I feel like I've been here before, strangely so, because I haven't. I guess it's the power of media and how small and accessible it now makes our world that I, in some way, feel that I've walked these paths before. Consequently, today I've found Uganda as I expected it to be, because of the images I've regularly had pumped into my lounge, because of the journeys we've been on with Lenny Henry and because of the experiences of our friends and family.
After very little sleep on our night flight (!) we left Entebbe Airport for our first stay in Uganda. We drove through Kampala with its heat and busyness, its chaotic road system and its dusty, red tracks. We dove past folk selling their wares by the roadside, by women carrying their heavy loads on their heads and men eye-ing us curiously. It was just like I'd seen in a million documentaries, the odd thing was I was here, in it, not just observing it from a distance. This is no longer an image on a tv screen or my friends facebook page, this is suddenly reality, real life. I am now part of the story.
We've taken up residence at 'Red Chilli', a backpackers and travellers haven. This is home for tonight and the next 7 nights. We've unpacked and settled in and sampled, of course, the chilli and beer. We've experienced a little Ugandan humour and I'm perfecting my Ugandan handshake! It's going to be a wonderful, simple home for the next week.
Today has been about finding our feet and carefully placing them on this dusty, red soil for the next few weeks. Tonight before dinner some of us took a walk through town. Within 'Red Chilli' we are travellers and holiday makers along with others doing the same thing. On the streets we were outsiders, we were different, we were conspicuous and uncomfortable. Locals wanted to engage us in conversation, children called out demonstrating their English and toddlers, knowing no social restraints, pointed and stared at our white faces and unfamiliar clothes, presumably for the first time. So today I get to feel like a foreigner, a stranger in a strange land and yet alongside that, I feel welcome and excited about what the next 2 weeks hold for us.
Our group of volunteers is strangely noticeable in the bar tonight, we are the group clearly in need of sleep! So, although only 7.30 many of us are heading off to bed! I can't remember the last time I slept well, the last week of term was such a busy one and the social calendar meant there was something on every night before doing a turn around and preparing for this adventure. We didn't really sleep on the plane so my hopes and dreams for tonight are pinned on the best nights sleep for a few weeks! And we need it for tomorrow........tomorrow we are building!!
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