This weekend I journeyed to Kampala to see my dear Lady Diane and celebrate her birthday. Diane is my roommate from last year. I hadn't seen her in two months, but it felt like much longer. We had so much to share. It was so refreshing to see a familiar face after my very stressful first week in Masindi. We met up with Todd, another guy from our cohort, and had a nice long dinner (something my stomach could recognize as normal food) and good conversation. It was great fun staying with Diane at the Samaritan's Purse guest house and catching up on everything that has been going on. It was great to be able to have adventures with her on a new continent. :-)
The bus rides to and from the city were grueling and long. I tend to think of myself as immune to culture shock in this part of the world after all I've seen and done. But no, this bus thing still really gets to me. Yesterday, a 3 hour journey ended up taking six and a half. The bus was so, so hot. And at some point the driver tried to take a detour through a Kampala slum and got stuck in the mud, so that set us back by at least an hour. Drama drama.
And then there was the bus park. I can compare the Kampala bus park to nothing else... except some Kenyan bus parks. But there is such a degree of frenzied, chaotic activity that is at the same time fascinating and horrifying. Buses trying to park and pull out, honking at people as they mill everywhere, vendors pushing merchandise in your face, heat, dust, fumes, confusion.
Kampala is smaller than Nairobi, but the presence of motorbikes ("bodas") everywhere gives rise to a whole new level of stress and confusion on the road. I saw another boda get into an accident while I was riding one. Thankfully, I had no incidents.
I was so relieved to get back to Masindi and meet up with my boda driver, Mustafa, who has also become a friend. I was so relieved to be almost home when... the boda ran out of gas. It just was not my day for traveling!
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