DeannaInUganda

I goat you goat we goat

This weekend i went to the Royal Ascot Goat Races at Speke Resort Munyonyo, one of the premier events on the Kampala social calendar. It seemed like a really strangely foreign event to have in africa (it really is quite posh) until you remember OH RIGHT. ITS GOATS.

Its exactly what it sounds like - an annual spoof on the British royal ascot races, complete with fancy dresses, big hats and lots of champagne. The main difference is (other than a lot more black people), well, the goats. There's no training goats - these are the same regular ol' munching-the-grass-and-garbage-on-the-side-of-the-road goat variety. Its pretty funny actually - goats aren't really a 'racing' kind of animal, so there is a couple of guys prodding the goats along by pushing a big barrier behind the goats to force them to move forward. If it wasn't for the fact that the goats occasionally stop to chew the grass, and that toddlers running along side the track have to pause to let the goats catch up, the numbers on the goats' backs and all the betting going on might actually convince you that it was a competitive event. Oh, who am i kidding. I spent the whole time in the Crane Bank hospitality tent drinking the free champagne. Good times good times!!

Then of course a bunch of us a rented a cottage at the resort so we could get drunk and not drive, and then (now this is key) roll out of bed the next morning straight to resorts pool. Ah.

It was a good weekend to top off a pretty hairy week last week. Last week involved my first bout with food poisoning in africa. (First time ever, actually.) Heather and I made omelettes for dinner on wednesday night, and by thursday morning we racing each other for the bathroom. Good times good times.

Also, I've now hosted a press conference! Cool, huh? Although our good buddy Salmonella kept me home from work on thursday and friday, I couldn't let it keep me home from my press appearances. Friday morning saw myself and two Aga Khan students go to Touch FM for a 7:40 a.m. interview. We all did a fabulous job, if i don't say so myself, and they gave us and our project 13 minutes of exposure, promoting both the upcoming Bazaar and the fundraising project in general. That afternoon we hosted a hastily-assembled press conference (we started organising on tuesday) that journalists from 17 different media outlets showed up to! I had spent the previous few days training six of the students to speak on the panel and I was so proud of them - they all did so so well!

Go kids go!

posted by Deanna @ 4:28 p.m.