Christmas in October

Today Language IST officially started. I got to Mbarara yesterday around 2:30pm and the first thing I did was head to the resource center and I ran over and hugged my bright orange gas tank! The resource center is a room that Peace Corps rents out in a relatively central location where volunteers can exchange books, leave unwanted items for other volunteers to re-use (clothes, household supplies, things brought over from the US), and even use the internet if it is available.  Back to the fact that I now have a gas tank!....It’s big and beautiful and I can’t wait to take it home, give it a name and draw a face on its cylindrical body. The temperament of my stove will provide useful information to what his personality shall be. Some stoves are good and light with little  effort while others are stubborn and require you to start the flame with a match… most likely if it cooks my food faster than my sigiri it will be a relatively happy expression.

When I got to the hotel to check in I find out there are only rooms with single beds left and am kind of bummed that I don’t get to be roommates with Brittany again. A little side information: Brittany and I have been roommates every chance we get since we got to the Kulika training center just 2 days after arriving in Uganda. Brit and I just get along and make a great roommate pair; She would usually go to bed early, leave the light on, and be able to sleep through anything (aka me shuffling around my bags and going in and out of the room to do one thing or another). We have similar taste in music, are both clean, and when my computer crashed she let me use hers whenever she wasn’t using it. We just bonded and got along. So now every time there is a PC gathering and we are needed to share rooms… we automatically get one another as roomies. I don’t have to stress like a little kiddo taking the bus to school for the firs time or the first day of lunch in high school ‘OMG who am I going to sit by?!’ But anyways back to the main point… needless to say that when I saw my room I was in no way, shape, or form sad about having a single anymore! Third floor, a wall of glass with a gorgeous view and a balcony…. not to mention a small ‘old fashioned’ vanity with a chair so you can sit in front of it and ‘get ready?’ in the mirror…. I WANT ONE! I also have a TV (who cares), coffee table, two chairs, and a ‘shower’ with pressure (which it seems like nobody else really has) although it started off with a great warm temperature and then would switch back and forth between sub-zero and scolding. That’s Uganda for you. I have yet to be in a hotel with a way to regulate the water temperature. Trust me, I even try changing the hot and cold nobs and adjust them like I'm playing Tetris for 5-10 minutes before the shower or I'll even try it throughout the shower. You can relate it to playing a video game but instead of a controller or keypad you get a hot and a cold knob. Good luck! I have yet to win. 

My computer has been back in country for about a week now and when I arrived to the hotel I got it back! I was in a room full of the South West PCVs and literally started tearing up a bit. When I was re-setting the… settings I would frequently exclaim ‘this is fun’ and flip my computer around to show people. It’s like being a kid again or finding something that you lost and almost forgot what it was that you were looking for in the first place.  I also got a ‘package’ from my mom from a PCV who went to Michigan for a few weeks for family reasons and came back. Thanks Eric! I received 2 Nintendo 64 controllers with hook-ups for the computer (Thank you Andrew you’ve made my life more fun!), Keen shoes (they were even warn in by my mother before she sent them with Eric), Emerald Nuts, Protein Bars, blue jeans,  a hallmark card congratulating me on my new home (cute mom J ), and…. Are you ready for it?! A Scooby-Doo coloring and activity book! With stickers!  I like surprises…. A lot. Oh and it all came in a nice quality bag that says ‘Winning’ on the side. I thought it was a nice touch. Thank you so much mom and Andrew for sending this with Eric. And Eric I owe you a BIG shout out to you for helping me and saving my family a lot of dough ($$). Although you go to Michigan State and my brothers are University of Michigan folk I guess you’re a pretty cool guy. (I’m just kidding, you rock my socks!) So after IST I’ll go back to my house in Rukungiri… save money by not having to go to the internet café all the time, be able to cook anything in under 40 minutes, have sweet Keens to walk around in, and have experienced the Nile River. Oh boy. I can’t even imagine how different things will be from now on. Working and keeping my thoughts and notes organized will be SO much easier! I don’t even realize how ridiculous and rustic it was to cook on coal for 3 months until I tell other PCVs and they just can’t believe I’ve survived this long and tell me that I’m living the PC experience to its fullest. I know it gets a lot more rustic and crazier in other countries but to Ugandan PC standards it’s a harsh way to live. It’s a great feeling when other PCVs tell you how badass you are though. These are the people that for YEARS I’ve envied their experiences, bravery, courage, and adventures and now… that’s ME! Let me just take a moment to high-five myself.

Language IST continues tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be able to act like a little kid again and make a splash if we have a pool at our hotel! I miss swimming! Oh! Today for lunch I had a Crouque-Madam which here is: 3 pieces of French toast, topped with an egg, a few pieces of hammy bacon, and smothered in cheese…. Talk about yummy! *Nerd Moment Alert* The Crouque-Madam was referenced in one of the newest episodes of Glee.  Yup I just said that.

I think a boda parade just drove by the hotel...

Happy Hunting and GO TIGERS!

Shout Out: Happy Birthday Jamie! Go on an adventure!