Acoss the Atlantic and Half a Continent

Most of you go about your daily lives... working, watching TV, going out to eat when you don't feel like cooking or better yet ordering food. I do the same except most of my time is consumed by other things. I figured I'd work out a chart so you could picture what I'm up to at the time you think about me. Keep in mind this is MY 'typical so far' M-F Ugandan schedule nobody elses. If this were Sunday it would be dominated by laundry and cooking.

Sorry the charts a bit fuzzy but I hope its readable.

I can thank spending my childhood Up North at my grandparents cabin for preparing me to wash dishes by hand and cooking on an open fire :)

I would like to take a minute and thank my good friend Betty Thompson for all the good times and good food we shared at Wildwood. She passed away last week and I have been thinking about her a lot lately. She was a co-worker of mine in Oregon and has made my summers absolutely wonderful! She was the closest thing to Betty Crocker I have ever seen with her amazing homemade cooking. Thank you Betty for all the wonderful memories I shall always carry with me and the great work you have done at Wildwood. Always kept the spirits high of everyone and gathered the group together for family dinners. I know the whole Wildwood Crew misses you very much and so do I. 

Now on a happy note again my furniture is in fact ready! I saw it myself. For the past 4 days... 'tomorrow it will finish'.... 'tomorrow it is done'.... ugh. But YAY! This could be the end of me living out of my suitcase! Whoa! I think I forgot what it must feel like not to rummage around in a giant suitcase looking for one item for 15 minutes! And tomorrow I get to plant my garden... good things are coming this way!

For your information...

I posted on facebook for people to ask me questions they would like to know about Uganda. Which throughout anytime I am in Uganda (and after) I encourage if you have a question to ask because I know at times I get distracted and am unable to put a lot of detail into my posts or even make complete sentences. So here we go...

• Do they have cold beer?
• Yes and No... depending where you are. If there is a steady source of power in a town or village some shops have refrigerators... with cold beer, soda, and Smirnoff Ice. (I have yet to find Mikes Hard Lemonade.. darn). If there is no power or the power goes out for long periods of time and a store doesn't have a backup generator then you pretend its cold.

• How do you iron your clothes without electricity?
• I don't. But if I did I would use a coal fueled iron.  (apparently mango flies, which lay eggs on wet clothes and burrow into your skin when you wear them, aren't as common in the SW because of the temperatures so I don't have to worry as much about killing the eggs by ironing all of my clothes)  

• Where do you go to plug in your electronics?
• The school has power or if I don't go to the school that day I'll either charge things at Candace's house (my closest volunteer) or go to the internet cafe my organization owns and use the internet/ charge things there.

• What do you eat?
• Whatever is in season. The PC gives us a bomb cookbook with some amazing recipes.When I don't want to follow a recipe I usually make soup, guacamole, pasta sauce, steam veggies, or cook some eggs.

• Do you miss home?
• Of course I miss home! But I have to keep thinking and knowing that what I am doing in Uganda and the lives I am changing for the better will be worth the two years I miss out on things at home. Even if I change one life. 

• Are there monkeys outside your window?
• Unfortunately no. I've been told there are no monkeys in this area... but I do get woken up by roosters and chickens every morning and I occasionally have a goat or cow visit behind my house.

• What are you learning?
• Right now I'm just learning how to survive taking it one day at a time; Preparing food for myself, making water safe to drink, washing clothes by hand, walking around town and the village, and re-adjusting to a new place. I'm understanding on a daily basis what those around me must do to prepare their daily lives. I hope soon I will be learning the local crafts, more about the school system when they are in session and absorbing whatever information I can like a sponge.

• What do you like most about Uganda?
• I absolutely love the kindness of the people and thee way they care and watch out for one another. The scenery is also amazing. Every time I'm either walking, on a bus, or in a matatu I feel like the landscape is so untouchable in its beauty. Its almost so unreal at times I feel like its the backdrop in a movie or a painting. Plus the goats, chickens, and cows wondering the streets never gets old.

• Can I com visit?
• Highly encouraged! Just save up some money first, bring a good camera, and snacks from back home :p

Side note: on my walk to town I saw a boda (motorcycle) driver with a goat on his lap... made my day :) Plus I may get to meet my future cat today! (Who are you going to bug now mice? huh? bring it.)

My House... My House

Song of the day: LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk is Playing at My House

I haven't been able to properly sit down and write a blog post. If all goes well and the power doesn't go out on me again I should be able to nail one out. Although the keyboard is quite sticky and many words may be misspelled I'll do my best to get the point(s) across.

So I've been at my site for about 3 weeks now... not including the 2 weekends I've been gone to go shopping for household goods and attend Youth Day in Kabale. I live in a 'compound' about a 1/4 mile off the main dirt road. Almost looks like a plantation in Georgie... except the long, narrow driveway is enclosed by shrubs of some kind. And you get a beautiful view of Rukungiri from the driveway which is really cool at night unless the power is out! At the end of the driveway is a house where my supervisor lives and I live behind that in a one story apartment like complex. My neighbors are the girls boarding at the school, a co-worker who spend 10+ years in the US and doesn't speak Runyankore, and the goats and chickens that enjoy hanging out on my little porch area. SO anyways... you walk in my 'house and the ceiling is about 15-18ft high! Tin roof and rustic wood logs holding the roof up just like a cabin! That's where the mice run around all day either on the tin roof itself or the rafters in my room. My house is just big/small enough for whatever I want to do. When you walk in you are in the kitchen/ living room, walk around the plywood wall and you are in my bedroom. Since the plywood only goes up about 8 feet you can play catch with someone from the bedroom and living room. Haven't done it yet but I will! Through my bedroom you open a thick metal door leading to my backyard! Don't get too excited its very small BUT I have a privacy fence and this weekend I'm working on making a fire pit that I can grill over! The backyard along with the pit latrine/ bathing room are all brand new just for me :) Plus I don't have to squat to go to the bathroom they build a cement toilet and put a seat on it! comfy actually. My Muzungu throne. The lights in my house aka one inside my house, one outside, and one in the latrine are all solar power. I have no running water other than the kids from the school who bring it to me once in a while. Every night I put out a small jerry can and in the morning I am brought hot water to bathe with from the Posho (corn meal) they cooked at school for breakfast... lunch... and dinner. That's the extent of my hot water. I could also leave my big jerry cans out and they will bring water up from the bore hole at school but its a GREAT workout when I do it myself. 20 liters each jerry can at about 40lb a each when full.

I'm a 30 minute scenic walk through Jurassic Park to downtown (I like to pretend that when the Cows roar... literally just think of what a pissed off cow may sound like, and the goats scream like little children who I think of as their victims. my imagination runs wild out here). Downtown Rukungiri is where I get all my shopping done at the market or the grocery store and get on the internet. So in a nutshell that is my house/ living area... I like it a lot! And I'm getting my furniture today! The chairs and couches at least so I can stop eating on my bed or the floor... yippy! I was only given a bed frame, two chairs, and a table that is more like a counter for cooking when I moved in.

I was walking in one of the semi-wooded fields by my house yesterday and came across two owls! Last week I was walking up to the house and saw 7 different bird species and thought to myself... where in the US would this happen so frequently! They were orange, yellow, blue, green, black, brown... all different sizes! I'm in birder heaven! And they all sounded so beautiful :)

Here are a few pictures of my place:

                                         My messy freshly painted bedroom (living out of my suitcase still)

                                           I wish this flower was edible... it looks like candy!

                                         One of the cows near the milking stalls

                   The driveway heading towards the school I work at (Miranda Memorial Primary School)

                                          My backyard while doing laundry (before fire pit installed)

Mice for sale!

Lets play a game: So I have a roommate... a couple actually, and they all just happen to be a couple inches long and A) like to stick to my walls and eat bugs or B) run around on the 'rafters' and tin roof while their poop drops all over the place. Can you guess what they are? I'll let you ponder it for a bit...

I've been busy moving in... painting over my pale yellow walls into a beautiful custom teal color that I got bored and mixed myself. I am also getting furniture custom made at one of the local carpenter shops! I have a furniture guy in town who gives me fair prices... good connection to have. I haven't been able to get a propane cylinder yet for my stove due to a shortage in town so I have been cooking on a charcoal stove (sigiri). Last night I kind of ran out of coal... so I had to scavenge for wood in order to finish boiling my drinking water! Very important! Then I almost ran out of wood cooking my dinner! Bummer. But I ate a warm meal no worries! Walked my 30 minutes to town and got some more charcoal along with a bucket to filter my water... a fresh pineapple, eggs, and g-nuts (peanuts).
My internet time is almost up but I miss you all and should be traveling to Kabale (near the boarder of Rwanda) this weekend hopefully to celebrate the youth in Uganda! Maybe I'll get to meet the president again like I did during homestay... heck yes. Shall be fun times!

I found Zucchini!

P.S. before you completely go crazy I live with mice and geckos. But funny story... all I have to do to get them to quiet down at 3am, 3:05am, 3:20am, and so on is MEOW! So I did this about... maybe 15 times last night. Lame. Someone get me a capa! (Cat)

Ketchup Time! Ha get it...

HOLLAR!

Hey everyone! It’ been a while but I promise it will have been worth your wait. A LOT has happened since I was last able to post. Today marks my 2 month day since I left my home in Michigan and it still hasn’t sunk in yet that I will be living in Africa for the next 2 years. Actually it still has not sunk in that I am currently in Uganda. Even with all the experiences I have already had!

So here is what I have been up to in short:

I stayed with a host family for 4 weeks from June 5^th(ish) to July 3^rd. It was really really awkward and uncomfortable for about a day or two but we warmed up to each other.  I just remember the 6 hour Matatu/ Taxi ride with 14 people (plus driver) backpacks on lap, blankets under the seat, and all our big bags strapped to the top of this van. Ugh. But we did get to stop on the Equator!! Like the legit equator… where the water spins the opposite way and everything! They even have demonstrations that you could pay a guy to pour water into a dish with a drain and watch it spins on either side of the North/South equator. But we didn’t do it…. Why should I when I’ll be LIVING in the southern hemisphere!!! Sweet eh? Anyway…. My Uganda family (maama, taata, 3 younger brothers in boarding school, and 2 sisters in college but living at home) was very hospitable the entire time I was there and I look forward to visiting them again. When I stayed with them I had my own bedroom, bathed with a bucket in a small room that just had a drain, relieved myself while squatting over a hole in the ground (looked like an outhouse from the outside), and cooked on an open flame in a room not connected to the main house. My family had electricity but no running water inside although they did have 1 faucet outside in the compound. The house was in a concrete compound with glass bottle shards on the top of the wall and a steel door to get in and out that was locked every night around dusk…. which meant I couldn’t go to the latrine after dark. Problem solved… you get a small bucket with a lid (chamber pot, or night bucket) and go in that. In the morning you just throw it in the pit latrine… Uganda makes me pee a lot so I got some good use out of it. Unfortunately I thought it was durable enough to site on… hahaha BIG mistake…. It cracked…. And even ductape couldn’t even keep the smell sealed in sometimes… but I drew all over it and made it look awesome! If you really must know…because I know you are going to go crazy not knowing, I wrote ‘this is what I am for’ in the bottom on the inside for those days at the beginning where I just felt shame using it. Especially in the morning when I would walk out with it in front of my family… through the house… it also sucks when you take a long call (think about it) and you can’t open the window in the room. Good thing all houses in Uganda have vents at the top of each room to let the air flow a bit.

Food: They eat a TON of carbs here. Potatoes (whole since Ugandans are not a fan of mashed foods), Matooke (steamed plantains/ unripe bananas), Posho (something with maze/ corn meal and resembling mashed potatoes), Callo (millet bread very sticky), Cabbage with Carrots, eggs, chicken, goat, beef, rice, noodles, squash, beans… it’s a pretty bland diet here without spices but when I can cook for myself it will be GREAT!

My family had a big/ half blind cow that I got to milk!!! They also had about 20 chickens that I would regularly pet and pick up. The neighbor had 2 baby piglets, some goats, and a duck. Sometimes I like to describe Uganda as a petting zoo…. Goats, cows, and chicken roam the streets all the time… its soo cool!

I spent those 4 weeks learning Runyankore/Rukiga from 8am-5pm (most days) Monday-Saturday. Exhausting for sure especially when I had to be home by 7 and usually I would study when I got home. Then the past 2.5 weeks I’ve been back at the training center (Kulika) going through technical training while continuing language. It was hard but I passed my LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) and got INTERMEDIATE MID!!! We only needed Intermediate Low to pass so heck yes! Go me!  That was yesterday that I found out so I’m still pumped about it.

I’ve been to my future site and met my counterparts! I’ll be working at a Primary school (little kids 4-16ish) doing idk what but I would LOVE to help them build a playground! And I will be working in the villages with 2 different women's group crafting and helping them save some money! My house is more like an apartment style where my neighbors are connected to me. I have 2 small rooms (bedroom and living space/ kitchen area) and they built me my very own pit latrine/ bathing area in the back (a concrete toilet complete with a wooden seat and everything!) and I have my own privacy fence in the back (aka my backyard), and it’s about a 2 minute walk from the school. 

I’ll be swearing in as an official volunteer on THURSDAY! Woop! I’ll be an actual PCV (volunteer) instead of a PCT (trainee)!!  So I’m a bit excited! I’ll talk more about my site/ work next time I get on. Hope everyone is surviving the heat wave… it gets chilly here at night in the 60s :p

P.S. I went to Queen Elizabeth National Park and saw some ELEPHANTS, hippos, water buck, impala, flamingos, and water buffalo! And one of the wild moneys at Kulika went crazy and bit one of the guard dogs. Ouch. So they killed the wild thing. Vervet monkies are the worst. 

Miss everyone! Thanks for reading this! Hope to write soon!

-Kemigisha (My Runyankore name meaning Blessing/ a gift from God)

Runyankore/Rukiga!!! South West Woot!!!

So right now I'm having trouble converting files from my laptop to this desktop computer... no fun.

Tuesday May 29th,

Song: Rules by Jayne Dee

I can't even figure out how many days I have technically been here yet by just looking at a calendar because traveling was so hectic/ time consuming I try to forget about it. So I'll just start counting the days by how many malaria pills I have taken so far... today would have been the 5th Malaria Medication Day (MMD). Lets see if that sticks... until I lose track of how many I take but by then hopefully I'll figure it out. Right now I'm just chillin' like a villain in my mosquito net eating some Twizzlers I brought from home. It almost makes me feel like a princess. The water I am drinking right now too kind of tastes like charcoal/ rubber tires at times because it needs to be boiled and here they do it over an open flame outside. I thought I was used to the strong taste but... eh maybe not. Whatever. I just go with the flow here because that's what Peace Corps life is all about... and life in general. Shockingly I have not complained about wearing a skirt yet! But I did complain when I went on a run the other day... I felt like a winy little kid. I was told it was going to be a jog/walk.... except there was no walking! Plus the crazy matatus flying by scare me! Anyways... on a daily basis I wear a skirt below the knees and a t-shirt or button up shirt with nice sandles (I bought some in Kampala for 20,000 UGX or about $6 USD). The money here is a bit odd... paying 2,000 for a coke is strange but I'm getting used to it slowly. Right now it's okay to spend so much money but when I'm done with training and at my site I will have about 5,000 ($2) to spend daily. We did get to open a bank account the other day and am surprised to say I got a debit card! Also we got to apply for our working Visa and I look forward to legally being allowed to work here! Woot!

It still blows my mind to think that I now live in AFRICA! I even got to play with some drums today!

Today I also notified my group that they could start calling me Meish and a few have already picked up on it... I figured it might be better for the 'locals'. But then again Ugandans have very European names like Thomas, Fred, Frank, Herbert, Angela, Helen, Anne... and similar names.

June 4th

Friday I was told I will be learning Runyankore/Rukiga (Roon-yan-core-ay/Roo-chi-gah) which is spoken widely in South Western Uganda! I heard the scenery there is B-E-A-UTIFUL!!! I look forward to living there! I will be traveling to the SW this Thursday to stay with a host family for a month and have intense language lessons 5-7 days a week. No better way to learn than to submerge yourself completely in the culture.

Saturday we went back to Kampala to shop so I got a cell phone and kanga (body wrap for after showering made with local fabric). The cell phone service here is a lot different than the US. You pay for airtime which comes on a little card with a scratch off code and then you enter that code in your phone to receive the time. Airtime cards in Uganda are like cigarette butts in America... everywhere!

Bug count: I've already been bit by... a spider, flying ant, and multiple mosquitos.... fun fun. I don't want to know what else I've been bit by. 

Okay so funny story... yesterday during lunch a couple of PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) and myself noticed a lizard trying to climb up one of the windows to get out of the dinning hall. It was struggling so after I was finished eating I figured I would grab a napkin and help it out the window. Well.... fail. It was so rambunctious I couldn't get a hold of it so I just tried making a ladder for it... then it fell on the floor. I was concerned it was going to get trampled on so I tried grabbing it again... unfortunately I grabbed its tail and it kind of came off.... which then proceeded to flop around for a few minutes on its own. I hope it grows back. I swear I didn't even pull on it! So to make myself feel better I just keep thinking to myself that I made it more aerodynamic! Kristina will never let me forget I'm sure... We don't have lizards in Michigan back home. Can't you tell?

Sunday (yesterday) was also Martyrs day here in Uganda... don't ask what the holiday entails... I have no idea. Walking a very long distance to the capitol or something. A couple of us went to a 'boarding' school just down the road and got to talk/ hang out with some of the students. It was fun but hard at first with the language barrier. Most of the students were between the ages of 12-16 and spoke very good English which made me happy. I would ask them what they wanted to study in the future and almost all of the replied with: nurse, doctor, journalist, and pilot :) I hope they keep those dreams up! They all seemed very bright!

Well its almost 7pm here and time for dinner. Hope I get to talk with my parents soon :)

Webale (Thank You)

Catching up on the last couple days:

May 24th:

Got to the very small Entebbe airport around 7ish and after some luggage struggle (the cart I was pushing felt like all 4 wheels were no round and a Yemi lost her bag *sad face*), got onto a bus and had a 40 minute drive to our first destination. During the drive (it was at night) my scenses where overwhelming... mainly smell because it was pretty dark out but saw a few Ugandans around!

The bus unloaded at the 'retreat center' for a night around 9ish (I think) and headed to the training center after breakfast. Got our Malaria pill rations for training and had an opportunity to take a shower (I'm sure we all took one!) and ate some Ugandan food! We finally were able to sleep laying down after about 30+ hours spend flying and in an airplane... ugh. Plus we were sleeping in mosquito nets! I slept so well I almost forgot how it wonderful it felt to lay down! Dinner last night: Mashed plantains (matooke), rice w veggies, beef, chicken, kidney beans, and a mixture of 'greens' (kale I think). This morning it started off with one rooster crowing for about an hour.... then two more chimed in for another hour or so.... I didn't think roosters could sleep in :p

First so Far:

Eating a meal on a plane
Flying internationally
Having a layover flight
Having my very own PASSPORT!!
Being on another continent
Standing in the southern hemisphere (South Africa layover)
Saw a Zebra... pelt
Slept under a mosquito net

and that was only the traveling portion... along with some things that didn't seem as exciting to add to the list.

May 25- 27

We arrived at the training center.... completely organic! They have a HUGE garden... a few actually... with carrots, plantains, bananas, cabbage, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango.... and tons more! We were introduced to our instructors and PCMO (peace corps medical officers) and had a few brief classes about Health, Safety and Security. The next day we spent learning some Luganda (most common language in central Uganda) for about 4 hours... Wasuzotyano ssebo (How did you spend your night sir) Osiibyeotyano nnyabo (How did you spend your day mam).... Oli - otya (informal hello). Also through being here for only a few days already picked up a few other words... Webale (Thank You) which I use quite a bit. Mutatu (taxi) which the taxi's here are usually vans and the taxi park here is crazy.... Google: Kampala taxi park... normal taxi's we think of in the US are called 'specials' or 'private'.... but almost every car here would be considered one because anyone is willing to drive you around for extra cash so... it's kind of weird. We got a Kampala (Uganda Capitol) tour today and it was crazy! Many Ugandans... of course... and got called Mazungu (white person) a ton which was... weird... you are white so they assume you are rich and overcharge you so haggling is a must... even for locals.... working in a flea market in the past helps a lot with that hahaha (life experience). Also got a tour of the compound today... AKA 4 of us walked around and talked to the locals that live on the land and take care of it/ work here. Baby pigs everywhere!!! Adorableness. And got to FINALLY pet a COW and a CALF!!! YEAH! Who would have thought the first time I pet a cow was going to be in Uganda... sooo cool!!! and I was touching like... every pigs nose :p I only get 1 hour on this computer so I'm just trying to give you guys something to read.... basically its awesome here.

Took my first bucket bath about 2 hours ago and I rock at it! Also learned how to wash clothes by hand... the Ugandans are really clean! They think most of us Mazungus wash our clothes poorly here  because we don't have the technique down... I deff can't rinse correctly in a bucket... But I will get better, I've only been here less than a week and already learning the culture... felt sick and jet lagged a bit the past 3 days but today felt loads better... with watermelon for breakfast! The new Malaria pills probably don't help. But... this place is PARADISE! SOOOOOO GREEENNNN!!!  It has been raining about twice a day... once in the early morning and again in the afternoon... usually it pours for about 30 min-1 hour and stops... but when it rains.... boy it rains hard and I'm sure I haven't even seen the real rainy season yet!!

Until next time.... I hope this is a good amount to read!

I'm livin' the Dream.... MY Dream!!! :D