Saturday, November 21, 2009

In to Africa

Well, we are in Africa. We arrived on Thursday night late and were greeted by our current landlord and someone from the organization where we will be working, KCCC or Kamwokya Christian Caring Community.

Welcome to our blog. This is intended to be a collection of our thoughts, musings, experiences, pictures while we travel. We would love for you to share it with us whenever you have some time and we promise to try to keep it updated. We are just at the beginning of an 8 month trip, for those of you who don’t know. We are going to be volunteering in Uganda for the next 4 months with an organization that works in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. The organization provides lots of services to people in the largest slum of Kampala, including health care and a clinic. We are going to be helping with the clinic in some capacity….we’ll know more in a few days about what we will actually be doing.

here is the loose itinerary:


Nov 15 leave for London
Nov 19 leave for Uganda
end of March leave for Cairo
beginning of April leave for Israel
mid-April leave for India
mid-June leave for Thailand
end of June leave for Hong Kong
July 3 arrive back in Denver

total travel: 7 months 19 days









It has been a long journey to get to Uganda. At the end of October we left Oakland, CA and drove back to Colorado with a car stuffed to the brim with our wordly possessions. We spent a really fast week in Denver unpacking and then re-packing and prepping for this trip. Then a few days in North Carolina to see Guy’s parents, a wedding in Atlanta and off to London, England for 3 days where we got a chance to see the queen as she passed by on a procession to open the Parliament, saw a play, ate some excellent Indian food and enjoyed some English bitter. We tried to do London on the cheap, which is not so easy. Thanks to Rusha’s cousin Becky we had a place to stay, which helped. We saw many of the sites, and walked all over the city. We got to go to parliament and see the House of Lord and the House of Commons. Decidedly more pomp and circumstance than would ever be found in the US and we were lucky enough to hear the most boring speech imaginable about the need for stopping deforestation in Brazil. We spent much of our time minding the gap. We managed to avoid the rain in London….but we got some in Africa and will probably be seeing more rain for about the next month.

We woke up this afternoon, after sleeping 12 hours—our first real night sleep in weeks, it seems. It poured rain while we were sleeping and now the roads are wet with sticky, red-brown mud, almost like clay. The roads are pretty bad. Huge pot holes, bumps and the drivers are worse. They drive on the left side, but not many people seem to follow rules while driving. There are tons of motorbikes, boda bodas, which also function as taxis. Guy read a statistic saying that 5 people die each day in Kampala from accidents on these things. As many as 4-5 people will pack onto them, including mamas holding infants. We plan not to take a boda boda. The main mechanism for public transport are the matatas, little vans that function as taxis. We haven’t figured out if there are regular routes or stops yet. They get pretty packed as well and we took one but it didn’t really drop us off where we intended to go. Also there are people on bikes, people on foot, private cars and it is pretty chaotic overall, but fun.

Many people speak at least some English, as we are in the city. Uganda has over 50 dialects and none of them are similar to eachother so English is ostensibly the official language. In Kampala, the language Luganda is a common dialect and we have learned a few words: “oli oyota” means “hi, how are you?” and “webale nyo” means “thank you very much.” Oh, and “muzumbu” means ”white person” and it is used by pointing at a white person and repeating it several times.

We are settled into our apartment which is a 2 bedroom house with a nice kitchen. It is simple but functional and we are looking forward to knowing this place better. Tomorrow we will venture into downtown Kampala. When we figure out how to use this better we will upload more pictures.

22 comments:

  1. Travel safe and have a blast. Look forward to keeping up with your adventures.
    Take Care
    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  2. alright! can't wait to hear more. be safe. xo

    ReplyDelete
  3. We enjoyed reading all. How is the food there ?
    Do they have a "Landmark"?
    Love
    Ima and Aba

    ReplyDelete
  4. Muzumbus- Have fun, waiting to see you in Israel

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeah Rusha and Guy!!!

    what an adventure! We are so excited for you both and will be avid readers of your blog.

    We arrived in Wellington, New Zealand about same time you landed in Kampala. Finally today driving to where we will live...but a little more behind than you on the blog. Stay tuned.

    -Love, Will Rachel and Carina

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think that i just missed you guys in Denver. I got in Denver on 13th and now i am in Copper Mountain with ski team.
    well, Great to hear from you guys!
    Stop by Maui when you are going back home!
    Aloha,
    Kazuko

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for starting a blog about your adventures! Eager to follow all the excitement and stories.

    Be safe!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your trip sounds wonderful!! Thanks for sharing it with us :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. HI Rusha and Guy!
    Great to hear you guys made it safely. Seems like you were just here getting ready to leave, and figuring out how to pack your car! Things good here, we really miss you guys, just had the Thanksgiving at Drew and Laura's, really fun but not the same without you.

    We'll keep you up to date on neighborhood happenings, and really look forward to living vicariously through your adventures! Love, Keith and Mari

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oli Oyotoa, mizumbus!
    We missed you guys at McGowans last night.

    What a fun adventure waiting ahead of you!
    Look forward to hear more.
    (Don't forget to report about your Goat meat Schmettloaf and cassava latkes!)

    You may already know, but my advice as a blogger -- keep the blog as your journal, a little bit everyday or so is easier than one big one once in a while, and reduce overwhelm on your part (esp. w/ photos!). The readers like it that way too.

    Have a blast and a safe trip!

    Mari

    ReplyDelete
  11. Have a great trip! So glad to read that you arrived safely and are already enjoying your adventure. xoxo, Ash

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am so excited for you! Have a wonderful trip. I will be living vicariously through your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  13. woohoo! i want to see more pics of Africa next time!! so excited for you guys! Be safe! love, Leah

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for posting! We've been thinking about you and it is fun to read what you are doing. Please keep the blog posts coming. Love, Kelli and Evan

    ReplyDelete
  15. Following your adventures with much pleasure and interest! Sheila T

    ReplyDelete
  16. we are happy to hear and see every thing about
    you .takecer --saba and savta

    ReplyDelete
  17. The Harris family says Hi. Cant wait to read about your travels.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sounds like an amazing adventure. We are already eager to hear your next entry. Keep us posted! Melissa, Randol, Zoe and Jake

    ReplyDelete
  19. Finally having a chance to read your blog...So glad you had a good visit in London. Sounds like you were able to see a lot.. and you even managed to see the Queen!! Been living here 2 years and haven't been anywhere near her! It's a pleasure and treat to read about your adventures. Thanks so much for sharing the experience this way! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  20. What an incredible adventure you have embarked on! Thank you so much for allowing me to live vicariously through the two of you!! Can't wait to hear more. Gail

    ReplyDelete
  21. thinking of schmeatloaf.
    missing you both!
    hope you are fabulous.
    love
    Heather

    ReplyDelete