Kasese here we come! (8/30)

We are leaving Kampala a day earlier than planned.  We found out yesterday when talking with Gillian that the schools were on holiday this week.  The original plan was to visit some schools in the city today so that we could compare what we saw in those schools to the school we will be working in, which is in a much more rural area.  Because Gillian sees this as a very valuable comparison to make, we have decided to leave Kampala a day early only to return a day earlier at the end of our trip so we can visit the schools.  

Mark eating his cow skewer

We left early this morning for Kasese, the town where we will be living.  The drive took about 6 hours.  6 hours in a car in Uganda feels like 12.  The roads are filled with potholes, and every town that you pass through also has several speed bumps in it.  And because there is only one road that leads to Kasese, you pass through every town and go over every speed bump.  There are also several police check-ins set up along the road.  The police check-ins are designed to ensure that the cars are not carrying more passengers than the car holds, or to check the driver’s permit.  And as I will talk about in a later post, to charge cabs a fee.  Not only do you stop at police check-ins, but you also stop for food along the way, as each town seems to have something that they sell cheaper than anywhere else.  The first stop we made was for Enoch, Edson, and Enoch’s grandson Mark Ray to get some lunch.  The three of them bought liver skewers, cow skewers, plantains, cassava, and fruit.  And as the three of them munched away, Katie and I looked at other thinking “I hope they still plan on stopping for lunch for us,” as they did not offer for us to buy any food, nor are we supposed to be eating from street vendors.  Our next stop was for Mark Ray who had to go to the bathroom.  That was a quick stop, just open the door and go on the side of the road.  And apparently the stop wasn’t just for Mark Ray, but for Enoch and Edson as well, as they both hopped out of the car to go too.  Again, Katie and I looked at one another thinking, “what if we have to go?”  Then we stopped two more times and Edson and Enoch bought food, and lots of it, to bring home to their families.  And our most exciting stop was when we passed some baboons on the side of the road!  Edson pulled over so we could snap some pictures.  The baboons came right up to our car!  And then to get them going even more, Edson threw out a piece of his cassava for them to nibble on.  Katie and I passed some of the time in the car by letting Mark Ray (he’s 10), play with some of our things.  First Katie showed him how to play Angry Birds on her Kindle Fire.  Although Mark didn’t talk much at all, you could just see his face light up as he passed levels and his anger when he was struggling.  Mark ended up playing for about an hour before we stopped and the game ended.  I later brought out my pack of markers that I had and my journal and let Mark draw some pictures.  He was quite the artist!

Baboon on the side of the road!

Upon our arrival in Kasese we registered with the town, basically making them aware that we are here and what we will be doing.  This has been something that is quite common, informing people that there will be two Muzungu in a certain area at a certain time. 

We then ate lunch at yet another traditional Ugandan food place.  At this point Katie and I were rice and bean-ed out and all we wanted was some of the peanut butter we brought.  On a more positive note, this was our first time being served avocado with our meal and it was a delicious addition!  Also, feeling drained from the food, I ordered my first Pepsi.  I told Katie it made me all warm and tingly inside-oh the little things. 

Our lunch meal: Rice and beans, pumpkin, sweet potato, matorke, and avocado

Next we went into the town where we would be living and went to both the supermarket as well as the local market.  The supermarket is not what we typically think of when we think supermarket.  It is a very small store with a few shelves filled with some food.  Here we bought some pasta, bread, nutella, Pringles, groundnuts, water, rice, and toilet paper.  We then went to the market where we bought beans, onions, tomatoes, Irish potatoes, pineapple, and sweet bananas.  We went to the market with Edson, and he was able to tell us who to buy what food from.  And on top of that he was able to negotiate the best prices for us.  We wrote down the prices of everything we bought so that the next time we go there we will know how much everything should be. 

Finally, we arrived at our house!  The house is quite large and very well kept.  There are cement walls surrounding the house and a gate to get in.  There is a living room type area, a kitchen, and four bedrooms with bathrooms in them.  Two of the bedrooms have 3 twin beds and the other two bedrooms have 2 twin beds in them.  The bathrooms contain the toilet, sink, and shower all in one.  In other words, there is no tub for the shower.  In fact, the showerhead is not attached above you, but rather you pick the showerhead up and move it around as you shower.  Definitely different, but on the plus side, there is warm water here!  The house already felt homey, as there were little traces of Americans living here lying around the house.  There was also a very nice little note left for us from a Canadian man who was the last to stay at the house.  Enoch has explained that the house is kind of like a hostel with Americans and Canadians frequently moving in and out.  Katie and I started unpacking all of our stuff right away.  We managed to make our room that we are sharing quite cozy and are both quite content with the set up. 

After spending hours unpacking and organizing the school supplies we brought, Janet taught us how to prepare rice and beans.  Janet is the woman who lived here and helped the previous groups adapt to live in Uganda.  Janet will only be with us tonight and is then going back to live with her family in Bwera.  Tomorrow, Doreen will be our “house mom,” although she is here tonight.  Once again, Katie and I would be eating rice and beans.  But we felt that it was necessary so that we could learn how to do it ourselves.       

I also tried a new Ugandan food at dinner.  Doreen and Edson were both eating Tapeoke.  The best way I can describe it is as grainy, sticky, dough.  And the way you eat it is by first wetting your finger, then ripping a piece off the large ball of it that is served, dip it in a fish soup, and then swallow it.   You do not chew it at all.  So when I tried it, of course, I choked on it as I tried to swallow it.  This gave Janet and Edson a good laugh! 

The tapeoke

After dinner we showed Janet and Doreen our picture books that we brought with us, and they really seemed to enjoy seeing our family, boyfriends, and friends.  Then I slept great in my new bed!