Tired of the hustle and bustle of the Big city, I decided to take a 3 month sabbatical and travel round the world. The term, 'round the world' is overrated. What springs to mind is a journey to all continents, all countries of the world. What it actually means, is a journey of approximately 7 or more stops to pre-selected destinations like Johannesburg, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, bits of Asia, Los Angeles and New York - hardly representative, hardly 'Round the world'
Thought I'd start off by going home! Uganda
Big Mistake!
Coming to Uganda isn't exactly a vacation! Especially during the school holidays when scores of parents are looking for SCHOOL FEES! To make it even worse I decided to travel at the end of the month when salary has almost dried out!
'Summers', the term used for Ugandans who come back to visit, are supposed to be loaded! When a family hears that their long lost son and daughter is returning, they send off a shopping list to 'good ol Moneybags' and start planning the itinerary of things they have always wanted to do but could not afford. This is all well and good if Moneybags has been planning and budgeting for the trip several months in advance, but in this instance, Moneybags, showed up with very lean pockets. The only way to manage the situation was to not tell them I was coming - hence no shopping list and scrape together a few small inexpensive gifts for immediate family ONLY. And then was up front "It's the end of the month, I have NO money on me, I have to budget for my 3 months round the world trip, so cannot spend on luxuries!"
So far the trip has been ok. Couldn't have timed it better. When I got here, I learnt that my eldest brother's graduation was the next Tuesday and he'd got a First Class honours degree in BA Education! The very first in our family - so we are all sooo proud! He's a real success story, having dropped out of University aged 20 years old, and then not knowing what he wanted to with his life for the next 12 years! Real proud
I went with my parents for his Graduation ceremony, and cheered loudly when his name was read out for the first time, and then the second when he went to get his First Class degree plaque! Unfortunately for me, within a 2 minute window, I fell prey to pickpockets who took my wallet containing all my credit and debit cards, driving licence, travel insurance card etc
I was gutted! Had to go to the police station to make a crime report. Got there...
to be continued...
