transportation: intro

i think transportation is one of the most interesting and important aspects of life here in uganda. it is enabling, frustrating, chaotically structured, relatively affordable, and very dangerous. i will dedicate a series of blog posts (coming soon) to the discussion of this topic. stay tuned!

where in the world is poo fly? (vol 3)

cooling off in nyeboe land, north greenland

part of the process!

this moment was a lot more exciting than i imagined it would be. for a while, i doubted my absentee ballot would even arrive in time for me to send it back. right before a week-long trip to kampala for my mid-service conference, i decided to check our local post office one last time. amazingly, my ballot had arrived that very morning! i carried it away carefully, exitedly, guarding it from the alarmingly long sunshower that was soaking the cement capital of uganda. there was a rainbow over tororo rock.

the ugandans i've spoken to are amazed that i am able to fill out my federal election ballot and send it from so far away...and presumably have it counted. the common assumption is that i would need to fly back home to cast my vote, a notion which sounds ridiculous, but ugandans tend to underestimate the hassles of round-the-world travel while grossly overestimating the amount of money i have access to.

the act of filling out the ballot itself was incredibly satisfying. i took out my most emphatic black pen and marked every last fiber inside of "my candidate's" box. i triple-checked it to make sure i hadn't overlooked anything. i sealed the envelope. when i reached kampala the next morning, i marched straight to the post office, dropped it into the international slot, and voted.