Viva La Kampala!

A small group of us Muzungu’s along side with a few of our new Uganda Christian University friends pilled into one taxi van to make way towards the capital of Uganda, Kampala. It was Saturday and traffic was extremely heavy and what should have bene a half hour trip turned easily into an hour. It was fine with us though since we were all on the trip together. I was sitting in the front seat of the van so that was nice for getting a breeze, but not so much freshest of air as exhaust and dust loom about the roads most of the day. This often caused me to briefly hold my breath or to rub dirt out of my eye. Along the way there were roughly 20 long horn cattle crossing the road, which we all found joy in seeing. It is a normal thing to happen.
We got dropped off in Kampala and walked to the Garden City Mall. I had somewhat low expectations, but to my surprise it was super nice. Also it is open 24/7, which I thought was convenient. There we ate some American style food such as Pizza and Burgers. I had both and seized the opportunity to eat something other than Amatooki, beans, or rice. Oh later we found some ice cream to! The mall consisted of a wide variety of people from all over the world. This was true in Kampala as well. It was the main attraction for international travelers coming to Uganda and they seemed more used to seeing whites than the smaller more rural parts of Uganda. Anyhow some interesting things happened while we were in Kampala walking around the town. First someone ripped a necklace off one of the girls in our group and attempted to flee, but dropped the necklace. It is a good thing he ran, because Mob Justice can be brutal, even to the point of death. She was shooken up and I do no blame her, but it is good to be aware and observant of our surroundings. I always put my wallet in my front pocket in prevention of being potentially pick pocketed, which is common in the capital where it is crowded. Also we saw some women get hit by a taxi! She was knocked down and hit her head, but was helped up and eventually brushed it off. Luckily the car was not going any faster..phew close one! Also, we saw the back down of one of the taxi vans fling open and a bunch of the crews stuff feel all over the street. Intense as it seemed to us my Ugandan friend Dennis informed me that this was not even that crazy of a day here in Kampala. We made it back safely, though traffic was still heavy. A good day..a day of experience and learning.