Mbale: My New Home!

Here it is day 2 in Mbale and it's really starting to feel like a home! I woke up this morning to the sounds of the jungle--every variety of exotic birds with our wide open windows letting in a warm morning breeze. The weather here is perfect! The nights and mornings are warm and the afternoons fare a bit on the hotter side, BUT, it rains quite frequently so it doesn't get too hot. I love that I can leave my windows open all night and sleep under the comfort of a mosquito net.

The beautiful view outside my window!!

I get to wake up to this every morning!

We took a slow morning but our jet-lagged bodies has us up before 7:00. We had a breakfast of fresh mango, pineapple and bread with the Ugandan version of peanut butter. A bit more pasty than our PB at home. We then set off into downtown Mbale on a "scavenger hunt" proposed by our fearless country directors. The city is only a 20 minute walk from our house but we do have to maneuver around the crazy boda boda drivers (the scooter taxis around town) and potholes in the road. Once in town, we got to talk to the local people and venture around the markets, restaurants and shops. I knew that I might standout but, I had no idea that I would stick out like a sore thumb. Being one of the 20 white people in town, everyone seems to stare or yell at us across the road, "Mzungu! Mzungu!" It is not meant in a derogatory way but more out of curiosity or excitement. 

We saw some pretty interesting things in town! Chickens with their feet tied together, a nude man running through the streets with a crowd of people as a celebratory rite of passage, and many banana bushels tied to scooters. We were walking through the street and suddenly, it started to rain hard. And even harder. We ran into a local restaurant called Chat n' Chino-- the local mexican restaurant/internet cafe. It will be our tie to American cuisine offering nachos, and spaghetti. We waited for the storm to subside and headed back for our muddy walk back home. Sam, our Ugandan cook, made us eggplant curry over rice with cow peas and REAL passion fruit juice. SOO yummy!

We made contact with locals, even a principal of the local high school who is looking for us to come help volunteer and teach. Next week will be devoted to starting our projects and getting to know the people and projects from last year.

Life is so great here and I look forward to the hot, sweaty, muddy summer ahead and all the wonderful people we have yet to help!

At the local supermarket in town

 

 

Sprite in of a bottle!

Our house!

Our beautiful jungle backyard!

Our dog Simba!