taxis smog and jet lag.

good things and bad things.

good thing: I exchanged my money - $144 USD - to Ugandan shillings the night I got here, and I never counted what they gave me. I realized I had a ton of money in my wallet later yesterday, so I counted out and determined they had originally given me around 360,000 Ugandan shillings for my 144 dollars. That was a very bad mistake on their part. I basically made the equivalent of almost $200 US dollars by accident! Isnt that awesome?!!???

bad thing: the smog here is horrendous. you can chew the air. the traffic is worse than the smog. the drivers IN the traffic are the worst of all. i have to close my eyes in the taxis because i could literally breathe on the car next to mine its so close. only a few taxis have seatbelts and there is a thick coat of dirt on the seats since the windows are always open.

good thing: had an amazing Indian dinner last night (thanks to Lonely Planet) with my friend Joe (who is the next good thing). Had a masala dosa and naan, he had a curry and we both had a couple "Nile Special" beers which are lagers. They're decent. The entire meal cost about 17,000 shillings. That's about 9 US dollars TOTAL. isn't that awesome?!

good thing: Joe!!! My american friend from wisconsin who is on my program and also arrived early. I've been going every where with him and he is my body guard. We get along great and its SO great having a guy around. It's just not wise for a western girl to walk around here alone. .. its been such a blessing.

good thing: Joe and I went to a janky bar Al's Bar last night and played foosball and pool and had cheap beer - the Nile Special and Bell Lager. The bell lager kinda tastes like lager that someone threw a bunch of coins into i cant explain it, it was metallic tasting...but we had fun and killed time.

bad thing: At Al's Bar, besides a few other expats, I was the only female non-prostitute there. that is to say... every single african woman there was a prostitute. Culturally, ugandan women don't go to bars... unless they are prostitutes. its really sad to observe. some of the girls look fourteen, but i imagine theyve been working that job since twelve. there were so many prostitutes and so little demand for them. much like most things here: tons of taxi drivers but not enough demand for them. everyone is desperate to work. :(

good thing: Joe and I looked like a couple being two westerners, boy and girl. it worked in our favor because a) joe doesnt get hit on by the pushy prostitutes and b) i dont get hit on by the ugandan men. so everyone's happy... especially matt! :-)

guess thats it for now:) i'm really nervous to teach english next week so im going to go do some preparation. im really excited to get out of the city. they call the region where i'm going the "new zealand of uganda" (matt will appreciate that). i guess its absolutely beautiful. love and miss you all.
Love,
Suz