remember that time we almost went to Africa?

After living in the Heathrow airport for seven hours, Jessica and I met up with members of our team to board the plane to Uganda. We were thrilled. Sadly, the plane was not nearly as excited, for it would not start. After sitting on the runway for three hours, we were put on a bus to be shipped to another plane, but then the airport in Entebbe informed our captain that we would not be able to land if we left now since the runway would be closed. British Airways decided to reward us with vouchers for a hotel and food and our flight would then depart at the same time the following day.

 By this time it was four in the morning, and our bodies were extremely confused as to what time it was so Jessica and I collapsed in our hotel and slept all day. All of this confusion and chaos was deemed acceptable after we realized we would be able to take another one last hot shower. Heavenly!
We finally departed from our lovely Heathrow airport and were on our way to Uganda at last! Jessica was fortunate enough to sleep the entire flight, whereas I was wide awake for the entire seven hour flight. Watching the sunrise over the continent of Africa was one of the most beautiful and exciting things I have ever experienced in my life.

As soon as we landed, the humidity hit us like a wall. Jessica and I have never been so sweaty in our entire lives. Amazingly enough, none of our luggage was lost! It was a miracle. Uganda is beautiful! I will try my best to describe it, but honestly, my words will not do it justice:
Uganda is the greenest place I have ever seen. Everywhere you turn there are rolling hills covered in jungle. The sky seems bigger here and the clouds are unreal. The daily rain makes the jungle seem even more vibrant with the greens against the grays. But don’t let the words “rainy season” fool you into thinking its pleasantly cool here, it’s still over 80 degrees with 100% humidity everyday, and when the sun comes out, it fries you. That’s when it feels a little bit like home.
After being greeted at the airport by monkeys in the trees and one taxi van for luggage and another for humans, we packed in to head to our new home. The drive from Entebbe, through Kampala, to Mukono town was crazy to say the least. From what we could gather, there are very few traffic laws, and taxis and boda bodas speed by passing at their whim. Jessica thinks she would be really great at it. I can’t decide if I am excited or concerned about riding one. I don’t have the greatest history with riding motor bikes, just ask my family. Luckily, I don’t have to drive.
After our hour of dodging traffic and moving our backpacks to the middle of the taxi so no one would reach through the window and grab them, we arrived in Mukono! Mukono is very different that I imagined. The center of town is much more developed than I had thought, with its bustling vendors and busy marketplace. But when I say developed, I mean that in a very rural, third world sense. There are places in Mukono that are extremely poverty stricken and even worse than I could picture. Mukono is very difficult to describe. Every store front is a different bright color and all of the townspeople are outside all the time! It’s chaotic, yet relaxed. To sum up my feelings on Mukono: I am in love with it, all of it, and I am so excited to spend the next eight weeks here.

Our house is beautiful! We live in a compound with a ten foot wall covered in razor wire to keep out intruders. But the best part of our house is our guard David (Jessica and I only call him “our guard David,” it’s his official title). He is the greatest and I’m pretty sure he used to be a ninja. Edith our cook is also incredible! She is the sweetest thing and she creates such delicious meals for us. She has made the transition into Ugandan food a pleasant experience. Speaking of the food, it is so good! We eat a lot of vegetables and starchy foods such as potatoes, mutoke, and pojo(?). I am obsessed with the unlimited amounts of avocado. And the pineapple…don’t even get me started. We share a room with four other girls and we already adore them. Our three sets of bunk beds are covered in mosquito netting so it makes us feel like princesses in canopy beds. Not. But we are grateful for them and their protection against Malaria. Our team is incredible and very enthusiastic about serving the people of Mukono, so I know that we will do incredible things this summer.