First Post from Uganda

We have been to the markets in town two days in a row now. Yesterday we went to three stores; all of them are ‘American’ stores. We were able to get a small dorm room style refrigerator, a propane two-burner cooker and some other necessities yesterday. This afternoon, our friend Saison took us to some street vendors to get some furniture. Our room is ample in size, but there is only a small table with two chairs and a bed. There is a small TV on the wall, but we have not plugged it in to see if it works or if it picks up any signal. We were able to strike a deal on three pieces of furniture. We will be getting a dresser, which has a nice top, which will make a great changing table for Anderson, along with two sets of shelves. We will pay 330,000 shillings (about 194 dollars) for all three pieces. Did I mention they are mahogany? ☺ The dresser is ready and will be picked up tomorrow – the other two pieces will be built and ready for us to pick up on Saturday morning.

After we went to the street vendor, we went to Uchumi – a Kenyan mall. We were able to get food for the week and some pots, pans, cups, dishes etc. The crazy thing is that we have everything we need except for a place to put it. Our room looks like a bomb went off inside! Once we get our new furniture and have the room organized, I will post some pictures.

We will be living in the Namirembe Guest house – which overlooks the downtown center of Kampala. We have been here three nights now and are starting to figure out where things around the hotel are. It is always comfortable, only a little humid or warm during the day. In the very early hours it is almost a little chilly. Our friend told us today that the power is rationed here – on one day and off the next, but sometimes they can go four days with power – never more than one day without. On the days where the power is off, the guesthouse runs a generator, however, it is turned off around midnight. That is when the fan also goes off and you get hot. It’s not bad though, the temperature has never been above 78 degrees that I have seen.

Our hosts have been amazing. They are all so kind and really love Anderson. They line up to take turns holding and spoiling him. The chairman and manager of the guesthouse took us to the country club for some Indian food two nights ago – it was great! The thing it made me realize most was the great disparity between the rich and the poor. There does not seem to be any middle class here.

This is all so new to me and there are so many things I could write about, but I’ll keep this short for now and save more stories for another day.