Mzungus On the Town!

I made a really good Mzungu ("white-ie") friend yesterday at the apartment / hotel I am staying at. Alexis, a medical student, has spent several months in Zambia, Malawi and Northern Uganda and is on her way home to Chicago. She has never had the chance to explore Kampala yet, so we decided to join Mzungu forces and be tourists together. I am proud to say that I never got us lost - although deep down I was convinced I had - despite going into some of the biggest crowds I have experienced in Kampala. I cannot even begin to describe the shopping district. Building after building, floor after floor, salesmen after salesmen hawking their wares calling out "Mzungu look at this! It is your size!" (Ugandans apparently think I am pudgy ...) Alexis was looking for some football jerseys to bring home for family, so luckily this is my No. 1 skill, so I made sure she went home with top quality at top quality price (I LOVE TO HAGGLE, OH MY GOD). We took a couple boda rides (and even felt adventuresome and doubled up). Sidenote: before I leave, I want to do a "Boda cam" where I attempt to film a portion of the ride from the passenger's perspective. My lord is it exhilarating. We made some amazing purchases. Ironically, one of my proudest finds was a Toronto Blue Jays jersey and a Drake shirt. Again, the inside joke (with myself) that sometimes I forget that I've left Toronto ...

Enjoy these photos!

The shopping area. That is a lot of people. Now multiply by a 1000. And you still won't be close to how many people we saw shopping and selling. I must have spoken with 150 shop keepers at conservative estimate today.

Again, that is a lot of people!

I enjoy this candid photo that Alexis snuck of explaining how to take the following picture with the hustle and bustle in the background. 

"Two Canadians". Alexis told everyone that she was Canadian who asked. I had to field all the Canada questions. 

T-Dot, T-Bizzle! Rep-resent. There is a whole series of these, some featuring my Drake shirt. I manage to look like a douche in all but this one, where I was mid-joke. 

I took some pretty terrible photos of a soccer field here. The more interesting story was that after I looked at this photo I noticed that under the soldier's arm there was a barrel of a gun pointed at me. The soldiers were there because the Minister of Sport was showing up later to open / rename the field. We heard about the politician showing up and calmly, quietly took off at a fast walk.