Inauguration

Today seems to be as much of a holiday in Uganda as it is back in the US. I sat down in the same place I was 11 weeks earlier, where I watched Obama give his acceptance speech in Chicago. There I was again, surrounded by plenty of Ugandans and a few Americans. We were all very excited to watch this historical moment. Today is the first time I have been proud of my president in a long time. It feels kind of nice. Who would have thought?

Blasting at Silverback

Well, Silverback has started to change again. After diverting the Ugly Sisters channel in August 2007 (date?), Silverback has become a bigger, surging rapid. However, the dam company has now started to blast on river left at Silverback. It used to be a nice, lush jungle but now it is full of huge, loose boulders that were pushed into the river. The channel has become a bit narrower and the standard line has changed. My first time down after the blasting, I cut hard right and still got pushed into the eddy on the top left. Rumors have it that Silverback will be closed off by the end of this month, but I am hesitant to believe it. We will see what happens.