After a week here in Uganda, it is surprising how much today felt like any Monday anywhere. We had a great weekend, with no work or school for either of us, and spent time shopping for our house, playing soccer with the girls in the local village of Nyamatanga, eating out with a couple of our neighbors on Saturday night, and lounging by the pool at a “fru-fru” hotel just out of town on Sunday afternoon. It could have been Santa Barbara- well, almost…
For anyone we haven’t bored with our pre-trip lectures… Mbarara is a bustling town on the main road between the capital of Uganda, Kampala, and the Southwest regions of the country, and Rwanda. The presence of the university and medical school, means that there are plenty of students around, although the vast majority of Mbarara’s population of 100, 000 has no tie to the university, and outside of the immediate city center, life is very rural and centered in small villages. Thanks to these local farming villages, there is an absolutely amazing vegetable market where we are able to fill our bags with huge avocados, tomatoes, eggplant, bananas, cucumbers, papaya and bell pepper for less than five US dollars total! 
We are living on the campus of the university (Mbarara University of Science and Technology) in a set of houses reserved for visiting ex-pats to the university. By East African standards the houses are great with running water, toilets and a reasonably well-equipped kitchen. The location is fantastic, and my “commute” to the hospital is a 50 yard walk, while Danny’s development classes are held in a building 50 yards in the other direction. We are about a mile from the center of town, so also have easy access to shopping and the market. Our neighbors are wonderful, and although we feel well and truly submerged in African life, the presence of a few fellow-Mzungus (Swahili word for “whitey”) has definitely made the adjustment easier!
Despite being virtually on the equator (check out Mbarara on Google Earth and you’ll see what I mean!), the climate is really quite pleasant. The middle of the day is usually in the high 80’s, but most of the time the temperature is in the 60’s or 70’s. And yes, most importantly, I am able to sport my Yater hooded sweatshirt in the evenings! The region is at an altitude of around 4500ft which helps keep things cooler, as well as reducing the number of mosquitos- although they still seem to find poor Danny, and I never seem to get bites. (For all my teasing I’m sure I’ll be the one who comes down with malaria!) As for rain, we are now entering the rainy season and have had a few spectacular afternoon thunderstorms, during which seemingly impossible quantities of rain seem to come from the sky. Okay, maybe not much like Santa Barbara afterall…
For anyone we haven’t bored with our pre-trip lectures… Mbarara is a bustling town on the main road between the capital of Uganda, Kampala, and the Southwest regions of the country, and Rwanda. The presence of the university and medical school, means that there are plenty of students around, although the vast majority of Mbarara’s population of 100, 000 has no tie to the university, and outside of the immediate city center, life is very rural and centered in small villages. Thanks to these local farming villages, there is an absolutely amazing vegetable market where we are able to fill our bags with huge avocados, tomatoes, eggplant, bananas, cucumbers, papaya and bell pepper for less than five US dollars total!
We are living on the campus of the university (Mbarara University of Science and Technology) in a set of houses reserved for visiting ex-pats to the university. By East African standards the houses are great with running water, toilets and a reasonably well-equipped kitchen. The location is fantastic, and my “commute” to the hospital is a 50 yard walk, while Danny’s development classes are held in a building 50 yards in the other direction. We are about a mile from the center of town, so also have easy access to shopping and the market. Our neighbors are wonderful, and although we feel well and truly submerged in African life, the presence of a few fellow-Mzungus (Swahili word for “whitey”) has definitely made the adjustment easier!
Despite being virtually on the equator (check out Mbarara on Google Earth and you’ll see what I mean!), the climate is really quite pleasant. The middle of the day is usually in the high 80’s, but most of the time the temperature is in the 60’s or 70’s. And yes, most importantly, I am able to sport my Yater hooded sweatshirt in the evenings! The region is at an altitude of around 4500ft which helps keep things cooler, as well as reducing the number of mosquitos- although they still seem to find poor Danny, and I never seem to get bites. (For all my teasing I’m sure I’ll be the one who comes down with malaria!) As for rain, we are now entering the rainy season and have had a few spectacular afternoon thunderstorms, during which seemingly impossible quantities of rain seem to come from the sky. Okay, maybe not much like Santa Barbara afterall…
5 comments:
Not being privy to your pre-trip lectures, thanks for the info! I've enjoyed reading through your guys' blog.
I hope you guys have a wonderful time in Uganda...sounds like it's off to a fantastic start.
Andrew
p.s. - Isn't it great to not have mosquitoes bother you?! They don't like me either...while the attack my girlfriend relentlessly. I feel bad for her (and anyone who they seem to like so much more than me).
Hi Andrew- really nice to hear from you! How's poker? Hope the end of the SB summer is treating you well.
Lynn
Hi Lynn,
The end of summer is great. Just got back from visiting the family up North in Modesto for 5 days. I had a great time hanging out with them and it was great to spend time with my 3 month old niece. We took my bro's boat out on the Delta one day...watched a couple movies in the theater (Zohan and Traitor)...and played lots of family fun games.
I didn't do so hot at last week's poker game...I think I was the second one out, but didn't mind as I needed to go home and pack...haha. I'll be missing the next two weeks. I did play quite a bit of poker in Modesto (just for fun, no money)...mostly my brother Rex and I while we were waiting for others to wake up or show up in the mornings. We had been fairly even going into yesterday morning, but then I beat him 5 games to 2 ;-)
I'm heading to Kentucky tonight to spend 9 days with my girlfriend, Jeanetta. No major plans yet, maybe a trip to Columbus, OH one day.
I won't be on the computer much while I'm gone, but I'll check in with your adventure when I get back to SB.
Andrew
Hi Lynn!
I know this comment is a long time after your blog post but I came across it and love what you've done! I visited Ugadna last year when I was 15 with my Mum and LOVED it! We're no going back at then end of July, and again are staying an hour away from Mbarara in Ruhanga. I was just wondering if you have any contact details of the Mbarara hospital, or if you know if they have in date supplies of Rabies vaccinations to treat people in the unfortunate situation that they may contract the disease from rabid dogs/bats etc.
Would really appreciate your help if you're able to! xx
Hi Lynn, I've enjoyed reading your blog this afternoon.
I'm just getting in touch as me and my fiancee are moving to Mbarara in January to work at the hospital. I'm a trainee surgeon based in the UK and Kim is a gynaecologist. I was hoping you could send me your email address then I could get a bit more information from you. My address is david.m.riding@gmail.com
Thanks!
Post a Comment