I wasn't going to update today because, quite frankly, sitting at a desk doing research on the status of refugees in the emerging East African Community isn't the stuff of thrilling blog posts. Don't get me wrong, it is sort of interesting -- East Africa is moving towards political federation, like the European Union on steroids, and my organization is looking at whether the concept of "refugee" will continue to be relevant in a region with free movement of people. I spent most of today researching how West Africa has dealt with the issue in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Still, not terribly compelling for a blog post in its own right.
The day got interesting when I left the office. I walked down to Wandegeya, but there didn't appear to be any taxis stopping. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, so I stood around for a few minutes, but taxis just kept passing by, completely full. I decided to bite the bullet and take a boda -- for the first time since I burned myself. I think I lucked out and got a very gentle driver, because he drove fairly slowly and didn't try to cut off every vehicle on the road. I was just feeling pretty good about the whole thing, and we were approaching where I would get off... when suddenly there were traffic police in all white, stopping traffic from continuing on Kiira Road. Not entirely sure what was going on, I got off the boda and paid him, thinking I would do better on foot. A truck full of policemen flew threw the junction, and then the traffic police put up moveable spikes in the road to pop the wheels of any vehicle that tried to come through. I asked a police officer if it was okay to walk through, and he said yes. But I only walked a little ways, before I saw a crowd of people standing on the side of the street and a giant police truck in the middle of the road, blocking traffic. I asked a police officer again if I could walk through, and he said no. At that point, I found out that President Mouseveni was beyond the truck, at a store opening -- and so traffic was blocked off, probably in both directions.
A number of Ugandans came over to ask me where I was trying to go, and when I told them, they said they could take me via a shortcut. I was a little bit skeptical of going along a back dirt road with random men I didn't know, so I sort of put them off at first. I knew they weren't flat-out lying to me about a shortcut because -- and isn't it funny how life has a way of working out like this? -- the taxi I took to work this morning had gone by the same dirt road shortcut. But I still hesitated to set off on back roads with random men I didn't know. I said I would wait, and a young woman came up to me and said it would be at least 2 or 3 hours before we could pass through. At that point, I agreed to go with her. She said she was also going to Frobel Road, so we set off together.
Her name was Christine, and the first thing she told me is, "I'm Catholic, God-fearing. Do you fear God?" It's funny how something that would sound so obnoxious in the United States, sounds fairly benign here. She wanted to know where I was from, how long I had been in Uganda, how long I would stay. She said she loves her country, which was refreshing -- she's the first Ugandan I've met who seems really excited about Uganda. Everyone else is really angry and pessimistic about politics, and I have to admit, it's sort of coloring my view of the country as well. But she was very upbeat about it, and asked me to tell people to come visit when I go back to the USA. She's a secretary, but also apparently interns at an organization called Femrite, which (per their website) "promotes women writing in Uganda." She says they meet every Monday evening at 5pm to discuss books and literature, and she invited me to come to the meetings. I think it would be a cool thing to do/experience, so I may take her up on her offer next week. It sounds like a really exciting organization.
In any case, she got me back to the motel safe and sound, and she actually lives just nearby. I was relieved that she didn't go out of her way to get me home.Diane was here when I got back, and she's the one who told me exactly what Mouseveni was doing on Kiira Road. She said I should have taken pictures of the police. It definitely occurred to me, but I thought they might be skeptical about why I was taking pictures and take my camera away. My general rule is not to take photos of police or military, as you never know how they'll react.
To make up for having no pictures of the police roadblock, I took some pictures out my back window of my neighborhood. Enjoy!
P.S. I know some of you are having trouble leaving comments that save. Try posting as Anonymous (I think it's the very bottom option in the drop-down menu).
The day got interesting when I left the office. I walked down to Wandegeya, but there didn't appear to be any taxis stopping. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, so I stood around for a few minutes, but taxis just kept passing by, completely full. I decided to bite the bullet and take a boda -- for the first time since I burned myself. I think I lucked out and got a very gentle driver, because he drove fairly slowly and didn't try to cut off every vehicle on the road. I was just feeling pretty good about the whole thing, and we were approaching where I would get off... when suddenly there were traffic police in all white, stopping traffic from continuing on Kiira Road. Not entirely sure what was going on, I got off the boda and paid him, thinking I would do better on foot. A truck full of policemen flew threw the junction, and then the traffic police put up moveable spikes in the road to pop the wheels of any vehicle that tried to come through. I asked a police officer if it was okay to walk through, and he said yes. But I only walked a little ways, before I saw a crowd of people standing on the side of the street and a giant police truck in the middle of the road, blocking traffic. I asked a police officer again if I could walk through, and he said no. At that point, I found out that President Mouseveni was beyond the truck, at a store opening -- and so traffic was blocked off, probably in both directions.
A number of Ugandans came over to ask me where I was trying to go, and when I told them, they said they could take me via a shortcut. I was a little bit skeptical of going along a back dirt road with random men I didn't know, so I sort of put them off at first. I knew they weren't flat-out lying to me about a shortcut because -- and isn't it funny how life has a way of working out like this? -- the taxi I took to work this morning had gone by the same dirt road shortcut. But I still hesitated to set off on back roads with random men I didn't know. I said I would wait, and a young woman came up to me and said it would be at least 2 or 3 hours before we could pass through. At that point, I agreed to go with her. She said she was also going to Frobel Road, so we set off together.
Her name was Christine, and the first thing she told me is, "I'm Catholic, God-fearing. Do you fear God?" It's funny how something that would sound so obnoxious in the United States, sounds fairly benign here. She wanted to know where I was from, how long I had been in Uganda, how long I would stay. She said she loves her country, which was refreshing -- she's the first Ugandan I've met who seems really excited about Uganda. Everyone else is really angry and pessimistic about politics, and I have to admit, it's sort of coloring my view of the country as well. But she was very upbeat about it, and asked me to tell people to come visit when I go back to the USA. She's a secretary, but also apparently interns at an organization called Femrite, which (per their website) "promotes women writing in Uganda." She says they meet every Monday evening at 5pm to discuss books and literature, and she invited me to come to the meetings. I think it would be a cool thing to do/experience, so I may take her up on her offer next week. It sounds like a really exciting organization.
In any case, she got me back to the motel safe and sound, and she actually lives just nearby. I was relieved that she didn't go out of her way to get me home.Diane was here when I got back, and she's the one who told me exactly what Mouseveni was doing on Kiira Road. She said I should have taken pictures of the police. It definitely occurred to me, but I thought they might be skeptical about why I was taking pictures and take my camera away. My general rule is not to take photos of police or military, as you never know how they'll react.
To make up for having no pictures of the police roadblock, I took some pictures out my back window of my neighborhood. Enjoy!
P.S. I know some of you are having trouble leaving comments that save. Try posting as Anonymous (I think it's the very bottom option in the drop-down menu).
Katie, keep posting, it is interesting to read,
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