My frist Christmas away from home was spent in Kisoro Town, Uganda with Ryan and his peace corps friends by headlamp lighting only, half cooked food and a raging storm pounding the rooftop of Ryan's cozy living space. It's not quite big enough to call an apartment but it's bigger than a room. Ryan turns out to be quite the amazing cook and appears to love cooking nearly as much as he loves to eat! Funny what you learn about someone when you surpass the friendship stage! Because it was all of our first time away from home for the holidays, we decided to go as tacky as possible, the weather, by chance, encouraging our decision entirely. When I first arrived in Kampala, we went shopping for Christmas decorations which I adamently refused to enjoy doing. We managed to pick out the most tacky, ugly, ridiculous ornaments you could ever imagine. A bright red plastic star that fell to it's side on the small plastic tree Ryan had found. We got some lights, a merry christmas sign meant to hang on a door and a framed ornament with some girl's picture, which we decidely left in the frame and told people she was our new friend! We even wrapped presents and put them under the tree! Honestly, this was all Ryan's idea as I was repulsed at the simple reminder of the holiday.
We decided since nothing else made sense (hot, palm trees, wearing tank tops, weird languages and new people), we'd make Mexican for dinner. Enchilades, with sauce sent in a care package, chips and salsa (made from scratch) and some other stuff that I don't remember. They make flatbread in Uganda called Chippati. Ryan figured for desert he'd make some with cinnamon and sugar mixed in. All seemed to be going fine until about 30 minutes before the meal was fully cooked. The storm progressed resulting in the power going off for the rest of the evening, well into the following day. So, rather than eating our fabulous Mexican meal, we ended up with half cooked luke warm beans wrapped in cold tortillas with chips and salsa and uncooked flatbread that Mark tried to cook with a lighter! It actually was really funny becuase there is no time in my prior life that I'd have said, "Yeah, I think it's totally possible that I'll be living in South Africa, travelling to Uganda for the holidays and eating Mexican "slop" with no electricity for Christmas with Ryan-as my boyfriend. Totally realistic..." Definitely memorable and one Christmas I'm sure I'll never forget.
Outside of Christmas, I experienced so many things in Uganda that I never dreamed of doing! In the first few days of being there, I ate Indian food for the first time and am clearly now obsessed with it! My goal is to see how hot I can handle it! I climbed to the top of a volcano near Ryan's town that was one of the most exhilarating and terrifying thing I've ever done. For one thing, you must go with a guide, accompanied by another guide who speaks nothing carrying around a rifle becuase of the monkeys, buffalo, elephants, hyenas??? as well as other large cats like the golden cat (which apparently makes it's way to the top of the volcano as well as we saw fresh dung on the peak) etc...you know...all the typical things you'd think WOULD be wandering around in the jungle. Apparently, they wander over from DRC and eventually make their way back home. How an elephant makes it through that thick forest is beyond my comprehension. But they are there as we saw the tracks in the mud, as well as hyena prints. Within the first five minutes of hiking we had to run from a buffalo hanging out on the trail that was coming straight at us. It was pretty awsome! So, dude with machine gun-apparently important!
As we hiked through the jungle, there was bamboo forest everywhere with thick vines. Our shoes were soaked within the first five minutes bc of all the marshland and as you begin uphill, there are steep ladders made of wood that act as steps. There were these large worms the length of my arm all over the place and wild bird calls piercing the forest. In many places, if you look up, you could not see anything but dark green forest surrounding you. It was so awesome to know that I was literally hiking through the jungle. I also knew at the top, we'd be in Congo, Rwanda and Uganda all at the same time! It was pretty thrilling. It was really bizaare to be hiking through such new territory, hearing such new noises and smelling this jungle musty smell, when all of a sudden a cell phone would go off! Kind of ruined the moment. Strange to think you're on top of a volcano in the middle of Africa where there is no running water or electricity in many places, yet a cell phone is able to ring in the middle of the jungle.....sure.
As we reached the top of the volcano, the third hump, the only way up was to climb vertical wooden ladders nailed into the rock wall of the mountain. I looked at it and said, Uh uh, I'm fine. But you'll be in Congo, said Ryan. Lunch in congo??? Yes, Please! So, I grit my teeth with my hands and legs shaking and climbed the trecherous ladders to get to the top of the damn thing. I have to admit now that I'm safe on the ground that it was pretty cool. One wrong move, though, and you'd fall either into Rwanda or DRC. We sat in the clouds and all I could think of was, wow, there's Congo and we're in Congo but shit, get me down. The entire idea of going down made it extremely difficult to swallow my pb&j sandwich. But we made it and it was really outrageous and I couldn't move for three days but it was worth it. Plus, I did eat lunch on top of a volcano in the middle of the DRC. Awesome.
In Kisoro town, Ryan and I hiked to lake Mutunda, drank a lot of beer and ate matoke and beans, their staple food. Pretty much tastes like nothing and is made of bananas. The country is beautiful and has nothing but banana trees and terrace farming. The locals definitely stare you down and when riding on a bus, rather than stopping at a petrol station, they stop for one minute, locals crowd the bus screaming things in their language while holding up bananas, onions and other random things like a weird type of pancake, samosas and all kinds of cold drink and juice. The idea is that you throw the money out the window, reach out and grab your goods. Makes for interesting journeys on top of the fact that there are no paved roads, nor do they stop for bathroom breaks!
We went to Jinja where the mouth of the Nile begins and spent three days there. We hiked through villages and had drinks staring at the raging river so peacefully passing by. We walked along a small road where there were hundreds of bats hanging from trees, making noise you wouldn't believe. I was fascinated by them and had to literally drag myself away. Reminded me of my pet bat, Leroy, I had while living in Backenberg last year. We stayed in town one night and after dark, the locals would pile into the alleyways cooking by small w
ood stoves in the quiet of night. Most of the children would lay down on mats on the road and I'm not sure if they were selling food or simply cooking for themselves. It was all very safe but something I was not sure what to make of. We ate Indian food, of course, and stayed at a very cute bed and breakfast type hotel. The following day, we went to Bugagali Falls where the real Nile begins. We stayed at a crazy awesome hostel on the river and saw amazing sunsets, showered in the fresh air while watching monkeys play in the trees and all kinds of storks and herons flying around. We saw strange eels in the water, ate AMAZING American-style nachos-3 times- and slept in crazy bangas (bungalow style huts). There were dozens of Australians running around doing crazy adventure tours like rafting down the falls or bungee jumping. It was pretty amazing to see such a dominant water source of the continent, something I clearly did not expect to see in my lifetime. We spent lazy days lounging on the river, eating awesome food and listened to Ryan plan each meal exquisitly while he ate the current food put in front of him. Honestly.... over all, if I have the chance to go back there.... "Yes, Please" as the locals say.
ood stoves in the quiet of night. Most of the children would lay down on mats on the road and I'm not sure if they were selling food or simply cooking for themselves. It was all very safe but something I was not sure what to make of. We ate Indian food, of course, and stayed at a very cute bed and breakfast type hotel. The following day, we went to Bugagali Falls where the real Nile begins. We stayed at a crazy awesome hostel on the river and saw amazing sunsets, showered in the fresh air while watching monkeys play in the trees and all kinds of storks and herons flying around. We saw strange eels in the water, ate AMAZING American-style nachos-3 times- and slept in crazy bangas (bungalow style huts). There were dozens of Australians running around doing crazy adventure tours like rafting down the falls or bungee jumping. It was pretty amazing to see such a dominant water source of the continent, something I clearly did not expect to see in my lifetime. We spent lazy days lounging on the river, eating awesome food and listened to Ryan plan each meal exquisitly while he ate the current food put in front of him. Honestly.... over all, if I have the chance to go back there.... "Yes, Please" as the locals say.
I have never been called a white person more in my life than I was in the three weeks I was there. Everywhere you go, they call out, "Mzungu, Mzungu." In the city of Kampala, small toddlers, age one to four or five sit on the streets after dark, half asleep, at risk of being run over by botas (motorcycles) with their small hands out. They are too young sometimes to speak but they look at you so small and frail. The older school aged kids run after you asking and begging, literally begging, for food. It's really heartbreaking. I thought I'd seen the worst poverty here in South Africa. As i learned, there are much worse situations to be in so nearby. These kids really are dying on the street and literally go days without food, I'm sure. In Uganda, there is not the have, have not as there is here in South Africa so all they know is what they see. In towns and villages, there is no concept of the wealthy and the poor. They are a country surviving on their own land and the concept of marketing and sales seem to be lacking. There is plenty of food, with terrace farming covering the country side, but a huge lack of material necessities, such as clothing, shoes, money for school fees and malaria being a huge factor in death. Seeing as how everyone is poor, they see no different and thus, carry on in their lives happy and peaceful. Uganda displayed the true side of Africa which I have not seen during my time here in South Africa. They have silly phrases. If I ask, do you have cold drink, they say Yes Please. If you ask, are you open, Yes please. Could I ask you a question, yes please. It's quite cute. They say SORRRRRYYYYY to everything and the towns are filled with men carrying half a forest on their head! It was truly worth the experience. Absolutely loved my time there and Ryan seems to be having a very true African Peace Corps Experience. I feel lucky to have shared it with him.
