Sometimes You Just Get Lucky -or- Making Friends in Gulu

Denise and I Lunching Enjoying Some Much Needed Shade

Ico Maber! (How are you doing this morning?)

Yesterday was another big day. At around 10 o'clock in the morning Denise met Laura and I over at Acholi Ber (pronounced Acholi Bay), which is my hotel. When I checked in, all that had been available was a room with a double bed on the top floor. Generally, a single person sleeping in this room is charged about $5.00 USD more per night (10,000 shillings) than a single person in a single room. That's not a huge jump, but a bit out of my price range since I'm here on a grant and trying to keep costs low. I had agreed that I'd move to a single room when one became available. So, in the morning, we all met at the hotel and spoke to Mark at the front desk. He told me that if I liked the room he would let me stay there for the same price for the time being, and I would only have to move if they ended up needing the room for a double occupancy. For the time being, I maintain residence where I began.

Another day of walking, this time trying to get a feel for what Gulu has to offer. Being in the marketplace in Gulu is a little like being at a giant out-door swap meet. On every corner there are about ten boda boys who are hoping you'll use their bike to get around, but we tend to "foot it" (walk) everywhere. Our first stop was into a shop that sold various soap and other such items to buy some Nomi (laundry soap). This will come in handy when we have to wash our clothes in a few days. Then we wandered over to an Indian store where everything was more expensive, but the quantity of items available is greater. For example, we paid 1,800 shillings ($.90) for Nomi at the first store, but they were charging 3,500 shillings ($1.75) for an equivalent  item. We saw the Marie biscuits (shortbread crackers from Kenya) that I've become so fond of (they are so tasty!) but I decided against the purchase for the moment. Maybe next week. We ended up at a bakery up the road buying donut like sweetbread for breakfasts.

All the way through the streets we were passing people who were greeting us, some in English, and some in Acholi. Denise tried to teach us some helpful phrases for getting around "Ico Maber" was one. One man that we passed asked us where we were from and what we were doing. He said that he had been a history teacher for many years and that when he saw western students he "gets fascinated" by them. Sometimes he teaches international students about the history of Uganda. When he found out that I was a historian, he offered to sit down with me at some point soon to discuss the last fifty years of Ugandan history which he is "well acquainted with." I am excited to have finally begun to make contacts. We exchanged info and agreed to "link up" soon. I'll probably call him today and see what he's up to.

At one of the stores, Laura bought a stringed instrument for her brother that kind of looks like a harp-guitar. It became an immediate conversation starter as we wandered past some boda boys and one of them said, "I'd like to try that one." At first we weren't sure what he meant, until we turned around and realized he was talking about the instrument.

Boda Driver Explaining the Dun to Laura

"You know what this is?" he asked. "In our language, this is a Dun. You know how to play?"

"No." Laura said, surrendering the instrument to our new friends and watching him strum its strings.

"I can play it, but this one is not ready yet." he said.

We thanked them and walked on. We ran into more teens on every corner we stopped at. Then, as we crossed the street headed for the RLP to drop Laura's things off we encountered another group of boda drivers who were curious about the instrument. This time, one of them began to tune it as he showed us how to play. Apparently, the index finger pulls a string up as the thumb pushes a string down. It makes the most beautiful music, but it isn't as easy as it looks!

Continuing down the road we met a woman in a beautiful dress who asked us a question we didn't understand. Then she took the Dun and began to strum it at she hummed a tune and danced a little. "OH! Maracas!" I said. "She wants to know where our maracas are!"

The woman smiled and nodded. "Is like this, Amen?"

"Amen!" I said in return, and on we went.

"I'm going to bring this thing with me EVERYWHERE." Laura said. It definitely made it easy to make friends.

After dropping Laura's things we decided to lunch at a cafe up the road. It had a number of comfortable patio chairs and a wonderful shaded area, which was welcome after several hours of footing it in the hot sun. We had coke, water, and chipotis (like thick crepes) for 3000 shillings ($1.50 USD) each while enjoying a nice conversation and some shade. There was an Armenian man sitting in the area behind us who had a delicious looking pizza that all three of us were eyeing jealously.

"It's very good!" he said, when he noticed us, "But there are better places to get pizza around here." We chatted pizza with him for a moment and then continued our chat about NGOs, Ugandan politics, and some lizards that had been fighting near us. It wasn't until we were leaving that we saw the man pull around in a United Nations SUV. "Would you like a ride?" he asked.

We told him we were only going a little ways up the road, but he insisted it was on his way, so we hopped in. As he drove, we traded basic info --how long we'd all been in country, what we were doing, etc. We weren't sure if he said he was the program director for the Acholi region or if he said he was in charge of children's affairs, but either way, he was a good man to run into. I gave him my business card (with my African number scrawled across the back) and he said that he'd be in touch on Monday regarding "main actors". He also planned to get back to Laura with some information on the cleansing ceremony that she is researching. It could be a good thing. Either way, it doesn't hurt to be friendly with the other people working in the region.

The rest of the night occurred much like the day before -- dinner at the cafe near my hotel and then in by dark. We're on strict orders to only travel between sun up and sun down, which we have no problem complying with since by sundown we're pretty much wiped anyway, after long days of meeting people and walking.

Last night I also experienced my first shower in Gulu, which I had promised to blog about. This is what it looks like:

Shower in My Room at Acholi Ber

There is no hole in the floor for water, so one must balance inside the tub on the floor. This also means that showers are limited to the amount of water that this tub can hold. It takes about two minutes for the warm water to find my pipe, and after it does the water is scalding hot. All of this is a huge luxury here, since just outside the people of the compound next door are dragging water in yellow jugs from the well. The shower experience isn't so bad -- and I actually do feel clean (although not for long) when I'm done. 

We thought it might rain last night, but no such luck. It did cool off quite a bit towards the evening, which is good. My sun allergy finally found me (despite triple slathering SPF 50 all over myself) and I was a bit ill yesterday. I need to watch it. I do no good to my research if I have to spend my day in the hotel. I just wish that the rainy part of rainy season would get here soon.

I'm doing really well all-in-all, though--very much appreciate the prayers, happy thoughts, and good comments! Sorry these are so long -- there's just so much to say! Anyway, off to get in contact with my Acholi teacher. Until next time!