Coming into Entebbe

First of all, I met the greatest people in the airport. Steven and Daylan. Dylan and Steven were in Rwanda consulting on an education project. Dylan, what is the name of your company and how can I link to your website? They are working on bringing technological resources to the country. We were quickly engaged in a conversation around imposing Western beliefs v. helping a people grow. Steven at some point wandered off to talk with Ryan, another traveler from their group, and Dylan (34, South African, idealist and lover of gardening, interior decorating and his family) and I passed the time waiting for our respective flights. I learned about his wife and kid (almost kidS...baby #2 is due soon!) and we played with some ideas of cool things you can do with technology in education and religious settings...

My flight was delayed an hour or so because the flight from Nairobi was behind. I had the greatest seatmate, though. We will call this man Jack for political reasons and say he is from the Netherlands but now living in Uganda, doing agricultural research in the Great Lake Region (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo) He and I talked a blue0streak the whole one hour flight about politics, the situation in Rwanda, corruption, governments, learning, justice...

You will hear more about Jack later...

When I got to Uganda, it was late, already after 10 and I was slated to arrive at 8. I went to immigration, my visa in hand from the first stop over, and told it had expired and would cost an additional $50. Since the first Visa had ultimately been unnecessary, I eventually talked my way out of paying the second Visa fee and finally got to walk in to Uganda. As I walked through the gate, there was Larry from TATS waiting to pick me up, holding a sign with my name on it. I have always wanted someone to meet me at the airport with a sign with my name on it...It was very cool!! By then, I was the only one walking through the gateway, but I still felt special!!

We hopped in the car and talked shop for the next two hours while trying to find a still-open restaurant or market. I got the run down about education in Uganda. Good student teacher ratios here are 30:1 in provate schools. Some publics schools are 200:1!! I asked, in disbelief, how one can teach like that!! The kids are really well-disciplined. This is a strict country and children are fearful of adults. The kids sit and listen, ask some questions (though it sounds like not many) and learn...(do they really LEARN or do they swallow and then regurgitate?

More on this conversation later too. We stopped in at a few restaurants, none quite worked but it was interesting to see Kampala night culture in full-effect!! bars are load but all outdoors. It reminds me of Tel Aviv but without the water. And the restaurants are not all zoned together. So the noise is spread out all over but in very small focused locations. Along the way, we passed, what looked like, street vendors selling kebabs by candle light, but I could not tell for sure and Larry did not seem to know.

He finally arrived at the gas station where we met David, my host for the next few days. There are four teachers staying up at the TATS lodge/complex/center, but I had requested family time. So I am staying with David and his wife. His kids and grand kids will be by for the usual Sunday brunch. His house is huge and lovely (queen-size bed...a real shower...a real kitchen...but don't think American luxury...hmm, how do I describe it...1970's Americana-dark wood, lots of stuff, well-loved and lived in home...I have not seen it all yet...) and it is located in the midst of some serious development. His driveway is just a series of ruts and bumps.

He teaches technology in edication-like, how to use a blackboard. Technology means something different to him than it did to me at first...he talked about how technology opened a while new world for a deaf man he works with. Sounds amazing...

What amazed me about David and about Larry is the ethic of hospitality. At 1am, David took me by the hand, literally, and walked me to two different little stores trying to find me a soda because he thought I wanted one. I finally said, no really, what I truly want is to go home. He was so gracious and kind (I cannot imagine how tired he must be!!)

Tomorrow, I will either go with the others from TATS to tour the city of Kampala or, I will go with David in the morning to his garden which I think I would way prefer. He has banana trees!! And I would like to spend some time learning from him what education is all about. I want to know more about him and what he does.

But for now, it is after 1 body time and after 2 local time so I need to hit the hay. What a gorgeous day today was. I had so many new and wonderful experiences and got to meet some truly delightful, curious and different people. I will be reflecting on these conversations for the next several days.

Two weeks Uganda teaching and touring...ready....GO!