Happy New Year!

I’ve made it to 2017 happy and healthy. I hope the same for all of my family and friends. I’m sorry I have let this blog grow cobwebs, but it’s the New Year and here I am to dust them off. Heehee, then let them grow back because I don’t see my ability to maintain internet connection improving in the coming months. If anything, it may get worse! My supervisor has changed and the new one is not accommodating at all (I didn’t appreciate all that Elijah did for me when he was here; a classic example of not know what you have until it’s gone).

Elijah and Precious, my previous supervisor
and his wife, and my good friends.

As I said, my supervisor has changed. The first week of my vacation I stayed with Elijah and Precious at their house in Kampala. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. On the tea estate they had a very nice house with a big lawn and vegetable garden. The rooms were spacious and the kitchen and bathroom were inside the house. In Kampala… what can I say, it was Kampala, and no matter how well they kept their house and little property nice, it was Kampala. They did the cooking and cleaning in the little courtyard pictured (the kitchen was little more than a closet with a door opening to the courtyard) and the guest latrine was around the corner. There wasn’t even proper streets leading to their house. You had to walk down alleyways and through the neighbor’s property to get there. They did have electricity and water, so they were better off than a lot of their neighbors, but oh boy,  it was Kampala! The price for freedom from the tea estate. Of course, it's the people that are important and they are super people. They also seem to have nice neighbors and friends close by and they say they feel safe and happy with their new arrangement.

This is the alleyway leading to their front door and their front courtyard/kitchen.

During my stay in Kampala, I met up with a fellow volunteer, Christa, and toured a mosque. This is the Gaddafi Mosque, officially named the Uganda National Mosque. It’s construction was funded by Colonel Gaddafi of Libya as a gift to the Muslim population of Uganda. It is the largest mosque in Uganda and the second largest one in Africa; the largest being King Hassan Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. The Gaddafi Mosque can accommodate 15,000 worships at ago (according to our guide, but I find that hard to believe unless then were crammed in on top of each other or half were worshiping from the terrace surrounding the structure).  

Christa and I were required to cover our heads and western clothes to go inside the mosque. The hijab (headscarf) and wrap were included in the price of our tour. I am very thankful to have grown up in a Christian family because, if for no other reason, those coverings are hot and having your hair stuck down on your neck is extremely uncomfortable! Hmmmm, I need to feel the wind blowing through my hair, guess that means my religious preferences don’t involve much religious philosophy. 

As far as mosques go, I’m told this one is rather ornate. I have nothing to compare it to except the Catholic churches I’ve toured and trust me, if you are interested in architecture, go to a church, not a mosque. Hmmmm, again, my religious preferences do not appear to be rooted to deep into the actual religion.

The mosque had a tower which we were allowed to climb to get a beautiful view of the city.

The big bad city doesn't look so bad from afar...

but then you get down to street level and it's a hot, crowded mess!

After Kampala, a group of us departed on our Kidepo Valley safari. Kidepo Valley is the most northeastern region of Uganda. I didn't think Uganda was that big but it took us two days to get there! Ha, Uganda really is not that big; the roads are just so poor that a good majority of the time we were not driving faster than maybe 20 mph. It was torture. And though it was beautiful, it paled in comparison to Tanzania. Definitely not worth the money or the time and aggravation spent to get there. However, our group was fun and it's was nice to forge closer friendships with my fellow volunteers.

Kidded Valley National Park

On the return trip, since we didn't want to get back to our sites in time to spend Christmas alone, we stopped in Gulu for the night. We had a nice dinner at a Ethiopian restaurant, drink lots of wine, and stayed at the New Florida hotel (can you read the sign?) Sniff, sniff... I miss my Florida, especially at Christmastime.

The final stop on our holiday tour was Sipi Falls. This is an area in eastern Uganda on the edge of Mount Elgon. There were several waterfall in the region and they were all quite amazing. Unfortunately, my Samsung phone/camera completely failed me and this is the only picture that survived. 

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas and New Year. Next holidays I plan to be stateside once again. Until then, I'll try to get a few more posts of this bizarre and wonderful country I'm currently living in.