I arrived in Entebbe Friday night around 9pm. I almost missed my plane in Brussels, but I had two minutes to spare when I got to the gate. Whew!!! That was close. I would have had to stay a day in Brussels airport. However, the ride over wasn't that bad. I had Air Canada until Brussels. They are the best airline. I watched the social network and Eat Pray Love. Their seats are really comfortable and I slept for about 4-5 hours during the trip.
The people I sat with were extremely nice and fairly chatty. The thing about going through Canada is that you get to listen to all the instructions in French and sit next to people who want to chat. I met a guy from the UN who lives in Entebbe and was really helpful with tips about the city. I also sat with a girl who works in Kampala. It seems they sat all us Entebbe people together. Which gave me a chance to pick their brains. This lovely Irish woman I was sitting next to from Brussels to Entebbe lives in Nairobi and was just the most fun chat, good since it was a 7 hour flight.
When I stepped off the plane a sweet smell filled my nostrils and the moist air goosed my skin. The air here is a little addicting. Come to Entebbe and you will not want to leave juat becasue of the sweet air. It hasn't been very hot and mostly cloudy with a few let ups so the sun could shine through. I didn't sleep very much the first night becasue of all the new sounds of crickets and animals around the guesthouse, I also think a wee bit of jet lag. I was up at 5:20 with the rooster and 5:30 for the call to prayer. Then as it gets lighter the birds start in and bodas start roaring by. By the way there is no set speed limit. So I was up and ready to enjoy my first Ugadnan meal . A German girl who I met the night before joined me for breakfast and gave suggestions. I ate chipatti, a bread made without egg and a fried egg. It was absolutly delicious. There are a few mango trees at Backpackers and we split the most sweet mango. I don't think I will enjoy fruit in the states any longer.
My next goal for the day was to get a phone and sim card. I walked to the main road when a Romanian girl was looking for the phone store as well. We joined forces and began to the phone store. We got a little distracted and ended up at the ZOO. Then we finally made it to the MTN store. for $25 (2294 Ugandan shillings= $1 USD) I got a phone, sim card (sold seprately from the phone) and 20,000 airtime minutes. Then we exchanged some money in Entebbe town and looked at the shops. We went back to our hostel and hotel and planned to meet up for the beach later on.
We met out on the road and set off for the beach. We hadn't decided which beach yet, but we were joined by an 11 year old who would help us decide. Peace met the Romanian girl earlier and helped her before in the morning. So they were already friends. Peace taught us about the schooling system and talked about her schooling on the way to the Imperial Beach.
On the weekends there is an entrance fee for the beach and food is pretty expensive. We paid for Peace to join us becasue she wanted to swim and she had already asked permission from her parents. So we laid out on a very popular beach and met a lot of people. Ugandans are very firendly and passerbys will ask say "good morning, hello" followed by "how is your day?" your response is always "Good morning, hello good. How are is your day?" This is unusual in the States but is very nice. Peace swam and made new friends and danced with them while we talked with a British woman, who talked of her film work in the Sudan. The sun was setting and Peace let us know that it was time to go. Which was good since once twilight hits a different type of crowd hits the beach, if you know what I mean ;)
Peace left us once we reached her house and was eager to give her email address. We ate Matooke, smashed plantain, and chicken. It was pretty good.
Today was the biggest day. I met Robin and her family. She runs the baby home where I will be doing my internship. She also hooked me up with another baby home on Mondays and Saturdays and possibly USAIDS. So I am very excited to learn multiple ways of running a baby home. I also can't wait to see how Western views and ideals can't be accomplished but find another option that is accessible to Ugandans.
Okay I will leave some to write another day.
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