Peace Corps Journals

This Is My Life...?Really??

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Oh Elizabeth, I forgot! You're Gone, duh!

2012-02-09 15:06:00

Milking my neighbor's cow...

An attempt at fitting two life-changing years in 500 words or less.

Almost exactly two years ago I left for my Peace Corps service. I entered Uganda with my head high, full of motivation and world changing ideals, then BAM!!! Africa happens. She slaps you around a bit, stampedes on your face and leaves you spitting out dirt gasping for air.

Would I do it again? Absolutely.

The last two years have given me more than I thought was possible.
I have somehow picked myself up over and over again. Shaking the red dust off my linen button up, I stand tall. I know myself better than I ever have in my life. I hold a more realistic view towards the world and my place in it. I thought I was strong before, now I look at the mother elephant in the face. Perseverance has been experienced, laudability acquired and rewards have been reaped. Africa, the mother of all continents. Relationships formed here are based off survival. You die if you’re alone. While in America, self- reliance is worshipped. Individualism is sought after with people scrambling to own the latest designer jeans. Ironic? Yes, yes it is. In Africa where people wear the cloths that are handed to them, I’ve learned to experience the world not as an individual, but as a community member. In my village, amongst my Peace Corps family and within the world.

A Ugandan who was handed a shirt.

Rebecca, standing in front of her 'Uganda Cribs' House

Brief moments that have only lasted minutes have out weighed challenges and frustrations that had lasted months. After two years of teaching my counterpart Rebecca accounting techniques and calculations, I put a piece of paper in front of her involving 30 ‘share value’ calculations for her saving’s group, said “go” and she went. Her exclamation to me upon discovering her calculations were correct, “Eh Namutebi! When you came, my glass was empty. Now it is full!”

Highlights of the last two years:

Some gas stove cooking action at Cafe Elizabeth. Making local donuts AKA mandazi.

Local kids taking some jackfruit home to mom in Nakaseke.

My best friends in the village. Maama PhilipO and her sons Philimone and PhilipO. In Baganda culture, you don't usually hold four year kids like a baby but I insisted. Gotta get the family portrait shot.

Local food! Got some peanut sauce with Matooke and rice.

Zach Mayo (neighboring volunteer) and I facilitated a two day seminar on the importance of savings and on how to run a successful village savings and loan association.

I was a counselor at Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). One of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I had 11 girls under my cape.

Right now it is dry season. Lets just say it’s like being stuck in an oven with red fine dust swirling constantly around you OR as some may say, hell on earth.

Look at all that dust!

Attempting to sweep all the dust out of my house. Water must be conserved during this time so mopping is kept to a minimal.

My Tussekimo(Togetherness) Savings Group

Lock Box Shot. Ladies busy saving!

Ashley got to attend the groups first meeting of the new cycle. They were very excited to meet America.

This pig can't be held down by no one!

ZANZIBAR

Sunrise in Zanzibar with some of my best friends, my fellow community members.

So what's next Elizabeth?!!?!?! I need to figure out a way to co-exist between my two new worlds. I think some livestock will be involved...

And I thought I wasn’t gunna coach for two and a half years..

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Livin' my life like its golden.

2012-02-09 14:25:00

I remember when I was saying my goodbyes and discussing all the necessities I would bring, people kept asking me, “So are you gunna bring your mitt?” Psh, I would think to myself. And after laughing inside my head, I would tell them, “They have NO idea what baseball is. Trust me.” Err-WRONG. Apparently baseball in Uganda, while still small of course, has been brewing for a couple decades and is very up and coming. After hearing about its existence I fortunately was given further information by my fellow volunteer about the baseball/softball camp, and have been waiting anxiously since arriving at site. And one day in, I fell in love and found my secondary project (aka, my new job for the next two years in Uganda).

So there is an older munu who has been involved with Ugandan Little League Baseball since 2002 and he’s done quite a lot for the program. He has a spot up in the hills near Kampala and it is lush, beautiful green everywhere. They cut down the side of the hill and flattened it out to make baseball fields and made is so when you are playing you are somewhat on a cliff looking into the valley and rolling hills. It’s quite lovely. But anyway, he added on dormitories for the players and coaches, guesthouses and plans to build a school with a futbol (soccer) field and other arenas for different sports. It was a pretty neat set up. And the best part about the location was that every night and every morning, it was packed with fog. I got to go to sleep and wake up feeling like I was back in the bay. The downside to this meant that there were more mosquitoes. WAY more. And they found their way inside my net the first night, and Erin and I were literally battling them the ENTIRE night. Aside from swatting them away every five minutes, I literally woke up at 2am and stayed up until 330am waiting for them to land so I could kill them. I felt like a psychopath, but it was the only way I could somehow sleep. Erin’s was so bad she looked like she had bed bug bites all over her arms. But, anyway.

I, along with my fellow PCV, Erin, have been assigned to teaching female coaches and players how to pitch. Now, I know what you may be thinking: I’ma catcher—what the eff am I doing teaching people how to pitch. And trust me, I did inform the head hancho of this and made no indication that I could teach pitchers. But, as softball is very new here in Uganda, they have no female with any experience on windmill pitching. So all my years in the bullpen sitting through hours and hours and HOURS of pitching instructions (as well as my one year of pitching lessons when I was 11) would have to somehow come in handy. And after day one, I was feeling pretty good.

The girls were great right from the start, all very anxious to learn more about the game and more importantly how to windmill pitch. I don’t think I could have asked for a better group of coachable girls. Don’t get me wrong, their lack of knowledge on American punctuality, let alone American sport punctuality, was extremely frustrating. There were a few mornings the girls were 30 minutes late and when I asked what they were doing, I was told, “They are washing.” WASHING? Wth? I felt like saying, “Are you not here to learn how to play softball? Or are you here to learn to wash your floor?” It urked my nerve but I had to take a step back and realize where I was and that in addition to teaching the game, I have to somehow learn to instill concepts like punctuality and time management. Even more frustrating, is the misunderstanding of the word, “hustle”. Now, these girls are in no was lazy. Seeing them balance 20 liter jerrycans on there head while walking up a hill is evidence enough. But, I think there is a disconnect when I yell at them to hustle. Because when I did, they all continued to walk to the same spot and were not doing it intentionally or disrespectfully and believed they were follow my instruction. As camp went along, we discussed hustle and defined the meaning and it got somehow better. The older girls were at least trying to keep the others in line by yelling “HUSTLE!” even though they themselves were trotting along and irritating the sanity out of me. Time is money, people!! And trying to get the girls to be interactive, OMG. I thought American teenage girls were a pain but this was just not fair. They are so conditioned with rouge memorization and “shut up and do” as opposed to “think and ask questions”. So anytime I said anything, all I got was blank stares and crickets. I had to individually ask them what I had said, what they thought after trying it and then wish for some questions after the minimal interaction. But towards the end, it got much better and the girls were asking me questions on their own and showing their excitement.

We coached 11-16 players as well as 19-24 year old coaches on windmill pitching. And it was so interesting to see the difficulties in trying to train fully matured adults compared to young girls who pick up new things with ease and coordination. But the excitement and effort from the girls was just awesome to be around. Minus when we put them in a game situation, then things got a little … weird. We picked three of the best pitchers to pitch in a friendly game against each other to give them some experience on the mound with a real batter. Not my idea and I had a feeling it was going to be a disaster since the girls had been throwing underhand for 5 days. But anyway. The first batter was an immediate success: STRIKE OUT. Boo-ya, I was feeling good feeling great feeling great feeling good, how are you? Then, things started to quickly unravel as a couple of girls, envious girls, who thought they should be pitching instead started getting in the head of my assigned pitcher in a language that I could not understand. Slowly by slowly, my pitcher started walking people, throwing past balls where runners scored and her teammates bashed her instead of encouraging her. The other coaches and myself kept calling time outs to talk the pitcher thru it and shut the others girls up, but they just kept on going. The older girls kept stepping up for the pitcher and told the girls to support her and stop “abusing” her (which made me extremely proud and even more fond of them). Finally, our pitcher pulled it together and struck two more batters out and ended the inning. In the change-over, a male coach came down to see how a few of his girls were doing. When he learned that his star pitcher (a know-it-all diva who had been there for one day and not participated in any drills) wasn’t pitching, he got upset with us. And instead of talking to us aside, he decided he should scold us and tell us what to do in front of the girls. Mind you, he had been participating in all the baseball activities and had never once been in OUR practice, and I emphasize OUR because it was specifically our camp and we are the only ones who know how to windmill pitch. Now, the feminist inside of me took defense and assumed this man thought he could come over and tell the dumb girls what to do. And that urked me greatly. Whether that was the case or not, the behavior was inappropriate and offensive, and we stood our ground. We ended up calling the game after the half inning because he wouldn’t stop fighting us. We later had a meeting with the head hancho who mediated and explained that our camp was our camp and we were in charge. I inserted a few words about making sure we keep the camp and equal opportunity environment as we were there to not only train girls but also help empower them and show that they could do, and that his behavior contradicted that completely. And the head handcho had my back. So, we all made peace and nothing came of that again. But it was extremely frustrating. I’m on my way to work with his girls next week, so well see how it goes.

Anyway, I met two girls who I absolutely fell in love with. Very smart, intelligent, kind, ATHELTIC and SO eager to learn. They both were there for pitching, but one is also a catcher (Boo-Ya) and one a lefty first-baseman. I worked with both of them on the side and had a blast. Jennet, the catcher, is just a beast behind the plate and picked things up with ease. And Judith had the time of her life when I was showing her how to slap and drag bunt. They pick things up so quickly and were so open. And, they don’t complain when a ball hits them. They really impressed me and I feel like if I could work with them on a consistent basis they could be great in no time. They just have so much potential, as did all the girls. I wish I could take them all home to America with me and start a team!! Lol.

So that is the start of my secondary project. I am headed to Entebbe next week to work with Willysha, another PCV, in training a couple teams. I am very excited and hope we are able to continue our work. Am sure I will be writing more about this very soon.

Hope you all are enjoying the new year and that you have a lovely Valentines day. Happy birthday to my baby, Coupe Douggie. I can’t believe you are already one… I miss and love you all so so much.

Meetings of Endurance

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Uganda Read This- I ain't lion

2012-02-08 19:51:00

Meetings in Uganda tend to be a feat of endurance, while meetings in America are more likely to resemble a sprint. Even after spending one year in Uganda, I still struggle with the cultural differences with respects to meetings, which is unfortunately because I go to many.

Generally speaking, meetings usually start on “African Time.” To put this in perspective, if an American scheduled a meeting for 9 am, you would get there by 8:55 am just in case, right? You don’t want to be that person that tries to sneak in quietly at 9:05 only to scrape your chair against the floor as you take a seat, and the whole room turns to judge you. In Uganda, if a meeting is supposed to start at 9 am, you’ll be lucky if it starts by 11 am. Even though I am well aware of this cultural norm, I still manage to be the first one to most meetings. I try to set a good example, but I’m also eternally optimistic that we’ll start only an hour behind!

Every meeting needs to have an agenda, which is either posted in the room or written on the blackboard. Usually, they look something like this:

1. National Anthem

2. Prayer

3. Introductions

4. Communication from the chairman

5. Speech by:

6. Reactions and remarks

7. A Way Forward

8. Closing

Agendas such as this are common even for meetings of five people! Usually, they are closely followed, unless a “big person” drops in. When I say “big people,” I don’t mean physically big people! Anyone that holds an important role, such as the District Education Officer or a local council member, is considered to be “big people.” When they happen to drop by, whether they are on the agenda or not, the attending members are expected to rise and welcome them. The big person will be given the best seat, an introduction from the chairperson and unlimited talk time, even if we started two hours behind.

Regardless of location, a prayer is said at every meeting, including schools. It used to make me feel really uncomfortable to be standing in a classroom with my head bowed as someone prayed over us. After 12 years in a public school, it ironically seemed like a sin to pray out loud at school. Ugandans are equally shocked that we don’t teach religion in school, which is a testable subject here.

If you want good attendance and a happy audience, it’s very important to provide food. In college, we used food to attract people to events and information sessions, but I would never expect a school to cater a PTA meeting. Shorter meetings just serve a soda as a treat; however, day-long meetings are expected to serve “lunch.” More often than not, I do not consider it lunch, but an early dinner. The meal is not served until the meeting is over; otherwise, people would leave once they were fed. I am not exaggerating when I say that multiple times, I’ve left my house for a meeting at 9:30 am and was not served “lunch” until 5 pm. The rice and meat always tastes so good! Some meetings will serve tea around midday. Even if I don’t like the snack, I force it down with expectations to be starved later.

Most meetings I attend are with teachers, head teachers or college tutors, so language usually is not a problem. I have attended four meetings that are General Parents Meetings. Many parents do not understand English very well, so the meeting is conducted exclusively in Lunyole. During these meetings, I can understand about 10-25% of the content. I tend to drift in and out of concentration, despite my best efforts to appear focused.

Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be to have your cell phone ring in America during a meeting? Again, people would be turning to shoot you disapproving and censorious (GRE WORD!) looks. In Uganda, it is common for cell phones to ring every 15 minutes, which phases no one. Furthermore, it is completely appropriate to either A) leave the meeting, even if you were one speaking, B) try to bend over in your chair and quietly answer it. I believe this is acceptable because in Uganda, you spend airtime to call someone, but not to answer. So, if you do the American polite thing and silence the call, you’re costing yourself money because you’ll have to call that person back!

Meetings will always be a source of annoyance for me, but I have learned a number of ways to maintain my sanity. (NOTE: I only do these things when the meeting is not applicable to my position or me! Of course, I pay attention when I should.)

1. I do not allow myself to open any notebooks for the first hour. During the first hour, I can usually pay attention without wanting to melt down. After that, I can spend time planning for the next week, writing to do lists, writing new English stories for my classes and doodling.

2. If I’m given a “working soda,” I try to make it last as long as possible, even if I just want to gulp it down.

3. I quiz myself on the people in the meeting: their names, the schools they work at, etc.

4. As you noticed above, I’m trying to study GRE vocabulary. I’ve started to carry my flashcards with me everywhere. I think they are more discreet than blatantly reading a book, although some PCVs do.

5. Sudoku.

6. Daydreaming. Common topics: American food, my next vacation, my last vacation, my life after Peace Corps, American food.

7. Although I don’t do this as much anymore, I used to spend a lot of time counting the number of days, weeks or months I’ve been in service and tried to determine how much time remained.

I admit that I’m looking forward to attending American meetings again, but I am concerned that it will take a while for me to readjust. In the first few months, I may show up hours late, answer my cell phone mid-meeting and demand lunch. Mostly, I’m worried that I will be unable to control my ability to zone out for hours at a time. Thankfully, I don’t have to put that handy skill on my résumé. Otherwise, I may never get hired.

Cards

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Sarah the Explorer

2012-02-08 19:41:00

When it’s cold outside and you don’t have an ice shack or a hunting license (or even a gun), you end up with--- cards. I have developed my strategy; simply all or nothing. Like in crazy rummy, I hold on to my high cards until I can get them to count for me. If someone else goes out first, I lose, big. If not, I really win. As I was holding my cards, hoping that no one would go out first, hoping that the right card would come my way, I realized that this is my life. My masters’ and Peace Corps are great wild cards but not a complete hand. I have some small cards but am holding my hand for bigger ones. I turned down a position as the County child protective services caseworker. It would have been a decent hand. It would have led to a decent life. Instead, I held onto my cards. I’m turning down the small things that threaten to make me settle; a date with so- and- so; a minimum wage job, anxiety over future debt. I’m giving myself permission to take these three months at my grandparents house to study Calculus, Chemistry and Biology (some with and some without a classroom class) to review my MCAT books, to apply and look into different pre- med and med options, and to read. Paul Farmer, not a good bedside book because it fills me with drive to pursue medicine, teaches me that my background is valid and my future pursuits worthwhile—to keep holding onto these cards, to try for the big ones. I did hold those cards last night and made 500 points in one round (instead of the 20 I would have otherwise). The next round, I lost, also grandly. I do worry that I am throwing away the bird in the hand for the elusive flock in the tree. My life, however, is not exactly like cards. First of all, as a first world citizen, I don’t have to worry as much about someone else ending it for me. No, instead the round is very, very long. Too long to go out settling for what I have in my hand so far.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda The Little Bite

2012-02-08 17:31:20

It’s entirely possible that I’m closer in age to 87 than 27. My idea of a perfect night out on the town is a little closer to attending the symphony or opera or ballet, than club hopping and drinking far more than any person ever should. I like tea served in delicate cups with little [...]

Why I Wear a Cape

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Oh Elizabeth, I forgot! You're Gone, duh!

2012-02-08 12:45:00

The closing of service conference just took place for myself and the 26 others still remaining in my Peace Corps training class. I can honestly say that many of these people will be lifetime friends, some even roommates. The more I get to know them, the more I look up to them, admire them and respect them. I couldn't have asked for a better group to share and spend two life changing years with.

They asked that I give a speech, and this is what I said to them:

"Everyone is about to find out why I wear a cape. Before I get to that I first want to say that I have never felt like I fit in better than here, in Peace Corps Uganda, with all of you. After spending two years together I now know why. Everyone is as awesome as me!

When I think of my loved ones who come close to being as awesome as Peace Corps Volunteers, there are few. And most of those people are related to me. Maybe it’s in the genes.

This decision took guts and even more, perseverance to follow though with it. We all share a similar range of qualities: independent, strong, free thinking, confident, self aware, unwavering, valiant, noble, laudable, daring, often fearless and at times even rip curling.

I was thinking of a way to describe who we are without getting too wordy, and I figured it out:

We are superheroes.

This revelation came around after trying to figure out what my future interactions will be with people back home who didn’t partake in this epically extreme experience. When Dave visited back home he had mentioned his interactions with how people didn’t really know what to say to him upon learning he was in Peace Corps, “Oh…how is it?” How is it? How do you answer that!?....with a, “It’s good.”

(shrug?)

I realized these would be the same questions I would be left with if I ran into spiderman at a party, superman at my aunt’s BBQ, wolverine at my brother’s wedding, “Whoah, so you’re a superhero….what’s that like?” I mean, how would spider man respond to that?...

Yes, I am comparing us to superheroes. Go with me. An elite club. There are currently only 7,800 volunteers serving worldwide. In the 50 year history of Peace Corps there have only been 200,000 total. Think about it, the population of our country is over 300,000 million. You do the math. We are badass.

SHAZAM!!! AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!! UP, UP AND AWAY!!!!

By the end of my speech you will be looking for a cape.

This may be a little obnoxious or arrogant. But the only thing separating us is the super human physical abilities. Well rip curling will always be there. Put us in fear factor and we’ll rip. I’m planning on writing to Amazing Race about a PC edition. Money in the bank.

Coming here, we already had something others didn’t. While our colleagues said, “PEACE CORPS?! Aren’t you worried you’ll get two years behind??” “How do your parents feel about that?” We were thinking, as Jake was, “…2 yrs in PC?! How could I not come back more awesome?!?!?” While our friends cower at rolling 20 deep in a taxi down a dusty dirty road or pooping in a pit, we stepped up for the challenge.

What’s more, our powers and abilities have matured here. We’ve honed our powers while others remained stagnant. We are now able to outrun lions (which I did), ponder the mysteries of the universe in our fortress of solitude and strive in conditions that would crush mere mortals. We save the day, win the week and conquer the month.

We are people to be admired. People see us as someone to respect, to look up to, to ask for counsel.

So when you are watching the Bourne Identity or Batmen Begins and thinking, “Dang, they are badass”, remind yourself that is basically what your friends are thinking of you.

When you return home, the thought will probably cross your mind of how much less awesome everyone else is. They will be lacking many things you now have. Don’t get frustrated with them, accept them. If you see someone screaming for help go help them because who else will? Hi-Yo Silver! Away!!

The difference between being a hero and not is this;
It’s about knowing your abilities and not letting them go to waste. Use your abilities. Use your talents. We all have them. With great power comes great responsibility. And we’ve realized this more than our friends and family back home because we have risen to the challenge.

And that’s why I wear a cape."

Roasted Root Vegetable Lentil Stew with Red Kale

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda The Little Bite

2012-02-07 20:22:17

After weeks of mild temperatures in the 50s and 60s, Winter has limped in, tail between its legs, proffering a day of sleet and a dusting of snow. And while temperatures are still slightly above freezing, and this long-awaited snow has no hope of accumulating, I’m determined to embrace Winter’s feeble attempt attempt. It’s my [...]

3 Weeks in a Nutshell

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda how we spend our days...

2012-02-07 18:54:00

Hi Everybody! Hope you are all doing well! I wanted to share about the last three weeks for us here in Uganda. If you missed my earlier post, feel free to check out the significantly less wordy account of our trip - pictures! But, if you are okay with a potentially largeish nutshell version of the last month or so, read on!

Our first visitors - my mom and dad - arrived in Uganda on January 17. We had been looking forward to their visit for months, and were so excited that they were finally going to be in Uganda with us! They arrived without much trouble, and actually flew to Uganda with the sister of another PCV.

It’s hard to describe the emotions of seeing family for the first time after almost a year! We waited with so much excitement to see them come out of customs and as they walked through we all just ran towards each other and hugged and cried and hugged some more! It was really amazing! We were just so overjoyed to be together and know we’d be spending the next two weeks in the same country!

After the initial excitement of having them here (I think we were up until after 2 the first night!), we spent some time relaxing and catching up in Entebbe, then headed out on our first adventure - Murchison Falls National Park. We had hired a private car and driver/guide to try to make transport a bit simpler, ensure safe travel of all of our luggage, and try to cut down on Mom’s chances of getting car sick. It seemed like such a good idea....Long story short, we had a flat tire, breakdown in the middle of the game park, drove off the road in an attack of tsetse flies, and spent the entire trip back to Kampala going about half the speed of the cars flying by us. In the middle of the ride back, our driver calmly pulled over, walked behind the car, dialed a number on his cell phone, and started yelling (literally!) at the guy on the other end. It went something like this: “You STUPID man, STUPID!!! You sold us a FAKE CAR! Why have you sold us a FAKE CAR?! You STUPID, STUPID man...” And on and on....On top of all of that, it was dry season and dusty was everywhere! The car, luggage, and every inch of our skin and clothes were absolutely covered in dirt! I honestly don’t know if I have ever been so dirty!!! Luckily we all found the adventure more funny than frustrating, and everyone had a good attitude about it!

When we weren’t busy dealing with car trouble, our time in the park was great! Murchison is a huge park with lots and lots of the classic safari animals. We managed to see most of them! We started with a boat trip on the Nile, headed towards the base of the Murchison Falls. Along the way we saw tons of birds, crocodiles, hippos, Ugandan kob, bushbuck, waterbuck, colobus monkeys, baboons, warthogs, buffalos, and my favorite - elephants!!! We had some incredible moments along the boat ride - crocodiles suddenly charging our boat, birds in the hundreds taking off in flight, and an elephant who had waded out to the middle of the river and walked back to the other side just yards from our boat. He was very old, and very huge and totally breathtaking!

The boat tour took us to the base of the falls, which was a great view. Then, we headed back downstream to the dock, seeing many of the animals again along the way. It was a truly unforgettable ride. Disney Jungle Cruise - you’ve got nothing on us!!

In the evening we headed out on ridiculous roads to see the top of Murchison Falls. The roads in the park are so bad it honestly feels like you’re on a really poorly done simulator! I kid you not. Thank God for 4 wheel drive! Anyhow, the top of the falls were really spectacular! Standing on the top and looking out, you get soaked by the spary and the power of all that water is truly amazing! Pictures don’t do it justice! But, we enjoyed the view as the sun set over the park.

We spent the night at a rest camp overlooking the river and woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of hippos crunching the grass outside our bandas. We had a short night in order to start the game drive early the next day.

Our game drive was good, though probably not the highlight of the park for any of us! (The boat trip was a hard act to follow!) We were able to see a gorgeous sunrise, giraffe, warthog, baboons, lots of deerish animals, and even two young lions. Although we didn’t get a great view of the lions, it was super interesting to watch all of the animals react as they knew that they were on the prowl! After we’d seen what we could, we made the long trip back south!

Back in Bushenyi, Mom and Dad enjoyed seeing where we live, meeting our friends, neighbors, and coworkers, walking to town and around our village, doing their wash by hand, and cooking peace corps style! We also played lots of games and of course talked and talked and talked! Mom and Dad also gave us an enormous stocking full of belated Christmas gifts each day - calling it the 12 days of Christmas! They were so generous in restocking our supply of American toiletries and giving us so many incredible, practical, and fun gifts - pam cooking spray, chocolate chips, American sweets, new clothes, yoga mats, puppets to play with the kiddos, etc. It made for a wonderfully festive belated Christmas celebration!

While in Bushenyi we also had the chance to track Chimpanzees in the nearby Kalinzu Forest Reserve, and visit a neat lodge on the escarpment overlooking Queen Elizabeth National Park. Chimp tracking was a crazy adventure. We hiked (and hacked) our way through an incredibly dense rainforest and were able to see chimpanzees, three different monkey species, and lots of really interesting plants. It was a national geographic worthy day!

Last but not least, we had the opportunity to head to Rwanda and spend a weekend in Kigali. Mom and Dad got the authentic public transport experience on this trip - overcrowding, delays, breakdowns, and even (almost) fistfights! One of the funniest public transport moments of the trip was when we had 10 people in a car the size of a Toyota Camry. All four of us and one (lucky) Ugandan were crammed into the backseat of the car. The driver was trying to get the door shut and just kept slamming it into Dad’s hip. The Ugandan tries to grab Dad around the shoulders and pull him in, the driver is shoving him from the outside with all his might, and Dad just can’t stop giggling! We all laughed a lot, and I had to try to explain to the four passengers sharing the front seats that we don’t really travel like this in America!!!

But, Rwanda was lovely - so clean and organized! We were able to stay with a relative in Kigali who was lived there as a missionary for the last 26 years! He experienced the genocide there in 1994, as well as the aftermath that followed, and was able to share many really interesting perspectives and experiences, having been in Rwanda (and East Africa) for such a long time. While in Rwanda we were also able to see the Hotel Des Milles Collines (the hotel from Hotel Rwanda), and a really beautiful, but really sobering genocide memorial. It was a really great trip - fun, interesting, and poignant too.

Then, last Thursday we sent Mom and Dad off again. They insisted on braving public transport alone (earning major kudos from our Peace Corps friends!) and flew out later in the evening. The time flew by, but we really loved every minute and are so thankful for the time we were able to spend with family.

Now...back to reality! Although the term technically started yesterday, our returning students are waiting for their exams to be marked (exams they took in November), and as such are not back yet. Since the government won’t pay for students to repeat a year at the PTC, they must first know whether or not they passed year one in order to determine if they should come back to school. So, they’re scattered all around, listening to the radio, and we hope that they will be here before too much time has passed!

We’ve been joining the staff for beginning of term meetings (3 days of meetings, to be precise) and been reminded of some of the frustrations of service that we managed to ignore for the last couple of months - poor timekeeping, low attendance, and a very different style of “running” a meeting. But, we are excited for the term and year to come. We have lots of new ideas and big plans, and we will be sure to keep the blog posted as the term goes on!

For now, thanks so much for reading! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers, and know that we love and miss you all very much!

Much love,

~emily~

PS - February 11 marks the anniversary of our arrival in Uganda and the end of our first year as PCVs! We can’t believe it’s already been an entire year!!!

THE HUNGER GAMES

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Pass the Matooke, please!

2012-02-06 20:36:00

It’s always funny talking to other PCVs, especially when we are talking in large groups. The conversation follows a very specific pattern:
-Greeting
-Update on site (which usually starts with “So, do you have work to do yet?” followed by a scoff and “I wish!”)
-Gossip about PCVs from our training class and others
-FOOD

It seems no matter what circumstance we meet in, the conversation always ends up about food. What foods we’ve been eating for the past four months at site, what foods we have gotten in care packages, what food we have attempted to cook, what food we hope to be able to cook, and finally, what food we miss the most. Some of us (okay, mostly me) talk about the food we see in television shows and movies we’ve watched recently, which only leads to an angry exchange of words between PCVs because it only serves to remind us what we are missing out on in the U.S. Also, just an F.Y.I. for all you Facebook picture-posters, PLEASE STOP POSTING PICTURES OF AWESOME FOOD! It just hurts. Really, every time I see a picture of a home cooked meal with all the trimmings, my soul dies a little. Even the dishes I wouldn’t eat (i.e. meat dishes) become appealing to me.

Case in point: My craving for barbeque wings (sorry mom).

I was watching some of the most recent Modern Family episodes (if you haven’t seen this show, please watch the first season, it is pure hilarity) and I began the episode where Phil takes his eldest daughter to visit his alma mater. They go to a pub where they have the best wings in town. I don’t really know what the major point of the episode was; all I can remember is realizing how hungry I became every time they had a shot of the two eating the wings or talking about the wings (reminder: I'm a vegetarian). This also happened during another episode of Modern Family, where Claire is at her father’s house baking cupcakes. Sigh. Having become deprived of the glory of cupcakes, I realize how serious my obsession has become. I have even been shown a website where there are instructions on how to make cake using my rice cooker…desperate?

TRIVIA TIME: If you can guess what food I miss the most (right now), I’ll send you a postcard!

In other news, I survived the 6 month mark! Time flew by faster than I imagined, making me more confident I can make it to the end…you have to begin with the end in mind, right? Projects and real work have definitely picked up, making me feel slightly more useful and appreciated here. It’s also good to know I have a few staff members backing me up in many of my initiatives to impact the nursing school and the community. I still miss my friends and family everyday (Facebook definitely does not help) but I know you’re all there supporting me and sending good thoughts my way.

I recently had a meeting with the Red Cross Student LINK Group at the nursing school, which I have been elected the Patron of, and we’ve made a list of programs and projects we want to work on throughout the year:
-Launch event – something similar to the community clean up
-Basic First AID/Prevention method Tip of the Week
-RCSN Grounds Clean Up
-Dormitory Clean Up here on the grounds
-Sanitation education for the students
-AFRIPads Promotion (within the school and around the Rakai community, including secondary schools)

Hopefully we’ll be able to get some of these programs accomplished, along with heaps of outreach and community service.

I also started working at the newly opened library between 8:30pm and 10:30pm. Initially I was supposed to work from 6:30pm to 10:30pm, but of course the individual who had the keys was nowhere to be found and it took some convincing to get the extra set of keys given to me (why, I’m not really sure). Either way, the first evening was a success. I thought I would be overwhelmed, working the library by myself, but its small and manageable and the students seem to respect me (at least to the extent that they don’t want to piss me off for fear I won’t help them find a way to the U.S.)…hopefully things continue on this upward slope!

February 6, 2012 6:10 PM

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda There Won't Be Snow In Africa

2012-02-06 15:29:00

I finally started teaching again today. It was nice to get back into it. My classes were significantly smaller than they were last year. I think I had only about 40 girls in each class. This will make taking them to the computer lab easier.

Final Post

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Resist or Serve

2012-02-06 10:18:00

I've initiated the process to resign from the Peace Corps and return home to the United States.

The Peace Corps was often a disappointing experience. I was able to do good work and am proud to say I made some small difference in the world while I was here. I feel the overwhelming bureaucracy of the Peace Corps and the averse effects of foreign AID essentially made it impossible for me to realize the potential that this experience could have been.

While here I've fought HIV and AIDS; I designed and oversaw construction of a basketball court with Rebecca Workman; I participated in the planning and running of a camp to develop the Boys of Uganda into positive leaders; I promoted the use of highly efficient mud stoves to reduce fuel cost at my school, I introduced my organization to cost control practices, I taught important life skills to Orphans and Vulnerable children once a week; I advocated for volunteers as a representative of our training class; I developed a new model for communication with Peace Corps Invitees and successfully implemented it.

While here I conversed in a foreign language, I experienced a way of life far different than mine back home, I bathed in a bucket for 18 months, I helped slaughter and cook a delicious pig, I washed my clothes by hand, I made lifelong friends, and I let myself fall in love for the first time in my life.

Yesterday I found that there wasn't a single day left in my scheduled 8 remaining months of Peace Corps that I looked forward to. This experience has nothing left to offer me. I'm proud of what I've done and for the most part in the man I have been while here. I'm glad I'm leaving when I had nothing left worth doing, not when my 2 years happened to be expiring.

I believe this will be my final post. And so...

Mom and Dad, Thank you for the life and love you have given me. If I have done anything good here it is because you raised me into the man I am.

Annie, thank you for all the support and love.

Elaine, the support I received from you and the old team was incredible.

Nick, One of the greatest outcomes of my Peace Corps experience is making friends I intend to know the rest of my life. Can't wait for our future adventures.

Kendall, You were right, it was worth it.

Alexi, We weren't close friends until I really needed one. Thank you.

Matt, Yatzee! I couldn't resist. You better come to a Clemson-UNC game with me.

Drew & Christy, I miss you two already. We've got lots of good times ahead.

Becca, Thanks for taking care of me when I most needed it. I'll see you in America.

Jenny, Knowing you changed my life, I'll never forget you.

You have some pulp in your hair

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda i wish i ran more

2012-02-06 06:59:00

School is supposed to start today, but somehow, like everything else I’ve experienced here, things aren’t going as planned. At the end of last year my students took tests set by the ministry; the first years took promotional exams to determine whether or not they can go on, and the second years took certification exams, to determine whether or not they can become teachers. The ministry is in charge of grading the exams and then giving the PTCs the results so we know who among the first year students is allowed to come back and continue, except that we are still waiting on the results.

It’s funny when people back in America swoon over things I’m doing here and the life I’m living… yes, it’s an adventure just buying vegetables sometimes, and yes I’m pretty stoked to be able to say I did this, but when it comes down to it, my days are very slow and I read a lot of books. I have acclimated to the laid back lifestyle, probably better than I care to admit, so when I walked up to the college last week and meandered around and chatted with people, I wasn’t too surprised or disappointed to hear that no one knew what was going on. This morning, the first day of school, I guessed that I could take it slowly getting to the college, so I went for a run and ate a papaya off my tree before worrying about going to work. However, when I finally walked up at 9 and found the college empty, I was a little confused. (Teacher friends in America, can you imagine?) Only Bensy and Jasper – the school secretary and assistant – were there so they alone reaped the benefits of my boredom last weekend (read: some effing delicious banana bread that I’d brought to share at tea time) It tickled them to be the sole recipients of something Liz cooked, Liz who can’t cook to save her life, look at her, there’s no way she can cook Skeris. Oh ye of little faith, just wait till you taste that bread.

Yesterday was spent sitting in the sunshine, reading a book, and trying to get my Florida on. I picked some limes from my tree, and figuring they’d make a decent substitute for lemons, squeezed them into my hair to try to speed up the blonde process that is already taking place. At about four, the flies were way too happy that I had fruit juice in my hair so I had to call it a day and go take a shower. I am super conservative with my water here and don’t usually shower except once every *grumble grumble* so I don’t really want to repeat the lemon-lime hair-do today and have to wash it again, two days in a row. Blasphemy!

On a closing note, my friend Ilse does a much, much better job of describing what it's like at the beginning of school here. Except that she apparently has some students and I still have zero.

Wild Animals and New Adventures

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Peace Corps Uganda

2012-02-05 05:31:00

The Christmas break is a long one here in Uganda. It is their summer vacation; this next term starts the beginning of the school year. I have managed to do quite a few things during the over two months I’ve had off from teaching.

I spent most of my time hanging out in SW Uganda. Right now it is the dry season and possibly the hottest part of the year but in the mountains in the southwest the air is cool, the grass is green, and the banana trees are spitting up more fruit than can be consumed locally. As I toured the region, I caught up with other volunteers and picked up a few new recipe ideas. Let’s just say that I am definitely going to start making my own cheese. And pizza. And cheese pizza. (…And, if I can get ahold of some pepperoni, then I can make…PEPPERONI PIZZA! My favorite!)

I hung out with Kirk a bit and we started to put together some documents for the new Peace Corps Uganda Tech Committee. For starters, any technical resources or advice is only found by word of mouth from other tech-savvy volunteers. We are going to make such information easier for volunteers to acquire. As we travelled, I got more ideas about what technical issues volunteers face and even found some nifty solutions.

For example, after some tinkering, I NOW HAVE GOOD INTERNET AT MY HOUSE! I can video Skype without having to travel somewhere to use the good connection! So if you are dying to chat, look me up!

My Christmas and New Years were good. Hot, but good. I keep hearing about all the snow in Seattle as I sweat quietly in my room. Hah. For Christmas I was with over a dozen of other volunteers (hanging out in the SW) and we made some fine frame cooked chicken and goat with a fruit salad and potato salad and such on the side. Mmm. For the New Year, Kirk and I were with Emily and Ryan (married PCVs) and they opened my eyes to the possibilities of making some great food from scratch. The first night they had made a three or four cheese lasagna. Then they made some a Mediterranean dish. Then we made soya Phad Thai. And soya enchiladas with corn-tortillas chips and salsa and guac. All made from scratch locally. So good!

From the city of Kasese I headed to Queen Elizabeth National Park and did my first safari drive and boat expedition. I saw too many cob and buffalo to count, at least 30 elephants, probably over a hundred hippopotami, and a couple of crocs and lizards and monkeys and warthogs. Seeing these creatures roaming freely in their natural habitat is something else, for sure.

I also got to go to Rwanda! Boy, Kigali (the capital) is a world apart from Kampala. There are traffic lights, maintained streets, no litter, the power is reliable, and the motorcyclists all where helmets and carry helmets for their passengers. It was truly a nice vacation. Also, Peace Corps Rwanda has had some major renovations in the last couple years so I was able to stay at their headquarters for free. The lodging there is a dorm for PCVs (from any country) to stay in. There is a kitchen with TWO refrigerators, a stove, a flippin’ ice cream maker and a nice drinking water setup. Also, (this blew my mind!) there were showers. Legit showers. Scalding hot showers. Scalding hot, high pressure showers that would make Kramer from Seinfeld very envious. So that was nice. I had some jelly doughnuts and we bought fresh ingredients from the German Bakery nearby and made tons of ham and salami sandwiches. The showers and the sandwiches alone make me want to spend some more time in Rwanda.

While in the country, I went trekking and so the famous Mountain Gorillas! Some of the photos are already up on Facebook if you want to see them. My friend Kevin and I got lucky on the trek: we got to spend an hour with the most popular and largest of the gorilla families. You don’t have any say on where you go – you buy the permits, show up and see where the trackers place you. We saw almost all of the 30-some gorillas in the family, including the 6-month old twins and the menacing silverback leader. We were standing no less than four feet from the gorillas for a large portion of the time. Kevin and I on separate occasions were pushed out of the way when a gorilla decided to pass through where we were standing. Now I can take “Being spanked by a gorilla” off my bucket list.

I had a blast in the SW and am now back at my house as I post this blog. The new term and the start of my first full year of teaching begins in about two weeks. I will continue teaching my old students (now in S4 mathematics) and will take on the new group of third year students. Supposedly there will be some new teachers so I am praying that this next year starts off smoothly as I change my focus from touring to teaching.

As if they were trying to welcome me home, when I entered my region again I saw wild giraffe first the first time in my life on the side of the road, munching on some trees. It is good to be back.

A Quick Disclaimer On Texas

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Resist or Serve

2012-02-04 13:36:00

I had mixed feelings about the one line from my previous blog post in which I said one of the highs of my week was that I wouldn't have to move to Texas. I'm not going to remove it, but wish I'd thought through how it might be interpreted.

It was intended as dark humor. I think most people who know me well and understood the dynamic of Jenny and my relationship understood that. I think people who know me also are aware how much I needed that humor.

I had the opportunity to spend some time in Texas during the holiday and enjoyed it so much. My only criticism I have ever made of Texas is that it simply is not my home and I find it hard to feel at home there. I don't regret spending Christmas there at all and certainly don't regret having had the pleasure to meet Jenny's family and friends.

Weekend Update: February 4, 2012

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Resist or Serve

2012-02-04 03:59:00

Highs:

I don't have to live in Texas. I am blessed with the love of so many lifelong friends, without whom I do not know how I would get by.

Lows:

Jenny broke up with me. My watch band broke. My organization is once again unhappy with my dedication.

What I Did:

Was planning to go to my org's end of month meeting that is held on the last Tuesday of the month. For some reason they decided to have it on January 24 and not tell me. Did some financial analysis and critiquing of my org, telling them things like falsifying flyers and bribing the ministry shouldn't come out of the development fund.

What Is On The Agenda:

I'm participating in a training reform committee this week. Will also try to do some reading before heading back to site and repairing things with my org.

Sanity Meter:

Perhaps the sanest I've been in a long time. A certain clarity comes with retrospecting loss.

What I'm Reading:

Stephen King's The Stand.

Update!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda how we spend our days...

2012-02-03 21:23:00

Yikes - it's been almost a month since we've written! The beginning of January was slow, but since then we have had an incredible couple of weeks! My parents arrived on the 17th and we had an absolutely fantastic time traveling together and just spending time in the same country! I have so much more to tell you, but for now let me give you all a much less wordy account of our last few weeks - pictures! CLICK HERE for a link to our facebook album from the week! I will be sure to write about it in more detail in the next couple of days!

Thanks for reading! Love and miss you all!

~emily~

Pondering Thought #1: Fire!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda There and Back Again

2012-02-03 14:04:00

In the states, if I smelled something burning, I would instinctively react as though there was an emergency (even if it was just a batch of cookies burning in the oven).

But in Uganda, the smell of burning trash or leaves is constant. There is no waste management here, so one must collect their rubbish and set it on fire to dispose of it. Fires are started in a trash pits around the hospital compound; by the side of the road; or basically anywhere you feel like starting a fire.

Fire is also used as a lawn-maintenance technique. During the dry season, fires are started in open fields and farms to get rid of the dry grasses and leaves and to encourage new growth.

So my pondering thought was: with the smell of smoke around every day, how am I supposed to know when there is an actual emergency? And believe me, there are times when it is an emergency!

A couple of months ago, my friend Nancy smelled something burning in her kitchen – it was her electric kettle that had shorted out after a power surge. She got second-degree burns on her foot after part of the kettle exploded and set her papyrus floor mat on fire.

A few weeks ago, I smelled smoke right after my electricity came back on. Then I saw the smoke right outside my window! I ran outside and saw the fuse box on the side of my house was smoking – so I unplugged the important electronics (computer & refrigerator) and called the electrician. He came out and told me the fuse box was to my water pump and I would be without water for a few days.

Then, the day before I left for Kitgum, I smelled smoke again – but this was a normal trash/leaf burning smell. A few minutes later, I heard the fire crackling outside my house! I opened my backdoor to see a line of fire in the brush behind my house. I don’t know if someone’s trash pile got out of control or what, but they ended up burning the entire side of the hospital compound. The flames came right up to the side of my house! Eventually, it stopped down by the gravel path. That night my house reeked of smoke, and when I came home from Kitgum, and nice layer of dusty ash had covered everything.

I don’t know if my nerves will ever get used to the weekly fires. Smoke = panic.

February 3, 2012 7:30 AM

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda There Won't Be Snow In Africa

2012-02-03 06:49:00

Running has proven to be a big challenge for me. If I want to go running, I have to go early in the morning. So, I try to get up at around 6:30 in the morning and go running when it is barely light out. I go so early because otherwise I draw too much attention. This is hard for me to do because I’m used to running later in the day. It’s hard to get up early and be motivated to go running. Another reason it’s hard to go running here is because the roads are not even. Sometimes it seems more like an obstacle course with me trying to watch my footing so I don’t fall. Sometimes I can manage to wake up, but I have no motivation to go running. I need to find another way to work out here. Suggestions are welcome.

February 1, 2012 12:30 PM

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda There Won't Be Snow In Africa

2012-02-01 09:41:00

A lot of times people here will make committees. In fact, they love making committees even for the most miniscule things. But their main problem with making committees is that these committees usually don’t do anything or they have really long meetings where they don’t accomplish anything. Often times, if someone is put on a committee it is seen almost as an honor. It is a good thing to be on a committee. Whereas, I would never want to be on one of these committees, because I would most likely have to sit through some long, boring, useless meetings.

Demon

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda What Uganda Do?

2012-01-31 14:07:00

I know this is bizarre that I go for weeks without writing and inexplicably I write two posts in a day. Perhaps life is just more exciting than usual.

I returned from town today to find Hadijah looking pretty bored. It looked like she stopped to think right next to my verandah and she didn’t start up again. She had been asking me for a week now to read with her (or just books rather, I think she enjoys the pictures more than the stories). When I caught her staring into the nothingness, I suggested she come and read with me, which she did promptly. We set up my two blue garden chairs in my backyard (I place I never sit, but being the afternoon that’s where the shade was). I believe I was in the middle of asking her what sound a hen makes when she pointed at the sky and said, “Mary, look up.”

A swirl of papers, plastic bags, leaves and other light objects were swirling in the sky, like a flock of birds. It was just passing over, and the air around us was calm. “What is that? Garbage?” It was very eerie and reminded me of a scene (which is either an invented memory or this actually happened in the movie) from Birds where a young girl sees the crows in the distance, and a sense of imminent doom is established.

“A demon!” she said, in probably one of the creepiest ways a little girl could--laughing.

I looked around, no one was scared or moved hurriedly. A few of my neighbor kids whom I never talk to also had gathered by my feet, and also weren’t in any terrible hurry. Until the wind picked up a bit more--it was odd, I didn’t make the connection between swirling garbage and oh-my-goodness-where-did-this-wind-come-from?-there was no sense of urgency. Before I knew it, dust was whipping around every which way, stinging my eyes. I jumped out of the chair and tried to open the solid metal door to my room behind me. With the gusts of wind, I lost hold and it flung open, knocking over one of the kids (no worries, no injuries). I could hear the witch’s theme song from the Wizard of Oz play in my mind while this all progressed.

“Get inside!” I yelled. Hadijah and one of the neighbor kids did, the other three ran off back home. I shut the door behind us, and Hadijah was still laughing. “A demon!” This must be what they call these psuedo-tornadoes. It lasted perhaps 40 seconds all together (from the swirling garbage in the distance to the abrupt stop). I went out my front down quickly, to watch the thing swirl away, and I saw a wandering vendor across from my door, brushing the dirt off him with a bit of a bewildered look on his face. Not for long, however; he quickly returned to selling his socks, hankies and trousers.

Wikipedia makes these things look pretty puny. I would say perhaps this was a dust hurricane. It wasn't terrifying at all, it was pretty cool. Afterwards, we set up the chairs again and I returned to reading, thinking, “My god, I have to blog about that later.”

In the Zone

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda What Uganda Do?

2012-01-31 07:14:00

In the Zone

Somedays I get so absorbed into projects that I’d rather keep working than eat. Or bathe. Yesterday was one of those days.

    My original plan was to finish my schemes of work for the term, but because my laptop was low on battery and power was out, it wasn’t worth it. I had to find something else. It started with paper mache volcano that I had been wanting to make for a month now. It somehow relates to my science lesson, but it’s more an example for the students teachers of how to make science exciting. It only took 20 minutes, and I was left with a pot of paper mache flour glue. Hmm...what else to make. I spotted one of my small kidomolos (containers) that once held cooking oil or something. I grabbed that and went with it. I also save toilet paper tubes (yeah, I have a problem--you should see my water bottle collection) and I fashioned those into legs. What to make, what to make? An elephant! This has nothing to do with anything I’m teaching this year, but I’ll find a way to make it fit. Another 30 minutes, my elephant was done. With those drying, I decided that I wanted to make something out of the medium-sized kidomolos, of which I had none. My goal was to make one of these, but of course, home-made. I had seen it from Mango Tree, a company that helps schools create learning aids which use local materials, are sturdy and functional. During my quick trip to town, I found the kidomolos, but I couldn’t find anyone, not surprisingly, selling used sandals. I asked someone if perhaps there’s a junk dealer or something, and he explained that people take old sandals to a factory that processes them? Nuts.
    On my way back, I realized how hungry and thirsty I was, but I ignored my body’s complaints and hopped on a taxi back to Wanyange. Somehow defeated, I explained my problem to a neighbor girl, who immediately offered to find some for me. She and her sister found a total of four spoilt sandals in under 15 minutes! (I awarded them with some very small money). I scrubbed all of the miles off those shoes, and went to work cutting shapes in both the kidomolo and old soles. It was the first one I’ve ever made, so it didn’t turn out perfectly.
    By this time it was five o’clock, and I was scheduled to eat cow leg in town with some fellow tutors. Reminder--I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. I was starved. Cow leg. Part of it is really sticky, and I’m guessing that’s the vein. It wasn’t too bad, but it was too much for me. I got about halfway through and gave the rest to Immy. The soup was fantastic, and it’s served with cassava and greens. If you’re in Jinja and interested, the place is called Paul’s Bar and it’s right next to Flavours. At about 4 PM, a boy sets up an oven-baked chicken stand outside, which is the best street chicken in Jinja town.

January 30, 2012 5:30 PM

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda There Won't Be Snow In Africa

2012-01-30 14:44:00

I got my class schedule today, which will probably stay pretty much the same for the whole year. I’m teaching Senior 2 Math and Computers. I wasn’t necessarily thrilled at first. I wanted to teach Senior 1 again, but after I thought about it a little I realized that it would be nice to stay with the same girls again this year. Last year I didn’t even have enough time to learn all their names, so this will give me the opportunity to get to know them better, instead of starting over. I think it is also better for them. It took some of them a little bit of time to get used to my accent and stuff, so now they are already used to it. I guess this is probably better than breaking in a new group of girls. Also, with Senior 2 computers I can get them in the lab more for practicals. The curriculum has me teaching Microsoft Word and Excel, so I want to spend a lot of time in the lab, because you can’t learn this with a blackboard alone. This will give my computer lab project a lot of personal justification (if it ever gets off the ground, that is). This also works well with the fact that I want to teach them proper typing (if I have time). My schedule also has me with no classes on Friday again (after a little switching with other teachers). This is good because if I’m going somewhere for the weekend, I don’t have to worry about teaching classes on Fridays. As of right now, I have no idea when I’m supposed to start teaching. I probably won’t start until the beginning of next week. Some of the girls are still arriving and probably will for the next couple days. And for Math, especially, I don’t even know what is in the curriculum, so I’m not yet prepared. But it should all fall into place over the next few days.

On the Up and Up

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Boddie in Uganda

2012-01-30 12:20:00

How wrong I was to assume that I would have trouble coming back to Uganda to work after such a nice trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar for the holiday season. Not only did I not have trouble getting back to work; I found my mind more focused and my moral more set on doing the things that I've been talking about for so long.

I have been lucky enough to have been chosen among my peers as being a director for the next installment of Camp Build, a Boys Leadership Camp within Uganda. This one is a regional camp being held in the North, in Gulu, which is about 5 hours or so away from my site. It is certainly a big undertaking, and it is something that will become more and more time consuming up through its' week long commencement in the last days of April.

The other huge event in my life right now is the Centenary Jubilee Celebration within Ngora Parish. Ngora Parish, my site, is celebrating 100 years of Catholic faith 96 days from now, on May 5th (I know this because I've created a countdown out of plywood to help keep people reminded about its approach). There are buildings going up, a grotto is being constructed, schools are being renovated, all in the name of the celebration. It is quite an exciting time. I myself am chairman of two sub-committees for the planning core; publicity and sports.

We have already applied for a grant to have an educational 13 kilometer foot race, where every kilometer will host a sign depicting and explaining an important health aspect relevant to the citizens of Ngora for keeping themselves and others strong and healthy. At the end of the race the participants will be given an exam where they will answer questions in relation to the posters they passed, and they will receive a minute deduction in time for every answer they get correct. We are hopeful that the winner of the race will be congratulated by the President of Uganda himself.

We are also working on the organization on a 42 team District Wide football tournament, both as a measure to get the youth involved in the gathering and also to use that time as an opportunity to spread healthy life practices amongst the young adults.

On top of all of this, and certainly the biggest reason I've been having such a nice return to Uganda after my trip, is because of the ever approaching moment when my parents touch-down into Uganda. I am such a lucky person to have parents that are not only willing to put up with a 20-something hour plane ride to a 3rd world country in the midst of fairly regular political upheaval, riding all over in a car that would never be authorized to travel in America on roads that only mountain bikers would enjoy...but they are even willing to pay for it! Seriously, I am so absolutely thankful for my parents' support in this whole process of my service abroad; in no way shape or form could it have been possible without them. Them being able to come and experience the life that I now live is such a huge reward for me; it hasn't even happened yet and I feel as though I'll be eternally grateful for it.

There is also much promise in an NGO that just recently come to meet the community and to see their work at Okoboi Primary School. Shashamane Sunrise has been giving support to the school for renovating the roof and walls, making it actually habitable again (kids have been learning under trees for many years, now). I am blessed to have such a willing NGO that is also so willing to listen to the people who live in Ngora, and will co-operate them to give them the help that they actually need. I am very hopeful that my communication with them will lead to the development of one of the best schools in the country, and an example of how NGOs SHOULD be acting within a place like Uganda.

No, it hasn't all been fantastic, either. The borehole of Okoboi that Mrs. Kloer and her class were so instrumental in helping make is not being properly treated by the youth who are coming to use it. Ironically, if they break it, they will have to go back to traveling 2.5KM further to get their water...and also to bring it back. The water committee has been very good about raising money in case the borehole does break, which is certainly one aspect of being proactive...but another is making sure people don't break the damn thing. The Ass. Parish Priest and I have been on the rampage since we've seen kids jumping up and down on the pump rod, and trying to make sure that the community knows what will happen if they don't take care of it. Namely, the Priest and I will be taking the parts away and keeping them locked up in the house, and they can go back to having a hole with water.

Thats it for now. Power has been down for over a week, and internet has been even crappier than normal...so I'm sorry that my normal communication hasn't been there. I promise you that I am well, happy, and secure. For those that are reading this blog but aren't updating me on their lives...step it up! I would love to hear from you. M.h.boddie@gmail.com

Much love,
Bod

P.O. Box LOVE

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Pass the Matooke, please!

2012-01-30 12:48:00

Ah, love. Is there ever really a way to tell whether or not someone loves you? Many of us life most of our lives trying to find and recognize those special people in our lives, but how do we know, beyond any doubt, that we are loved.

Well, in the Peace Corps, there is one very easy way to determine exactly if and how much someone loves you.

Two words: Care packages.

Only a PCV would understand exactly how important these can be to our sanity. In the first few months, especially, packages make all the difference. In this case, size doesn’t necessarily matter, however the rule always stands, the bigger, the better.

Case in point: The 40 pound box of love.

*This story is dedicated to a very special volunteer, Dorothy, and her friend from New Mexico*

On my way to Bushenyi to visit Andrew for his 25th birthday (Happy Birthday, jerkstore), I decided to pop in on Dorothy and see how she was doing. It must have been fate because that very day Dorothy got the much antipacted 40 pound box. Now, let’s just put this in perspective…Peace Corps allows each bag brought in-country to weigh just about 40 pounds. That means, this box weighed just about the same as a regulation check-in bag for a volunteer anticipating being away from home for 2 years. Have I emphasized what can only be described as the glory that was only to come from this box of love? When we took the box to Dorothy’s humble abode, we found a hole in one of the corners, suggesting a critter had gotten into the box. Dorothy, being the smart woman she is, took the box outside before sinking her teeth into it (figuratively, that is). As she opened the box, we quickly realized that some of the goodies had not made the long journey from New Mexico to Masaka. Sadly, some Ramen Noodle packets exploded and ants were everywhere (seriously, we were cleaning them up a good hour later). After filtering out the salvageable from the too far gone, we found nothing but the look (and later found out the taste) of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In other words, we had a feast in tribute to America (and of course Dorothy’s wonderful friend by proxy). The only thing that was heard for the next hour or two was the munching of snacks, the crumpling of wrappers, and the silence that only occurs when no words can express how happy and loved we felt (of course, Dorothy more than I, but the fact that she shared made me feel loved by her and her friend).

Sister Sister

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Uganda Read This- I ain't lion

2012-01-30 12:03:00

Two weeks ago, as I made my journey back to the village, I sat crammed in the taxi with my knees pressed into the center bar of the seat in front of me, unable to find a place for my arms, all the while worrying about bruising my bananas. I attempted to ignore my uncomfortable and slightly painful situation by staring out the window of the dilapidated taxi letting the dust wash over me. The dry season had come in my absence and was welcoming back me in all over its glory, leaving me parched and very dirty. I could hardly believe that 48 hours previously, I had been in an Italian taxi driving at terrifying high speeds with a seat all to myself. As I watched the banana trees and rice schemes slowly pass on by, I terrifying feeling creeped into my mind. I am staying in Uganda for at least another year. I just kept asking myself if that’s really true. Am I really staying for another year? Another year of cramped taxi rides, of power outages, of muzungu muzungu, of bland food, of skirts, of bucket baths, of mosquitoes, of Uganda. Really?

I arrived back to my site in a dark mood and hefted all my luggage awkwardly through my compound’s gate. Upon seeing me struggling through the gate, Judy shrieked with delight and excitement. CHELLSSEEEAAAAA! Within 30 seconds, I was surrounded by the six girls of my neighbor’s family, all begging to carry my bags, asking me how the journey was and exclaiming how happy they were that I was back. Although I had expected a warm welcome, I was overwhelmed with their enthusiasm and love. Despite my exhaustion, I took a seat on the veranda and entertained my Ugandan family with stories from my trip. Everyone filled me in on the village happenings, although not much had happened beyond feasting at Christmas time. When I finally opened my house, fearful of dead rats and an invasion of cockroaches, I was surprised to find little damage. Beyond the occasional dead bug here and there and the dusty floor, my house was just as I had left it. And I was even more surprised to find that it still felt like home.

Thankfully, the last two weeks were still school holiday, so I’ve been able to slowly recover from my traveling and readjust back to my Ugandan life. Recovery means sleeping until noon, reading lots of books and watching movies. But, every day, I have spent time with the six girls of my Ugandan family. They have unknowingly played a vital role in reassuring of the importance of my service and my life in Butaleja.

In my taxi depression, I was beginning to doubt the depth of my Ugandan relationships. Keep in mind that I was delusional with sleep deprivation, but I wasn’t sure anyone really cared about me as person or if they were more excited just to be friends with an American. All my time spent with the girls has reminded me that although my Ugandan family loved getting to know me as an American, I know now that they love me more for just being Chelsea. I feel so blessed to be welcomed and accepted into such a wonderful family that is willing to take on the responsibility of another daughter, especially one that doesn’t like to clean.

In my Ugandan family, we have a lot of give and take- we take care of each other, although I mostly just keep them entertained. On some evenings, I hear “Kodi Chelsea”- in my region, you don’t knock on doors. You say “kodi” to signify that you’re at the door. When I open my door, I usually find Irene standing in the dark with a covered bowl of her mother’s delicious beans. Regardless of whether or not I have already eaten dinner, I can’t help but clean the plate. Once the girls discovered I was attempting to clean my house, all seven of us crammed into my house, moving furniture as they swept and mopped without a single complaint. The family is extremely protective of me, and helps me shoo away peeking children from my windows. During the rainy season, they put out basins to harvest water if I’m not around. Unfortunately, I’ve had mice problems recently. My family has set traps for me all around my house, and I’ve been waiting expectantly in the dark for that happy “snap,” but we’ve been unsuccessful so far. The girls helped me sort my food into “cockroach-free” and “cockroach-invested” piles. By helped, I mean that I stood at least five feet away and directed from a distance. The girls will escort me to shops when I’m not sure about the price of certain items. Even the 10-year old girl has a fearful stare that convince the shopkeepers to give me a fair price. I honestly don’t know what I would do without their help.

On the flip side, I’m sure the family would manage without my help, but they appreciate the little things I contribute. Some days, I treat the family to jackfruit or soda. At least every term holiday, we bake a cake together. So far, pumpkin bread has been their favorite and apple pie was disgusting (the apple pie was amazing in my defense). I taught the girls how to make tortillas, and further how to fry them into tortilla chips, which they believe are infinitely better. I let the children read my old magazines, although I think they’re mostly interested in the pictures of America. I’ve taught all the girls how to make friendship bracelets. Most recently, we spent a whole afternoon coloring. I only dug out my crayons and coloring books with hopes of entertaining the visiting younger cousins, but to my surprise, everyone wanted to color! Even the 17-year-old girl, who shockingly had the most trouble with sharing the crayons. We’re trying to work on saying “please,” which is not a word found in Lunyole. Barbra, the oldest girl, asked me to help her set up an email and Facebook account. I’m not sure she was prepared for my big sister talk about Facebook rules in order to keep scary men from finding her. I always wanted to be a big sister. Now, I’m a big sister for six.

School starts this week, which means that all but one of the children will be back in boarding school. I’m so grateful that their laughter and love helped me get past my reentry slump. Although I’ll miss everyone being around, my recovery period is over. With schools back in session, I’ve got work to do! I’m looking forward to what this term will bring and my next holiday cake.

Wanderlust

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda i wish i ran more

2012-01-29 13:35:00

I have less than 15 months left. I know this because the countdown on my wall tells me so. In two weeks I will mark my one year anniversary in Uganda and marvel at all I've done and how quickly this is really passing.

I got my iPhone unlocked back around Halloween (I know it was then because I was laying in bed with my umpteeth stomach issue and missed the party, I was supposed to have been a cat.) Since then I mainly use that to check facebook and email, so updating the blog got pushed to the back burner, as did almost every other internet related thing. I honestly can't remember what I used to spend hours upon hours at my computer for. I'm sure I'll remember when I get home and have wifi again, but for now it all seems like a waste. Both book and wish lists have been updated, so check them out if you want :) Anyway, tons has happened since my last update so I'll do my best to recount the last three months, by far my busiest in country.

Thanksgiving was spent at my house, my tiny, two room, 240 square foot house. Nine people were here and it was the best Thanksgiving I've ever had. The night before was spent drinking and laughing, as it should, but Thanksgiving was spent proctoring exams and fretting over lost packages. We decided to wait until Friday to cook, hoping that my mom's three (THREE!) boxes of traditional food would make it here in time. Knowing that there was cranberry sauce on the way helped make the decision. It was definitely a good one because for one thing it rained all day Thursday, for another power was out, for a third not everyone was there, and for the last, the packages arrived Thursday evening :D Friday morning began early, around 7, with the Ugandan greeting that replaces a knock on the door - "Kodi!" which translates to "Hi! I'm outside, are you home? Can I come in?" (The response is "Karibu" which means "You are welcome".) The assistant secretary at my school, Jasper, was standing there with another gentleman and a giant live turkey strapped to the back of a bicycle. We were elated to see that he had come through (Jasper, you rock!) and got to work on killing and dressing the poor bird. The askari (guard) who takes care of my compound helped us clean it out. The day was then spent eating pancakes, cooking pie, deep frying the turkey in my yard, and swooning over everything my mom had sent. The meal far surpassed anything we had been expecting; we had turkey, mashed potatoes (with ranch!), sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, beer bread, individual pumpkin pie jello pies, and apple pie that spelled out "Peace Corps" with the crust. With everything that we've experienced this past year, spending a holiday with friends and amazing food was all any of us could have asked for. It was delicious and we were thankful.

A week later a few of us reconvened to put on a 5k race and health fair in commemoration of World Aids Day. Rewind a month to a site visit by my assistant program director where he asked Jacque "so what are you planning for WAD?" Um. In the time it took him to drive from Jacque's site to mine, we collaborated on the phone and came up with an answer for me to give him when he arrived. "We're thinking of doing a 5k race and health fair, how does that sound? The grant was due a month ago? crap. Well, I am confident that we can do this." We wrote a grant for $500 and planned an event to take place at my college the day after term ended. We had shirts made, got a radio spot, advertised, and planned for a 7 booth health fair that was open to the public. 40 people came and ran, and at least twice that came to talk about issues surrounding HIV/Aids in Uganda. We talked about other STDs and how those can both increase your risk of contracting HIV (open sores!) and be ten times worse if your immune system is already compromised. We demonstrated how to use a condom on a "toilet paper holder" that we had made by my carpenter the day before. We gave a quiz to see how much people already knew, and we played a game to deomstrate how quickly HIV can spread through a community that has a "sexual network" like many in Uganda tend to have. Though there were definite things that we were like "oh, oops" about, it was a total success and I felt amazing at having pulled it off. Next year will be even better.

With term being over and my community basically deserted, I had few qualms about leaving for a week to be a counselor at Camp GLOW Uganda. We hosted 150 girls at an amazing school down in Entebbe. The sister (nun) who runs this school needs some kind of award or recognition not only from the ministry but from the international community too. Her primary boarding school is home to girls from 6 to 14 (roughly, some are older due to issues that prevent girls from starting school on time) and they are all treated as family. The compound is immaculate, the food is delicious and varied, and she treats everyone she encounters with an amazing amount of respect. The week was spent with classes and activities focused on empowering girls to set their own goals and make decisions that will keep them healthy and happy. We talked about gender roles and how biologically speaking, there is very little one sex cannot do that the other can (the exceptions being producing sperm, giving birth, etc). I talked about how sex is decided by nature (or God, for those more religious) but your role as a woman or man is decided and dictated by culture. We played team building games and did arts and crafts. The girls had questions to think about each day and were able to journal each night after group reflection. It was a really cool experience and I'm looking forward to doing both Camp GLOW Northern Uganda in April, and the national camp again next December.

After camp, I went hiking with some of my friends and got to once again experience how beautiful this country can be, when it's far away from the pollution and litter that plague many of the bigger towns. There were a couple time when I was on my own, some people ahead with the porters carrying the food, and some behind with the guides, that I felt absolutely tiny. There was not a house or a road or anything within a day's walk and the silence was deafening. From the peak we could see the ridge that divides Uganda and Kenya, and it was one of those moments where I had to pinch myself to see if this is really my life right now. After descending, with sore knees and even sorer feet (um hello blisters!) we spent a weekend in Kampala and stayed at the home of a guy who works in the embassy. I took a hot shower and (wait for it... waaaait...) did laundry NOT BY HAND. Amazing. I just sat there watching TV while my clothes were getting washed and dried, all on their own! Magic! We ate copious amounts of delicious food and saw what life might be like in the foreign service (minus the actual work part, we just hung out). Pretty tight, and I'm again rethinking taking the Foreign Service Exam.

Christmas and New Years were spent in the company of other PCVs, even though neither of them felt like the real holiday. It was stiflingly hot, and while we dressed up, ate a really good meal, and exchanged gifts, it felt nothing like Christmas at home. It was my first Christmas away from home (my older brother has spent many away from us, my younger brother hasn't yet) and I'm almost sad to say that I think it was ok... obviously I'd rather be with family, but having made such good friendships here I didn't feel at all down or sad that day. One down, one left.

That brings me back to home, and finishing up the break from school. In true fashion, I'm only partly sure what's going on in terms of starting the school year. I know students are supposed to come back on February 6th, but I haven't been told anything definite other than that. I'm looking forward to teaching again, but also trying to get more done with the projects I'd started to start when the school year ended (the school year here is the calendar year, not August through June) I'm hoping to get more involved with PIASCY (HIV/Aids), and hoping to go a little further with teaching reusable menstrual pads (and more importantly, teaching my students to teach it...)

It's dry season now, in full swing, and hot as all get out. It hasn't rained in well over a month so everything is brown and dead. The bushes around my house were somewhat burned (I think in an attempt to burn piles of leaves gone awry) so I'm hoping they grow back. I have tons of privacy at my place, but only so far as the bushes are there, I realized. My house and compound feel totally secluded, but I quickly realized that I am smack in the middle of it all. I bought a fan too, but oddly enough I haven't used it all that much. Power has been ridiculous lately, and I don't like sleeping with it on, so I've kind of gotten used to laying on the couch in the mid-afternoon just lamenting how hot it is.

In fun news, I have my ticket back to the states for Danielle and Blake's wedding! I get in around midnight the night before, so I'm crossing my fingers for smooth travels and nothing resembling the plot of a hairbrained movie. I'm visiting Jordan on the return trip and am incredibly excited about seeing the ruins at Petra and the Dead Sea. Also, Jamie and possibly her sisters are *planning* on coming to visit in August to go see the mountain gorillas! I feel like having people come visit makes this whole thing more real, because when I get back and am describing how utterly ridiculous/disgusting/beautiful/delicious/stinky/hilarious something is, someone will be able to back me up and say "yep, she's not lying."

~Happy 2012~

Christmas and New Year's 2012, Angel's trip to Uganda

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Mari's Journey in Uganda, Africa

2012-01-29 12:41:00

Dear Everyone,

HAPPY NEW YEAR and May You be Blessed with all the Love, Compassion and Prosperity that you deserve!

I hope everyone had a Great Christmas and a Delightful New Year! I certainly did! I was really busy November and December. Angel came to visit me in Uganda for Christmas and New Years...and we had a great time! So alittle run down on what has happened since before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving, I met up with about 40 other PCV’s in Gulu for Dinner. We cooked Thanksgiving dinner at the Ethiopian Restaurant where the manager let us use his kitchen! It was alot of fun, you can see pictures on facebook! About 10 of us went to Murchison Falls National Park the day after for a safari. It was good to be able to see the Park before Angel’s trip, so now I knew what we had to look forward to in December.

After Thanksgiving I traveled to Kampala for my yearly medical, only this time Waca Martin traveled with me. We were both summons to the President’s State House. One of my real Joy’s and Excitements in November was Waca Martin. Don’t know if you remember him from previous blogs or facebook pictures...but. To my surprise, Waca Martin who built the airplane model that was HUGH for President Museveni was called to the State House to be presented with a letter from Museveni. Because I typed the letter and mailed it, I was also summons to President Museveni’s. The President thanked Martin for his talent and told him that he was going to be calling him and wanted to know what he could do to help him pursue his talents. Waca Martin was so happy, it really gave me alot of joy just watching him! He had only been in Kampala a couple of times from the village, so it was great taking him around and being able to be with him during the presentation in Parliament.

Then my travels took me down to Entebbe for camp BUILD. Camp BUILD (Boy’s of Uganda in Leadership Development) was December 4th to the 10th and had 150 boys, ages 12-15 years old. I was a counselor for 10 of the boys and taught Lifeskills on HIV/AIDS and Malaria. It was alot of fun and a very successful camp! The focus was on developing leadership.

From Entebbe I traveled to West Uganda. I was asked by Peace Corps to go to West Uganda for training to Train-the-Trainer (TOT) in the Village Health Teams (VHT). They are planning to train the VHT’s in Northern Uganda. So right after Camp BUILD from December 11th to the 17th I went to Bushenyi. The training took place in Nyakasiro Sub-County in Mitoma District and was facilitated by Peace Corps in partnership with a USAID implementing partner Uganda Health Co-operative. There was about 29 VHT members that were taken though various sessions. So the VHT Coordinator for Oyam District and I went to Bushenyi together to learn. The idea was to come back up North and train the VHT’s in the North. Our plan will be to start with the VHT’s in Oyam District. There are about 3,000, so I think that we will set up a TOT and train about 250 if we can get sponsors.

After TOT I traveled back up to Northern Uganda to my site in Iceme. By this time I only had about 3 days to clean the bugs, dust and dirt, wash everything and spray before traveling back down to Entebbe to pick Angel up. When I am gone from site for more than 3 days the place needs a real good cleaning. I found my office had been taken over by termites! They had built there mounds high up the walls and they had eaten a leg off the bench, as well as my straw mats! They really enjoyed themselves....so we had to buy poison and I had alot of cleaning to do.

Needless to say, by the time I got to Entebbe, those 3 days exhausted me! But I was excited that Angel was on her way to Uganda!

The Rainbow Peace Ambassadors have really been working hard and doing it without me! So that means they are sustainable! The have put on 2 Drama's and did sports and activities, and also spoke to the community on Alcohol and Drugs and Conflict Resolution. I am so proud of them.

I have posted pictures and will post more when I have good internet access from our trip. But, all in all I think that we had a great time!

Angel flew in December 24th and, Shelley, I and Angel stayed at the Entebbe Zoo over night. Now, where in the US could you ever sleep with the animals in the zoo? It was a different experience to be able to walk the zoo when no one else was around and watch the animals get feed. Some of the monkey’s wanted to feed on Angel’s feet! Aside from the kids that were running the halls until 3 am....it was great. Christmas day Angel and I went to the Gately Hotel....really nice. Shelley and I went for a pedicure, while Angel rested. Christmas dinner was really nice at the Gately and Shelley joined us. Good Food, just a really nice Christmas dinner!

The next morning Whitecrest Tour Guide picked Angel and I up for our vacation trip. They were great...they made all the reservations for all the hotels, parks, cruises, safari’s, food, accommodations, fuel and driver from December 26th to January 3rd. I did not have to worry about anything...they took care of everything, all I had to do is show up, relax and have fun!!! Wish I did!

On the 26th of December we headed out driving the south western direction to Queen Elizabeth National Park which is Uganda’s second largest park and covers nearly 2,000 square kilometers via Fort portal. Queen Elizabeth National Park is a stunning location on the rift valley floor between Lakes Edward and George where a mosaic of habitats supports 95 mammal species and a remarkable 612 species of birds, 57 vegetation types including forest, grasslands, Acacia woodlands, lakeshore and swamp vegetation. We enjoyed an evening game drive as we proceeded to Mweya Peninsula where we stayed for two nights at the Mweya Safari Lodge. It was fabulous and we were able to have some relaxing pool time in between safari’s and a cruise along the Kazinga Channel! Also, I had an aromatherapy massage and Angel had a swedish massage and pedicure! Nothing like pampering yourself! During the safari and cruise we got to see huge herds of elephant, buffalo, kob, bushbucks, waterbucks, warthogs and antelope. I have a video of the elephant herd that is really neat! The elephants felt threatened at one time, so they made a circle with all the babies on the inside. Then when they realized no one was going to hurt them, they just walked off. Hopefully, I can get that posted someday. On the waterway we saw hippos galore, elephants, crocodile and thousands of shorebirds – pelicans, cormorants, stilts, storks, jacanas, gulls, and sandpipers, and african fish eagles. Pictures are on facebook. The food at Mweya Safari Lodge was fantastic and the hotel was gorgeous!

On the 28th we headed out for Bwindi Impenetrable Forrest where we stayed at Travellers Rest Inn in Kisoro. The Travellers Rest was really cozy with a fireplace and we stayed there 2 nights! Yes, it was cold for Uganda and we had a fire in the fireplace....I loved it! We were up in the mountains. We had planned to go Gorilla trekking in Rwanda, but our tickets fell though, so we went in Uganda. Gorilla trekking was a REAL Challenge! We hiked up and down the mountain for 4 1/2 hours to see the gorilla’s and then finally got 1 hour with them before we had to hike back for another 4 1/2 hours. I want to tell you that was a very strenuous hike! I would call that hike a hike for very advanced hikers! You did not even have a foot length sideways before you would slide down the cliff! It rained and there were alot of muddy slippery spots. It is not a hike for everyone! But the Gorilla’s were great when we reach our destination! I saw 2 Silverbacks and a large family. They say that Uganda is home to seven (one group is only 4 months old being trekked in Uganda) habituated gorilla groups. The Rushegura, Habinyabnja and Mubare gorilla groups roam the forrest around the primary tourism site at Buhoma.

Then we headed back up North East to Lake Mburo National Park. It is a real gem; it receives far fewer visitors than Uganda’s big parks, but boasts wildlife found nowhere else in the country such as impala, Cape buffalo, Burchell’s zebra and eland. No lions though. We saw acacia trees. But the highlight was horseback riding for the safari and being able to be with all the animals! It was alot of fun! We stayed at the Kimbla Montana Tent lodge, which was a really big, beautiful tent. I posted pictures on facebook. Also, the lodge itself was all opened and overlooking the safari grounds. We were only there one night.

On New Year’s Eve we drove up to Kampala and stopped at the Equator. Did you know that here you can walk from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere and revel in the fact that you weigh 2% less. You’re also rotating faster than anyplace on earth and the water right on the Equator line does not drain clockwise or counter clockwise, but straight down. On the Northern hemisphere water flows clockwise and on the Southern hemisphere it flows counterclockwise. Amazing! New Year’s Eve we stayed at the Whitecrest Guest House in Kampala and watched the Fireworks!

In the morning on January 1st, 2012 we headed up North to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and then to Murchison Falls National Park. The Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary was neat! We only had to walk about 10 minutes and then we were right there with a Rhino Mom and her baby. What powerful creatures! We then had lunch in Masindi where Angel and Abbey (our driver) played a few games of pool. We drove from South Murchison Falls National Park to the ferry over the Nile River and took a ferry to North Murchison where we stayed at Paraa Safari Lodge for two nights. But before the ferry ride on the south side we stopped and got out of the truck to look at the most incredible falls with rainbow’s flowing down over rocks and ledges! A huge natural flow of water plunging from a lofty precipice through a narrow gorge. The entire Nile River cascades 43 meters in a savage fury to the waters below. The waters are so rich and so violent are the hydraulics of the falls that foam floats like snow and ice for a mile or so down the river. It was beautiful!

Paraa Safari Lodge was also just as gorgeous as the Mweya Lodge. They have this pool overlooking the Safari plains, service is excellent and I did not want to leave. The next day was a game drive in our vehicle that allows you to stand up through openings in the roof. The park has 72 mammal species including the elegant Rothchild’s giraffe and large herds of hartebeest. We saw elephants, waterbucks, bushbucks, lions (we only saw 2 up in a tree trying to cool off, if you look hard you will see them on facebook), rock pythons and a wealth of antelope species. Near the Nile River delta hippos and many water birds were seen along the shores of Lake Albert. We also had some pool time before our cruise trip up the Nile River to the base of Murchison Falls. This had to be rated as one of the best ever! There are literally thousands of hippos in these rich waters and Nile crocodiles in profusion – the largest reptiles on earth. Elephants and countless grazers congregate along the riverbank to bathe and drink while bird life is prolific. Over 450 species of birds are found here with some spectacular displays, like an entire colony of brilliant colored bee-eaters nesting in carved out hollows of an eroded river bank, you can see those hollows on facebook. Angel was sorry she did not bring her bird book...so she took lots of pictures to look them up later. The food at Paraa Lodge was great!

January 3rd we left Murchison and headed to my site in Iceme. We were there for 3 nights and I think that Angel was ready to go! It is hard for someone when you are not use to no electricity, sinks, running water and have to go in a Latrine! Not to mention all the bugs! But she was able to attend one of my War Victims Support Groups, and see my village and meet some of the community. She also got to meet Waca Martin and see his latest model plane! We went to Lira one day and Gulu for 1 night before we headed back down to Entebbe where we stayed 2 nights at the Victoria Hotel...it was like a 5 star hotel in the US....It was great and a really nice ending to our vacation! It was hard to see Angel leave.

I was not back at site long when I had to get things ready for Northern All Vol in Kitgum. I was preparing a presentation on Grant writing. When I went though Kampala with Whitecrest I picked up Iceme’s Computers that I bought with the grant money...so I had to work on getting them hooked up to the Printer network and made sure everything was running okay. I will start to teach staff basic computer skills and copier/printer function when I return from Kitgum.

So on January 22nd I traveled to Kitgum for Northern All Vol, which is a training session for all the PC volunteers in the North and all the presenters are PC volunteers. There was about 25 of us and it was alot of fun, there were alot of volunteers that made some really good food. One morning one of the volunteers made cinnamon rolls with icing! It was great! Now I am back at site cleaning again!!!!

Well, that brings you up to date. Hopefully, I can get these blogs out sooner. At least this time it was only 2 months and not 3!

Take care of yourselves, and stay safe.

Love & Light,
Mari

Northern Volunteer Conference

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda There and Back Again

2012-01-29 12:33:00

After 3 months at site, life has become pretty routine: I go to the nursing school from 8:30-4:30, Monday through Friday. As of January, I'm only teaching 1 class per week because the students are doing more shifts on the hospital wards. When I'm not teaching, I'm researching sociology/psychology in Uganda, management/healthcare in Uganda, and creating lesson plans. I'm really working 40 hours a week (because I research at home on the internet too). And I'm also trying to create the databases for the school office, but the lesson plans have to be done first. (Once they are completed, I can use them over & over for each new set of students.) It's just A LOT of work to do RIGHT NOW.

My weekends are spent riding my bike to town, shopping in the market, hanging out with the PCVs in Arua, washing my clothes, cooking at home, and watching movies/reading books.

Everyone says the Peace Corps experience is what you make of it. And if (the paragraph above) was the outlook for the next 2 years, I would be kind of disappointed (and this blog would get very boring). Last week I went to the volunteer conference, in hope that I would find a secondary project to get more involved in the community and enhance my Peace Corps experience.

There were about 25 volunteers from the northern regions at the conference (many from my training group). But there were also several volunteers who are close to the end of their service and I found their stories/advice the most useful. We discussed a variety of potential side projects, e.g. grant writing, literacy programs, village savings & loan associations, soap making, working in post-war conflict areas, health education for women, and more. It was interesting to hear the stories of PCVs who were not successful at their primary assignment but had their secondary project take off and is completely sustainable now. There was a community health volunteer (with no financial background) who started nine savings & loan groups in her village – it was inspiring to know that I don’t have to be an expert to be successful. I haven’t committed 100% to any projects yet, but I'm leaning towards participating in sessions for women empowerment and working in post-war conflict areas (trauma healing). And I can tell you that I’m much more excited about those projects than creating databases (even though the databases are definitely needed at the nursing school, it’s not very engaging).

Towards the end of the three-day conference, we were all getting kind of burned out from the sessions and opted for a game of softball on the last evening. :)

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Off-Script: My Ugandan Vision Quest

2012-01-28 15:05:00

Jan 28, 2012 BOG, Graduation,All-VOL, Africa Burning, Matatus, Poetry

Happy Birthday to myone in a million Niece!

Board Inauguration– My school is governed by a board of governors (BOG) and we have just had a changeover to a new board. This requires getting the new members together along withthe Gulu District Education Officer (DEO) who must inaugurate the board. Themeeting was scheduled to start at 10am – this means I was ready to take thenotes at my post at 10am. However the DEO did not arrive until 11:45 and one ofour new members did not arrive until 12:30. Therefore we started 2.5 hourslate. No one seemed concerned about this so I just kept practicing my new Zenlike breathing technique. Something I am mastering over the course of my Peacecorps experience. Everyone who spoke – which is most of the 13 people, startedand ended with a prayer and a bible verse. This is the way it is done in Uganda– and it still feels weird coming from the US where this is against the law inmost business settings. We ended with a meal of rice, goat stew and cabbagewhich we ate with our fingers – something I am still not very adept at - andthe locals frequently laugh at my poor eating talents.

Graduation – I attendedmy Counterpart’s Graduation party on Saturday last week. She graduated fromGulu University with her Bachelors in Business Administration. She is a married,fulltime working mom of three and has fit in going to school on the weekendsfor three years. She is truly the best of African women in my book. Anyway she andher husband hosted a party at her home. I rode there with my supervisor and wearrived at 4:30pm. Upon our arrival we were seated just behind the row of majorfamily important people. There is a serious etiquette to where you sit, and Iwas surprised to be placed so close to the front of the tent. Being the onlyMunu (White Person), I suppose that makes you something of a dignitary! So thenbegan the 5 hours of speeches. Even I was asked to say a few words. (We did geta break to eat after 2 hours.)

There were family members from her home in West Nile and themost senior member of her clan had a long pole with something like a goat tailon the end of it. During the speeches he would jump up and wave the “scepter”and hoot and holler and incite the crowd. At 9:30 the dancing started and I was told we were expected to spend thenight there as is the custom in Acholi land. Luckily my supervisor also wantedto sleep in her own bed and not dance all night so we quietly excusedourselves.

My Counterpart

Senior relative celebrating!

Northern PC VolunteerAll Vol – I went to Kitgum this last week to listen to various PCV’s speakabout projects they have implemented and receive advice on assimilating intoour new positions.We met under a Mango tree near a PCV's Hut. I learned of an NGO here in Uganda implementing alternativeforms of discipline (to discourage canning and other abusive practices) as welluse positive incentives for behavior change. My Director is interested inlearning more about this. I also observed a demonstration on making liquid soap.This soap is for dishes, washing clothes and floors, etc. There is a savingsgroup in my school that is very interested in this skill for an incomegenerating activity – so I have asked the PCV that has been doing this to cometrain my school and possibly a womens group in another village. My counterpartsays she wants to train her mom so she can make soap in west Nile area. I also saw a cool Metal charcoal burning stove that perhaps my school metal working dept can make. So theconference seems to have been very useful. We also learned of several upcomingcamps in the Northern region for young men and women – so I plan to volunteerto work those camps in April. I also returned with Moringa tree seeds that I will plant in the wetseason – it is a veritable magical tree with amazing health & nutritionproperties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa_oleifera

JoAngel-a friend I made!

Africa Burning –it is the Dry Season – it could also be called the burning season. Every daythere is someone nearby burning their fields to clear it for next season. Thisis called bush burning and it is not good for the environment or for my lungs. All day little pieces of ash fall from the skyand collect in my bathing area, latrine, in my house, on my desk etc. There aresmall dark grey smoke columns rising up on the horizon from all directions. Somehow they seem to control these fires and keep them from spreading across thelandscape, however for the life of me I can’t tell how they are doing it.

Matatus-these arevan sized taxis that have 5 rows of seats. The front seat has the driver and issupposed to seat three across. The remaining seats are also 3 across but inMatatus, the minimum across is four people. This means on any given ride therewill be between 19 and 28 people squeezed into the “taxi”. Recently My friend Nancyand I took a Matatu from Kitgum back to Gulu after attending the Northern Peacecorps All-Volunteer Conference. We were in the 3^rd row and decidedto buy three seats to insure we were not crammed in to the fullest. This is anincredibly spoiled American behavior, but I have some limits on my level ofAfrican integration. Our driver accepted our requirement of no more than 3 acrossour row, but that did not stop him from putting up to 6 people in the rows infront and behind us. We were traveling for 3 hours on an unpaved road. It wasactually a pretty drive past villages with mud huts with chickens, cattle andgoats wandering about for my entertainment!

POETRY

Bone Tired Dec14, 2011

Tired in a way that Sleep won’theal

A boxer depleted on the mat

Trying to will himself back on hisfeet

Though not sure he wants to try

Afraid he will have the windknocked out once again

Yet more afraid to give up

An exhausted spirit

With a small intense flame

Hopes to re-ignite a raging fire

Yet also praying for an illness

To surrender into

To justify not continuing to try

For all he feels is

Bone Tired

Just a Long Walk Jan19^th 2012

I keep reminding myself

It’sjust a long walk

It doesn’t take more than one stepat a time

One foot, then the other

Really that is not hard

If you take it in small pieces

Breaking it up

So that the magnitude does not overwhelm

So my coming to Africa for 2 years

Is like a long walk

And the only way to eat an AfricanElephant

Is one bight at a time J

Magic Jan 19^th,2012

Sing praise for the magical powersit has

Beloved by man, and unable to bedissected by science

All races revere, practice, andcelebrate it

In it, Babies and elders delight

Youth carry it like armor and flingit at the world

Sad and happy people employ it

Milestones, rites of passage, andyears are marked with it

As well as small daily increments

The sun is brighter

The wind softer

The night darker

The run easier

The touch of a lover more loving

All because of the magic of Music

Standing Still Jan19^th, 2012

Standing Still, For longer than youimagined

So still, so you can hear yourbreath, your heartbeat, the world turning

So long that you are off balance,disoriented

So quiet that you might disappear

You stand, still listening, foranswers

Not fully knowing your questions

Hoping both are revealed in time

You left

Searching for clues, signs, smokesignals

To gain perspective, To findmeaning

So you stand still, forgetting tobreathe

Wondering, Waiting, Watching

Not ready to move just yet

Hoping Goodness and Mercy shallfollow

The Stillness

Joy of Running to Water Jan22, 2012

Late afternoon

In the dry season

Tethered to a tree

For hours

Full on Grass

Parched & Dry

Demanding release

Bellowing to anyone

Excitement as a farm attendant arrives

Bringing Freedom

At FULL RUN

Heels kicking

Frolicking with anticipation

Across the football pitch

Over the path

Giddy with happiness

Eyes Singing

Nose plunges into Coolness

Cow Heaven!

January 28, 2012 3:00 PM

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda There Won't Be Snow In Africa

2012-01-28 12:31:00

Things are finally starting up again, problems are getting solved and created and life goes on as usual. Yesterday we had our beginning of term staff meeting and a teacher’s development workshop. The staff meeting was as long as it was late. It started an hour and a half late but it only lasted a record hour and a half. That was great! But the teacher’s development workshop was long and drawn out and full of people who like to hear the sound of their own voice. I guess overall things went pretty well. I anticipated it taking up my whole day and it did. Because it is a new term and a new school year there have been some changes. One thing is that we got a new computer teacher. Before there was Teacher Marion and me, but now with this new year the curriculum has changed a little. Computers is now compulsory for A level students, which is Senior 5 and Senior 6. Because of this change and teacher Marion being out on maternity leave, we now had a third teacher who was added. He seems really good. He is finishing his masters at a local university and he seems really eager to fix up the computer lab and make computers a subject that is easier to teach and more enjoyable for the students to take. So I’m hoping he can help me with my grant proposal for more computers in the computer lab and he will also be a great way to keep that project sustainable after I leave.

In other news, my power was shut off again last Monday because the bill was not paid by the school (again). I guess you could say they are getting better at getting it back on seeing as it came on today, so it was out less than a week, but in reality, I think it is better to say that they should get better at paying the bill. They didn’t understand why the power company didn’t warn them before shutting it off, but I think the power company is wondering why they didn’t pay when they know they were using power. But as I said with problems getting solved more problems are created. My tap ran dry today (literally right after I realized my power was back). So for now I have a few jerry cans full of water and I will probably inquire at school on Monday about where to get water. Luckily, just by inquiring, it probably means they will again send the little old man to fetch me water every. That makes my life easier, but I guess I’m back to bucket baths for now, at least until the rainy season starts again, which will hopefully be in the beginning of March.

Dry season here is pretty interesting. In the mornings it can be as cold as 50 degrees, but in the afternoon it can easily go up to 90. The extremes are a lot more emphasized in the dry season. Whereas in the rainy season it is just fairly cool all the time.

Anyway, my students are supposed to be coming back today (probably as I write this). Although I don’t yet know what I’m teaching (hopefully Senior 1 again) and I also don’t know when classes start. It could be a couple weeks especially if I’m teaching Senior 1, because apparently the Senior 1’s aren’t coming back until February 13 (this is because they are the new students in the school). So I guess I will go up to school on Monday and figure a lot of things out.

A List of Numbers, part II

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda The Chronicles of my Journey as a Peace Corps "Mzungu"

2012-01-28 08:48:00

Here is a continuation from my first post back in September 2010 of my numeric experiences, reflections, and predictions to date.

164 - Number of days I have remaining until my COS conference in July (as of the date of this blog post)

8 - Number of jerry cans of water I use at site every week

0 - Number of cases of malaria

49% - My odds for a Patriots Super Bowl victory this Sunday night in Indianapolis

92 - Number of games I project the Red Sox to win this upcoming season

UGX560,000 - Number of Ugandan schillings my organization apparently owes Umeme (Uganda's electrical company) before we get our power reconnected

25% - My odds for the power being reconnected before I leave Uganda in September-October 2012

96 - Current number of students in my Senior 4 English class, the 1st term starting this week

3 - Number of computer cables I have replaced over the past year because of the daily power outages and dimming of power

As often as possible - Number of nights I fantasize over the home-cooked meals (tacos, hens, potroast and latkahs) I miss and long for back home

7 - Most number of passengers jammed into a car taxi - intended to seat 3-4 persons - experienced firsthand

$327 - Number of $'s I make per month as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda

3 - Number of dental crowns i've needed in Uganda

478,969,230,856 - Number of mosquitoes in Kachumbala, more than anywhere else in Uganda

108 - Approximate number of miles I walked in Egypt

Everyday - Number of times I have pondered my unknown future once I leave Uganda

24,000+ - Number of books expected to arrive in Uganda later this year for library establishment

1 - Number of times it has rained in Kachumbala over the past three weeks (it is currently in the dry season)

Every Sunday - Number of times I have been asked by Sunday mass-goers why I don't pray in the Catholic Church

4 - Number of times this week a Ugandan excused work not getting done/things being delayed by telling me "This is Africa"

6 - Number of hours of my computer's battery life, if not watching videos

4 - Number of hours of my computer's battery life, if watching videos

2 - Number of cats currently making the Mission their home

0 - Number of times, after I asked a Ugandan how his/her day was going, the initial response was something other than "I am fine," "I am fair," "I am okay," or "I am somehow fine"

18 - Number of pounds I have lost in Uganda to date

9 - Average number of hours I sleep per night at site

At least 5 - Number of times I am likely to have edited this blog post

Christmas Update

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Knock knock. Who's there? Uganda!

2012-01-28 08:36:00

I went to America for Christmas. (cue Team America theme song)

Ryan and I arrived in Dallas to be greeted by Caroline and Luke, my parents, and Everett. It was magical to see Caroline finally! The longest we’ve been apart so far. Never again, Line…never again!!

We had a 24 hr layover in Dallas before heading to South Carolina to visit Ryan’s fam. During this 24 hour layover, I bought new American clothes that fit my new African parasitic body, went out for delicious sushi, and took a shower with hot water! It was magical. Sushi was something I didn’t realize I would crave in Africa, but I totally did. 2 sushi rolls and a saki bomb made for a wonderful first meal.

South Carolina was great. I was able to meet Ryan’s family and friends as well as see where he grew up, his favorite places to eat, and his family church. Christmas with the Luckie’s was so relaxing. Quiet, low key, nice sit down dinner, and civilized…very different from my family Christmas. We are not quiet, low key, or extremely civilized.

Christmas in Texas was wonderful. I got to see family I haven’t seen in a year and a half, more specifically, my sister Laura…who surprised me when I got home, when we went to one of my favorite restaurants, the Bee Hive, on all you can eat shrimp night. The nieces and nephews have grown so much since I saw them last! It was fun to hang out with them and to get reacquainted with the younger ones. After Christmas, we spent a day at the ranch…my favorite place on earth. Being out there was what really made me feel like I was home. Playing Horseshoes, trivial pursuit, and 42 (domino game) with the fam made me so very happy.

It was sad to leave, but knowing all the wonderful things I have to come back to makes it all worth it.

Now since the two Christmas’s I had are so different from each other, I will include a picture comparison so that my 39 dedicated followers can see what I’m talking about.

Ryan and I in SC

Ryan and I in Texas

Luckie Family Picture

Everett Family Picture

See what I mean?

To sum up...Christmas was a blast. America is a wonderful place. I feel so blessed that I was born and raised in a land of opportunity and hot water.

Weekend Update: January 28, 2012

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Resist or Serve

2012-01-28 05:02:00

Highs:

Life skills in the village, my org is continuing to use the mud stove we constructed, I've got the latest financial data from the school compiled for our monthly meeting this next Tuesday, and I made it to boys weekend!

Lows:

Misplaced my iPod shuffle charger and had to buy a new one in K'la at a very high premium. Continue to struggle with attention recieved in the village, I'll no doubt be jacking up my iPod volume this upcoming week.

What I Did:

As said lifeskills, and some prep stuff for this upcoming week's business meeting. Now I'm playing black jack and drinking passion fruit and Malibu cocktails.

What Is On The Agenda:

Need to get a letter of recommendation from a departing PC employee, get a communication out from the Bridge Group to the incoming Volunteer 'class', lifeskills Wednesday, Basketball tourney at Becca's site next weekend, also helping her with some Wat San project planning while I am there. And of course... the end of month meeting at my organization!!!

Funny Story Of The Week:

I was jogging when a 20 something year old man sitting on the side of the road (Ugandans do this a lot) called out 'Muzungu' to me. I've garnered a bit of a reputation lately for not putting up with people calling me a 'muzungu' for their own entertainment. So I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to this punk who promptly got up and ran into the banana trees. A few miles later, on my return I run by the same spot and another gentleman calls out 'muzungu' behind me. I turn to find a man about my age standing in the middle of the road making boxing gestures at me, about 20 yards away. I walk about 10 yards from him, and take off my sunglasses, causing him to retreat. He then begins his gestures once again from a safe 20 yards. I make a similar gesture, putting my fists up in a defensive position. He starts walking in slowly to me, and I close in on him. At about 10 feet away we pause. A crowd has started to form. I take one step in closer and he once again runs away in retreat. I hold my two fists above my head like Rocky. The crowd is cheering 'Muzungu, Muzungu.' For the first time in a while it doesn't bother me.

Sanity Meter:

Sanity is extremely variable these days. I'd be lying if I said my only confrontations with people while running came with adults. The constant attention drives me nuts, yall know that by now. But I've made a point of really taking advantage of my time away, and getting away on a more frequent basis.

What I'm Reading:

Finished Michael Lewis's Liar's Poker and I hope to finish C.S. Lewis's The Silver Chair on my ride back to site. I'm going to try to knock out Machiavelli's The Prince, which I stalled on a while back, before I go into Stephen King's The Stand.

Focusing On The Positive

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Resist or Serve

2012-01-27 03:37:00

I doubt my blog is going to be used by Peace Corps recruiters anytime in the near future to convince potential volunteers of how rewarding the experience of Peace Corps is. Obviously my blog has been a downer lately, and it should be, because it is my primary means of communication with my world back home, and I have been struggling lately. I write what I feel, that is important to me. Even when I feel mostly frustrated with being here there are moments, however, and reflections that are truly rewarding, I've had a few of those this last week, and I feel they also need to be shared.

I live a very comfortable life here. I have much more than I need, and much much more than the local people have. It is amazing living off of about 2-3 USD per day (we are actually paid 5-10 but in the village I rarely spend more than 2 a day).

I like the fact that I've been washing my own clothes by hand for the past year plus. It is rough on the hands, tiresome, and not always fun, but it is somehow rewarding to me to live without the benefit of machines to perform basic tasks. It isn't something I would ever want to do in the US, but I value having had the opportunity to live in a different way.

This is Africa. (TIA) We say this when we don't have much of an explanation for why things are so back assward here. Walking from my village trading center to my home the other day I paused to look around. African children were playing, women in traditional African dresses were walking to the village, a man was farming his small plot of land by hand using very basic tools, goats were everywhere, and there are no paved roads within miles. When you deal with it every day the experience sometimes becomes more of an annoyance than a reward. I'm certainly not going to claim that I feel the experience makes it worth it or that overall I enjoy the experience, but moments like the one I observed do sometimes bring a smile to my face. So few people will have the opportunity to live like I have lived the past year. The experience, if not wonderful, is surely incredible, and not even I can dismiss the value of having lived in an incredible way for an extended time period.

If nothing else, I think being in Africa has confirmed once again what my passion is in life. I am never happier in this country than when I am teaching. Even though I have to use an inefficient translator and 90% of the students just stare at me blankly, I love every second I am actually teaching a lesson.

Spinach Pizza with Ricotta and Roasted Turkey

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda The Little Bite

2012-01-27 02:09:08

Like any warm blooded American, pizza and I are best friends. Although our relationship recently has been closer to that of “frienemy” than best friends forever. You see, the disconnect lies with the sauce. Traditional “quick and easy” pizza sauce is more frequently sourced from a can, rather than an actual tomato. And that’s [...]

so now i’m 25 years old (that’s, like, really old).

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda another pretentious white kid goes to africa

2012-01-26 21:02:32

today i turn 25. that’s one quarter of a century. i’ve lived through 4 presidents (5 if you include the last year reagan was in office) and one ugandan president (term limits? what term limits?). i’m now half-way between 20 … Continue reading →

Christmas Uganda Style

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda I Thought He Was A Travel Agent...

2012-01-26 17:59:00

Christmas did not seem like Christmas this year…maybe because of the lack of snow cold weather and santa coming (its now Jan 26^th and he still has not found me…hopefully the post office will deliver those packages soon…by deliver I mean make me travel an hour to pick up and drag all over town and in a car with 2O other people….}. Oh I guess the lack of family members also…just kidding miss everyone.

It began with a 7 and half hour bus ride that should have taken only about two and half hours… Finding the bus was hard enough the taxi park was a bigger nightmare than normal (if that is even possible}. A guy asked me where I was going when I told him he tells me it just so happens to be the bus I am standing next to…on the opposite side of the park and iv been tricked before and will not be tricked again so I yelled at him only to find out he was telling the truth. Once we finally got out of the park and backed our way down two streets…these drivers def have some major swoopability…. We were on our way…but not for long. We had to stop to get gas now this normally takes a whole 3O seconds because they enjoy getting a liter or 2 of gas at a time this time took hours. The driver and conductor began screaming at those working at the gas station kicking buckets and throwing things while others on the bus begin to get off and begin screaming as well and then there is the mzungu (myself} who knows very little luganda (the national language} sitting there just staring at everyone wondering what the hell is going on. I finally stand up and ask if anyone knows English and everyone looks at me like I am crazy and no one answers me. I sit there for another hour still having no clue what is going on and feeling like I am going to pee my pants…the lady infront of me was refusing to move and making people either climb over here or climb out the window…I opted to climb out the window and basically fell on my face in the process…Well finally the police arrive (we had to wait for them to walk there from a few villages away} and arrest the people at the gas station (I still have no idea what is going on}. Well for them to arrest them it ment putting them on our bus along with the officers and the conductor running behind the bus because he could not fit on the bus. We get to the police station and are there another couple of hours with people filling out paperwork etc. FINALLY a lady asks me if I know what is going on I tell her no and she starts laughing harder than I have ever heard anyone laugh and says to me “you mean you sat thru all of that and didn’t have a clue as to what was happening” no I sure didn’t. Turns out the gas station was out of gas and was trying to charge since the pump made it look like there was gas going into the bus. Not the best ending to the story but if I would have known what was going on the entire time I don’t think it would have been as interesting to watch as it was trying to figure out what was happening.

After all of that I finally got to Masaka and headed down to another volunteers site in the south west region of the country. A majority of our group was there which was fun because we hadn’t seen each other since moving to site because we are not allowed to travel for the first 3 months after moving. We relaxed messed around watched movies and had wonderful food and drinks. I was defiantly placed in the wrong region of this country as the south west is one of the only regions that has cheese (one of my fav foods I could eat an entire brick of cheese in one sitting}. Most of the food we had consisted of some form of cheese…grilled cheese quaso dip and other types of cheese dishes!!

New Assignment, new website

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Inglés

2012-01-26 14:42:00

I have accepted a new assignment in Georgia (the country, I am not heading to the ATL).

As such I am in the process of moving everything to a new site (lesson learned - never label your website with the country you expect to go to). Please update your links and bookmarks with the following address:
jmingeorgia.blogspot.com

I'll be adding Georgia information and updating the site over the next day or so when I get some free time.

Birfdays

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda I never ate no Zebras...

2012-01-26 14:01:00

Rainy season is upon us and it was an interesting season. First off, my beloved Tamby died while I was visiting Galen for his birthday. It was a hard time, but it really makes me realize the circle of life. I know that the time he was with me was a much better time than any other that he would have had if I hadn’t adopted him. I wish I was able to take him home with me like I was planning, but the memories we made while he was here will never be forgotten. What was really special was that the Ugandans around me were really sympathetic and supportive after he died, which was really surprising, because they aren’t attached to animals at all.

On a lighter note, I adopted a kitten when I was in Fort Portal for all my mice that have kindly taken up residence in my house. We named him/her Kitty Lemmiwinks Leo-Pard. And you have to pronounce Leo-Pard like the Ugandans because it is really cute. It is the most rambunctious little kitty I have ever had but brought light and laughter into my house after a rough time. (Especially when people realize how much of a dog person I am, and now that I have a cat.) Galen’s birthday was fun, I baked him a coconut cake, gave him gifts and relaxed for the week I was up there. It was nice just be in each other’s company. He accompanied me back to my house afterwards so I didn’t have to be alone when we buried Tamby.

Lemmiwinks made herself at home, playing and meowing all day long. (We got her too young, about 3 weeks old, so I was her mother and she wouldn’t leave me alone.) We spent Halloween at the house watching “scary” movies, eating popcorn and pumpkin bread.

Then came my birthday. Galen came down for a long weekend, and my big birthday present were plants! We dug up the ground around my house to make it ready for flowerbeds and started to plant! He brought me strawberries, lemon grass, stevia, mint, ferns, sage, rosemary, lemon verbena, spruce tree, an African flower bush, tree bushes and flower vines. (As you can see I am really good about the names of the plants…) Before Tamby died he dug us some nice holes that we were able to plant some of the plants and remember him forever. It was a very peaceful, low-key weekend. I was also able to make starter plants of the flower seeds that grandma had sent me! I am excited to put them in because all the Ugandans want to see what American flowers look like. My good friends, Emily and Ryan also gave me sunflower seeds that I will plant in the back of the house for a nice backdrop to the house. We went into Mbarara for a night to be with all our friends and have a couple of festive drinks and a nice dinner with everyone to wrap up the weekend.

I received many amazing birthday presents from friends and family. So thank you very much for sending them to me! It was a really nice treat during a hard time.

Thanksgiving

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda I never ate no Zebras...

2012-01-26 14:02:00

Thanksgiving we traveled up to Gulu, which is in the northern part of Uganda. We spent the long weekend with about 40 other volunteers, making delicious American food and spending time with each other. It was amazing to see the differences between the north and the southwest. The terrain was much different, and Gulu itself has a lot of funding from USAID and other organizations. Which means people were able to sit in an American style coffee shop and surf the web to their hearts content, after swimming at a wonderful pool at one of the local hotels. There were still LRA relief camps, which is where a lot of the attention is still placed. But as for the benefit of them, that all depends on who you talk to.

It was an amazing weekend, which was great to be part of considering it was my first holiday away from my family. Although they were dearly missed.

I Guess We Make Really Nice Honey

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Hayley in Uganda

2012-01-25 21:25:16

My colleague, Justus, attended a meeting of our beekeeping/savings group to understand the challenges they are facing in the field. I would’ve gone with him, but I was, at the time, face down in a coffee plantation bordering a piggery which is located, unfortunately, on a slippery hill. Slippery due to mud…or pig droppings? It’s [...]

How the change happens

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Inglés

2012-01-25 20:48:00

"Dear Uganda Invitee –

I wanted to reach out and welcome you to the Uganda class!

Some of you I have already been able to speak with via phone. I wanted to give you a heads up that the Uganda class has a slight delay. You were

originally slated to depart from the U.S. at the end of April. We have had to push this departure four weeks - to the end of May. This is due to an unforeseen event whereby the

exterior wall of the office in Kampala has fallen and made access to the current office unavailable and our operations unable to support an incoming class of 50 on schedule. The

U.S. Ambassador requested PC Uganda find a new office immediately and we have just secured a new location. (This event jeopardized other properties in the same vicinity.)

Due to this event, Uganda Staging will be May 22^nd and 23^rd in the U.S. with an arrival into Uganda on May 24^th. Because we have bumped you once (and feel guilty), we are offering

you the ability to join another training class earlier – IF – this will benefit you and your schedule. There are other classes that are leaving sooner and can accommodate you."

I received the above email from the Peace Corps just over a week ago. I didn't have an immediate inclination to leave my previous Uganda commitment, but I thought it might be a good idea to at least weigh my options. I followed up with the program coordinator and found out that a program in eastern europe had an opening to leave at the same time as the original leave date for Uganda (late April). After doing some additional research into languages, timeline, program options, stability, etc I decided it was time to make the switch.

The only downside: I had to wait until the following week to accept the actual invite, as the PC had to mail the package to my parents house back in Texas. As soon as the packet gets to my parent's house I'll post the new location here.

Men are falling from the sky!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Sarah the Explorer

2012-01-25 15:33:00

A fellow returned Peace Corps volunteer told me, “Sarah, boys are just falling from the sky, I met Luke at a bar last night and now he’s my boyfriend!” --Not this sky, kiddo; I thought. Between classes (with kids 7 years my junior)

and singing at senior housing communities, I seriously doubt anything but snow from this sky. Yesterday afternoon, my grandfather, who had previously been joking about finding me a lonely rancher sat me down for a serious discussion; “I don’t want you to die alone, Sarah.” “Oh Lord!” I thought, on my way to work “Now I’m dying alone; and here I was hoping for at least a Golden Girls’ house beforehand.” At work last week, a little lady from Laos (mother of 10) put me on a machine with a former marine, not so bad looking. “Sarah, you single?” She asked. “Good; Robert, he single too. He vewy nice boy.” I mentioned this to another girl at work, and found that an entire ploy is in place to get Robert and I together. Don’t worry, she said, If Robby doesn’t work out, Bob over there is single too. I know he’s a good man. He loves hunting and fishing. She then proceeded to list each of Bob’s material possessions (and describe his hunting trucks). After all, she says, I don’t want you dying singe, now. Imperfect though they may be, men are indeed falling from the sky, like half fermented grapes from the very well functioning village grapevine. It won’t be long before I find myself on a date at the shooting range, pheasant field, or ice fishing pond some Saturday afternoon.

The Reasons We Came Here

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Dear Internet,

2012-01-25 09:43:00

I've been back in Ngora for three weeks or so now, and one thing that hasn't changed at all is the lack of real work (hence the two blog posts in one day). Part of me blames myself for not having had much consistent work –I haven't been proactive enough, or creative enough in what I want to do, or whatever– but part of me wants to blame my organization too –for not needing me or my skills or whatever, for applying to get a Peace Corps volunteer to write grant proposals for them instead of doing real work. But it's not really about the blame, and I'm not the only volunteer who still hasn't had consistent, meaningful work.

So I was sitting at my desk at my organization a few days ago, the only member of the health team there that day, with nothing to do, and after an hour or so, I just put my face down on my desk and said: Ughhhhh.

I think that this translated, generally, to: What am I doing here?

Even when there's been no work at all, I've never regretted or thought twice to my decision to join the Peace Corps. I've never been unhappy about living in Uganda or hanging out in the village. I get to do and see things that I've never done or seen before and that I would never have gotten to do or see without joining the Peace Corps. I love living here. It's ridiculous and frustrating and hilarious and fun. This place is a mess, and I like it.

But still, I can't help wondering from time to time what I am doing here.

So, with my hours of free time and the mostly-blank notebook I use for project ideas and my boredom, I though maybe I could write down the reasons I came here. I wasn't really thinking about what I would write – and for some reason it came out all in the first-person plural we, though I'm pretty sure I'm speaking only for myself– but an hour or two later, this is what I had:

None of us chose to come to Uganda. Not specifically. We chose only to go somewhere. We could have ended up anywhere, really: in Mexico, South America, or the Caribbean; in Asia, Eastern Europe, or various miniscule islands in the Pacific. When we applied, we were choosing simply to go.

We shared a need to do more than travel, to be able to load heavy backpacks and army-green duffel bags with the things we thought we would need and hoist them onto our backs or sling them over our shoulders and carry them through cloud banks and night skies, to cross borders and chase sunlight, scaling mountains and wading through swamps and staggering across deserts and hacking our way through jungles with machetes, and then, having arrived somewhere, to set our things down and live.

We needed to see the world: to have its problems shoved in our faces; to have its stench in our nostrils and its coppery blood on our tongues; to have its fires singe the hair on our arms and its revolutions shake the ground beneath our feet. We wanted the world's people to embrace us, to reach into our chests and cradle our hearts in hands strong and calloused with lifetimes of hard work on unforgiving lands. We would give them our hearts and let the people fill them with anything and everything they could. We would give them our hands and let our palms and fingers become blistered and hard, our knuckles gnarled and stiff. We would be like them, then, we would be citizens of the world, champions of the broken, destitute, beaten-down. And they would embrace us, we knew they would, because our hearts were pure and our hands were willing and our minds were sharp.

We stuck out our chests and held our chins high and stared down the sun because we were already proud of what we knew we would do, because we knew that we would set our possessions down, the few things we carried, and would stand shoulder to shoulder with the world's vast majority, the sick, the poor, and the hopeless, and we would lead their march toward health and prosperity and political freedom, our millions and hundreds of millions of shoeless feet would pound the ground as we marched, would be like thunder cracking the sky open and rumbling tectonic plates shifting the axis of the earth, and we would chant and raise our fists in solidarity, we would not back down, we would rise up, and when people grew tired we would carry them, we would throw them over our shoulders, every one of them, and press onward, we would show them what billions of people could do when they were united, when they marched in unison, when their voices combined into one, booming out like the voice of God, to shout down inequality and injustice, to demand education for their daughters and healthcare for their mothers and jobs for their sisters, and anyone who saw us coming, a billion dark faces and raised fists, would know that this was right, that the time had come for the world to change, and if they didn't, God help them, if they stood in our way, we would crush them, would cast them aside, because this is our time now, we are the majority and our voice will be heard, my God, we're unstoppable, we are righteous and pure, we are infallible and perfect, and you will listen to us, you will listen to every word that rises up from our midst, we will not let you ignore us, we will destroy your plasma televisions if you turn up the volume to drown us out, we will kick down your doors if you slam them in our faces, you will listen, because we are here, we are here, and we are not the ninety-nine percent, we are not the Berkeley-educated kids sitting and waiting to be pepper-sprayed and inexplicably comparing themselves to the black Americans who were sprayed with firehoses and strung up from trees and shot in the back, we are the ninety-nine-point-nine percent, we are the children who are tear-gassed at school, the pregnant mothers shot in the belly with rubber bullets for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and finally this is the right place and the right time, finally this is our time, we are here, we are worthy, you will listen, oh my God, you will listen, you will listen.

We were naïve.

But we chose to go somewhere –and we ended up coming here– because we were naïve. We could deny it over and over –and we did, we still do– and we could say that we hoped to improve only a few lives, at the very least. If we could help even one family learn better farming techniques so they could grow more food year-round on the same small plot of land; if we could teach even one classroom-full of secondary school students how to prevent the spread of HIV and how to put on a condom; if we could help start even one savings and loans group to help women earn more money and wield more power in the home; if we could make just one old woman smiled wide with her missing teeth and her gums, make just one infant laugh like a flock of tiny birds taking flight – any of these things, and we would be happy.

We were earnest and truthful in these small dreams. We talked about throwing just one small pebble into still water and watching the ripples spread all the way across the lake. We had our development buzzwords down: we would empower women; we would sensitize communities; everything would be sustainable and community-based and we would sit back and watch lives improve.

But in the most honest corners of our hearts, we knew we wanted to lead the revolution, to pound our feet and raise our fists and shout.

You can understand that, can't you?

We had grown up with cable TV, the 24-hour news channels, the world's famines and floods and uprisings constantly on display – and we had absorbed this. We had read Twitter feeds from Iran, following government crackdowns in real time, in short bursts of text sent out by kids our own age, people with whom –in another, better world– we would have gone to college, who would have held our legs while we did keg stands, their fiery speeches in our international affairs classes would have given us goosebumps and earned our respect. We had Facebook friends in Brazil and South Africa and China. We worked for the Obama campaign and hosted parties on election night and popped champagne and cried when he won, had bolted from our apartments and sprinted past riot police through the downtown streets of our cities, our coastal, liberal cities, and danced to the impromptu marching bands playing in the middle of intersections, full of hope and change and pride and victory, because our generation had a new defining moment, because we knew people were celebrating in London, Nairobi, Berlin, because we had a joyous unity that we had been searching for since the World Trade Center fell, since the ash settled like snow on New York City, and we had wept then, too, because the world had become terrifying and uncertain and divided, you were either with us or against us, and all we had ever wanted was for there just to be us, just all of us.

And we had seen the world first-hand, too, if only all too briefly. We had studied abroad, and, after graduation, had taken meaningless temp jobs and saved and borrowed money to buy plane tickets to places our parents had never been.

We had walked the racial divide in South Africa, had lain on the beaches of Cape Town and navigated the narrow alleyways between the tin shacks of Khayelitsha, ashamed of ourselves and brokenhearted. We had been in mosques in Cairo, had basked in the relative silence as one of the world's loudest cities all but shut down on a Friday, and had been woken up by the earliest calls to prayer. We had held sugar cubes between our teeth as we sipped mint tea from tiny porcelain cups, had gotten high on hashish laced in hookahs almost as tall as we were, had ridden camels across endless deserts under an infinite sun. We had stood in the shadows of the Great Pyramids and marveled at all the garbage, had made fleeting eye contact with women covered head-to-toe in black burqas, their eyes the only part of them available to the world. We had felt invincible when we read about bombings in markets we had wandered through just days before; then we had felt ashamed. We had gotten violently ill in Mumbai and had relied on the kindness of strangers to take us to the hospital and still never fully recovered. We had removed our shoes at temples and made offerings to Mahalakshmi; had run our fingertips across the cool white marble of the Taj Mahal; had been extras in Bollywood films that we had never seen. We had been rocked to sleep by the swaying of overnight trains lumbering across Rajasthani desert; had escaped Delhi for Dharamsala where we filled our lungs with cool air flowing down from the Himalayas and sat on rock outcroppings with saffron-robed monks, listening to their murmured incantations and quietly clacking prayer beads. We spun Buddhist prayer wheels and watched sun-faded prayer flags carry whispered words into the sky. We had shuffled past Mao Zedong, lying in state, and been yelled at by armed guards for stopping too close to his portrait outside the Forbidden City. We had walked the Great Wall and counted terracotta soldiers and bathed in Shanghai's neon nights.

We had ridden trains and buses and taxis; motorcycles and tuk-tuks and rickshaws; camels and horses and elephants. We had waded through the milieus of Christianity and Islam and through the sacred places of Buddhism and Hinduism. We had been scammed and cheated and robbed by monkeys. We had thrown up in trash cans and pit latrines, had gone days without bathing in anything but our own sweat. We had cried and yelled and laughed and cajoled our way across continents and borders and timezones. We had learned to say thank you in Xhosa and Swahili and Arabic and Mandarin. We had worn out the soles of our shoes. We had loved all of it but it had only ever been for a few weeks or months at a time and it had never been enough.

We came here because we needed more. We had seen some of the world, more of it than many people we knew, but the world was fantastically and thrillingly huge. Our eyes were starving, ravenous. But we needed to be more than just eyes: we needed to be hearts and hands. We had homes and families and friends, but we needed new places to call home, needed more friends and more people we could call family. We needed more time, more experiences and stories. We needed to be a part of something that seemed bigger than ourselves. We needed more direction and meaning in our lives. We needed to find our place in that wonderfully large world. We needed to grow up and learn about ourselves, learn about our capabilities and our limits. We needed to be frustrated and put in our place. We needed to do something that would make us feel needed or successful or good. We needed to know what it would be like to be more than just eyes, we needed to know if we could do it, needed to feel purposeful, needed to matter. We came here because we were greedy.

We also came here because we were lucky. We were lucky to be born into an interconnected world where we could make a full circle around the globe by the time we were twenty-five. We were lucky to have graduated college before the world's economies collapsed, when a twenty-two year old could still get a job and quit six months later to travel, just to travel, without having to worry about never being able to find a job when he came back. We were lucky to be born into upper-middle class American families, to parents who encouraged and enable our need to leave, and who would let us sleep on the couch for a month or two when we came back, rent-free. But we felt like we needed more than American middle class-ness –we were greedy in this way, too– and we felt like our middle class futures were already assured –like I said: we were naïve. We were lucky to have hard-working parents: we came here because we were carefree children.

We came here because we were entitled. Some members of our parents' or grandparents' generations call us entitled, anyway. They say that we were told too often that we were special. We watched too much Mr Rogers, were hugged too often, had too many green-sky and purple-grass finger paintings hung with magnets on the refrigerators of our suburban homes. Everyone got trophies; even the losers won. They may be right. We may think too highly of ourselves. We may think we know more than they do. We may be self-centered and overly self-confident, with short attention spans and no moral fiber.

There's a flip side to this, too, though. Because now we've grown up and the world's started to fall apart and we've realized we can't all be president or quarterback or CEO. Some of us have realized we can't even be baristas. I'm not entirely sure what an IRA is, because even if I had one, I don't have any money to put in it. We've been driven and enthusiastic and proud of ourselves for our entire lives. And now we're moving back into our parents' basements in droves. We might not become homeowners until we're fifty (because we'll refuse to move out of the city) but that's not so bad because we won't be able to retire until we're eighty-five. We're fighting, now, against apathy, against becoming depressed because we're capable and desirous of everything and there's nothing. We've all that drive and enthusiasm and specialness with nothing to use it on.

(Of course, those same tired critics would say that we're not looking hard enough, or that we don't have jobs because we're only willing to take our dream jobs because we're too full of our specialness to settle for anything less, or that we're only depressed because no one else is appreciating how special and talented we are. Again: they may be right.)

This is the truth, for those of us in our twenties or early thirties who've grown up believing in the world, in ourselves and each other and our collective capability to do big things: with nothing to use our talents on, or with bosses who don't hang our metaphorical finger paintings on the metaphorical refrigerators, we've become cynical. It's true. We couldn't help it. But this is the beauty of our generation: we haven't become bitter. There's still that hopefulness and optimism that undercuts the cynicism. The cynicism is like a joke: gallows humor. It covers everything up.

We're so screwed– we say.

And we laugh about it.

They've totally already got nuclear technology: obviously– we say.

And we laugh about it.

Because we can't help it. We're optimistic and hopeful and certain of the fact that our future is assured, in some way. We can't help believing that we are talented and capable. Some of us can't help believing that we can do anything we want. The rest of us believe we can at least do something. And then there are even those of us who think we have to do something. Something big and important and revolutionary and world-changing. We believe we can lead the march. We believe in the people who are marching. We believe that things will change for the better, we want them to change for the better, the world deserves to change for the better, and we know that if nothing changes, we'll figure something else out. Some of us are misguided: look no further than those Berkeley-educated kids who compare their Occupy “protests” to the civil rights movement –I hate their self-righteousness and their lack of a real plan, but even I think that if their hearts aren't in the right place, they're at least in the general vicinity. Because it's our time. We are entitled to this. We are entitled to go out into the world and try to change it and maybe we'll fail but when we do, we'll laugh and learn from it and be better next time. We came here knowing that failure was either a strong possibility or an almost certainty. But we came here because we're ok with that, because even if we fail, we'll figure something else out; because even if we fail, at least we have the stories, at least we can laugh about it, at least we can say that we came here.

I don't know how the critics would respond to that, but I don't think we care.

We came here because we're screwed, and we're happy.

We came here to find out about the world and ourselves. We came here because we knew the world in a few ways and needed to know more. We came here because we were naïve and greedy; because we were earnest and hopeful; because we thought we could lead the march, or at least be witness to it, or at least throw one small pebble into still water and watch the ripples. We came here because we knew that even if none of that happened, we would still have more stories and another pair of shoes with worn-out soles. We came here because we knew we could always go back. We came here because we were young and free of debt and mortgages and children –and we wouldn't be, didn't want to be, free of those things forever– and our futures were long and wide-open, and we knew that we needed to take advantage of the opportunity, just in case they weren't. We came here because we wanted to be a part of Kerouac's rucksack revolution or because we had no idea what we wanted to do with our lives other than be a part of the world or because we had never been able to stay in one place for very long.

We came here because our eyes were wide and minds were curious; because our backs were strong and our legs could carry us; because we needed our hearts to be filled and hoped to have our hands put to work.

We came here because we had to; and because we could.

Caveats

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Hayley in Uganda

2012-01-25 08:18:10

To access internet here in rural Uganda, I have a personal modem, similar in size and form to a flash drive, which plugs into my USB port and connects to the great-world-beyond via the mystical airwaves of the mobile phone carrier of my choice. Well, I live in a swamp, so I don’t get a [...]

Stay in School. Wear fur.

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Hayley in Uganda

2012-01-25 08:23:59

The other day I was walking with a community member for a few kilometers through a nearby village and, somewhere between tripping over every imaginable loose stone and sweating out approximately 8.5 L of body fluids, I managed to compensate for my remarkable lack of social grace with a pleasant demeanor and polite greetings to [...]

Top 10 Signs Your Peace Corps Service (and center of sanity?) Might Be Derailing

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Hayley in Uganda

2012-01-25 08:26:58

It has struck me recently that I am beginning to behave differently than a few months ago. Then it struck me that this is perhaps my own fault. Then I decided, no, I am perfectly normal. Then I realized I was having this debate out loud…with myself. Then I knew I had to make this [...]

I Am America, and So Can You!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda Dear Internet,

2012-01-25 08:05:00

I know I've been worse at updating this blog than Chuck Knoblog was at throwing to first base. (Yes, that was a long stretch for a bad joke.) So, it's going to be a double-blog-post day, since I've had this one sitting on my computer for a couple weeks now.

But I'm back in Ngora after a full month away, and I'm happy to report that America is still awesome and Uganda is still Uganda. Without going into too much detail about the two and a half weeks I spent in Seattle and Sunriver, eating and drinking and not moving too much, here are a few things people said to me–

When I got back to the States:

“Welcome back!”

“You're so tan!”

“I missed your big Irish head!”

“You're not as skinny as I thought you would be!”

“It's 68 degrees in this house: take off that down jacket!”

“Seriously: you've been wearing that down jacket for twelve days straight!”

“Did you just refer to Uganda as 'home?'”

When I got back to Uganda:

“Welcome back!”

“You're so white now!”

“So America was good? Because it looks like it was about fifteen pounds good!”

“You're fat!”

So that pretty much sums it up: I wasn't that skinny when I got to the States, and I was super fat when I got back to Uganda (which is entirely ok, since the PCVs who commented on my probably-unhealthy weight gain were just jealous, and the Ugandans who commented on it meant it as a compliment). It wasn't really that cold, technically –the coldest it got was one morning when it was 15 degrees out when I woke up; most of the rest of the days were sunny and in the 40s; and London was much colder than either Seattle or Sunriver– and there was no snow, but I opened presents on Christmas morning while wearing my puffy down jacket. I lost whatever tan I had, at least according to my Ugandan friends, the ones who told me I was “a real white man, now.” Without thinking about it, I did call Uganda home, but when I'm here, I call America home, too. So it was nice to get to go home twice.

Before I left to go back to the States, I had been thinking that it wouldn't be weird at all, going back. I'd left and come back and left before, so I didn't think it would be a big deal. Then I started thinking that maybe it would be really weird, since I wasn't expecting it to be weird at all. Then I got back, and I had been right the first time. It wasn't weird. I even asked my good friend Whit: “Is it weird for you that I'm back and I've been gone for a year and a half?” She said, “When you first showed up, I was like, 'Whoa!' But now that you've been here for, like, an hour, I'm just like, 'Cool.'” So I think everyone agreed: like I'd never left. There were no mental breakdowns over all the choices in the cereal aisles of the grocery stores (or even Costco), like the Peace Corps had warned us about during some silly Pre-Service Training session on culture shock. There was no righteous indignation at the excesses and ridiculousness of Americans. No mind-blowing new technology (though FaceTime on the new iPhone is pretty awesome, and new to me). I didn't even have any trouble staying on the right side of the road while I was driving.

Then I realized the reason why it wasn't weird at all: I've lived in Uganda for a year and a half, true, but I've also lived in the United States for about twenty-five years before that. So no, it wasn't weird.

One funny thing I did notice myself doing, while I was in America, was when I would get in line behind someone, like at the movie theatre or the checkout at the grocery store or wherever, I would stand really, really close to them. Because in Uganda –and Asia and India– if you're not basically standing with your head on the shoulder of the person standing in front of you, you're either not in line, or you're going to get jumped. So I've gotten used to that; it's completely ceased to be awkward. Unless I do it in America. Because I could just feel the awkwardness radiating from the stranger in front of me as I ruffled the back of their hair with my breath. Fortunately, I would realize what I was doing after a few seconds, laugh, and step back. It amused me every time though.

But so it was really awesome to see all of my friends, and my family, and Dublin; to get to drink real, delicious beer and eat so much food that I kind of felt ill the entire time (but in a good way); to be cold; to watch football, even if the Broncos got destroyed in both games I watched; the bed was ridiculously comfortable; there were snacks in the pantry for when I woke up in the middle of the night from jetlag; I got to “meet” the guy who's going to marry my sister; it was sunny and gorgeous every day in Seattle; I got to do (almost) all of the things that I loved doing before I left (and one of my favorites was sitting at Starbucks with Sarah, with coffee and breakfast sandwiches, reading the New York Times –because, yes, we are the “Did You Read That?” sketch from Portlandia, it's true– and laughing because we're just so damn funny); and it was just … good.

I was asked a few times, when it got to be a few days before I was heading back here, “So, are you excited to go back to Uganda?” And I said, “Well … no. Not really.” I had to qualify it then, because that made it sound like I just hated it here: “It's like, if I lived in Seattle, and went on vacation to Uganda, I wouldn't be excited to go back to Seattle.” I think that's how you know a place has really become your home: when you leave, and even though you love living there, you're not entirely excited to go back.

There was one other thing from home that made me laugh. I've been lucky so far that I haven't missed any major life events while I've been gone. No new babies or weddings or dog-funerals. Everything's been pretty steady, and this makes me happy. But I was sitting around with the fam, on Christmas Eve, maybe, and Mom said, looking and Ryan and Emily and Caitlin and me, excited like only Mom gets, “I can't believe you're all here!”

“Yeah,” Ryan said. “And the next time we're all here, we might have a kid.”

“And,” Caitlin said, “you guys might have a new son-in-law.”

I paused, and thought for a second.

“Yeah...” I said. “And, I mean … you know … I'll be here.”

“But you'll be coming back again,” Dad said, “from somewhere else in Africa. Or Asia. Or wherever.”

I think he was just trying to make me feel better, but he's probably right: this is my life, and it's pretty awesome.

Peace Corps Uganda (Africa) - John's Vlog #10 (blog)

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Uganda YouTube Videos matching query: "peace corps" "Uganda"

2012-01-25 02:35:04

	Peace Corps Uganda (Africa) - John's Vlog #10 (blog) This is about my experiences in Uganda as a Peace Corps Volunteer. In this video I tok students up to Mt. Elgon and also had my friend take a worm out of me.	From: utlnghrn34 Views: 3 1 ratings
	Time: 04:28	More in People & Blogs