8:15 – Wake up, grab some water and go through every other
early morning routine that makes me feel like a human again.
9:07 – Brush my teeth. Hear Charlie, my landlord, on the phone asking “Where is Mwenda?” Figure this involves me but try to hide my interest. Andrew Mwenda is one of my favorite Ugandan writers and intellectuals, but I try to concentrate on my teeth.
9:10 – Charlie tells me he has set up a meeting for me with Rosa, the content editor at Radio One, a popular radio station among Ugandans. He thinks there could be work for me at the Independent, Mwenda’s newspaper, and Rosa is a good way in.
9:45 – Head to the youth center only thinking about the afternoon that is coming up
10:00 – Introduce a lesson to the life skills class before heading back to the house and getting ready.
12:30 – Take a boda to Kisamente, where I meet Rosa and her colleague at a nice restaurant. They chain smoke and swear a ton. We hit it off instantly.
1:30 – Rosa’s colleague regales us with stories of being tailed by Rwandan security forces in Kigali and predicts the 2016 election: Norbert Mao steps in, with a reintroduction of term limits in place as a caveat. I don’t buy it.
1:45 – Rosa picks up a phone call and excitedly begins speaking in French. She confirms that the political wing of M23, a rebel group that has wreaked havoc in Eastern DR Congo for months, has agreed to speak on the radio tonight with the spokesperson of the UPDF. She tells me I’ve come at an exciting time. I ask if that means I can come to the studio with her and she responds with, “fuck yes”.
2:00 – Walk to the Independent. The editor asks me to explain every tattoo I have. I decide against showing him the one on my chest. He seems mildly interested. We agree that I will submit a story on whatever I want, and he’ll consider it. I try and convince myself that at one point in my life I considered myself a “writer”. That was years ago.
2:45 – Meet everyone at the Independent. Mwenda is nowhere to be found, which is somewhat of a relief. Do you really want to tell somebody how much you enjoyed the closing line of their TedTalk?
3:30 – Meet with Charlie and his friend Rose who is starting an NGO in Western Uganda to help battered women. I act as a consultant for the best ways she can get funding, and I keep asking myself why anybody trusts a word I’m saying. Rose tells me she had a small role in the Kony 2012 video, but then tells me it is not her proudest moment. I try to give her good advice.
4:37 – Call Rosa and ask if I can come to the studio. She tells me I have 23 minutes to get halfway across the city. I find a boda and throw money at him before he can agree to give me a ride.
4:44 – The boda driver stops for gas. I hold back my frustration as best I can.
4:56 – Make it to Radio One. Rosa leads me upstairs and I begin researching the latest news on M23 and preparing questions.
5:17 – Rosa informs me the UPDF has dropped off the scheduled call. She begins to scramble.
5:23 – Rosa gets a phone calls and worriedly talks in French. M23 has decided to drop off and claims its spokesperson has fallen ill. There are no such things as coincidences in my opinion.
7:00 – I fight off sleep in the Radio One office. I have no clue what’s going on. Nobody but Rosa seems to know why I’m there. I follow her as she reads the news briefs in the studio.
7:15 – We go to another studio, where a televised talk show is being held. There is a moderator, lawyer, and UDC spokesperson on the show. I’m told to sit off camera and be quiet. The topic of the show is how Uganda should mitigate the M23 crisis, and if the recent UN report accusing Rwanda and Uganda of supporting M23 should be trusted.
7:26 – The UPDF spokesperson has now decided he will make himself available. He calls in.
7:32 – Rosa hands me a sheet of paper that reads “Write down your questions”. All of my prepared questions had been for M23. I scramble for what to ask Colonel Kulayigye of the UPDF.
7:34 – I hand questions with chicken scratch handwriting on the supposed link between the FDLR and M23 and if Uganda will drop out of the peace talks if the UN does not renege their report accusing Uganda of supporting M23.
7:40 – The moderator asks both questions. I feel a sense of accomplishment not felt in a long time.
8:15 – Rosa and I part ways with plans to meet again in a few days. I head to Kololo to meet some new expat friends for dinner.
8:33 – I enter the Chinese restaurant and a woman grabs me by the hand and takes me to a VIP room. I try telling her there is nothing important about me.
8:34 – My expat friends have already ordered, and apparently they are the important ones. I get a beer and some tofu. It is the first thing I’ve eaten in close to nine hours.
10:00 – Dinner is over and the bill has been paid. Bodas are called. I just want to watch the Manchester United game and fall asleep.
10:34 – The bodas we call finally arrive. I part ways with my friends and tell the boda driver where I’m going, and that if he gets me to Garden City I can direct him the rest of the way.
10:40 – I have no idea where we are. I wonder if the boda driver knows where he is going.
10:41 – The boda driver asks me if I know where we are. I tell him I don’t and he starts to laugh. I wonder if the boda driver is taking me to the middle of nowhere so he can kill me and take the small amount of money I have.
10:49 - My paranoia is unwarranted. We get home and I sit down with Charlie and his family.
11:45 – Manchester United has won. All is well in the world.
9:07 – Brush my teeth. Hear Charlie, my landlord, on the phone asking “Where is Mwenda?” Figure this involves me but try to hide my interest. Andrew Mwenda is one of my favorite Ugandan writers and intellectuals, but I try to concentrate on my teeth.
9:10 – Charlie tells me he has set up a meeting for me with Rosa, the content editor at Radio One, a popular radio station among Ugandans. He thinks there could be work for me at the Independent, Mwenda’s newspaper, and Rosa is a good way in.
9:45 – Head to the youth center only thinking about the afternoon that is coming up
10:00 – Introduce a lesson to the life skills class before heading back to the house and getting ready.
12:30 – Take a boda to Kisamente, where I meet Rosa and her colleague at a nice restaurant. They chain smoke and swear a ton. We hit it off instantly.
1:30 – Rosa’s colleague regales us with stories of being tailed by Rwandan security forces in Kigali and predicts the 2016 election: Norbert Mao steps in, with a reintroduction of term limits in place as a caveat. I don’t buy it.
1:45 – Rosa picks up a phone call and excitedly begins speaking in French. She confirms that the political wing of M23, a rebel group that has wreaked havoc in Eastern DR Congo for months, has agreed to speak on the radio tonight with the spokesperson of the UPDF. She tells me I’ve come at an exciting time. I ask if that means I can come to the studio with her and she responds with, “fuck yes”.
2:00 – Walk to the Independent. The editor asks me to explain every tattoo I have. I decide against showing him the one on my chest. He seems mildly interested. We agree that I will submit a story on whatever I want, and he’ll consider it. I try and convince myself that at one point in my life I considered myself a “writer”. That was years ago.
2:45 – Meet everyone at the Independent. Mwenda is nowhere to be found, which is somewhat of a relief. Do you really want to tell somebody how much you enjoyed the closing line of their TedTalk?
3:30 – Meet with Charlie and his friend Rose who is starting an NGO in Western Uganda to help battered women. I act as a consultant for the best ways she can get funding, and I keep asking myself why anybody trusts a word I’m saying. Rose tells me she had a small role in the Kony 2012 video, but then tells me it is not her proudest moment. I try to give her good advice.
4:37 – Call Rosa and ask if I can come to the studio. She tells me I have 23 minutes to get halfway across the city. I find a boda and throw money at him before he can agree to give me a ride.
4:44 – The boda driver stops for gas. I hold back my frustration as best I can.
4:56 – Make it to Radio One. Rosa leads me upstairs and I begin researching the latest news on M23 and preparing questions.
5:17 – Rosa informs me the UPDF has dropped off the scheduled call. She begins to scramble.
5:23 – Rosa gets a phone calls and worriedly talks in French. M23 has decided to drop off and claims its spokesperson has fallen ill. There are no such things as coincidences in my opinion.
7:00 – I fight off sleep in the Radio One office. I have no clue what’s going on. Nobody but Rosa seems to know why I’m there. I follow her as she reads the news briefs in the studio.
7:15 – We go to another studio, where a televised talk show is being held. There is a moderator, lawyer, and UDC spokesperson on the show. I’m told to sit off camera and be quiet. The topic of the show is how Uganda should mitigate the M23 crisis, and if the recent UN report accusing Rwanda and Uganda of supporting M23 should be trusted.
7:26 – The UPDF spokesperson has now decided he will make himself available. He calls in.
7:32 – Rosa hands me a sheet of paper that reads “Write down your questions”. All of my prepared questions had been for M23. I scramble for what to ask Colonel Kulayigye of the UPDF.
7:34 – I hand questions with chicken scratch handwriting on the supposed link between the FDLR and M23 and if Uganda will drop out of the peace talks if the UN does not renege their report accusing Uganda of supporting M23.
7:40 – The moderator asks both questions. I feel a sense of accomplishment not felt in a long time.
8:15 – Rosa and I part ways with plans to meet again in a few days. I head to Kololo to meet some new expat friends for dinner.
8:33 – I enter the Chinese restaurant and a woman grabs me by the hand and takes me to a VIP room. I try telling her there is nothing important about me.
8:34 – My expat friends have already ordered, and apparently they are the important ones. I get a beer and some tofu. It is the first thing I’ve eaten in close to nine hours.
10:00 – Dinner is over and the bill has been paid. Bodas are called. I just want to watch the Manchester United game and fall asleep.
10:34 – The bodas we call finally arrive. I part ways with my friends and tell the boda driver where I’m going, and that if he gets me to Garden City I can direct him the rest of the way.
10:40 – I have no idea where we are. I wonder if the boda driver knows where he is going.
10:41 – The boda driver asks me if I know where we are. I tell him I don’t and he starts to laugh. I wonder if the boda driver is taking me to the middle of nowhere so he can kill me and take the small amount of money I have.
10:49 - My paranoia is unwarranted. We get home and I sit down with Charlie and his family.
11:45 – Manchester United has won. All is well in the world.
Crushed it
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