PICTURES... at last!

I know I've been promising these forever, and now they are finally here! I am still somewhat camera-shy, as I am trying to identify myself as part of the community rather than another tourist. Therefore, normal day-to-day life is not photographed but only exceptional happenings (sunsets!) and PCV get-togethers. However, as I am feeling much more comfortable these days, more and more of my pictures will be of neighbors and more common scenes, and I hope to include them more regularly in my posts. With this, I'll leave you alone to peruse my life in Uganda thus far. Enjoy!
(Note: you can click on the images to view them independently, and then click on them again to enlarge. They are fairly high resolution shots.)





View of eastern Uganda from atop a mountain in Mbale. Everything north (including my site) is completely flat, with the greatest elevation change not exceeding 10ft... yay.





A typical street in Kampala (capital of Ug): dirty, crowded, and ever busy.





The main means of transportation upon Lake Victoria, powered by a whopping 2Hp lawn mower engine. Locals of the fishing village enjoy grabbing tourists, hoisting them onto their shoulders, and then charging anywhere from $0.50-5.00 to carry them to the boats.





Typical village kids. Picture taken in Wakiso (central Ug, some 40km or so north of Kampala)





Sipi Falls in Mbale. Nothing too spectacular, but a great day hike.





Feeding monkeys in the Entebbe Botanical Gardens. Apparently popcorn is the equivalent to crack for monkeys... who'd of thunk?





My Ateso language group. Yours truly, Joe, Susan (our teacher), Stacey, Tony, and David Chi. Ya, we're pretty cool.





My house and storage shed with Gweri Primary School in the background.





Gweri Primary School at sunset. I took the picture to capture the sunset, but you can get a glimpse of a nicer school in my sub-county.





Two of my next-door-neighbor boys. Again, taken to capture the sunset (this is a common theme for me). No photoshop enhancements; Ug sunsets are just that amazing (with the help of a prodigy photographer of course!)





My counterpart (male on the dirt bike) and another coworker (female behind) along side my beast of a bicycle. Today we are the bad guys, assuming the role of school inspectors. My counterpart likes to tease me about how much faster he gets to the schools...





The local bike wash, or just some calves in front of a cool rock formation... you choose. Looks like there's some decent climbing in Ug after all!





Rafting the Nile! Need I say more?