Sunday, December 8, 2013

            Today was an awesome day. The students at Shimoni put together a show for us! It was local singing and dancing set to drums and it was the best thing I’ve seen since being here. I was sitting there watching them, thinking to myself, “Now I’m in Africa.” Seeing legit African dances and watching them drum was, to me, the coolest thing ever. They were SO good and I loved it. From what I could understand, each dance went with a different ritual or had a specific meaning, such as circumcision ritual or mating. Didn’t even have to ask about that one because you could just tell. No type of American dance can even compare to what they did, but I bet they’d be awesome at twerking.

                In other news, once I felt better, which thank god I did, I started running again. I don’t go until about 5:30 or 6:00 at night because it’s so dang hot here. The roads are absolutely terrible because they’re dirt and filled with holes, which can sometimes be fun when you get to jump around. It’s also incredibly hilly here. So it’s rough, but I’m working my way back into shape, which is necessary because I spent the summer before leaving being a bum – if I wasn’t working, I was out drinking. I used the excuse of wanting to spend as much time as possible with my friends before leaving Clemmy (which was true!), but you know what happens when you just work and drink? Calories happen, which turns into a beer belly. So, back into shape it is. And what better time than here in Uganda? I bet my running shoes are going to be destroyed in no time, though, due to the terrible terrain. My favorite part is running past a herd of cows or some goats. You’d be surprised how often it happens. Sometimes the kids, and even adults, come out of nowhere and start running along side me. It’s pretty funny. Others just stare at me with the look of ‘why is this crazy white person running down the street?’ Besides playing soccer, exercise isn’t really a thing here. I don’t blame them, though, because literally everything you have to do here takes so much work and effort. I know some people who swear by running, like my mom. I have uncles and cousins who do marathons, but unfortunately I didn’t get those Kennedy genes. Even at the point where I was super in shape and working out every day, I still hated running. I got better at it, but never enjoyed it. Here, though, I actually seem to enjoy it. It’s fun to explore and it helps me let off some steam at the end of the day. Maybe I’ll even have a goal of trying to do a half marathon before my time here is done. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see! We also found a cute, little bar not too far from the school. You can fit about four people inside, but they have a pool table outside, some benches, and a table they set up for us. It's a quaint little place for us to hang out. We don't go a lot due to teaching every morning, but here and there ain't so bad. You have to make sure you go when the power has been on, otherwise the beers aren't cold. Now village bars consist of a choice of three of four beers and maybe one or two types of liquor - all local, all not great. Guess you get used to it, though. There's also a group of kids that come and hang out with us at the bar when we're there. At first I thought it was weird, but it's actually pretty fun having them around. There's one who's all up in our business; she loves us. The others are a lot more shy. Unfortunately they don't know any English and since we haven't learned any Luganda yet, communication is all in the form of hand motions. 
We make it work. Anyway, I'm glad we found the place! It's really nice to have a place close by after a long day to grab a beer and unwind wit yo friends.

Until next time.