Uncle Danny and Antony, an unfriendly farmer and SO much spinning!

Antony arrived yesterday and, well, what can I say; I don't remember going to bed and again I fell asleep with my net untucked!

I met him around 12 at the backpackers where he is staying and we basically just hung out and drank beer until 10 (maybe, I'm not sure what time I left). Antony had his first rolex though, and made great friends with a furniture shop owner in Mengo. I tried sugar cane also, which is basically just chewing a very very very sweet piece of bark! We also got massively beaten at pool by Antony's new friend and met a 75 year old farmer who hated me at first but then decided I wasn't so bad. He basically hated anyone who wasn't from Buganda (the Southern part of Uganda that includes Kampala)!

Behind the little bar we were drinking at we met a group of five little kids playing with some rocks and using a broken tiffin case to carry them around. The handle was messed up though so everytime they tried to carry the rocks they all fell out. I fixed the handle and then proceeded to play 'collect a shit load of rocks and put them in a pile, then knock the pile down and make a new pile somewhere else' for about an hour which seemed to entertain them. We then played the 'count to three then pick up the kid and spin them around' game, which they massively loved and from then on they called Antony and I 'Uncle'! I tried introducing some learning into the game by teaching them the alphabet, but they decided spinning around was far more fun, so we span some more.

We played for about 2 hours but it started getting dark so we left the kids be and headed back to the hostel for some beers. The kids were not happy we left so I told them we will visit again on thursday when I come back from Entebbe. We're going to find some sort of ball to take to play with them with (if only so we don't have to spin anymore)!

Today I'm off to Entebbe to meet Jon at 3, and we have a night booked in a tent which could be quite entertaining - particularly as Jon doesn't yet know he has to sleep in a tent!

Road Traffic Accidents, Tequila and Conflict Resolution

A lot has happened over the last few days.

Got massively lashed on Tequila (banter) a couple nights ago at a cool club named Rouge. Was a lot of fun hanging out with the guys there (Rach, Joe, Emma, Guy and Will). The pictures are pretty classic, so look forward to those people!

Rach fell off a boda boda (the drivers fault, not hers) and burnt her leg quite bad, so had to take her to hospital to get it cleaned/dressed. In the taxi on the way to the hospital, we got driven into by a 4x4, which hurt my neck a little, but all was well. How unlucky; two accidents in the space of about hour and a half!

I had my first meeting the next day, with an organisation called Cecore (Center for Conflict Resolution) which went well. The guy was really helpful, though not happy when asked about Ugandan Peacekeeping in Congo, asking that I stop recording and saying "you could be CIA". He gave me a lot of contacts though and some general advice too. We also had some quality "England are shit at football" banter.

Yesterday we went to the National Theatre where there was a local jam session, ranging from trumpet solos (LAME) to all out rastas. There was a double act who put us all very much in the mind of Will and Carlton from Fresh Prince of BelAir.

En route to the theatre we stopped to get 'rolexs' which are omelette wrapped in chapati. I went to another stall and bought some grilled chicken on the bone and asked the guy making them to put the chicken in the rolex. I thought this was a great idea, until he put all the bones in too. He crammed too much in as well, so what I basically ended up with was a bag of greasy mushed up omlette, chapati and chicken carcas. Lekker! Still, it only cost me 1 pound, so can't complain too much I suppose.

I found out yesterday that my deet is out of date as well, which probably explains the hench bites I have all over my hands and elbows. I very much look like I have some sort of hand/elbow lepracy.

Antony arrives today and then Jon tomorrow, so work will be put on hold for a week whilst I tourist it up a bit. After that though I'm heading up to Gulu to get on with stuff. I have an email from someone today who would like to meet me in the Eastern part of the country, and the guy I interviewed the other day suggested I visit the North-West of the country near the Congo border (where Idi Amin's tribe is from) so I should have basically covered the whole country by the time I come home!

The World's Worst Alarm Clock?

Last night I was woken at 4am by a crazy drunken Israeli girl walking into the room, turning the light on, shouting stuff in what I presume was Hebrew, falling over, slamming the door and leaving. I can now officially state this is the worst way you can ever possibly be woke up. EVER. Especially when waking up, involves opening your eyes to see a mosquito net on your face as its fallen down. I briefly felt like some sort of netted fish.

Aside from this rude awakening, today has been a good day. I walked down to a local market down the road and had some breakfast (two chapatis and a bottle of coke - costing a total of 30p) whilst watching guys unloaded massive sacks of coal with their head, and a guy walking around selling single trainers. Odd.

The rest of the day I have been chilling in the hostel writing up my methodology and a chapter about Ugandan Conflicts. I just had an amazing lunch of a halved Avocado with some sort of 'stuff' in the middle (possibly onion and chili in some oil I think). I think from now on my Ugandan daily diet shall consist solely of chapatis, coca cola, avocado á la stuff and fanta orange.

I am moving into Sarah and Rachael's cottage later today. This is very exciting as their cottage would put many English houses to shame. It's so nice and spacious. I imagine there will be less angry Israelis too! I feel tonight may be a good time to get drunk for the first time. Perhaps this is the source of my good mood!

Oh, I also have my first meeting arranged, for the 28th June, with CECORE (Center for Conflict Resolution) with a guy called Albert, who insists on starting every email to me with "Dear Lincoln". I think he may be somewhat disappointed to discover Lincoln isn't actually my name! Good times

Beer, sweat and boda boda

First whole day in Uganda is all but over. I am sitting on a sofa, listening to crap pop music, drinking beer, sweating a large amount and feeling like its time for bed despite it only being 8pm.

I don't want to write too much as I'm not particularly well-disposed towards Kampala at the moment, and I'm sure the entry would turn into a massive rant. It's probably just tiredness and the fact that I have spent way too much money on things I didn't really want to spend money on (including a crap phone, on a rubbish network and overpriced motorbike or boda boda drivers).

Anyway, I wondered around Entebbe this morning, saw Lake Victoria. I think I walked about 10km all in all. Then I got a bus to Kampala this afternoon which took about 45 mins and passed without any moments of note.

Once in Kampala I got on the scariest motorbike of my life. I had my 20KG bag on my bag, and my small backpack with my laptop on my front, which made balancing an issue. I also had no helmet as apparently the drivers dont carry them for passengers here! By the time I got of the bike my spine was aching so bad. But I was alive, which was a start.

I then headed the 9k over to Rachael and Sarah's place, which is much nicer, and sat with them for a while. The bike ride back (again helmetless) took place during Kampala's rush hour, which was not fun! We crashed into another bike, but only gently so no one fell off or anything.

I realised about 2 hours ago that all I have eaten since being in Uganda was 4 samosas, so grabbed some food. Avocados to start followed by a cheese burger. Classic Ugandan food....!

Thats about my day so far. I realise this is the probably the dullest blog entry ever written, but I am bored and needed something to do