Even Ugandans think I look like Hilary Duff

I wanted to highlight a couple of recent events that I missed yesterday, so here goes:

So I briefly mentioned the crazy roads and such that took me to the doctor's yesterday. But I just had to share because every time we drive in to Kampala, it's like another world. First of all, Annie (the intern) hired a private driver to take us to the doctor's. The main route was stopped up because there was a bad matatu accident. He decided to take the back way which was of course- dirt roads, filled with potholes and would barely suffice as a driveway in the States. Vehicles pass each other with about an inch of clearance (if that) between their side mirrors. It's quite scary! At one point, we had to pull off to the side of the road for 15 minutes or so while a man with a long, pointed stick (the size of a 2x4) held up the overhead power lines for a line of tractor trailers to pass under. I couldn't help but think I would love for Kenny to have seen that!

On the way back, we were in rush hour traffic which is always amusing because people walk down the lines of cars selling bags of cut up sugar cane, steering wheel covers, airtime for mobile phones, and even hand towels!

Red dirt-stained feet and infected mosquito bites. Or as I like to call it, life in Uganda.

Tomorrow are Student Guild (a.k.a Student Government) elections. You would NOT believe what a big deal they are here. Students get so into it. There are huge, super official campaign posters all over campus. The supporters of the candidates volunteer in the dining hall to serve food and spread the word. During meals, they turn the lights off to show a PowerPoint presentation on the background, campaign goals, etc of the candidates and parade through the place making all kinds of noise- whistling, blow horns, screaming- you name it.

People here are riled up about politics in general. Uganda's Presidential elections are in 2011 and people are acting like they're tomorrow. It's really got me thinking, because most people in the U.S. are so apathetic regarding the politics of our nation. It dawned on me that we don't need to care about politics, because no matter who's elected we know we'll remain in our boring, secure, comfortable lives. Here- who gets elected determines whether your family will have food to put on the table. So of course people are passionate!

Thirdly, I was sitting in worship today when I happened to glance down at the notebook of the girl sitting next to me. She had written a note to her friend on her other side that said, "Do you see my neighbor? She looks like HILARY DUFF!" I get it in Uganda too! Needless to say, it made my day. To top off a pretty spectacular day- my throat is 100% better and after being sick, and not running for an entire week- I ran 4 miles today! Yay!!! I could've kept running too, but it was dark and I was on the track by myself which made me nervous. So yeah, good day.

Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did :)

Back in Commission

Sorry guys! I've had strep the last few days and I've been MIA. But I'm back and feeling much better!

So this one is gonna be short and sweet. Sorry, I haven't really been feeling the whole blog thing lately. But anyway...

Thursday night there was a good-bye party for a girl named Debbie who's Honors College alumni, but still hangs out with everyone in Honors College because she works as a babysitter for some of the staff here. She married a USP student last year (I believe) and is now moving to Chicago to live with him. I didn't know her super well, but it was a bittersweet good-bye because she's really awesome.

Friday, after waiting forever for our transportation to pick us up, 30 or so of us made our way to a rafting place in Jinja. We got there late, ate a complimentary supper since our ride was so late and eventually drifted to bed.

Since I hadn't slept the last few nights I decided to take advantage of the fact that I had nothing to do that day, everyone was leaving to raft and I was in the most comfortable bed ever. I finally woke up when the two other girls, Lillie and Esther asked if I wanted to join them for lunch in Jinja town. I got up around 11:00 am and got ready and we headed out. We had a few ideas of where we might want to eat, but we decided to just wander until we found something that looked interesting. It was a couple miles walk but we ended up settling on a restaurant that served Indian food and pizza. Odd.

I ordered chicken nuggets that I probably should've expected wouldn't be what I thought of as chicken nuggets. They weren't awful, but I guess I should leave my chicken nugget-tasting for Amsterdam and quit trying to cheat.

We began walking back to the place we were staying where a truck would take us to a campground to meet up with the rest of the group and have a BBQ. On the walk back we saw a sign pointing down a side road to a War Cemetery of some kind. We weren't sure which war, but decided to check it out anyway. It ended up being a WWII cemetery and everyone buried there had served in the King's African Rifles and died fighting for the British. It really was a World War...

We made it back afterward, all the while shrugging off sleazy comments and requests for money. We boarded the coaster bus to go to the campground and were joined by a girl from the UK who was also staying there. She had worked in Malawi for a couple months as a law intern, and was now just traveling all around Africa until the beginning of April. It was so interesting to talk to her, especially just hearing about the condition of the legal system in Malawi.

When we got there- the place was GORGEOUS. Most spectacular view of the Nile ever. I just had to stop and soak it all in because it was so surreal. It was one of those "Wow, I'm really in Africa" moments. After we walked around scoping out the place. We saw people swimming in the river and decided, even if we didn't have bathing suits with us, there was no way we were passing up the chance to swim in the Nile. We chilled out there for awhile and it was so perfect. About 5 minutes after we dried off and got out the rest of the group arrived and we chowed down, then headed back to our lodging.

I passed out almost immediately after getting back from exhaustion, plus my throat had been killing me all day. When I woke up the next morning, throat still killing me, we all ate breakfast and boarded an open truck that took us to Adrift, which was the bungee jumping place. We hurriedly paid and signed up, then made our way to the tower. I was the third to jump and was pretty excited because I wanted to be one of the first to go since I've been waiting to bungee jump for forever. Plus, I wanted to be able to chill and watch everyone else go. Actually not as intense as I thought it would be, but looking down before the jump with my toes over the edge was a little intimidating. The guy who'd strapped me in told me I probably wouldn't be able to touch the water because I was too light, then proceeded to count "3...2...1...BUNGEE!" I'm pretty sure I jumped by 1. Such a rush, but way too short-lived.

Once everyone had jumped we got back on the truck, headed back to where we were staying, ate lunch, then boarded the bus back to school. When we got back to school, I showered and passed out, still feeling like crap.

I woke up Monday, knew I had strep throat and went to the doctor's yesterday, just so he could confirm what I already knew and told me to keep taking the antibiotics I've been taking for Malaria. It was the biggest waste of time and money, but the USP intern, Annie, took me out for an early supper afterward and I got a banana milkshake out of the deal! They're my favorite things EVER! So the day wasn't a total waste. It was quite an experience though, and was one of the best examples of how badly the Ugandan infrastructure needs to be improved. If you desire some elaboration, feel free to ask. As for now, I'm wiped out.

Only 49 days left in Uganda! Love to everyone.

Less than 2 months left!

It occurred to me today that 1) I haven't written about my service project at all, and 2)I haven't written in general...for awhile!

Well, my service project is on campus. I could choose between working in the Day Care or the Children's Library...and clearly I picked the library. It's so awesome. It's one of the only Children's Libraries in Uganda and it's so nostalgic being there. There's Roald Dahl books, Magic Attic Club, Dear America, Zoobooks; anything you read as a kid that you totally miss is there. I spend most of the time covering books that people have donated, but Katy S and I have a Sunday School Reading Club where kids are supposed to read a book a week, and then on Sundays they turn in 'assignments' on their books and whoever reads the most, wins! Reading in Uganda is pretty uncommon, so it's good that we can encourage kids to read for pleasure!

Anyway, this week has been rough as far as papers and such. But I've done 3/4, and our class got an extension for my last one until Tuesday which is a huge relief.

This weekend I'll be gone until sometime Sunday evening. We're going back to Jinja to do a white-water rafting/bungee jumping trip. I don't really have the money, or a huge desire to do the rafting, so I'm just gonna use Saturday to relax while everyone else is going down the Nile. Then bungee jumping is on Sunday which I'm super excited about because it's the one thing I REALLY wanted to do here. I know I'm going to be so scared once I get up on that platform, but for now- I'm psyched out of my mind!

I guess that about sums everything up. Wish I had more to share, but I'll tell you all about my adventures on the Nile once I get back!

Another Blog-Worthy Day :)

Yesterday was a pretty fantastic day, so I thought I'd share with everyone.

I woke up, went to Ugandan Politics then to Faith & Action. When class got out at 1:00 pm, I rushed to the Dining Hall to scarf down my rice and beans and then at 1:30 pm everyone that's in my African Religions class got on board a coaster bus and went to visit a mosque just outside Kampala. We didn't actually get to go into the mosque, but instead spent about an hour in a nearby classroom talking to a practicing Muslim. He was incredibly knowledgeable and handled a lot of tough and personal questions really well. After talking to him, it kind of upset me that a few radical Islamic extremists are terrorizing citizens and giving Islam an altogether awful reputation, when in actuality, it may possibly be the most peaceful religion ever.

Since we were already in Kampala, Katie, Bea and I asked our professor if it would be okay to be dropped off at the taxi park. He agreed, and we took a matatu to Garden City where we went to NY Kitchen and got some chicken breast sandwiches and milkshakes. We had heard that there was a craft market near Garden City that was only there every other Friday and wanted to go, but had no idea how to get there. Fortunately, three other USP girls ran into us at the NY Kitchen and had just come from there and gave us directions.

Before we headed to the market, I stopped into a salon in the mall to look at prices for dying my hair. It was only about $20 and they had an actual color selection, as opposed to the box dyes in the stores I looked at. If I got it dyed there and had Katie cut it, I could spend like $100 less than I would at home. I'm trying to hold out until I get home to see how long I can grow it, but I'm not sure I can last at this point.

We made it to the market and spent an hour or so there. After we were finished looking, souvenirs in hand, we made our way back to the main road to catch a matatu back to Mukono. About 5 minutes before we got to town, we broke down and after some squabbling with the conductor who was going to charge us full price, we settled it, and they put us on a new taxi.

We got to Mukono, grabbed some sodas on the way back to campus and the instant we got back, I hopped online. Highlight of my day: talking to my Kimberly for hours. It was the first time we've actually got to talk since I've been here and it was long overdue.

Now I can look forward to working my butt off trying to write all the papers I have due this week. Anyone know anything about Islamic dietary laws? Eh...it was a worth a shot.

Wish me luck!

DAY 7 | My Weekend in a Nutshell

I woke up at 8 am Friday morning because I was the first one to be picked up from homestays at 9 am. I took breakfast with my Papa, he gave me a “thank you” letter he had written for me, and he and my Toto shared the Ugandan name they’d given me- Ainapakin. They told me it meant “peace/comfort” because I had given them so much comfort during my stay. Sweetest thing EVER…and I was so excited I had a Ugandan name!

My Toto gave me the gift she had for me- roasted g nuts and oranges. Almost immediately following breakfast, we heard the Range Rover pull up to take me away. It was a very sad good-bye. I gave my Toto a hug and was on my way. Once I had been picked up, we drove to Dave’s compound to pick him up and I had to say a second good-bye to his family, who I’d grown close to as well. It was a tough morning! The two of us were driven back to Margaret’s, where we boarded the coaster bus and were driven to the spot where we’d meet up with the rest of the students.

It was a lot of waiting around, and Katie was in the last group to be picked up, so when she got out of the van I’d been waiting forever and was so excited to see her. Once we were all present and accounted for me, we boarded the coaster and made our way to Sipi Falls. It was about a 3ish hour drive and when we got there we were given our rooming assignments, time to get settled in, and then instructions on where to meet for tea and debriefing.

We had a huge group discussion about our time with our families, and talked for the majority of the time about gender roles and how they differed in the two cultures. It was hilarious- there were about 5 guys in a group of 38 and they were pretty much entirely terrified to speak up about their take on gender roles. That night we had dinner, and headed to bed soon after.

The next morning I awoke and went to breakfast where I learned Katie had been sick all night. I was planning on doing the all-day hike, but I didn’t want her being by herself all day so I ended up hiking to the first big waterfall and then coming back to check up on her. When I got back I hung out with her for awhile, ate lunch, and ordered lunch for her. When everyone else had gotten back from their hikes, I took off with a small group to go on a tour of a small, local coffee plantation. I don’t even like coffee, but I definitely enjoyed the tour and even drank half a cup (it wasn’t half bad). Unfortunately, the caffeine kept me up ALL night and I slept in way late, missing the worship service and arriving to breakfast when everything had been picked through. We packed up the bus and vans and headed back to campus which was about another 4 hour drive.

The instant I got off the bus, I grabbed my bags, ran to my room and got my butt in the shower. It was by far the most amazing shower I’ve ever taken. Period.

That concludes my week! Hope you enjoyed it!!! And props to you if you actually read everything.

DAY 6 | I am Ironman

The day before when Dave and Eric came to visit, Dave told me that his father had arranged for an appointment with the king of Teso (the tribe our families belonged to) and had invited me to join them. I was so psyched for the opportunity to meet the cultural leader, and when I woke up (feeling like death) there was no way I was going to miss out on meeting him.

Erina was leaving this day to go back to school, so I tried to take breakfast (and failed) with her then she was going to walk me to Dave and Eric’s and then leave from there. If I haven’t mentioned before, Ugandans’ concept of time is a little different than Americans’. While Dave had told me to be at their compound at 10 am, I was freaking out when we arrived there at 10:10 am, thinking they’d left without me for sure. We got there, chatted, said our good-byes to Erina and didn’t end up leaving until after 11.

The king’s home was about 5 miles away. I think a 5 mile walk is pretty intense as it is, but when you’re walking on no sleep, with an empty stomach, in the African heat, it makes it a little more extreme. When we finally arrived, I was so exhausted I barely uttered a word and let Dave do all the talking. I did, however, finally do the culturally acceptable thing and kneeled to the king. I hadn’t done it at all, even though I knew I should’ve just because I have a huge issue with the idea of being submissive. I figured if I was going to do it, the king was probably a good choice to do it for. We stayed for about an hour talking to the king, and made sure to get a picture with him (all the while I was trying impossibly hard to stay conscious).

The best part of the day was the walk back (that was sarcasm). By this time, it was at least 10 degrees hotter and I was in bad shape. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you, the walk back home was one of the most physically challenging things I’ve ever done in my life. I kept re-playing the scene from Ironman in the beginning where he’s escaped the terrorists and is wandering through the desert stumbling all over himself, trying to walk, in my head. I think all that kept me going was the water I (smartly) brought with me and the fact that I kept telling myself “I am Ironman.”

I didn’t go directly back to my compound, but hung out some more with Dave, Eric and their Dad at their place for awhile and ended up having lunch with them. His father had only hosted boys before and absolutely adored me. He invited me to stay until supper as well. I told him I would’ve loved to, but I needed to spend time with my family since it was my last day with them. I really did love their father though. He was an incredibly intelligent and active man, and I was shocked when Dave later told me that he was 76 years old, because I had guessed early 60’s.

Since it was our last day on homestays, Dave’s family was going to let him slaughter the chicken. Unfortunately, his camera battery had died, so I told him to take mine and he could return it later that night. Dave and Eric gave me a push back, and when I got back my Toto had been very lonesome, and truthfully, I’d been missing her as well. I finally got some one-on-one time with her and after talking for a few hours I went to my room to rest because the day had completely worn me out. Toto came in to wake me when Dave and Eric had come by to visit one last time and return my camera. Dave spent most of the time playing with Opio (they’d become play buddies over the week) and then offered to take pictures of me with my family.

When it was time for the boys to leave, Papa and I gave them their last “push.” I had to say good-bye to Eric which kind of broke my heart a little because he was one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met, and he was just adorable. I had a semi-awkward cultural moment when he gave me a good-bye hug. I went in, pulled back, and then realized he was going in to my other side (which is how Ugandans hug; on both sides). Slightly awkward, but oh well.

When I got back home, I bathed, chatted with Papa and then took dinner with my whole family, which I’d never done before. I still didn’t have my appetite back so ate very little, but I was able to stomach what I did eat. After supper, I gave my family the gifts I’d brought for them and my Toto couldn’t even believe that I’d given them a disposable camera for “snaps.” All she kept was saying “Oh, how God has blessed us” and kept thanking me. Just goes to show how poor most of are at counting our own blessings.

I headed to my hut afterward, and since Erina had left, I shared the room with the Karamajong girl they had helping around the house. We didn’t speak at all since neither of us knew each other’s language, but I ended up sleeping very well after such an activity-packed day.

DAY 5 | I will never eat ground nut sauce again

Wednesday was an altogether not-so-great day. I woke up at a reasonable hour, but knew there was no point in getting out of bed because there was nothing to do. I lay under my covers thinking about things until like 11:15 am. As soon as I stepped out of my hut, Erina had tea waiting for me. We drank and ate together in the “living room,” then I made juice again (this time with passion fruit and oranges!). I also ended up reading a lot this day and didn’t actually spend much time with my family, which I obviously regret.

At lunchtime I ate, as usual, millet bread (gag!) but today I also had greens in ground nut sauce. Ephraim had gotten injections but was still getting over his malaria. All day, he let out the most awful, raspy, sick cry I’ve ever heard. Which I guess explains why I stayed cooped up in my hut.

Right after lunch, Erina left to go visit her mom who lived on the other side of the trading center (so it was at least a 6 mile walk). She told me she’d ask me to join her, but since it was the middle of the day and HOT she told me to stay at home, and she called Dave and Eric to come entertain me while she was gone. When she left I took a nap, and then my Toto came in to wake me up when the boys arrived. We sat together in the living room and my Toto brought us in a huge bag of g nuts to shell. Once we’d de-shelled the entire bag, my Papa came home soon after, and the four of us sat outside together and took tea (which actually wasn’t tea, but millet porridge).

The boys walked back home once it started getting dark and Papa and I “gave them a push.” In Ugandan culture, if someone is leaving your house, giving them a push means you walk them at least halfway back to their home. Sometimes, all the way, which then of course means that you have to stay and be polite and chat. It’s a long back-and-forth process.

When Papa and I got back home, Erina arrived shortly after and I sat outside with them for some time while supper was being prepared. I bathed and when I had finished, I came back outside to talk to Papa some more. As soon as I had finished bathing though, I started to not feel great.

By the time supper was served, I thought surely I would throw up, but I didn’t want to be rude. I told myself to suck it up and eat anyway. Lucky me- we were having posho and fish for dinner. I ate maybe 5 bites of my posho, and didn’t even touch my fish when I told Erina I wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t eat anymore. I excused myself to my room, changed into my pajamas and knew the night was going to be rough.

When Erina and my Toto had finished eating they came in to check on me and I told them I was pretty sure I was going to throw up. My Toto grabbed the basin I used to bathe with and set it by my bed then went to call Margaret to let her know what was going on. Gwyn was with Margaret at the time tending to Bea, who was having a bad allergic reaction. Unfortunately, there was really nothing they could do for me.

After hanging up the phone with Gwyn and trying to hold back tears because all I wanted was to have my Mommy there, about 15 minutes later, it happened. I lay on the dirt floor with Erina holding my hair back with one hand, and pushing on my stomach with the other and was violently ill for most of the night. I was finally able to get some sleep around 5 am and when I woke up around 9 am, I was still feeling pretty rough.

DAY 4 | Don't you hate it when the family cow keeps trying to drink your bath water?

6:30 am- Erina’s waking me up to go to the garden. Ugh. Turns out, weeding in Africa is not any more fun than weeding at home. I lasted all of 5 minutes before I’d had it and we headed back to the compound. Awesome, I woke up at 6:30 for that?! When we got back my Toto was getting ready to take Ephraim into town for treatment. Turns out- he had malaria! Poor thing.

After she left, Erina and I went looking for firewood. She let me carry the axe, but after seeing how poor my aim was at chopping firewood the day before, that was pretty much all I got to do with it. I did carry the wood the Ugandan way though- on a bucket on my head! Once we’d gotten the firewood together Erina made us both some grub. I had realized I would be a little short on underwear for the week, and I didn’t want the chicken blood to set into my skirt so I asked Erina is she could help show me how to do my laundry. She ended up taking it upon herself to wash most of my clothes. All I washed was my underwear.

Since she already had the water and everything, she ended up doing the whole family’s laundry while I sat and rested and read in the shade. I ended up taking a nap since I’d gotten up so early, and that’s all I could do because it was so hot out! While I was resting, Erina made us lunch and I ended up doing the dishes all by myself when we finished. It was actually quite remarkable that I got to do that much, because the entire week my family insisted that I not spend more than 5 minutes in the sun because “Your skin will burn!”

I think this was probably the hottest day of my entire week and not a whole lot happened. When it was time for me to bathe it was still really hot out. The whole time one of the family’s cows kept trying to come in with me and drink my bath water! If it wasn’t so hilarious, it would’ve just been annoying because every time I’d push his head away, slap him or try to kick him (all the while trying to hide my naked body) he just kept coming back!

After my shower, I made some more passion fruit juice and the family slowly started trickling back home. I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not but my Papa was a primary school teacher, so he left before I woke up every day and came back in the evening. That’s pretty much all I remember about this day.

DAY 3 | Off with his head!

On my third day I slept in until 9:00 am and when I finally got up and moving my Toto and Erina greeted me with breakfast and tea. When I finished eating I helped Erina wash the dishes. She was constantly asking me if I knew how to do simple tasks like washing dishes, but I always responded with “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure” because I had no idea how different the Ugandan way of doing things is from what I’m used to. It was pretty much the same, but she insisted on demonstrating with every dish and just had me rinse. The only thing I learned was that Ugandan pots aren’t covered in Teflon. You’d think that would be obvious, but in order to get all the gunk off, you have to scrub all the saucepans and pots with sand.

I rested for a very short time, and then my Toto told me that I’d be going to the water source with Erina to bring water back. They gave me a teeny, tiny gerry can to carry on my head, which was a little offensive at first because I wanted to be truly Ugandan and balance a normal-sized one, but I was grateful on the walk back for my little milk carton-sized container because my arms were killing me!

When we got back to the compound we were pretty worn out, so we just sat and relaxed for a little bit. While I was sitting there, my Toto approached me and asked me if I’d ever held a baby before. I said no, so she promptly plopped baby Ephraim in my lap. I was a little intimidated to say the least. I mean babies are cute and everything, but as soon as they start to get a little fussy, I’m out. While I was entertaining Ephraim, Erina was on the phone with Dave’s brother Eric arranging another walk for the four of us. When we ate lunch shortly after, Erina made sure to tell me which parts I was eating. Lucky me. I found out I was eating the ribs, kidney and liver of a goat.

We left around 3 or 4 in the evening for our walk, but before we did, Toto had yet another task for me- slaughtering the chicken. I had already mentally prepared myself for it, because I’d heard of past students doing it and automatically assumed I’d be doing it also. My Toto picked out which chicken would be sacrificed for our dining pleasure, and then I was supposed to chase it around the compound until I had it trapped somewhere and could grab it. I’ll be honest, I didn’t do much chasing. I pretty much left that up to Erina and one of the neighbor guys that was always hanging around. Then when they trapped him up against one of the huts, I grabbed him. Once I had him in my hands my Toto laid him down on the ground and showed me how to step on his legs and pin him down. Then she showed me how to grab his neck, where to place my thumb, and told me to pluck out the feathers on his neck. I glanced at its face once, saw the pain in its eyes and decided not to do that again. Once his neck was bare, I started sawing away.

That’s right- there was no swift chop. I had to saw. When I hit his main vein, or throat or whatever it was, he started flapping his wings like crazy and I may or may not have let out a girlish squeal and stopped. Toto insisted I kept going, so I sawed as quickly as I could and as soon as the head was off and my feet were thoroughly splattered with chicken blood, I dropped the knife. I backed away and watched the headless chicken still flapping its wings. Weird.

Erina was waiting for me with lots of soap and water to wash my hands, arms and feet with, and when I came back from changing my blood-stained skirt, Toto had put the chicken in some hot water and had begun plucking out the feathers. It was a lot easier than I had anticipated and once I had finished helping her do that, I washed up again and Erina and I greeted Dave and Eric and then took off on a hike up the same hill that Margaret lived and the Church was on. Let me tell you- hiking in a skirt is not something I plan to do again. It got caught on everything!

When we returned home, dinner was almost ready. Yet again, I was told exactly which parts of the chicken I was eating. Since I was the guest of honor, and had done the slaughtering they blessed me with the most important part of the chicken- the gizzard. Yup, aside from chowing down on the thigh and liver, I ate the gizzard. Not as bad as I had prepared myself for, but not something I’m anticipating doing again in the future. After we washed up and Erina and I headed to our hut, I laid in bed while Erina told me traditional African children’s stories. They were interesting to say the least, and my favorite part was when I realized “The Hyena and the Chameleon” was the story of the tortoise and the hare with African animals.

DAY 2 | Church should never be complete without breastfeeding and chicken auctions

Sunday morning I woke up, bathed and put on my Church clothes. My Toto wanted to show me how to roast ground nuts (also referred to as ‘g nuts’) and Erina wanted to teach me how to make passion fruit juice. After conquering both tasks I took breakfast (yes, Ugandans don’t ‘eat’ meals, they ‘take’ them) with Erina, which was millet porridge. Better than the porridge I had at my Mukono homestay, but how good can porridge be? Since it was pretty much the consistency of snot, it took me a little longer than Erina to finish and I ended up making my Papa wait for me, which made us late for Church.

It was just Papa and I that walked to church. It was a fairly short walk up the same hill that Margaret’s house was on. I’m not sure how late we were. These are the things I do know, however:

1. The service was about two and a half hours long
2. The entire service was in the local language of Eteso (which made those two and a half hours seem even longer!)
3. Women were unbuttoning their blouses left and right to breastfeed their babies as soon as they heard a cry
4. The offering consisted not only of Ugandan shillings, but also included a bag of millet, an egg, and a live chicken
5. Immediately following the offering the bag of millet, the egg, and the live chicken were auctioned for money (and if my Papa hadn’t explained it to me, I don’t know that I ever would’ve figured out why there was a man walking up and down the pews waving a live chicken around)

When we got back from Church I took lunch and laid down for a nap. Dave (the USE student) and his host brother Eric eventually stopped over for a visit and the four of us (Erina included) walked the 3 or 4 miles down the road to the trade center where we actually ran into Bea (yay!) and Erina bought us biscuits (which are just the Ugandan term for ‘cookies’). It was while we were in the Center that I made my first Ugandan child cry at the mere sight of me. She would end up being the first of many who ran crying to their mothers having never seen a white person before. It was a blow to my self-esteem to say the least.

We ended up staying in the Center longer than we should have, when we’d already left our homes fairly late in the evening anyway. We walked back down the road in pitch darkness which was pretty scary, and when Erina and I had to head in a different direction than the guys to our home, we definitely held hands the whole way back to the compound. I’m already scared of the dark as it is, but the evening is when all the drunks start stumbling and riding their wobbly bicycles down the road, plus Eric freaked me out by making us walk faster so we wouldn’t get caught by thieves. Oh, not to mention I’d be an easy target since I pretty much glow in the dark.

When we arrived back to our compound Toto had been a little worried, but welcomed us back with lots of love. While Erina joined her in preparing dinner, I sat outside and talked to my Papa for awhile about lots of things. Most interestingly, he talked about when Kony had led the LRA into Soroti only about 20 miles from where my family lived. At the time, he had stayed behind to watch over his land, while my Toto and the kids when across the lake to stay with her sister until they knew everything was safe. It was just another one of those surreal moments in which I was confronted with the reality that the atrocities committed by the LRA affect real people.

DAY 1 | “...I always thought stars were big, burning balls of gas..."

I’m going to combine Friday and Saturday and make them both into “Day 1” because we only spent late Friday night in Serere, but it was an eventful night worth mentioning. We drove about six hours altogether to the town of Serere in the Soroti district of Uganda. Since we arrived fairly late in the evening, all 25 or so of us USE students camped out at Margaret’s house, who is the woman in charge of arranging all the homestays. She supplied us with a huge spread of food and the typical over-the-top hospitality of a Ugandan woman.

When we finished dinner we set up a small bonfire and spent most of the night sitting on mattresses and straw mats on the ground and coming up with “Would you rather?” scenarios for entertainment. As everyone slowly trickled into their various sleeping arrangements (most of us were in tents outside, but a few stayed in Margaret’s house) Katie and I spent what must’ve been hours just looking at the stars. I can guarantee you’ve never seen anything quite like an African night sky. Since we were also fairly giggly and the context pretty much called for it, we also spent a good chunk of the night reciting the scene from The Lion King when Timon, Pumba and Simba are stargazing and discussing what they think stars are. It was definitely entertaining.

When we woke up in the morning, it wasn’t long after breakfast that they started calling off names and putting us into cars for our homestays. I was actually the second student to be dropped off because my family was ridiculously close to Margaret’s house. Another student, Dave was the first, and our families ended up being related so we spent a good deal of time together during the week.

When I got out of the car at my family’s compound, I was greeted by my Toto (mom). She helped me with my belongings and set them inside the hut I’d be sleeping in with her youngest sister, Erina. My family for the week consisted of my Toto, my Papa, their son, Opio (4 yrs), Ephraim (7 mos), Erina (who was just visiting for the week before returning to school) and a couple other random neighbors and assorted characters. My parents also have a daughter named Monica who is ten, but she was away at boarding school so I never got the opportunity to meet her.

Right away, my Toto wanted to give me a taste of rural Ugandan life so she showed me what millet looked like and how to “winnow” (the act of separating the millet, or whatever it may be, from dirt/sand/shells/etc.) it. She also showed me how to go about shelling ground nuts, which are basically just like peanuts. I ended up shelling an entire bag and it was probably one of my favorite tasks of the week.

They had me bathe before supper. I was pretty used to basin baths from my Mukono homestay, but this was the first time I was outside, so it was a whole new experience. After I bathed, I ate with my Papa in the sitting room (which was a separate hut). Oh, and just a disclaimer: there was no silverware in my family’s compound. So every meal was eaten with my hands. I went to bed almost immediately after supper and talked to Erina for a little bit before falling asleep under the mosquito net covering my pillow-less bed.

I'm Back!

Hello Everyone!!!

I just wanted to let everyone know, I'm back on campus from rural homestays. It was a surreal experience and I promise to share every detail! I'm typing up my daily events of the week as we speak and I'll post them as soon as I'm done, but I want to post them all at the same time, so they're in some kind of sensible order, so they're coming!

Just know I'm safe and sound, and keep those prayers a comin'. Lord knows I can use them! I swear, sometimes I think I'm going insane here. Love ya!