Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Taking the Plunge
This post is totally out of order, but it'll probably be the coolest one in my entire blog so I don't care.
Before driving to Entebbe for our Wednesday night flight out of Uganda, the entire group (sans Jacques) went to Jinja for white-water rafting (which everyone did) and bungee jumping (which only three people were going to do originally--myself included--but ended up with seven of nine people deciding to jump).
Let me just say that these two days--the jump Monday afternoon, rafting all day Tuesday--were probably two of the best/most exciting days of my life. Both activities are SO MUCH FUN, and I highly recommend either of them if you ever get a chance. Never mind that I drank more water from the Nile River than is probably healthy or that the risks of bungee jumping include eye trauma, uterine prolapse, and dislocations [source]. Bottom line is that I'm perfectly fine and that I would do either again in a heartbeat. (I might add that I never, ever felt like my well-being was in danger in either situation. Yes, it's a little ridiculous jumping off the platform, but I trusted the equipment since Adrift holds themselves to international safety regulations. On the rafting side, there were 10-15 guys in individual kayaks whose job it was to come fetch people who fell out of the boats. So I was worried at first, but those fears dissipated quickly.)
Here are some pictures and videos from the jump. No pictures from rafting, unfortunately, since (1) we couldn't bring our cameras onto the raft (or I suppose we could have; they would just be soaked with water) and (2) we couldn't get the rafting DVD or photo CD in time since we were in hurry to reach Entebbe the same night.
In case you're interested, here's a video of other people rafting with Adrift on the Nile. These are the same rapids we did (11 total, three of which were Class 5), but these people apparently aren't very good. We had a great guide, so we only flipped once and I think only three people fell out of our raft the entire time (and were subsequently rescued by either the kayaks or another raft full of Italians). I might mention that I was not one of the three--although I expected to be, since this was my first time ever rafting--and I managed to hang onto both the raft and my oar when we flipped. However, I popped out of the water and didn't see anyone else on my side of the raft, so for a few panicked seconds, I thought everyone else had fallen off and that I was drifting away, alone and on an upside down inflatable raft, down the Nile River. A few moments later, Josh (our guide) appeared on the top of our raft and laughed at me. I think because I was the only one still on my side, but who knows.
Okay, pictures for real now:
I'll get the video up if I can post it, but there were issues with the uploader just now so I'll try again later!
Before driving to Entebbe for our Wednesday night flight out of Uganda, the entire group (sans Jacques) went to Jinja for white-water rafting (which everyone did) and bungee jumping (which only three people were going to do originally--myself included--but ended up with seven of nine people deciding to jump).
Let me just say that these two days--the jump Monday afternoon, rafting all day Tuesday--were probably two of the best/most exciting days of my life. Both activities are SO MUCH FUN, and I highly recommend either of them if you ever get a chance. Never mind that I drank more water from the Nile River than is probably healthy or that the risks of bungee jumping include eye trauma, uterine prolapse, and dislocations [source]. Bottom line is that I'm perfectly fine and that I would do either again in a heartbeat. (I might add that I never, ever felt like my well-being was in danger in either situation. Yes, it's a little ridiculous jumping off the platform, but I trusted the equipment since Adrift holds themselves to international safety regulations. On the rafting side, there were 10-15 guys in individual kayaks whose job it was to come fetch people who fell out of the boats. So I was worried at first, but those fears dissipated quickly.)
Here are some pictures and videos from the jump. No pictures from rafting, unfortunately, since (1) we couldn't bring our cameras onto the raft (or I suppose we could have; they would just be soaked with water) and (2) we couldn't get the rafting DVD or photo CD in time since we were in hurry to reach Entebbe the same night.
In case you're interested, here's a video of other people rafting with Adrift on the Nile. These are the same rapids we did (11 total, three of which were Class 5), but these people apparently aren't very good. We had a great guide, so we only flipped once and I think only three people fell out of our raft the entire time (and were subsequently rescued by either the kayaks or another raft full of Italians). I might mention that I was not one of the three--although I expected to be, since this was my first time ever rafting--and I managed to hang onto both the raft and my oar when we flipped. However, I popped out of the water and didn't see anyone else on my side of the raft, so for a few panicked seconds, I thought everyone else had fallen off and that I was drifting away, alone and on an upside down inflatable raft, down the Nile River. A few moments later, Josh (our guide) appeared on the top of our raft and laughed at me. I think because I was the only one still on my side, but who knows.
Okay, pictures for real now:
I'll get the video up if I can post it, but there were issues with the uploader just now so I'll try again later!
Kabale: Post and pics!
[NOTE: I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog, now that I'm home (YAY) and have high speed internet again. Bear with me...]
Monday, Aug. 2, 2010
Lauren, Bean, Rachel, Sophie, and I decided to visit Kabale for the weekend since it's our second to last weekend here. We took a "taxi" for the two-hour drive up to (and back from) the mountain town, which draws tourists for its proximity to Lake Bunyonyi. By "taxi," I mean a small Toyota sedan that, at one point, contained 12 people total--four people squeezed into each of the three rows of seats. The driver himself shared his seat with another grown man and shifted gears over his leg. Oh, Uganda.
The weekend was probably one of the most enjoyable thus far. We stayed at the Amagara Guest House, a popular hostel for backpackers, and had breakfast both days at a delightful little cafe/restaurant called The Nest, where you climb up a ladder-stair contraption to reach the dining area. The dining area itself was extremely cozy and had sofas arranged around coffee tables. What more could you ask for? Ah, right... the food. The food was not only delicious, but it was extremely inexpensive. Honey-drizzled pancakes with bananas the first day, an egg and tomato rolex (egg and tomato wrapped in a chipatte) the second. Blissful.
I got some souvenir shopping done before our afternoon trip to the lake, where we canoed 20-30 minutes to reach the main island with a swimming dock and a restaurant on it. Thankfully, we had a guide to help us paddle!
Check out the pictures:
[Craftstore where I bought a bajillion gifts. The Nest was in the same building.]
[Walking back to the hostel, which is right down the road, from breakfast the first morning. You can see "The Nest" painted on the side of the building and the arrow pointing up to where the seating is.]
[Canoes! And legit dugout canoes at that.]
[Leaving the dock, blissfully unaware of just how long we're going to need to paddle.]
[Getting my arm workout for the day.]
[The other canoe.]
[On the island with the dock and restaurant.]
[Tongue-in-cheek sign on the dock.]
[Serenity. What a great trip.]
Monday, Aug. 2, 2010
Lauren, Bean, Rachel, Sophie, and I decided to visit Kabale for the weekend since it's our second to last weekend here. We took a "taxi" for the two-hour drive up to (and back from) the mountain town, which draws tourists for its proximity to Lake Bunyonyi. By "taxi," I mean a small Toyota sedan that, at one point, contained 12 people total--four people squeezed into each of the three rows of seats. The driver himself shared his seat with another grown man and shifted gears over his leg. Oh, Uganda.
The weekend was probably one of the most enjoyable thus far. We stayed at the Amagara Guest House, a popular hostel for backpackers, and had breakfast both days at a delightful little cafe/restaurant called The Nest, where you climb up a ladder-stair contraption to reach the dining area. The dining area itself was extremely cozy and had sofas arranged around coffee tables. What more could you ask for? Ah, right... the food. The food was not only delicious, but it was extremely inexpensive. Honey-drizzled pancakes with bananas the first day, an egg and tomato rolex (egg and tomato wrapped in a chipatte) the second. Blissful.
I got some souvenir shopping done before our afternoon trip to the lake, where we canoed 20-30 minutes to reach the main island with a swimming dock and a restaurant on it. Thankfully, we had a guide to help us paddle!
Check out the pictures:
[Craftstore where I bought a bajillion gifts. The Nest was in the same building.]
[Walking back to the hostel, which is right down the road, from breakfast the first morning. You can see "The Nest" painted on the side of the building and the arrow pointing up to where the seating is.]
[Canoes! And legit dugout canoes at that.]
[Leaving the dock, blissfully unaware of just how long we're going to need to paddle.]
[Getting my arm workout for the day.]
[The other canoe.]
[On the island with the dock and restaurant.]
[Tongue-in-cheek sign on the dock.]
[Serenity. What a great trip.]Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Laptop Down - Back in a Week!
My laptop died this morning, so no more blog posts until I'm back in the States. But never fear--I'm home soon (Aug. 12). Look forward to several blogs then. I'll have photos from my weekend trip to Kabale, final project updates, and stories from white water rafting on the Nile River!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Breaking an Addiction
Before I came to Uganda, I thought a summer with limited internet connectivity would be a nice change from my daily routine in the U.S. It’ll teach me that constant connectedness isn’t necessary, I thought. And while that’s true--I don’t need to check my email 24/7--it has also made me long for and appreciate that connectedness much more than I did before my trip.
We connect to the internet here through a small USB modem, and ten people are sharing one single modem, so I get the internet once every few days, on average. It’s not too bad, but it’s just enough that we’re just connected, yet not to the extent that we’re accustomed to at Duke, where there is high-speed internet just about everywhere on campus, whenever we want.
Also, I miss my phone. While we have phones here, calls are fairly expensive, and it’s a pay-as-you-go system, which I’m not used to in the U.S. If you run out of airtime in the middle of a call, tough luck--your call gets cut off. We’re constantly buying more minutes to “recharge” our phones.
Ultimately, I’m looking forward to landing in DC, where I can turn my Blackberry back on and re-enter the world of connectedness. Imagine that--being able to call my parents whenever I want (instead of having to wait for the internet every few days for Skype); the ability to look up something on the internet, whenever I want; receiving important emails almost instantaneously, instead of a few days to a week after they’re sent.
... So much for cracking the habit.
We connect to the internet here through a small USB modem, and ten people are sharing one single modem, so I get the internet once every few days, on average. It’s not too bad, but it’s just enough that we’re just connected, yet not to the extent that we’re accustomed to at Duke, where there is high-speed internet just about everywhere on campus, whenever we want.
Also, I miss my phone. While we have phones here, calls are fairly expensive, and it’s a pay-as-you-go system, which I’m not used to in the U.S. If you run out of airtime in the middle of a call, tough luck--your call gets cut off. We’re constantly buying more minutes to “recharge” our phones.
Ultimately, I’m looking forward to landing in DC, where I can turn my Blackberry back on and re-enter the world of connectedness. Imagine that--being able to call my parents whenever I want (instead of having to wait for the internet every few days for Skype); the ability to look up something on the internet, whenever I want; receiving important emails almost instantaneously, instead of a few days to a week after they’re sent.
... So much for cracking the habit.
The Seven-Week Mark
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Yesterday (Monday) marked seven weeks since we left the States on June 7. I remember it well--getting very little sleep the night before, being sent to the airport by my parents, and watching first Charleston, then DC, disappear from sight.
It hasn’t always been easy (Lesson #1: Nothing ever goes according to plan in the field. Lesson #2: Stuff works out anyway.), but we’ve accomplished a lot and I think we will all be proud looking back. WSH finished our last four primary school education talks yesterday and met today with all of the CVCs to discuss future plans--tank openings, adult education talks, and the tank user committee structure. One of the CVCs yesterday also gave us an enormous bag of avocados--yum!
Yesterday (Monday) marked seven weeks since we left the States on June 7. I remember it well--getting very little sleep the night before, being sent to the airport by my parents, and watching first Charleston, then DC, disappear from sight.
It hasn’t always been easy (Lesson #1: Nothing ever goes according to plan in the field. Lesson #2: Stuff works out anyway.), but we’ve accomplished a lot and I think we will all be proud looking back. WSH finished our last four primary school education talks yesterday and met today with all of the CVCs to discuss future plans--tank openings, adult education talks, and the tank user committee structure. One of the CVCs yesterday also gave us an enormous bag of avocados--yum!
Weekend Consumerism
On Saturday, Becky took the girls to town to buy fabrics to take to the seamstress, Sarah, who made dresses, skirts, and purses for last year’s DE group. For now, I’m just having a simple dress made, but I’ll likely get a skirt and top as well. (I thought I’d let some of the other girls be the guinea pigs with the skirts and tops; we’ll see how the dress turns out.)
I then went to a sandal maker (where I already bought two pairs of shoes) to order these beautiful white shell-decorated sandals that some girls on the trip bought a few weeks ago. They initially told me that it would be two weeks before the shoes would be ready (they had run out of shells due to the high demand), but I received a phone call yesterday and the shoes are there, yay!
Lauren, Claire, and I visited an organic restaurant for lunch, where I had avocado and fruit (and beets with the fruit), and then we headed to “California Nails” for $5 pedicures for myself and Claire and a $5 massage for Lauren. The prices don’t represent the quality at all; pedis and massages are just that cheap here! (Now, if only souvenirs were equally inexpensive...) They use OPI polishes, and the $5 so-called “half treatment” includes a soak, trim, shaping, buff, and polish. Mine was pretty until I went running too soon after and slightly messed it up. Oh well.
Otherwise, I did the typical reading and movie/TV show watching at Tank Hill. Watched Enchanted for the first time (sappy but cute), parts of Mamma Mia (which I saw in theatres with Elisa--Pierce Brosnan is no better at singing the second time around, FYI), and worked my way through the first season of Friends, which has really grown on me.
I never thought I’d miss shopping while in Uganda, but the market here is just so different from that of Western countries--fewer high-quality goods and far fewer choices. The shops we visit are relatively small and basic compared to those in the U.S., and even Sarah, the seamstress, was just located at the end of an alleyway with a cluster of other seamstresses, all working outside on their foot-pumped sewing machines.
I then went to a sandal maker (where I already bought two pairs of shoes) to order these beautiful white shell-decorated sandals that some girls on the trip bought a few weeks ago. They initially told me that it would be two weeks before the shoes would be ready (they had run out of shells due to the high demand), but I received a phone call yesterday and the shoes are there, yay!
Lauren, Claire, and I visited an organic restaurant for lunch, where I had avocado and fruit (and beets with the fruit), and then we headed to “California Nails” for $5 pedicures for myself and Claire and a $5 massage for Lauren. The prices don’t represent the quality at all; pedis and massages are just that cheap here! (Now, if only souvenirs were equally inexpensive...) They use OPI polishes, and the $5 so-called “half treatment” includes a soak, trim, shaping, buff, and polish. Mine was pretty until I went running too soon after and slightly messed it up. Oh well.
Otherwise, I did the typical reading and movie/TV show watching at Tank Hill. Watched Enchanted for the first time (sappy but cute), parts of Mamma Mia (which I saw in theatres with Elisa--Pierce Brosnan is no better at singing the second time around, FYI), and worked my way through the first season of Friends, which has really grown on me.
I never thought I’d miss shopping while in Uganda, but the market here is just so different from that of Western countries--fewer high-quality goods and far fewer choices. The shops we visit are relatively small and basic compared to those in the U.S., and even Sarah, the seamstress, was just located at the end of an alleyway with a cluster of other seamstresses, all working outside on their foot-pumped sewing machines.
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