Changing my topic back to water has led me on quite an interesting adventure.  Yesterday I traveled by myself for 8 hours on a hot, sticky, bumpy overcrowded bus to northern Uganda to the district of Gulu.  I came here for a few days to check out the area and meet with some NGOs to see if I want to research here for the next 6 weeks. During the northern Ugandan war, 90% of Uganda’s population (nearly 2 million people) had been forced to relocate to internally displaced person(s) (IDPs) camps, beginning in 1986.  The districts most affected were Gulu, Kitgum, Amuru, and Pader.  After talking with Charlotte, my advisor, we decided Gulu would be an interesting place because the IDPs are now returning to what once were their homes (since the LRA has recently moved away from northern Uganda) and they find that basic survival needs like food security, clean water, sanitation, and shelter just are not available anymore.  So I am meeting with a French NGO tomorrow to see if I can do my practicum with them to see the next steps these communities need to take for longterm development.  

I was supposed to meet with this NGO today and then visit and interview IDPs in their camps tomorrow, yet the NGO rescheduled for tomorrow, so now I will be in Gulu until Monday or Tuesday.  One of the hardest adjustments of being in Uganda is doing everything on ‘african time’.  Scheduled appointments can end up starting 2 hours late, meetings get canceled last minute all of the time, phone reception is the worst, and theres a 50/50 chance of getting internet connection. You just gotta roll with things here.  I love the laidback Ugandan lifestyle, but it is definitely a huge adjustment. It’s nothing like America. My patience has been tested so many times on this trip..  Theres just no use in getting frustrated when going out to dinner ends up taking over 45 minutes to just order a drink and over 2 and a half hours waiting for the food to arrive to find out the order was completely wrong. In America, I always feel so rushed. We complain about having a 25 minute wait at restaurants when its busy and then bitch about the service or orders being a little wrong.  I’m so guilty of this, and being here has really made me appreciate the little things in America that I take for granted. This trip has helped me to relax, to enjoy where I am in that exact moment (like the long 3-4 hour dinners with our SIT group, those dinners made some of my favorite memories getting to know the other students, its so nice to just sit and converse without feeling rushed to get to the next destination. People here just love talking and relaxing and being with people they care about. Its awesome)

But anyways, I digress. I am LOVING everything about Gulu so far. People are very friendly and its not as crowded as Kampala, thank god.  I really am looking forward to researching and living here for 6 weeks.  I’m sad I won’t be by the other SIT students that I’ve grown close to, but it will be good for me to step out and meet some new people by myself.  Things for me just feel right in Gulu. The only obstacle is that the main languages used here are Luo and Acholi, not Luganda. So the past 3 weeks learning Luganda kinda seems like a waste. 

 I ate at the restaurant here last night by myself and met the sweetest hotel worker named Stella.  She is 20 years old and has been working there for awhile. She was so friendly and ended up ditching work today to take me around gulu to go shopping at the market. She said she told her manager that she needed to show me around quick, but we ended up being gone for hours haha. And she wants to take me out tonight and to her church tomorrow morning.  She said if she can ever come to Chicago, she wants me to set her up with a cute mazungu boy, any takers?

Only day 2 and I love Gulu.