The reason for the uncertainty was the Muslim festival of Eid Al Fitr which is the feast at the end of the month of Ramadan. As the Muslim calendar works on a lunar calender it is difficult to match it to the days of the week used in Uganda, which are based on the solar calender. The festival is declared once the new moon is sighted for the start of the new lunar month.
In Uganda if Friday was the festival of Eid Al Fitr then it was also a public holiday If the festival fell on Saturday then Saturday would be the holiday but there was no alternative day off for workers who don't work on Saturday, such as most office workers.
On Thursday evening the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council declared that the moon had been seen and therefore Friday was a public holiday. E mails and text messages were sent around VSO and my placement organisation. The message seemed to spread as there was very little traffic on the road early on Friday.
So we had a long weekend we didn't expect a week ago. Some of the volunteers planned a quick trip away but we decided to stay put in Kampala. We had a friend, who is currently working in Masindi, staying with us so we've spent the weekend catching up with admin, chatting and eating.
I had already organised the Kampala VSO cluster meeting for Thursday afternoon. After an interesting discussion in the meeting we all stayed at the restaurant and enjoyed a meal together. It was another lovely warm evening where we could sit outside in the garden and chat. Good food and good company, what more could you want.
On Saturday we decided to visit one of our favourite places in Kampala, Cassia Lodge, to see the sunset over the lake. The Lodge is on a hill at the southern end of Kampala and has a fabulous view of the Kampala hills and Lake Victoria. We enjoyed a drink looking out over the view and then headed back to our apartment for a home cooked burger.
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