Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Tuesday night, 12:15 am, Kampala, Uganda

We arrived exactly on-time in Kampala – 9 pm. It is so thrilling for Elizabeth and me to be here after months of working on this project. (I told Joe he travels too much as he isn’t quite as over-the-moon as E and I are…) The first thing I noticed as I stepped out of the plane was how soft the air felt, it was warm and humid but not hot. The second thing was the exotic smell – a mixture of earth along with some type of spice – cloves maybe? It was a wonderful smell that I hope I don’t get used to. It has been adulterated somewhat now that we’re in Kampala where you can smell smoke, and more spice, with maybe a little cannabis thrown in???

Customs was easy, and then we were greeted by our Ugandan Volunteer Coordinator – Anthony, along with dear friend and Medical Teams’ Ugandan Country Manager, Felix Omodi. He gave us all a big bear hug, flashed his beautiful smile, and then asked about his friend Dick Frederick. I passed on your greetings to him, Dick. Elizabeth, Joe and I rode in the Land Cruiser with Anthony the 40 minutes to Kampala. Wow. Can’t even imagine what it must be like in the daytime. First, there’s adapting to being on the left-side of the street. Then, there’s the fact that traffic lanes are merely a suggestion. People are everywhere walking in the dark, VW taxis and scooters are weaving in and out, on-coming cars turn on their brights when they get close to you – I suppose so that you don’t miss them. (Of course, that’s irrelevant when you’re blinded.). For my New Mexican friends, imagine the highway between Espanola and Abique on steroids.

Once we arrived at Hotel Africana, we joined Felix under palm trees on a patio and enjoyed some African Tea and talked about forgiveness in terms of what the rebels did to the Ugandan people. We also discussed African and American politics. They are very interested in the outcome of our election – partially because Obama’s father is from neighboring Kenya (and interestingly the same tribe - Luo - as Felix), but also because they said that Africa needs and wants change and they believe that a new American president can greatly influence that change.

We finally retired to our room – I think 31 hours since I last slept other than catnaps on the plane. The verdict was out on my hotel room until a took a shower – great water pressure and extra large towels. YES! Tomorrow we’ll meet for breakfast, go exchange money, and head out to Lira.

Good night Friends!