Hello Uganda!!

Finally Made It!!!

We arrived at the airport super early Sunday morning. Needless to say, we were feeling a mix of emotions. I can't speak for Jordan but I know I was tired from traveling, nervous about what adventures awaited us, anxious to meet the program coordinator, Michael (assuming he had actually made it to pick us up this early) and slightly sad that I hadn't been able to talk to my family. Another gentleman we met on our flight Sam#2 found us in the airport and was nice enough to make sure we picked up all of our luggage and met with Michael. And that was definitely a good thing, especially since one of my bags didn't make it to Uganda. Luckily, it wasn't my main bag but it had a few necessities and many of the hospital supplies. This was not the way I had imagined starting the trip. But then again, nothing was going as we had planned.  After talking to the baggage people for over an hour and being told to call the airport on Wednesday, we were finally ready to head to Iganga. Slightly delirious and partly annoyed, we met Michael, loaded our luggage in the car and started the 4 hour drive. As a way to thank Sam#2 for helping us out, we gave him a ride to his place. Sadly, he left his passport and phone in our car which we had to get back somehow.

  Since it was still dark for the beginning of our drive, I couldn't get a good look at my new surroundings. But what I did see was slightly shocking to say the least. Things looked run down and dirty, way worse than I was expecting. Initial thoughts of fear and regret ran through my mind. "Maybe I had made a huge mistake...this is not something I can handle..." But eventually, sleepiness overcame me and I dozed off.

When I woke up, we were pulling into a driveway. Michael informed us that this would be our new home for the duration of the program. As hesitant as I was, I opened the car door and introduced myself to my new host mom, Biti. We were also introduced to the  children, Sharifa and Dan. With the help of the boys (who I eventually learned to be Bekar and Joey and Kato...) our stuff was taken to our room. There, we were greated by another volunteer, Cari. Looking around the room, I was pleasantly surprised. We each had a bed with a colorful mosquito net (to protect us from malaria). In the corner of the room, there was a bathroom with a toilet. Water for the toilet and bucket shower was obtained from a pump around the back of the house. Shortly, Biti appeared again with breakfast. Even though I wasn't hungry and partly because I didn't want to be rude, I slowly ate. Breakfast seemed oddly familiar. We had buttered bread, a banana, fresh mango and washed it down with tea. After breakfast, the day consisted of mostly eating, napping and meeting people.

Late in the afternoon, two other girls (Amber and Rebekah) who are also in school with us and were participating in the program, came to meet us. All 5 of us decided to go into town. Our plan was to go to the Internet cafe so that we could let our families know we had arrived safely. Walking to the town, I noticed a lot of trash in the streets. We passed by lots of street vendors selling things from food to clothes to daily necessities. We were also getting quite a few strange looks from people. I assumed it was because I was with a group of white girls. I later found out that was only half of it. We got to the Internet cafe but couldn't get the wifi to work. Disappointed doesn't even describe how I was feeling. More than anything I just wanted to talk to my family. Luckily, we found a " computer lab" we could use. I sent an email to my family and we headed back home. On the way home, we stopped by the home that Amber and Rebekah are styling at. We met the family there and we're greeted with a special snack before dinner...Rolex. It is kind of like a sweet tortilla with a fried egg mix in the middle. Amber helped make it while we all set around on the front porch socializing. Finally we headed back home for the evening and got ready for our first day at the hospital.