Uganda

Arriving to Kampala went smooth enough… We said our goodbyes to family at the airport in Chicago, and had a little time to kill before our flight left for London. The flight itself wasn’t the smoothest, but we made it without getting sick, thankfully. With four hours before our connecting flight to Entebbe, we wandered around Heathrow resembling zombies – as we didn’t sleep on that 8 hour flight. Finally though, we got on our flight and 8+ hours later, we landed in Entebbe.

Oh it was clear we were in Africa again by just a few things that hit you in the face right after exiting the plane.

First –we were met with the sweet humidity of the Ugandan air, right next to Lake Victoria. Even though we left the plane at 10pm, we were still surprised at the heat and warmth we found – especially compared to our time in London and Chicago!

Second – instead of having one taxi to meet us at the airport – we were met with two older model sedans… Our luggage (which all arrived seemingly intact) was crammed into the two cars along with the three of us, the drivers and our host, Papa Kawede.

Third – we started our drive from Entebbe into the city of Kampala, which took about 45 minutes. As we drove, our taxi driver commented on the condition of the roads. He told us how he doesn’t think they are safe. The reason? Because of the oncoming traffic – they have such bright lights on their cars now! It blinds him. Moments before, he mentioned the lack of street lights in Uganda and how it’s too dark when driving. But – he finds the brighter lights of other cars to be dangerous.

Fourth – the speed of the car! My gosh, I forgot how people drive in Kampala! We were cruising at a good 80 kilometers per hour (about 50 mph) but would burst up to at least 120 at times – to pass and just pray that we got back into our lane before the coming truck plowed into us. Poor Megan – what an exposure to Africa!

My thought? That the dangerous part of the roads concerns all of the people walking along the side of the street. They walk opposing the traffic , but traffic weaves in and out so much that sometimes the pedestrians have to jump from the side of the road to avoid the cars. That combined with the lack of sidewalks and poor lighting and the speed of the cars... Ah. It was a quick readjustment to life in Africa.

Fifth – we arrived at the Kawede home at just about midnight, Thursday night. It was a long ride, but so comforting to see familiar faces and a familiar place again. In spite of the club across the street – I slept soundly, until about 7am. That was when the rooster that a sister of Mama Lillian had left at the house, started crowing nonstop. The problem with this rooster is not how loud it was or how often it crowed, but how CLOSE it was. This sucker was outside our open window, INSIDE of the house! It was stuck inside for the night and hadn’t been let out into the yard… So it crowed incessantly underneath the window to mine and Megan’s room. Ah. Welcome back :)

Sixth – when the rest of the family awoke, we spent time discussing how healthy and “fat,” Justin is. How I need to eat more in order to become “fat,” again (fat=beautiful) and how brave Megan is to give up a year to live in Congo. We were met with such hospitality and kindness by this family – even though they felt like they had nothing to give – we were greeted into their house and family like we were children who belonged there. That is one more thing that made me realize that once again, I am actually back in Africa. The acceptance and love that is so openly and freely given – is incredible. And it’s genuine.

I will write more soon...