Notes from Kampala

Since I've been slow at getting reports out from my adventures over the last couple weeks, lots of people have been emailing me wanting basic information on what exactly I'm doing in Africa, what the weather/food/people are like, whether I've yet succumbed to some awful tropical illness, etc. Since writing this all into lovely-sounding prose would take far too long, I thought I'd just very quickly answer the basic questions.

Why have I moved to Africa and what will I be doing here?
My husband Francis has spent about 6 months a year for the last 3 years setting up electric utilities around the world. In an attempt to be in the same timezone more often than not and to have a bit of an adventure while we're still young, we've decided to relocate to Southern Sudan, where his company has a contract with USAID to build two new electric utilities, one in Kapoeta near Kenya and another in Maridi on the border with the DRC. (see map) Prior to leaving the States, I'd written to pretty much every international organization with any sort of presence in either of these towns, but without any luck identifying a job. Everyone assures me I'll have my pick of jobs once in Sudan; in the meantime, I've been volunteering as Francis' assistant.

What have I been doing for the two-and-a-half weeks since leaving the US?
Well, as you can tell, certainly not working on my blog. As previously recounted, it took us a full two days to actually get to Africa. Since then, we've been in Kampala, Uganda, buying all sorts of things to set up a house and office. We'll be moving into a brand new house in Kapoeta, and it's part of Francis' job to purchase all of the furnishings for it, from furniture and appliances to bath towels and cutlery. So I've been running all over Kampala with him to try to locate the best value furnishings. Kampala has a few relatively new "supermarkets", comparable to K-mart or Meijer, which make this shopping a little bit easier. But there are still challenges. In a given store you'll find fitted sheets, but no flat sheets in the same color; plates, but no bowls. I also have absolutely no sense of which brands are good (on appliances, you have to watch out for super-flimsy Chinese imports) and so on things like toilet paper and laundry soap, I've decided to choose a variety and make note of my favorite brands for the next trip and hope that they are still there--stock varies greatly based on what was in the most recent shipping container.

What is Kampala like?
Weather-wise, it's been very mild--75-80 degrees, some rain (this is one of two annual rainy seasons) and light wind, though it's significantly warmer in the sun. It's very hilly--the city itself is spread across 8 or more hills--with deep red dirt and lush green vegetation. There are a dozen or so tall (10+ floors) buildings, but most shops/houses are one or two stories, mostly with block construction and a tile roof. Because it's so mild, many shops and restaurants are open-air. One thing that is particularly striking is the traffic/driving. There are lots of cars and mini-bus taxis in Kampala--enough to create regular traffic jams--and there are even more boda bodas, or motorcycle taxis, which zip in and out of the cars like nothing I've experienced before. I think telepathy is required as part of getting a Ugandan drivers license because there really are no traffic signals, lane markings, etc. and actually very few "rules". While cars normally drive on the left-hand side of the road (a hold-over from days as a British colony), that isn't a hard-and-fast rule at intersections, when avoiding potholes, in traffic jams, etc. In two weeks of driving, I witnessed ONLY two accidents, something that still amazes me given the chaos that I unfolded before me daily.

Some other random observations:

• Ugandans like Obama, too, but interestingly enough, only about a quarter of the posters/t-shirts/etc. bear actual pictures of the US president. Most are not-so-great look-alikes. (I'll try to get a picture).


• Things are not cheap in Uganda! Because almost all manufactured goods are imported, household goods are anywhere from 2-5 times what you'd pay in the US for similar quality. A devalued currency ($1 = 1900 ugandan shillings; largest bill is 50000 or about $25) also means that to do any sort of business, you have to walk around with bricks of money.


• Things move more slowly here. Period. Some of it may be the heat and higher altitude (about 4000 feet). But generally, it's just a "no hurry" sort of culture. As someone who tends to be more efficient than the average bear, this is going to take some getting used to.

Well, that's enough for now. I'll conclude with some of the pictures that I've taken from around Kampala. Enjoy.

Downtown Kampala

Some things get lost in translation, I think. Check out the sign...

(also, a typical view of a suburban street)

Transport for a Ugandan wedding. (I saw other cars more elaborately decorated, but this was my only opportunity to take a picture).

For my padre:

Nile Plywood - check out the pads they use on their heads to carry the plywood - cheaper than a forklift!

Francis in the local hardware store. Expensive and only one of anything, but when Banas isn't around the corner...

An opportunity to reconsider

It was a less-than-auspicious beginning.

We spent an hour weighing, repacking, and reweighing our luggage in the main Dulles Airport terminal since baggage allowances have changed now that Delta runs Northwest/KLM. Nothing too major, but an annoyance since we had very thoughtfully packed our bags.

After clearing security, we arrived at the gate to find that the Northwest buy-out also meant the closure of their lounge, ruining our plans to make last-minute phone calls to family from the terminal. It was at that point that I also realized that I had misplaced my straw "Africa" hat, and made the trek back to security to retreive it from lost and found.

As I met a long-faced Francis back at the gate, I mused about whether or not we ought to warn fellow passengers that they might not want to get on the plane with us. Seriously, folks, don't joke about something like that before getting on a transatlantic flight. Two hours into the flight, just as we were leaving the Canadian coast, the inflight entertainment stopped and the pilot informed us that he'd had to kill one of the plane's two engines, and so we'd be turning back to the mainland. [It turns out that the engine had lost 19-1/2 of 20 liters of oil.]After a brief freak-out on my part following turbulence over Halifax, we landed safely in Bangor, Maine.


F wondering why we're in "Eastern Maine"

As you might imagine, such a series of disheartening events at the beginning of an epic move really gives a couple reason to pause and consider: "What in the heck are we doing?!?! Is God trying to tell us something?!?!" After 24 hours sitting in Bangor, we climbed back on a plane heading for Amsterdam, convinced that this comedy of errors was actually good--things could only get better, right?

Well, indeed they did.

We made it to Amsterdam just in time to grab some VSOP (our favorite aged gouda) and hop on a plane to Entebbe, Uganda. After an uneventful (though cramped) flight, we arrived in Uganda to find that all 5 of our checked bags had made the connection, and our driver Charles had received word of our arrival and was there to meet us at the airport.

How true it is that all's well that ends well! I'm quickly learning that patience and flexibility are paramount to survival/sanity in Africa, and perhaps our initial set-backs (coupled with the delay from Francis' bike accident) were a chance to test how we operate as a team when life throws a curve-ball.


I think we passed.