Kampala sightseeing

Safely in Kiboga! We're staying at a very nice place and had our first half-day at the hospital today, and already saw some crazy stuff. I'll take pics of the town here and write about the hospital soon.

Saturday in Kampala it stormed so we only got out of the house a few times during the day to run a errands (and episodes of getting drenched) and then went out to dinner at the most famous Chinese restaurant in town with the other Americans staying with us in Edge House.

On Sunday we decided to do a bit of sightseeing around Kampala before leaving the city for a week or two, so we explored a few sections of town, including Kasubi Tombs and Gaddafi Mosque.

Kasubi Tombs

Kasubi Tombs are where the kings of Buganda are buried. Uganda encompasses 5 historical kingdoms that are still in effect today, though our tour guide explained to us that Buganda is the best kingdom and has retained the most cultural heritage from its past. The first king used the compound as his palace for him and his many wives (each king seemed to take 60-80 wives over the course of their reigns), and was later buried there. The four past kings have been buried there (kings since the late 1800's) as well as wives and princes and princesses.

Here I am outside of the Chief Drummer's Hut. Only the Chief Drummer can sound the drums inside, and women weren't (and still aren't!) allowed into the hut--the CD must be celibate so the king doesn't have to worry about his wives being around him.

Why am I wearing that skirt? During the history lesson at the beginning of the tour our guide used me as an example that the king could just point to any woman and say "She shall be my wife." When we were ready to start the tour he said I couldn't go until I put on a traditional skirt, since wives of the king are not allowed to wear trousers. So I wore the skirt the whole tour :)

You know you're a med student when you see a hand made drum with multiple animal skins and you immediately think ANTHRAX!

The main palace of the first king, and the tomb of the kings buried at Kasubi, was burned down last March. It was extremely extremely upsetting to the Ugandans, especially since it was determined to be arson. Huge crowds gathered at Kasubi after the fire and the current King came out, and there were riots when the President showed up. People blamed the government for not protecting the site better, and when angry people threatened the President they were shot on site. Other people died from being in the crowd, due to dehydration or other exposure-related causes. The government has promised money to help rebuild, and since the site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site great care is being taken to renovate the entire compound. They're plans sound awesome and it will be a great place to visit next year!

Towards the end of the tour (after seeing wife and sister and children tombs and the oldest house in Uganda) we got to try out some traditional but non-special drums! Our tour guide showed us how, and then we all had fun trying them out. He was disappointed that we didn't want to dance to the drum beats, but he believed us when we said Americans can't dance! I'm pounding away on a python-topped, hollowed-out pine tree drum here.

Finally, our tour guide (and apparently the others who work there) are awesome artists! We all got art painted on bark, and this is my sweet zebra painting!












Gaddafi Mosque

We can see this giant mosque from most places in the city, and it sits on a hill opposite from Mulago hospital so we've been curious to see it up close. Apparently it was begun by Idi Amin during his reign of power, and was later funded and finished by Muammar Gaddafi (we find this interesting/amusing)

Also amusing? Gaddafi Chapati! It's not only super fun to say, but these chapati were delicious and not too oily, and the stand is conveniently located at the bottom of the hill of Makerere campus. Mmmm Gaddafi Chapati

Shalina and I were inappropriately dressed to go onto the mosque grounds. We were wearing shorts which I suspected would be trouble, and we had to cover our heads and hair as well. So we had to rent two scarves each, which the guards put on us. It was awkward, and near impossible to walk around, and the top scarf would not stay on my head...but we looked hilarious! Two Arab men visiting the mosque as well asked if they could take pictures with us, so they obviously agreed we looked ridiculous.

The mosque was undeniably gorgeous inside

And outside there was a crazy huge arch and great views of the city. Our guide (the security guard--no one else there had a guide with them...) was very nice and loved taking photos of the three of us in front of every site to be seen at the mosque. They were often crooked or cut off someone's head, but this one seemed arty in its crookedness.

The day was fun and we had weird snacks and meals all around the city, and went out for some good mzungu food for our last dinner in Kampala for awhile (mah-zoon-goo, the L'ugandan word for white people, which we hear all day every day, especially from kids, and especially now that we're in the village).

I'll post about Kiboga soon!