Special

TL;DR: great day in Fort reuniting with others and meeting people, King's parade and clubbing with the bros.


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A lot of firsts today!

- first time experiencing how long food takes to arrive at a restaurant in the Fort Portal region (average is about 45 minutes)
- first time eating a rolex (chapatti rolled with an omelette), for breakfast with Shree, Ali and Chiraag, all of whom it was awesome to see!
- first time at Andrew's supermarket. Andrew, one of the most succesful entrepreneurs in Fort and an awesome man, ended up being one of our bros during the three weeks here, supplying us with at least 10 crates of beer and a lot of fruit and snacks. We ordered 70 Nile Specials (as pictured) today. The boda rides carrying those back were certainly fun!
- first meal at Little Rock, which ended up becoming a staple place to eat! By european standards, not a great place, but the special grill was above average for Uganda and cheap.
-- first time at Don's Plaza, a bar on the central strip of town with a chill terrace and where we ended up having several great nights.

Midway through our second beer at Don's Plaza, a huge procession of people passed by, along with motorbikes and cars. We downed our beers and joined the tail of the crowd. The procession led us up the big hill in town (in the dark amongst the crowd) to the palace of King Oyo, leader of the Toro tribe, who rule the region of Fort Portal. There was a ceremony to celebrate his return or something, and we randomly joined in. We even got a shoutout to the mzingus from the party truck on the way up. On top of the hill, people were chanting and the bodas were performing for everyone, doing donuts and racing each other up steep inclines. Then we made it to where the local prime minister was giving a speech in honor of the king. The atmosphere was intense, but the king was emotionless!

When it was over, we all headed down the hill. On the way, we met two overenthusiastic locals, a short crunk rastafarian called Radie King and his strong deep voiced friend Daniel, 'the strongest man in Uganda'. We exchanged numbers, promising to meet them at one of the local clubs, Forest Club or Club Ecstasy! Classic.

After getting a call from Colin Oram, our module leader, we headed to an upscale restaurant called Dutchess where he was having dinner and we joined in along with his "extended family," including Godliver and Judith (who we would soon meet properly and grow very close to!). The night became quite entertaining, as the food was amazing and our intimidation towards Oram quickly faded into hilarity. After the meal, he directed us to Forest Club, the coolest locale in town, particularly for mzingus. Part indoor bar with pool tables, part outdoor club. That place would soon become our joint. We chilled there for a while and then headed to Club Ecstasy. Keep in mind it was a monday, and therefore very empty. Nevertheless we rocked the place, with Radie and Daniel joining us and Colin looking very happy indeed! Kris and Ali finally got to show off their dance moves to the appreciation of everybody, particularly Judith.
Basically, a really good night, and great way to start off before the project even begins!! This entry wasn't meant to be this long though...

peace