It's not all pools and parties

Our first Ugandan meal

Since arriving, we have recovered from the journey and begun making lots of connections.  After a brief stop at a resort with the largest pool in Uganda (50m), we headed off the the New Faculty Get Together for the International School of Uganda (ISU).  The meal was a traditional Ugandan meal meant to introduce the new faculty to the cuisine..but also helped us experience the culture.  Lots of starch (sweet potatoes, cassava, Matooke - Mashed plantain, Ugali- corn meal, ground peanut sauce) and stewed chicken and beef.  Filling, yummy and giving us the fuel we need.

Another stunning view of Lake Victoria from the New Faculty Get Together.  Note the hill in the center- a witch doctor apparently lives there.

The ISU new and veteran faculty at the party were great...and helpful beyond belief.  Trying to plan from the US was challenging, but now on the ground with actual face to face conversations, things are quickly falling into place.  Several organizations that do service work with children and education seem very promising, and we will visiting them in the next week.  Kids of Africa kept coming up as a great place to work, and we had already arranged a day there from back in the States.  Note: this is where Millie worked for her Senior Project.  Safari ideas abound- especially given that the faculty take advantage of every day off to explore the country..  The different variations of rhino sanctuary, chimp trekking, Queen Elizabeth Park, Murchasin Park, gorillas, giraffes, etc are still swimming in my head.  We narrowed down our options to what is feasible given our short trip and our goal to experience what we feel students will find most rewarding...just waiting to hear back from a tour operator on what he can put together.

Yesterday after we awoke from our post flight slumber, Mr A and I ventured out to buy airtime for our Ugandan phones  with Ugandan schillings in hand (Note: the 1000 schilling note to the left is worth about 39cents).  Walking along the red dirt, sun baked roads past small shops, homes in various stages of construction, signs reading "School for God Fearing Children" and a "Not for Sale" sign above an empty lot, everyone stared at us- glowing white (non-suncreened skin for this short walk), blond foreigners.   Yet everyone was friendly and smiling. At the shop where we bought our minutes, three women had a good time teaching us how to top up the phones- sarcastically pointing out that the instructions are on the back of the card, "You do read English don't you?".  A little conversation with them really helped make me feel like I had arrived in Africa and showed me what I had read so much about before the trip...the Ugandan people are generous, sweet and welcoming.  Right before we left, one of the women asked me about my hair..."How do you get it like that? Short? Blond?  Is it a wig?  Where did you get it cut".  Funny how in my travels, there is always a conversation about hair.

Our planning in progress

Today, were are at ISU using the internet and faculty connections to firm up the meetings for the next week.  I included  a pic of our planning...the lure of a white board and Expo markers was too great to resist.  I have suddenly realized that I haven't take many pics. Students from the Oaxaca trip know I incessantly take pics of nearly everything...soda bottles, flowers, perspective shots from the floor of long hallways and walkways-my specialty Everything is too intriguing to constantly have my iPhone out and snapping pics from behind it. Probably a good thing...but I also need to document and share more of this amazing adventure!