Upload Arua Tourism.txt

Arua Tourism.txt

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Arua is the centre of Lugbaraland (The stones can probably speak the language af
 
 Religiously, Arua is the mission centre of the Anglican Madi & West Nile Diocese in Mvara (Eastern Arua City) as well as the Roman Catholic Arua Diocese in Ediofe (Western Arua City).
 
-I was born in Jinja and grew up in Kampala, but had a very ignorant disdain (or discriminative attitude) against Arua with absolutely no desire to visit throughout the 90s though most relatives did. However, since the world did not end in Y2K as prophesied by Computer Bug Doom's Day theorists (who were 100 percent dead-wrong; Pastor John Hagee in Texas also predicted that we might see the AntiChrist by 1999), I decided to make the first pilgrimage I can remember (using Nile Coach) to the land where my ancestors are resting (Mother told me she brought me to Arua when I was a handheld baby, but my oldest memory in this life is in Jinja). Every year after Y2K, I returned to Arua at least once around Christmas until moving permanently in December 2013; I wanted to demystify all the lies I heard (like Arua only has grassroofed mudsoil-and-stick-huts plus murram roads): Many cement houses existed and the huts had more durable claywalls (Some were even decorated with paint and designs). I was actually stunned to see reddish-orange tile roofs in Arua like you see on Entebbe Road (Things I had never seen in photos of Arua). Water ran through underground pipes too. The stereotypical view in the South is that West Nilers only eat mairungi, sell fruits like oranges and seeds eg groundnuts in baskets, work as watchmen, cut plantation sugarcanes plus are poor yet there are many doctors, lawyers, engineers, businesspeople and other professionals. (Nurse) Vivian Patience Nabakka in Arua said it best on TikTok: Come to Arua with a clean slate! My mantra in the new millenium was: Turn rejects into projects! I make short videos promoting Arua. Furthermore, I used to think beautiful women only originate from India, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Teso, but met some stunners in Lugbaraland too including a 2nd cousin I thought was another 2nd cousin's Congolese friend, yet sister. Beauties come out during crusades, promos, concerts and other events unless you see them in markets, churches or social media. You wonder where they stay and if their origins are really from near Arua. My first crush in West Nile was Cynthia Letasi (now Mrs. Mungufeni) who changed my worldview between 2001 and 2006 like a Kumari (She spoke Lugbara so fluently without shame and inspired me to re-study my own mother tongue by literally draining amalala ga kibuga [Luganda for: city haughtiness] out of me. Afterwards, every woman I glanced at who looked like her or had some kind of Cynthia aura became my favourite eg Tonto Dikeh (who I saw on the new Top TV in Kampala), Betty Mpologoma (who started her career in 1999), Sheebah Karungi who shot up in the Ugandan music industry around 2009, Pretty Banks, Queenie (singer in Miracle Centre Cathedral Rubaga's Proclaim Choir) plus Scarlet Johansson who featured in a 2003 movie that portrays exactly how Xnthi made me feel in the same year it came out. 
+I was born in Jinja and grew up in Kampala, but had a very ignorant disdain (or discriminative attitude) against Arua with absolutely no desire to visit throughout the 90s though most relatives did. However, since the world did not end in Y2K as prophesied by Computer Bug Doom's Day theorists (who were 100 percent dead-wrong; Pastor John Hagee in Texas also predicted that we might see the AntiChrist by 1999), I decided to make the first pilgrimage I can remember (using Nile Coach) to the land where my ancestors are resting (Mother told me she brought me to Arua when I was a handheld baby, but my oldest memory in this life is in Jinja). Every year after Y2K, I returned to Arua at least once around Christmas until moving permanently in December 2013; I wanted to demystify all the lies I heard (like Arua only has grassroofed mudsoil-and-stick-huts plus murram roads): Many cement houses existed and the huts had more durable claywalls (Some were even decorated with paint and designs). I was actually stunned to see reddish-orange tile roofs in Arua like you see on Entebbe Road (Things I had never seen in photos of Arua). Water ran through underground pipes too. The stereotypical view in the South is that West Nilers only eat mairungi, sell fruits like oranges and seeds eg groundnuts in baskets, work as watchmen, cut plantation sugarcanes plus are poor yet there are many doctors, lawyers, engineers, businesspeople and other professionals. (Nurse) Vivian Patience Nabakka in Arua said it best on TikTok: Unlearn all ugly things you have heard... Visit Arua with a pure, clean slate kind of mind! My mantra in the new millenium was: Turn rejects into projects! I make short videos promoting Arua. Furthermore, I used to think beautiful women only originate from India, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Teso, but met some stunners in Lugbaraland too including a 2nd cousin I thought was another 2nd cousin's Congolese friend, yet sister. Beauties come out during crusades, promos, concerts and other events unless you see them in markets, churches or social media. You wonder where they stay and if their origins are really from near Arua. My first crush in West Nile was Cynthia Letasi (now Mrs. Mungufeni) who changed my worldview between 2001 and 2006 like a Kumari (She spoke Lugbara so fluently without shame and inspired me to re-study my own mother tongue by literally draining amalala ga kibuga [Luganda for: city haughtiness] out of me. Afterwards, every woman I glanced at who looked like her or had some kind of Cynthia aura became my favourite eg Tonto Dikeh (who I saw on the new Top TV in Kampala), Betty Mpologoma (who started her career in 1999), Sheebah Karungi who shot up in the Ugandan music industry around 2009, Pretty Banks, Queenie (singer in Miracle Centre Cathedral Rubaga's Proclaim Choir) plus Scarlet Johansson who featured in a 2003 movie that portrays exactly how Xnthi made me feel in the same year it came out. 
 
 Koboko broke away from Arua in 2005 while Maracha (where I come from) and Terego left in 2006 until the latter returned to Arua in 2010 (while I was working for Electoral Commission in Tara Subcounty which is next to Terego). Other clans including my mother's clan (Ayivu, from which the City was cut out) also asked for districts, but the spirit of Arua cannot be divided nor shrunk by politicians. All the other places around Arua are like 12 gates. Arua is the only regional city in Uganda colonised by Belgians who first set up their West Nile administrative headquarters in Alikua (Maracha) immortalised by a pyramid whose maintenance was supported by the Belgian Government and gets visitors from their country eg in 2022 plus other countries; I used to find iron sheets from Belgium sold in Arua shops unlike KLA which had Roofings. By 2026, Madi Okollo (South of Vurra) was the only district with two names while West Nile is the only subregion in UG with an English name because it is west of the Longest River on Earth (Nile). Arua is the 2nd Most Populated City in Uganda. For me, Arua stands for superhigh elevation (not depression) and freedom from incarceration (mental imprisonment): African, refreshing, unchained, amazing! Draw a circle around Arua Hill from Ora Bridge in Madi Okollo and back, that is the first ripple! Arua is surrounded by a ring of mountains from Liru in Koboko to Wati, Oce in Moyo, Oci at the border between Ayivu and Vurra, Luku, etc.