Sunday, November 24, 2013

           

            We’ve officially had our second weekend in country! Saturday was a day for laundry. It took me two hours to wash my clothes and they’re probably not even that clean. This hand-washing thing is so hard! I watch the Ugandans in awe because they are so good at it. And I’m terrible at ringing my clothes out – they’re still dripping when I hang them on the line. Oh well, I guess with time I’ll get better. Worst part of today, I’m so sunburnt. Look like a tomato sunburnt. I’ve got a great frat tank tan line and Chaco tan lines. What’s worse than Chaco tan lines? Nothing. And I’ll be wearing those shoes a lot so I doubt they’ll ever go away.

            We also finally found out about our future sites! The way it works is we were given information on all the participating schools and the roles of a literacy specialist versus a teacher trainer. We then chose whether we wanted to be a literacy specialist at a primary school or a teacher trainer at a PTC (Primary Teachers College). Most of the PTC’s have associated primary schools that they work with, so most, but not all, will have site partners that live nearby. From the information given from the schools we ranked our top three and reasons why each one would be a good fit. The revealing of sites was pretty awesome – the trainers mimicked Harry Potter with using ‘the sorting hat,’ so we each went up one by one, played a bit of an African song (like the opening one from Lion King), then shouted our language region. We were handed a piece of paper that stated our school and other necessary information and ran to our language groups. I received a primary school in central Uganda which means I'll be learning Luganda. And Taylor is going to be working at the correlating PTC! We will actually be living together on the PTC campus, because my school is not able to provide housing. I am totally a-ok with that! Coming in, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to live with someone, but the more time spent in country I thought I would be more comfortable living with someone and I couldn’t have picked a better person than Taylor to spend to years living with. Plus I kind of lucked out because the tutor houses at the PTC are always a lot nicer than those of the primary teachers’. We were told it’s a two bedroom and has a toilet and shower. We’re stoked. Part of me thinks since I’m here I should just have gone all out and lived in a mud hut with no electricity or running water, but then again I honestly don’t know if I could handle that for two years. That means I’d be deep in a village, potentially not close to many volunteers. I can do no electricity and I can do the pit latrine and bucket baths, but I think if I lived alone away from my friends I’d go crazy. I’d be ok and I’d do my service, but I don’t know if I’d be genuinely happy. That’s why I’m so glad to have Taylor there – someone to understand what I’m going through, someone to vent to, someone to talk to and laugh with. I’m SO excited to move to site and start my new life! But we’ve still got a little while.

            Today, Sunday, was our Kampala tour! I was in a group with Taylor and Eric and we were def the group (a pretty awesome group by the way) with the best tour guide – one of our trainers, Eric. We all got dropped off in Kampala, just on the side of the road near the post office, and each group set out on their own to walk around the city. We saw all the necessities, like the new taxi park where we’ll catch a taxi or bus in order to travel to different areas of Uganda, the hostel where most volunteers stay, and shopping centers. I finally got a phone! It was the simplest, cheapest phone in the store. It took me forever to decide what kind of phone I wanted – should I get a dual sim? Do I splurge and get a smart phone that I can also use as a hot spot or get something simple and then buy a modem? Maybe I should unlock my iPhone and then get a little, cheap one to use in the cities. These were the thoughts circulating through my mind daily and I couldn’t decide which was the best option. I just went with my gut in the moment. I still need me an internet modem, but that’s a different issue for another day. The Peace Corps actually has wifi for us here at Kulika, but it’s slower than molasses. It takes about a half hour for me to log onto my email and another half hour for it to actually send. It’s hard to go from unlimited texting/calling/data usage to having to buy scratch off airtime cards for one of the previously mentioned ways of contacting people. It’s also confusing that you just buy x shillings of airtime and it can be converted to data or international calling, etc. But I guess that’s just one more thing I’ll get used to. When I studied abroad in Spain I remember that we got Orange phones (a company that’s also here) but that’s the extent of what I remember about my international phone usage. The problem here is they have like four different phone companies and some work better in certain areas than others. Peace Corps provided us with a MTN sim card where we’ll all be on a closed group network (which is pretty sweet) so then I got an Orange dual sim phone since Orange seems to be the best for international calling. Fingers crossed that at least one of those works well at my future site.

            Favorite part of our Kampala tour? After we walked around for a few hours, we were ready to sit down and relax for a little, so Eric took us to a coffee shop in one of the malls. Not only did I get good coffee, but I got iced coffee! Oh man, was it good. Lunch was pretty good, too. I never thought I’d miss sandwiches so much. And Kampala has movie theaters, bowling, and a casino! Too bad we can’t really go to Kampala.

            One of the ‘required activities’ for us was to find our way back on a matatu, or taxi. Taxis here are nothing like taxis at home. It’s a van that seats like 15 maybe, but two of the seats go to the driver and the conductor, except they’ll still squeeze in like 20 people plus potentially some animals. You get in and tell them where you’re going and then you get dropped off. Doesn’t sound too terrible, right? My first experience wasn’t, but I’m just imagining being squeezed in with a ton of people. In Kamapala, after we felt we had sufficiently seen enough of the city, Eric had us lead him (instead of him lead us) to the new taxi park. Good thing Taylor has a good sense of direction because I was so lost. But we finally made it; we squeezed our way through the ridiculous amount of taxis to find the one that goes to our area. I somehow got stuck in the front row, so it was myself with two other Ugandans and then the conductor – four people squeezed into a three person row. I had to sit half on one seat and half on the other; it was definitely not the most comfortable ride. The conductor kept messing with me, saying to pay him when we first got on (which you’re not supposed to do) and then asking for more money. I was just the dumb, blonde Muzungu in the front, so I kept looking back at everyone else with a ‘what do I do?’ face. Regardless, we made it back to Kulika in one piece.

            Once we got back, I had to finish my big book. Most Ugandan classrooms have a ton of kids and sometimes it can be hard to move around the classroom while teaching, so big books were created. They are made from grain sacks and are just what they sound like – a big book. They’re big enough to allow all the students to see. Typically it’s eight pages including the title page. One can summarize an already written story or make up their own; it can be focused purely on literacy or have some other component (such as math, science, etc.). I decided to write my own and make it math related. It’s called, “Benji the Bear.” I have terrible handwriting and can’t draw to save my life, so it’s taken me forever. Luckily I have wonderful fellow volunteers who can draw for me, but I’ll have to learn somehow so I can make more when I get to site!

            All in all, it was a great weekend. Ali G out.

Friday, November 22, 2013

            The Rachels thought that a talent show amongst volunteers might be a good idea.  Good idea? More like great idea. Almost everyone participated, even our trainers. There was magic, joke telling, a squat competition, singing, a monologue, a skit by the trainers of a typical matatu ride, dancing, Harlem Globetrotter-esque basketball skills, and, of course, a rap battle. Codie and Steve are the two best people to compete in a rap battle against each other; they took the week to carefully write out the perfect verses and it was hilarious, the perfect culminations of the talent show. I personally have zero talents, unless you count holding babies or rapping “Baby Got Back,” so I decided just to be a spectator. Midway through, though, after a glass or three of wine, I was convinced into singing the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song with two of the guys. Wasn’t my best performance, but it was still hella fun.

            The amount of talent within our group is astounding. I really have to step my game up and find a talent. To see everyone go up there and show us a part of him or herself was so sublime to me, it just added on to all the reasons why these people are awesome.

                                                       

   

Thursday, November 21, 2013

On Tuesday we got to visit our first schools! I loved it. Granted it was a long day, but I enjoyed myself. We split up into two groups - one toured the PTC first and the other the primary school first and then we switched. The PTC was an all girls Catholic college, but the primary school was mixed. The PTC was pretty nice and had beautiful grounds. We talked with some of the admin and teachers and then got a tour. There is also currently a volunteer at both the PTC and primary school, so we got to meet and talk with them and we saw the PTC volunteer's house - it was so big and nice! We were told not to get our hopes up, though, because most of our houses will not be that nice. When we went to the primary school, the students greeted us with songs. It was so beautiful. Not going to lie, I teared up a little bit. I loved it! Again, we talked with some teachers and learned more about how things run at the school and then a student gave us a tour. It started raining halfway through the tour, and to my surprise a bunch of students just came out and stood outside the classrooms. We learned that when it rains, some schools - the ones with tin roofs - have to stop class because the rain makes it too loud to continue teaching. But I just loved meeting all the kids and it made me so much more excited to start teaching!!

Onto today. . .guess what I did!? I got to visit the US Embassy! It was pretty dope. We pulled into a gated area and then got all our passports and persons checked.  There was a beautiful green lawn and a big building. With air conditioning. They served us coffee and snacks – both were deliciously amazing. They served us these mini eggroll things and oh man were they good; I’m pretty sure we all got thirds. And the coffee. Delicious. Amazing. So good. I’m a big coffee person; I very much enjoy a good cup of coffee. My mom got me hooked on espresso after she bought an espresso machine when I was in high school. First two years of college I had a hot pot to boil water for instant coffee or got coffee from the dining hall. With an apartment junior year, I had a coffee pot, which was definitely a step up, and then when my boyfriend at the time ruined my 21^st birthday he decided to make up for it with a bunch of presents, one being an espresso machine. From then on the rest of college was a little tastier. My morning coffee was my me time. During the school week it was while I was getting ready or on my walk to class; on weekends or during break it was relaxing on the couch with my most recently recorded tv show or outside enjoying the weather with a good book. Either way, it was the best part of my day. So this surprise of deliciously amazing coffee after instant for the past ten days made me pretty happy. (It’s the small things nowadays.) I had at least four cups. The caffeine also helped with the next three or so hours of lecture. We met some different people from the embassy, learning their story and about what different aspects of the embassy work with the Peace Corps. Very intriguing.

We headed to Peace Corps headquarters, which is awesome btw, for lunch and then into Kampala (Lugogo Mall) to do some business. We needed to get the bank situation finalized, look for phones, and just do some general shopping. After over an hour at the bank I went to look for a phone, but because I can’t ever make decisions, I decided to wait. A phone would be nice, to call home and whatnot, but then again it’s also kind of nice not to have that distraction. Because it’s Kampala, there are real supermarkets - Walmart-esque supermarkets. Taylor had already so kindly bought me a cup for bucket bathing so since I didn’t technically need anything else, I just bought some chips, chocolate, pop, and a bottle of wine and called it a day.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

            Two nights ago we had an awesome bonfire. Beer was available for purchase, making it even more awesome. They had Club and Nile, so obvi I tried both. I prefer Nile so stuck with that the rest of the night. It was 3,500 shillings for a beer, which is like $1.40, and y’all know I can’t say no to that kind of a deal on beer. The bonfire was so much fun; it was nice to just be able to relax all together and have some fun. I mean two full days of classes really gets to ya. I’m obsessed with everyone and I can’t wait for our journey together. Each person has a unique story that lead him/her to this point in his/her life and it’s been amazing getting to know everyone.

            Saturday we had a survival session. They taught us laundry, how to bucket bathe, use the pit latrine, and light a kerosene lamp. Kulika, fortunately, has showers (although there’s not usually hot water), but it’s highly unlikely we’ll have a shower at site, so we’ll have to fetch water to fill a basin and bathe from there. It’s too bad it’s not big enough to sit in it, like a bathtub. Instead you use your hands or a cup to get yourself wet, then soap up, and repeat. I knew I should’ve cut all my hair off before I came, because I’m going to need a lot of water to wash my hair. But I shall find a way. Kulika also, thank god, has toilets. I’m not ready for this whole pit latrine thing. I’m going to wait until the very last minute that I can to use one.

           

Johnson teaching us how to bucket bathe

            

the culprit

And onto today. . . it was our day off! It consisted of me sleeping in, which is actually a little difficult in Uganda. Our training center, Kulika, has an organic farm that includes produce and animals. Sounds great, right? It is, except for the roosters. I don’t even need to set an alarm anymore because every morning at 5:30 the roosters start crowing. For those of you who’ve never lived on a farm or around roosters, it’s kind of impossible to sleep through them, at least for me. So I slept in as much as I could and decided to get up and be productive. I went to try to use our wifi to get online to send a few emails, but the wifi is slower than molasses so I gave up.  One of the trainers planned a trip into town for us so we could visit a supermarket and get anything we need, aka food. Kulika is off the road away from everything so finally being able to go into town and see what it was like was awesome. I love where we’re staying because it’s safe and so nice, but I also loved being able to be exposed to what the town life is like. I rode in the front seat on the way there and not only am I not used to the driving on the left side, but driving here is crazy! People drive so fast and are swerving around cars and there are bodas everywhere. The supermarket was just a little store with things like snacks, sodas, soap, toothpaste, etc. I got some chips, cookies, chocolate and a cold pop. A nice cold Coke had never tasted so good.  It was at this time I saw this little baby at a store next door staring at us. Due to my love for babies, I went over to him because I wanted to play. He seemed a little shy so I gave him a couple cookies so he’d like me. He ate them (after giving one to his mom, awww) like he’d never eaten a cookie before and my heart melted. I wanted to steal him and take him back, but considering I still have over two years I decided I should wait until it’s time to leave to steal a child, so I can get out of the country without anyone knowing. KIDDING. But kind of not really. The trip to town was awesome and I was feeling good when we got back, so I figured I’d keep being productive. Taylor, my roommate, and I then ventured out with our basins and a week worth of clothes and attempted some good old-fashioned hand washed laundry. It went well, besides the fact that I ruined a white shirt – one of my favorite shirts, too!! Their soap really makes colors run and I placed a just washed red shirt near my white shirt and because I’m still working on ringing things out well, water from the red shirt ran onto the white shirt. I couldn’t get the red stain out, so I’m debating washing it with my reds next time and just dying it all red. Although knowing my luck it would just turn out absolutely terrible. So maybe it will just become a new workout shirt!

           





For the rest of the afternoon some of us took a tour of the grounds of Kulika. Our wonderful security guard, Obed, showed us around. First off, it’s huge. There’s so much land! And apparently there are monkeys, so it’s my goal to see them. Everywhere you look it’s just green and beautiful. I can see why Uganda is called The Pearl of Africa. And then it started raining so we rushed back, grabbed our clothes off the line, and headed in.

And that was my weekend!