Greetings from Uganda!

Uganda

Well, it took an 8-hour plane ride from Atlanta to Amsterdam, another 8-hour flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda, and an 8-hour drive from Entebbe to Rukungiri, but my team and I arrived at our house for the month on Friday morning! Here are some things I've learned about Uganda in the past couple of days.

Weather

Right now, the weather in Uganda is beautiful. They have a dry season and a rainy season. The rainy season begins in October and lasts until December. Right now, it feels like the beginning of fall in Pennsylvania. It gets the hottest in June – up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest it ever gets is between 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit, which feels very cold to Ugandans!

Scenery

When we go out driving, we see lots of mountains. They are different than the ones in Wyalusing because not all of them are covered with trees. We also see a lot of banana trees, cows, and goats.

Language

Most (but not all) of the people I've met speak English. They also speak a language called Runyankole runkiga in southwest Uganda. Here are some important words and what they mean:

Webale munanga (way-bah-lay moo-non-gah) – Thank you so much

Agandi (Ah-gahn-dee) – Hello, how are you?

Ndyaho (Dee-ow) - Fine

Apana (Uh-pah-nah) – No

Ego (like Eggo waffles) – Yes

Food

For our first dinner, we went to a restaurant and got chicken broth, rice, and sweet potatoes and mixed them together to make a delicious soup. We also got a dish called chapat, which is basically like a flour tortilla. There is also a popular food called matoke, which is sort of like a potato combined with a banana. They sell peanut butter at the general store, but is much cheaper to buy G-nut paste, which is also made from peanuts and has a similar taste.

If you have questions, please write them in the comments below!

Miss Jacobs

PS Internet here is pretty slow, but I will try to post some pictures when I can!