Getting Back to Business...

Literally, today was a day all about business. While it was my 'dream' day, it was still very interesting and exciting to learn some more about some of the business side of Uganda.

We got to start off our day by sleeping in! After I got to bed last night, I actually slept really well, so sleeping in was extremely welcome. My cabin was up around 8:30am, and we just ate breakfast here this morning, so I traded my toast for a granola bar. It was still delicious :) Some of the other students ordered breakfast at Red Chili, so I got to try passion fruit this morning. It was really sweet, but it was okay. Not my favorite, and it won't become a part of my diet anytime soon :)

(Passion fruit, you eat the green part and the seeds from inside)

At 9:30am, we met at the main lobby building at Red Chili to go over the plan for today since last night it was still pretty up in the air. We found out that we would be heading off to the Uganda Securities Exchange (their stock exchange) and to Uganda Investment Authority (UIA). There was also the option of going to the Uganda Museum today, but I opted out and went to the stock exchange instead. This was because we were told it hasn't been done very well and we wouldn't be there very long, so I decided to learn more about the stock market instead.

At the USE, we were searched upon entering the building, which is actually quite common (now that I think of it). The MUBS students told us that since the bombings during the World Cup, security has tightened and almost all buildings have machines similar to airport security in the US, without the x-ray machine for bags. They just hand search those (which means they take a quick peek). We then headed on up, where the exchange actually happens. Uganda currently has 14 stocks! Yes, only 14. They also have 8 stock brokers, and they do everything by hand on a white board. It was pretty interesting. The person in charge showed and explained exactly how it all works. He also told us that within 5 years they hope to be all electronic, but right now it's a slow process since there really isn't a need. Only brokers can deal with stock. It is never done on an individual basis. Also, the person writing on the board must wear the green jacket, otherwise, whatever they write can be argued about and end up a huge mess. The brokers all wear red jackets, and the supervisor wears a navy blue jacket.

(The green jacket is in charge of writing on the boards, and the stock broker is in red.)

It was extremely interesting, and I actually understand how the stock market works now...at least to an extent. I'm pretty sure our stock market back home would completely overwhelm me though. I really enjoyed just having to look at the 14 stocks.

(And again, but this time you can see there are 3 white boards. Two have the stocks written on them. The 3rd has the end of the day information and what the abbreviations mean.)

It was off to MUBS, after the USE for lunch. Lunch today consisted of rice, noodles, and chapatti. Once again, I was told I don't eat enough, and if I didn't add more to my plate they would for me. I didn't add more, and neither did they. I was also full after my meal, so I don't see the problem. They do tend to have full plates EVERY meal though. I'm not sure how they do it!

(Lunch today, still yummy :)

After lunch, we got on the infamous blue bus, and we headed off (as a full group) to UIA. UIA is an investment company. This company pretty much advertises and sells Uganda land to buyers who are trying to build companies. They also regulate the companies and make sure they are going to benefit Uganda. It was an interesting presentation, though much harder to pay attention to than the morning session. The presenter explained what areas Uganda was trying to improve in, expand upon, and that they are trying to make more industrial parks. I definitely learned a lot, but I don't think I'll be investing in land here anytime soon. Don't let me stop you though ;)

(UIA, not a lot of other pictures from here. It wasn't real exciting, sorry.)

The visit to UIA was the last thing on our agenda for the day. During lunch we turned in the journals we were given before the trip to reflect on our visits everyday, so Dr. McKnight and Dr. Senteza were not along with us. Fred from MUBS was instead, and no one really knew what we were suppose to do since our agenda changes so much, and they hadn't really told us. So we headed back to Red Chili.

Once we were back at Red Chili, we were told we had the rest of the night to ourselves, which was extremely nice. I don't have any 'homework' to do tonight since I can't write in the journal for the course. Instead, tonight is all about rest and relaxation, maybe a little free reading, making sure my personal journal is update, and feeling in all of my wonderful blog readers :) It's also about going to bed early. We also ate supper at Red Chili tonight. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, yep, I really went outside of the box ;)

(My ham and cheese sandwich. I like them better in the US.)

Tomorrow we were suppose to visit the New Vision (one of the two main newspapers in Uganda), however, they had a conflict so our schedule has changed yet again. I definitely have to give the professors a huge pat on the back for being able to find stuff to add to the schedule last minute. Now we are visiting a hotel that a friend of Dr. Senteza's owns. We get to swim and work out for the first part of our morning, and the afternoon will consist of visiting the Daily Monitor, the other newspaper in Uganda. Sounds like quite the day to me. Definitely can't wait :)

So until tomorrow, I leave you with this...

(For a snack, the MUBS students brought us grasshoppers they had made. Yep, the plucked off the wings and the legs, fried them up and salted them.)

(And I tried one! Trust me, I wasn't smiling while or after eating. It was really salty, but still had a funny taste. But hey, I tried it right? Next time, I'm going to question my sanity a little more though. Special thanks to Ann, for taking the head off for me before I ate it.)