Dallas (Part 2)
So we called our friends the Okoboi's and told them our flight had been cancelled and told them the soonest we could get back to Philly was Monday night. That meant Mich would have to spend two extra nights at their house. We felt bad about the unplanned extension but there was nothing we could do to change the situation.
We also called the Hotel and told them we were coming back, that was not a problem for them.
What did we spend the extra days doing?? touring the city, what else?.
Dallas is a very beautiful city, the streets are very clean, the people are very friendly, the weather at the time was very good, not hot and not cold just right. It's very green, the trees and flowers are well groomed. I thought Uganda would look like Dallas fifty or so years down the road, but only if we stop being selfish, cut the corruption and focus on the good of the country as a whole.
I also discovered that Dallas is the Bible belt, I was amazed that there were scriptures inscribed on the walls of some buildings. I saw this specifically at a place called the Thanks Giving Square, that really blessed my heart. There were also lots of churches in the area that we were living, down town.
Talking about the Train transport, there are machines at every stop for people to buy tickets depending on what kind of ticket you want. There were some for just one trip, some for a day and then for longer periods. We bought the ones for the day, got on to the bus and I was looking out for the "conductor" or ticket guy to come checking. No one showed up, people were getting on and off as they pleased, that's when I asked Sam (he always knows) whatsup? no one is checking. I found out that people are responsible citizens, tickets don't need to be checked, everybody knows they need a ticket that's all. I thought about my beloved Uganda and how that would have been abused thoroughly. Later in the day I saw a notice at the station that stated that if you were found without a ticket you would be fined handsomely may be about shs500,000 (UG cash). I was just too impressed anyway.
On Sunday we took a trolley tour which by the way was free although time and again people give money out of appreciation. The trolleys are really old but kept very well, they try to keep them as original as possible so the chairs and everything are still as they were several decades back. We met a lady on the trolley and started talking about moving to Dallas (she was moving to Dallas too) so I guess we had that in common and she was a student too. She was so happy to talk with us, she even invited us for some progii that night, a rollerskating party. She gave us her number asked us to call later so we could get together, then she called her cousin to find out if he could arrange transport, I thought how nice. Turns out the function was going to be miles away, it was starting at 9pm, she wasn't able to get transport and.... oba we are just growing old?! Anyway we didn't go, too many things to think about.
That just goes to show how friendly the people can be and I haven't mentioned the conversations that were started by people in lifts and along the road.
Finally Monday came and this time the taxi driver was from Ethiopia. How did I find out?, he asked as we were leaving the cab which country we were from, he was really excited, he rapped some Swahili there but I was only able to say one or two words back. He said he had learned it sometime ago and then said he was from Ethiopia.
Sadly I forgot the camera at home so there are no photos to show.
We also called the Hotel and told them we were coming back, that was not a problem for them.
What did we spend the extra days doing?? touring the city, what else?.
Dallas is a very beautiful city, the streets are very clean, the people are very friendly, the weather at the time was very good, not hot and not cold just right. It's very green, the trees and flowers are well groomed. I thought Uganda would look like Dallas fifty or so years down the road, but only if we stop being selfish, cut the corruption and focus on the good of the country as a whole.
I also discovered that Dallas is the Bible belt, I was amazed that there were scriptures inscribed on the walls of some buildings. I saw this specifically at a place called the Thanks Giving Square, that really blessed my heart. There were also lots of churches in the area that we were living, down town.
Talking about the Train transport, there are machines at every stop for people to buy tickets depending on what kind of ticket you want. There were some for just one trip, some for a day and then for longer periods. We bought the ones for the day, got on to the bus and I was looking out for the "conductor" or ticket guy to come checking. No one showed up, people were getting on and off as they pleased, that's when I asked Sam (he always knows) whatsup? no one is checking. I found out that people are responsible citizens, tickets don't need to be checked, everybody knows they need a ticket that's all. I thought about my beloved Uganda and how that would have been abused thoroughly. Later in the day I saw a notice at the station that stated that if you were found without a ticket you would be fined handsomely may be about shs500,000 (UG cash). I was just too impressed anyway.
On Sunday we took a trolley tour which by the way was free although time and again people give money out of appreciation. The trolleys are really old but kept very well, they try to keep them as original as possible so the chairs and everything are still as they were several decades back. We met a lady on the trolley and started talking about moving to Dallas (she was moving to Dallas too) so I guess we had that in common and she was a student too. She was so happy to talk with us, she even invited us for some progii that night, a rollerskating party. She gave us her number asked us to call later so we could get together, then she called her cousin to find out if he could arrange transport, I thought how nice. Turns out the function was going to be miles away, it was starting at 9pm, she wasn't able to get transport and.... oba we are just growing old?! Anyway we didn't go, too many things to think about.
That just goes to show how friendly the people can be and I haven't mentioned the conversations that were started by people in lifts and along the road.
Finally Monday came and this time the taxi driver was from Ethiopia. How did I find out?, he asked as we were leaving the cab which country we were from, he was really excited, he rapped some Swahili there but I was only able to say one or two words back. He said he had learned it sometime ago and then said he was from Ethiopia.
Sadly I forgot the camera at home so there are no photos to show.
Comments
Post a Comment
Hey! Thanks for dropping by :-)