I was spending the first night in the capital, Kampala. I was shocked by the amount of traffic and exhaust that filled the air on the drive to the hotel. Driving rules were non-existent as sometimes there were 3 lanes and other times just 1. There were young soldiers almost every 200 meters the entire 30-minute drive. Motorcycles were diving in and out and between traffic. I even saw one with a father driving his the young children on the back, without helmets, navigating their way through the traffic jam.
We passed by a lot of small villages with shops lining the streets advertising Coke products and such. There were mounds of green bananas lying on the ground waiting to be sold. These green bananas are used to make what is known as Matoke. They are steamed and then mashed. I just tried it tonight; it is extremely bland and flavorless but abundant nevertheless. The first time I wanted to try it, my waiter flat out denied it to me. He asked if I had ever had it, and when I said "No", he told me he would bring me Irish potatoes instead.
The next morning I left from Kampala to head down to Mbarara with my driver, Ibrahim or Ibra for short. Dr. Bangsberg and his team here hired Ibra about a year and a half ago when they were finally able to get the funding to buy a car. It is a beat up, but sturdy Toyota SUV. Ibra makes the 4-hour dive (8 hours round trip) between Mbarara and Kampala up to 15 times per month, picking up doctors and volunteers. He knows the roads well and so for my worrisome parents and grandparents, I was in very good hands and was never worried about my safety.
The drive was beautiful. I had told many of you that Uganda is apparently a very lush country with a lot of green growth dominating the hills. Despite having been told this, I am still shocked by just how green it is. I finally arrived at my hotel, The University Inn. The accommodations are much nicer than I had expected and I have quite a bit of room. I am about a 10-minute walk from the office I will be working out of about half the week. The offices are pretty nice too. The building is new and has nice marble floors.
The other half of the week I am going to be helping out at the Mbarara International Elementary School. I will initially be helping to set up their website while also helping with after school athletics and in the classes. As I get a better feel for the school, I will begin to increase my role and possibly help out with a project for the first graders. I will go into the school in more detail once I have work there for a bit (meaning in another blog later). After sharing some tea with the founder of the school, Miss K, I realized this was going to be quite an experience getting to work with all these kids.
