Day 3!

Sunday May 20^th 11:30 pm

Today I wasn’t too upset about getting up early, because I knew we were going to the equator. We loaded the bus at 7:15 and headed over to MUBS for breakfast. Breakfast was more of the same food and I had toast, a banana, and this ball that tasted like hash browns. I have easily determined that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day here and so I make sure that I eat as much as I possibly can. During breakfast we had a really good conversation with two of the MUB students, Karen and Sharon, about differences in our cultures. We asked them about which American shows they like to watch and they told us their favorite was Keeping up with the Kardshians. We made sure to assure them that they can’t stereotype all of America based on the Kardashians.

After breakfast we got the opportunity to go into a supermarket here. It was interesting to see some American products like pringles or oreos, but then there were also a lot of native foods that I didn’t recognize. After we got some snacks at the grocery store we were in for a two-hour bus to the equator. I kind of dozed in and out on the bus ride and enjoyed looking at more of the Ugandan countryside and surroundings. Once we arrived at the equator we took all the stereotypical pictures and then were allowed some time to walk up and down and look at the shops.

Jesca came with us in order to help us barter because we were told that they raise the prices way too much since they get a lot of tourists. It was quite the experience and at times people really got worked up. I honestly felt bad because I know that is there means of making money, but we trusted the MUB students and got some really good deals and souvenirs. It was also our first opportunity to really shop so it was nice to start seeing what some of our options are for shopping.

We then loaded back up the bus and traveled down the road to another university. This is where Dr. Senteza has been on sabbatical for the past year. This was a private university in comparison to MUBS so it was nice to be able to kind of compare and contrast public and private. We just did a quick walking tour and then it was back to Kampala.

Once back in Kampala we went to Ndere Centre. We thought we were just going to have some down time before the show started, but instead we got to experience and immerse ourselves in the culture with music and dance lessons. They started us out by comparing differences in music and dance between Uganda and the United States. Then the whole group got to practice clapping rhythms and then everyone got to experience a little dance and hip shaking. Thankfully we got to pick what we wanted to learn more of because otherwise the dancing would have just been ugly.

I decided to focus on the one-stringed violin. I wanted to see how it compared to the kind of violin I am used to playing. It was actually quite different, but I picked up on it fairly quickly. I really enjoyed getting to learn more about and practice their music  since music has played such a big role in my life. After we learned a short little song we put it all together with the xylophone, drums, harps, and even the dancers. Our group was no where close to sounding very good, but I think the overall experience has been one of my trip highlight thus far.

Our evening consisted of watching the Ndere Dance Troupe. The performance also had a buffet, which was more of the same Ugandan food, chicken, rice, matooke, and we also got some mushroom soup. I didn’t really eat much because I was so engrossed in the dancing and it is starting to get really old really fast. The troupe performed cultural dances to music they played that would be common in the various districts and parts of Uganda. I didn’t realize how much the dances and music differed depending on where an individual was from. It was a very fun evening and I was very impressed with their talent.

It feels like we’ve been here for more than three days, but we are slowly starting to develop a routine in both the mornings and evenings. Sleep is rare and the Internet connection is awful, but overall I am enjoying my time. I’m definitely looking forward to something that is more up my alley tomorrow with our visit to a school.

So until then…

~Mary