uganda epilogue

the rest of the time spent in uganda and homeward bound.

sunday, august 31/08

the rest of our time in uganda was a bit of a blur.  there were days of relaxing around the house. i did my own laundry in a small tub.  even when i was doing it henry, the young man who was working as a guard of the compound, didn't feel right about the mzungu doing his own work and offered to wash my cloths for me. i had to insist saying i don't do this at home and wanted to experience what they do on a regular basis. he would only let me continue if i promised to ask him to do it if i wanted to quit. i'm happy to say i did finish and then spread my cloths on the ground to dry. the whole time lola was doing her laundry and we chatted. it was a good time.

later that week we went on a bit of a tourist trip to the source of the nile river. i never knew that it started all the way down in uganda. i read a sign that said it takes four months for water to travel from lake victoria to the mediterranean. 

also there was a statue of ghandi. apparently, he said he wanted his ashes spread in four places that he considered symbols of life and unity, the source of the nile being one of them.

this area is also the home of the 'nile' brewery which produces the most popular beer in uganda. it tastes pretty good too. while we were in the bar some local came to me and said he thought i was kenny rogers (not the first time i've heard that, although i don't get it). i proved that, yes, in fact i was kenny rogers by singing a verse and chorus of 'the gambler' (lola had to get me started). we could see him as we followed him back to the parking lot speaking with people and telling them who i was. i don't know that he really believed it but it was interesting to have that experience on the other side of the globe.

after a tearful farewell, brad and i were on our way. we followed the same path by which we had come. brad left me at dubai because he wanted to take a taxi around the famous city. his direct flight to newcastle was in several hours. i only had to wait for about an hour for my flight after arriving at dubai.

the trip home was uneventful. i had an amazing time that can't help but effect me forever; new friends, experiences that took me back to a primal place mixed with cell phones and the internet. africa the birthplace of life. i have my life to look forward to, a new job, and time to spend with my family. i wish they could have been on this trip with me. my connection with uganda will not end soon either. i have left old friends and new friends (some of whom feel like old friends). i will continue my involvement with HOME/omuka, the home for teenaged boys who have been orphaned by AIDS, providing education and a safe home to call their own.

uganda XII

recording session in kampala

monday, august 25/08

the way that roger arranges things is a bit of frustration for me. for instance, a recording session done in canada needs to be arranged and planned ahead of time. in roger's mind everything is arranged but not in reality.  we knew we wanted to do the recording and were already planning for it.  then he phones to make the arrangements! we were to start at midnight and would have the studio (with engineer) until 6am. 

when we got to the studio we found ourselves in the middle of the ghetto, in a very dark alley. unfortunately the door was locked. we could hear music but nobody responded to our constant pounding on the door. roger said he would phone the engineer on his cel. but he was unable to get a good signal so he said he would leave to get a better signal and i should wait for him there. "here!?" i said. it was dark and several times there were suspicious people walking past. of course, at midnight in a dark alley in a ghetto in africa, anyone looks suspicious. i probably looked suspicious. "i'm not staying here alone." roger seemed amused by this. he said to follow him. he led me into what seemed like an abandoned building with a hallway. from different directions we heard loud noises from people yelling, music, tv, and radio, and no-one was  responding to our calls. finally, a phone call resulted in an unlocked door.

the studio had state-of-the-art equipment but the place was very dark and grundgy. the windows were almost opaque with dirt. the engineer was a pleasant guy who also owns the studio. he actually owns many of the buildings in the area which is why the studio is situated in this area. 

roger and i had hoped to put some "real" instruments in this recording but the engineer immediately began to sequence the music. after a long discussion around what was expected by the public and the time available, and who was really the producer here (he had produced roger's recordings in the past and expected to do this song as well), the sequencing continued. roger seemed ok with this so i had to let it go.

one of the things that i noticed was that roger is an intuitive performer. he really knows what he's doing in the studio and is able to get the feel and emotion of a song into the recording which is not a common thing.

after the recording (which took only a couple hours) we had to find our way home because there was no more taxi's available. roger said we would take a bodaboda which is like a motorcycle taxi. unfortunately, they weren't available either. and i was not excited about getting on one of these with someone who likely was either drunk or had been smoking dope for the last couple hours. roger made an arrangement that he would drive one bike with me on it, and the other bike would have the two drivers (one of them the owner of the motorcycle we were riding) follow us. it didn't take long for me to realize that roger didn't have alot of experience on bikes and the ride home was hair-raising and nerve-wracking. but we arrived safely and the recording day we had looked forward to was over.