Weekend

We had a pretty solid weekend, and I just thought I'd give ya'll a little overview of what we were up to. On Saturday we sampled the Ugandan resort life as we hit up the KK Beach Resort on Gaaba Beach. The KK Beach Resort, really isn't much more than a walled area consisting of a stage, a small restaurant, a patch of sand on the water about the size of half a football field, and a little pier that went out about 20yards into the murky waters of Lake Victoria. Not at all the typical beach experience, although it turned out to be a pretty cool meeting. I had my first Kampala taxi experience on the way there. Taxis in Uganda are sort of like small buses that run specific routes through the city and are the cheapest way to travel. We loaded up in the taxi at the bottom of Makindye Hill (where our hostel is located), and squeezed in the little caravan with about 15 other locals and headed off toward Gaaba beach. About every 100 feet or so the taxi abruptly stops a another passenger would climb in. Although it may not be the most comfortable or the fastest way to travel, we made it to Gaaba and back for a mere 2000 UGX, the equivalent of about 90 cents in the US. We unloaded at Gaaba beach, and stepped out onto a street that ran along the water that was lined with little markets selling fish, chapati, and little homemade trinkets. It was a pretty cool area. It took some exploring, but we finally found KK Beach Resort, and stopped in to sit by the water and eat some fish which people always say is a must when near Lake Victoria. I think the fish was tilapia, I could be wrong, but the whole fish was served on the plate lightly fried. We enjoyed our fish to some pretty sweet music that sounded like something from an 80s opera and we successfully avoided being ambushed the storks that were trying to take all the leftover fish heads. Even though we picked the one cloudy day of our time here togo to the beach, it turned out to be a pretty great outing.

Sunday Michael and I went to the EAC house in the afternoon. It was a real treat to have Michael introduce me to the kids at the house, and it was great to actually meet all these kids in whom he has invested so much. The kids were very polite and interested in meeting me. They asked about what I was doing in Kampala, and what I thought of their country. I really enjoyed meeting all of them and was very impressed by them as a group. We even had the added bonus of watching them rehearse for their Spirit of Uganda tour that is coming up. The kids are incredibly talented, and it was a really cool cultural display as they performed Ugandan dances. Michael took the opportunity to explain a little more about what the EAC is all about, and I enjoyed the opportunity of seeing it in action. I particularly liked how Michael explain how EAC gave these kids, who come from pretty tough home lives, a voice not only by providing for a good education but by also providing a stage for these kids to showcase their incredible talents and their culture. I think that's a really cool idea. The tour will be coming to Vanderbilt in February which is going to be so cool.

Anyways, that is our weekend in a nutshell. I'm going to try to come back and add some pictures, so stay tuned for that.

- Stokes