Journey to Kampala

I've been looking forward to this particular week since I got here and I was so excited for it to begin that I could barely sleep last night. I'm spending this week in Uganda's capital city, Kampala, which is about a five hour drive north of Mbarara. During the first month of being in country, each ELF is supposed to have an orientation at the embassy which includes lots of meetings and a security briefing, among other activities. I asked if I could schedule my Kampala visit for when Sean was supposed to fly in so that we could travel back to Mbarara together. The more the orientation was planned, the more that was added to it and now it's a week chock full of fun events.

Outside area at Le Petit Village - an amazing hotel in Kampala next door to the embassy

This morning I got up really early, took a 6:30 a.m. cab ride to the "bus park" (there is no bus station in Mbarara - it's just a bus or two on the side of the road next to one of the gas stations in town), paid my $4.30 and packed on the bus with everyone else along with bags of corn, bananas and other huge sacks of who-knows-what. I squeezed in at a window seat and waited for the bus to leave - there are not set times as the bus departs whenever it fills up. At about 7 a.m. all the seats were occupied and before we left, one lady stood up, said a prayer in Runyankole, everyone clapped when she was finished and then we were off.

My room at Le Petit Village

The bus ride was definitely not a comfortable one, but it got the job done for the right price - a private car/driver is about $100 to Kampala. The bus was old, the seats were tiny, it was hot, smelled of sweaty humans and all traces of discomfort were magnified by every speed bump and police checkpoint, of which there were many. We pulled into the Kampala bus park around noon and I caught a cab to my hotel. It's been amazing to spend an afternoon working by the pool with uninterrupted wifi and the anticipation of a long, hot shower later. I'm soaking up and appreciating every bit of luxury.

Bathroom

Tomorrow, I'm spending the whole day at the embassy getting a security briefing, meeting with Public Affairs, meeting with Education USA, meeting with the Uganda Teachers Union and having a class with the new English Access Micro Scholarship program. At about one in the afternoon, Sean is scheduled to be picked up at the airport and brought back to the hotel and we'll get to hang out when I finish at about 8 p.m. I'm ecstatic about seeing him again and can't wait to hear about all of his adventures. I'm worried about his flights and am hoping that the crazy typhoon weather in Japan doesn't cancel or delay anything.

On Wednesday, we have the morning free to do some errands to get a few things that we need that we can't get in Mbarara (most importantly motorcycle helmets) and then in the afternoon I'm giving my first workshop on writing personal statements. The Education Adviser who helped me organize it said that there were over 200 people who tried to register but that they only have space for 80. I'm nervous but mostly excited - I'm really anxious to see how it goes.

On Thursday, we drive back to Mbarara and on Friday I teach my first class at the university. It's a busy week with lots going on but I feel happy as it feels like my job as an ELF is really getting started and I'm enjoying it more and more.