Living the Life - Uganda Style

While I still feel an extreme dislike for Kampala and its hustle and bustle, I am definitely feeling more adjusted to it, and I sometimes even feel like I can fit in! Well, maybe I wouldn’t take it that far, but I can definitely hold my own when navigating the city and interacting with my family. Especially when I am at home, I think I have a much better connection with my brothers and my family. The past 2 Sundays I helped my family make lunch and some desserts. Want to know what we had for lunch? PIZZA!! It was quite possibly one of the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten, with vegetables and homemade crust and even cheese (which we never get here). My mom also made a really good pea and carrot soup cooked with eggs, which was also delicious. And to top it all off, I helped to bake an apple pie and a cake! I have to say, Sundays are the most enjoyable eating days, that’s for sure.

This past week I also spent some time just hanging out with my brothers and I actually am startling to feel like they are my true brothers. Especially when I want to kick them out of my room for beating each other up on my bed! Some nights they come home late and I’ll just be reading or journaling in bed, and they come plop down on my bed and start telling me stories or riddles or asking me questions about why American governments have no corruption. These talks have come to be one of my favorite things about my evenings.

I learned some cool things about my family this week. For one, when I was doing my family tree assignment, I learned that 3 of my brothers were actually adopted from my dad’s brother, who passed away when the boys were very young. The thing is though that none of my siblings know that any of them have been adopted – my mom did not want to tell them and make them feel sad or different from my other brothers. Isn’t that crazy! So some of my siblings are actually cousins, but they all just act like brothers. I don’t even know which ones are the ones that are adopted. I guess it is a good way for none of them to feel any different. OMG and on Sunday my dad was in the newspaper for being one of Kamapala’s BILLIONAIRES!! Meaning that my family is probably worth at least a few million US dollars! I’m pretty sure it’s unfair to be staying with a family here that makes more than my family at home, but that totally explains why we have 2 cars and an expensive stove and 3 house helpers and a gate keeper…I could go on. But really, my life here – it’s just ridiculous.

About getting around in the city – I can totally use my Luganda to ask for a bottle of water and pay for it, all without speaking English! I also bargain for my ride up the hill to my house on the boda-boda every night without using English, and tell them when they are overcharging me, how much I can pay, and where I am going. Those boda rides are also one of my favorite things about the evenings, because they are so different that they remind me that I am in a different county in a very exhilarating way.

And finally, I can proudly say that I have explored the night life in Kampala as well! On Saturday, a huge group of SIT students went to Garden City (the Western type mall and surrounding area of Kampala with a lot of nice restaurants) to eat Sushi and Indian food. The restaurant that we went to was called Kyoto, and we sat outside in what felt like a candlelit, backyard garden. The food was great (I had Miso soup!), the atmosphere was peaceful, and even the bathrooms were nice! The meal was way expensive (for Kampala – I think I paid around 12 dollars for a huge bento box with noodles, potato pancake, avocado sushi, veggies, salad, rice, miso soup and fruit) but definitely worth it for a one time thing. After dinner, the group of us when to a popular bar and restaurant called Matteo’s, where a lot of mzungus and more young Ugandans go. They had popular music, and we drank a few Nile beers (you’re right Michael, everyone has picked their favorite one already!) and tried the Rwenwaggi – a type of gin made out of sugarcane which is only 2,000 USh for a shot…the equivalent of about $1! After having our fair share of the crowded bar, we walked across the street to a club called Ruge (sp?) that had dancing, loud music, and free champagne for the ladies because it was international women’s day! All in all, it was a great way to let off steam from the week.

Sadly, it turned out that letting off steam was not so great for my immune system, and I spent Sunday in bed feeling like I was either going to throw up from coughing so much or faint from being so overheated. Since I woke up feeling even worse on Monday, I went in to the clinic where they basically told me I have an upper-respiratory infection, whatever that means, and gave me some prescription ibuprofen, cough syrup and some other antibiotic to take at night. As most of you know, I usually wouldn’t be taking medicine for feeling a little flu-like, but it’s impossible to function here when feeling even slightly sick, so I gave in and I’m glad I did. Ben and I spent the day in the resource center yesterday, alternating naps on the couch, and it paid off. Today I feel human again! I’m so happy. I think it also helped to receive my abroad package from AXO yesterday, with a magazine and some candy to get me through the day! I don’t think it could have come at a better time =)

Time to get ready for our in-depth public module. The modules are really cool – there are 7 of us in each module, and today for ours we get to go visit a traditional healer’s clinic! On Thursday we get to go to a school to participate in teaching the children about some aspect of public health. If I don’t fall ill again, it looks to be a very promising week!