Uganda - 17 September: Kampala to Kabale

Woke at half 4 to the sounds of crickets, cockerels and what I think was the local muezzin. Out of bed properly at about 6am and at twenty to seven we went in search of the special hire (taxi in a car, as opposed to a 'matatu' - a minibus taxi which takes on and releases passengers throughout the journey), only to find that Carlos had gone to Entebbe. So - no choice other than to walk down the track and try and pick up a special hire along the road or (as it turned out) in Bugalobi, the village next to where we were staying.

7am appears to be rush hour in Kampala aned surrounds. Lots of matatu travelling along the road, distinguishing themselves primarily by tinted windscreen stickers declaring their support for e.g. Chelsea FC. Lots of 4x4s dropping children off for school. (Reminiscent of Kensington and Chelsea? Perhaps not - most cars and vehicles in Uganda seem to have some 4x4 capacity, and most appear to be made by Toyota).

We picked up a special hire in Bugalobi for 10,000 USh and got to the main Post Office by 7.30am. We bought tickets for the Post Bus to Kabale leaving at 8am, and eventuall boarded. The first two seats were taken up by big blue boxes of post, and various bags were slung underseats or in the racks above the seats. 29 seater bus. Adrian jumped out when we unexpectedly stopped at a service station and went off to buy provisions for the journey (bread - which is v.sweet in Uganda, crisps, and some Coke with which to wash down the dispersible doxycycline). The bus almost left without him until the conductor looked around and suddenly announced - aah, msungu! (to which Fi and I replied - "Yes, he's in the shop!). Apparently service stations with shops attached are a relatively new phenomenon in Uganda - at least since Fi's most recent visit in 2003/04.

Not much to report about the journey - nine hours without a meaningful stop is best accomplished by not drinking v.much at all. Lots of children waving at the bus when they see the msungu (and some v.cute small children in one of the small towns shouting 'hello msungu' when we passed). At the two major post office stops, passengers on the bus were offered an array of goods - goat kebabs, chapattis, boiled eggs, ties, socks, onions, bananas etc. etc. If Sunday was a day of excessive TV/movies, Monday was time for audio overload. I spent most of the nine hours listening to various albums/sermons on my mp3.

As we left Kampala, we passed through various streets where shops specialising in the same trade grouped together - thus we saw coffin-makers, spare parts dealers (with random lorry fronts put on the top of roofs etc). Travelling through the countryside we saw lots of barbershops, MTN and Celnet sponsored shops (mobile phone networks) and lots of "AIDS research/herbal clinics". Butchers with no visible refrigeration. Brick makers. People working in fields (bending over without bending their knees). People washing clothes by hand and spreading clothes out on bushes/in fields to dry. Lots of signs pointing to schools (boarding and day, primary and secondary) Lots of redevelopment signs stating the plans for redeveloping a certain area, who was funding, who was involved in the planning etc.

We arrived in Kabale at 5pm, could not find a special hire to take us up the v.steep hill to the White Horse Inn, and rejoiced to find a huge double bed with a box mosquito net, DSTV (with the Rugby World Cup), shower, flushing toilet and a nice bit of peace and quiet.

Interesting signs from the journey:
"Say 'No' to Sugar Daddies. Stop Cross-Generational Sex Now"
"Life can be busy with your hands full. That's why all Nokia handsets some with a Handsfree Speaker"
"The Mayor of Kampala is pleased to report that the first of 500 litter bins have been installed".
Most advertising seemed to promote alcohol.

Uganda - 15/16 September 2007

Up to Manchester on the train, bereft of mobile phone (at home) and housekeys (in the safekeeping of a trusted individual), it was faintly reminiscent of being a teenager (younger readers - in my day, we didn't have mobile phones - we kept a small amount of money on us and remembered people's phone numbers...). Thus I was most glad to see my sister waiting for me in the car park of Manchester Piccadilly.
Tombob bounded over shortly afterwards, having just moved into halls and we went off to Sainsburys to kit him out with his first serious shopping expedition. He seemed to survive this rather brutal mothering experience (strict instructions on how to tell whether meat is cooked through properly, advice on what is worth spending money on and which items are just as good in their 'sainsburys basics' options) and we dropped him off at his halls after dinner.
The minicab came at 3.45am in the morning and took us to Manchester airport. I'm not sure whether I am more disturbed that the bars/pubs in the airport are open at 4am or that they seemed to be doing a lot of business at that hour (as we were passed by people drunkenly singing on the travelator). As usual, I set off the security scanner. 4am is not the best time for me to be taking my shoes off - my fine motor skills decline with lack of sleep.
Plane to Amsterdam was half full. Sky was relatively clear - I saw the Wash as we flew over the East of England - really rather square (not that this should be a surprise to me, having watched weather reports for quarter of a century).
Schipol is the Clapham Junction of the airport world. 10 minutes after landing we were finally allowed to exit the plane. We had a little time before the main flight to Entebbe so we wandered off to find coffee and breakfast (mental brownie points awarded to self for remembering to bring some Euros). We knew we were in Europe from the fog of cigarette smoke surrounding the eating areas. Yuk. All conversations were interrupted by tannoy announcements every 2-3 minutes by a very strict sounding lady requesting that Passengers X,Y,Z proceed immediately to Gate X,Y,Z otherwise their luggage would be taken off the plane.
Yet more hand baggage security checking and ditching of water and we were allowed into a holding area before boarding the flight. Most impressed with KLM. This was my first long-haul flight and the biggest plane (2/4/2) I had flown on. The wings were enormous and the G-force on taking off quite something to behold. I spent the next 8 hours developing square eyes by watching:
Ocean's Thirteen (diverting, but not as good as 11 or 12)
2 Weeks Notice (seen before, still amusing)
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (I managed to fall asleep during this one, only to wake up and find out that Keira Knightly appeared to have usurped Chow-Yun Fat as captain of one of the ships. In any other film I would probably have tried to watch it again to work out how this might have happened, but I feel no desire so to do in this instance).
That took up most of the flight. I sat next to two Polish ladies going out to visit their brother (an RC priest working with orphaned children) and trying to communicate how to complete the arrivals card (they spoke no English, I no Polish and they only had a few phrases of Polish-English on a sheet of A4).
Entebbe airport was quite a change from Schipol. It reminded me more of the Hamburg airport which Ryanair use - everything seemed to be contained within a small marquee/warehouse (it become clearer at the end of the holiday that this was a temporary construction, probably due to CHOGM - of which, more later).
In the absence of a queue for non-residents who had already purchased a Visa, we were directed to classify ourselves as East Africans, and we passed through security (such as it was) v.quickly. We saw the first of the CHOGM posters:

"Are you ready for CHOGM?" (what's CHOGM, you ask? Well - here are some clues:

"Her Majesty the Queen,
53 Heads of State
6,500 Civil Servants"

or

"1.6 billion pairs of eyes on Uganda")

Yes - it's the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting which is being held in Uganda in November 2007. Therefore, just as Entebbe got a fresh lick of paint around the time that F last visited Uganda, Uganda (and Kampala in particular) is now getting spruced up for HMQ to visit in November. This manifested itself in a number of ways during our visit to Uganda. The airport is having a marble floor laid, major hotels in Entebbe and Kampala seem to be having 'rehabilitation' works. Most roads around Kampala have roadworks, most pavements around Parliament Avenue are being ripped up and mended, flowers are being planted by the roads.

We were picked up from the airport by a special hire driver from Red Chillis in Kampala and spent the next hour acquainting ourselves with the peculiarities of Ugandan driving, namely:
1. Always drive as fast as possible
2. Overtake at the last minute, and only when you have got sufficiently close enough to the vehicle in front to be almost touching (it makes tailgating look cautious)
3. Flash your lights repeatedly at the vehicle in front if they refuse to accede to 4. Your unspoken request to pull over so that they can overtake)
5. Don't use your lights unless it is pitch black
6. Don't use your indicator other than as a signal to vehicles behind that that is where the side of your vehicle is
7. Slow down almost to a stop to deal with the frequent road humps, and don't drive straight over them - instead, swing out into the road (often to the other side) and drive across them at an angle

Last minute faffing

It came to me, in passing, that today is the first anniversary (I think) of moving into the flat. It has gone rather quickly.

This morning started with a reminder from Feeble to take my doxycycline... which then prompted the realisation that I had been given capsules rather than dispersible tablets (not a good thing)... so, off to Sainsburys to plead with the pharmacists to give me different drugs. 20 now, will need to pick up another 30 on my return from Uganda.

Then, searching through the house to find my train/plane tickets to get me to and from Manchester.

Photocopying of passport, debit card details and itinerary. Baking of bread. Preparing to make cake. Washing of bed linen. Turning of mattress.

Some might say that I was putting off the actual packing.

I think that I've got the book list narrowed down - really I should only take 2-3 books, but (as usual) I can't narrow it down. The Bible, obviously, and my print out of Judges so that I can do some prep while on holiday. The shortlist for other books is as follows: Knowing God (Packer), Amongst God's Giants (Packer again), Desiring God / The Pleasures of God (Piper), How to Win Any Argument (logic book by Madsen Pirie), and perhaps a Judges commentary. On the other hand - I'm taking a set of sermons on Judges on my mp3, so perhaps could leave the commentary until I get home? I need to scribble all over my print outs of Judges before I actually read a commentary anyway. Perhaps yes, commentary to stay at home.

Oh, blogging probably counts as procrastination as well, doesn't it?

Recipe donation....

A contribution from a friend overseas - hello Debbie-buzz!

mint mousse

250ml milk
100g castor sugar
25g mint leaves
2 sheets gelatine
250ml whipping cream
1 teaspoon peppermint extract or equivalent

Wash leaves and snip into pieces.
Soak gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes and drain.
Whip cream until thickens.
In saucepan, bring milk and sugar to a boil, whisking all the time.
As soon as it bubbles, whisk in mint leaves.
Take pan off heat and cover with lid.
Leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
Dissolve gelatine in infused milk.
Blend to ensure mixture is smooth and strain into a bowl.
Leave to rest at room temperature.
As soon as mixture is cold but before gelatine sets, fold in whipped cream and peppermint.
Chill and serve.

Quiet Saturday, Free Presbyterian Sunday

Saturday:
Got hair cut (finally), tapas for lunch (yummy), pootle round flat (much needed), read crime thriller (far too dark - ended up having nasty unsettled dreams - must remember not to do that again).
Sunday:
Off to LCPC twice today as T was preaching. A lovely little church, singing Psalms was much fun and slightly easier than anticipated (although we appeared not to be using any of the suggested tunes). I learned how to make scrambled egg, and also decided that I never want to be parking in the NCP car park near LCPC again - dark, foreboding and very humid. Also smells like a pig shed (i.e. ammonia). Euch!

Recipe exchange

From my sister's friend Sarah:

Oat cookies



2 cups sugar

¼ cup cocoa

½ cup milk

¼ cup raisins

½ cup chunky peanut butter

1tsp vanilla essence

¼ pound marg

3 cups quick-cooking oats



1) Heat sugar, cocoa, milk, marg in a pan until it starts to boil

2) Take pan off the heat

3) Leave the mixture to cool for about 5 mins then add vanilla, peanut butter, raisins and the oats. Stir well

4) Take spoonfuls of the mixture and place on grease proof paper.

5) Leave to cool.

6) Eat and enjoy

Recipe exchange

From my sister's friend Katrina:

4 chicken breast skinned
150 g cooked easy cook rice
3 finely chopped spring onions
2 lightly beaten eggs
100g petit pois

Method

Heat a wok add vegetable oil, dice chicken and add to the wok when cooked about 5 mins, add the cooked rice then the spring onions and cook for 2 minutes, add the egg and petit pois cook for 2 minutes stirring to break up the egg.
Transfer to a dish and keep warm. serves 4.

Recipe exchange

From my sister's friend Jen:

Spanish Omelette

10oz potatoes
half an onion
5 eggs
cupful of peas (frozen is fine)
handful of spinach leaves/watercress/rocket
any other vegatables you have kicking about

Peel the potato and slice as thinly as possible, sprinkle some salt over the slices.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan, then add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, turning regularly.

Dice the onion and add to the potatoes. Cover and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the potato and onion are soft.

Lightly beat the 5 eggs in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Add the peas, leaves, and whatever other vegetables you're adding and mix in. Then add the potatoes and onion.

Heat one tablespoon of oil in the frying pan. When hot, pour in the egg mixture and immediately turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Cook for 15 minutes.

When there is hardly any liquid left on the top, put the frying pan under the grill for 5 minutes.

Serve with whatever you want, it'll serve 3 people, and it's also really nice cold the next day!

Recipe exchange

From my sister's friend Jeannie:

Carrot and Orange Soup

Melt 2 oz butter in large pan.
Stir in 3 sliced leeks and 1 lb sliced carrots. Cook 10 mins (Or if you're on a diet omit this stage with the butter!)
Pour in 2 pints chicken stock and 2 orange rind/juice.
Add 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Boil 40 mins (or 5 mins in pressure cooker)
Liquidise.
Add 2 tablespoons yogurt.

Recipe exchange

From my sister's friend Annmarie:

Mississippi Mud Pie

3oz (75g) butter
6 oz (150g) crushed digestive biscuits
9oz (250g) white marshmallows
4 tablespoons milk
10oz ( 275g) milk cooking chocolate
300 ml ( half a pint) double cream
1 small carton natural yogurt
2 tea spoons of coffee dissolved in 1 table spoon of boiling water

Topping
150 ml (quarter of a pint) double cream, whipped
1oz (25g) chocolate, grated

Method

Melt the butter and mix with the crushed digestives. Press into the
bottom of a 20 cm baking tray or dish.

Put marshmallows in pan with milk over a gentle heat and stir until
melted. Leave to cool.

Melt the chocolate.

Whip the cream and then fold in the yogurt, melted chocolate,
marshmallow mix and the coffee. Blend until well mixed. Spread over
the base of digestives and leave to set.

Decorate the top with the left over whipped cream and grated chocolate.

Recipe exchange

From my sister's friend Karen

An Indian dish, but not too spicy.

Aromatic Yoghurt Chicken

Ingredients:
Diced chicken breast
Plain yoghurt (1/2 large tub for 2-3 people)
Garlic (2 - 4 cloves)
1 tsp ginger
1 onion
mild chillis (1 or 2)
4 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garam masala (don't miss this out, it's very important for the flavour and aroma)
A shake of chilli powder

Method:
Blend crushed and ground garlic and ginger into yoghurt.
Add spices.
Toss chicken pieces in yoghurt mixture.
Fry chicken until til cooked through.
Meanwhile, fry chopped chillis and chopped onion in a seperate pan.
Towards the end of cooking, add chillis and onion to chicken.
Finish cooking ad serve with rice or cous cous.

(If you misjudge the chillis and it ends up too hot, stir in some more yoghurt or some creme fraiche.)

Recipe exchange

From my sister's brother-in-law

Mango and Avocado Chicken (serves 4):

4 large chicken breasts (cut into strips)
4 Tbsp mild mango chutney
2 fresh firm ripe mangoes (chopped into bite-sized pieces)
2 fresh firm ripe avocados (")
1 Tbsp groundnut oil or olive oil
Salt & pepper to season.

Put chicken in bowl with mango chutney & leave to marinate fro 10 mins
(ensuring chicken is well coated). Heat wok, add oil. When oil starts to
smoke, add chicken and marinade, stir-fry until chicken is cooked through.
Add mango pieces, stir fry for 2-3mins (until slightly softened & heated
through). Add avocado and stir carefully for 2 mins (until heated through
but still firm). Season to taste. Serve with rice or noodles.

Granny's Pizza

Feeble has supplied her twist on Granny's Pizza .... as follows (distinctly un-Italian):

1 portion of pizza dough from bread machine (or batch of bread made from 'just add water' packet) - preferably wholemeal/brown.
2 tins of chopped tomatos
tomato puree
tablespoon of black treacle
dessertspoon of sugar
dried/fresh herbs (mixed or just basil)
1 large chopped onion
tablespoon of olive oil
pizza toppings of your choice (I suggest bacon, plus or minus pineapple)
plenty of grated cheese (again your choice, or mixture of two or three)

make pizza dough, leave to rise.

in the meantime get a large frying pan and heat the olive oil before adding the onions.
Stir and heat until softened and beginning to turn brown.
Add both tins of tomatoes and a liberal squirt of tomato puree. stir.
add treacle and sugar. stir.
simmer down into thick sauce.
Add herbs.

cook bacon/prepare toppings separately as necessary.

beat dough back and stretch to fill a suitable tray (I suggest a 10-12" round aerated pizza cooking tray). leave to rise. To ensure a nice crispy base at the end of cooking, make sure the dough is as thin as possibly, especialy centrally, with a thicker crust around the edges.

Once ready, spread a thick layer of the tomato mixture over the base, and then the chosen toppings and then the chesse (more toppings on top as you see fit).

Place in oven and cook at gas 7/220C/425F for 15-20 minutes until the crust is browned and the cheese is beginning to go crispy and brown. Serve.

The main thing with this is that you can throw what you like on it and make it your own. It is nice hot or cold. The tomato sauce is an easy and cheap one to make, but the treacle adds a little more richness than normal sauces. Sundried tomatos add even more flavour. Making this reminds me of farmhouse teas at Granny's and is a good filling, comfort-type food.

Notes on Hebrews 1

Hebrews 1
I had forgotten how incredibly dense the first few verses are: there is so much to learn and wonder at.

1Long ago, at many times and(A) in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but(B) in these last days(C) he has spoken to us by(D) his Son, whom he appointed(E) the heir of all things,(F) through whom also he created(G) the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and(H) the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.(I) After making purification for sins,(J) he sat down(K) at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name(L) he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

We see that Jesus
- is appointed the heir of all things
- was the Person through Whom God created the world
- radiates God's glory
- is the exact imprint of His nature
- upholds the universe by His Word
- made purification for sins
- is seated in honour

Random thoughts occurring:
This reminds me a lot of Colossians (without looking up the verses - but all from Chapter 1 of Colossians, through which I am working slowly with the Hellenists) - Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the world created through Him, all things reconciled to Himself by His blood (there's a long string of genitives in the Gk - note to self).
In terms of time, Jesus is is active in the past, present and future. God created the world through Him. Jesus is the heir of all things, and now he upholds the universe.
Surprised is not really quite the right word, but it is the best that I can think of with this rather foggy brain: in some ways it is a bit of a shock/surprise to realise that Jesus upholds the universe (and thus continues to uphold the universe). There's a risk, I suppose, that if I think of Romans 8 (creation groaning, awaiting the revelation of the sons of God - again - quoting from memory, which is never the most reliable way of doing it) I'm inclined to think that God created the world, gave it over (Romans 1) to the effects of mankind's rejection of God's rule, and that's that (while God is still sovereign, and in control over all that happens in this world). V3b reminds me that he continues to uphold the universe (to be fair, this is the logical extension of God's sovereignty - really just my ropey skills of logic which make this seem a little surprising) reminds me also that he upholds it while people continue to sin. This then makes me think of God's greater plan for His glory - insofar as this creation will continue until just the right moment.

That's really not terribly well expressed at all, but at least now I have written it down I can play around with it a little.

Shropshire and Withersfest: 1-2 September 2007

Another busy weekend.

Friday - to Oxted with work (2 hour round trip in the car with a meeting in the middle). Back to London to work from home in the afternoon, with a view to leaving London relatively early to avoid rush hour traffic. Best laid plans etc. .. as we didn't end up leaving until about 8pm. Got to Shropshire (M25, M40, wiggling by Kidderminster) about midnight, where a warm welcome and supper awaited.

Saturday was quiet. I managed to read through "Total Church" which was thought-provoking. Selected excerpts and overall review to follow when I get the book back. Highley in Shropshire is simply beautiful. We went for a walk down to the river and also saw the effects of the flooding on the Severn Valley Railway (tracks washed away). Then from Shropshire down to Gloucestershire to the usual raucous household - all still up, whipped into a frenzy by the addition of a couple of small children visiting. Hannah informed us that Joe announced "Cheeese. Us" when he got into the paddling pool the other day, as this is also what Daddy says. Quite amusing. As Fiona said - as long as it stays "Cheeeese. Us", and doesn't alter, perhaps npt *too* bad. Clearly the link between those syllables and 'the baby Jesus' has not quite been drawn. Over to Lapley to sleep.

Sunday started quietly, then became very, very busy. Church was busy in the morning as there was a baptism. However, the addition of two rather strong voices (as we sidled in slightly late) was enough to be quite audible, and so I cut the volume down to half. Dashed from church to Arlingham to find Withersfest having been set up already. Two large tents from www.partytent.co.uk had been erected on the lawn, with a separate food and drinks tent from the seating area. Aunty Sally, Aunty Maureen and Hannah had all been happily baking (and GW as well I think). A good traditional farmhouse spread for starters (meat, quiche, cold sausages, liver wrapped in bacon etc.), many puddings (about seven) for afters. Snippets of conversation as follows:
"Who's Ken, Granny?" - "Oh, he's my boyfriend!" (most amusing)
"No Debbuh, I don't like ham. I don't like sausages, they are a bit spicy on my tongue. I like salad" (If it weren't for other obvious signs of being a member of the family, I would wonder).
After food, french cricket. A little wrestling with my brother showed that I am just too old/out-of-condition to compete. All the young men of the family became quite accustomed at leaping over the brick wall to retrieve the ball. At one point the ball disappeared into the covered gazebo. This cued a delicate rescue operation, involving Victoria (as the smallest and lightest) and Simon (as the rock climber) perching on, respectively, the gazebo, and a small gate brought round for the purpose.
After french cricket, Dad went off to go and help Rupert the haulier sort some bales out near Stonehouse (they had fallen off the trailer) and the assorted children, grandkids and assorted husbands, girlfriends and suitor went up to the field (on a straw bale on the back of a trailer towed by a tractor) to practice some clay-pigeon shooting. It was all a bit too loud for me, and I didn't want to risk damaging my shoulder, so I sat out (there will always be another time). Fi was in her element when she eventually got a go - 7 clays fell to her steely gaze, and she is now exhorting Tom to teach her to shoot rabbits. Simon was particularly good as well. Joe spent most of the time dashing in and out of the tractor pretending to drive it to the caravan park and on the motorway. Charlotte took a small party up to the next field to see the conservation area (4 ponds, with 3 Canada geese and a flock of ducks happily ensconced).
After clay-pigeon shooting, back for cake and scones and cheese and biscuits. Then Fi and Adrian left for Manchester (having relieved me of the bamboo chair I had carried in the back of the car from Catford), Simon and Charlie for Guildford and Duncan and Kat to Cardiff. On the way back to Lapley we came across 8 Aberdeen Angus steers who had managed to bypass the 'ladder slung across gap as gate' and had got out into the road. Rather than call the police (as one motorist suggested, having tried the farm and found no-one in), I called Dad, who called various suspects. Five minutes later 3 cars converged on the area to herd the cattle. They were last seen trampling over the farmhouse lawn (which we took as a cue to depart). Finally, a little peace and quiet over the weekend.
Left bright and early (8am) to drive to Reading, and then left Reading at 6pm after work. Home at 8pm. Exhausted, but a great weekend.