uganda. We went out for lunch at a canteen on campus which was.....interesting. Jacq ordered for me what appeared to be the back half of a fish (fully intact with tail, bones and all the scales) sitting in some sort of brown fishy smelling sauce. Served with it was a kind of paste that looked very similar to cassava and something that I assume is related to bananas. It wasn't all that bad actually. And it only cost 2000 shillings, which is about 1 dollar. The best thing I've had today was definitly a smoothie, made from fruit right off the trees. If you ever have the chance to try jackfruit, do it. It's good. Fresh fruit smoothie: 1000 shillings, or 50 cents.

Uganda is wonderful. My office and co-workers are also wonderful. I think the only thing that will prove difficult is the evenings. As I'm writing this right now at about 730pm, I'm a little lonely. All my co-workers, the only people I know in the whole country, leave at 5. The res I'm in is for graduate students, and they don't start until Oct 11^th, so I'm all alone in the building. It's a little lonelier still because I look out my window and I can see all kinds of students walking about campus... but I don't know any of them. This must be what it's like to be the new kid at school. But worse, because I'm not even in anyone's class. I think I'll try and make friends with some other students who are here on campus. I'm not sure how exactly I'll do that since I only really encounter them in passing. Maybe I can pretend to be a student and join some intramural teams or something. Plan B will just be walking up to someone who looks sort of friendly and saying “Hi, my name's Laura. Let's be friends?”

For my first full day, I think everything went ok. In fact, everything is pretty awesome. I still can't belive I'm in Uganda. It feels surprisingly homey, except for maybe the fishtail lunch. I'm looking forward to getting my time zones adjusted. I started work this morning at what felt to me like 1:30 in the morning, but it was really 930 over here.

I have a cell phone, but I don't know the number. I also haven't figured out my mailing address, but when I do I'll post it on here.

Missing some of the comforts of home, but all in all, my move here has been smooth. Praying that it will continue to be this way, and that this week will bring with it some new friends! Miss you guys over there. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement :)

-L.C.