The first days…

Hei! Då he ej endeli fått tilgang på nett Ska prøve å oppdatere så ofte ej kan! Men fra no av kjøme ej til å skrive på engelsk av hensyn til dei internasjonale studentane på Hald. For dokke som eventuelt ikkje forstår, fær høre me nakken ta om å få det oversatt;o)

Finally we got the chance to go to the Internet After 6 days with just a little contact with people outside this group, it is good to read my mails and read the blogs to the other Hald-students! We’ve been wondering how you are doing!

I will just post a summary of the first four days here in Uganda.
It was a little sad to say goodbye to my family and friends in the weekend, but it was really good to start the journey! Me, Kay, Stine and Christina arrived in Oslo late Monday evening, so if was almost just to go to bed when we came to the airport hotel.
We took the plane to Schipol where we met many Hald-stundets, and it was really sad with all the goodbyes.

The flight went quite fast, I slept a lot, and listened to my music. The most fascinating was how long time it took to fly over Sahara! It was cool to get a glimpse of the big dessert I have heard so much about.

When we arrived it was dark, but really warm and high humidity. We drove to a guesthouse where we slept the three first nights, it was exciting to look out the window, and see all the people that walked by the road. There were many small shops, and they were lightened up by small oil lamps.

The first day we slept until ten before Sam came to pick us up. We drove through the city to the FOCUS-office. It was a little special to see with my own eyes how the slum right by the office is and how they live, as we drove past. To drive in Uganda can be a bit of a challenge. It can look like there are no trafficrules, just some policemen by the largest roundabouts to have a little control of the situation. It seems like you just have to be a little aggressive and drive whenever you get the chance. And for the bodabodas, motorcycletaxis, there are no rules. While the traffic is stuck and you have to wait, the bodabodas drives between the cars, even when there almost is no space. And if you want a pair of shoes, a belt, a newspaper or other small things, you can do it with the guys that walk by the road where the traffic block is biggest. After we had visited the office, we drove into the city to get take out some money and to grab something to eat. And while we were standing in line to get out some money, we met the Act Now’ers that were in Kampala the first three days. Funny!
In the evening we followed a missionary family that live in the same guesthouse into the city, their kids wanted ice-cream. They live in Mbarara, so it would be funny to visit them if we’re going there some time!

The 2nd day we had prayer meeting all day with the FOCUS-staff. They came to pick us up at 7.30 am, and the trip that were supposed to take 20 minutes, took 1,5 hour! But finally we arrived at the house we were supposed, and it became a really nice day where we worshiped the Lord and prayed all day until 4 pm. Then we got back at the guesthouse to relax. On the way back we got a little more information about the work we’re going to do, and the places we’re going to live. The girls will work and live together, they will work at Makarere University, the largest in Uganda, me and Kay will work and live separately, I will be in a university quite close to Kampala, and Kay in a university close to Entebbe. I and Kay will live together with the STAM-staff, but they’re waiting for some things to be ready before we can move in with them, so we will live in Sam’s house the first month.
Back to the 2nd day, after a short break at “home”, we went for a walk around in the neighborhood, and we met two boys that guided us through a suburban area of Kampala. It was an interesting walk; we talked to some kids and got a glimpse of how the one with a little less money live.