Explosions in Kampala

So far 74 people have been reported dead, and at least as many injured, in two bomb attacks last night in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The bombs targeted crowds in two locations where people had gathered to watch the World Cup finals Sunday night.

Somehow this feels closer than any attack in a neighbouring country ever could. I've lived in Kampala. I've been at the Kyadondo Rugby Club where two bombs went off, killing at least 60. It's a relatively small club, very cosy with a couple pool tables and an outdoor barbeque. And a big field where people tended to walk off hand in hand, seeing where their passion, and the eternal summer nights, would take them.

I can't help but think of the people I know there, people who were likely to have gone to watch the World Cup final. Hell, if I had been in Kampala I would probably have been there myself.


Somali militants are said to have placed the bombs, three in total. Uganda has African Union peacekeeping troops in Somalia, a country which has practically been taken over by extremists the past years. The statement from the Somali militants reads;

"We know Uganda is against Islam and so we are very happy at what has happened in Kampala. That is the best news we ever heard."

They obviously haven't been in Kampala; there are as many mosques as there are churches.


It doesn't make much sense, killing people who are gathered to watch a football match. Then again, extremists who aim at killing as many innocent people as possible never did make much sense.

I'm just waiting to hear from friends in Kampala. I know people who lost friends in the attacks... I have to say this is quite surreal. Africa sounds dangerous to most people, but I would never have thought anything like this could ever happen in Kampala.

Gathering those loose ends

I'm adding a lot of people on Facebook these days. I know it'll probably be another one of those places that has a lot of fans, only to disappear in a couple years, never to be thought of again. But for once I want to try to keep in touch.

On there I'm not apples, I'm the real me. So if I've added you it means I care. At least a little. As a general rule I only add people I've met and want to meet again, so my circle of "friends" has been rather limited thus far.

Now is not any different - I'm adding the people I once knew, and hope to know once more. Or at least talk to once in a while. That includes people from home, family, high school, Uni, flatmates, Amnesty, Uganda, work, you name it.

There are plenty of people I can't find, not all are on there, but no matter. It's fun seeing what those I do find are up to these days :)

Last pages

As I'm writing the last pages of this chapter in my life, I'm thinking of all the people I've met, all the new experiences I've had and the conversations that could never have taken place anywhere else. I know that these few months here have affected me in ways I am not yet aware of, and in the future I will think back to this very moment as a period in my life that helped shape me into the person I will become.

Right now I just want to cry my eyes out, and I think that's a good thing. It means I had fun, I enjoyed this time and I will miss it. Even if I did start crying I still couldn't stop smiling. There are people I have seen every day, people I have spent so much time with, people I will never meet again. Some I hopefully will, others will disappear out of my life the moment the plane takes off and MTN can no longer reach me.

This moment in time, this hostel, my class, the people here... I might come back to Uganda, but certain things will have changed. Things always change and life goes on.

This moment, this precise moment, will never come back. I only have a few days left and a few more memories to create.

Bagnapper

Walking along the road to the hostel, back from Ground Zero, a reggae club here in Wandegeya, J and I are talking about going to the zoo in Entebbe this weekend, when I feel something at my shoulder. Then there's someone tugging at my bag.
Instinctively my arm locked over it, I remember thinking "Wallet, key and I really like this bag so you're not getting it". The guy pulled on the bag and I pulled on the straps (I still can't believe they didn't break). He'd pulled me off the road and off my feet, I was still not letting go of my bag.

It can't have lasted many seconds before J managed to chase him off. When the guy was standing a few meters away, reluctant to give up but realizing he wasn't going to get this one, all I could think to do was shout "You ruined my new skirt!" (which must have seemed kinda funny to people around - a guy's trying to rob you and you're worried about your skirt getting dirty).
A man came and said the would-be robber must have been following us. He obviously wasn't expecting a fight.

I have a few cuts and bruises on my arm, leg, shoulder, side and butt (no, you're not getting pictures) but nothing too bad. I'm just glad my instincts said "fight" and not "give up". Like most girls, I do think about what I'd do if someone tried to snatch my bag, and remind myself to hold onto it, but this time I was anything but prepared. I didn't have a chance to think, I just knew what was happening.

Still, I don't even want to think about what would have happened if J hadn't been there - I guess he kinda saved me. I've never been saved before...

One.. Two.. Three...

For the first time in my life I feel as if I've slept with too many guys

When the guy you're with, who looks like a model (and actually was one for a while), who knows everything he should do in bed and seems to go on for ever and ever... a guy who makes you understand that if Ugandans have sex the way they dance (and boy do they dance), there's no wonder they're happy and content despite all their material problems.

When this guy tells you he's 28 and has only slept with two girls because he wants to have feelings for someone before he sleeps with them; when he says it's hard for a guy, that I will never know how hard it is for him (or any other guy) not to sleep with beautiful girls who are more than willing to do so, when this happens, it's the first time I've ever felt I've slept with too many guys.

I won't tell you my "magic number" - it's not that scary and it's not that high, but it is higher than two.

When I'm with this guy (who by the way is even weirder than me (when you get to know him, yet normal on the outside), which is quite an achievement) and he tells me he wants to be in love and not just sleep with all the girls around, and for once, for once... I actually trust the guy (I don't trust people easily yet this time there's just something...)...


Different people want different things and I guess I just haven't quite figured out what I want, what I think is good, or right, or how I want to do whatever it is I want to do.


What is in a number.... A rose by any other name would smell as sweet... right?

East African Guys

Why didn't anybody tell me they were so damn cute? No wonder I never liked Norwegian guys (and they never liked me) - there's so much more out here!


The guy from Rwanda
He was cute, I liked him. I wanted to trust him and my instincts were shouting "Nonono!". Unfortunately they were right - he was so pushy it wasn't even fun, and a little weird, and when he realized the girl wouldn't sleep with him (because he was way too 'hands on' from the get go), he went all quiet. Then he regretted his decision (they always do) but then it was too late. Way too late.

The guy in class
He's fun and I liked him from the start. He's always smiling, you can see it on the back of his head and hear it in his voice that he's smiling, still it took two months before we started talking about more than school and how my culture is different from his culture. Unfortunately, this is where the Ugandan hospitality may play tricks on you - he took me back to his sister's place and he keeps saying he misses me and really likes me - the problem (my problem) is that people here are so friendly you never know when they mean "you're fun, let's be friends" and when it's something more than that.

The guy at the internet cafe
There are two guys - one friendly and one cute (why does it always seem to be that way?). The cute one reminds me of one of my cousins and I have no idea why. He's kinda... I would say cocky, but I don't think he's like that, he just seems that way. It's a curse I guess, just like people always used to tell me I looked sad when I wasn't.

The tour guide
I met him on the street outside the hostel. He said he'd seen me walk by so many times and finally had to come and say hi. He's a tour guide of the national parks and Kampala, and he took me to all the places I wanted to go in the city. We went to a crafts market and went back and bought way too much stuff... I'll have to go back there... He says it's his task to make sure I experience as much as possible so I don't forget him, which is good, but I don't really like being seen as a "job", Something you have to do (not "do" do... well actually that too...). I'm kinda starting to like him though... (which is good considering what you might read into that last sentence).


And then there's all the other guys, in my class, in the shops, on the streets, that I just talk to but have never really got to know. They're from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Congo... Basically all over East Africa. There are a couple who have the most amazing eyes I've ever seen - I don't know, it might be the contrast between their dark skin and shining eyes. I'm really rather starting to enjoy being the "odd one out", then again I'm used to that. I'm strange, I know, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

And finally.... all the guys who come up to you (when you're walking on your own) to tell you they want to marry a white chick, they want a European woman, "I love you", I want to make mixed-colour babies, "I want to make an Obama"(!). Don't let their good looks fool you, their pick up lines are somewhat lacking...


I don't wanna go home!

Obama is the new Muzungu

People always shout "Muzungu!" after us when we walk outside. Muzungu means white person and it's not meant in a bad way although it does make you very self conscious since everybody is always looking at you. Plus, imagine standing on the street in whatever city you live in and shout "black person! black person!" every time you see a person of a different skin colour. Would that work?

People are just less politically correct here. They say it as it is, and I have to say I prefer it this way. It's a little "ehh... what did you just say?" at first when someone says something you'd never say out loud at home, but I really like the honesty. They manage to do it in a good way that's just honest but never rude - most people other people seem to see honesty as an excuse to be rude.


As for Obama - after he won the election last week people have started shouting "Obama" at us instead of "mzungu". I don't know why. Some girls had guys shout "Hey, Obamas wife" which doesn't make much sense either...

People at campus are selling photos of Obama, laying hundreds of them out on the ground. Photos work a little differently here, few people have cameras so it's a little special to have a photo of yourself and your friends. A friend in one of my classes gave me six photos last week; four of himself, one of the Main Building on campus and one of Obama.


This is a little funny and a lot strange...

I am officially single again!

After two years it feels a little like coming out of prison. It will probably be strange when I get back to Bergen but I've had three months to think about it and I've never looked back.

Now I just hope we can still be friends, that he finds a nice girl and falls in love (although he says he won't ever find anyone as strange as me), and everything will work out.

As for me... boy am I gonna miss Uganda! :P

A vote for change

The collective sigh of relief issued from the world this night was only rivaled by the cheers.


The hostel is throwing a party for "Our Barack Obama" this evening. People were shouting "Obama! Obama!" all night and when the victory was a fact, the shouts and cheers were loud enough to wake those who dared sleep.

It is a historic election, it would be no matter what the outcome was. I won't comment much on what this means for policies within the US, but outside this is potentially huge. That Barack Obama won this election signals to the rest of the world that the US is willing to change, and to take a chance to do so.


We don't like the position the US has had in the world the past decade, and Americans have now proved they don't like it much either. My hope for the next president is that fear and cynicism will be replaced by hope for the future. It's not about the man, it's about his opinions, policies and views of society.

Much can be said about the guy himself, all I'll say is although it might be true he is inexperienced in politics and might have a lot to learn, he seems to mean what he says, and say what he means. He seems to have a very different outlook from Bush and McCain and I hope and believe this will prove to be a good thing - both within the US and as far as relations with the outside world goes.


The world wants to like the US again. We want this superpower to be nice again and we hope the most powerful man in the world, starting in February, will have a broader perspective than the current one. Obama talks of us and we, not you and me.

And listening to his speech from Chicago, I hadn't realized how great it would feel to hear a man who will have such an important position in the world express opinions I completely agree with. He won't be able to do all he wants, but just the fact that he wants to try and do the right thing, in what I believe is the right way, is a good start.


So from a European in Africa - America, you did good!

Election Day 08

Americans have started voting, and the world is watching.

Ugandans are all over this election - I've seen "Barack Obama Club" t-shirts, bumper stickers and the papers have had the American colours on their front pages the past days.

Yesterday a guy came to the lecture shouting "Pray for McCain!" and another shouted back "No, pray for Obama!"


I wish I had a tv or a computer and didn't have to go running to internet cafes all the time. Last time, four years ago, I was up all night watching, and I really wish I could do the same now.

It looks like Obama can do this (I'd say more but I'm afraid to jinx it!) but you never know how the Republicans will do until it's over.

I'm hoping for no surprises this year, just a smooth running election with a historical outcome.

Go Obama!

Someone stole my phone!

On my birthday!

I was walking along, looking for the market, when I decided there were so many people around I needed to put my phone inside the zipper of my bag (as opposed to in the side pocket over which I held my arm).

When I looked for it, it was gone!

I loved this phone, I never really wanted one in the first place but when I'd spent a month researching and decided on that one, and I got it for Xmas, I absolutely loved it - it was the nicest phone you could ask for. And now it's gone.

I got a new one, decided to go with the sleeker, more expensive one rather then the more bulky, cheap one. Now I just realized this one won't have Norwegian language so I'll have to get a new one anyway. *apples is having a dumb day*

I'm trying very hard not to think of everything I've lost - my photos and text messages I tried to save before on my laptop before I came here, and I think I succeeded (it wouldn't really cooperate). But all the phone numbers, the games (I had a really good one!), the recent messages... the music, the..... oh I really don't want to think about it :(

The boyfriend

I guess it might be time to say something about this now... The Guy and I started dating two years ago, and we broke up before I came to Uganda. He didn't want to lose me as a girlfriend and I didn't want to lose him as a friend, so it's not quite official yet... Facebook still says we're together, if that's anything to go by.

I'm supposed to think, experience something new and see if I'll change my mind. But I won't, I know that now. I'll just have to find a way to tell him that, it doesn't seem fair to do it online - "oh btw my feelings won't change, gtg, cya!"

Might not seem very fair to put it on a blog either, but he doesn't read this - he says he doesn't and I trust him.

I just felt it was time to put thinks straight. I've been on here since long before I met him and it doesn't feel like I'm being honest with myself or anyone else when I don't tell this story, as I've told so many others.

Anybody got any idea how to break a heart without actually breaking it?

Garden City

In Kampala there is a mall called Garden City. Well, it's not a mall in the sense most of us think of them with lots of shops of all kinds - but it does have a small clothes store, a shoe store (where three quarters of the store is reserved for mens shoes - very strange), a grocery store, a book store and a few others.

Garden City is also a place in New York State. It's a village on Long Island founded in 1869, landmarks include The Cathedral of the Incarnation, St. Paul's School, Adelphi University and Apostle Houses. You'll also find the Cradle of Aviation Museum located at Mitchel Air Force Base. Although the base is no longer used as a US Military Air Force Base, the town is still headquarter to some units within the US Military.

In New York State we also find Jamaica. Jamaica is located in Queens, New York City. Under British rule, from 1664, it was the centre of the Town of Jamaica. When Queens was incorporated into City of Greater New York in 1898, both the Town of Jamaica and the Village of Jamaica were dissolved. The name comes from "Jameco," from the Jameco Native Americans, and means "beaver".

Jamaica is also an island in the Caribbean. It has a population of approximately 2.8 million, and is the home of the Rastafari Movement, now counting somewhere between 600,000 - 1,000,000 members around the world.

The Rastafari Movement emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s under the influence of the "Pan Africanism" movement. They believe the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I (1892 - 1975) to be, along with Jesus, the incarnation of God. He is seen as the returned messiah, a part of the holy trinity, who will lead the people of Africa, and the African diaspora, to freedom. The term Rastafari comes from the Ras Tafari - Ras meaning prince or head, Tafari coming from Haile Selassie's name from before he became emperor - Tafari Makonnen.

Haile Selassie I was the regent of Ethiopia from 1916 to 1930, and emperor from 1930 to 1974. It has been said that Selassie "declined to refute the Rastafari belief that he was God", then he later "according to some sources, denied his divinity". Selassie received many honors, or orders, among them the Order of the Source of the Nile and as the Commander of the Order of the Shield and Spears.

The Order of the Source of the Nile and The Order of the Shield and Spears are both given out by the East African country Uganda, which takes us back to its capital Kampala.



See - everything is linked!
(... however amateurishly it might be done ... :)

One month in Uganda

I'm still alive and doing well!

Everything is different from home, but then that was what I was looking for, and it's what I love the most about it. People are nice (even though they shout mzungu (white person) after me wherever I go).

We live in the poorest area of town and all around us the houses are basically shacks, some are made of bricks and doors are rare. We're staying in one of the new student hostels with a big gate outside so it does feel a bit like we're going inside and shutting the door on poverty, even though the lack of warm water, the mosquitos and the power going out when it rains help us remember where we are.

The weather is warm, around 25 degrees. It rains every second day, the roads turn to mud, and the rain drops are so big it hurts - I understand now why people here never go out in the rain.. I did last week, and when I got wet everyone was pointing and laughing (even more so than usual!). Not quite like Bergen - if you decide to wait till it stops raining there, you might be stuck for a couple days...

School has started and the first two weeks I attended around 10 lectures, but only twice did the professors show up. And we don't have any books! We have to get hand outs at one of the dozens of photocopiers spread out around campus - and I seem to be the only one who doesn't know where to get them. Well, that's not true, whenever I ask someone, they don't seem to know either. Then next time, as if by magic, they have them, but they still don't know where to get them! It is frustrating, and I have to say I have new appreciation for how easy everything is at home.

In a few of my classes I'm the only white person, and the only one who is new here, and it does give me more attention in a day than in a year of lectures at home. It's easy to be singled out, commented on by the lecturer, and have the whole classes looking back over their shoulder at you for the remaining hour of class. I'm kinda looking forward to being invisible again.


I'm also looking forward to Christmas, I miss warm water in the shower, washing machines, fridges and being able to do more cooking than just boiling water.

But I also know that I'll later look at these few months as an experience of a lifetime, and now that I'm in the middle of it I am determined to make the most of it.

Ready to go

In four hours I'll be on my way to Uganda. My suitcase is packed, almost doesn't weigh more than it should, and there's even room for more.

I've got all my shots, packed my malaria pills and accidentally thrown my cholera vaccine in the dumpster. I'm all set!

This all means I won't be checking in as much the rest of the year. I would have kept posting about my stay, but it would be necessary for me not to have to moderate comments. Due to unfortunate incidents here I won't be able to do that.


Which means I'll have plenty of stories when I come back.
See you on the other side :)

Renting out my room - part II

As I wrote in this previous post I'm trying to rent out my room.

I've had some progress but I've also had a couple of set backs. Let's start from the top.


Possible Tenant #1
First days of April
She left a message on the Facebook-group of the student apartment building. She wanted to rent a room, and she seemed very nice. She wanted to see the place, I gave her a few days and times I'd be home, but she never showed up.

In the middle of May I sent her a message, asking if she did want to come. She then replied that she should probably have told me, but she'd decided 5 months was too long and she couldn't promise to stay that long. Seven weeks in she'd changed her mind, and not thought of telling me.

Possible Tenant #2
Middle of June
I put an ad on Facebook and got a response. This girl couldn't come to Bergen to see the apartment, but that wasn't absolutely necessary. She says she's very interested, but after a few days I get an email saying "It's only for five months??", admitting she hadn't read the ad properly.


Two and a half months in I'd had one changing her mind because five months was too long, and one because five months was too short.


Random Possible Tenants
Early July
I'd put an ad on hybel.no and got about 15 responses the first day and had to close it down. Some I had to rule out but I was left with about 10 possible. Two girls called and wanted to see the apartment, I arranged to meet them last Saturday, and also listed it as an open viewing in the ad. The girls didn't come, the only ones who did were the parents of a guy who'd told them to go, but not where it was.

Possible Tenant #3
Middle of July
After much deliberation I decided to go with the guy whose parents I'd met, even though my gut told me to go with another guy who was in Germany at the moment (but was from Norway, not too far from home). I decided to be on the safe side - it felt safer to choose someone I'd get to meet first, and whose parents had already been here.

Last Thursday I sent emails to all the others telling them that "I'm sorry to tell you I've decided to go with someone I'll get to meet first." I sent the guy an email on Friday but didn't hear back. Today, Tuesday, I called him. He was in a cabin and *snort of laughter from him* hadn't got my email. "Oh yeah, and I've decided to rent another apartment. Bye."


If I hadn't had such a hard time deciding between the two guys, I should of course have got a 'Yes' from someone before I said no to the others. Lesson learnt.


I immediately sent off an email to the guy who is (or was) in Germany, and hopefully he'll want to rent it. In a way, I did get my wish. I'd just told my boyfriend last week that "I've chosen this guy, but I hope he says no so I can choose the other one". I guess you really do need to be careful what you wish for...

Diseases I will not catch in Africa:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Yellow Fever
• Diphtheria
• Tetanus
• Poliomyelitis
• Typhoid fever
• Meningococcal infection
• Cholera
• Malaria

Plane tickets: Check!

I've finally booked my plane tickets and August 12th I'll be off for Uganda!

I'll have to spend a bit of time at airports (Oslo and Heathrow), including the night of December 22nd, but at least I'll be home in time to help put up Christmas decorations. I can't wait!

Renting out my room

I have to find someone to rent my room from August till December seeing as I'll be going to Uganda (yay!).

15 minutes after I put the ad on hybel.no, It'd had 15 hits, and I'd already set up an appointment for a viewing this Saturday.

Now, two hours later, I've already rejected one (he had to move in before I'm able to move out), and I'm in touch with one more. My biggest concern in trying to find out who I can trust.

Three hours ago my problem was finding someone to rent this place. Now the problem is figuring out to whom I want to rent it. I think I prefer it this way... :P

Searching:

• 1 person from Slovakia, preferrably with knowledge about Slovak foreign policy

• 1 person from Uganda

• 1 person with knowledge as to what Slovakia feels towards the situation in Northern Uganda

• 1 UN diplomat (preferrably a representative in the Security Council)

• 1 secretary to explain me all the SC rules and procedures

• 1 maths wiz

• 2-3 persons to explain what the maths wiz is saying

• 1 person to explain my calculator to me

• 1 person to attend my lectures this week

• 1 person who looks like me to attend my work group on Friday

• 1 person to hunt down and bring back (preferably alive) one student (name will be provided)

• 1 person to help me with my microeconomics paper due this Friday

• 1 person to find out where I can print things now they've closed the computer lab

• 1 person to go shop for clothes fit for wearing to the UN Security Council

• 1 person to attend 2-3 meetings being held for the Human Rights week
  

• 1 person to get 3 passport photos with my picture on them

• 1 person to write an application and my resume

• and write it good

and finally...

• 1 person to book a hairdresser appointment, go there in a place to have my hair cut and coloured (I realize that might be a tricky one..)

If you are interested, please send me an email or leave a comment. The work will last from 9 am Monday through 2pm Friday. You will receive no pay in form of money, however, you are free to suggest other forms of compensation.

Thank you.