Two Different Sides of the World

Not only was I literally on two different sides of the world today, but the more of Kampala and Uganda I see, the more I realize that the United States and Uganda not only have many differences but some similarities as well.

Today was by far the sunniest day we have had, the most humid, and the warmest. I would guess it was in the uncomfortable range of humidity and probably around the mid 80s. Once again, all of this is just me guessing. They don't have flashing signs near banks telling us the temperature, and if they did, it'd be in degrees Celsius so I wouldn't know anyway ;)

I finally had a better night of sleep. We went to bed around 1:00 am, thanks to all of the days activities and journal entries we had to do for them, and I only woke up 3 times last night (a new personal best :)! We had a later start today, so we stayed in bed until about 7:45. Before loading the bus, we were greeted by some guests this morning. Yep, their were monkeys at the place we're staying, so we all whipped out our cameras for a photo shoot.

(they were pretty friendly and definitely not afraid of the camera)

After satisfying our need for pictures of things we never see in Iowa, we loaded the bus for breakfast at MUBS at 9. Breakfast today, for me, consisted of toast. It seemed to settle my stomach really well yesterday, so I decided to stick with it.

After breakfast, we had a discussion about all we had seen and done so far. It was really nice getting to hear how everyone else was feeling and getting out of the trip, especially some of the MUBS students since this is their everyday life. Around 11, we left to head for the Entebbe Botanical Gardens.

(my table at breakfast)

When I read we were going to the botanical gardens, I immediately pictured lots of flowers and maybe some unique birds. We got to see lots of trees instead. However, some of them had some really interesting stories. While it hasn't been the best part of the trip it was still very interesting, and there were lots of pretty backgrounds that provided perfect backdrops for pictures. We also got to hear about the story of Tarzan and Jane! The film from 1930, was actually filmed at the garden we visited. We got to see the berries from a tree he used to make jewelry for Jane, and the tree where Tarzan 'lived'. I also say giant spiders and huge termite hills!

(some of the berries that Tarzan used to make jewelry for Jane)

Next it was off to lunch by Lake Victoria. We took lots of pictures by and near the lake, and we were supposed to eat at a restaurant there. However, some of their equipment was broken, and since we were already way behind schedule we settled for Dominos Pizza. Yep, Dominos. It was something I thought I would really enjoy, but boy was I wrong! They put vegetables on every single kind of pizza they make! Green peppers, chunks of tomato, yeah, that meant a granola bar for lunch today. Besides, it was already almost 3:30pm, and I wasn't that hungry anymore anyway, just disappointed.

(Lake Victoria...and me :)

We continued on to the equator afterwards. What was suppose to be an hour and a half drive, turned into a three hour drive after we hit a LOT of traffic. It was stop, crawl forward, stop, crawl forward...you get the idea, for quite some time. Definitely not ideal, when we were all excited to visit the equator. We finally got there around 6pm.

While at the equator, I got to watch the water turn the opposite direction that is does in the Northern Hemisphere. I also learned that right on the equator, the water goes straight down, no spinning at all! (I'm not even kidding, I watched it happen!!)

(this is when it's on the equator and drops straight down)

While standing on the equator today, I was 3 kilograms lighter!

(Can you tell?! ;)

We also visited all of the little shops that were on the equator. I learned that they double prices for white people there because they think we can afford more. So the MUBS students helped everyone negotiate down prices to be more reasonable. I honestly think we'd be lost without them. We left the equator around 7pm since it was already getting dark (still adjusting to that too). We once again got stuck in traffic for a bit, but we made it back to Red Chili by 9. I once again wasn't hungry, and it was getting too late to eat.

Tomorrow we are visiting a secondary school, and we were invited to a nice dinner (however, that's all the details I know about it since it was scheduled last minute, and we aren't always told everything). It should be a great day.

Until then, I leave you with this....

(Yep, they gave us juice boxes with lunch! It was delicious, and after my encounter with juice boxes and my shots, I couldn't resist the photo opportunity :)