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| Hague city |
When I got a job in Fort Portal doing
development work, I was this adventurous young man who had a lot of appetite to
tour the world. I used to apply for any travel opportunity available. I vividly
remember in a very short period of time, I had toured Kenya, Ethiopia,
Tanzania, South Africa, Holland and Sweden.
Touring those countries was a very
exciting experience because I was able to make new friends, meet new people,
see new great cities, and experience new cultures. The adventurism also
radicalized my opposition against the Uganda dictatorship because I went to
countries where governance institutions were working. You could see no traffic
jams in cities far bigger than Kampala.
While travelling to Holland for a two
weeks (16th
– 27th September 2013) training in journalism at RNTC, I made an arrangement to meet a Dutch lady I had heard of
from friends in Uganda called Ms. Marije Boot to discuss more on the projects
she is implementing in Uganda. Fortunately, when I was in Holland, I kept in
contact with the Dutch lady. I remember, I had no phone in Holland, after class
I sent the Dutch lady a message that I was going to board a train from Hilversum
to Utrecht where the Dutch lady was.
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| Utrecht city |
In Hilversum I boarded a train to
Utrecht, I wasn’t even sure of reaching since I had never travelled to Utrecht.
I found the Dutch lady waiting for me at the train station in Utrecht. She was
really happy, I was also very happy meeting her for the first time. I remember
seeing her giving five Euros to a homeless person at the train station.
She took me to a storied house in
Utrecht built in the 14th century. Again, we went to a restaurant
next to a canal and had a nice dinner. I remember we also went to a bar where I
took hot water and a beer because it was very cold.
Utrecht city had a lively night life
because the city has many universities and always full with university students.
Utrecht had many canals and highly organized just like most cities in Holland
which made the city’s scenery much more beautiful.
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| Amsterdam city |
I had never been to Europe before and
Holland was the first European country I stepped in and stayed there for two
weeks. I was staying in a hotel next to Bussum Nord Railway Station in
Hilversum and I was chauffeured to the hotel in a state of the art Mercedes
Benz chauffeured by a white gentleman. In Uganda, I have never seen such a
Mercedes Benz being used as a special hire taxi. I was staying in a community
of internationals from Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria,
Tanzania, Peru, Kenya, India, Mozambique, Pakistan, Netherlands and South
Africa among others.
I remember my first day to fully visit
Amsterdam & Hague was when our school organized a tour of the two cities.
In Amsterdam we travelled almost the whole city via the so many canals. I saw
landmark buildings, the red-light district (legal prostitution areas), the coffee
shops (legal marijuana shops) which was an interesting experience.
 |
| Hilversum city |
In Holland, I had many colleagues with
diverse cultures because they were coming from different countries across the
world which was interesting for me because, I would always learn something new.
Even the rich, superstars, politicians
ride bicycles in Holland. I think this bicycle riding culture was created by
the geography because the whole country is flat and swampy. In the whole
country, there are only one or two very tiny hills which people are so much
proud of.
Dutch people are always fast in
everything except responding to emails because they walk very fast, do work
fast and on time. The Dutch society looks like a nonsense society and I think
that partly explains why it’s a developed society.
I
will soon be publishing a memoir titled, "From Holland to Uganda."
