What a day in Kampala! After hearing the constant chatter about Uganda’s capital city through friends and coworkers in our long-term Ugandan home of Gulu, we finally got a look on Thursday into what all of the talk is about. Although we only got one day in Kampala, we took full advantage of the opportunity at hand. If not for the scavenger hunt presented to us by our professors, us students may not have been granted the opportunity of experiencing Kampala as authentically as we did.

The rules were simple, but the tasks were not, necessarily. The group split into four groups of three, and we were to accomplish all of the tasks presented to us as fast as possible-with necessary time for safety and actually experiencing the city, of course. Naturally, a competitive nature took over, but the underlying tone was excitement of getting to be in such a fascinating place. Among the tasks at hand were: “Find evidence of a religious building other than Christian and take a photo,” “Find Parliament and take a photo at the front gate,” as well as interactive tasks that were to involve a dialogue with residents, such as: “Who are the greatest three African leaders of modern history? Ask three people,” and “How do you see Barack Obama and Donald Trump? Ask three people.” These questions were just a few among many.

The scavenger hunt was both pure fun and educational. Since we were completely unfamiliar with the city, we didn’t know where to locate all of the listed tasks, therefore requiring us to both interact with residents of the city, as well as use our navigational skills to steer us in the right direction. From the city residents, we learned many things. While some non-surprising African leaders were listed by residents as being great, namely Nelson Mandela, some answers like Gaddafi and Amin caught us off guard. We also learned that most people opposed Trump while praising Obama, with some mentioning Obama’s African roots as reason why they like him.

Along the way, my team members and I had some funny and informative experiences. After we located Parliament, we turned to residents in order to find our next location. We approached a man in a suit and asked him if he knew where our next destination was from Parliament. He enthusiastically offered to walk us in the right direction, until he was able to be sure we’d find what we needed. Upon talking to the man, we quickly learned that he is a member of Parliament himself, and the reason he was unable to walk us all the way to our next point is because he was about to be late to session. We laughed after learning this information, but were also certainly starstruck!

Another interesting thing we noted was the amount of comments we got about our walking speed. After having lived in Africa for over a month, we were well aware that we walk quite faster than what is the normal speed there, which just goes to show how Americans always feel as though they are in a rush. In Africa, they take it easy, and live in the moment, which is exactly what residents told us as we rushed to our next destination. They said there is no rush in Africa, and they take it slow. Perhaps that’s something we can all learn from.

The experience was a complete success, and I am excited to be familiar with Kampala when I return!