I have finally managed to upload some pictures for the last few entries. Enjoy!
Feel free to leave comments too.

Wedding bells!

Today I went to a Rwandan ‘pre’ wedding ceremony which was so much fun! I didn’t know either the bride or groom but I was invited by a colleague. An American, my partner in crime for the last two weeks, was also invited but was moving on to another part of Rwanda today for the next 4 weeks so couldn’t go. I decided it was an opportunity not to be missed so put on my prettiest clothes I have with me and off I went for an adventure. There was another colleague going so he helpfully took me along with him. The event was at a house. There were marquees in the garden and chairs in every available space. We arrived about an hour late- by no means the last, and the speeches had begun. There were several more speeches followed by the discussion of the bride price during which the men went out to the choose cows and 2 were brought back into the middle of the ceremony! There was then lots of traditional singing and dancing, then more speeches and finally the arrival of the groom then the bride. There was a short ceremony between the couple then they sat in ‘thrones’ surrounded by their equivalent of bridesmaids and ushers (I think) and various gifts were given to members of each family. The bride looked stunning in a leopard print dress but nearly fell over at one point when she tried to dance! Many of the guests were in traditional dress with beautiful materials. I think the celebrations for the immediate families would continue late into the night after we left.

The world of milk

I’m not a big milk drinker so have survived on powdered milk for cooking and baking but whilst I’ve had other people living with me we’ve had a daily delivery of fresh milk. And I mean fresh – straight from the cow. The first thing that needs to happen is the milk needs to be pasteurised, luckily it is very easy to do in my neighbours’ microwave. Then it needs to be left to cool before the think layer of cream is removed from the top and kept separately – in Africa nothing is wasted, before it is ready to be used or drunk.

I have discovered the variety of other products which can be made from milk, with the help and wisdom of my neighbour.

Yogurt was my first success- with only milk, a teaspoon of yoghurt, some warm water and blankets. And with a teaspoon from that batch you can then continue to make more.

One yoghurt attempt failed and turned into sour milk which I am now planning to use to make banana bread or sour bread. Another attempt didn’t quite work out either, turning into lumpy cottage cheese but it didn’t go to waste as I hung it in an old handkerchief over night and woke up to cream cheese. Yummy!

The cream hasn’t gone to waste either. Some of it has been enjoyed by others with fruit or pancakes but once a good amount has been collected my houseworker painstakingly spends a morning churning it in a little pot to produce butter.

Now I just need to figure out if it is possible to make ice cream!

Gandering in Uganda Part 3

On Thursday afternoon I returned to the madness of Kampala and found my hotel without being hassled too often. I enjoyed the luxury of a TV (my first encounter since I arrived) and a hot shower – I had 4 in 48 hours!

Kampala is a very busy, dirty and scruffy city. The streets are packed with minibus taxis not going anywhere fast, boda bodas – the Ugandan equivalent of motos, although they don’t wear helmets, people cooking and selling food, market stalls and people walking as they’d decided it would be quicker than going by taxi!

The next day I decided to escape the craziness for a short time and visited Entebbe on the shore of lake Victoria but the rain curtailed my visit. Back in Kampala I met up with some friends and headed for the very western shopping mall and craft market.

Early on Saturday morning I made my way to the bus terminal to start the 8-9 hour coach journey back to Kigali. It was a little more spacious and comfortable than my journey from Rwanda but less than an hour out of Kampala we were held up for over an hour and a half as a tanker had over turned and set on fire across the road. Fortunately (we were told) there were no casualties. I finally arrived in Kigali at 7pm, 11 hours after setting off, exhausted.

Gandering in Uganda Part 2

The following day was another long day of travelling. I got on a bus to leave Mbarara at 8am but sat for an hour as it slowly filled up with people and their (live) chickens before setting off to Kampala. At one point along the way we stopped and what seemed like hundreds of people, all in white coats, swarmed the bus selling food and drinks at the coach windows including cooked bananas, sweet potatoes chapattis and chicken kebabs. At 2pm we made it to Kampala. I managed to negotiate the bustling streets to the ‘new’ taxi park which is a sea of white minibuses as far as you can see and found a minibus taxi to Luwero – part of the way to where I was hoping to get to. In Luwero I changed minibus taxis to the most dilapidated taxi I have been in so far! The whole vehicle smelt of fish – I’m not sure if all the sacks pilled up in the back had fish in or whether it was a lingering smell, I sat next to 3 crates full of beer that rattled the whole was as the journey was on dirt roads. The fold down seat had to propped on a sack to keep in upright, the drivers seat kept tipping forwards and all the doors needed at least 2 attempts to shut properly. When it was full and ready to set of we needed a push start! But I did survive the 30 minute journey to Kiwoko hospital.

Again I spent a day at the hospital with the physios. It had a different feel from the previous one – smaller and more of a community feel.

Gandering in Uganda Part 1

Last week I spent the week on a ‘tour of hospitals in Uganda’. It started with a very early departure but the bus did pick me up from the bottom of the hill. I had a five hour journey to Mbarara in Uganda – including an hour to cross the border which was an interesting experience. There were no signs or people anywhere explaining where to go and what to do and it felt more by luck than judgement that all the passengers were back on the bus before it left. I arrived in Mbarara and discovered my phone wasn’t working so had no way of contacting the person I was staying with. Finally a Ugandan offered me their phone, for which I paid him in Rwandan Francs!

I experienced the culinary highlights of Mbarara, first going to a newly opened ice cream parlour and in the evening going to an American couple’s house for dinner where the menu was pop corn, pizza, watermelon and homemade ice cream and chocolate sauce. Definitely too many treats in one day – I was overwhelmed.

I spent Monday at Mbarara university hospital in the physiotherapy department. It was a really interesting day and saw some not so pleasant things. In the evening we went out for a meal of Pork kebabs and chips.