So here I am. Mbale, Uganda. As I am writing this it is the end of my second full day in Mbale. I arrived here on Tuesday but I was picked up and went to Cherish Uganda where I slept and was then picked up and taken to Mbale (this was the case because Cherish was closer to the airport and I arrived late tuesday night). So far I really enjoy it here. It was a little overwhelming at first because it was a newe place and it can still feel daunting but I definately feel a lot more comfortable. I will be working at Beersheeba (Disclaimer: Beersheeba is the project where Oasis works. It is the place of the offices and where a lot of stuff "goes down" i.e happens. The words Beersheeba (which comes from 1 Kings 19 v1-19), and project mean the same thing and will be used interchangably.) I will be working mainly with football (for you americans that is soccer... not american footbal). but I also have other jobs and things that i will do. But enough of the boring stuff.
I have been here two days and already have a number of stories. First off, there is a blinking annoying cockoral (or however you spell it) that wakes me up at about 6:45 every morning. I need to wake up about then anyways but the sound of one of those beeping aarm clocks that progressively get louder would be nicer. Annoying yes, but not as much. And yeah, life in Uganda starts early. Also, the main way of transport here is the motorbike, known as Boda Boda's or Pickey's (again, interchangeable). This seems like no big deal until you are holding on to a small metal bar behind you for dear life as you zoom across these dirt, and mind I say EXTREMELY bumpy, roads, hoping that you make it to your destination. It actually wasn't that bad for me because the driver was apparently going slow. Some go much faster. What is really fun though is that the rain can collect in parts and some places can be muddy to the point where you kinda feel yourself sliding out as you drive across. Its all good fun though.
Powercuts are also kind of common here. Commen being about once every two days (im told) and I am currently writing this during one which means that my scream is extremely bright and i can't really see anything else for about a minute after i look away. What was fun though was that I played a good game of chess against Dave, a fellow white peson who works with Oasis, via candle light. He was the blck pieces and it was hard for him to see some of them which gave me an advantage. There is also another boy who lives here who plays with us. It is all very fun. Second Disclaimer: These is really no racism here, but Ugandans do tell it how it is. For example. The term Mzungu means white person, or rich person, but it is not derogatory. It is just fact. So if I say the dave is a fellow white person there is nothing in that statement, only that it is true. So that is pretty much it for today folks. There will, undoubtedly, be more stories to come. I will most likely be chopping and changing between serious and funny blogs and some may even be both. But here I will leave you with one last humorous story. On the way back from the project yesterday there was a herd of cows coming towards us. This herd were all in a groupwalking slowly, except for one... We looked and saw a cow running (some would say charging but that word is quite strong) right towards us with a man running behind it trying to control it. Mildly scary, you say, for a regular cow to be running at us. I agree. Even more scary when this cow has horns that are slightly shorter than the lengh of my forearm. But no worries, you just step to the side (rather quickly) and let the cow run on past. Everything worked out fine. Although I can't speak for the cow as I don't know what happened to him.
So although that story was mildly scary you do still have to laugh (you too mum) and move on. Because things are gonna happen whether your in LA, London, or Uganda and you have to roll with it. Plus you be careful, that definately helps. So goodbye, this time for real, as opposed to the last paragraph. Sorry this is so long. There was a lot to tell. Anyways, see you soon.
P.S Get ready for my next post Uganda: The Beautiful Paradox
But don't get ready quite yet cause it will be a few days.
Ok so heres the deal. The electricityis kinda sporadic here. They do what they call load shedding which is basically turning the power off to certain places cause there is too much. Anyways, that means the internet is down when the power is down and I can't post my blog. So this was supposed to go up on saturday morning but didn't.
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