Some pictures from Uganda

A week after...

I miss african tea. I am looking online now to figure out how to make it. It doesn't seem that hard, but it does need to contain the correct amount of certain ingredients. Here is some things that I have found online (and there isn't much):

First, I mix (full fat) milk and water in a pot in a 1-to-1 ratio. Some like to have more milk than this in their tea for a creamier taste (yummy!  ), while others prefer to have more water in their tea so that it’s thirst-quenching (not so yummy  ). A 1-to-1 ratio is the balance I have learned to strike between having very milky tea, which can be quite calorific, and tea that’s too watery, which is just not delicious. Once mixed, I place my pot on a stove and bring to a boil.

While my milk-and-water mixture is heating up, I walk into my garden and pick a few leaves of lemongrass which I then wash and crumple into the mixture. I love spicing my tea with lemongrass! (Maybe that’s what got me addicted in the first place.) Other spices commonly used in African Tea are ginger (fresh or ground) and Tea Masala (which I like a lot too). Once spiced, I let the mixture come to a boil while keeping close watch so that it does not boil over.

I then switch off the heat from my mixture in preparation of adding tea leaves to it. According to my mother, boiling tea leaves affects their taste negatively. (After many years of not believing her, I now know exactly what she means.  ) I then add tea leaves to the mixture, adding one teaspoon of loose tea leaves or one tea bag per cup of mixture. This measure has served me well for the most part but may need to be varied depending on the type and strength of tea being used. I then let my tea brew covered for a minute or two.

If I used loose tea leaves, I then proceed to sieve my tea into a flask; if not, I pour my tea directly into a flask without sieving (which is why I prefer to use tea bags instead of loose tea  ). Et voilà! My tea is ready for consumption. All that is needed past this point is adding sugar to taste.

I then found another simpler one that can probably changed easily and added to (it doesn't call for ginger, but I am sure it can be easily added) Here it is:

Ingredients

• 6 cups water
• 7 teaspoons tea leaves
• 6 cups milk
• 10-15 teaspoons sugar

Directions

1. 1

   Heat together water and tea leaves in a 3 to 4 quart saucepan.

2. 2

   Boil 10 minutes. Add milk and heat to near boiling. Strain leaves. Add sugar to taste.

Out of both of these recipes I am sure that I can figure out a way to make a proper cup of african tea just like the ones that I had in Uganda.

Now all I have to do is try and catch up with my blog posts since I was  unable to post much in Uganda due to very slow or non existent internet connection.

Until then...

Last Day in Uganda

Today is our last day in Uganda. We have the morning off and then we pack te van and go towards Entebbe stopping at the wildlife reserve on the way. Our flight leaves at 12:35am to London, Heathrow.

I will write more thorough descriptions on this trip when I get better internet connection (the internet works on and off here).

See you all in the States!

Finally Updating

I finally have some sort of internet connection. It is hard to load pictures here because it takes a really long time, so I am going to load pictures when I have a faster internet connection when I get back to the states.

Yesterday we went to Jinja which is about an hour out of Kampala. There is where were the Nile is. We first went to Bugali Falls, which is more like water rapids. It was beautiful. After that we had lunch by the Nile at a very fancy resort. It was so pretty, and we even got to hang with some monkeys who tried to steal our lunch.

After lunch we went to the source of the Nile. We took a boat ride down the river to where it meets lake Victoria and where the springs underneath the water bubble up. There was a small little island there where we parked the boat and just walked around. WE saw some birds and lizards along the way. I took a rock as a souvenir.

We then came back to the hotel passing all the little villages on the way. Jinja is a very beautiful place, and somewhere that people should see once in their lives.

If possibly there is internet connection tonight, I will try to load picture, but very unlikely.

Tonight we are going to dinner and to see a performance. We are also going to the Kasubi Tombs.

Let's hope I can update tonight!

Moving Hotels

WE are moving out of the guest house at Makerere University, and to the Fang Fang Hotel after dancing this morning.

I will update more when I move to the new space...

Dancing

For the past couple of days I have been dancing like a maniac learning traditional Ugandan dance. We are also learning drumming on the drums that were made for us and we get to bring home.

We got to explore the city a lot, and even though it is a pretty dirty city, the people are very friendly and happy. We got to see the children's dance group called "The spirit of Uganda," and they travel the U.S. on a  3 month tour. It was very commercial but the audience loved it.

Tonight we did a walking tour of the city with our Ugandan counter parts, it is very interesting to walk the city at night and see the surroundings. There are a lot of poor people here which was very sad. There were very young children on the street begging for money... it was very sad.

We ended up eating in the market down the hill from us. It was very interesting, but the food was delicious and simple.

I promise that one of these days I will get time to load some pictures.
Now off to bed.

Dance Day

Yesterday was nice and easy. WE walked around the campus and met a lot of locals, and children. Everyone seems to be happy and smiling. We saw beautiful cranes swooping around and a lively church service up the hill.

We went to their local mall where we got some essentials like bottled water, food, and of course wine. We later went to an Indian restaurant and had some great indian food.

Today we are going to take our first african dance class of the week, and will also be learning drumming. I believe afterwards we are going to a museum, and then we have our welcoming dinner that was canceled yesterday by a mix up.

I hope to upload pictures later tonight, but it has been tricky getting on the internet.

Until then....

In Uganda!

I made it to Kampala Uganda! We got in late last night, and besides the cold shower and the hot night under the mosquito net, it was great. Since we got in so late we didn't get to see much of the city. We are going to explore the city today and then head to a welcoming dinner at 5pm.

I am very excited to explore this city and this country. It smells like earth the moment you step outside, and the sun is bright and hot.

I will post more pictures from London and Uganda, probably tomorrow morning.

Until then....

Waiting for my flight

Sitting in Heathrow waiting for my flight to Africa. So far so good. Met up with all my fellow classmates, we are missing a few but maybe they will be here soon.

Now it is time to get ready for an 8 hour flight woohoo!

See you in Uganda...

London Day 3-5

I have been too busy walking around all day everyday, to enter into my blog.

Day 3

On Wednesday, Rebecca and I went to The Natural History Museum. It was huge and beautiful, but
full of kids and strollers. We had to wait in a really long queue to even get inside, and then another queue to see the dinosaur area. Although it was beautiful and held a lot of interesting information, it is definitely a place for children more so then adults. I did get to see a huge fetus though.

From there we went to the British Museum, which is also very beautiful. It has an amazing Egyptology wing! It blows the MET out of the water in that department. All the artifacts they have are amazing. I even got to see the mummy of Cleopatra. The museum is massive, and is easy to get lost in. It is definitely something to check out whenever you are in London.

After that we headed over to the South Bank where we walked along the Thames and saw The Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe Theater, and the Millennium Bridge (yes the one that gets blown up in the Harry Potter movie). After all that walking we ended up in a posh pub with some hot chocolate and mulled wine. We had an amazing dinner at a friend and colleague's house of Rebecca's father. He has an amazing view of the Thames and made an amazing 5 course vegetarian dinner with lots of wine and spirits.

Day 4

Thursday I headed out on my own to hit up the three museums that cost a good amount of cash to get into. I started at the Westminster Abbey where I got to see the graves of Henry VIII, Jane Seymore, Elizabeth I, and Mary I, among others. I also got to see the amazing architecture inside, and all the little hidden alcoves and rooms. It is a site to see.

I then headed to Tower of London. I started out with a tour by a Yeoman Warden. It was a bit kitschy but it was informational. The tour was great because we got to go into the chapel where Anne Boleyn, and Thomas More were later buried (this chapel is only open if you go on the tour). I then went into the castle that held the crowned jewels of England. There was some serious bling bling in there. It was very awesome to see crowns and scepters that close up. I got lucky though because on my way out there was a line wrapped around the Tower grounds to see the crowned jewels. I then got to see the exhibit "Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill." It was interesting to see his armor get wider and wider as he got wider and wider. I also got to see the tools they used to torture prisoners and to rip their limbs apart until they confessed. It took me two hours to go through the tower and I am sure I didn't see everything.

I then headed to St. Paul's Cathedral with its beautiful dome. This church is right up there with the Vatican in beauty. I climbed the 265 steps to the dome to get a closer look at the mosaics on the ceiling, and then I climbed hundreds more to get to the outside of the dome to see the sprawling view of London. It was amazing to see how big and spread out London really is. I climbed about 500 steps that day, but it was worth it.

I ended my night of exploring at Harrod's (basically the Bloomingdale's of London). It was definitely a scene. But I had to see it.

And then it was New Years Eve which Rebecca and I spent just chilling out and having some Bailey's Irish Cream as we watched the fireworks over the London Eye.

Day 5

Today was very chill. I saw Buckingham Palace, Keningston Palace, Regents Park and Abbey Road (where the Beatles recorded their Album of the same name).  I also walked around Leicster Sq. and Covent Gardens a bit more, and stopped in for some traditional savory British meat pie. Believe it or not it was pretty good, and it was topped with some "Mash." I am calling it an early night, so I can prepare to leave London tomorrow for Uganda.

I will upload some pictures from London later on tonight.... until Africa.....