On my way to Entebbe I was reading Pema Chodron's "The places that scare you". Beautiful book inviting us all to compassion. This is what she says: "In order to understand and embrace, we need to know, where the behavior is coming from, what makes the person make the choices that they do. When somebody triggers blame and judgment in us, we need to look into ourselves, where we will usually discover vulnerability deep within that is hurting. Recognizing this, if we may offer compassion to ourselves and what is hurting, we may halt the rising blame, other-ing of the other. This elimination of the need to judge and blame and other-ing may then help us see the vulnerability in their own heart and catch the goodness in the other. Little do I know that this teaching will be tested many many times while in Uganda.
Whatever puts us off has a place within that hurts that it touches...
The lake flies that swarm to the lights on the shore once all is dark: They leave in about an hour as they came
Paul, our hostess' son and his loyal dog in the beautiful back yard of our Air B&B colonial guesthouse
Ali, Claire's guard and gardener trimming banana trees while Paul plays with his dogs
Pedestrians and vehicles share the streets in Uganda, but motor vehicles rule!
Café Javas at the mall in Entebbe: As white and as western as it gets...
My friend and I posing for young women and kids from Entebbe upon their sweet request
My friend arrives around 4 pm. It must have been more than ten years we haven't seen each other, although wee remained connected by e-mail and work related projects around human rights. Old friendships have this beauty: However long it might be that you haven't seen each other, you pick up wherever you have left off as if time and space between you have never existed. That's exactly what happens with my dear friend: We catch up over tea and walk down to the waterfront. It is a cute little bay the north side of which is lined with small, boutique hotels on the land side of the promenade, and little beach restaurants on the water side of it. Then a paucity of buildings along 1/3 of the coast, where green prevails, turns out to be the botanical garden, which I will visit on my last day here.
Notice the tip of the bay with a monstrous hotel being built right next to Botanical Garden
At the very west end of the bay is an ugly tall and wide construction, I will find out on day three will be a hotel, totally unfit for this tropical heaven, but I doubt Uganda government is much into environmental issues... Just like ours is becoming very steadfastly...The waterfront promenade we are strolling on starts with a make-shift fish market that is open every day. Women have brought tilapia, all on display in piles on a wooden platform. They are darker than the tilapia I get in the US, these come out of the lake, Lake Victoria, that is. I will learn later on from Keith, a British gentleman and a tenant of our hostess Claire that British colonialists introduced Tilapia to Lake Victoria, which killed all native fish in it!
Fish market along Lake Victoria in Entebbe
At the very west end of the bay is an ugly tall and wide construction, I will find out on day three will be a hotel, totally unfit for this tropical heaven, but I doubt Uganda government is much into environmental issues... Just like ours is becoming very steadfastly...The waterfront promenade we are strolling on starts with a make-shift fish market that is open every day. Women have brought tilapia, all on display in piles on a wooden platform. They are darker than the tilapia I get in the US, these come out of the lake, Lake Victoria, that is. I will learn later on from Keith, a British gentleman and a tenant of our hostess Claire that British colonialists introduced Tilapia to Lake Victoria, which killed all native fish in it!
As we walk along the promenade, on the land side of the road is side-by side hotels and guesthouses, all on Airb&b. On the water side of the road are the restaurants and bars. One of those happens to have a local dance show as we walk by. I watch it for a while with delight as I also move to the rhythm, mesmerized how these young dancers can move all of their joints elegantly in all directions. We finally settle down on a restaurant by the water. My friend recommends the clear vegetable soup, I am all for it. We also order vegetable spring rolls, meat samosas, and goat skewers. They are delicious.
My friend warns me about the lake flies as the locals call it in English: These are bugs as big as a wasp with wings similar to fish fins. When it gets pitch dark, they are attracted specifically to white light. To reduce the severity of the "attack" most restaurants use colored lights. Around 8:30 or so when it is really very dark, a wave of millions of lake flies hits the restaurant. The plastic barriers the waiters let down already is beat up by this wave. A wall of them fly through the breezeway. When I go to the restroom I discover the entire street being covered by them, it is impossible to not step on them, scores of them die under my feet. The restroom floor and the sink are also covered by them. In about an hour, when we leave the restaurant, they are all gone, until tomorrow.
When we wake up in the morning, rather around noon, we both had sleep catch up to do; Claire, our hostess is not home I will learn later that there is a regional farmer’s market on Saturdays. Too bad, I find out about this at the end of the day and miss the opportunity to see a Uganda farmer’s market. Oh well... Just before we leave, a gentleman arrives, whose name is Keith, his accent reveals he is from UK. It turns out that he has been Claire’s tenant for the last 3 months and a good friend of the family, an Africa aficionado. I am curious about what is beyond what hits the eye about this man and what bonds him so much to Africa. He takes his leave as elegantly as you would expect from any British man to go on his daily walk.
We need local cash, and are told we will find ATMs at the Victoria Mall on Berkeley Road. It is an easy walk, although we take the long route. My friend is constantly warning me about the motorcyclists, who use the left shoulder and are like “bullet” trains of Europe. Motorcycles are a means of public transportation here in Entebbe and I hear in all of Uganda. The bikers are mandated to wear a helmet but the passengers are not!? In this crazy traffic, my friend constantly guides us to cross streets, no traffic lights, no marked pedestrian crossing lanes… Crossing the road anywhere is legal, but it is the pedestrians’ responsibility not to get hit! On the last day, when my friend leaves, whenever I have to cross a main road, I will find a local and sail across in their shadow… It works.
My friend proposes to have coffee at Café Javas, which he has tried in his past trips to Entebbe. The mall is small. There are probably a dozen shops at the most, one being a bank. It is attached to a hotel and its restaurant. There are two ATM machines apart from the bank’s ATM. When we withdraw money from each of the ATM, I pay $3 service fee, my friend pays $9, and on the last day, I will pay nothing at the bank’s ATM!!! Land of no rules and regulations, anything goes as my friend tells me is crystallizing in my mind, too.
I have a tropical dream yogurt drink with tropical fruits, it is lovely. My friend’s chocolate fudge/cake is very British style, heavy and extremely sweet, one bite for me is more than enough.
Sun is setting over Lake Victoria by the time we get back to the waterfront on day 2
We spend most of the afternoon chilling and catching up from an over 10-year hiatus in our encounters. So much has happened in our lives that brought easy joy and happiness and some we had to work hard to find joy in… There is such a cleansing effect on the soul, of sharing one’s life experiences and associated processes with a trusted friend. I feel it is all about mindfulness. When trust is there, there is no worry about how the words will be heard, how the tears or chuckles will be interpreted, and the narrative comes out. I am glad I came here, I am happy that we are in this deep sharing and give and take experience.
We spend most of the afternoon chilling and catching up from an over 10-year hiatus in our encounters. So much has happened in our lives that brought easy joy and happiness and some we had to work hard to find joy in… There is such a cleansing effect on the soul, of sharing one’s life experiences and associated processes with a trusted friend. I feel it is all about mindfulness. When trust is there, there is no worry about how the words will be heard, how the tears or chuckles will be interpreted, and the narrative comes out. I am glad I came here, I am happy that we are in this deep sharing and give and take experience.
People enjoying this western atmosphere are visiting Westerners and some upper class Africans, one can tell from their attire and attitudes, even from the way they carry their bodies. Servers are clean, respectful, and somewhat shy, all African young men and women. I will learn later on that their job is quite good in Uganda standards. As we leave the café and the mall, it is getting close to sunset. We haven’t seen much of Entebbe, but we have seen much deeper into each other, and we both feel it was time spent well.
Who wouldn't love to meditate on this beach to the melody of the waves of Lake Victoria?
Before dinner, I meditate on the beach. I let thoughts flow through my awareness mostly ideas I heard from Tara Brach's recent pod-cast: Beliefs shape our thoughts. Our thoughts lead to feelings. Our feelings shape our behaviors. Behaviors build our character, and finally a person's character leads them to their destiny. She is losing me a bit here. I wonder where circumstances like poverty, violence the world is being bathed in, childhood adversity among other things play a role in this sequence of interactions...
If everybody could believe that we world citizens are all in this together, certainly that belief would prevent much pain on earth
On the other hand, I certainly believe what she conveys in the following statements "The beginning of love is to love those that we love to be perfectly themselves. The moment we want them to change for us to love them, we don’t love them, but we love the reflection of ourselves in them.“ What great wisdom fills this statement. I recall a time, I had come to this thinking especially in close relationships. Doing otherwise in fact is arrogance and disrespect toward others.
Who wouldn't love to meditate on this beach to the melody of the waves of Lake Victoria?
Before dinner, I meditate on the beach. I let thoughts flow through my awareness mostly ideas I heard from Tara Brach's recent pod-cast: Beliefs shape our thoughts. Our thoughts lead to feelings. Our feelings shape our behaviors. Behaviors build our character, and finally a person's character leads them to their destiny. She is losing me a bit here. I wonder where circumstances like poverty, violence the world is being bathed in, childhood adversity among other things play a role in this sequence of interactions...
On the other hand, I certainly believe what she conveys in the following statements "The beginning of love is to love those that we love to be perfectly themselves. The moment we want them to change for us to love them, we don’t love them, but we love the reflection of ourselves in them.“ What great wisdom fills this statement. I recall a time, I had come to this thinking especially in close relationships. Doing otherwise in fact is arrogance and disrespect toward others.
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| The male bird that weaves this nest for his female to lay eggs for the children and family they plan to build together must have such commitment to each other... |
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