At the School at Last

I have arrived at the school, Thursday the headmaster picked me up in Kampala early in the morning and drove me and my numerous bags of stuff to the school, the journey took just over 5 hours. I was very relieved and thankful for this ride as the prospect of getting on a bus with all of my stuff including the computers and cameras was making me more than a little nervous.

When we arrived at the school I found out that the house that I thought I was staying in was unfinished and I was to stay with D, a deputy head teacher at the school (like a vice principal). She has a very nice home and was very welcoming to me.

After lunch I unpacked some of my bags in my room, I just finished emptying the contents of my bag onto the bed when I realized that since the only furniture in the room was the bed and a chair I had no where to put everything I had just unpacked if I wanted to sleep that night. Most of it ended up back in the bag. I think I will need to buy a shelf.

In the afternoon break I had tea with the teachers and then we went to watch the students play sports, something that they do most afternoons. The students are in houses and play in house teams against each other. I found I had quite a crowd of students behind me while I watched a net ball game. I have received a lot of wide eyed looks from many of the students and am looking forward to begin teaching so that I can get to know them.

I spent the afternoon talking with D and figuring out where things were… still wondering about a few things but I think I have the essentials. In the evening the Headmaster invited me over for dinner. At night I spent a lot of time fumbling around in the dark for my flashlights and had two semi-frightening trips to the outdoor toilet… but I survived.

In the morning I woke up to what sounded like a dinner bell… at 5:45AM! This is the time that the children are woken up, they are expected to be up and ready for breakfast by 6:30, at 7:30 their first classes start. At 6:45 I rolled out of bed just as D was leaving to teach her first class, I am going to have to go to bed earlier tonight!

After some difficulty, I managed to figure out how to have a wash and eat my breakfast. Now I am practicing my skills at being patient while I wait to find out what happens next...

The Answer is: Not to Bank

I have finally given up my quest to locate a bank that will take my card. After several excursions into the city, being redirected from one address to another all I can say is don’t necessarily believe your bank at home when they say “Oh don’t worry, you wont have any problems, our cards work all over the world” …

Thank goodness for western union and great parents!

Adventure at the Cargo Terminal

Well I finally got my bag…

I got an e-mail telling me that my bag had arrived in Entebee, I called the number that was provided thinking (hahaha) that I might be able to go pick it up that same day.e first call I was told that my papers were not ready and to call back, on the second call I was informed that my papers were there and that if I came in the next morning at 9am I MIGHT have my bag out by 5pm! When I politely enquired as to why it would take so long I was told that it was the procedure and that this long procedure would cost 170,000 Ugandan Shillings ($100u.s.) Not looking forward to spending an entire day at the cargo terminal and paying for it but wanting my bag I arranged for a taxi to take me to the airport the next morning.

I am not sure if it was the horror stories I had been told about loosing items from cargo or the fact that I was not looking forward to an entire day dealing with all of this but the night before I went to get my bag I couldn’t sleep. In the morning I dragged my half awake self out of the house at 7am with M who not only arranged a taxi for me but also took me into town to catch it at the right spot. Half asleep I arrived at the cargo terminal at the airport got out of the taxi without a clue about where to go, but this is where my luck changed.

A man asked if I would like help finding my way around and I gladly accepted, I showed him the name of the company I was meant to contact and agreed to take me there, on the way he told me that the company that I was headed to was very expensive and that he worked for another company and if I got my papers I could hire him as an agent for 50,000 and that he would only take 2 hours to clear my bag. I was so tired that I didn’t really know what he was talking about but 2 hours sounded a lot better than all day, not to mention the much smaller cost. I decided to trust him, I got my papers from the first company and handed them over to R my new agent. This is what the next 2.5 hours consisted of:

- Photocopy passport
- Wait while someone did something on a computer, tried to stay awake
- Go to another building, wait outside for R
- Go and get a security pass, find out I need a letter
- Go get the letter
- Go back to the security pass place, smile sweetly so that I don’t have to go get another letter, get the pass
- Go into another building, leave some papers on a desk, wait
- Enter another building, identify my bag, stand and wait
- More waiting while R gets a customs officer
- Empty entire bag in front of customs officer, customs officer writes down some items on back of paper
- Repack bag and put back into storage
- Go to counter to pay 50,000 for customs clearance
- Wait while R photocopies papers
- Go back to where bag is and wait for papers to be stamped
- Go back to other building and wait for papers to be stamped
- Go back to building where bag is and wait for more papers to be stamped
- Wait while bag is removed from secure area
- Wait for another person to stamp papers to release bag
- Bag is finally released
- R is paid
- Security pass is returned
- Taxi takes me back to Kampala and I fall asleep in back seat totally exhausted

The result of this whole process is that I got my bag, nothing was taken, no bribing was necessary, R charged me a lot less and I was only at the airport for 2.5h instead of the entire day... Having said that, I really don’t recommend sending unaccompanied cargo.

Green Mamba in the Garden

Today while working in the garden J came across a Green Mamba and I got a chance to take a few photos of it, with out getting too close.

Luckily J was wearing boots when he discovered it, even though it was a baby mamba they can be quite dangerous.

To Bank or Not to Bank

Yesterday I went in to town and tried to locate a bank machine that would accept my card AND give me money… I tried three main ones and so far no luck. I’ve now got a list of two others that may work, if the rain ever lets up I may have a chance to go and see if it will work.

I also met with the headmaster of the school I will be working at; he was very welcoming and enthusiastic about my being here. As soon as the work permit goes through and my bag arrives (yes, still no bag!) I can head out to the school.

Garden Photo Shoot

M and J let me take their photographs in the garden. I am very grateful to both of them for all their help, without them my first week in Uganda would have proven difficult.

Marketing 101

Today I asked M if she would let me come to the market with her, she had been kindly getting vegetables and fruit for me from some mysterious place and today I asked if I could join her. She was happy for me to come but told me that if I did the buying I wouldn’t get a good price so I happily agreed to let her do the talking.

After a kilometer walk along the main road we came to the market, I knew it was the market because that was where M stopped and there was piles of vegetables everywhere. As we walked through the stalls that looked like a strong wind might knock them down we were greeted warmly with big smiles. M did all the quiet bargaining in the local language as I got my first experience in a local Ugandan market.

There were a group of children playing near to where we bought our produce and dried fish, one of them came up to me and held my hand for a few seconds then shyly went back to his playmates. The children were busy collecting scraps of paper, one of the children had a pencil crayon and was carefully trying to copy the letters from a bit of packaging, she seemed very intent on her work but was having difficulty as her orange pencil crayon didn’t write so well.

The walk back with our bundles of sweet potato, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, carrots, and dried fish was less pleasant than the walk there as several large trucks passed bringing up enormous clouds of dust, by the time we reached the bread vendor at the end of our street we were both coated in dust from head to toe… and today was laundry day!

In Kampala

My room in the house in Kampala. I am staying in a lovely place, it is a really big house, I actually got lost my first night here, that could have been from the jet lag though...

I have a net over my bed to keep the bugs out, however, there is clearly something I am doing wrong as I seem to find at least one bug inside the net each morning, good thing I am taking malaria medicine.

The house is surrounded by a tall wall with broken glass cemented into the top. The gardens around it are very nice with tropical (obviously) plants.

A nice place to get over jetlag.

Adventure at the Ministry

Yesterday I attempted to apply for my work permit. J kindly took me to the warehouse and showed me the way so that I could get there myself later. At the warehouse I met some very nice people who work refurbishing computers. One of them offered to take me to the ministry and we took a motorcycle taxi from the warehouse to the ministry, (without helmets) something I swore I would never do while living in Thailand but which seems unavoidable here. Not wanting to seem the wimpy foreigner I hoped on and tried my best not to fall off.

At the ministry we were shuffled from one desk to another until we found the correct counter. When I told the woman behind the counter I was applying for a work permit as a teacher she told me to look at the requirements in section G, as I was reading through the long list of requirements of things that I did not have or understand I began to get worried. No one told me I needed a bank statement and I didn’t not know what an investment something or other was… I asked the woman if it might make a difference that I was a volunteer and she told me that I would still need most of them, so I went back to the list trying not to panic and to sort out what questions I should ask before leaving. I asked her what needed to be on the bank statement and she asked me the magic question, how long would I be in Uganda. Five months apparently is short enough to eliminate most of the requirements. I was left with three requirements two of which I had and one that was not quite right enough to fit the formatting requirements, the letter of invitation that I had needed to be addressed to the Dept. of Immigration. Relieved that I did not have to procure a bank statement, original copies of my qualifications or numerous other mysterious documents I headed back to the house to contact the headmaster about the required letter. My friend from the warehouse put me on the right shared taxi and sent me on my way.

My first taxi ride alone in Uganda, despite the fact that I didn’t have to locate the correct van, tell the conductor where I wanted to go or even notify him where I wanted to get off I was quite proud of myself for this wee taxi adventure that took me along bumpy side roads, stopping for gas and an impossible intersection that I thought that we would never get through. I might even attempt a taxi ride on my own today if I can figure out how to pronounce the name of the place where the shops are.

After I got dropped off I walked back to the house (I think I have figured out why I never see fat people here, everyone walks everywhere) I reached the gate hot and sweaty with a grumbling stomach only to realize that there was no one there, (totally my own fault as I had not told M when I would be returning as I didn’t know how long it would take.) Too tired to walk all the way back to the main road and catch a bus to the shops I just sat down on the road in a bit of shade to wait. About 10 minutes later the neighbour that I had met the day before walked by and asked me what I’m doing when I explained my situation and he insisted that I cannot sit there waiting and I should come over, he gave me some water and offered me food which I was very grateful for, it was this mashed, boiled plantain that I had had before and wasn’t so fond of, but yesterday it tasted like the best thing ever, I ate every last bite. An hour later M returned, I e-mailed the headmaster and crashed for three hours. That evening I got a reply about the work permit, I happily discovered that arrangements had been made for me and I didn’t need to apply for the work permit myself...

I guess my adventures at the ministry are over.

I Lost My Hat

On my second day in London dealing with full blown jet lag I realized I had lost my hat., some where between Vancouver and London my hat and I got seperated.

Up until this point I was doing great, made it through the luggage weighing, the security checks, the long lineups in Vancouver, all the while keeping track of my many bags, hat, passport etc. After arriving in London I got through a 2 hour wait for customs, stored my luggage and boarded the train.

When I arrived at my destination I was warmly welcomed by JRS and his lovely family and had a very pleasant afternoon and evening. The next day after having slept for over 12 hours the two nights of missing sleep and the time zone caught up with me, and through my haze I realized that I no longer had a hat, I started to wonder if loosing my hat was a bad sign, I don’t normally loose things and as it had taken me a full 24h to realize I had lost it I wondered what else I might have lost or forgotten….

After having a longer than anticipated nap JRS kindly drove me to the train station where I caught the train to the airport. This is where the gong show began, the first thing that happened was that the train was late, but I did not start to worry as I had given myself extra time. About 15 minutes into the train journey the train suddenly stopped and all my tired brain could think was that I was going to miss my flight, but I checked the time and tried not to worry, the train started 10 minutes later and this process was luckily only repeated once more during the journey.

I arrived at the south terminal and picked up my luggage then wandered around trying to locate terminal N only to realize it was in the North terminal, found my way to terminal N and the Emirates desk and felt relieved that I had made it, even with the lengthy security check lineup I knew I had enough time. I presented my passport to the woman behind the desk and plunked my two luggage bags onto the scale confident that there would be no problems as my bags had been weighed in Vancouver and they were each 20kg, and 2 bags of 20ks was what the emirates person that I had called prior to my trip had assured me several times was my luggage allowance. I was then informed that I was 20kg over weight and my allowance was only 1 bag of 20kg. Ok no matter, I would just have to pay for it, after all, the extra luggage from Canada had only cost me $140, though irritated at being lied to over the phone by the emirates representative I had spoken to I figure I would just pay for the extra luggage. However, London is not Vancouver and the cost was over 300 pounds! The woman behind the counter could see I was distressed over this price and suggested that I take my bag to the excess cargo as they charged less.

Fighting back tears I fought my way through the crowded airport to the excess luggage place and enquired how much it would cost… it was less but not much. After attempting a bit of a repack and 210 british pounds later I rechecked in with only one bag, waited in the longest security check line I have ever seen while trying to hold it together. The next two plane rides, arriving in Uganda, getting a taxi and finally arriving at DS’s house were a bit of a blur. I e-mailed home, had a bath and then crashed for 14 hours.

Sunday was calm with my only excursion to the grocery store to buy food. I am feeling better now but the latest is that I might have trouble getting my bag once it arrives and even if I do it might be less some items… trying not to think about it.

Tomorrow Is a New Day

Tomorrow I leave for Uganda!

I am too busy packing to write anything interesting but I will soon. Check back in a week...