Our new abode....

Except for a brief time at VSO's main office on our arrival in Kampala, we have had no internet access. We have no transportion of our own just yet as Danny won't receive his motorbike until he has completed a week of training on Ugandan roads. This will take place immediately prior to a week of training in Ugandan culture/history at a centre near Kampala in about a month.

The trip to our residence seemed quadruple the actual distance of 180 miles. It took 5 hours by a pickup truck which contained our 4 massive suitcases, 2 backbacks, a queen-sized hard foam mattress, a 2-burner gas cooker, water filter and tank, medical kit, mozzie net, etc. I can honestly say I have never seen driving done in the fashion it is done here! The normally patient, laid-back, take-your-time Ugandans become extremely impatient when on the road. I am positively gobsmacked that I haven't yet witnessed a road accident. Money for maintaining roads is obviously unimportant. The paved roads are loaded with gigantic potholes and the dirt roads are nothing but potholes.

Danny and I have been warmly welcomed at our new home. Ugandans are polite, courteous, helpful, always shake your hand in greeting and ask how you are. Children always wave at us and adults will wave back if we initiate a greeting. I almost feel like a celebrity as we get attention wherever we go, but have never felt threatened by it--we're a curiosity. Unlike South Africa and other countries, Uganda has no history of black-white racism, no chip on their shoulders against whites. So feelings here are quite different. The staff here is simply fantastic. The principle who is head of the college is quite a character--funny, interesting, entertaining and personable. At the weekly assembly 2 days after our arrival on campus, we had our chance to be formally introduced to the student body. Right. Me. On the stage in front of over 400 people. Not my cuppa tea! The anticipation was much worse than the event. Due to the sea of smiling, welcoming faces all vying for our attention, it wasn't a horrific experience for me. Danny, of course, was in his element!

The college:
Bishop Stuart Primary Teachers' College teaches 400 students aged 18-22 to be primary school teachers. More in a later post.

The campus...
....is located about 10 miles from the moderate-sized town of Mbarara. The main road to town is paved but the campus is 3km off the main road on a dirt track. The ride down this road is much like being put into a washing machine! Beautiful rolling hills surround the campus as well as occasional tiny villages of mainly muc houses, and endless fields of matoke, a staple of the Ugandan diet. The students live in dorms and most of the staff live on campus in semi-detached houses.

Our house....
.....has 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, shower room, and toilet room. Yes, we have a flushing toilet!! We have no hot water tank so any hot water must be boiled in the electric kettle. You may deduce from this this means cold showers! Och, ya get used to it. Keep in mind it doesn't get cold here. All the rooms in the house are tiny but the fact that is has 2 bedrooms means we have one room just for clothes, storage and ironing. The house was furnished with a table and 2 chairs. That's it. Therefore....

Shopping:
Thus far we have made 3 trips into town with staff drivers to buy everything to furnish a house. Since we are muzungus (foreigners) we are obviously wealthy. Most shops don't have pricetags-except supermarkets-so one must bargain. We are, of course, overcharged on everything.

Unlike Kampala, the capitol, there are no shopping malls in Mbarara. There are endless small shops and w/o a guide it would be difficult to know where to go. Our purchases have included: upholstered chairs, end tables, small fridge, small tv, dishes, pots, pans, towels, sheets, pillows, iron and ironing board (yes, everything must be ironed), etc etc etc....

The items for sale here are of extremely poor quality. Very few can afford high quality goods. As far as I can tell most items are made in China, but they are items that would never be sold to the US or UK. The poorest quality are sold to African countries. During all the cleaning, frustrations of shopping, sorting, assembling poorly-made items there could be heard tortured moans of 'my kingdom for Ikea!'.

Misc....
We must sleep under a mozzie net. All water used for drinking and cooking must be boiled and filtered. Clothes are washed by hand!

The climate is gorgeous....in the 70's and 80's all the time.

Our postal address:
c/o
Bishop Stuart Primary Teachers' College
PO 152
Mbarara
Uganda

We both have mobile phones and coverage is good. I have sent and received text messages to the UK w/o trouble. Since the US system charges for incoming texts, I haven't sent any. If anyone would like our mobile numbers, just email me.

The campus has no phone lines. Everyone uses mobiles. I believe the phone lines were laid but are too expensive to connect. We hope to make it to an internet cafe weekly by going in with staff drivers. When Danny gets his motorbike we'll be able to go more often, and knowing Danny, he'll find a way to network the campus!

Next visit to internet cafe.....electricity, food, currency, BBC World Service.....