Uganda has not had an opportunity to qualify for the African Cup finals for 30 years. Until yesterday. It was a huge deal. Everyone was talking about it. And when we found out we could procure tickets off the black-market, we jumped at the opportunity! Our friend Patrick (from church) brokered the ticket deal for us and obtained them for a hefty price of 45,000 shillings (originally 20,000 shillings…) Oh well. It was going to be worth it.
We woke up at 4:30 am to catch a bus to kampala by 6 am. But as we are operating in Africa time, our bus did not leave until 7am. African time is very different from Muzungu (white person) time. It is a 5 hour ride to Kampala from Uganda on a road that could only qualify as a highway in Africa… it is all relative. It was bouncy, hot, and long.
Kim and I on the bus to Kampala
We finally arrived in Kampala. There were people on the bus that helped us find our stop and get off at the right place. So we got off at our “bus stop.” There is no signage, nothing to indicate a bus stop… our bus stopped… and we got off.
At the "bus stop"
And the waiting began. Yeah. We didn’t blend in: 8 muzungu’s in Uganda jersey’s standing on the side of the road waiting for Patrick to meet us. We finally decided that we probably had enough time to eat lunch, seeing as we were waiting on someone who worked on African time. 🙂 CHEESEBURGERS AND FRIES were the treat of the day.
Dinner: the only real meal of the day.
When Patrick arrived, we learned that we had to stuff 9 of us, plus a driver, into a midsize sedan. Yep. A midsize sedan. we had 4 stuffed into the mini backseat of this sedan-ish vehicle and 4 stuffed into the next bench seat forward. I was in this middle seat with Tyler, Derek, and Jon. We called this ride “forced bonding.”
"forced bonding" 🙂
So we are driving towards the stadium… stuffed into a tiny vehicle… and it’s Africa. On the Equator. It’s warm. Luckily we have a moonroof. As we neared Mandela station, our driver had us close the sunroof. WHAT?! no air?! No, he wasn’t trying to smother us… just to make sure it was as dark as possible inside the car. so we wouldn’t be arrested. Even in Africa, it is very illegal to have that many people in a car.
packed like sardine's
We finally got to our destination. We were so happy to pile out of that car and finally be at the game! our first experience at an African national futbol game!
we climb the stairs to enter the stadium. And the chaos ensued. A teammate stated that in the states, when he is involved in a mosh pit or similar sized crowd, he feels safe because there is a measure of self-regulation. Not in Africa. Nope. It is a fend-for-yourself-shove-fest until you get where you want. Again, we clung tightly to each other so we wouldn’t fall down the “stands” and into the people, and to our stuff, so to hold off pick-pocketers. More bonding.
Suddenly, the Lord had favor on us, and the crowd parted. the Ugandan’s were calling for the “muzungu’s” to come to the front of the stadium. We received many many “thank you for coming”s on our way down to the place where there was room.
It was a great game. Though, I understand why most African’s watch Manchester United and Arsenal… African soccer is very very sloppy. Uganda definitely played a better game than Kenya though. Also, we have much cooler uniforms. In the end, the match ended as a draw, and there was no tie-breaker. Because Angola also won a game that night, neither Uganda or Kenya qualified. But it was an awesome experience. I don’t know if I would repeat it in the same way. I would bring very very little to the game and get there much much earlier… but it was so much fun!
go Cranes!
We then raced to catch the bus back to Gulu, rode through the night, and finally arrived home at 3 AM. Home sweet home.
it was the first time I called it home. and meant it.
rachelintoafrica 