Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Connected Where? Buloba, Uganda

After a few airports and smooth couple of plane rides involving last minute grading, I landed in Entebbe Int'l Airport in Uganda, about 24 hours after departing LA. Not bad. The moment I spotted Joseline, my colleague, I knew it was her. In fact, she bought a crew of 4 people to give me a warm welcome. So, despite warnings from my friend's dad, there were no worries of being abducted. As we chatted it up and followed two roller bladers hanging off a van taxi on the highway, my new friends often just explained "This is Uganda". Yes indeed!

 View of dorms and campus at sunrise.

Africa Renewal University (ARU) is set in a peaceful agricultural area about 1.5 hours outside the city in a town called Buloba.  I'm in a basic dorm room. After a few visits to the squat toilets, I discovered the flush toilets, sink and showers with running water! Score. I don't mind that the water is cold or a slight trek uphill.

University or farm?
Animals roam freely around campus. Maybe I should've gotten those rabies vaccinations after all. So, here I find myself at a university in a somewhat rural village in Africa to work .... connected to the world with somewhat reliable internet and my computer. The first day was a Christian Martyr holiday, so it was pretty chill. I roamed campus and spent a few hours shooting work e-mails. Sometimes, I miss the days of completely going off the grid for weeks at a time.

 Robak, Samson and Joseline, my work colleagues
I missed the office memo to wear red and black.

Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and apparently eagerly awaiting my arrival. I am finally here! I've already worked 2 full days on the curriculum, still handling school stuff back in the states and hanging out with my colleagues at night. I'm quite exhuasted but it's been fantastic so far!

Next time, I'll give you the low-down on the university and my daily life here.

2 comments:

toro said...

Awesome! Can't wait to join you out there!

sharock said...

love the first images of your stint in uganda. keep up the posts.