But I’ll get to that.
On Friday afternoon one of the volunteers for our project, Steven, brought me to the main market so I could look around. I went knowing that I would want to buy some bananas not realizing that I would come home with $1’s worth….or 18 bananas. So to avoid turning into a monkey, I’ve been giving them out like candy canes on Christmas. Lets just say that at my guesthouse, I’m the employees’ favorite guest at the moment.
That evening Lars called saying that he had been put in touch with a girl from Denmark through a mutual friend and wanted to know if I wanted to join them (and her American roommate!!) for dinner. I of course said yes (before I found out they were going back to the Ethiopian place) and had a great time. Sarah is from Denmark and Ieasha her roommate, is from New York. They have been in Gulu since the fall so it was great to not only meet some girls around my own age but also get their perspective on life here. I learned that getting “in” with the ex-pat community here is like going back to high school and can be very exclusive. If I can survive 4 years at an all girl high school…bring it on. I also learned about some local places that I should check out and that one of the hostels even has yoga on Saturday mornings! I am definitely hoping to do that next weekend.
After sleeping in on Saturday morning, I walked around the town for about 2 hours just so I could get myself more acquainted with everything. Steven used to play soccer for Gulu district and told me that I should walk and check out their stadium. I will use the word stadium lightly for it was more of a dirt field and a few rows of concrete steps. Nonetheless it was cool to see as well as the many small villages on the way there.
View of the Gulu District Soccer Field
On my way back I stumbled across this awesome coffee shop called the Iron Donkey. It seems like one of the “ex-pat” hangouts and it had awesome wifi for me to do some data entry.
This is from inside the Iron Donkey! As you can tell it is very nice and obviously a common hangout. You can’t just go up to people and ask them why they are white though…
Saturday was definitely the hottest day I have experienced thus far and you could tell that not many people were out and about because of it. I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and made plans to get drinks with Lars, Sarah and Iesha during the evening.
Now if you ask any of my close friends or family members they will tell you that I don’t have the best luck. SO anyway I met my new friends around 9 at a near by bar. My stomach had been feeling a little off but I wasn’t going to let that ruin my first real night out in Gulu with new friends….first mistake. After drinking about a half a beer I knew something wasn’t right and then all of a sudden it was happening. I was throwing up at a Ugandan bar…with my new friends. After paying a taxi 5x the normal rate ($1.25 and totally worth it) I was home and getting acquainted with my tile bathroom floor. I have traveled to many 3rd world countries and realize that sickness is inevitable however I must say that this was probably the worst I have ever experienced. Between my high fever and 5 straight hours of vomiting (sorry for the details) it was definitely not the way I had envisioned my Saturday night. I guess I can go ahead and apologize to my mom for the email saying that I might die….Dramatic? Yes. Realistic at the time? Absolutely.
On Sunday I woke up feeling like I had the world’s worst hangover x10 and that someone had thrown me down a flight of steps. To bring everything full circle the power was out from 8am-6pm Sunday, which meant no fan, no wifi and no cold water. So next time you have a sick day…be thankful for your Netflix. I did absolutely nothing all day and read all of Gone Girl, which I really enjoyed.
Monday
I am feeling about 80% better today and even managed to eat something which is a step in the right direction.
I hope your weekend was a little more enjoyable than mine!
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