Uganda Trip #14 | Post 1
It’s 2:30 am and I am wide awake. I must be in Gulu, Uganda with jet lag!
This is my 19th trip to Uganda, and we started off with a two-day diversion from our normal schedule. About fifteen of my trips have included a layover in Amsterdam but I have never been outside the airport. At Carol’s encouragement, I broached the subject with traveling mates Mike Evans and Stu Dix about spending some time in the town. The agreed and we spent two days (Wednesday and Thursday-May 7& 8) in town. What an interesting city.
Their public transportation is easy to use. We took a train from the airport to the Amsterdam equivalent of Grand Central Station, and we were able to walk to our hotel in about 15 minutes. One of the other things that struck out about transportation was their use of bikes-they are everywhere. Young and old, they would pour out of the ferry that runs constantly like the beginning of a marathon. Many of the streets are about 1/3 the width of Carmichael Road so the few cars, many bikes and pedestrians have a well-choreographed dance getting from place to place. We almost got hit by bike a few times.
Let me answer two questions more than one of my siblings asked…no we didn’t smoke any weed and we walked by the few brothels that were nearby without slowing down-at all. Apparently, the number of such shops have dwindled significantly in recent years and the goal is that they will all be gone in two years-apparently moving from this area in the city center.
Beside the wonder of the canal system (we took a boat tour on Wednesday) the other thing that stuck out to me was how compact everything was. The hotel we stayed at was about 40 feet wide. Their staircases are about 18 inches wider than my shoulders. The steps are very steep, and they vary in size. Navigating the steps was interesting, almost challenging. It made me grateful for the codes that make climbing and descending stairs in the US uneventful. You must concentrate here-at one restaurant, we would use our hands and feet at the same time. It was almost like using a ladder!
I wondered how you could move furniture and other items in the hotel. The answer is that the buildings have pulley systems near their roofline and larger items are pulled up and brought into the hotel or house or business through their windows.
On Thursday we did a bus tour where we saw an amazing array of thousands upon thousands of flowers-mostly tulips. I don’t consider myself a flower guy, but this place was amazing. Their peak growing season is over, so we missed the opportunity to see fields full of their prized flower as we traveled, but it was still a sight to behold. We also went to an old Dutch village of sorts, where we saw demonstrations on making wooden shoes and making cheese surrounded by windmills. Stu Dix of Baldwin related to the locals by telling them that his town has a windmill, and he is a cheesehead.
The other thing that stuck out is how much older everything is. Amsterdam recently celebrated its 750th year. We saw many brick structures from the 17th century and the church across the canal from our hotel was built in the 13th century. Unfortunately, the “church” is now and art gallery.
Our hotel host, Karl gave us the latest updates on the papal selection every time we walked by, and we thought he was joking when he said the new pope is a native of America. I was further surprised to find out he grew up a few miles away from me in Chicago’s south side. Go Bears!
On Friday morning we made our way back to the airport and our eight-hour flight to Entebbe. It’s interesting the people you meet. I met an Iowa State professor who is a native of Ghana and approached me because I was wearing a shirt from the U of M, where he got his Ph.D. We had a great chat as he shared his fondness of the St. Paul campus (he’s an agriculture guy-kind of a Tim Prince) and the state fair which he could walk to from his apartment. We also met two young men from Holland who are on fire and were excited to share their plans for their short-term trip to Gulu and Adjumani, two towns we know pretty well.
We have arrived in Gulu and its very early Sunday morning. My next post should have use turning the corner for this trips unit on understanding and communicating prophetic literature in the Bible focusing on Isaiah. I hope to get some sleep soon!