Sunday

This past Sunday, I started wandering up the street. I found a catholic mass in session, but the parishoners crowded the building so much that they were seated to the end of the curb. I came in time to do the whole 'shake hands with your neighbor' and I awkwardly walked off.

I continued down the road until I saw a police officer.
"Do you know where a church is?" I asked.
"What kind?" he returned.
"Any." I replied.
"Let me walk with you." he said.

We walked up to what turned out to be an Anglican church. I was squeezed into a wooden pew between a young girl and a man. I loved the service, it was like jumping into the Nile on a hot day. They sang both traditional hymns and contemporary songs like "Everyday." I knew 99% of the words. Then, the sermon was delivered by a visiting evangelical pastor on Joseph & his brothers re: repentance.

And I saw Justice Kirabwire there!

Nile River

I went whitewater rafting down the Nile this past weekend! It was wilder than I expected. I don't know how Class 5 rapids rank on the spectrum, but for me, it was pretty serious.

Our raft flipped multiple times and I consumed copious amounts of Nile water. It was surprisingly clean and warm to swim in. I loved it!

Heroes Day

Today was a Ugandan public holiday on which a list is published of the celebrated heroes: Heroes Day! Hence, we were left to our own devices; we wandered the city and ate chicken, chips (the British kind), and ice cream.

The most amusing part of the day was a new nickname. Usually, the men on the street yell out "Mzungu!" meaning "white person." And then, as I mentioned before, they yell out "Chinese! China!" to make sure that I feel welcomed as well. One very clever man today came up with "M-China."

"Ni hao" count: 14.
Ugandans are working that Mandarin! Quite impressive.

Tomorrow, if all goes well, we will move from our hotel on William Street to more permanent (and much nicer) accomodations on Kampala Street. Evidently, we were living in a sketch part of town. When we went in to meet Justice Kirabwire on Monday, he asked us where we were staying. When we mentioned William Street, his eyes grew bigger than I thought they could ever be. He immediately asked his right hand man, John, to move us to another part of town - as long as it was above Kampala Street.

We later learned that other students had asked to be taken on a "field trip" to the local markets. Justice K sent them there with armed guards, etc. We actually live in that area right now. Are we gangsta or just ignorant? You decide.

Uganda

I spent my first full day in Kampala today. I love it so far!

I can't help but contrast it to Johannesburg, my last stop:
1. Rather than winter, it is perpetual summer here - no more sleeping with electric blankets and hot water bottles! Even at night I'm walking around in shorts.
2. It also feels like one of the safest places I've ever been. Whether or not that's true is yet to be determined...

Today, we walked around the city to find water, soap, and the courthouse where we will be reporting tomorrow morning! All missions accomplished.

I'm impressed by the Mandarin that is spoken here - I counted the number of times that "Ni hao" was yelled at me on the street: 4. I'm pleased to be a novelty. As my classmate said the last night we were out in Joburg, he's pretty sure that I'm "the only Chinese person within a 10 mile radius."