The internet is not cooperating with me so I'll have to add photos to this post later. Stay tuned.
On a Friday morning, 6:30 a.m. Amber and I, along with our neighbor and friend Lynn went down to the gas station to catch a bus to Kigale, the capitol of Rwanda. The plan was to meet Lynn’s husband Danny there, along with his two friends (one from Canada, one from Rwanda, a married couple), for a weekend of luxury and exploration. There is a proper bus station in Mbarara but it seems that most buses don’t bother to stop there since it’s a little off the main road and very congested. All the buses going to Kigale are coming from Kampala and unless you want to pay for a ticket starting in Kampala you won’t know if there’s a seat available until you talk to the agent in Mbarara, who then calls the bus driver en route to see if it’s full or not. It doesn’t really matter if it’s full though because often people get off mid route. The bus drivers don’t really keep track of who’s going where. That responsibility lies on the passenger. So when the bus pulls into the gas station in Mbarara to fuel up and let the people go to the bathroom we find out that it’s full and it’s going to stay that way for the rest of the journey. The agent is willing to sell us a ticket though, providing we are willing to stand in the aisle. Fortunately there are several bus companies so we decide to wait for the next one.
7:30 a.m. The three of us are sitting comfortably on a coach to Kigale, on the bonnet which is a padded engine cover at the front of the bus between the drivers seat and the opposite row of seats, I’m facing backwards and sitting next to a nun who is holding a giant toy helicopter. I still manage to twist around enough to get look at the gorgeous scenery during the 5 hour trip. It’s incredible to imagine how long this land has been walked by humans. The first humans ever lived in these hills and valleys. My mind folds over on itself trying to grasp it all. Occasionally you can see the remnants of a terraced garden stepping down the hillside. There are also some very impressive churches and mosques looming over the valley from the top of a hill. I’ve been reading Alan Mooreheads’ “The White Nile” and learning a lot about the European exploration of this part of the globe. Only 150 years ago this land wasn’t on any map. It was a total mystery what existed here. Slave trading ended just over 100 years ago, about 40 years after the end of the American civil war.
12:30 p.m. After a one hour break at the border where we went through customs twice, once for leaving Uganda and once for entering Rwanda, during which the entire bus was emptied out and luggage searched for, of all things, plastic bags, we’re rolling through Kigale in a car with Danny and his two friends, Virgil and Elisa. Rwanda has banned the use of plastic bags throughout the country and seems to be more intolerant of them than anything else. It’s one of the many signs of progression I saw in Rwanda. The differences between Rwanda and Uganda are obvious the moment you cross the border. It’s very clean (they had their “national service day” the previous Saturday where everything is closed in order to clean the streets and sidewalks), the roads are being maintained (yeah there were potholes but there were road crews out fixing them) and there was very clear signage throughout, lots of nice cars in the city and people appeared to be fairly well off (although there were beggars too). I didn’t get to learn much about it but they have a managed healthcare system that costs about 1 dollar to buy into. Overall Kigale has a very “European” feel to it. After a short discussion over lattes (our first decent cup of coffee since leaving the U.S.) about where we want to eat for dinner, we head to our hotel for a nap.
7:00 p.m. We’re at the New Cactus Restaurant dining on wood fired pizza and draft beer (insert Homer Simpson moan) but we’re trying to hurry to meet Virgil and Elisa at the soccer stadium for a concert. Virgil works at the Rwandan embassy in Beijing. With his job come a lot of high-powered connections. Fortunately for us we are in the position of benefiting from his connections this weekend. Virgil gets us all into this sold out performance of musicians from all over Africa and the U.S. for free! The setup is a little strange. The Minister of Sports didn’t want the grass on the pitch ruined so no one was allowed to go on it. (A pitch is the proper name for a soccer field). The stage was on one side of the stadium at midfield and everyone sat in the bleachers all the way around the outside. We were quite far from the stage but the performers all found ways to connect with the crowd. Many of them came out into the center of the field with a wireless microphone and danced. I’ll name some of the performers here but I won’t get the spelling right. Let’s see there was Koffi from Ghana, Baby Cool from Uganda, some dude from Burundi, another dude from Rwanda, and the headliner (from the U.S.) was Sean Paul. I’ve never heard of Sean Paul but I saw just as many t shirts for him as I saw for Eminem during our stay in Rwandaso I guess that says something. Great night!
9:00 a.m.ish More lattes and a croissant (!! such things are not available in Mbarara) from a starbucksy coffee shop called Bourbon Coffee Co. Then it’s off to the genocide memorial for some very heavy sightseeing. This is the main attraction for a first time in Kigale. It’s located within a 5,000Rwf (this is Rwandan francs. The rate is .555 this weekend, so 5,000Rwf is basically $2.50) taxi ride of the center of town and admission to the memorial is free. It’s built on the burial site of 250,000 people. They’re not sure how many were killed in the genocide in 94 but they say it’s around 1 million. The memorial is ¼ about genocides throughout history, ¼ memorial for the children killed in 94’, and ½ about the Rwandan genocide during which the world in general turned their backs for 90 days while Hutu’s ran around and killed as many Tutsi’s as possible, mostly with machete’s. It’s a very well done memorial and I don’t think a visit to Kigale would be complete without a visit to it. But man! That was hard to see. It has just recently been reported that the Rwandan military is supporting the Tutsi rebels cause in the Congo. These are Tutsi’s, who fled Rwanda for their lives, killing as many Hutu’s as they can in a “preemptive strike” type defense. The scars from the genocide of 94’ may never heal.
The rest of the stay we spent exploring, having lunch, and shopping for handicrafts at an artists cooperative. We also witness a game of boda-boda polo. I’m not sure but it looks like a group of muzungus hired a bunch of bodas for this. It looks like a good way to get hurt if you ask me. Amber and I found a great bookstore. Half of the books are in French and half are in English but we didn’t have trouble finding lots we’d like to read. Books are an important part of life here in Africa, and Amber and I are swallowing them as fast as we can. We also picked up some art supplies for more paintings and drawings by yours truly. The bus ride home was easy and uneventful. The best part was it dropped us off practically right on our doorstep. I heart Kigale!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
More Of The Day To Day
The longer my stay in Uganda, the harder it is for me to relate to you, the reader. Day to day living here is quite different than in the U.S. and I’ve become quite comfortable with the ins and outs of it. From time to time I’ll use a word or phrase that is quite common here but you may not be familiar with. I try to inform you of the meaning as we go along but lets review, shall we?
Muzungu = White skinned person but is also used to describe any foreigner including Asian and Indians. It’s just like honke or haole. Amber recently asked to learn the word for black skinned person (omwiraguzu) and now we get to give them a dose of what it feels like.
Boda-Boda = Scooter taxi. They are everywhere and really come in handy. I usually walk to town for groceries and take a boda back. This ride takes about 3 minutes and costs 500Ush (27 cents U.S.)
Matatu = Mini van bus or combi if you’ve been to Mexico.
I guess that’s it for now. There will be more later I’m sure.
Using A Cell Phones
It doesn’t take long to see that cell phone companies probably spend the most on advertising out of all businesses here. There is a lack of large franchise organizations in Uganda. There are no McD’s, no Burger Kings’, no Subway’s, no Borders or Barnes and Nobles, no Best Buy, no WalMart, no Starbucks, no KFC, nothing. But you could find yourself driving way out in the middle of nowhere, through neighborhood buildings half built of brick and half of mud and sticks, and see some shops painted head to toe with the colors and logo of one of the four or five cell providers operating in Uganda. It’s nice not to have phone poles and wires running every which way, interfering with the beautiful scenery. Cellphone promotions are the majority of billboard advertising too. One phone company has been clever enough, which I really appreciate, to put up the signs on the highway that tell you how far it is to the next major town.
Paying for airtime for your cell phone here is quite unique. You see, a lot of Ugandans don’t have a mailbox. Heck I’m not even sure they have an address given the system, or lack of a system, for demarcating property lines (bushes and rocks). Without a mailbox it would be hard to receive a bill for your cell phone plan so the cell phone company has setup a pay-as-you-go system. Upon arriving in Uganda one of the first errands Amber took me on was to get a SIM card for my phone. By the way, American cell phones work on a bandwidth that no one else in the world uses (Shocking!). I bought an unlocked quad band phone (a phone that can utilize four different frequencies and isn’t locked into any particular phone company) before I came. When you buy a SIM card you are essentially deciding which phone company you are going to use. We didn’t try to comparison shop but, from what I’ve heard from others, they’re all about the same price (3,000ush approx. which isequal to $1.63 as of this writing). After you get a SIM card in your phone you then purchase some airtime. This comes in the form of a scratch ticket much like the lottery. The ticket will have a number to dial and a small patch of scratchable grey area. You simply send a text message to the provider containing the number you’ve revealed and the credit is added to your phone accordingly. You can buy airtime in many different increments from 1,000Ush up to I don’t know how high. I think it’s a great system. It’s very easy and convenient.
There is no voicemail here, which may seem hugely inconvenient, but it’s not. People mainly use text messaging which works very similarly to voicemail (the message goes into your inbox to be read at your convenience). A text message will cost you between 3-9 cents U.S. depending on the time of day you send it and a phone call will cost between 10-20 cents per minute. So you can see the reason everyone sends texts. Another practice used here is to “flash” someone. This is to call someone and let it ring just long enough for them to see your name on their screen. This can be used in a number of applications. For example, you agree with someone ahead of time to meet somewhere when you flash him or her. Or you flash them to tell them you are on your way.
Watching A Movie
There are lots of DVD’s in Mbarara. They all have a slightly different selection but one thing they all have in common is they’re all bootlegs and they’re all in pretty bad shape. There have been many times when sitting down to enjoy a flick we’ve not been able to watch it due to the terrible amount of scratches on it. I’ve taken these discs back to the store and they usually let me take another free of charge. If you do manage to get one going, you’ll often find that the movie was recorded by someone sitting in a theater with a video camera. You can tell because eventually someone sitting in front has to get up, presumably to pee, and their head is blocking the screen. The first few times it’s really funny, especially when they come back to find their seat again, but eventually it becomes nostalgic of actually going to the movies. An advantage to bootlegs is that the selection at the store is quite current. You can rent movies here that are still in the theatre back home. We’ve mainly been renting television shows. It’s more bang for your buck since there can be 10 hours of tv show on one disk. We’ve watched a few seasons of Cold Case and ER, and now we’re working through Six Feet Under and The Wire. Something else they do at the DVD store is put several movies that relate onto one disk. We rented a quadruple feature of Leonardo DiCaprio flicks once. There is also a HUGE section of Nigerian cinema, called Nollywood, to pick from. I’ve seen some clips playing in the store while looking for something to rent and I couldn’t imagine sitting through a whole Nollywood movie. Not only are they worse than a Mexican soap opera, atrocious acting and inconsistent storylines full of superstitions and customs you’re not familiar with, but they’re often 4 hours long! But in the spirit of trying new things, next time I’m in the video store I will ask which Nollywood is the best and try to get through it. A full review will follow. Africans in general have different tastes when it comes to video entertainment. After football (soccer to you in America) the next most watched thing on tv is the African version of Big Brother. In their version the participants don’t do anything. There are no contests or challenges. They just sit in a room and annoy each other. And this show is on everyday!
Nose Picking
It is not uncommon to see people pick their nose in public here. It is socially acceptable to pick your nose in public. Since everyone picks their nose, you don’t have to admit it to me cause I already know you do, you may find it convenient. No more trying to hide it from the other drivers while waiting for the light to change. What’s the big deal? You have an itch or something poking you inside your nostril so go ahead and scratch it.
Grasshopper trap
Ingredients:
1 Big, Bright fluorescent light mounted approx. 10 feet off the ground.
1 Full sheet of corrugated metal roofing, 2’x8’
1 Bucket, as big as you can get
Place the bucket directly underneath the light. With the metal roofing bend one of the ends into a funnel. Place the funnel into the bucket, leaning the roofing up against whatever you have the light mounted to (whether it’s on a pole or on the side of a building). When night falls turn on the light. You will discover that the light attracts the bugs that grasshoppers feed on so in turn attracts grasshoppers. For some reason unknown to me the grasshoppers will jump into the metal roofing so hard that they will be stunned and fall right into the bucket. The small hole of the funnel is enough to keep the grasshoppers from escaping.
Fried Grasshoppers
As many grasshoppers you can eat
Enough frying oil to fill a pan to 1” deep
Peel the legs and wings off the live grasshoppers. Heat the frying oil in the pan. Fry the grasshoppers until golden. Allow to cool. Enjoy! Kinda’ shrimpy I’m told.
Muzungu = White skinned person but is also used to describe any foreigner including Asian and Indians. It’s just like honke or haole. Amber recently asked to learn the word for black skinned person (omwiraguzu) and now we get to give them a dose of what it feels like.
Boda-Boda = Scooter taxi. They are everywhere and really come in handy. I usually walk to town for groceries and take a boda back. This ride takes about 3 minutes and costs 500Ush (27 cents U.S.)
Matatu = Mini van bus or combi if you’ve been to Mexico.
I guess that’s it for now. There will be more later I’m sure.
Using A Cell Phones
It doesn’t take long to see that cell phone companies probably spend the most on advertising out of all businesses here. There is a lack of large franchise organizations in Uganda. There are no McD’s, no Burger Kings’, no Subway’s, no Borders or Barnes and Nobles, no Best Buy, no WalMart, no Starbucks, no KFC, nothing. But you could find yourself driving way out in the middle of nowhere, through neighborhood buildings half built of brick and half of mud and sticks, and see some shops painted head to toe with the colors and logo of one of the four or five cell providers operating in Uganda. It’s nice not to have phone poles and wires running every which way, interfering with the beautiful scenery. Cellphone promotions are the majority of billboard advertising too. One phone company has been clever enough, which I really appreciate, to put up the signs on the highway that tell you how far it is to the next major town.
Paying for airtime for your cell phone here is quite unique. You see, a lot of Ugandans don’t have a mailbox. Heck I’m not even sure they have an address given the system, or lack of a system, for demarcating property lines (bushes and rocks). Without a mailbox it would be hard to receive a bill for your cell phone plan so the cell phone company has setup a pay-as-you-go system. Upon arriving in Uganda one of the first errands Amber took me on was to get a SIM card for my phone. By the way, American cell phones work on a bandwidth that no one else in the world uses (Shocking!). I bought an unlocked quad band phone (a phone that can utilize four different frequencies and isn’t locked into any particular phone company) before I came. When you buy a SIM card you are essentially deciding which phone company you are going to use. We didn’t try to comparison shop but, from what I’ve heard from others, they’re all about the same price (3,000ush approx. which isequal to $1.63 as of this writing). After you get a SIM card in your phone you then purchase some airtime. This comes in the form of a scratch ticket much like the lottery. The ticket will have a number to dial and a small patch of scratchable grey area. You simply send a text message to the provider containing the number you’ve revealed and the credit is added to your phone accordingly. You can buy airtime in many different increments from 1,000Ush up to I don’t know how high. I think it’s a great system. It’s very easy and convenient.
There is no voicemail here, which may seem hugely inconvenient, but it’s not. People mainly use text messaging which works very similarly to voicemail (the message goes into your inbox to be read at your convenience). A text message will cost you between 3-9 cents U.S. depending on the time of day you send it and a phone call will cost between 10-20 cents per minute. So you can see the reason everyone sends texts. Another practice used here is to “flash” someone. This is to call someone and let it ring just long enough for them to see your name on their screen. This can be used in a number of applications. For example, you agree with someone ahead of time to meet somewhere when you flash him or her. Or you flash them to tell them you are on your way.
Watching A Movie
There are lots of DVD’s in Mbarara. They all have a slightly different selection but one thing they all have in common is they’re all bootlegs and they’re all in pretty bad shape. There have been many times when sitting down to enjoy a flick we’ve not been able to watch it due to the terrible amount of scratches on it. I’ve taken these discs back to the store and they usually let me take another free of charge. If you do manage to get one going, you’ll often find that the movie was recorded by someone sitting in a theater with a video camera. You can tell because eventually someone sitting in front has to get up, presumably to pee, and their head is blocking the screen. The first few times it’s really funny, especially when they come back to find their seat again, but eventually it becomes nostalgic of actually going to the movies. An advantage to bootlegs is that the selection at the store is quite current. You can rent movies here that are still in the theatre back home. We’ve mainly been renting television shows. It’s more bang for your buck since there can be 10 hours of tv show on one disk. We’ve watched a few seasons of Cold Case and ER, and now we’re working through Six Feet Under and The Wire. Something else they do at the DVD store is put several movies that relate onto one disk. We rented a quadruple feature of Leonardo DiCaprio flicks once. There is also a HUGE section of Nigerian cinema, called Nollywood, to pick from. I’ve seen some clips playing in the store while looking for something to rent and I couldn’t imagine sitting through a whole Nollywood movie. Not only are they worse than a Mexican soap opera, atrocious acting and inconsistent storylines full of superstitions and customs you’re not familiar with, but they’re often 4 hours long! But in the spirit of trying new things, next time I’m in the video store I will ask which Nollywood is the best and try to get through it. A full review will follow. Africans in general have different tastes when it comes to video entertainment. After football (soccer to you in America) the next most watched thing on tv is the African version of Big Brother. In their version the participants don’t do anything. There are no contests or challenges. They just sit in a room and annoy each other. And this show is on everyday!
Nose Picking
It is not uncommon to see people pick their nose in public here. It is socially acceptable to pick your nose in public. Since everyone picks their nose, you don’t have to admit it to me cause I already know you do, you may find it convenient. No more trying to hide it from the other drivers while waiting for the light to change. What’s the big deal? You have an itch or something poking you inside your nostril so go ahead and scratch it.
Grasshopper trap
Ingredients:
1 Big, Bright fluorescent light mounted approx. 10 feet off the ground.
1 Full sheet of corrugated metal roofing, 2’x8’
1 Bucket, as big as you can get
Place the bucket directly underneath the light. With the metal roofing bend one of the ends into a funnel. Place the funnel into the bucket, leaning the roofing up against whatever you have the light mounted to (whether it’s on a pole or on the side of a building). When night falls turn on the light. You will discover that the light attracts the bugs that grasshoppers feed on so in turn attracts grasshoppers. For some reason unknown to me the grasshoppers will jump into the metal roofing so hard that they will be stunned and fall right into the bucket. The small hole of the funnel is enough to keep the grasshoppers from escaping.
Fried Grasshoppers
As many grasshoppers you can eat
Enough frying oil to fill a pan to 1” deep
Peel the legs and wings off the live grasshoppers. Heat the frying oil in the pan. Fry the grasshoppers until golden. Allow to cool. Enjoy! Kinda’ shrimpy I’m told.
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