Hoppy Easter!

We had Good Friday and Easter Monday off of work, so I was in Kampala from Thursday night through Monday morning. Recently there have been “walk-to-work” protests in Kampala, in which the opposition party is protesting the rising food and fuel prices by boycotting transportation and instead walking to work. A few people have been killed by the police, who have been using tear gas and guns in an attempt to control the crowds. There was some concern about whether or not we’d run into a protest, but I didn’t see any signs of unrest all weekend, besides there maybe being more police around then usual. There were also reports that the government requested for facebook and Twitter to be blocked in order to squash the protests, but luckily for my sanity both websites are still up and running.

On Thursday night I met Suzanne (who was coming from Mubende) at our hotel, Hotel City Square, which is very centrally located in Kampala. I had never stayed there before (the hotel I usually stay at was full), and it was pretty nice – self-contained room, free breakfast, TV in our room, and clean. However, our room looked out onto Kampala Road, so the traffic noise was VERY loud ALL day and night. Thankfully I bring earplugs with me when I travel.

As per usual, we basically spent all weekend shopping, walking, and eating. On Friday we went to Garden City mall, where we did some shopping at a gift store and the book store, and then I got a much-needed pedicure at Sparkles salon. We ate lunch at the food court at the mall (I had Indian food), where we met up with one of Suzanne’s former co-workers from home and some other Americans. Later in the afternoon we went back to our hotel to rest, and then at night went to a movie, “Just Go With It,” which wasn’t very good, but the selection of movies showing at the cinema is limited and sometimes it’s nice to go to a movie even if it doesn’t end up being Oscar-worthy. After the movie we went to New York Kitchen for pizza.

On Saturday, we went to the craft market on Buganda Road where I did some shopping for souvenirs and gifts. Afterwards we went across the street to 1000 Cups of Coffee to have an iced latte and chill out for a bit. Later in the day we went to Café Pap for lunch (fajitas), went back to the hotel to crash for a while, and then back to New York Kitchen for dinner (I had a WONDERFUL chocolate malt… not as good as Culver’s, but it did the job).

By Sunday we were pretty exhausted – it may sound pathetic, but it gets really tiring to walk all over the hot city all weekend long! So we took it easy – I went back to the craft market briefly (though most of the stalls were closed since it was Easter), and then to Café Pap where I met Suzanne for lunch. Later on we went to the grocery store to stock up on things to bring back with us (cereal, crackers, apples, instant coffee, peanuts, etc). At night, we met one of our co-workers and a few of his friends at a bar in Bugolobi, a neighborhood of Kampala. We had a really good time, though I am very out of practice as far as going out is concerned, and getting back to our hotel at 3:30 am seemed ridiculously late to me. One of the bars we went to played Weezy’s “Green and Yellow” (Packer tribute song), and though I’m sure whoever chose to play the song didn’t know about the Packers, it still made me smile. Throughout the night we talked a lot about Ugandan culture, particularly about marriage and babies. The men we were with decided that marrying an American woman is a stellar bargain – we don’t require a dowry, AND the man gets to become a US citizen, easy-peasy! JACKPOT!

On Monday morning I traveled back to Sembabule. I was able to get a matatu that went directly to Sembabule (usually I have to change vehicles in Masaka, about one hour away from Sembabule), but we had to have a tire changed AND ran out of gas, so it was an exasperatingly long trip. When I finally got back to the office, I threw my stuff on the ground, poured myself a bowl of cereal, and watched an absurd number of Glee episodes. All’s well that ends well. Overall, it was a good Easter weekend. It wasn't as wine-y as our Easter wine tour in Stellenbosch, South Africa (two years ago) or as chocolate-y as our Easter egg hunts at my Grandma's house (every other year of my life), but it was hoppy nonetheless.