We go, we go...

"We go, we go. Uganda Cranes, we go!"

This was the song that was played over and over again while I attended my first Uganda Cranes Football (soccer) match. I was invited by a friend from grad school, Shirley, who lives in Jinja (about an hour drive away from me). Shirley has been here since January and we finally got to hang out this past Saturday with her two Ugandan sons at the Uganda versus Zambia match.

The atmosphere was really great. Everyone was wearing their Uganda Cranes jersey (I say about 90 percent of people wore jerseys) in either black, yellow, red, or white. Getting close to the Mandela National Stadium was full of people showing their support of Uganda against Zambia for the qualify match to go to the World Cup. Walking to the stadium was loud. Music was playing, vuvuzelas echoed in my ears as the beat of drummers made everyone dance. Vendors laid their goods on the ground selling flags and anything with the Ugandan colors on it to people walking by. When we finally got the game, I was anxious for the match to commence.

I've been to soccer games before in the States, but nothing compares to going to one in Uganda... and maybe Africa for that fact. There were fans who wore things that made me realize that there are people in Uganda who are not as conservative as I thought. Men wearing tights with mess tops, but still wearing Ugandan colors. Someone dressed in something that looked like an Ewok costume adorned in Ugandan colors. Three guys had their whole body painted and ran along the outside of the field cheering on the crowd. What made this match different from the ones in the States is how long Ugandans celebrated when the scored a goal. 10 minutes of celebration. I'm not lying. Everyone was high-fiving and hugging each other, while others were dancing. In the end, Uganda won the regular time, but because Uganda and Zambia were tied in their points to qualify for the world cup, they had to do a shoot out and Uganda lost. The mood turned very silent once they lost like their was never a game that took place, and people left disappointed. Even though it would have been nice to win, I was happy to be part of the experience.

Here are some pictures below...

Shirley and I before the match

Mandela National Stadium

Shirley's son Nasser after he got his forehead painted with Ugandan colors

Ronny (Shirley's other son), Shirley and Nasser

Walking to the match

Before the match started

The crowd

A fan... a little different eh?

The other side of the stadium

My only instrument of making a loud noise was a whistle... I'm okay with that 

The fight song. 

Uganda @ 50

When I moved back to Seattle in July of 2009 I went to church and heard a sermon on Jeremiah 29. Three years later I still remember what the sermon was about: making your temporary location your home. The first part of the chapter God tells Israelites that they are to make their home in Babylon even though it was to be a temporary place. “And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace” (Jeremiah 29:7).  The sermon and this verse has never ring more true than it has today.

October 9, 2012 is Uganda’s 50^th Independence Day. This day marked a day off for me. My goal was to go into the city, Kampala, to hang out with a friend and see how the city is celebrating “Uganda @ 50” (signs seriously do say this phrase around the country). I’m starting to learn that in Africa things don’t turn out as plan. I’m doing my best to go with the flow.

The day started off with the students hosting a pancake breakfast for the Ugandan students who live with us in the dorms.

Joan (my Kenyan neighbor) and I 

Posing with some of the students 

Mark and I

Mark is a student that I have come to know while being in Uganda. He is energetic and has a great spirit. He wanted to take a picture with me because I was wearing my Ugandan football jersey and, to him, I looked so U.G. (Ugandan). After the breakfast was over I went to my room to grab some money and headed up to meet a girl in the dorm next to me. On the way to the dorm, Mark passed by me and said he has been meaning to give me something. He took off this necklace he was wearing that was adorned in Rwanda’s former country colors with a charm on it that said “Friends.” He said I am his good friend here and he wanted me to have it. It was really kind of him to give me the necklace. To know that our friendship meant a lot to him was great. I don’t think I necessarily feel the same, but I really appreciated the sentiment.  

The reason I grabbed money was to head to Mukono’s Tuesday Market with a Ugandan student named Martha. This market consisted of vendors laying down their individual tarps on the ground and throw piles of clothes on them. Basically Martha and I dug through the clothes to find what we wanted. You don’t ask about a different size or color. You just hope that what you pick up is what you want. I searched the market literally high and low for linen pants. In the end I found what I wanted, plus more. Two pairs of linen pants, one pair of brown dress pants, a gray skirt, and two summertime dresses for 30,000 shillings… roughly around $12. I was happy about my finds, but mostly I was happy to be hanging out with Martha. Martha is really easy to chat with and really down to earth. Also, it is not a stretch to be her friend. It is really natural.

So I head back to my room to try on my clothes since that was not really possible at the market and one of the students hands me a group of letter. All of the letter (7 in all) were from students writing to me saying how much they appreciate me. Talk about making my week. I decided to put them up on my wall.

While I was putting up my letters I realized how I haven’t decorated my room. I generally don’t like to decorate my room since I’m a nomad and constantly moving. Yet Jeremiah 29 popped up in my mind. Uganda is my home; I need to start making this place feel like my home. So I finally put up some pictures. I have a wall of letters from students and from home, a Seattle wall; strangely a couple’s wall which consist of pictures of couple, and right near where I lay down my head is are pictures of my family (Vika don’t worry, you have your spot too!).

I miss Seattle; I miss my various homes in the States. Even though I am enjoying my time here, but I am anxious to leave in June to visit (or move back). I’ve realized that I never enjoy being settled in one place for too long. This time in Uganda is flying by really fast and if I don’t embrace my time here I am going to regret it. Uganda @ 50 means more than just 50 years of independence. In the Bible 50 years signifies the year of Jubilee. Basically it means freedom. All debt is forgiven, slaves are set free and things are returned to people. It is a time of rebirth. I starting to think that today was a Jubilee day for me. The love that I felt from people today was a great way to celebrate Uganda @ 50. It was like God was telling me to have peace in this city and to settle here until it is time to leave. If only I could always be remind of this and have a day like today everyday. Well at least I’m blogging about it. That’s a good marker.

“…for in its peace you will have peace.”