Newest installment

A few more happenings… Soon everything will seem a lot less new, so I will likely have less to report. In the meantime, however, here goes!

The last email update covered through Monday… But, as per usual with my experiences here, the last two and a half days have been fairly full of new things. (As an interesting tidbit… where I email from is called “The Source” Café. Most people think that this is for the “The Source” of the Nile. But no, it is for “the Source of life” – Jesus Christ. This place is run by, and hopping with, Latter Day Saints folks and plenty of other non-denominational people – almost all from the states – all on missions. It is a very interesting place to be! I can feel folks eyeing me – wondering if I need saving!)

On Monday, I did emails for six hours. The internet is slower than even dial-up. If that isn’t amazing… Then, I headed back to Nile River Explorers to do some laundry. Betty – the laundry lady – is a real sweetheart. I had her show me how to do laundry – by hand. Ladies here really do a much better job cleaning clothes than I do! So, there is no better time or place to learn. Betty was a kick – she thought it was so funny that a mzungu (white person) would want to learn how to wash clothes – and still pay her for her services! Anyway, she was quite taken with me (and I with her!), and we had quite a good laugh over the course of the evening. She charged 3000USh for two weeks worth of laundry – appx $2. Hand washing clothes is hard work. It is no wonder why people are in good shape! Everything takes such work to do – get water, have electricity, clean floors, wash clothes, make food… From that point on, she kinda’ took me under her wing. Every time she saw me Monday, Tuesday, and this morning, she came over to give me a hug and kiss… hold my hand… do motherly reminders (don’t forget to do… you should…).

That evening, the group of 30 high schoolers decided that it would be a good idea to get smashed after their chaperones went to bed. The problem was that I knew they were drunk – they were throwing up by my tent, talking about how drunk they were, and having lots of mini-dramas. Rather than deal with it that evening (I was sure a chaperone would wake-up!), I decided to try to sleep. Needless to say, I did not sleep well but turned the group into the lead chaperone in the morning. Wowsers – what a talking to those kids got! Most were sophomores and juniors… As my new friend Susan says – this means that they will get smarter about when and where they drink. Probably! But that is not a good reason to act illegally.

Tuesday brought the Nile. This was one of those experiences which is marked by continuous adrenaline rushes. We rafted down 30 km of the Nile (something like 15 miles?). There was no time like the present to experience this for three reasons:

(1) In two years, these rapids will be gone because they are building a dam,
(2) my friend Susan, a doctor, was going – always good to have medical care readily available, and
(3) how cool is to raft the head of the Nile and cruise the foot of the Nile on the same trip?

For those of you who think you have power over water or nature – try whitewater rafting here. I have rarely felt so small and at the behest of some other force than yesterday. We did something like 16 – 20 different rapids, ranging from grade 2 – 5. We did four grade 5 rapids (the highest
classification that anyone can raft down), something like six grade 4 rapids, and the rest were grades 2 and 3. The grade 5 rapids flipped the raft every time save the last one. It is fairly intense to be speeding down the Nile only to come upon an 8 – 10 foot “wave” or pile of water…

Our guide would say something like – “hard forward, hard forward, hold on and get down!” Just typing those words makes my heart speed up. Weird. The goal was to ride the rapid with everyone still in the boat… But that is a tough one when the raft flips entirely and everyone is dumped out and into the water. For those of you worried about safety (Dad!), here are some
factoids to calm the nerves:

(1) There were four safety kayaks waiting at the base of each rapid, trained to come into the rapid and/or spot us ASAP. Each kayak can hold two people, so all people could be rescued if need be.
(2) In addition to the safety kayak, there was also a safety raft.
(3) The most common injury are broken fingers – from people holding the raft incorrectly. No one has died rafting down the Nile.
(4) The most serious injury was a broken femur. Within 20 minutes of the break, the man was in helicopter being airlifted to Kampala, hooked up to IVs and being treated.
(5) All guides and safety personnel are highly trained in standard CPR/first aid, water rescue, white-water rescue…
(6) My guide grew up near the Nile. He spent his youth going down the river (swimming) and over the rapids, holding only 20-gallon containers (no helmets or life preservers, as we were required to wear). He is currently the #1 kayaker in the world on the Nile. (They just had an international competition here, and he won. He also ranks top 20 in the world – even had
a magazine (with him on the cover) to prove it!) So, he knows the river pretty well. And he has been guiding raft trips down the Nile for 10 years.

Needless to say, I was anxious about the safety of the Nile. But, after doing a bunch of talking and research, I felt VERY confident about the safety of the experience. And, if anything went wrong, there were plenty of folks and resources to help.

Rafting down the Nile is likely something that I do not need to do again. While I felt safe, prepared, and secure, being at the mercy of such a powerful force is humbling and frightening. It is something like “been there, done that, got the t-shirt” and very influenced by the experience.

That evening, I headed out with a bunch of Soft Power volunteers to “2 Friends Café” to watch the England Sweden World Cup game. Soccer dominates life here. Most of the Soft Power people are British, so it was fun to watch it with them. I was fairly tuckered after the day, so I headed home early. After checking about the safety of walking home alone and getting directions, I headed off on foot. Expecting streetlights but finding none, my mind quickly got the best of me. It is REALLY dark here. I could hardly see my feet, let alone the turns! So, after trying to walk and getting a little turned around, I made it back to 2 Friends. Luckily Bright, the
chef, was heading home and lives near me. He took me home and everything seemed quite a bit less threatening with him there. The mind is a powerful thing!

Today has been about email and getting ready to head to Bujagali tomorrow and start volunteering… I am really excited but feel pretty comfortable here in Jinja… It will be nice to have the SAME base for four weeks. But, all the same, Jinja is a great little place. Very small, easy going, and not too much traffic (save the boda bodas!). Bujagali is appx 6 km from town. So, it is not impossible to get back – just a bit harder. We had dinner at Bujagali last night (as part of the raft experience), and it is beautiful.

update (another long one)

Hey there kiddies :-)

This is organized something like:
(1) Random thoughts
(2) Books/music/videos of interest
(3) Cast of Characters
(4) Trek

(1) Random Thoughts:

a. For the record, even though the DEET spray and glass cleaner are in the same type of bottle, DEET does not clean glasses very well. Just in case you were wondering!
b. One of the hardest scenes here thus far occurred in the Taxi Park in Kampala. As in lots of places everywhere, there are folks who are begging for some handouts. In most circumstances, I have sympathy but generally no problem not giving anything, given knowledge of service programs that are available. However, that is not the case in Kampala. There are children who line the street on the way to the taxi park. In my short walk of five minutes between taxis, I encountered 30 children, all in some state of illness and many seemingly near death. The youngest was barely one year old (maybe older, but hunger had stunted her growth?). She was sitting in a pile of oily mud, with a sarong draped over her (maybe for the heat? But by whom?). She barely had her eyes open – and there were flies crawling all around her eyes. She was sitting – barely. Her hands were barely outstretched – as if she had no energy left. She did not speak (again from hunger?)… And people just walked past… and so did I. I felt sick… It was awful. And she was not the only one – just the youngest. All seemed so close to death. And, there is not any good service organization available for these kids. For all I know, this little girl is now dead. And I just walked by. In fairness to me, what was one to do? Give her money? Clearly she could not defend herself against the other stronger kids who would likely steal the cash anyway… Buy her food for one meal? And prolong her suffering? Take her home with me? It is a very confusing issue – and I am not sure what the right response is… It has certainly stuck with me the past two weeks, however.

(2) Recommended books/music/reads by others to me:

a. Music: Julianna – she is a famous Ugandan singer! So, I am quite well known, I guess.
b. Books: Mother Tongue. Has anyone read it?
c. Movies: Lord of War with Nicolas Cage – M+D = you should watch it and let me know if it is worth watching upon my return!!

(3) Cast of Characters: there were four of us on the trek this past week… Shane, Chris, Susan, and me. To set the scene, here is a bit of info about them!

a. Shane: 37 years. River guide who has rafted rivers all around the world. He is quite a “guy’s guy.” Originally from New Zealand (a Kiwi), he has not returned home for 10 years. He currently has a girlfriend, named Helga, from Croatia. He was our guide/driver/team leader.
b. Randall/Randy/Wendy :-). 30 years old. Accountant from Canada (Toronto). Working in the UK and recently quit his job to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Quite the party animal but thinking about settling down soon. He is taking an overland trek from NBO to South Africa for five weeks. Because the Ugandans have trouble with r’s at the beginning of words, often Randy sounded like “Wendy,” so we went with that. :)
c. Susan: 32 years old. This lady is quite the chica. She sort of reminds of Darcy – blond hair, blue eyes, and quite pretty. But intense as all get out! She is an expedition doctor who travels around the world on climbing treks (i.e. Everest, Andes, etc). She also travels on her own quite a lot – and climbed the Rwenzoris here in Uganda alone (with a guide, however).

(4) The Safari!!

a. Day 1: drive to Ruboni Community Camp. We started out at 745am on Tuesday. Shane and Wendy met me at NRE and off we went to Kampala. We first stopped at the Ugandan Wildlife Authority – quite a well run organization – to pick up our permits ($360 a pop!!). Heading into town, we stopped at the bank for Randy to get some cash. As it turned out, his card would not work and was charged an additional $50 to withdraw money… And then we got clamped (and almost towed) while waiting for him to sort that out… And the weird part was that we were parked just as illegally as everyone else, but we were the only white folks doing so. Given that the white folks have cash, or so it seemed, we were the ones clamped and the other cars scattered. The towing company was located as some unknown hotel, and Shane had to go find it to pay and get unclamped. My job was to wait with the car and make sure nothing got stolen! It was intense – and hot. But it worked out. We got out of Kampala (thank goodness!) and made a quick lunch stop at Fort Portal. We ended at Ruboni, in the foothills of the Rwenzoris, where we met up with Susan. She is an ER doc and regaled us with hilarious stories of ER-dom… The neat part about where we stayed that (and every night) is UCOTA – the Ugandan Tourist Board (but I don’t know what the acronym stands for). UCOTA has worked pretty hard to help local folks develop their tourist industry in accordance with “Western “ standards so as to develop sustainably and get lots of tourists in! It was great – very clean and nice. Affordable. And based in sustainable business practices. Maybe a former Peace Corps project? I spend a good deal of time talking to Patrick and Tinka – the chairperson and representative for the local UCOTA cooperative. The businesses employ local Ugandans – at our place, two women: Alice and Leonida. I spent a long time talking to Alice (who is my age) and Leonida as well Leonida’s daughter. Very fun night! Alice, Leonida, and I had a good number of laughs about how women (and in particular African women) seem to work considerably harder than men. What a great connection!
b. Day 2: Ruboni to Buhoma. Starting in Ruboni, we had a very nice breakfast of fresh fruit from the area. After breakfast, I stood out on the road and talked to the women as they passed – they were heading to the fields to tend their gardens and fields. They all wore skirts and carried various instruments on their heads. Some spook mediocre English and others spoke none – indicative of the remoteness of the village. We got in the car and crossed the Equator, heading into Queen Elizabeth Park. The road we took is the road the UN takes between the DRC and Uganda. As you know, the Eastern DRC is unstable, so the UN is busy there. Accordingly, we saw lots of UN vehicles coming and going. It was pretty interesting – and a little intimidating. The highlight of the afternoon was seeing the “famous” tree-climbing lions of Queen Elizabeth park. The story is that many lions climb trees, but these lions in this park do so significantly more than any other. We were very lucky to see them! We also saw an assortment of baboons, monkeys (vervet), and perhaps an elephant in the distance? Mostly, it was just beautiful African Savannah scenery… We stopped at a random mansion outside of the park for lunch – which was supposedly going to take five minutes to prepare. Apparently there are only two hours in an African day because 5 minutes meant 1 hour (so… 24 hours in one day = 120 minutes!! What a quick day!). It was funny…And just one of those things. We got into Buhoma and checked into another UCOTA establishment just inside the park gates. We spent the evening with our Nile Special beers, eating dinner and looking at pictures of the gorillas we were to see the following day.
c. Day 3: GORILLA TREK!!! The highlight of the week was upon us. We woke up at 600, had breakfast, and attended our briefing. They had a possibility of 24 trekkers (8 per group). However, there was only 20 of us, so (as we found out later), Shane, Randy, Susan, and I were assigned the “hard” group – all of the older and younger people were moved out of our group as our trek was more challenging. We were told about the gorillas, what to expect, and that the likelihood of seeing gorillas was 95%.

We then split up, got porters if we wanted (I chose to get one at 10000USh – we had done a bunch of talking to locals and UWA people about the porters… The schpeel is that these folks need to benefit from the tourists coming or they will use the forest area to benefit instead, which makes sense. However, with such a steep entry fee, I was wondering why the locals did not see more of it?? Anyway, there was little time to think of the money-trail and it was an easier choice to hire a porter and think more about it later! So, I had Medi – a 20 year old guy who is supporting his sister and mother. Quite a nice guy – and quite helpful!) Since our driver was going with us, we ended up riding with the guides, porters, and paramilitary folks in the back of a truck. Africans know how to overload!!! There were literally 25 of us in the back of the small pick-up truck. When we came to hills, half had to get out in order for us to go up! We could not go fast (GOOD) because of how heavy the truck was.

(We had the paramilitary folks with AK-47s – three to five per tracking group – because in the 1990s or maybe earlier? Some rebels had killed a group of tourists who ere tracking the gorillas. After that, the UWA got a bunch more rigid about safety and hence, our armed escorts. It felt a bit weird, but being so close to Rwanda and DRC, I guess it makes sense!)

We rode on a road that was built after Museveni came and trekked the same group of gorillas we were about to (Group R). When Museveni came, the trek to the gorillas lasted six hours – our trek ended up being about 2 hours in! Anyway, Museveni commissioned the road as a shortcut to the group.

We jumped out of the truck and started climbing… and climbing.. and climbing… Which is not easy at the equator with no trees to shade you and at elevation. But we toughed it out (well – Susan was in great shape, so no problem for her!). We walked through fields of bananas and corn, heading toward the park boundary and SHADE. The path was at times only wide enough to put one foot in front of the other – or else risk sliding down a steep embankment.

Once we made it to the forest boundary, we had about another 40 minutes of walking through the forest. Our guides used machetes to slice through the thick undergrowth. And whereas before we had TOO MUCH SUN, we then were surrounded by “waitawhiles” which are plants with thorns shaped like barbs. I had my fair share - and rather than backing up to pull them out of my skin so as not to hurt – I charged ahead and suffered the consequences! Oh well. A few scratches never hurt anyone, right?

And then, we were 200m from the gorillas! WOW. We were all excited and quiet. We left our walking sticks, bags, and stuff with the porters and trackers (who had tracked the gorillas in the morning) and forged ahead, cameras in tow. If possible, the undergrowth got thicker
– so thick that you just walked on it (probably 2 feet above the actual ground in some places).

We heard them before we saw them. You could find the group of 10 by where the leaves were rustling in the distance. The first we came upon were two females and the single, dominant male – the silverback. This guy weighs something like 800kg and is HUGE. It was a jaw-dropping, eye-popping sort of thing to be struggling through the undergrowth, hearing them, and then all at once be 9m from this HUGE animal. And he was just eating… And then moved to get some more leaves – he just uprooted a tree!!! CRAZY. He just sat there and watched us absentmindedly. The females did much the same… We stayed with them for one hour and thirty minutes, just absorbed in their calls, eating, and interactions. We were non-entities to them… There were two babies – one who made eye contact with me and came within two feet of me… stood up… and beat his chest with his hands and did his baby gorilla growl… And then one of his older siblings came and tackled him. Right in front of me – twice. Amazing. It felt like if you could be there for just a short while, you could become a gorilla – or at least you could understand each other… Which was mixed by the other feeling that these guys were so much more different from humans. It was weird to be smacked with such opposing feelings – either we could communicate through some sort of primal way or we never could. Really cool experience.

After that, we headed back to the porters and lunch in the forest, to the truck (again with now 28 of us!), and to our bandas to shower and relive the experience. Except…

Once we got to the bandas, showered, and dusk was approaching, another group (Group M) came up to the forest edge – at our banda to eat!!! We sat outside and watched them for three hours. Some were 100m and others were 20m away. We saw some females, juveniles, babies, and the silverback for the troop. What a neat deal! They left at 6 to go nest for the night, and we headed into town to watch the England World Cup game.

As it turned out, people all went to someone’s house to watch the game! We showed up at this family’s front door and we were graciously welcomed. As I had little interest in the game, I ended up spending three hours talking to Rittah, the niece of the family. At 16 and in high school, she was excited to practice her English. She took me all around their place – their fish pond, to see the pigs, piglets, dogs, to pick beans (like fava beans), to see eggplant, squash, and bananas. We then headed to her room and talked about school – she showed me her school books and we talked about her future. What a neat girl! I had a great time… And was so impressed with how friendly everyone was.

d. Day 4: Buhoma to Lake Mburu… We had a long day ahead of us – eight hours over HORRIBLE roads (although no more horrible than others that we had been on… but fairly tiring and dirty!). Driving through small villages who rarely see mzungus, kids would run after the van and yell “Hello” “You are welcome” “I am fine” “Please” or some assortment of random English they had learned in school. So completely endearing… And then the car overheated 2 hours from our destination. So, we stopped, I got out of the car (as I could be no help)… We were quite the attraction. In about 10 minutes we had literally 100 people (mostly kids on their lunch break) surrounding us from a distance of approximately 10 feet. Well, I thought, this is no good. We are just staring at each other… So, walked up to one child who was intently staring at me and started to talk to her… The kids all rushed around us! AMAZING. Surrounded by 50 kids, with me crouched down to be at their level, we basically stared and exchanged phrases – me in English and them in luganda (and their local dialect). Basically, no understanding whatsoever! So, I started singing “Row Row Row your boat,” which they thought was great. I ended up teaching it to them… And they all laughed… And then they sang me a couple of songs in luganda. GREAT. And then we stood there… Kids started to tell me their names and their ages. It is pretty powerful to communicate and understand one another. So, after 15 minutes of this, it went silent. Given their interest in me and desire to stay planted around me, I started to sing “Father Abraham had many sons” which was quite the hit. Kids are kids, eh? They all love to be silly and move their bodies in funny ways – and especially to see an adult MZUNGU do the same thing! Once I finished – and I was hot, sweaty, and covered with dust! – they started singing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” So neat…
And then the car was fixed. We headed off – and not after a number of persistent cries for money and my watch, ring, cross, clothes, hat… And then the car broke again. Shane head to the nearest town to get some serious help and we again were surrounded by children – this time more
teenagers and they were carrying machetes and sugarcane. They certainly looked a bit more menacing – just starring at us… But I again struck up a conversation (the other two stayed in the car) and did not have as much luck but lots of cautious smiles and laughs were exchanged. The car ended up being really broke. We stayed in Mbarara town (off the itinerary) with plans to head to Lake Mburu the next day.
e. Day 5: Lake Mburu. With a taxi, we left Shane with our gear (with the plan to have the car fixed and for him to meet us down the road) and went to Lake Mburu National Park to go for our early morning game walk. What a neat thing to do! It is the only park that does not have many dangerous animals, save water buffalo, so tourists can do game walks with rangers (again with the AK-47s – this time for protection from the animals!). We saw impala, 15 different types of birds, warthog, hippos, zebras, élan, baboons, Reed bucks, water bucks, water buffalo, tope, mongooses, and a few more I cannot remember! The experience was remarkable because you could walk through the park, off the beaten trail to see the animals. The van ended up being really broken, so we had to stay an extra night, again with hopes of it being fixed by Sunday. We spent lunch and dinner at the restaurant near the lake, where we had MANY hippos right off
the porch. COOL!
f. Day 6: Lake Mburu to Jinja. We had another game walk in the morning, seeing many of the same animals but a different part of the park. More interesting was the subsequent conversation we had with our guide, Nicholas. He was quite intelligent and asked me all sorts of questions about the US – Bush, Cheney, Condi, Hillary, Gore, Kerry, and lots of other folks. He knew a lot about government, US policy, and we had a great conversation comparing the Ugandan, Canadian, and American governments and policies. Really interesting! We ended up leaving for Jinja at 430pm in a hired taxi – the van was still not fixed and in fact had to be towed from Mbarara back to Jinja. We finally arrived at almost midnight on Sunday and crashed…

So! There it is! Whew. I think that the next email will be a bit shorter, as I will be hanging out here more. The new plan looks something like…
(1) Today (Monday): figure out my life! Do laundry, email, etc…
(2) Tuesday: maybe go rafting down the Nile with Susan… or a bit more email… just settling
(3) Wednesday: either stay in Jinja or do some volunteering with Soft Power if I don’t go rafting OR if I go rafting, do email in Jinja
(4) Thursday: head to a small local village to meet some buddies who are doing sustainable agricultural education work. Spend the night there…
(5) Friday: come back from the village and get ready to head to Kampala on Saturday.
(6) Saturday: Kampala with Ayuen – the girls all want to see my laptop and have me teach them some songs.
(7) Sunday: Kampala with Ayuen – work out the cell phone (finally!) and maybe figure out a way for her to come stay with me in Jinja the following weekend.
(8) M – F of the next week: Soft Power and staying at Eden Rock at Bujagali Falls…

OK! Let me know what’s what in your lives… Love, me

Meanwhile, back in Aachen...

Dustin's in for the long haul of mostly working until he heads off to meet Julianna in Africa in two months. From here on out most of the entries will probably be about Julianna's adventures in Africa, and you can all assume I'm plugging along here in Germany. This past week was probably one of my last trips before I head to join Julianna in Ghana -- on Thursday I headed out to Karlsruhe for two days to visit my advisor Mari who is on sabbadical there. It was a good visit, I got to meet people at the lab she's visiting, and had a great dinner with her family and a couple of the students she invited over to her place.

Friday was more meetings at the lab, but "most importantly" at the end of the day we headed to the city center to watch the opening World Cup game (Germany vs. Costa Rica) in a plaza where they had set up a big screen for watching the game. It was a lot of fun, and I understand more what all the excitement about World Cup soccer is all about. On Friday night I also made a spontaneous plan to go meet up with two friends from high school, Ralph Zeigler and Matt Thompson. I headed to Nuremberg on Saturday, they picked me up at the train station and we went back to Raplh's parents' house. It was great to see everyone there again (they used to live across the street from us in Seattle). We had fun catching up, and then went out to a festival in their town (Erlangen) that happens once a year for a week, a la Octoberfest, but in the forrest under a canopy of trees, rather than tents - it was really nice!

Sunday we headed into Nuremberg to watch more World Cup games, and this time went to a big screen they erected outside the stadium in Nuremberg where Mexico was playing Iran. People were all clad in their teams colors, and went crazy waving flags and yelling and running around when goals were scored - all in all - a great experience of how exciting European soccer can be. So, a good weekend seeing old friends and jumping into some classic European culture. From here on out you'll all have to depend on Julianna for the exciting adventures, I'm hunkering down for lots of work...

Africa Update -- Beware: Long Entry Ahead!

Welcome to the Wild Wild West. Or at least that is what it feels like! The rules are somewhat ambiguous, the people are friendly – particularly once they “know” you, and the roads are dusty. I think that Uganda today is much like the West in the 1800s, sans pistols and standoffs! This email is not particularly organized – just a bunch of thoughts about my first (almost) week in Africa. OK – here goes…

(1) White flies. After it rains, these flies loose their wings and for whatever reason, they are coated in fat (hence the name white flies – they are white from the fat). The flies are thrown into a skillet and fry in their own fat. Apparently, kids stand on the roads after the rain collecting them and gobbling them up. Yuck!

(2) Nice People. Oh my goodness – I am so impressed with the people here (and Kenya – but mostly in Uganda). I had heard that this was the case – Ugandans are some of the nicest Africans around. However, I was skeptical. But, I am close to being a complete convert. People are INCREDIBLY friendly… For example – when I headed into to Kampala to find Ayuen for the first time, I was COMPLETELY lost in the taxi park (more later) and could not figure anything out. I found the police booth, and stopped to ask for some help. As soon as I stopped, they invited me to sit down. All of these business people from the area came and sat and helped the police figure out which taxi I was to take – literally 20 people all helping me. Then, one of the police officers took me to the cab and made sure the price was fair. Once in the taxi, one of the people (of 14) asked where I was going, which started a stream of conversation – all trying to help me locate Glory to Glory Primary school. I was dropped off directly in front of the school and felt so lucky to be in a country with so many very helpful people – I would have never found it otherwise. Another example – the place I am staying (Nile River Explorers) is like a university dorm/hostel/family. People – mostly tourists – are always ready with advice and help once you ask. It is so nice to be able to ask about a bajillion questions and be able to get really good information. Unbelievable – the most helpful and patient place. It is great. I am really glad that I chose it!

(3) Food. I am still taking it easy with the food – I have to try a local place. I am scared about getting the runs or something worse. But, after asking around, new tourists seem to do just fine – particularly when going to places where other tourists frequent. I am mostly eating at NRE, however. The food is good and cheap - $2 to $4 for a solid meal. The first night I got in, however, I ordered pizza and left it at the bar while I washed my hands only to return to it and find it COVERED in ants. I shook off the slices and ate it anyway! It is kind of like camping – you are dirty and so is your food… except here you are expected to wear skirts.

(4) I have had little problem sleeping. In Nairobi, I slept poorly because I was anxious about the bus. The first night in Jinja, I slept in my mosquito tent outside because they were booked solid. It was lovely! The NRE has a fenced in yard with tall bushes surrounding it. It was quite peaceful – and I was surrounded by tents of other people doing just like me. The second night it was SO HOT. SO HOT. SO HOT. Like, suffocatingly hot. I poured water on me just to try to stay cool… Last night was very nice because it rained and really cooled everything down. And, the NRE folks left the electricity on, so the fans were on all night long – YAY!

(5) Schedule update. As it turns out, the gorilla permit they had for me was for Thursday… but I was not going to get it until Tuesday night, which meant I could not leave until Wednesday. AND, the permit was for Nkuringo (sp?) which is harder to get to than Bwindi, although in the same National Park. Anyway, I ended up signing up for the safari (which was optional with the permit purchase). It is nice, however, to have all of the food and transport and lodging and fees covered and taken care of AND I get to see a couple of other areas of Uganda that I would have otherwise missed.

So, the updated schedule looks something like this:

a. Tuesday: leave NRE at 730. Go to Queen Elizabeth Park. Spend night there.
b. Wednesday: travel to Buhoma (same base camp as before, but this time instead of a 17km road, we take a different 35km road to another gate). Spend night in Buhoma.
c. Thursday: GORILLAS!
d. Friday: travel to Lake Mburo Park. Spend night there.
e. Saturday: do a morning game trek with a Park Ranger. Head back to Jinja. I am going to get off at Kampala to see Ayuen (we get into Kampala at around 2pm, so I will have a couple of hours with her and the girls – more later). I will then head back to NRE and spend the night there.
f. Sunday: Kampala: church with Ayuen at her school. I am bringing my laptop as they are all SO interested… the digital camera was quite a hit – more later. Night at NRE.
g. Monday: start volunteering with Soft Power. (Aside: met Georgie this morning and her husband, Chris. She is GREAT! Very cool, laid back and just a kick. As it turns out, her husband, Chris, is the person running the safari that I am going on!! Weird, huh? Met Chris this morning also – he is swell as well.) I am moving to Eden Rock at Bujagali Falls (appx 10km from Jinja – I think it is on the map on the softpower website?).

h. Tues – Thu volunteer at Bujagali. The word on the street is that at the campsite, they actually are the only place around that has wireless!! We will see. It could make calling easy…

i. Fri – head back to town and *hopefully* meet Ayuen in town (she will come from Kampala). She will spend Fri and Sat with me… Then we head back to Kampala together on Sunday for church.

j. The following week… Volunteering, etc. One of the days, I am going out to one of the villages to hang out with some volunteers who are based out of NRE with a group called SPW. They do ag education. Very cool.

(6) Clothes. Mom – the skirts have been GREAT. Thanks so much. They were fun in Europe – but here they are essential and practical. I have worn different ones each day and they are perfect.

(7) Ayuen. What a girl. She is perfect. The female version of Dut. It is weird how alike they are. Something about good parents + genetics = same sort of people, even though they grew up without each other. The first time I met her, it was a bit funny… I got a bit turned around in the taxi park (see above) and FINALLY made it to the school. Dut had said that his cousin would be looking for me, but I did not see him, so… I went ahead. I got to the school and talked to the director, Pastor Felix (quite a character and so friendly). He reported that Rebecca (Ayuen) had just been taken by her brother one hour before and was not coming back for a long time. I was absolutely perplexed and concerned about the potential of her being abducted from under my nose. After a prolonged series of give and takes, Felix called John Deng Mabil, Dut’s cousin. Deng and his “cousin” (like three times removed!) named Kuch (the person Felix misunderstood to be Ayuen’s brother) had picked her up to COME AND MEET ME AT THE TAXI PARK!!! So, after this was solved – and that was not easy, because everyone was fairly confused – they came back. Ayuen was completely endearing when I first met her. You know the way Dut gives hugs to people – especially those shorter than him? Ayuen does the same. And she hugged me like twenty times and kept saying “Julianna, you are here… Julianna… Julianna, you are here…” Incredible. And then there was Deng an Kuch to meet – and they were excited to talk to me as well. WOW. What a 20 minute experience. Well worth the long trip!!!!

We went to a local pub and all had something to drink. Ayuen was so striking in her desire to help me… She offered to carry my bag… cleaned my seat before I sat… tried to help me if she thought I might trip… I have never been so attended to. It was hard because I was trying to be with her, but the guys wanted to talk. And, as I found out later, Ayuen is MUCH more quiet – like hardly talks at all – when men are present. When they aren’t, she talks a whole lot more! Anyway – I was trying to balance her (and my!) desire to get to know each other with the guys talking. Deng and Kuch were very nice and would give Ayuen space to talk, but she just would not. Anyway… Made a plan to come back the next day (without the guys for the first part of the day).

Sunday (yesterday) was even more incredible because I got to see Ayuen a bit more in her own environment without the guys to “hinder” or whatever her. I arrived during the middle of the church service (the taxi took an extra hour), and I was ushered to the front. It is a Pentecostal church, so I had to go to the front and talk about if I was saved (I said yes – and decided the theological argument about what that means would best be saved for later – saying yes was just better, I think). The service lasted five hours. During the service, I experienced the watchful eyes of the adults and children – but more from the kids. In fact, two came up to me and touched me briefly and just started laughing… I made it clear that it was ok to explore, and one came and sat on my lap (the mom left her with me for the entire service!!). She rubbed my skin, nose, scratched at my freckles, inspected my toes and fingers, pushed on my veins in my wrist… All of which was closely observed by the other children – about 100 or so. After the service, I went back to Ayuen’s dorm where she sleeps with 30 other girls. All of the girls came in with us and climbed up on the bunks and just stared at me. Once I looked at them, they would giggle an avert their eyes. So, I pulled out the digital camera and that brought everyone out of their shells! What fun!

Then, it was time for lunch. I had a REI bar and water… After the kids finished eating, the staring started and one kid ran up in back of me and touched my hair – which started off a loud roar of giggles. I said it was ok – and took my ponytail out. They all rushed over and I had about 60 hands on my head and arms. Quite the laying on of hands, I think!! Ayuen was very concerned that I was bothered, which I was not. Anyway… we went back to the dorm and it was time for a nap. I slept on Ayuen’s bed with her – all the girls, however, did not want to sleep but wanted to talk about America… Did I know Shakira? Is it true that green people came on plane last year to America? Could I teach them some songs? They headmistress came in and quieted them… At which point, I chatted quietly with Ayuen about stuff. It was great.

Then, Deng came and met us and we headed back to the same bar. We chatted for a bit – and had some more curious children stare (that is normal – everyone STARES at me and always talks about the Mzungo… me – the white person). I walked Ayuen back to the school and talked to her about western culture. She was floored that I lived by myself before I was married… and did not understand where I bought meat if cows, chickens, and goats were not just in the street/yard/nearby, ready to be slaughtered. It should be fun to talk more about this and prepare her for Australia (where she will be moving in a few months, thanks to Dut)…

(8) Transport. Everyone rides around on the back of bikes and motorcycles – they call them boda-bodas. It is my favorite way to travel, particularly on a bike. It is so peaceful to amble along to your destination… I love it. A typical trip costs 500 Ush… About 30 cents. Boda bodas are EVERYWHERE. And everyone uses them. People are always shocked to see an Mzungu riding on one – white people usually ride in cars (their own or rented ones)… It is nice to turn heads. My first trip, however, I got ripped off! They said 5000 Ush – and it took two bikes (one for me and one for my bag), which resulted in 10000USh. Oh well. Everyone gets ripped off a few times, right? It was when I had just arrived off of the Akambe bus from Nairobi, so I knew nothing! Anyway, it is great.

The other way to get around between cities (i.e. from Kampala to Jinja) is via taxi. You catch them at a taxi park, which is CRAZY. I am going to spend a day just watching because I cannot figure out how they fit so many “taxis” (AKA matatus…) in one place. They are for 14 people. I accidentally got on an unregistered one on my way to Kampala yesterday. Not only did it take an extra hour, but instead of the legistlated 14 people, there were 22 people and one chicken in this little van. Unreal. Oh well – lesson learned. I need to catch the taxi IN the park – not NEAR it. To get from here to Kampala, it costs 2500 – 3000 USh (appx $2). Crazy, huh? (Another random observation – the cost of gas per liter is $1 (more than $3 per gallon).
(9) Bugs. There are so few bugs here – at least FAR fewer than I expected. I am curious to see what the bug situation is like on the safari…

(10) Weather. Hot, but surprisingly bearable. It is usually in the 70s, but I am usually inside for the day, so I have not used the sunscreen yet. But, I will when I start working outside, for sure!

(11) PhD idea: why do people repatriate and to extent do they do so? This way, I can deal with what I know best – Sudan and Sudanese refugees and do field work in Sudan with those who have returned. What do you all think?

(12) My favorite thing that I brought with me so far: female urine director. It makes going to the bathroom in the nastiest (but typical) places possible and even easy. Peeing like a man – what a joy!!

(13) The electricity really comes and goes in a weird way and unexpectedly. African time for sure.
(14) Dirt. Pretty much, some part of me is dirty all of the time. Combine the humidity and heat (=sweat) with the ever present red dust that permeates everything = always a bit red (from the dust). However, one adjusts and rethinks what “clean” means.

(15) Mosquitos. I have had only ONE bite. I may need some more deet, however!

FEW! That is a big update. There should be more after the safari. Much love to all. Have a great day!

Hello from Africa!

The update:
(1) trip from Aachen to Amsterdam was tiring but not hard. The bag ended up weighing 27 - and the limit is 30 kilos. So, i must be getting weak, because it sure felt heavier! Other than that, nothing particularly exciting... I did have to unpack my ENTIRE carry-on backpack. The lolita lempicka perfume is in a "dagger" form... And it was packed in the bottom. So, that was a kick.

(2) plane ride. Uneventful. I sat next to someone that I did not like. Actually did not like him -- unreal because that has never happened to me ever on a plane. But he was so particular - i had the isle but he did not like that i had one of my carry-ons stored under the seat because it would get in his way when he wanted to leave, etc. What a pain. But that is ok. Read a new book -- am halfway through it now. Only slept 3 hours.

(3) NBO airport. Got the plane and headed to passport control and visa app. I was filling out my visa app, and she walked up to me and asked if i was here on holiday, to which i said yes. She then took me to a desk behind the main desk where i paid my $50 and got my visa. Weird and fast. But, heck, this is Africa where rules matter in different ways... I did not even finish my visa app. So much for needing two pics and all that jazz.

(4) Drive from airport to backpackers. It took an hour and was tiring because people here are CRAZY drivers. Especially interesting to pass places like Simba Manufacturers and Rafiki engines (characters from the Lion King). EVERYONE was walking to work, which was interesting to see. Streams of people walking. And some men stopping to relieve themselves along the way!

(5) Backpackers... I am staying in a little room off the main building. It is COLD here. Apparently, it is "winter" time. Checked in and got to sleep for four hours.

(6) Got up, exchanged $50 for 3500 Ksh (much better than any exchange rate at any airport! - essentially only cost me $3 to change the money, which is great. Took a taxi to get my bus ticket, which i was apparently overcharged for (oh well. that is what it is to be white and not know!) . I even asked in advance and the backpackers had my driver go in for me. But, i paid 2000Ksh for the ticket - $27 (appx). The guide book said it would $24, but the folks here seemed to think it should be 1000Ksh. Maybe if you are black/African!

(7) Came back with my taxi driver, Chris. V. interesting guy. Likely will buy some candleholders from him -- 300Ksh each and I thought I would get four. He is an industrious sort of dude, so we will see. And the holders seem to pack well, so that is good. And for $16, I figure that is good deal. They are made of resin - and they make the molds etc. He took me to where the produce them - he and his partner (Chris also owns a second car, used for a taxi, and he and his wife run a small food business out of their home.). So, that was neat.

(8) Am now back at the backpackers and am going to shower, maybe nap?, prepare for tomorrow, read, and relax. There is a bbq here tonight (for 300ksh), so i will eat here and get to bed early. I have to leave here at 6am to get to the bus station tomorrow at 630am. The bus leaves at 7am. I am really anxious about the long bus trip and getting car sick and whether i should take the drammamine or not. It does make me sleepy -- and i don't want to worry about my bag being stolen. but, i think that i will take it (the non-drowsy kind even makes me tired!) and put those wrist bands on and hope that my anxiety will keep me up (or at least wake me when the bus stops!).

OK - more tomorrow when I get to Uganda.

What's shakin' with D+J...

Hey there everyone... Long time, no update, we know. Things have been a little slow and easy around here. This is what we have been doing the past three or so weeks...

(1) Toulouse
We were in Toulouse, France for one week. We planned on leaving on the 10am train on Monday, but like all good plans... We ended up having to take the night train to get in Tuesday morning -- really early and a bit cranky (more me than D!). Dustin headed straight to the ICASSP conference, and I went to bed. I was on antibiotics still with my Lyme Disease (which has thankfully kicked the bucket!), and they really drained me.

So, other than sleeping in the morning and afternoon, I hung out with Dustin and his buddies at some GREAT meals. I mean really good - surprisingly good. I usually hate French food, but in Toulouse it happened to be great.

Dustin presented a paper in poster format on Friday. He was amazing, per usual! It was pretty neat to get to see Dustin in action, doing his work in style.

(2) Aachen
We have gone out a few times with friends... But we have basically been just resting, working (Dustin), and packing/prepping (me).

(3) Paris
For those of you I have not told, I really despise Paris. I know, I know, how could one hate PARIS? The city of light, right? Of love, romance, and croissants? Well, I do... And have for a while... I have tried to like it every time I have been there, but my experiences there turn out badly. However, I am still willing to like it -- maybe someone who likes the city can show me its good graces?

Anyway, I had to make the three hour train trek to Paris to get our Togo visas. I called the Togo embassy in the states to check about this, and they said it would be entirely easy and take only an hour or two. Dustin and I searched and searched, but there was no finding the Togo Embassy in France's website. So, relying on the Dept of State website and the info from the US Togo embassy, I departed. Ready and willing to be in Paris for ONE day, but no more!

So, the long and the short of it was that I was wrong.

I got to the embassy with no problem. Once I was there however, one thing led to another... ending up with me meeting the Togo Ambassador to France. Unbelievable. I waited at the embassy for four hours in a strange lobby, met the Ambassador, and went home empty-handed. It was stressful and less than fun. But, I figured, this is good prep for Africa -- I am going to be on "Africa time."

So, five days later, with receipt for our passports in hand, I arrived BACK IN PARIS to finish the task. Apparently, I got there at the wrong time... So I sat and waited again. This time, rather than having to wait three more hours (as I was told by the embassy folks upon my second arrival), I got the visas in 10 minutes time. Weird.

Relieved to be done with my task, I went back to the train station ASAP to get on the next train outta Paris. But no, I could not get on the next train -- I had to wait three hours to get on a different train. I was willing to stand, sit in the "in-between" space of the cars -- anything to get out of the city. But rules, I guess, are important to those French people.

So, the waiting commenced. I headed to a cafe, thinking that if I could only get some food and find a bathroom, things would feel much better. Lo and behold, I went to the cafe toilet, and there was a squat toilet with no doors for both sexes. This is something that I can expect and be happy about in a place like Uganda, but Paris? Apparently the French are quite the fans of the squat toilet, but I am yet to be converted...

After waiting for the next train, I got back to Aachen. That evening was full of moving to a new place -- more dorm-room style than our old place.

Again - I am willing to be convinced of Paris and its great stuff... I think I just need to go with someone who really likes the city!!

(4) Up next...
Dustin is working through evals, oh joy of all joys. He is doing good work - but it sure does take a chunk of time. As many of you already know, Dustin received a fellowship from MIT!!! We had thought that if he received it, he would need to be in Boston. But, it is basically just some cash for him to be paid so that he can focus solely (we think) on his dissertation. So, that is pretty much awesome. We stay in Seattle, he focuses on his research, and all things are good in the world.

I am heading to Africa tomorrow! Unbelievable that my time here has passed so quickly. I will be emailing as I am able... But my tentative plan looks something like this (tentative because it is determined in large part on Dut's citizenship status - complicated and long story)...
(1) June 7 - 12: Travel plan = Aachen --> Amsterdam --> Nairobi, Kenya --> Kampala, Uganda --> Jinja, Uganda. In Jinja, I meet up with Dut's sister, Ayuen and chill.
(2) June 13 - 17: Go to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in W. Uganda. I got one of 16 gorilla trekking permits for the country, so I will be doing that for one of the days. Other days are consumed by travel, hikes, and seeing the sites.
(3) June 18 - ??: I will be doing one of the following...
- volunteering with Soft Power Education, a non-profit refurbishing and building schools in Jinja,
- volunteering with an organization in Kenya (I have a few contacts, so we will see if the Jinja one does not work out),
- heading to Sudan (if Dut can get his citizenship and into Uganda by July 1), or
- heading early to Togo to spend additional time with Cate and Wayne (Dustin's folks).

So! There you have it. I will be sending updates to Dustin as I am able... Please keep the emails and conversations coming!