First blog from Uganda!

Hi everybody! It is Sunday afternoon here in Mukono, and I just got back from walking around in the town with a group of students (mostly American, but we went with some of the Ugandan students too). All the little children stared and waved at us, probably because we looked like a silly parade of white people. I arrived at Entebbe airport on Friday morning, where I met two other USP (Uganda Studies Program) students, and we waited in the airport for about 12 hours until the rest of the students arrived. That night we drove about an hour and a half to the Uganda Christian University campus and received our housing assignments. I am in the Josephine Tucker dorm building with my roommate Beth. We have a view overlooking the rest of the dorm buildings and some of Mukono, since the building sits high on a hill. We had orientation yesterday with the USP staff, and did final registration for our classes. I am taking African Literature, Faith and Action, Democracy and Human Rights, East African Politics, and Ugandan Politics. Classes start early tomorrow morning! Here are some random thoughts from the time so far:

The Ugandans are incredibly friendly and helpful, and will come up to us in the dining hall just to sit down and chat.

It is pretty hot here, but definitely tolerable. It is the dry season, so the dirt is really dusty and makes all of our feet tannish-red during the day.

We have all been drinking a ton of water, which we get from clean water taps around campus.

So far, we’ve only had rice and beans for each meal, but it is actually really tasty, and they usually give us more than we can even finish.

The internet goes in and out, along with our electricity.

I usually share my cold shower with some crazy big grasshopper, a couple moths, and some flies.

It is extremely beautiful here, with amazing green trees that I’ve never seen before. On campus, there are beautiful brightly-colored birds, monkeys, lizards, and a rooster that occasionally sits in our dorm lounge with us.

Overall, it is amazing here, with the incredibly friendly and outgoing people, and the scenery. Thanks for everyone’s prayers, I am very safe and comfortable. Talk to everyone later!