"What is the feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing?-it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-by. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."
-Kerouac, On the Road

I wish I could say that Ndejje is exactly how I expected it. The dirt roads and brick buildings (which, by American standards for size and floor plan, are more similar to sheds) are what I thought I would see, but the sheer beauty of the place I am living in could never have been described in any book, movie, article, or first hand account before I got here. It is hard to think that I am going to be living here for 10 months, mainly because it is all so new.

Ndejje is a quiet little town nestled in the side of a lush hill. All of the roads and paths are made of compacted dirt and are nowhere close to flat. Taxi vans (the old taxi fleet donated from Japan) and Bota-bota's (taxi motorcycles) are constantly zipping by on the usually single lane road. Negotiating the incredibly uneven terrain while dodging taxis Frogger style makes walking down the road pretty challenging, but fun in some weird way.

The people here are some of the friendliest that I've ever met. Some still need a little more time to warm up to the new "Mzungus" (white folks) in town -- others are just plain rude -- but the majority of the people have been very inviting from the start. Every time you walk down the street, you feel like George Clooney. Everyone stares as you walk by, or at least steals a glance after they've past you. The kids never get tired of chanting, "Mzungu, How are you?!" or "Mzungu, Bye!" (there isn't a word for Hello in Luganda, the local language) It will be interesting to see if this will get annoying or if I will be able to tune it out eventually. I'm sure the lack of anonymity will be a challenge.

Until next time,
Adam