We shall take a trip to Iganga and Jinja...

After deciding to do my field study in the eastern area of Uganda, Prossy and I took the taxi over to Iganga. On the way to Iganga, we passed by Jinja... where I ended up at the end of the trip.
After we got off the taxi, we took a bicycle boda to the branch office. I met the area mgr who recommended us that we should stay at the Mwaana hotel, that all foreign guests stay there. After hearing the price per night, 40,000 shillings per night (about 16 dollars per night), Prossy and I decided it was over our budget and stayed in a place called Tip Top for $6 per night. It was actually not of a bad place as I imagined. They actually had bednets. Was happy about that... But definitely no toilet seat and no hot water. Toilet seat seems to be a luxury in Uganda. I think my thies are gonna get stronger from the squatting.

The random picture to the right is a local market in Iganga with a row of ladies selling banana for matoke, the staple Ugandan meal.
When I was in Iganga, I tried to eat as much of the local food (and as cheap) as possible. Prossy and I ate local food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My favorite is still matoke and gnut sauce. Its simple and tasty. The tilapia is not bad either. Especially the deep fried whole tilapia.

While visiting the microfinance ladies and adolescent club girls who aren't in the schools, I realized that personalities in Uganda really differs depending on the region. According to Prossy, the people in the area (Busoga trible) that I visited where a bit more reluctant to help out and more protective. Well, that opinion may have been completely biased since she is from Kampala, Buganda tribe.

I was really hesitant to take out my camera the first few weeks but I bust it out everywhere now. Some people here love having photos taken of them. They dont smile though. I have a few serious profile shots of women and I'm supposed to develop and send them pix. But to be honest, I have no idea where to develop photos here or if the mail system is reliable. I requested the girl with the blue shirt to smile. It was a hard task =)

After my time in Iganga, I left for Jinja to conduct field study. First night, Prossy and I found a guesthouse for 5dollars/ room. We shared this tiny room and talked til late at night. I realized that a lot of Ugandans (including Prossy) are extremely religious. She brought her bible with her and read me a verse. She told me that the church is trying to promote monogomy and that she will only want to be with a man that is monogomous. Polygomy is still common in the rural areas in Uganda and accepted. Marital affairs are also very common and the percentage of HIV positive people in Uganda are supposed to be higher within married couples. I thought it was really inspiring to hear Prossy talk about her religion and seeing how dedicated she is to it.

After our field study in Jinja was over, I decided to stay at King Fischer. Awesome resort by the Nile River owned by an Indian. (as you can tell by the name) It was only 25dollars a night. Such a great deal. They have little grass hut bungaloes sorrounding a pool and own access to the Nile. It would be a really nice place to go with a group of girls or as a couple. But was on my own... It was really nice though. Read my book and hung out by the river.

On Saturday, the girls Naishin and Katharine came over to Jinja so we could go white water rafting on Sunday. On Saturday, we stayed at Explorer campsite. Really amazing facility for a hostel/ campsite overlooking the Nile. We toured the city of Jinja a little bit on Saturday along with a few other girls from our hostel back in Kampala who were on the trip with us. One Irish girl and one Scottish girl. It's still rainy season here so the roads were super muddy but we decided to trek it to the taxi stop.

After visiting some shops and going to eat some pizza at "2 friends", we decided to take bodas back since the hired car ripped us off. We had an unfortunate incident with the bodas. Completely a misunderstanding but they ended up wanting more than what we had agreed upon. It was so chaotic. I have never argued with any stranger like that in public. Anyways, we ended up settling for an amount more than what we wanted to pay but all of us were so pooped from the incident.

That night, I drank a few beers with Nik my coworker and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with cold sweat. Reminded me a little of the way i felt in Jaipur when I got sick. I knew it wasn't good. Ran to the bathroom a few times through the night and couldn't really sleep. I was determined to go white water rafting the next morning though so try to hang in there. After a 20 minute rocky truck drive to the Nile where the white water rafting starts off, I decided today is just not the right day for this. My stomach really felt uneasy and I knew the rapids would cause me to vomit on the boat. For my sake and for the sake of the other girls on the boat, I decided to take it easy at the campsite.

Well I will go again soon!