Dear Readers,
We started off the day with a trip to the clothes market. This basically means bundles of plastic-wrapped clothes from the Salvation Army which are cut open, strewn upon tarps, and fought over by determined women. At first, this experience was extremely intimidating, but eventually, we jumped in on the fun. Every couple of minutes, someone would come and turn the piles over so we could dissect the undiscovered treasures. However, much of the clothing consisted of embroidered hippie jeans, and eccentric prom dresses from the 80's. The vendors were mostly middle-aged men, meandering through the piles of clothing, who never, ever stopped talking. Mattie bought two dresses for only 10,000 shillings (the equivalent of about 4 dollars). Success!
As we were leaving, Emilia saw an infant, on her mother's back, crying. As soon as the baby saw Emilia, she was overcome with curiosity, and stopped crying. The baby stared with huge, brown eyes until we had walked away. This is an example of the reaction we receive as Caucasians here: not hostile, but the people don't hide their inquisition.
Exhaustion overcame us, and we crawled back home to replenish ourselves with bars and diet coke. Then we headed out with David to shop for food and electronics. As we walked up the street searching for a cellphone, the prices increased dramatically: from 60,000 shillings, to 65,000, to 70,000. The last store we went to asked for 75,000 shillings. Mattie bargained it down to 55,000. Woot woot!
From there we went to the market, where vibrant, fresh fruit is sold in heaps. Interestingly, the Ugandans have 40 types of bananas, including: red, yellow, sweet, and mitoke, to name a few. We stocked up on passion fruit, mango, tomato, and pineapple.
Anna, one of David's colleagues, took us to the tailor to pick out patterns for a wedding, which we will be attending later in the month. Upbeat music was playing in the alleyway, so, obviously, Mattie started to do a little jig. A Ugandan women started openly laughing the whole way down the street. When her giggles had subsided, they shared a knowing smile and both laughed some more. Already making friends!
We were dropped off at the guesthouse and some of the students had already started preparing dinner. We cooked while jamming out to Katy Perry and Adele. Dinner was finished off with caramelized pineapple. After dessert, we learned how to wash dishes without running water.
Tomorrow, we will meet with Mrs. K, the headmistress of the school we will be working at!
xoxo
Emilia and Mattie
Saturday, June 30, 2012
First Day in Mbarara
** meant to be posted yesterday
Dear Readers,
We left Boston on the 27th and arrived in Amsterdam the morning of the 28th. Since Mattie's dad, David, is a frequent flyer, we were pampered and allowed multiple luxuries: the ability to cut people in line, free cookies and coffee, and a dim, purple lighted nap room. What more could a girl desire?
From there, we flew to Kampala. For each leg, David inquired about sitting with us. Instead, each time, he was upgraded to first class. He didn't persist. He dined on fillet mignon and wine. Back in coach, we reluctantly swallowed tasteless, mushy pasta. Yum.
We stayed the night in Kampala in a nice hotel. In the morning, started the 5 hour drive to Mbarara (for Charlie Morgan: Ehm-bahr-ahr-uh). On the way, we stopped at the equator!
You know when you flush a toilet and the water spiraled down? We saw this demonstration three times: once on the equator, to the north, and to the south. A Ugandan poured water down a yellow funnel at each spot. The water flowed straight down, clockwise, and counterclockwise relatively.
Once we got to Mbarara, we indulged ourselves in literature and conversation, walked downtown, picked up Indian food, and ate dinner over candlelight and Billie Holiday. The people staying at the guest house- mostly Harvard undergrads and med students- include Lisa, Jeff, Alex, Kristine, Henry, Macarena, and Anna Rho (spellings are guestimated).
So far, our stay has been wonderful!
Oraar gye,
Mattie and Emilia
Dear Readers,
We left Boston on the 27th and arrived in Amsterdam the morning of the 28th. Since Mattie's dad, David, is a frequent flyer, we were pampered and allowed multiple luxuries: the ability to cut people in line, free cookies and coffee, and a dim, purple lighted nap room. What more could a girl desire?
From there, we flew to Kampala. For each leg, David inquired about sitting with us. Instead, each time, he was upgraded to first class. He didn't persist. He dined on fillet mignon and wine. Back in coach, we reluctantly swallowed tasteless, mushy pasta. Yum.
We stayed the night in Kampala in a nice hotel. In the morning, started the 5 hour drive to Mbarara (for Charlie Morgan: Ehm-bahr-ahr-uh). On the way, we stopped at the equator!
You know when you flush a toilet and the water spiraled down? We saw this demonstration three times: once on the equator, to the north, and to the south. A Ugandan poured water down a yellow funnel at each spot. The water flowed straight down, clockwise, and counterclockwise relatively.
Once we got to Mbarara, we indulged ourselves in literature and conversation, walked downtown, picked up Indian food, and ate dinner over candlelight and Billie Holiday. The people staying at the guest house- mostly Harvard undergrads and med students- include Lisa, Jeff, Alex, Kristine, Henry, Macarena, and Anna Rho (spellings are guestimated).
So far, our stay has been wonderful!
Oraar gye,
Mattie and Emilia
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
First Post
6/13/12
Dear Readers,
This is our first post for the Emilia and Mattie blog. Woohoo! Today, we met with Ms. Allen for the first time to talk about fossils! We are so excited to be going on the trip and now we have fossils and books about them to teach to the students in Mbarara. We will be leaving for Africa on Wednesday, June 27th. We hope to be posting daily with updates and pictures about our adventures.
Keep you posted,
Mattie and Emilia
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