On Vistors and Shaggy

A mere sixteen days after arriving in Uganda, I received my first visitor! Megan, a friend from DC whom I know through a CRA colleague, was in Entebbe for a FEWS NET conference. (FEWS NET is a USAID contractor responsible for informing the U.S. government of regions likely to face imminent famine: Famine Early Warning Systems Network.) After her meeting ended on Saturday evening, Megan caught a ride up to Kampala with her Ugandan-based coworkers and met me at the Lugogo Shopping Center—a complex complete with a large grocery store, a Walmart-type convenience store, and a nifty little coffee nook perfect for waiting for/meeting people. After a brief stop at my apartment to drop off baggage, change, etc., Megan and I headed to dinner at Nanjing, a delicious Chinese joint. Post dinner, we walked over to the Kampala Institute Cricket Club, the venue in which the Jamaican-American reggae singer, Shaggy, was performing in front of what was probably a couple of thousand people.

Though Megan and I initially entered through the Cricket Club’s main entrance, we had no problem weaseling our way into the VIP section. I’m unsure how easy VIP admittance would have been for two Ugandan women, but upon mentioning that we were meeting friends inside, we were quickly ushered through the guarded doors despite presenting tickets that had “general admission” clearly printed across their center. The Cricket Club itself is a huge outdoor space; for the concert, a stage had been erected at one end, flanked by two large screens projecting the performance. Vendors—most of whom sold beer, “carnival food” (ie, fried chicken, hot dogs, potatoes, corn, etc.), or a-la-carte candy that appeared as though it had been removed from a trick-or-treater’s hollowed out pumpkin—lined the perimeter of the venue. In the center stood hundreds and hundreds of young, somewhat intoxicated Ugandans, sprinkled with the presence of a visible ex-pat community. According to Matt, one of my new coworkers, an unavoidable experience—if one goes to large social gatherings in Uganda—is that of being regurgitated upon by a drunk middle aged woman. This nearly happened to me at my very first massive social function, but luckily she waited a few more steps before “upchucking”, as Janis would say.

On Sunday morning, Megan and I woke relatively early and went to meet my new friend Fred, whom I also know through a CRA colleague. Fred took Megan and me on a fantastic whirlwind tour of Kampala. (I certainly think we made the best of Megan’s 18 hours in the city.) We went to the famous Baha’i Temple (one of only seven in the world), the Ugandan Parliament, the National Theatre, the downtown area, the Serena Hotel (one of the nicest in Kampala), the central cathedral, a HUGE mosque that serves the city's Muslim population (~10%), and Makerere University (one of the best in Africa) all in the course of a few hours. After grabbing a quick lunch at St. Anthony’s, a delicious Ugandan restaurant, I said goodbye to Megan and Paul took her back to the Entebbe airport while Fred drove me home. It was a brief visit, but it was truly wonderful to see a familiar face and it made me feel just that little bit closer to home.