March 3, 2014

It’s already been a crazy five weeks at site. We arrived late afternoon on January 24^th, stopping on the way to get food and a few household necessities we didn’t get in Kampala as well as packages from home that had arrived for us (which made us very happyJ). Although school hadn’t started yet, we were so busy that first week. We had to deep clean the house and we walked the hour and a half to town almost every day that week to finish getting everything we needed for the house. I’m the worst at bargaining, so I’ve been leaving that up to Taylor. Many of them are very neglectful to reduce the price on whatever we’re trying to buy. They see our skin color so they think we have money and decide to jack up the price on us. What’s strange is when we refuse to pay above a certain price they still refuse to reduce for us. Like don’t you want our business, dude? Well anyway, I’m bad at being stern about how much we should pay and half the time I just want to give in, so I’m glad she’s here to stick it to ‘em. We bought hot plates, but were told once we got to site we will have to pay an electricity bill so decided to cook the big stuff on a sigiri. It’s like a really small charcoal grill that takes us hours to light and cook anything. We’ll be investing in a gas stove eventually because once school starts this will just be too much. Our home has potential for running water instead – we have a bathroom with a toilet, sink, and bathing area with a spout. Unfortunately right now the water is not on and the toilet it also broken. I have no problem using a latrine, I did it all through homestay, but fetching water is the worst. Full jerry cans are super heavy and we have to go a decent way. It was a pretty intense week, but we made it! I don’t think I could have done it without Taylor, though! Although there was a lot to do once we moved in, there was also a lot of down time (and we were tired!) so I’ve been watching 30 Rock and am about halfway through the series and it’s hilarious. Just a little side note I wanted to throw out.

The first weekend after getting to site, we took our first trip to Masaka – it’s our closest “city” so it has Muzungu stuff. It was good timing, too, because the education group ahead of us was having their mid-service training there so we stayed at the same hotel and got to hang out with them. It was our first time traveling in a taxi so we finally got to experience what everyone always talks about. There were about two people to every seat, plus babies and a chicken. It was crazy to us this first time, but I’m sure eventually it will seem very normal. Anyway, another volunteer in health had arranged a fun weekend for us! She took us to a restaurant that does a buffet every Friday and it was delicious! I didn’t care what kind of food it was as long as it wasn’t local food. I don’t dislike local food, but I dislike eating the same thing every day. There are twelve of us ‘new volunteers’ in the Central regions and six of us specifically right around Masaka. It was really great to meet and get to know older volunteers who are around us. Later that night we enjoyed ourselves at the discotheque; it was a blast! Masaka is less than an hour from us so it’s great to know that there’s a place to get away from the village.

School started February 3^rd. And by school started I mean the doors were officially open and a few students and teachers showed up to sit around all day. I’m at an all boys school, but my principal has mentioned to me that they are going to merge with the girls school that’s up the dirt path. The first two weeks, though, were a hot mess, which we did have fair warning about from older PCVs. Luckily my Luganda is fresh because the boys barely know any English. I’d sit in their class for most of the day with them and they’d have maybe one or two teachers come in to do a lesson. I’d try to teach because they kept saying they wanted to learn, but it was really hard for them to understand me. Once we merged with the girls school, things picked up and teachers started teaching (sort of). I was put on the time table for a literacy class three days a week, which I’m really excited about so it gives me something to do! I’ve realized that the girls are much farther ahead than the boys, so I think it’s going to be hard for me to get them on the same level. But I’m staying positive!

The boys playing soccer! I mean, football.

On February 21^st, my school took a field trip. I was told they’re taking some kids (who could afford to pay) to a circus and so I of course wanted to go to that! I walked with the kids into town to arrive at the “circus” that held six animals, a swing ride (which looked like it was about to fall down), and face painting. It was great (sarcasm). I mean the kids loved it, but I could feel my skin burning from the sun and was getting sick of being stared at. But it’s all about the experience, right?

So now let me get into more serious things for the next paragraph or two. February 23^rd we traveled to Mbarara for an HIV/AIDS workshop. We were mostly excited to get to travel out of our region and stay at a nice hotel with a pool and, more importantly, hot showers! We got to swim, drink, meet other volunteers, and enjoy everyone’s company for a few days. What I didn’t realize was the misconceptions Ugandans face in regards to HIV/AIDS. The older volunteers brought a Ugandan colleague to attend the training with them, so we got to hear a lot from them, which really opened my eyes to how serious this epidemic is here. They know what HIV/AIDS is in generic terms, but they’re told so many lies and myths and they never learn the real truth. How are they expected to protect themselves if they don’t know the truth about the disease? It was so shocking and saddening to me to hear some of the things these Ugandans said. At first I just couldn’t believe the ignorance and was frustrated, but I had to step back and tell myself that it’s not their fault they grow up learning the wrong thing or being told lies and for the ones it most negatively impacts it’s not like they have access to Google and can figure things out for themselves. So even though I grew up with sex ed and learning about HIV/AIDS, I turned my frustration into motivation to bring HIV/AIDS awareness to my students and my village.

Got tested for HIV/AIDS! Don't worry, we're negative.

Completion of HIV/AIDS training comes with a certificate!

During our time at the workshop, the president of Uganda signed an anti-homosexuality bill. It had been in talk for a while, but just officially got signed. I thought he wouldn’t do it for fear of losing Western aide, but he actually could give a crap about our aide. I know in America gay marriage isn’t legal in every state and I know that there are some people very opposed to homosexuality, but it’s not illegal! I don’t know all the details yet, but I believe the old bill stated death penalty for homosexuals; it’s been revised, but still states potential life imprisonment. I mean these people can’t even voice support for homosexuality without imprisonment. It’s an awful regression on human rights. For this reason, I will never support a church or missionary work again. Granted not all is bad, but the majority of it is and this bill shows just that because it all came from the influence of these people. They come into a country pushing beliefs on a vulnerable set of people who then adopt these beliefs and trust in every word the church says. They think “God” will help them, instead of having the motivation to go and help themselves. This country has a million things to fix first – the education systems, the roads and transportation system, the corrupt cops and city officials, should I continue? – before they should be dictating who should love who. And that’s my say on that.

After the workshop we came home for a day and half to recoup and do laundry before heading to Entebbe for Central Welcome Weekend! Whenever a new group comes in, each region will have a welcome weekend so that everyone in the region can meet and get to know each other and have fun, of course! The weekend was awesooooome. Entebbe is beautiful and I loved every second of it. The hostel was pretty much taken over by Peace Corps. We went to a delicious restaurant the first night (man, non-local food is always so good; I miss every single food back home) and then explored the nightlife. We actually ran into a host brother from our homestay time in Luweero! He goes to university in Entebbe and found us at the bar. He's a good dude so it was cool to see him again. Saturday a PCV friend and I spent the day walking around Entebbe and did some shopping. A group of us got Ethiopian food for dinner. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I had been told it’s really good so wanted to try it. Turns out I actually thought it was really disgusting, but I’m not one to say no to something new so at least I tried it! They have this weird bread that you dip into whatever you order and I liked the meat sauce thingy, but I couldn’t get into the bread. I think if it was like sourdough or some really good fluffy bread I really would have enjoyed it much more. But, hey, some people love it, so to each his own!