At 6 am I was delightfully woken up by the largest Magpie on this continent.  He obviously cared little for the beauty sleep I needed and was making a huge fuss right under my window.    Another odd very large bird and I’ll have to find out the names of these things for now I’ll call them…ugly cranes.  They are perching atop buildings and finding food scraps here and there but they are the ugliest things.  When I am more awake and not such a walking zombie with the jetlag I’ll start taking more pictures!

Folks, my dream came true!   Yes I was waking up in Africa!!!   Cannot believe I am here.  It is all surreal.  This is not the Africa I imagined.  It is better than the Africa imagined so I am delighted.

Today was Martyrs Day.  When Tina was explaining to me that this was a holiday, her accent was strong and I thought she said “mothers day” so I wished her happy mother’s day.   I think she thought I was nuts.   Finally we understood each other!   I couldn’t get the modem because all the Orange stores were closed for the National Holiday.

I got a sim for my phone but I didn’t buy enough time in it so between calling to Katie, and the drivers, all my minutes are used and I have a zero balance within one afternoon.  UGH.   Without me realizing how much things really cost here yet I’m just at a loss.  For anyone traveling to Uganda, 5600 Shillings of airtime MTN phone lasts no time!

We went to the Garden City Mall, and it was really beautiful.   I ate at the food court and it was delicious but expensive.  My meal cost about 8.00 USD.  Which I think in Uganda is pretty pricey.   It was so delicious though and I was so thankful to have it.  There were so many shops in this triple floor mall and somewhere there was an ice skating rink, theater, bowling alley and lots of other fun things to do, a very Western style mall for sure.  I was waiting on Robert and Katie to come here to meet me and when I called them back they were walking through Kampala to get there!!   I had my driver go pick them all up.  Tina and the driver didn’t want to leave me at the mall alone to wait on Katie and Robert but I insisted, and at the last minute we reached them by phone and found out they were in Kampala first by Taxi and then afoot.  Robert’s family lives in rural outskirts of Kampala.

Another very odd thing happened today.  I called another driver to take me home and Katie and Robert to their home.   We were waiting on Farouk the driver and suddenly a SUV pulled up and I asked if he was Farouk, there was some confusion and Robert talked to him in Lugandan.  Robert informed me this was Farouk and then when I got into the car I said “Are you Farouk?  Yes.  Nice to meet you finally” (we had been in email contact).   After driving for a bit the driving fees went up and Farouk wanted me to put gas in his car too.   There was a little negotiation and loud talking and then he finally agreed to $30 instead of the $20 he had originally said on the phone.   We have now figured out this was not Farouk and we don’t even know if he ever even knew Farouk.   Farouk txt messaged me that he was in Kenya and would return on Saturday.   Crazy!   We got into the car with an unknown person I guess.  Someone wanting to make a buck.   I did think it was odd that he had no clue where we were staying etc.

This place has a feel, a soulful feel about it.  Something that feels good and painful all at the same time. Something that rips at your heartstrings.   Something that is going to be hard to shake, that is if you would even want to ever.    The people are beautiful.   They are friendly, and smiling and kind.   I’m not afraid here and it is quite lovely and so peaceful on the grounds at the guest house.  The vegetation is gorgeous, palms, bananas, beautiful flowers and I have a breathtaking hillside view of Lake Victoria and the city.     I sat this morning under the outdoor gazebo hut and drank my coffee and meditated.   I realized that I could live without so much.  I could even easily live in Africa.

The biggest issue I see here is transportation.  The fact I’m alone makes my transportation quite limited.