Kampala - Day 299

Date: June 13th, 2010
Distance: None
Country: Uganda

This morning I got up and began to wander around the city. So far, I love Uganda. They have milk, hot dogs and Mt. Dew. Plus with the temperature is much cooler here. That means they can have chocolate without special refrigerators. I am loving it. Kampala itself seems to be like a fairly modern metropolis. Maybe a bit more like Mexico than the states, but not bad. It really doesn't even seem all that foreign.

I did spend some time walking through the markets in town. It seems like you can buy just about anything. They even have big shopping arcades, 5 or 6 stories tall. In the old market are the cramped stalls I have seen in other countries. The Ugandans here do have a bad habit of grabbing you to try and get (and literally hold) your attention. I generally don't like being touched by strangers. Being grabbed really pisses me off. I can't imagine why anyone would think I would want to buy stuff from them when they are grabbing at me. Like spitting on me would get my attention, but it wouldn't encourage me to buy from them.

Lunch was interesting. I had gotten so used to rice and sauce I didn't really know what to expect. I found a little stall serving food and sat down. They had a stew with beef and some veggies in it. With the stew they would give you a plate of mashed plantains (matoke), half a sweet potato and some white corn paste (posso). I guess you are supposed to mix the stew and the starch together. The plantain was the best I think, though it didn't have much of a banana taste. The beef was awful though. I couldn't eat it. As in, I physically couldn't chew it into pieces small enough to swallow. So it was a bit hit and miss.

Later in the evening I watched the U.S. vs. England World Cup match. I thought it was kind of a unsatisfying game all around. Neither team looked all that great.

-Dravis