Uganda is getting ready for Christmas. This is the main annual holiday here with the schools closed for nearly 2 months and the new school year starting at the end of January. It's also an opportunity for people to take a well earned break with most offices shut for 2 weeks or more and some of our partner organisations are shut for a whole month from 13th Dec to 13th January. Most people go back to their villages and meet up with their extended families. This means that the roads are very busy as so many people are travelling.
I'm also lucky enough to have two weeks off for the Christmas holiday. I finished work on Friday (20th) and the office doesn't reopen until 6th January. We all went out for dinner on Friday night to a lovely restaurant on the edge of Lake Victoria, or to be more exact Murchison Bay as Kampala is north of the main lake. As well as dinner we also had a version of Secret Santa and all received a gift. I'm delighted with a set of Ugandan woven place mats that will look great on the table. Up to now we've been using some pieces of cardboard as the place mats from home didn't make it into the suitcases. We'll use them for Christmas day dinner - watch this space for a picture!
The VSO end of year party was also on Friday night. This was at a restaurant / club / music venue called Jazzville. I went after the dinner to meet up with everyone and join in the dancing! In fact overall it's been a busy week socially. On Tuesday several of the VSO volunteers went to an Indian restaurant for a meal and to say goodbye to people heading back to the UK. On Thursday we went to a Thanksgiving Service at a local church at the invitation of a Ugandan work colleague. It was certainly different from anything in the UK, preceded by a meal and with lots of singing and dancing.
Over the weekend we've been relaxing and getting shopping done for Christmas. Much the same as home really but in warm sunshine instead of cold and dark days.
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