City Life

Woah! Well I have officially been in Uganda for 24 hours and a jam packed 24 hours it has been! Getting out of the Entebbe airport was no problem, super small and very uncomplicated! We quickly found Samson, Enoch, and Mi Jeung... finally the whole group was together and we had meant our partners in Uganda. Then the whole driving situation started... I have a lot to say about this driving situation.... so here is quite a rant. 

Arriving at the Entebbe Airport right after getting our visas!

The Markerere Guest House where we are staying this week 

The driving in Kampala is crazy. Not only that we are in van that has a cracked windshield and 3 working seat belts (there is four of us!). Luckily it seems pretty sturdy when it actually drives. People on the streets are crazy, there is no set lanes and people go in and out of traffic. I mean both cars, people, and bobas (kind of like a moped). People just cut people off and there is no sense of "yes person please merge" versus "that person just cut me off!"  It is quite scary and is super jammed packed during the day. As well you wouldn't believe how many people are selling things window to window to the cars in the streets. There is people selling tennis racks, toilet paper, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, sunglasses, bush sheers.... every thing you can think of. Enoch (our supervisor) decided to look at a pair of bush sheers until the lights changed and we went racing off with the sheers. The guy who was selling them gave us a nod and said he would catch up. We went 1/2 mile before stopping and the man was only a few seconds behind us.... we were not going slow (I am not even sure there is a speed limit!). Enoch inquired about a price and was told about 25000 shillings, Enoch was not happy with the price. He ended up buying them, but told us the price was probably high because of us Mzungu in the back seat (Mzungu = white person). More about that in a bit. So yeah driving is scary! Plus to top it off they drive on the left side of the road.... 

Street Vendors

Crack in the windshield and crazy traffic

So yes I am a Mzungu, which isn't suppose to be offensive in any way rather than just a phrase. Enoch describes us as having "golden skin" which basically most Ugandan people take as those with money. It is interesting being a minority in an environment  I was told so much about how I would be a minority before I started that I am not sure if it is just in my head or actually true the amount of people who stare or give me looks. It really could just be paranoia or true.... I am thinking a little bit of both. The moment I walked out of the Guest House room this morning I thought I was out of place, but I could just be living up to the expectation of what I have heard rather than really feeling isolated. Just some random thoughts....

Other things we did in the first here is go to the Ugandan Museum and have a chat with Gillian, a professor in the school of education here at the Markerere University. She was telling us all about the high stakes testing and how teachers are usually only those with 11 years of primary school. Most teachers also are forced and told to only "tell information" rather than truly use various teaching methods.... which should be interesting for all of you who know how I teach... we will see soon. I also heard from Enoch that the teachers we teach with adjust to some new methods when we are at the school with them but do not uphold those as after we return to the states. This is quite disappointing. I wish there was such a way to instill a more diverse way of teaching in the schools that is doable and applicable to the teacher's expectations from the government and parents. 

Uganda Museum

Dancing at the Kampala Rotary Club

Alright day one is done... only 59 left to go (my mom is counting down)!