Potholes, Toilets, & Gulu

After arriving at Entebbe Intl Airport and being greeted by John-John, the Restore International driver, we got a quick tour of the city and then stayed with some friends in Kampala. As Crystal hinted at, we stayed in Kampala for 5 days as we adjusted to the new surroundings and slept off a pretty severe case of jet-lag. In Kampala we tagged along with John Neimeyer (with Restore Intl) as he ran errands, had meetings, etc. We bought a local cell phone and groceries and became surprisingly efficient at converting Ugandan Shillings to USD in our heads (about 2000:1).

Kampala is an interesting city, by far what stands out the most is the traffic. I don't recall anything bigger than a 4 lane road and there are no freeways, no lines in the road, only 6 traffic signals in the entire city and no real rules except avoid the potholes and yield to larger vehicles. Kampala was a good transition to Uganda because it is relatively westernized.

On Tuesday morning we left for Gulu around 8am and made our way through kampala with what could be considered light traffic (everything's relative). The roads meander through the country like a highway of swiss cheese, it seems like we were on the right side of the road (which is wrong side of the road) as much as the left. African huts and small towns are scattered across the countryside between bananna trees. If you slow down in any of the towns you are bombarded with salesman pedaling meat on a stick, casava, and roasted banannas (which aren't half bad). At almost every turn there is a brightly-painted building bearing the initials MTN, UTL, or one the other mobile phone networks. Everyone it Uganda that I have come across has a cell phone, but everything is pre-paid minutes so you constantly have to drop by an 'authorized dealer' (or really anyone on the street) and pick up some airtime for 5 or 10 thousand shillings.

We arrived in Gulu around 230 or 3 and met our new roommates outside of Barclay's bank. We got a quick tour of the town (at 3 blocks by 6 blocks pretty much any tour of Gulu would be quick) and then headed 10 minutes north to the house we will be living in. Apparently the house is nice for Gulu standards and its really not all that bad--even considering that the toilet erupted the day before we got there and flooded our room shortly after the our door had locked itself shut. Our 10' x 10' utopia marinated in toilet water for 30 hours or so before we moved in. We dropped our stuff off and headed out to the Restore Academy in the afternoon. Classes were out at 5 and the students assembled under the shade of tree where we were introduced and asked to say a few words.

We have spent a couple of days at the school and are getting to know a few of the students. We sat in on discipleship class where the Headmaster, Peter, lectured. Peter is an exceptionally gifted teacher. He drew on stories and examples to illustrate the shifting paradigms of the local culture and environment. In the afternoon there was a soccer game about an hour away but Crystal and I were tired and still very much adjusting to our new surroundings and so we headed back to the Restore Office for a little R & R. We borrowed a motorcycle from one of the teachers and after stalling a few times and getting some help from the students (amid healthy roars of laughter) we putted the 8 or 10 kilometers back to Restore.

We have been commuting an hour by foot every morning to the Restore house. Its amazing how great we feel after an hour walk as compared to sitting in traffic for an hour. We do live quite a distance from the office, the academy and town and so we're thinking about how we can solve our transportation woes.

Beyond that, it is hot here! Hot, Hot, Hot. I'm praying for the rainy season to come quickly (apparently it cools down a bit) although that in and of itself with add to the complexity of our transportation dilemma.

We miss you all!