The "Peace Corps Experience"

Of course no Peace Corps experience is 'wrong' but there are more plush situations I could be in at times. But who wants to read about that?! Nah that's no fun at all which is why I will explore the more realistic and unsettling experiences I've had so far. Some of them are going to be gross. Some of them will be just a little weird. We'll see what experiences pop into my head while writing today.

One of the things I was most excited about getting into the PC and going to Uganda was having that fresh market experience whenever I need food. Well the markets fun and some of the produce is fresh to last me a couple of days without spoiling... sometimes it is not so pretty. I get tons of products from the market such as coal, local honey sold in emptied liquor bottles, bulk items like G-nuts (peanuts), beans, popcorn kernels, rice, and in season fruits and veggies (green pepper, red onion, tomatoes, potatoes, mango, avocados...). If I felt like it I could even get smoked fish of who knows what kind or from where (probably tilapia) or have the butcher hack a piece of meat off of a hanging cow... but I rather not. Thanks.

I was so stoked when I first got here to get everything from the market it was like a dream come true! I was being a 'real' Peace Corps volunteer in a developing country! One of the first things I bought was a 1/2 kilo of rice in a bag. That should last a while and its cheap! So let me tell you a little something that isn't a secret to anybody here about bulk food... sometimes it comes with presents since its sifted by hand. You get more than you bargain for a lot of the time like a chipped tooth from a rock or a bug infestation. Well I was new to this whole 'market' thing.  I got home and sifted through it just to make sure it was kosher... found a bug or 2 and picked them right out. Figured its all good once I cook it and it was. A week later before cooking I saw a bug at the top again and smashed him to bits after flinging him out. At this point I was a little grossed out since I already sifted last week and got rid of everything... that I saw anyways. I lost my appetite after I was staring at a fat grain of 'rice' and it wiggled. Yeah that was my deciding factor that it was just not worth saving the few extra thousand shillings ($1) for the bugs so I will be buying my rice from the supermarket in a sealed bag without bugs (hopefully). After sifting that rice 3 times I still found undesirable things in it so it just became the cat rice. Elend won't mind the bugs... he eats bugs all the time! I still buy other fruits and veggies from the market but am a bit skeptical on some of the bulk items. I'm glad I experienced this and now know that even though  I don't have a ton of capitol as a Peace Corps Volunteer but sometimes its just not worth how gross it will be. I still have my own PC experience though.. the roof in my house leaks, I don't get hot water everyday any more in fact my jerrycan was 'stolen' from outside my door and I haven't been given hot water for about 2 weeks now. I'm thankful for having baby wipes and short hair because that cold water does not do it for me, and half the lighting in my house is from solar power Christmas lights.

I also got my stitches out today... half way through the removal of the first one the power goes out and the generator didn't kick on right away. So what do they do? One of the staff pulls out his phone... turns on his torch (flashlight) and shines it on my hand while the doctor continues ripping out my other stitch. Ouch. No big deal. I'm just glad they are out and I can fully appreciate being able to wash my hands again!

Tomorrow I'm heading to another PCVs house in town and having corn bread, chili, and some yummy homemade dessert. Candace is an amazing cook :) All that talk about rice just makes you hungry doesn't it?! Yum!

I'm getting Ugandans addicted to Pixy Stix and I LOVE it! Gotta teach them the right way to eat American candy! I can't eat them all by myself. My first lesson taught in Uganda.