Just got in from river rafting on the nile which I will write more about later, but just wanted to let you all know you can send me text messages to my cell phone from the mtn website at: http://mtn.co.ug/. They don't cost me or you anything and are a good way to say hi to me! More to come.

Today I picked myself up a mobile phone! My plan allows me to have unlimited incoming minutes, THUS you can call me for and talk for as long as you want, or can afford! As well I added a new mailing address, so for all you romantic or retro type why not send me a letter, I promise to respond. Anyway all the new contact information can be found on the contact page.

Also yesterday we saw a bunch of monkeys here, so I took some shots of them as well as some other stuff. Find the new pictures in the picture gallery.

I realized that in all my updating I never really told you where I was and what I was doing. Currently all the new VSO's (including myself) are staying south of Kampala at a conference center called the Lweza Conference Center. We stay at Lweza for the first 2 weeks to receive country training in: language, culture, society, history, and other subjects.

As well this two weeks in a Lweza will help us to adjust to our new environment a little better, allow us to set up things like bank accounts, and be able to buy some household items that we will need once we leave Lweza. After the two weeks our employer will come to Lweza for a day and meet with us. After the day he will then take us to our houses and possibly our work places. After that work shall commence. Currently we are on our first week of training. This weekend we shall have the weekend to ourselves, and the tentative plan is to go white water rafting down the Nile. As for Canada Day on Monday none of us Canadians have yet to think up any way to celebrate yet.

I just uploaded a few more pictures from the other day. They are pictures from the matatu ride to and from the VSO head office as well as some from the office itself!

Today we had the day to ourselves so we decided that after breakfast that we would head into town. We took flagged down a matatu and decided we would split up the group because there wasn't enough room in the one bus.

Funny thing has it though is that the matatu driver actually kicked out a few Ugandans so that we could all fit. It makes you feel bad to have to take the bus like that, but what can you do? After spending some time in an Internet café I decided I would head back to Lweza with Ali who wasn't feeling all too well in the hot noon sun. On the ride home I observed how branded Kampala is. Every store seems to be sponsored by Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, or some other major corporation. The big clock tower at one of the roundabouts that is a great marking place is getting some much-needed renovations, but it seems at a cost. Now this nice clock tower has to bear the emblems of Shell on each of its four side. On the rest of the ride home I saw billboards for shoe polish, expensive cars, cellular telephone companies and other expensive products. After seeing all this I asked myself, really how many Ugandan's can actually afford the items on these banners? I guess advertisement is something that is universal, and comes with the westernizing of this part of the world. It's funny because before I left I thought I would be leaving the ad campaigns, branded life, and American music behind. I guess I was wrong. From my time here all I have heard on the radios is the same top 40 songs that I am sure are being played back home or in any state in the US. Yet occasionally I have heard a local R&B group, so at least they get some airplay. I guess these are the effects our western culture seems to have on the world. I have only been here for 4 days so those are just my early observations. It could well be that the reason these things stand out to me is because they are the only things that seem somewhat familiar to me. I am sure that as I become more and more settled in, I won't even notice it.

Sorry for the sporadic updates of the website but right now finding good internet access is somewhat of a task. Today a group of us in training took a bus into town from the Lweza Training Center so we were able to find a good cyber-cafe. Anyway I added a few Journal entries that I wrote in the last couple of days as well as some pictures from our walk to find the mosque (which we never found).

It seems that waking up early is the thing to do in Uganda. I was up this morning at 5 shortly before the Arabic call to prayer is blasted through the valley. The morning was slow today because we missed our first meeting due to the training being sick.

Thus after the soccer match I suggest to the group we do a bit of exploring. We started walking down one of the dirt roads in search of the mosque that we continually hear the morning prayers from. This was an excellent experience, we got to walk by plenty of houses which seemed very rural and cut off. All the children were very curious as to why we were there and greeted us cheerfully calling us mzungu(whitey). On the way back from the walk a matatu (minibus) got stuck in so all the passengers got out to help push. Half of the passengers were carrying either rifles or shotguns. For a moment we thought that we were going to be help up, but was we approached them they told us to go by. We later found out that they were just security guards. After lunch we were picked up by some VSO staff and brought into downtown Kampala. They gave us a tour of downtown showing us the common places to buy things and places to go. After the brief tour we then went into a bar and watched the Senegal soccer match. The bar was stuff with Africans all cheering on their African warriors. After the match we were then told we have to find our own way back to the training center using the public transportation. We made it to the taxi park and eventually found the right bus home. Tonight we will be going to the VSO head office to go to a barbeque where we will be able to meet a lot of the other volunteers currently in the country.

Well here I sit in my room in the hotel where we will be doing all our training for the next 2 weeks. I have been in Africa for my second day now and am really trying to take things in. Uganda is an incredibly lush country; everything is so green and fertile. I think if I was to drop seeds in he ground they would grow into something.

It was just yesterday that I arrived from Canada to Uganda yet it seems like years ago. The hellish 8-hour layover in Amsterdam with no sleep in the past 24 hours appears as a dream to me. Actually most of what I am taking in right now appears very surreal.

So far the food here has been quite good. Everything you eat is basically straight out of the garden, or from the butchers. The orange juice in the morning is extremely tasty as well the mashed bananas are quite good.

Today we drove into Kampala to the VSO head office so that we could watch the English VS Brazil soccer match and to meet the staff and other volunteers in the country. It was good to finally see the city I will be working in. It was also my first real taste to how much poverty exists in Uganda, yet it is amazing to see how nice all the people really all despite this.

After the English soccer match we head back to the training center. After watching the first half of the Germany VS USA soccer match in a very crowded TV room we decided to watch the remainder of the match at the bar down the street. It is kind of nice to be able to have some people from Canada to talk to. The beer is also quite good and very cheap. For a 500 ml bottle of beer you pay 1000 shilling or 1 dollar. As well the beer is 5.6 percent.

I have seen so much, taken in so much; at times it's hard to process everything. From ladies carrying lumber on their heads to kids cultivating crops with machetes. I probably haven't taken as many photos as I should have, but some times you just have to experience things rather than try to capture them. Anyway I hope to upload some of the pictures I have taken as soon as I have a chance. I will let you know when I do.

Stefan

Well looks like it will take me two days to get to Uganda. The six-hour stopover in Amsterdam didn’t help much either. Check out my itinerary below:

18 JUN 02 - TUESDAY
AIR AIR CANADA FLT:8477 ECONOMY
KELOWNA BC-VANCOUVER BC OPERATED BY AIR CANADA JAZZ
LV KELOWNA BC 1525 EQP: DASH 8 TURBOPROP
01HR 00MIN
AR VANCOUVER BC 1625 NON-STOP
ARRIVE: MAIN TERMINAL REF: SXUHDD
AIR KLM ROYAL DUTCH FLT:682 STANDARD MULTI MEALS
LV VANCOUVER BC 1855 EQP: BOEING 767
DEPART: MAIN TERMINAL 09HR 35MIN

19 JUN 02 - WEDNESDAY
AR AMSTERDAM 1330 NON-STOP
REF: C3RQKU
AIR KLM ROYAL DUTCH FLT:4341 STANDARD
AMSTERDAM-NAIROBI KENYATTA OPERATED BY KENYA AIRWAYS
LV AMSTERDAM 1955 EQP: BOEING 767
09HR 25MIN

20 JUN 02 - THURSDAY
AR NAIROBI KENYATTA 0620 NON-STOP
REF: C3RQKU
AIR KENYA AIRWAYS FLT:410 STANDARD
LV NAIROBI KENYATTA 0745 EQP: BOEING 737
01HR 10MIN
AR ENTEBBE 0855 NON-STOP
REF: C3RQKU

After spending the past while configuring with the picture gallery everything appears to be working fine. This site will be the future home to all my stories, pictures, and other information on my trip to Uganda. I will try to update the site regularly so come back often!

Stefan