Kansanga

A quick post to report that I have successfully arrived and am alive and well. Added two new continents to my travelling life in just one day!

I'm extremely glad I limited the amount of research and preparation I did prior to setting off as everything is taking me by such pleasant surprise. It's different, really different, but in such a fantastic way.

Currently I'm sat in my little villa, which is pretty spacious and has two massive double bedrooms and two bathrooms... note to potential guests! It's situated near the top of one of Kampala's seven hills, which means I can see for miles around from my veranda... sorry, I meant to say sun-drenched veranda. I'm based in a district called Kansanga, which, from what I can tell, seems to be a bit like Chorlton: up and coming, with several nice venues for food and drink and with lots of new things being built and going on.

 Having never left Europe before, every bird and plant is new to me and they are all fascinating; I spent twenty minutes last night watching huge hawk-type birds circling my villa and having a bit of a scrap. The people seems to be extremely friendly and I had made three or four friends on the plane from Dubai. After explaining I'm here for a while, people seemed really interested and were keen to tell me everything I need to know... which is quite a lot apparently. So far my impression of Uganda people is that they just love laughing! I'm not always sure why they are laughing, but I've been smiling, nodding and laughing along with them all. I've already been invited to a wedding, to go and stay with a chap in Jinja (as apparently I won't be able to be myself in Kampala...?...) and been got one girl's phone number. Incredibly beautiful women... must control myself... must think carefully...

Anyway, I'm off on an ill-advised wander now with my illegible map to try and find Lake Victoria. It's fairly large so should be hard to miss, but this map isn't really worthy of the name. Sun-burn, robbery, being lost are all anticipated. Ah well, all part of the experience.

D Day

Jesus Christ, mother Hubbard, bollocks!...

Today is not only remarkable as the start of the new Premier League season, the hottest day of the year and potentially the day that Prince Philip popped his clogs; Saturday 18th August also happens to be my last full day in Europe for two years. Up until now I've been impressed at my lack of panic, but now I am a little bit of a mess and starting to realise that I have absolutely no idea what I've let myself in for.

Packing has never been so much of a chore. Please explain how anyone can condense their life to one large suitcase weighing no more than 30kgs!? I've had to compromise my impeccable fashion sense (leaving a stash of my ill-fitting t-shirts and jeans that have been with me since the thin days) and content myself with only the most basic of entertainment rations. However, this compromise has been achieved the hard way: packing, unpacking, repacking, realising I've not packed any kegs, unpacking, repacking, realising my laptop wears a fair old bit that I've not accounted for... In the end I've spend £150 and bought myself an extra 5kg, but even now I cannot fit my Lynx Africa shower gel in, which has been used for the past fortnight to try and get me into the spirit.

Don't get me wrong, I have managed to make time for some important things like watching Football Focus, the early kick-off, a 3pm kick-off and Spurs getting beaten and eating a fair well battered sausage. To be honest the sausage and her accompaniments were average at best, incomparable to offerings in the North West, but it put me to wondering about the things I'll miss about the UK. Friends and family boringly, my Corsa (RIP baby... £60 and crushed out of this world), a good cheddar... so many things... I doubt I've even considered the things that I'll really miss, it'll probably be things like comfortable chairs, Saturday bumming around routine and Hollyoaks... bugger! Hollyoaks. Hopefully I'll have at least one friend prepared to take on the task of watching religiously so they can keep me up to date on Brendan's various shenanigans.

Anyway, I'm just about ready now. The folks will be driving me to Heathrow at 1pm, arriving around 3pm and with time to watch Man City vs Southampton (how kind of the schedulers to arrange this as the last match before I bugger off!), checking in for 6pm and flying at 8.30pm. I won't arrive in Entebbe (Ugandan city with an airport) until lateish Monday 20th and presumably by the time I get to my shack in Kampala I'll be straight to bed. (If someone could let me know how my Unity kids get on I'd be grateful!) 

I promise all future blog entries are significantly more interesting and have some suitably exotic photographs to prove that I have indeed buggered off and left the rainy isle. I'm going to be very lonely so please do stay in touch: let me know how much hotter the UK is; or bug me about things you want to know about Uganda, emigrating, fashion; or inform me of pregnancies, marriages, new partners, holidays I'll be missing out on.

Will miss you UK, but I'm a muzungu now! x 

My trusty companion...

After failing to convince any friends or family to take the plunge and move to Uganda with me, I've started recruiting gadget companions in the hope they will keep me entertained while I'm trying to fit in.

The first new addition: a spanky new camera!

Once again I've proved that I am good with my money as I smashed my £200 maximum budget by some 300%. Of course, it's definitely worth it... and I'm sure I'll believe that for at least the post-purchase fortnight, but there is an awfully familiar feeling at the back of my mind: Keyboard £300, E-reader (prior to the boom) £250 and gym membership £350 all gathering dust as we speak!

Anyway, it's a pretty nifty piece of kit. An SLR (an acronym I have no intention of delving into) with some great big whopping zoom things that make me look like a professional. Nikon D3100 with some added bits and bobs.

Here are the first pics of the house in a state of disrepair:

How to say goodbye

Tomorrow is the day I tell the kids that I'm off. Dreading it!

I've been so desperate to start the next chapter of my life, the exploration of the world, that I've barely stop to consider the end of this one. As much as I have grown to despise the incompetence and bureaucracy that defines my current school, there is no doubt that the majority of my kids are little belters and will be sorely missed; I've not enjoyed the bare face denials and misleading them for so long. However, kids are resilient and I have no doubt they will get over the loss of an English teacher and I know I will be the one finding it more difficult than them... but I do hope that at least one of them mourns my departure.

Myf in Kampala has boosted my mood with the first few pics of where I may be living within the next couple of months. Okay, it's not shiny, top of the range or really what I have grown accustomed to over the past five years or so (last two in particular), but you can't tell me it doesn't look fun.