End of Amsterdam and Beginning of Uganda

I’m sorry for the delay in posting! Between keeping the blog, diary, logbook for contacts and budget, and field notes there is a lot of writing. I should manage to write more regularly though as we have settled into a rhythm in our apartment and have secured internet access.

While I have a Flickr stream at the bottom of this blog, check Meagan’s blog for our pictures. I turned our Flickr has a monthly limit I would have blown past in our first three days so all our collective photos will be through her Picasa account.

May 22nd, 2011

When we planned on coming to Amsterdam we immediately planned to go to Haarlem. A friend had recommended it and I always like to get out of the cities for a day. It turned out to be my favorite part of our trip in Holland. As the girls got ready I looked up some things to see in Haarlem. Scott, and Australian friend we met in our hostel the night before wanted to tag along too. We had bonded over Aussie Rules Football and making fun of American tourists.

So we went to Central Station and hopped on a train. The trip should have only lasted 15 minutes, but we talked so much and were tired and failed to notice we missed the stop. What finally drew our attention to this was the trained stopped because it ran out of land. We had traveled to Zaandvort, a city on the coast (about 30 minutes ride) without noticing it.

So we stayed on the train and actually got off in Haarlem and walked to the church located on the town square. We had a nice lunch and then went to enter the church, only to discover it was closed. Apparently it was open all week except for Sundays after their service. It was also really cold and windy so Meagan bought very touristy socks with windmills to wear with her sandals. It was very fetching! At this point I felt like a heel because not only did I plan this for the girls, Scott had come along based on how excited I was about this church.

Having been thwarted, we made our way to Adriaan Windmill. It was truly impressive. The guide was a cross between a grandpa and Albert Einstein. He was a volunteer who kept the mill going and he took us up into the windmill. The engineering behind the mill was so impressive and large wooden pins were used as removable nails which allowed the windmill to be installed, used to drain the land, then deconstructed and put elsewhere to drain more land. Its odd to think of something that big as recyclable. It truly made an impact in wars and industry, development and the draining of so much of Holland. We all really enjoyed it and I think we all thought the windmill was our favorite part of Holland.

May 23rd, 2011

Today we went to the Van Gogh Museum and I got really animated relaying what I remembered from my wonderful art history courses. So much of the history of art is really the modern equivalent of the news because many people couldn’t read or write and even the Bible was read in languages not spoken by common people. Art was education, religion, and the news all in one and as such a powerful medium, it was controlled by those who were politically and economically powerful and some of the most revolutionary paradigm shifts in philosophy and politics have been preceded or mirror in art.

I knew that Van Gogh and the other Impressionists rocked the system but I didn’t realize that Van Gogh had pursued a career in the clergy but then pursued art only after his job at a church was un-renewed. His prolific and revered work all took place in ten short years from the time he began and taught himself to his death. The museum was organized by showing you his early work and the work of his contemporary mentors then showing you the linear progression of his work, followed by the work of those inspired by his work and the Impressionist movement.

Its so interesting to me because the idea that humans can perceive the Truth and reality of the world through careful, exact study (the school of thought in place before the Impressionists) compared to the idea that the world is perceived differently by everyone through the senses, yet each disparate version is valid (the idea presented by the Impressionists) is also present in anthropology. We discuss the first of positivist empiricism and the second as post-modern interpretivism or phenomenology. It made me feel connected to the moment in history because I have the same discussions in my classes all the time. It was also sad because when he was painting some of my favorite of his pieces his letters to his brother show that he felt like a stagnant failure. He died in poverty and you got a real sense of his melancholy. I didn’t expect it but we all got moved to tears.

After a great lunch at a hideously decorated place (look for the pictures of the mint tea and the cow print booth) we went to the Anne Frank Museum. You actually walked through the hiding place which was left unfurnished to remain as it was after the Nazi’s arrested and cleared out the home. They had models and pictures of what it looked like and had the actual diaries Anne wrote in.

Obviously there was a somber, solemn fell to the place, but I think the hardest part was when a video of her father, Otto Frank, came on. He was the sole survivor of his family, but Anna and her sister Margot thought he was dead and died within a month and week respectively of the liberation. Her father said it took him a long time to read the diary and what he was most surprised about was the depth and maturity of her thoughts. He didn’t know that part of his daughter. He said it made him realize that parents never really know their children and that part made me cry.

May 24, 2011

The girls slept in as I walked to an electronic store to get a cord to allow me to download pictures off my camera. I got there and he said it was one of two cords and we couldn’t tell which. He originally said there was a no return policy but when I tried to buy both cords he only sold me one and told me to return it if it was the wrong one. It was the wrong one and he did let me return it. A lot of the people in Amsterdam seem nice like that and not impatient with tourists, which is good because we are everywhere!

We met up with Scott, a guy from Melbourne Australia we met in our hostel, for lunch in the park. We munched on salami, cheese, bread, cherries, snap peas, and apricots by the pond in Vondel Park. It was really lovely and we talked and cloud watched for 2 and a half hours.

We then went out for dinner at the Supper Club. It was our one planned splurge and it was well worth it. The club had bed you laid on with huge pillows for support and tables on the beds to hold glasses. You had to take your shoes off before getting on the mattress and it had a techno meets Moroccan feel. Because the whole wall was set like this we talked to the people on either side of us.

The man to my right was from Munich and named Tobias which sounded like Te-beers when he said it. He had two children and we talked about how I get to see the world through the new eyes of my students just like he sees the world through his children’s eyes anew. We talked about idealism and optimism and my upcoming travels to Uganda. We talked for probably half an hour and it was really lovely. Each of the three courses were fabulous and after dinner people danced. It was nice to see people other than teens and twenty-somethings have fun and dancing. In general people seem more openly affectionate here than in the States, holding hands and cuddling in the park, and I like it.

May 25th, 2011

This was our last day in Amsterdam and we picked up Sonja from the Central Station. Ginger and Meagan met Sonja last summer who is a German with education in social work who came to Kampala for an internship and stayed when she fell in love with Moses, a Ugandan. Both of them formed a non-governmental organization which makes a soccer team for young men living in the slums so they have things to do and friendship. Last year the team won the league championship and I remember seeing a video of Sonja dance at the celebration.

We picked her up and all hugged, even though she just met me. She brought us gifts from Cologne and we ate lunch by our hostel. She said how difficult it was to stay in contact with Moses, her boyfriend, because his computer broke and they can’t use skype. Ginger thought of inviting Moses over regularly so he could use our computers to call her and she cried with gratitude.

We showed her the Albert Cuyp Market, then the flower market and some of the antique district. We then just sat for a beer in Spui Square and talked until she had to go. She was such a sweet person and I got a real sense of the times they three of them shared last summer. She even shared some Lugandan phrases she thought I might use and they reminisced about good times. When we dropped her off back at the train station we promised to stay in better touch.

With all the talk about Kampala from the previous summer and then packing up our bags for the next days travel it finally started to feel real that I was going with them. All my time in Amsterdam felt like a vacation and after it Ginger and Meagan would go toe Uganda and I would go back home. I had been going back and forth between feeling under and overwhelmed and as I packed and ate the German chocolates Sonja gave me it started to sink in. As we packed we also met a sweet guy from Poland named Chris who was so innocent, friendly, and enthusiastic in his English (which he had recently taken up) that we all were smiling. Earlier in the day I had run into two guys from Lexington who go to UK as well and it seemed like the world was very small and very friendly. Good last night in Amsterdam.

May 26th, 2011

Rule one to staying in a hostel: BUY EARPLUGS. A new guy in our room came in around 1am, and I don’t know how he didn’t wake himself up. I actually like rhythmic snoring, but his was like torture. I thought about waking him up and handing him a tissue so he would blow his nose, then realized I was being a cranky sleep-deprived American and wrapped the blanket around my head.

Rule one to flying KLM: one bag only and it better not be overweight. We got charged 100 euros for the second bag and if we had only one bag that was overweight it would have been 200 euros. Had we known we would have bought clothes in Uganda. I was on such a “I’m going to Africa” high I wasn’t too angry but Meagan and Ginger were ticked because they had an especially mean attendant. I homemade bloody Mary helped things significantly.

We then got on only to find out our flight was flying past Entebbe first to go to Kigali, Rwanda first, stop for people to get off and on, have the cleaning crew on, then flight back to Entebbe. We had just been joking about people unexpectedly ending up in a different country and then it happened to us. Easy flight; I hope to watch the ending of Tron on the way back 

May 27th, 2011

Today was my first full day in Kampala. We arrived late last night, but there was a mix up about which day we were arriving so our ride was not at the airport. We got a hold of Reverend Obed via cell phone and he said he would come to pick us up even though he expected us the next day. When we called him it was 10:30 pm and he was an hour away, so it was truly generous of him and his wife to commit to two hours of driving that late and saving us the taxi fare.

My first sights of Uganda were from the back of his car which was so full of us and our bags it bottomed out over bumps. I couldn’t see much, but with the window down I could smell this constant smell of burned matches or a campfire. Ginger said it was burning trash but it was a pleasant smell. As we left Entebbe and drove through the countryside to Kampala I could also smell that earthy, mushroom-like smell and honeysuckle and cow manure. As we got closer to the city the trash burning left so much smoke in the air that I first thought it was a part romantic, part eerie fog. We eventually saw some multiple story buildings and Ginger noted the one of a few stoplights in the city, which is amazing for such an urban area. As we drove I could see people out walking occasionally even though it was after midnight. We would pass bars with stringed lights and music pumped outside. I couldn’t see much though.

We eventually got to Kampala but had to stay at a hotel, the Kigali Country Club, because our compound was locked for the night. The hotel was beautiful, but absurdly expensive and we had already been charged 100 euros for having more than one bag from KLM. We paid it though because we were so tired and it was the closest hotel, but we laughed as we took every little item of shampoo and creamer, even the pens, because we were bitter about the price.

In the morning we then went to our compound which is a fenced in lot with maybe 6-8 apartments with a guard at the gate. I think most of the residents are expats from England, France, or Eritrea and there is a dog named Didi who is literally the most hilariously messed up dog I’ve ever met. I pet him anywhere and he falls over with both back legs trying to scratch his front legs. Utterly spastic! I will take a video so you can understand!

As we waited for Grace, (or as Ginger and Meagan call her, their African mom) to arrive and let us in I talked to Gerald, the day guard, who was extremely friendly. We talked about his family and mine, education, and about Westerners coming to develop Uganda. Afterwards I wasn’t sure how much of what he said was from being polite because he said Ugandans needed Europeans to bring money and intervene and he perceived me as part of that world, but it made me happy that I could have a conversation with a local Ugandan despite the different accents. As I waited I there were all these different birds calling and sounds of someone hammering something, a baby crying, birds chirping, and sounds of cars and motorcycles in the background that I made a recording of. I will try to get that online too.

Grace and another women (whose name escapes me,) came and gave us all big hugs, apologizing for the mix up which was not their fault. Grace will stop by twice a week to do some cooking and laundry and other things which would take up a lot of time which could be better spent researching. It is also good to contribute to the local economy through creating a job so it is a win-win even though part of me feels uncomfortable with coming to Africa and being privileged enough to have a maid. So far everyone has been truly lovely and I’m excited to meet all these people I have read about in the previous summer’s blogs.

Later in the afternoon Megan and I ventured out of our compound to walk to the Super Supermarket, maybe 5 minutes away. The road we live on (Old Kira Rd) is made of a terracotta colored soil (mirren) with rocks and trash. The soil color mixed with the terracotta roofs of some buildings compared to the lush green palm trees and vegetation is rather beautiful. Some places have colors in such high saturation that it makes things seem more alive. Kentucky is like that and I’m glad Kampala is too. I don’t do well in gray places.
The main road which our road feeds into is paved. There are ditches made of large orange stones and brown mortar on both sides with trash in them and since there are no guard rails you have to watch your step. Kampala is very hilly and the city is made of seven hills. The richer people live on top of the hills in mansions that are visible almost everywhere and the poorer people live in the valleys. It is a literal hierarchy.
When we got back we ate a delicious dinner prepared by Grace and ran out of water when we tried to wash the dishes. Fortunately we had all showered. Then we sat down to write up our field notes for the day and promptly at 8pm the electricity went out. We all laughed that I had officially been introduced to the Kampalan experience. I got tucked in my mosquito netted bed and when the lights came back on I scrambled to get free of the net to jump out and turn the lights back off. The nets are a little claustrophobic at first, but then comforting when you think about being safe from the bugs and geckos.

May 28, 2011

This morning was exciting because we got invited to a wedding reception. We noticed a decorated car, then bridesmaids and flower girls outside in the shared parking lot. We guessed it was a wedding so we went outside to see and found Rose, a neighbor and friend in the compound from Eritrea. It turns out her sister was getting married and she gave us all wedding invitations to come to the reception later on. To get to go to such important rituals and ceremonies is a big deal in anthropology so we were really excited.
Some of the bridal party were wearing traditional Eritrean clothes. The women had white long dresses with long sleeves and ornate colored stitching on the front of the dresses and along the hems. They also wore a linen/cotton white head scarf on top of their heads with their entire face and even their hair exposed. Women have their hair corn-rolled but the braid is done around a round object so it is raised. The effect is very stately and regal and Rose herself had ornate jewelry and was stunning in her traditional dress without the head scarf and the bridesmaids were in light melon colored spaghetti strap sheath satin dresses and high heals. It was an interesting mix of traditional and western clothes.

We then went out to make a big grocery run. We went to the Nakumatt market and it was huge and very much like American supermarkets. On the way back I fell down while walking, breaking an egg, a container of milk, and the soy sauce we had just bought. It wasn’t a big deal except I had already fallen in Amsterdam by tripping on a tram line at night. I ate the pavement pretty hard and scabbed up my right palm, elbow and both knees. When I fell again it was in all the same places. Really my confidence was hurt more than anything else and I’m tired of dealing with bandages in so many places and the girls were great about not minding the ruined groceries.

Grace and Annette came again today to do our laundry and they cooked an amazing lunch of matoke and g-nut sauce, something that tasted like collared greens, a chicken dish, and a salad with mangos. I think I could eat mangos every day. We then went shopping for a wedding gift and settled with a pitcher and glass set and some American peach preserves. Grace and Annette said they were good gifts and that we were well dressed for the event and we headed off using a matato (mah-ta-too).

It is basically a van with four rows of three seats. You can get to the back ones easily though because the side seats back folds down, then the whole seat folds upwards and sideways so you can get past it to other rows. Technically the van could hold 15 people including the front row and the “conductor” sits right by the door, opening it and jumping out, shouting in quick succession all the places the van is going, then hoping in as the van drives away. As the matato drives it honks at people it approaches to see if they want a ride. It’s a hectic production and people have to know where they are and when they want off in order to say maaah-sow, which means for the van to stop. I’m trying to get my ear to recognize the places and get a handle on transportation, but its only my second full day here.

So we got to the reception at 7:30 and it was supposed to start at 6. This was a classic case of Ugandan time because hardly anyone was there and they were still putting up decorations. Around 9 the bride and groom came in with a procession holding sparklers and doing the high pitched a-la-la-la-la cries often associated with Middle Eastern cultures. Meagan got a video of it.

Then we waited for our turn to eat as I talked to a young Eritrean guy about the food and what was going on. I knew Eritrean food was similar to Ethiopian food, which I have had but I still didn’t know what to expect. After getting a HUGE plate of food I brought it back only for the young guy I was talking to to ask why I didn’t get the white stuff. I thought he meant food that was white, but he meant that there was lasagna made especially for White people. He had earlier said he liked White people. I had no idea what to say to that and awkwardly said, “Thank you, I hope White people are nice to you.” I’m cringing as I write this! I now know how African Americans feel when asked for the Black perspective. But hey, it was better than hearing he disliked White people! I enjoyed talking to him though because he explained that while he was not related to the bride, because she was no longer in Eritrea and her family could not make it, all the local Eritreans came to act as a family. He said, they no longer have parents, family to be here for them, so now I am their cousin so they don’t get lonely. Eritreans call each other brothers and sisters which is a powerful cultural system for those away from their families.

We stayed for the cutting (and eating) of the cake and despite Rose’s explanation that there would be no dancing because the family was conservative and Pentecostal, there was plenty of dancing where the women stomped forward and back in a line and the men jumped up and down. It was a good time.