Bumming Around

TASO holds me captive during the workweek, but as soon as the evening or weekend arrives, I’m free to do as I please. There are a couple of tasks I do daily; running and MCAT studying. Usually, I try to run before work, but if I fail to get up early enough, I’ll run before sunset (which is around 7). As far as training goes, I’m just building a base for the upcoming year; runs are usually just straight distance and I try to explore different parts of town or run to historic sites and back. Jinja is fairly hilly and at 3700 feet above sea level, some normal easy runs really get my heart pumping. At the end of the day, I’ll spend about an hour or so reviewing for the MCAT.

Anytime left during a weekday is devoted to walking around downtown Jinja or watching the World Cup. Jinja is fun to walk around because of all the different kinds of shops and street vendors. The vendors sell all kinds of food ranging from bananas to eggplants and cow intestines (have not tried) to chapattis. One hot commodity is a rolex, which is an omelette rolled up in a chapatti, kind of like a breakfast burrito minus the meat and cheese. All of these snacks range from 500 Ush to 2000 Ush, roughly $0.20 to $0.80, which is pretty cheap by American standards. At home, I’ll try to watch any World Cup games I can. Uganda is 7 hours ahead of the games in Brazil, so I can only see so much during the week, before having to go to bed. I have yet to see the US play, but that’s because they’ve been scheduled to play at 1 AM EAT!

The weekends provide the opportunity to escape Jinja. Most people travel from/to major cities via car or bus. I must comment on the pace of travel though; it is nearly half as fast as travel in America. This is not because of the vehicles, but because of driving rules and road conditions. It seems like Ugandans learn one rule in driving school: don’t cause or be in an accident. Highways are simply just a paved (if that) road without any barriers or very few dashed lines for delineating lanes. Most highways are single-lane and in order to pass, one must move into the oncoming lane to get around. Jinja is 80 kilometers from Kampala, a distance that would take less than an hour to travel in the states, but takes 2 – 3 hours in Uganda. This limit in travel speed reduces the places I’m able to visit, as I only have weekends to explore, and some parts of the country are a full day of travel away.

With that said, I can still get away from Jinja and explore neighboring cities and sites. In my first weekend here, my host family took me to a wedding in Kampala. There are two parts to the whole wedding; the introduction and the ceremony/party. For the introduction, the groom must first write a letter to his fiancée’s parents in perfect Lugandu, asking to meet as he desires to wed their daughter. Should the bride’s parents accept his offer, the groom and his family is invited over to the brides house to meet her family. It is a joyous time in which new friendships are forged, and should everything go accordingly, the couple may then proceed to the official wedding. The wedding consists of a more official ceremony in which the couple is officially wedded. Following the ceremony is a party, which resembles the kinds of parties most American weddings throw. Ugandan weddings are fairly relaxed; there is a lot of eating and socializing. I didn’t observe the introduction (which was a couple of weeks prior to my arrival) but I was allowed to attend even though I had never met the couple before! After cake cutting, friends and family are allowed to say words of wisdom, advice or whatever they seem fit to the couple. This part of the wedding can drag on, as anyone who wishes to speak may say something. Dancing usually follows and continues until the end of the wedding. I had a fun time, as everyone is in good spirits and happy for the newlyweds. 

Tables where guests sit, with the throne for the newlyweds in the back and centerpiece for the cake

The groom and bride dancing in front of chocolate fondue and cake

Jinja has one major attraction itself; it is the beginning of the all-great Nile River. The river begins from Lake Victoria, and flows past a point in Jinja, northwards to the Mediterranean Sea. I was fortunate to travel to the source with Ivan, my host-father’s nephew, for a relaxing Sunday afternoon. The Source is a tourist hub that offers boat rides out on the Nile and Lake Victoria as well as souvenirs from the river. 

The mouth of the Nile, with Rumours to the left

The Nile flowing northwards

There is a small bar called Rumours on the banks of the river, which serves refreshing, cold beverages as you enjoy the sunset behind the opposing side of the gorge. The Nile does not have the lure and warmth Caribbean beaches supply, but it is nevertheless a relaxing place to sit down, have a drink and listen to the calm flow of the river. There are some rapids (Grade 5 at that) that are further upstream, but I don’t know if I’ll venture up to them. Until next time, which is real soon.