Monday, October 25, 2010

power is out

The electricity went out sometime Thursday night, and after some 60 hours managed to make a brief appearance Sunday afternoon. The power was on long enough to cool down the fridge and for me to turn on the hot water boiler for a hot shower. The moon has disappeared again, making the night very dark. We manage to cook, play card games, and get around the house by the light of a headlamp and two lanterns (one battery run and the other kerosene). I'm pretty sure last night Ahmed resorted to his red bike light as his source of light.

We spent Friday evening at a cafe in town that runs a generator, taking advantage of their grilled cheese sandwiches and electricity outlets. Luckily my office has a generator, so we can all continue to work and power up our laptops, phones, batteries. I made odi again on Saturday with Lucy, meaning we roasted, skinned and cleaned 3 kilos of ground nuts and 1 kilo of sesame seeds. But it still needs to be ground into paste. So I'm waiting for another window of light to take my bucket of g-nuts and sesame to the grinder. :)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

not tonight, honey

Some honey maker somewhere has a sense of humor :)

Friday, October 15, 2010

the statue

At the center of the roundabout at the intersection of Kampala road and Market street is a statue with two young kids and a pile of books.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

downtown at noon

Downtown Gulu is a buzz with activity around lunch time.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

simsim

Ever wonder where sesame seeds (or simsim as it is called here) come from?

 Sesame flower.

Sesame drying out in the sun.

Lillian opening up a pod so I can see the seeds within.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

coaching the hawks

The Hawks other coach is out of the country for a month so Ray has taken on more coaching responsibilities. The team came out strong on Saturday and held their lead, beating the number one team and assuring their place in the playoffs.
Team huddle at the start of the game.
Tip off.
Hawks were up 30 to 28 at half time.
Making plans.
 
1-2-3. Go Hawks!
Driving to the basket.
Our player banged his head on the poles of the basket. Near collisions with the metal poles seems to happen constantly. The condition of the courts is very poor.
Coaching from the sideline.
 The crowd grew as the game went on, and enthusiastically cheered on their home team to victory! And, thankfully the impending storm held off long enough for the game to finish.

Monday, October 11, 2010

hawks beat the number one team!

On Saturday, Independence day here in Uganda, the Gulu Hawks played the Rhinos from Kampala. The last time these two teams met the Hawks lost by 25 points. But this time around the Hawks came out on top. This woman sat near the end line of the court for most of the game, cheering and commenting as the play went on.

more bball photos to come...

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Rwanda's landscape

Ray and I arrived traveled from Gulu to Rwanda via Kampala. The landscape changed dramatically as we entered the central part of Uganda and then Rwanda- the road hugged the hillsides, following the curves of the mountain range. The hillsides, terraced to make farming possible, lead into green valleys which were busy in the morning hours with groups of people farming collectively. The farmland appeared utilized and productive right up to the the city streets of Kigali.
 Sunrise at the border between Uganda and Rwanda.

Rwanda is much more hilly and forested compared with the landscape of northern Uganda.

 

A fountain in downtown Kigali. Almost all of the roads appeared paved in the city and all of the major roads connecting cities were paved.

 
 Best mode of transport around the city (and the use of helmets is enforced).

The cities and countryside were noticeably trash free. Plastic bags of all shapes and sizes are prohibited countrywide (and there must be effective trash collection/removal of some kind). Plastic bags are literally considered contraband at border crossings. Can you imagine a plastic bag free US?

On the drive to the south of the country.

On our drive back to Kigali.

In this beautiful landscape it is hard to imagine what happened here 16 years ago.