Arrival

I've been in Uganda for only 48 hours, but already it seems like such a long time since Colorado orientation.

First, we (Rachel, Megan, Josh, Matt, & I) had to run for our connection in London and just barely made it. (Our only 1.5 hour layover was shortened by a slightly late arrival, and our transfer required a tram ride and going through security again.) Unfortunately, our bags were not so lucky. Only 4 of our 10 checked bags made it on our flight. Also unfortunately, the flight from London to Uganda only leaves every other day, so we will not get our bags until Friday. (We arrived late Tuesday night). As the one teammate without any bags whatsoever, I have been wearing the same shirt (day and night) for 4 days now ... but my teammates have been gracious in lending me things. I guess it's a lesson in flexibility, humility, and depending on teammates.

Another lesson in flexibility: I found out that I will be leaving Kampala on Tuesday (yes, 1 week after arriving and 4 days after receiving my luggage) and will be gone for 2.5 weeks! I will be traveling with Travis (the 6th intern at our office, who stayed on after being here from the Fall term) out to Kapchorwa, a mountain-side town in Eastern Uganda, to help oversee a borehole project that eMi started 2 years ago. After many complications, the organization out there is finally going to be repairing boreholes (to help irrigate the very dry region) and training locals in the process to be able to maintain them themselves. I will help by documenting and observing the work that will be done over the next few weeks (at least as far as I understand).

So far, we have mostly had orientation to Uganda, including culture, language, internship details, a walk around the neighborhood, and dinners at staff houses. Tomorrow we will be going all around the city (we haven't been downtown yet), and then Saturday, we will be traveling out to Jinja, about 2 hours east, where we have a couple eMi staff and interns working on a construction management project.

The weather is a little hot for me, as I expected, but I'm comforted by the fact that January is the hottest month. We have a pretty nice and safe place to stay, and I only have 3 giant mosquito bites so far. =)