Although I was absolutely exhausted from the near 24 hours worth of traveling, I was too excited to sleep much that first night. It was that excitement, as well as the 5:30am call to prayer broadcast by the nearby mosques, and the unbelievable variety of morning bird calls that helped to wake me up in time to see the sun rise in front of my balcony. Over half of the bird species found in Africa are in Uganda, and seriously they make noises you have never heard. I could have sworn there was a chimpanzee somewhere in my house until I was told that a very common bird here sounds like a monkey. Unable to sleep anymore, I made myself breakfast and ate outside in my courtyard. At 7am it was about 70 degrees, the perfect temperature that seems to read on the thermometer no matter day or night. At 9:30am I was picked up at my house by a driver who brought me to the US Embassy for the first time. The 10 minute drive from my house to the Embassy is along one of the main roads in this part of Kampala, and the city was bustling with people everywhere. It was my first chance to see Kampala during the day, and the first thing anyone would notice on the road is the maniacal driving of motorbikes, here called “bota-botas.” The first warning I got from Greg and Layla is to NEVER ride on a bota-bota taxi. Half of hospital patients are these drivers and passengers (sometimes three or four people stacked on one bike, with groceries, bags, goats, etc) who weave in and out of traffic, up onto sidewalks, and through traffic lights without a second glance. Part of this hectic road scene may be related to the lack of any lane markings, potholes that send even SUVs flying into the air, and broken traffic signals in intersections that are directed by one, lonely traffic officer who can’t seem to get hundreds of cars to pay attention to him. Instead of blinkers, most people use horns to let other drivers know they’re coming in whether you like it or not, and it seems that everyone has the right of way, all the time.
Upon arrival at the US Embassy, I went through security and proceeded inside. I was met in front by Greg and the Political Affairs Deputy. Hebecame my tour guide for the day, introducing me to everyone in the Political Affairs Department and showing me the lay of the land. The Embassy is huge with a different wing for every department. I had my first meeting with the Political Affairs Officer (the Officer is the head of each department) and she gave me a brief outline of what I will be doing this summer. The first big event is on Tuesday at the Ambassador’s house. The event is called Rising Stars, and it is a mentoring event for about 300 Ugandan high school girls. My office is in the pressroom, which I share with three other employees, all Ugandan. That was probably the biggest surprise at the Embassy. I assumed that since it was a US post, all employees inside would be American, but actually, besides the deputies and officers, native Ugandans carry out mostly all other functions of the Embassy.
Since Friday is a half-day, I left early at 12:30pm. Layla and Greg invited me to a lunch that was held at the home of the American Manager of Operations. His wife, half-Korean, had cooked up an incredible feast which included homemade sushi, kim-chi, sweet and sour chicken, and sweet potato noodles, just to name a few dishes. There were four other embassy families at the lunch, and it was a great opportunity to talk with them and learn about life in the Foreign Service. They’ve been stationed in Bogota, Mexico City, Bombay, Bosnia, Liberia, Senegal, Peru…the list keeps on going. One of the most interesting things for me is that every family at the lunch has young children under the age of 10. When considering a career with the Foreign Service, I’ve always been concerned with how family life would exist and survive when you must move across the world every three or four years. It was really intriguing to hear their stories, and exciting to meet all of their kids later in the day. Dino, Layla and Greg’s son who is 10, attends the International School in Entebbe, and it was awesome to hear him talk about his friends from Korea, Germany, England and India. Tonight Dino is at a Cub Scout sleepover…amazing how far we are from the US but a lot of childhood traditions and activities are the same. For dinner we went to Café Roma, an Italian restaurant that many Embassy families go to every Friday night, where kids can jump on the trampoline, make their own pizza and eat ice cream. After successfully staying awake all day, I passed out early at 9pm, with ear plugs this time to avoid the bird call and Islamic prayer alarm clocks.
