The launch of Caked in Red Clay (Europe Edition)

Sitting on a ferry between the Netherlands and the U.K., I’m about 25 hours into the approx. 31 hours it’ll take to get door-to-door from Kampala to London. So far, so good. Before catching the ferry, I popped into a small pub in an even smaller Dutch coastal village. It was nice, really nice.

Uganda was hard, very hard, to leave, even if there’s a chance my absence may only be temporary. Between farewells to friends, touring the markets to say goodbye to everyone and having the area boda-boda drivers ask if they could come with me to the airport to say good-bye, it was an emotional parting. But it ended nicely– sitting with a few friends on the shores of Lake Victoria having one last cold drink before stepping onto the plane.

Though this leg of the journey has only just begun, I can be assured of one thing: I am going to freeze. I’ve had three cups of tea and a cup of coffee since landing (and for anyone who knows me well and my complete avoidance of coffee, that should speak to the degree of coldness), and am still cold. Though I quite enjoyed the looks I got in the village, walking along the coast in sandals as I passed people in winter boots and coats. I think on my end the novelty will wear off pretty quickly, though. Item number one on the London agenda may very well be sweater-and-fuzzy-slipper shopping.

Once on the ferry I was chatting with a burly long-distance truck driver from the U.K. who said I had a nice tan. Off-putting, that.

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So this will be a new phase for the site, as I’ll be in Europe for the next month. I’ll post as often as I can, but the nature of the posts will certainly be different than they have been (and my apologies for the lack of posting of late. The last month in Uganda was a blur and one that I didn’t do a good job of documenting). Feel free to swing by the site every now and then and have a look at what’s going on.

Now time to go refill the coffee cup…

Photos of a few people I’ve met along the way

 On this day, when I will be getting on a plane to Europe, here are a few pictures of the people I’ve met along the way…

These are four boda-boda drivers who I’ve enjoyed getting to know. Each are great guys– from Ronald, who at 21 has kids aged four and three and is trying his best to learn English, to Jackson who is president of the local boda-boda association, to Mathias who always has a joke and a wry smile, to Joseph who I have written about often here and has been a great friend.

Here are some of the students learning English at a school I’ve been working at the past month or so. They are mostly Sudanese and are all wonderful people. There is no doubt in my mind that in the very short time I spent there, I learned more from them than they could have possibly learned from me. Below is a picture with the second English class I’ve been working with.

Here is Stanley, one of the men in the nearby market who I have been buying my fruits and vegetables from these past months. Yesterday when I went to see him one last time, we sat for a while enjoying a few nuts as he told me about his family.

Below is Francis, who sells roasted chickens outside the market. He always got a kick out of hearing me using the few Luganda phrases I’ve picked up.

And lastly, Tom, who has been cutting my hair since I got here. A wonderful, soft-spoken man who, despite having only a pair of clippers with no attachments, was by far the best barber I’ve ever been to.

These are some of the many, many people I will be thinking of as I get on the plane.

Ebola series

Following a trip to the Ebola-affected region in western Uganda, a series of articles ran in the paper here that concluded last weekend. Here are the articles. You can read an account of that trip in the (lengthy) post below this one.

Feb. 18th

Feb. 19th

Feb. 20th

Feb. 21st

Feb. 22nd

Feb. 23rd