a few pictures to tide you along

I am finally settling in to my routine in Gulu. I have just completed my first day of classes with my fantastic teaching partner Okaali John and was able to find a few minutes to visit Cafe Larem near where I am staying. Not only is Larem an internet cafe, they serve real coffee, brownies (who would have thought you could find brownies in Gulu!?), and even drive ice cream all the way up from Kampala! I am sure you will hear more about the cafe (and its owners Justin and Rita) in a later post.

I have been journaling about my trip and my experiences thus far (including eating a real salad made with actual lettuce at a formerly exiled politician's homestead outside of Gulu Municipality), but am falling terribly behind when it comes to typing them out. Now that I am settling in to my routine, I am going to make an effort to find some of the juicy stories in my journals and post them here.

For the time being, I hope that I can supplicate your desire to read all about my adventures with a few silly photos from the trip so far.

Best,
Matt

...So...the photos are not loading so quickly here...I am sure that the pictures in your mind are even better than anything I would plop on this page anyway. Take care!

Travel Travel Travel

I have had a little excitement since we last chatted. Of course, the plane rides were tedious. 3 hours to JFK, 8 hour layover, 7 hours to Heathrow, 9 hour layover, 8.5 hours to Entebbe (Uganda), and then a one hour drive to Backpacker's hostel in Kampala.

I met an interesting gentleman on the way to Heathrow from JFK. He was heading planning on spending a week in London and then continuing on to Calcutta where his family lived. He had been living in the states for the last twenty years, but was born and grew up in Germany. After staying with his family for a few weeks, he was going to be moving to Hong Kong for work in the finance world. If only we could all be so traveled. After our conversation, I was able to catch a few hours of sleep.

When we arrived in London, the group decided to go out into the city. We took the tube (“mind the gap”) into town, getting out at piccadilly square to explore. About twelve of us started the journey. So far, all of the other travelers seem like pretty cool people. We walked for a while through St. James park and wound up outside of Buckingham Palace just in time to see the changing of the guard and snap a few photos (I'll try to post when I am more permanent). Afterwards, we had dinner/lunch at a pub called “The Rose and Crown.” I am told that the fish and chips was fantastic. The falafel burger was fine too. Of course, the beers were fantastic!

After lunch, we were all pretty tired, so we headed back to the tube. At one point along the ride I must have fallen asleep (I was still standing—holding the hand rail) because I snapped back to consciousness after a loud “owieeee!.” My elbow had somehow made contact with the forehead of some poor Asian man as my limp upright body bobbed back and forth with the bumps.

We got back to the airport, relaxed for a while, and caught our next flight. I stayed awake long enough to eat dinner and take in the first thirty minutes of a film, and then drifted in and out of sleep for most of the rest of the flight.

Once in Kampala, I breezed through customs (Ha, little do they know...!) and hit the baggage claim. Unfortunately my bag did not hit the baggage carousel at all. Apparently, checking your luggage from Chicago all the way through to Entebbe with British Airways isn't a smart move. For some reason, my bag decided to take a detour on a KLM flight and will hopefully arrive in Uganda tomorrow. Thankfully, most of my essentials were in my carry on baggage, and I will be able to survive even if my bag decides to extend it's vacation. Rest assured, I'm going to have a stern talk with the bag when it does finally arrive.

The track record for our group isn't so hot either. Two others lost their baggage and had to file claims at the airport, one member left her wallet at a bar in London, and another lost her wallet earlier today. Hopefully things will only get better from here.

The rest of the day has consisted of a trip to Garden City to change money and pick up a few supplies and a visit to Luberi S.S., one of the top performing schools in Uganda. They have a student body of about 3,500 and well over 100 teachers for all six classes (S1-S6) of the secondary school. After Luberi, it was back to Backpacker's for a little R&R, which brings us up to now. In a few short hours, I will head out to Sam's, the best Indian restaurant in Kampala, where I will chow on some delicious bhargain bharta and swish some Bell's lager before returning home to my very welcoming bunk.

Best,
Matt

It has been a while...

Hello all!

I write to you from the "Atlantic Bar and Lounge" in terminal 7 of JFK airport. If you haven't guessed, I have begun my journey to Uganda. After hurrying up and finishing finals at school yesterday, I payed three months worth of bills (ouch!), partyed sown, woke up early, and hopped on to a plane at O'hare this morning. When I arrived at JFK, I met up with my good friend (and Cardinal's fan--what a weirdo) John Magee, who was on the trip last year, and sat down and waited. Soon I will be boarding a flight to London (Heathrow), and tomorrow night I will begin the final leg of the journey to Entebbe Uganda. The people in the group seem to be great, an I am prepared for another awesome trip.

The situation in Uganda is still relatively stable, and Kony has been fairly innocous. There have been a few attacks in the DRC, but he seems to be staying away from Uganda. For the best updates, check www.invisiblechildren.com.

I'll be updating periodically about my adventures this year. Since I will be staying in Gulu this time, I should be able to update more frequently.

Take care,
Matt