Day 1!

Friday, May 18^th 8:10 pm

This morning we got up relatively early and went over to meet the MUB students. It was really exciting to be able to meet these students and begin having conversations with them about their life in Uganda. For breakfast they served us some kind of cookie like item, something that looked like a sausage, and some mango/pineapple. After eating and conversing, we had a quick pronunciation lesson with Dr. Senteza and learned that most words can be pronounced by knowing what sounds the various vowels make. We also listened to Eric, a Drake student who previously went on the trip and is now studying abroad here, share some of his experiences. It was interesting to here his opinions, but we were also reminded by the MUB students to not believe everything he said, because they thought some of his perceptions weren’t 100% accurate.

After this brief orientation, we were given more time to get to know the MUB students on a deeper level. We had conversations on everything from food, school, and just hobbies in general. I knew we were going to be learning a lot from them since we are in their country, but I forgot that we would also be teaching them about our way of life in America. I think this exchange of information and learning going on is a really neat aspect about the partnership that we have here. Before we knew it, it was time for lunch.  For lunch we had matooke with a peanut sauce, rice, chicken, and noodles. It was actually much better than I had expected and I enjoyed it a lot better than breakfast.

We then got the opportunity to be guests on their campus as they provided us with campus tours. It was definitely a lot different than I had anticipated; it was much bigger with many more students. Surprisingly, many aspects of could be comparable to Drake. We saw their dining hall, the church they had on campus, the newly built library, and even their dorm rooms. Their dorm, named Berlin, was certainly an eye opening experience. Anyone in the United States who has complained about the size of their room at school has no place to talk. The rooms were smaller than our rooms at Drake and four people lived in them instead of two. The bathrooms were disgusting and their laundry room was a couple sinks and metal counters. Outside they laundry laying out over the bushes and in the grass to dry. Despite their less than exemplary living conditions, the students were really excited to invite us into their rooms and show us where they live. One MUBS roommate literally had four of us squeeze ourselves next to her on the bed and couldn’t stop hugging us and asking us questions. It still feels weird to be treated like we are something special or be looked at like animals in a zoo.

After our time at MUBS, it was time to venture downtown Kampala to the Owino Market. The market was nothing like I had anticipated and was seriously an extremely stressful and scary situation. There was no method to the madness and as soon as we stepped foot into the maze of a market, the word Muzungu  - “white person” – being muttered from the mouths of many of the shop owners. In the market you could buy anything from clothes, to “fresh” fruit and meet, to raw materials and just about anything in between. As we walked by the cubbies, people were grabbing our arms trying to get us to look at their products. There were also people sleeping in the different compartments, which I thought was really strange.

We were warned numerous times about pick-pocketers and it was even too stressful to stop and shop. It was a workout trying to keep up with Olivia, our MUB leader, and keep track of the other four in the group, while watching the uneven ground and trying not to fall, and being aware of everyone else around you. The market was really like nothing I had ever experienced before and definitely opened my eyes and I think I can say I experienced some culture shock. Thankfully, we all survived unscathed and then were able to head back to Red Chili to recover from our long several days.

Once back at Red Chili, we were finally able to get some Internet. It is extremely slow. Yes, even slower than at Drake, but it’s nice to be able to have some interaction with the outside world. We ate here and I had pizza. After eating we continued to sit outside at the picnic tables and be on our computers. Megan and I even managed to break the bench we were sitting on, because a cat rubbed up against our legs. It caught us so off guard that our immediate reaction was to jump backwards causing the bench to snap in half and sending us both to the ground. Now it’s time for a refreshing shower and an early night in bed to make up for the lack of sleep the past couple of nights. Hopefully the cranes and other birds can keep quiet so we can at least catch a few zzz’s before we are up for another early day.