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More details to come about a crazy adrenaline-filled two weeks with Liz, but in the meantime, head on over to the new DRC page. While I highly recommend this unique experience in Virunga National Park for yourself, If you can't make the trip, there are videos of our gorilla trekking and Nyiragongo volcano experiences so you can pretend you were there with us!
I'm off to Rwanda today to meet up with Liz and Katharine!! I'm so excited that I couldn't sleep! JK I was up until 3am working and then obviously hadn't packed...typical. We are visiting Virunga National Park in the DRC where we'll hang out with mountain gorillas and sleep on the side of a very active volcano. Then, Liz and I will head by car back up north through western Uganda. Our first stop will be a relaxing day at Lake Bunyonyi, then we'll do a game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Once we're hopefully rested, we will set off for a 3 day trek in the Rwenzori Mountains (there's an 8 day one to the summit where there are glaciers...but we don't have time and also it's way higher than the Salkantay Trek in Peru and my body didn't love the altitude there). Last but not least, we'll do some hiking in Fort Portal before coming back to Kampala. If that's not enough, we're wrapping it up with some white water rafting on the Nile! *Fun fact: Liz will soon become the friend that I've traveled to the most countries with! Sorry Melissa...
…yeah remember that? I never did end up watching Kony 2012, but I did drive by what used to be Joseph Kony’s home last week. I wonder if Ugandans know that high school and college students around the world were sporting “Kony 2012” paraphernalia in 2006.
 This way of compartmentalizing seems to align with my observation of Ugandan culture and personalities. Ugandans (yes, I’m generalizing) live very much in the present which can make it difficult to plan ahead (socially and professionally). Many of you can probably talk about a time where you were angry down to your core – I don’t find that Ugandans express their deep seeded frustrations or dwell on controversial topics. There’s this tendency to just move on from arguments and laugh about things, which can be frustrating or conducive depending on what your desired outcome is. Sure, there were riots surrounding the election, but many have come to accept Museveni’s rule and corruption as just how it will be. I was surprised to hear how many Ugandans truly believed that Besigye would have won in a fair election but figure that Museveni is old and will die eventually. Perhaps this attitude and lack of passionate anger is partially why this corruption has been able to endure for so long. My colleague who lived in Uganda during this time said that it was life-as-usual in the capital. They were vaguely aware of what was going on up north since it was absolutely unsafe to go anywhere near there, but they were not affected by it even though it’s only 4-5 hours away by car (though the roads are much better now so it probably took a bit longer). I’m trying to learn more about modern Uganda history so I'm currently reading The Teeth May Smile But the Heart Does Not Forget which follows a son's search for answers around his father’s sudden disappearance about 30 years ago. So far it's a really powerful read. On a more touristy note – I have to highly recommend the Iron Donkey Café in Gulu. They have a legit coffee machine, grilled cheese & tomato soup, wraps, and a killer quesadilla (granted my bar has been lowered). I would have never expected to find such a slice of home so far outside Kampala. Thanks Nicky for the suggestion!
...woah woah woah, back it up. First, you have to participate in an "introduction." Christine, the woman who cleans my apartment, invited me to her cousin's introduction. An introduction is a traditional pre-wedding ceremony where the man's family is formally introduced to the bride-to-be's family. This is also where the exchange of the dowry takes place. The introduction took place in Mukono, about 40 minutes outside Kampala. Different cultures within Uganda have slightly different types of introductions. The one I attended was Bugandan (of the Banganda people) which my colleague tells me is known to be more dramatic and eventful. The women are all dressed in traditional gomesis which are long silk dresses with pointy shoulders and a big bow. Some men wore long white tunics, kanzus, but others were in suits.
Unfortunately, I could only stay for the first hour, but I hear that these introduction ceremonies can go on for 7+ hours - there was a big meal, Christine said a chicken for each person(!!), and of course, lots of dancing.
"When I told Christine that in the United States, traditionally the bride and her family foot the bill for most of the wedding expenses she exclaimed, "how can that be?! The woman will give you children!!" The bride’s brother was also there and when we were ready, he walked in front of the caravan of cars and led us to the area where the ceremony / party would take place. I asked why we kept stopping, and Christine explained that the brother had to pretend that he was deciding if he wanted to invite us and lead us to the right place. The first car therefore has to play along and was also stopping on its own as retaliation. Once we got to the main area (I think outside the father of the bride’s house), we parked over to the side…Christine says they made us park “in the bush.” Everyone got in two lines, one for women and one for men as they prepared to ask permission to enter the area. Both families are represented by a spokesperson. The emcee on the bride’s side I assumed was her father, but my colleague says that he was probably hired and that people who chair these introduction ceremonies can make a lot of money.
I didn’t expect the introduction to be so theatrical. It was pretty funny as the spokesperson for the bride’s side essentially gets to berate the man and his family and they just have to keep saying “thank you for your comment, can I please respond,” or things like that. For example, in typical Ugandan fashion, we were about two hours late. The groom had sent a letter requesting permission to come and I guess he said we would be there at 1pm sharp. When questioned about this, the groom’s spokeperson blamed the roads, the rain (it didn’t rain that day…), and having to come from many villages. From what I could tell, the ceremony includes different representatives from the bride’s family (the girls in the video are the bride’s sisters) coming out, dancing a bit, saying a few words, and then her spokesperson asking the groom’s spokeperson if they’ve brought anything for them for their time and trouble. They then will hand over envelopes of money and continue on. Underlying all of this, the groom’s side is pretending to look for the bride among her sisters and the women in the audience. The bride was in the house and I don’t think she comes out until the end of the ceremony. The groom, sits towards the back and is represented by his spokesperson who you see in the video.
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AuthorI'm eager to learn about the world around me and find that travel (and food) is one of my favorite ways in which to do so. 
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