January 1, 2014: Happy Holidays!

            My first of three Christmases in country was an awesome one. The plan was for a current volunteer in each region to host Christmas for us newbs and any other volunteers in the region who did not travel home for the holidays. Central, though, is so spread out and there wasn’t someone who could host us, so luckily for us, we got to stay at a hotel, courtesy of Peace Corps. It was the twelve of us and then a few other volunteers. There were toilets and hot showers and a nice sitting room where we could all hang out. I haven’t had hot water, let alone a shower, in awhile and man did it feel good. You get used to bucket bathes, they’re really not that bad, but when you get the chance to take a hot shower it just feels so much better. The hotel let us use their kitchen, since no one else was there, and we all pitched in on food and Marvin planned out some awesome meals. The best part was Marvin arriving with two live chickens in hand. We asked someone to slaughter them for us since we weren’t quite sure how. I decided to watch how they do it; I thought I would be appalled and freak out, but it was kind of intriguing. I absolutely could never personally do it, though. I, of course, ate meat in America, though I always bought cage free, organic eggs and tried my best to buy organic chicken and grass fed beef because I once read a book about what they do to animals in order to get meat and I was rather disgusted. It’s actually more humane here because the cows and chickens are free to roam and the families that have animals slaughter them only for special occasions. Sometimes, though, you’ll see them eating from the trash piles and that’s just really gross. The beef at the market is just hung up, waiting to be bought; it sits in the sun, with god knows what insects flying on it, which also doesn't sit that well with me. I have eaten some meat here, regardless of the above, but it just doesn’t taste that great because it’s cooked differently. Marvin, though, is an amazing cook and was able to cook some great meat, so I got in my protein, which is good because my homestay family doesn’t really eat meat, considering it’s too expensive.  We drank. A lot. We watched tv and played games and just got to hang out all together without the pressure of having to learn or do something. It was my first Christmas away from home, and although it was a little sad at first, being surrounded by all my friends made me forget about missing home and I was just happy to be there with them. There wasn’t any snow, a Christmas tree, or lights, but it was still a really great Christmas, we had a lot of fun!

            I celebrated New Years last night by watching a movie and falling asleep early. I didn’t even make it to midnight. There was a big celebration going on down the street from me at the futbol pitch, but we’ve been warned about staying out past dark so it didn’t seem like the best idea. My family didn’t do anything special either because my mom fears being out away from the home after dark. If they would have gone out I would have joined because I would have felt much more comfortable with them. But I’ve got many more New Years Eves ahead of me so I’m not mad about a good night of sleep.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Had to get a pic with the turkeys before leaving Shimoni!

            The last few days have consisted of visiting the equator, future site visit, and arriving at homestay. On Tuesday we were up before the sun to eat breakfast and leave Shimoni early, but this is Uganda, so of course our taxi was two hours late. A group of six of us who are living outside Masaka took a taxi together and he dropped us off at our individual sites. Taylor and I were the last to get dropped off, which kind of stunk getting to site late, but it was also cool to see everyone else’s place. Before leaving, Peace Corps sends out information about what to pack, how much, etc. They told us to pack one smaller bag to use for our first three months of training and pack another bigger bag that will be stored at Peace Corps headquarters in Kamapla until training is over. What they don’t tell you is that they’re going to give you a crap ton of stuff that you’ll have to carry all over Uganda. So at this point traveling to site and homestay, I have my semi-small rolly suitcase, stuffed full backpack, big plastic bag filled with other small, miscellaneous items received or bought since being in country, and the things Peace Corps gave us at the end of our time at Shimoni, including: a huge bucket for bathing and/or laundry, a pillow, and a blanket (not gonna lie, though, my blanket is pretty sweet – it’s cheetah print with big roses in the center and I’m not mad about it). Luckily we’ve had people around that can help us carry things, but when we get the rest of our stuff back and buy things for the house before heading to site it’s going to be impossible to travel. Anyway, on our way to site we got to stop at the equator! I’ve stopped at state lines in ‘Merica (oh em gee, two places at once!), but not many people can say they’ve been to the equator line. THE EQUATOR PEOPLE. I thought it was freakin’ awesome.

            We finally made it to site and there was literally no one there. We were pretty sure we were in the wrong place. The school was completely vacant. Finally a couple people show up and we meet Taylor’s principal, her deputy principal (who is a brother), and my deputy principal. We did introductions and chatted for a little and then they showed us our home. It’s attached to the principal’s home (like a duplex) and it was a little dusty and dirty because no one had been living there for awhile, but it has capability for inside running water and it has electricity – both two big bonuses! There’s a bathroom with a sink, toilet, showerhead, and spout but everything besides the spout is broken. They’re going to work on it if they get money, but who knows. The bathing area is a little section next to the toilet with a drain where we can bucket bathe. Outside, twenty feet or so from the house, we have a pit latrine and another bathing area. The bathing area is super creepy because no light gets in there so I think we’ll be sticking with the little area in the bathroom. The pit latrine is fine, it’s only scary at night because we have to walk a little bit behind our house in the pitch black and in pitch black Africa you never know who or what is outside. Every time we had to go at night we went together with our torches. There’s a futbol pitch a little in front of our house so that’ll be awesome for exercise and to play with the kids and we have a freakin’ awesome view right outside our house so I’m pumped about that. It’s pretty southwest for central region, so I’m hoping it’ll be kind of cool (weather wise) and not too many mosquitoes!

Taylor’s principal had family visiting, my headmaster wasn’t in town, and my deputy fell ill that first night we were in town, so Brother basically took care of us for the couple days we were there. We had breakfast and lunch at his home each day and then he brought us dinner each night because he did not want us walking to him in the dark. He has a cook that cooks for him and the other brothers and she’s amazing! We’re going to have to get some lessons from her. Up in their compound they also have two dogs and a puppy! (Along with goats and cows of course because c’mon it’s Uganda.) I really want to steal the puppy when we come back and have him become our dog because he’s the cutest thing ever, but he is so scared of us. The other dogs’ names are Smart and Quiz – suitable names for dogs residing in a school – and they’re really nice and actually like us, probably because we know how to pet them unlike Ugandans who either don’t interact with dogs or by petting them they actually are just patting them really hard. Oh, Uganda. So brother showed us around Biikira Gyaza (the village our schools are in) and then the neighbor village, Biikira Bijja and our trading center, Kyotera. Kyotera is about an hour and fifteen to hour and thirty minute walk, depending which part you’re going to. It’s straight downhill halfway and then a very steep uphill. It’s literally the worst. Not only do we have to walk there, because we can’t boda and no taxis stop between us and there, but then you get there and have to walk around the town and in thousand degree weather it’s so tiring. But Brother gave us a nice tour of the villages and the “town” and for an old man he can walk a lot and not get tired. We got a tour of Taylor’s college as well as my primary school. Our house is in the staff housing and very close to the college campus. My school is just right outside the college’s gates, so maybe a ten minute walk, which isn’t bad at all! I went on a run around the village one night and met some kids, which was pretty fun. When I say village, I legit mean village, like mud huts and no English type village. Since it’s holiday break, no one is at the schools so they seemed so desolate with no students or teachers there. Taylor’s college has maybe six buildings or so for classrooms and then the student housing and a library. My school has about three shacks. There was only a cow there grazing. If you saw this place in America, you’d be like this school actually does not exist. It’s also right next to a cemetery, so that’s cool. It was unfortunate that I didn’t get to meet with any staff of my school, because who knows if they understand what I’ll be doing, but I guess we’ll see when we return for first term.

Came back from a run to find a beautiful sunset.

         

Our home!

            Early Friday our twelve person central group met up and traveled to a town called Luweero. This is where we’ll have homestay and language training for the next month. (It’s actually a little over a month, but who’s counting? Oh yea, me.) My homestay is great so far. My mom’s name is Sheila and my brother’s name is Shaban or Kato (that’s one of the names for a twin). There are two more kids, the other twin, who’s a girl, and an older brother, but they are visiting with their grandmother over the holidays to help her around her home. (Side note: I learned that twins are very common in Uganda and there’s a name for the mom of twins, the dad of twins, the older twin if it’s a boy, the older twin if it’s a girl, the younger if it’s a boy, and the younger if it’s a girl. It’s confusing and I’ll never remember all of them.) I wanted to be in a home with a lot of young kids, but I guess that got lost in translation when we filled out info on what we want for homestay. The aunt also lives with us and she’s younger, but doesn't speak a lot of English. My brother is thirteen and in P6, but his English isn’t that great, either. Luckily, my mom can speak well, otherwise this would be impossible. The dad was around for a little bit, but apparently he works in the government and travels a lot. That or he has another family and goes back and forth between the two, which I learned was also highly common and very possible. They’re Muslim, which is sweet. Now I don’t have to worry about awkward religious questions and why I’m not going to church with them. This country is SO religious, a high percentage of Catholics and some other big Christian religions. My family’s home is so nice! Surprisingly nice, nothing of what I expected. I actually didn’t know what to expect. It’s an actual house, though, with multiple rooms. There’s a dining room and a living room with tile and couches and a tv. They have their own area where they sleep and then I have my own room with a bed and a nice desk and my dad gave me a fan, which has come in so handy already because it’s so hot here! Apart from the house, they have a cooking area and then two latrines and a bathing area. It was my first time using a cement bathing area like that, but I actually didn’t mind it too much! I couldn’t quite understand if I have my own latrine, but either way I’ve really got to get better at aiming because it’s just embarrassing. Luckily they have a spout right outside so getting water isn’t going to be too bad and it’s not far from the bathing area so I fill my bucket up at the spout and carry it there.

            Yesterday we had half a day of language training at a primary school in Luweero and then walked around and explored the town a little bit. Today my mom helped me with laundry (thank god) and by help I mean did it for me. She started watching me and then shook her head, took my bucket, and starting doing it. She could do my whole load in the time it would take me to do like two shirts. I’ll get used, though! That’s a little Uganglish for ya – instead of saying ‘you’ll get used to it’ they just say ‘you’ll get used.’

So, commence my thirty-one day homestay experience.

Monday, December 16, 2013                                     

            Well, it’s time to leave Shimoni! Tomorrow morning we all depart our separate ways to visit our future site. We dealt with cockroaches in our closets, half of us getting sick, dirty bathrooms, crowded rooms, and it being really hot. And we needed it. We’re not going to live in the little Kulika bubble for the majority of our time in Uganda, so we had to get used to more realistic living conditions. My first time using a pit latrine? At the bar. It wasn’t terrible, it was pretty hilarious, actually, watching Taylor hold the light for me in this back alley pit latrine as I try to aim in the hole. I’m sure I’ll get used to it. After that, I used it a few times at the school if the Turkish toilets got a little too gross. Was it ideal? No, but I’ve learned since being in Uganda that you just have to work with what you’ve got. We had every meal cooked for us, electricity most of the time, and water when we needed it. We were blessed with a lot more than most people have. And in that case, how can I complain? It’s been just over a month in country, and it’s been hard at times, but I’ve loved every bit of it. Now it’s off to site for three days to get a tour, see our home, and make sure everything is what it should be!
   

             

The sunsets are my favorite.

Our last visit to the bar to say goodbye!

Saturday, December 14, 2013

            School Based Training has ended! It was a long, but also really great two weeks.  The first lesson was rough, but by the end I got better with lesson plans and gained confidence being in front of the classroom. I got to co-teach with a Ugandan teacher as well as Peace Corps volunteers and also did many solo lessons. I learned a lot about what it’s like to teach in Uganda and how to be a better educator. The group of twenty-something primary school volunteers were split up among the different class levels; it turned out to be about three volunteers for each grade. The first week I taught some P6 and P7 classes and the second week I was teaching in P4. At the beginning of each week we signed up for the classes we wanted to teach and then had to make a lesson plan for each, following the Ugandan curriculum. Since I’ve never really, legitimately taught before, it was a little scary and nerve-wrecking at first, but being at the school and interacting with all the kids made me even more confident about my choice of being in the Peace Corps, not that I ever had a doubt. Sometimes they had trouble understanding me because of my accent; they prefer the Brits because it’s closer to how they sound so we’re supposed to work on our Uganglish/accent, which I’ll most definitely have to do before term one starts. Anyway, it was a great two weeks of practice!

            My favorite lesson by far would have to be the lesson I co-taught with Cody on continents in P7. We had to teach the seven continents and their order from largest to smallest. So what did we do? Made up a song, obvi. We went through the necessary info and then taught them a song that named the seven continents as well as had correlating hand motions to where each one is located. This one we learned from another volunteer, but for the next part, arranging largest to smallest, we made up our own little song, and they freakin loved it. We wrote out all the lyrics so it would be easier for them to follow along, and then threw in some claps and dance/swag. They loved it and, honestly, we loved it. The song is still stuck in my head.

            For the last day (which was yesterday) we had a day of games and reading. Some of the students from the PTC joined us as teachers and helped supervise the games as well as read the students stories. The students were split up and rotated between the different games and stories. The morning was cold and a little rainy, but by the end of the day it warmed up and was nice out. Before leaving we took pictures with the students and they couldn’t get enough of it. Most of them have never seen themselves through a mirror, let alone through a camera. They kept asking us to take pictures; they didn’t want us to stop. Eventually, though, we had to leave. They were so happy to have us there that they didn’t want to see us leave. And it was pretty sad for us leaving them. It’s crazy how attached you can get in just two weeks.

            Later that day we celebrated with a few beers at our little local bar. The usual kids showed up, wanting to hang out with us. There’s one little girl who’s especially sassy; she speaks no English, but she doesn’t need to in order to get her point and attitude across. She’s pretty funny actually. She’ll sit with us on the bench at the table or pull on our clothes if she wants to play. The kids love to be picked up and spun around; they think it’s so much fun. There are also a couple nuggets that I want to just pick up and take with me, per usual. I’m really happy the kids come around every time we’ve been there – it gives us a little entertainment! After dinner it was time for C.H.A.K.P.E. What’s that, you ask? Christmas Hanukkah Atheist Kwanza Party for Everyone. And it was great. Come a few days, we’re going to be split up for little over a month while we do language training. Since we’ll miss Christmas together, we decided to celebrate together before being separated. Stephanie put together C.H.A.K.P.E. where we did a white elephant gift exchange and the floor was open to anyone to sing, dance, do a skit, whatever. So after every few numbers someone would come up and perform something – we’ve got some talent in our group! I was a Maccabee in the telling of the story of Hanukkah (which was told by Rachel, so it was hilarious) and then Cody and I did an awesome rap about Christmas. I think if all else fails post Peace Corps that Cody and I have a rap career to fall back on.

the bar! ain't it cute?

She wouldn't smile for me.

           Today was our first day of language training. The morning was rough due to the aforementioned celebration. At least at home we’ve got air conditioning, dark spaces, and greasy food. Here you’ve got matooke and a million degrees of African equator heat. Anyway, I’m in the Luganda language group. Luganda is spoken in the central region of Uganda. There are twelve of us in our Luganda group (making us the biggest language group) and it’s probably the best group of twelve you could have. We’re already a hot mess and it was the first day. I can’t even begin to describe this language; I have a feeling I’m going to have some trouble. I took French in high school, which was helpful learning Spanish in college – you learn one romantic language, it’s pretty easy to learn the others since they’re similar. Unfortunately, Luganda has nothing in common with any other language I’ve learnt or even heard. But hey, it’s all part of the experience! Right? Good news is, we have two really fantastic language trainers, Dan and Herbert. Although the language might be tough to learn, there’s nothing I want more than to be able to talk to the people, especially the kids, so I’m genuinely really excited!