Uganda Chronicles 4 : Conference, Conclusions and Ugandan nights from a Kenyan woman's perspective

So this AIESEC experience in Uganda was to facilitate a conference, another first for me. I have been a delegate at several conferences, I have also been on an organising committee for a conference, being a facilitator is just a whole other experience all together.

I loved it!

I was mega touched by the delegates, by the fact that they looked up to me, and I kept thinking to myself, there really isn't anything special about me. Where I was standing, any of them could have been. Did my best to be an inspiration. Facilitating comes with great responsibility too. Apart from the organising committee, you're the first to wake up and last to sleep because the fate of the conference kinda depends on you.

Conference aside, I partied enough for 5 in Kampala. Oh, the days of our youth. Where all this energy came from, I cannot even begin to comprehend!

The night life is way different from the kenyan one. The man are also way different...so freakin' aggressive! By jove!!!

Can't a girl just jam on the floor on her own?! It is not an invitation for company! Not after warding off the first guy, not after warding off the second guy, not even after warding off the third guy is it an invitation for the fourth guy's company! Ha ha! They have probably never met a girl like me. I have also never met guys like them. I got a lap dance from a guy! And a very serious lap dance it was! And I was so embarrassed the whole time! Mostly for this guy. He was a corporate partner at the conference, and he came out with us on the last day of the conference. Now I had profiled him to be the silent and collected guy, which is why we became fast friends, but then the night came on and he took on a totally different persona!

Honestly this one night out felt like a battle! Fighting off men! By jove...ugandan nights from a Kenyan woman's perspective, that is what I should call this section!

Ha ha!

There were better nights of course, when there was better company.

I love to travel because there's a new story to tell, new people to meet, new ways to look at people you may have known for the longest time but not really known. Gives me something to write about. I was sad to leave, I suck at goodbyes. There's always so much I want and need to say, but in one moment, it never comes out perfect. Memories shall be held on to nonetheless. Those we surely made enough of. Friendships forged, hardships shared, laughter and fun...until we meet again Uganda...and sooner or later, we surely will!

Uganda Chronicles 3 : Food, Language and Money

Now can we talk about how Ugandans eat? Yes, we all know Uganda is banana-land. I quite enjoyed this, I love bananas! So...having banana pancakes and bananas for breakfast was okay with me. Another thing, I have never eaten matoke in my life despite the fact that my parents love it and it is prepared every so often at our house, I finally had some matoke! Some I liked, some I did not. There are different kinds, depending on mode of preparation I suppose.

But, back to how Ugandans eat. I am sure I have already said this to about my whole circle of friends...and I hope not to offend anyone by my opinion, but ugandans eat like they're about to head out to a construction site and start carrying stones.

A typical meal is rice and pasta. Matoke and rice. I kid you not! At this point, most kenyans must be thinking, where is the meat?! Yeah, I thought that too. Along with...why in the world is there a great need for two carbohydrates in the meal? Is it not just...too much?

Then when we had buffet meals, then it was quite the treat!

Matoke, rice, chapati AAANNNND Pasta! Plus one meat and stew and their famous g-nut sauce(ground nut sauce) Vegetables? I do not recall eating any. With the buffets, I'm sure the serving staff marked me. I just got fed up at some point and would skip everything except rice and meat stew. That felt a little bit like home.

It took me a while before I got it into my head that I could not just throw in a swahili word or two every time I was talking to people. Every time I would go to a shop or be talking to the conductor of a taxi, I would automatically start my conversation in swahili because that is what I would do at home.

'Sasa, maji unauza pesa ngapi?'(Hi, how much is a bottle of water?) 'Fare ni ngapi?' (How much is the fare?)

The blank stares that followed my statements always got me back into reality. Inasmuch as Ugandans look just like kenyans, they are not. I reckon I got coned once when the guy placed that I was clearly new in the area.

Another thing that took some getting used to...was the currency disparity. The exchange rate when I was there was about 28ush to 1ksh. I remember at the border, when we had just converted money, one of my friends asked what 200ush could get her...and she was told...practically nothing.

We would take a taxi(they call matatus that) for a short distance and then be told that its 1500ush. I was always so shoked! Like...say what now? Was there wifi in that taxi? Did my seat recline and give me a massage? Why in the world am I paying 1500 for that 5 minute ride then? Oh yeah, not in Kenya. I found that some are so used to the 'thousands' that its not a necessary part of conversation. I tried to buy samosas somewhere and asked how much they are. The guy told me 2 shillings. I was so confused...2?! So I took out 200ush and he was shocked...'two THOUSAND', he said to me.

Well, he should have just said that in the first place!

So this guy quickly figured I obviously was not from around and charged me double for the samosas. Might have been an oversight, but when I found out, damn right I went back for my money!

Uganda Chronicles 2 : Random Acts of Kindness

Now that we have been on about food, I want to speak of an enormous kindness that was shown unto me. Let me put you guys in context first...this is literally skipping from my first day to my final moments but...we shall work backwards from here.

My last day in Kampala, I was really tired and I was really frustrated by the fact that I did not know my way around sufficiently enough for me to get myself home. I find this very frustrating about travel, the fact that when you are new to a place, you are like a child, you need to depend on anyone and everyone! So my friends and I had spent the previous evening at a uni that is about 2 hours out of kampala and when we got back into town the next day, my friends still wanted to be out and about exploring and being touristy. I was done with Kampala, homesickness had set in, I was very ready to be back on Kenyan soil, home ground. So I asked a friend, a ugandan girl that we had been spending time with, if she would be so kind as to help me get back to where we were staying and she was fine with that since it was on her route home. Now, this girl is absolutely lovely! She is so sweet and she went to great lengths to talk to me, find out how my stay had been and just be friendly. But I was having none of that! I was so preoccupied with all the packing I had to do before my bus left, shower, have one of Patrick's rolexes for dinner...and she just could not take a hint! Ha ha! I can be so cold. feeling ashamed

We were approaching the stop where the taxi would drop us off, somewhere I finally recognised, and this girl kept going on and on about how she would show me a different route to the house and I should just trust her. So I decided, why not. Only to get off the taxi and have her suggest that we pass by her house for dinner. WAIT, SAY WHAT?! I was actually greatly angered by this. I felt like she was totally destabilizing all the carefully made plans I had just made for the next few hours, but since it was already out of my control, again we were in a place I did not recognise so I could not take myself home, I said why not. I almost cried within the next hour. She took me to her house. I met her older sister and 4 little nieces and nephews. She served me a meal and they were all in awe. She kept saying proudly, 'This is my friend, she's from Kenya', showing me off like I was some prized possession and I realised that she looked up to me and she admired me and for the past hour or so I had done nothing but my level best to disregard her and use her for the mere need of being able to find my way to where we were staying. I was so ashamed of myself. So I never got my last taste of Patrick's amazing rolex, my evening ended up going nothing like I had planned, but I was happy for the alternative route the day took. It reminded me that...sometimes, even when we do not feel like, we must. If not for ourselves, then for others. Because they always deserve better.

Uganda Chronicles 1 : Patrick's Rolexes

You know what I did a month or so ago?!

I was out and about, travelling again. This time, destination Uganda. Now, Kenya-Uganda...definitely not a stretch, right?

I did not know what to expect. I cannot decide yet whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, the fact that I really am not one for expectations.

Uganda however did turn out to be something else.

Let's start at Patrick's rolexes!!

I wonder if I will ever meet him again. Let us start at...what is a rolex? A rolex is fried eggs rolled up within a chapati. We have them in Kenya as well, just not as popular as they are in Uganda. And...Patrick is this one guy who had a rolex stand very close to where I was staying while in Uganda. So...when in doubt of what to have for dinner...Patrick was the guy to go to. 1500Ush for a 2 by 1(2 eggs and one chapati). 2000Ush for a 2 by 2(2 eggs 2 chapatis)

Now, rolexes are really popular. There are literally guys selling rolexes about every hundred metres in Uganda(my inaccurate statistic)

Very much like the way in Kenya there is an Mpesa agent on every street corner. Sometimes 5 at the very same spot. Or those guys with the stands selling smokies....3 at the same spot, all offering the exact same thing! Creativity man...very lacking.

But not with Patrick, I will forever remember him because his rolexes are the best I have ever tasted. He goes the extra mile and puts all sorts of embellishments...tomatoes, onions, cabbage, some spice, before rolling up the rolex so you end up with something that looks like a kebab or a shawarma and tastes absolutely divine! While everyone else just gives you greasy chapati and eggs...soaking in oil...yuck!

Hats off to Patric. I hope I one day get to taste your rolexes again.

Damn, I never even took a picture of him at work!

:-(