Fellows Blog: Day 1, part 2

Hello again from a very tired Amber and Haleigh! The past 2.5 days we’ve each gotten less than 8 hours of sleep, so we’re doing our best to hang in there. Luckily, we had some very exciting things to do today to keep us on our toes! 

First, we met some of our partners at VTCA, Jacob and Hannington. It was really nice to meet them after having been in touch via Zoom and WhatsApp for so long!

Jacob was kind enough to pick us up from Entebbe and drive us to Mukono where we will be staying in an Airbnb. The drive was absolutely gorgeous, and we learned about Coca-Cola industry in Uganda. When we arrived at the Airbnb, we were greeted by many goats and our host Sammy*, who prepared a very tasty lunch for us. Unfortunately, we did not have wifi for a few hours, so we used that time to nap (this nap is already factored into the 8 hours of sleep), unpack, and, in Amber’s case, attempt to learn some Swahili from her pre-downloaded flashcards… only to later find out that very few people speak Swahili and most people actually speak Luganda, the local language. Haleigh also took this time to text our probably very worried parents (sorry mom) from our “only in case of emergencies” satellite phone.

We ventured out to get a portable hotspot, which took a little longer than expected because Sammy’s car died. While we waited for someone to jumpstart the car, Haleigh, being the WashU engineer that she is, set up a 4-liter water filter AND fixed a leak in it with duct tape. Her next task is to figure out how to manufacture air conditioning for our living quarters! 

Did you know that US driver licenses are not a valid form of identification in Uganda? If you didn’t, you’re not alone. The moral of the story is we still don’t have a portable hotspot or wifi set up, so we’re racking up international data charges. Or rather, we tried to: there were six hours where we didn’t have any service, so our parents were really worried. As you may recall, we tried to text them we were safe from a satellite phone, but even that didn’t go through for some reason. Our partners at VTCA were also concerned; Devir, one of our partners showed up at our place while we were gone and was waiting to make sure we were okay when we got home! However, we did successfully manage to exchange our beloved US dollar for Ugandan shillings and go to the supermarket to get bottled water.

Devir asked us if we’d like to go for an “evening stroll” —which turned out to be a 4 mile walk— alongside a chaotic, rocky and dusty road. We did learn that Uganda has the highest elevation of any country along the equator, so given the terrain we traveled and have yet to travel, Haleigh and Amber will be pro hikers by the end of this trip. We saw many school aged children walking home from classes and were horrified to learn they are in school from 7:30 AM to 6:00 PM everyday… and then return at night for additional studying. 

Anyways, we thought the purpose of this walk was to finally get portable wifi, but we ended up touring a hotel instead. We were given six room tours of essentially the same rooms, each one named after a different US State. Another fun fact about us: Amber is from Maryland (but says she’s from Washington D.C. for more clout) and Haleigh is from New Jersey (but says she’s from New York to avoid the impression that she’s associated with the real housewives). 

For dinner, Jacob arranged a lovely meal with the VTCA board and a government official. We felt incredibly welcomed and excited by our colleagues. Amber and Haleigh had a brief telepathic conversation over how to open the unperforated ketchup packets and whether making ketchup involves a heating process to reduce the tomatoes (but more importantly get rid of bacteria). Unfortunately, it looks like our cordiality and telepathy skills have yet to improve— Jacob immediately demonstrated that they’re meant to be opened with our teeth. We were also briefly frazzled over how much to tip, as each board member seemed to have a different opinion in the matter. Lastly, we learned that Haleigh’s name is very difficult to pronounce, as we are now referred to as Amber and Pine. #dynamicduo #nameabettersquadidareyou

Anyways, we made it home safely and have another busy day planned for tomorrow. We sincerely apologize for the lack of humor today we’re only slightly delirious :)

PS: we totally didn’t have any issues with figuring out to work the showers today, in case anyone was wondering. We definitely figured out how to turn on the bathroom light and get hot water… of course we didn’t shower in cold water in the dark… but it ultimately was quite refreshing and probably attracted less bugs than if a light had been on.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy

All images posted with permission of included parties

Uganda’s soda factories that we passed on the drive from Entebbe to Mukono! 

One of the roads in Mukono town (middle seat backseat perspective- thanks Haleigh!)

The incredible lunch Sammy made for us of chicken, rice, vegetables, and plantains.

#tourist #tothemax

“I promise I’ll dress better tomorrow” -Amber 

Group picture at the VTCA board of directors dinner! Ketchup packets featured behind the ketchup bottle.

Previous
Previous

Fellows Blog: Day 2

Next
Next

Fellows Blog: Day 1