Life in Kampala

The most salient feature of Kampala is that it is crowded.  There are people everywhere.  And the same could be true of big cities anywhere in the world, but maybe I'm just struck by the extremely crowded feel of this place because there really is much less order to the movement of people here.  Pedestrians walk on sidewalks that are dirt and are used like a passing lane for the boda bodas (motorcycle taxis).  The cars and motorcycle traffic can be awful and crossing the street as a pedestrian is like a game of Frogger, which means you have to get your timing a speed right every time.  Though many of my fellow visitors here have progressed to walking casually through an intersection, I'm still at the stage of running across and I'm not sure I'm going to change my strategy anytime soon.

A Swedish medical student mentioned today that he hasn't gotten used to how the cars here change lanes.  I mentioned that maybe there are no lanes, kind of like the spoon-bending kid in Matrix who said that the trick is to realize that there is no spoon.

Compared to Kampala, the streets of Boston seem like a perfect grid.  There are major arteries of paved roads, some with names and some without, and I have yet to see a street sign.  Most of the roads are red dirt paths through shanties or slums and on the one street map I saw, they form a maze of paths without any names. 

Storefronts like these line every paved street in Kampala.  The motorcycles out front are the boda bodas (motorcycle taxis).

Another striking aspect of Kampala, related to the crowdedness, is the commerce here.  After being here for a few days, it really hit me that the shops and markets that line every single street here are indeed the shops where people purchase their essential goods.  I thought that maybe like in other places I've been these were the stores where tourists bought their souvenirs and trinkets.  But there really aren't many tourists here that I can tell.  These stores seem to be by far the largest form of trade of everyday goods.  Shanties made of sheet metal and wood boards might have a sign out front that says they are an official dealer for one of the major cell phone providers here.  

Another "typical" street in Kampala.

More stores in Kampala.

The other thing that's striking about Kampala is the pollution.  The first day I was here I asked another student here if there was a fire somewhere because there was a haze over part of the city.  After a few days, I realized that the haze over the city is just the normal smog, no doubt a consequence of the cars and motorcycles and trucks that pump out black exhaust.  Which probably explains the color of my mucus when I blow my nose here.

I also get the impression that food here in the city doesn't seem to be lacking in any great degree.  I'm only basing that on what appears to be abundant food on the city streets and that most people here appear to be well nourished.  Chicken is huge here and there are street vendors that have no shortage of chicken grilled and ready to sell.

I have to say that I have not felt unsafe at any point since I've been here.  People tend to be quite respectful in general.  With few exceptions, anyone who has tried to get my business, has accepted my apologetic decline without further questions.

One of the side streets in Kampala.

Same side street as above.