Uganda

After a long day, I am happy to report that I am snuggled in my mosquito net covered Ugandan bed ready to feed the hungry and make a difference in the second African country of my trip. ;) (After I sleep, of course!)Uganda is not what I envisioned it to be like, but it has easily exceeded my expectations. It is very green compared to Kenya with beautiful natural vegetation. The roads are much nicer with less bumps, no speed bumps, and no animals right along the edge. Some of the dirt roads are better than the road to my house! I doubt they get 4 flat tires in three months here (looking at you bad Jeep Wrangler tires).Matilda had forewarned me that we could potentially be staying somewhere with no running water or with a community bathroom (like one shower for all the people), so I was really preparing for the worst possible scenario as I got out of the vehicle and arrived at the hotel. My fears were pushed aside as this place is just as stunning as both icipe guest houses in Kenya and I'm content living here for a week. I'll be sure to post pictures of my room and the living arrangements -- the WiFi is very spotty, but I want to keep you all updated!The journey to get here was fun and interesting. After waking up at 6:00AM (early for me), I half-sleepwalked down to breakfast with my luggage in tow ready to head out for the journey ahead. I saw Salim and he said "are you ready to go, where is everyone?" In my head, I'm thinking what do you mean am I ready to go! It's 6:20! but Salim has always been one step ahead of the rest of us, something I've come to appreciate in this Kenyan culture of "take your time/time is relative". Long story short, it was all good. I sat down with Khalela (she was up this early to join the medical missions team going to an island for their work! There's 15 or so of them) and scarfed down my egg, toast, and fruit not knowing when the next meal would occur. Matilda ate as well and we all were ready to leave at 6:50..more like 6:56 and the ferry departs at 7. (At the time, I had forgot we were taking the ferry!)Speedy Salim drives the car swiftly to the dock to load onto the ferry and we were literally minutes away from being too late. God had a hold on that ferry to make it wait for us and we made it! I love the ferry, I think it's really cool. There's always people going and people waiting; people fishing and people boating; people washing their clothing and even more people talking on the phone. People-watching is fun on the ferry, but I wanted to do more than just "be a tourist" and take photos. This time, I took the chance to get to know two of Matilda's friends, James and Emmanuel, who were both very nice and asked questions about America and my family. The weather was perfect (I know I've used the word perfect far too many times to describe this trip, but really...there's no word that can do it justice.) and the breeze was just right.After getting off the ferry, we traveled onward toward Uganda. Salim took us to the border where we switched vehicles and meet our new friend Allen who was to take us across the border and deliver us to our colleagues. He was very friendly and wouldn't let me carry my own luggage; he insisted that he do it for me. We went to the "ladies" and after seeing my "toilet" was the traditional hole-in-the-ground, I realized that I did not have to go as bad as I thought I did. I'm getting over my fear of using it, but today was not the day!At the border we got out and after a bit of hustle trying to find the right building, we filled out paperwork, scanned our finger prints, gave our Yellow Fever cards and passports, and waiting patiently for approval. It was a pretty painless process, but they are really stingy about the US Dollars that you give them. If there is any minuscule thing wrong with your dollar (slight tear, taping, pen marks, etc.), they will simply not accept it. Isaac was having some issues with one of his 20's, but I had an extra he could use so we "traded"! We would've rather paid in Kenyan Shillings but they were pretty adamant about us using USD to pay our Visa cost into Uganda. Khalela, our American friend, had a rather difficult time crossing the border, but ours was easy!After that was over, we hopped in the car and continued onward into Uganda.

First impressions of Uganda:

• It is GREEN! There are trees everywhere. It reminds me of a scenic drive in Missouri; it just smells like nature. Uganda was very luscious and beautiful.

• The roads are very similar to American roads. There are nice gutters on the sides and animals roam a few feet back instead of right alongside the road. It's much cleaner and seems to be better funded than the transportation system of Kenya.

• It's so similar yet so different from Kenya. I, admittedly, was very much like many of you in thinking that all of Africa is the same. Everything from the people to the food to the hotels to the safaris, I expected all aspects of life to be consistent across Africa and to all match up to the stereotypes and preconceived ideas that I had about this continent. I was wrong; both of these countries are incredibly different and I'm really excited to see how the results of my research reflect that. While both countries were similar in many ways, they are both "my favorite" for many, many reasons.

We made it to the ICIPE office here in Uganda and accidentally interrupted a meeting. Turns out - the meeting was the field technicians learning about us, our projects, how to administer questionnaires, etc. I was immediately humbled by how hard they were working and learning to make OUR project successful. They seemed so eager to get to know me and I am looking forward to "putting the training to work" and partnering with the field technicians to get some quality information. After introducing myself, little ole Missouri, USA, and aflatoxin and why it matters to me, we departed for lunch with the head scientist in this region to discuss our projects more in-depth.We went to "Mount Elgon Hotel" and oh my word, am I home!? THERE WAS A POOL. That I could SWIM in! You don't understand the pain of not being able to swim in your typical "summertime" and I almost cried because it was actually the prettiest pool and the water was....perfect. (I didn't get to swim unfortunately..but I was willing to jump in with my clothes on right then just for that one chance.) This hotel had a spa, a huge restaurant, and tons of little (very nice) tiki like huts for various meetings to be held over a meal. They gave us menus and again, wow. Actual pizza, flatbreads, steak. I had no clue what to pick! Finally, Matilda suggested we do the buffet instead and I am so glad I did. We got a fantastic traditional Ugandan meal and I, to my surprise, loved almost all of it. The salad was phenomenal; if only I could get the recipe and make it myself. The fruit is one of the things I will miss the most from Africa; the supply of fresh fruit is never ending and each bite is just as sweet and fresh as the next. Our waitress was so kind and accommodating. We discussed our projects, questionnaire requirements, and other facets of our work with the head scientist who is coordinating our stay and experience here.After eating, we went back to our hotel and had a few hours to nap, work on our reports, play games, etc. until dinner. I worked on my report for a few hours, organized my room, and then realized that this may be my last and only time to Uganda and soon changed my plans.I hustled down the 12 flights of stairs from my room and just went for a walk. Up and down the stairs, around the complex, in the parking lot, outside the gate and right back in. I met the two security guards (one named Moses) and they both were nice. Whenever I stood by the gates, people thought I was looking for a motorbike ride. While I would've love to go on an adventure, I politely declined and stayed at the hotel.We ate dinner around 8:00 (they eat much later here) and it was a traditional Ugandan meal again. It was delicious and I was blessed to be eating a meal that wasn't going to make me sick, like the meals on the street tend to do to foreigners. They had soda and I got a Mountain Dew. I normally get water with the occasional tea or Fanta Orange/Pineapple drink, but this was the first time I had seen Mountain Dew and wanted to give the Ugandan version a try!Today was an incredible, busy, eye-opening, endearing, crazy, humbling day and it's only day one. Whether it be realizing how lucky we are in the US to get to go swimming whenever we feel like it, being denied the luxuries we've come to enjoy back home, or the sacrifice so many people are making for me to be in Uganda right now, I am in for one long, beautiful ride in this new country.I love Uganda just as much as I love my "home" in Kenya and I hope they will learn to love me too.