Hello again,

It seems like a million things have happened since I last wrote but I think it was actually only about 2 days... hmm... where to start?

Well Friday was pretty boring during the day. Mostly just going over SIT policies, group norms, and stuff like that. After all that running around, it was a nice break. Then, at night it was my roommate's 21st birthday and the R. Kelly concert, so it was a good thing we had saved up our energy. The R. Kelly concert was crazzzzzzzy. So different from any concert in the US. We got there about an hour ahead of time and the line was literally wrapped around the entire cricket stadium. Most Ugandans are really nice, so we spent our time in line practicing Lugandan (which I am HORRIBLE at. I think I am speaking with a slight Spanish/ slight Southern accent, so nobody can understand the few words I know) and trading stories. We also met a group of Peace Corps people who were incredibly pretentious and were extremely rude to the program assistant who went with us. (Disclaimer: this is nothing against the Peace Corps. I love the Peace Corps. I was just shocked that this was how these particular Peace Corp people were behaving towards us and the Ugandans.) Anyways, so we are almost at the front of the line and a police officer comes over and offers to take us to the front of the line. When we get there, he basically says, "now can you help me out a little bit," asking for a bribe. So we're all scrambling around to find money (nobody brought any b/c it would get stolen) and we ask how much he wants and he says 2000 shillings, which is like one dollar.

Getting into the stadium took a lot of physical strength. Instead of a nice line, there was just a huge pack of people creating a bottleneck and shoving each other to get through the gate because R Kelly had just started playing. We finally get through, find everybody else, and have a group hug. Then, some Ugandan guy offers to help us find our way down to the crowd, so we follow a bunch of other people ducking under a bar at the top of the stadium and then go down amphitheater seats (ie steep and tall stairs) all the way to the field, where there is just a huge mob of people. I'm not really sure where the paid seats were cuz it pretty much seemed like every man for himself. The entire cricket field and seats were packed to the brim. People were literally sitting with their feet dangling out the windows of the boxes.

R Kelly played for about an hour, with no song lasting more than 2 minutes. This was the most expensive concert Uganda has ever had and he played for ONE HOUR. So not that I really liked R Kelly in the first place (music or personal life) but I am really not a fan of his now (despite the excellence of I Believe I can Fly and Ignition Remix). Getting out of the stadium was... well... possibly one of the most adrenaline pumping experiences I've ever had. I had enough trouble getting it, but getting out at the exact same time as everyone else with virtually no security or crowd control was somewhat terrifying. Imagine being pushed by a mass of people while trying to dodge the random fire pits created by sausage vendors. I'll spare you the details though, since we all did in fact make it out alive. Liability issues are clearly not nearly as pressing anywhere in Uganda as in the US.

Speaking of which, I read in the Ugandan newspaper that the country is 2nd only to Ethiopia worldwide in traffic fatalities. (sorry mom and dad. I promise I am not trying to give you a heart attack) Don't worry though because most of those result from Boda Bodas, which are these crazy small motocycles that are like taxis but have no traffic rules (there are no traffic lights and few traffic signs here). We had to sign a paper saying that we would ride the Boda Bodas though or drive at all. Or skydive, bungee jump, hang glide, or white water raft. Bummer.

Ok. Running out of time so this next part is gonna go faster:

Yesterday we went to the head of the Nile, which was incredible. Pictures are hopefully coming soon. Also saw the big dam they have right past the head, but dont have pictures of that for security reasons.

Found out a little more about my homestay family. They have 8 kids, 5 of whom are above age 18 so idk if they still live at home. The family has hosted SIT students 12 times already so i think they are going to be good. Also, they live like 2 blocks from the place where we normally have class, so that means I'll skip the 1-2 hour commute that many students have (yay sleep!). I go to the family later today though so I'll let you know more then.

Thank you so much to everybody commenting on my posts! I always look forward to hearing from you. I miss you all!

Best
Lily