We arrived in Entebbe on Tuesday morning. David, a friend of Harpas' sister, picked us up at the airport with a big sign and a bigger smile. He's been taking us around Kampala in a rental car. The traffic here in Kampala is something else, chaotic to say the least. That didn't stop us from taking the wheel and David was a bit worried that we were too good drivers to be driving in Kampala, but after one hour slithering at snail speed trhough a gridlock, he told me I was getting to be a very bad driver and thus good to drive in Kampala.
Having David has proven extremely helpful, we would probably be like fish on dry land without him, but we're getting the hang of the city.
We've been shopping for supplies in Kampala, buying phone cards and such, going to the gigantic, badly smelling market, seeing the mall (that was David's suggestion, he was very proud), we even found a cheap, working guitar, which will be used to teach both the children and Harps.
Our prensence here is met with some interest, although we are far and away the only tourists here. "Mzungu" is a word we hear frequently, but my friend Dadi seems to have passed the torch to me, as we heard someone say yesterday: "hey, look, it's Jesus!"
The last couple of nights we've taken our friend David out for dinner. First to the place he and Sylgja and Palmi went to some 2 years ago, and last night to a fancy thai place called Krua Thai, imagine that! That was his first time eating thai food, and was quite impressed.
He was still laughing when we left him, because we were planning to take a taxi home, and they're called Mutatu's. Harpa was having some problem remembering and asked him: "So where are these Mutaku's?" We later found out a "mutaku" is something quite different, something which the french call derriere, but the americans so eloquently have dubbed: "ass."
He's probably still laughing, asking: "where are these asses?"
Yesterday we went to Kitetika, where Harpas' sister used to work 10 years ago. We were welcomed and the head mistress showed us around the campus and we met Trudy Odida, the head of the organisation that founded the school. That was really educating and interesting. We showed up at a great time at "show and tell" week and the kids put on a song and dance for us. Very impressive!
...
Slight change of plans for us, Pamela, IFD's executive director, won't be coming until Sunday, so we'll be staying in Kampala until then. Then it's what Lonely Planet calls "Grotty Soroti."
(pictures will come later)
Harpa og Vignir, ekki lengur í Brussel
15 years ago
