We go, We go, Uganda Cranes We GO!

Happy one month Anniversary Africa!

Yes, on Sunday, October 9^th, Africa and I celebrated our one month anniversary! We did this by having a gray rainy day (it is the beginning of rainy season) and my roommates and I and other AJWS volunteers who live in Kampala and came to visit from Kenya, went out to a lovely brunch and spent a good deal of time in a coffee shop all reading on our kindles and nooks. It was quite American of us, actually.  We tried to go bowling, but there was a huge tournament so we couldn’t get a lane, maybe for our two month?

This last week has made me really enjoy Kampala and realize that it really has so much to offer! It surprises me that I am actually nervous I will not get a chance to do everything I want to do. I know I have two months left, but this month has passed so quickly, these next two might go by without my even knowing it. So last week I took advantage a little and went to a trivia night, a dance class and a soccer game…. And although I was not a winner in any of these situations, they were still a delight to do!

                Last Wednesday night, many of my roommates and I went to a trivia night at the British High Commission. Perhaps I should have listened to my mother when she asked why we were going to a trivia night with British people, but alas. Now, I have nothing against anyone British, but I pretty much just found out that the United Kingdom covered more than just London… This poor decision choice was made clear throughout the night. Many, many questions about the EU later and we had pretty much all but given up. We came to a category called T minus 81 and somehow I thought they might give us some math questions and I could break out my phone calculator and get us some points. Unfortunately, this referred to 81 days until Christmas and all the questions were related to Christmas! My two best categories, geography and Christians! As a table full of American JEWISH world service volunteers, we did NOT rock that category. As the results were read out loud for the whole place to hear, we were trying for anything but last place- guess what we were? 20^th out of 20!! We were super proud and since one man called us “culturally handicapped” we didn’t take the loss too personally. We had gotten dinner and drinks and some buttery microwave popcorn, so what could be bad? The night was a lot of fun and although we can’t ever show our faces there again, it was a fun thing to do on a Wednesday night in Kampala.

                The next day a roommate of mine heard that I loved to dance so asked if I wanted to go to a dance class at the Ndere cultural center. This is the biggest, and perhaps only, cultural center in Uganda so I wanted to see the place anyways and if I got to take an African dance class, all the better. It was only when I got there that I realized it was just the two of us with a woman in the Ndere dance troop and the stage they use to perform on for an hour! How awesome is that? For around $7 we learned three African dances on the cultural stage of Uganda. The dance moves were pretty straight forward, but I could not figure out my hips while my roommate could not figure out her feet. Our teacher was patient but had no problem telling us we were wrong and we had lost the beat. We eventually gave up and spent the last ten minutes learning some beats on the drum which was just as fun! She said we should come back and learn more, but I have got to get better at shaking my hips first!

                This weekend was a BIG darn deal in Kampala with the Uganda vs. Kenya football match at the Nelson Mandela or Namboole Stadium in Kampala. Basically if they won, Uganda would get to go on to the Africa cup which they have never been to. If not, they wouldn’t. They had already beat Kenya so Kenya had no chance of going to the Africa cup. Thus, in my mind, Kenya should just have let Uganda win-right? I mean, no skin of their backs since they weren’t going anyways. But apparently, this is not how soccer, or any sport for that matter, works. The match was all anyone could talk about all week and since this seemed like a big cultural event, we all really wanted to go. Getting tickets proved to be quite complicated since a lot of people were buying many tickets only to be sold for a higher price later which apparently, is unheard of in Uganda, thus also making it legal. Also a few days before the match, the US Embassy sent out an email telling people not to go to any crowded places especially any soccer games. Now, they didn’t specify which soccer game it was that we were to stay away from, so we figured it was still totally safe to go- few people at home agreed with us on this account, but we had already bought the tickets AND the jerseys for Uganda Cranes, so by golly- we were going to go to that game!
               

                And what a game it was! OK, I should probably change that to what an experience it was, since the game itself was actually not that great.  We took a bus full of people to get there and got bombarded with Uganda Cranes paraphernalia once we did. We got our faces painted, Ugandan flags and the offer of Ugandan bracelets and horns all around us. We walked in two hours early and it felt like we were late since almost everyone was already there! (Don’t worry, there were lines, and metal detectors, and pat downs to even get in and riot police everywhere!!)Just getting into the stadium you were hit with a huge wall of cheers and horn blast and this was almost 3 hours until the game even started. Honestly, my first thought going in was that this must be what the Quidditch World Cup was like.  (just trying to be honest here, even if it embarrasses me) You were not allowed to bring in any liquid so I don’t think that much of the sound was from ruckus drunk Ugandan- I’m sure some of it was- but I think the large majority was just country pride! As the game wound down, unfortunately, so did the pride as the score stayed the same: 0-0. They had so many chances and just could not get the ball in the goal! It was frustrating, but I imagine much worse for those from Uganda. I ended up just feeling really bad for all the dejected people leaving the stadium. I didn’t see tears but it was definitely a somber mood. This ended up helping me in the long run since there was no need for riots or loud banging anymore now that they were out of the race. The Kenya section celebrated a lot, especially since they had lost too!

                All in all, I was very happy I went and maybe should disregard the US Embassy more often (don’t worry, M+D, I won’t) And although I have had to let it go that I really never will be confused for a Ugandan, slowly yet surely, I am feeling more at home here in Kamapala. Although, by the time I do, I will probably have to go home!

Next time more about work, I swear!

Miss you all,

Shira ZK