Farewell Uganda

My farewell to Uganda has come suddenly but apparently logically according to some higher power... so, due to circumstances that I did not foresee, I have returned to my homeland... America, the land I love. I guess this will be my final blog and it's ok for me. I have enjoyed writing and sharing to whomever has come across these entries and I wish you all well.



Over the past year and a half I have learned more than I ever imagined and I am so grateful for my experiences. It's difficult to express even a portion of what I have learned or experienced over the past 18 months, but I do know that there were times I hated it and other times I loved it so much I couldn't get enough. Each day was a surprise and time could be fast and slow all at once and I never knew what the next day would bring. I have grown to love Uganda so much and I am so sad to leave but at the same time I am ready to be home. I met some of the most amazing people and I've been so happy to have had the chance to meet everyone and see all the things I've seen. Just to have these opportunities has been a blessing and I am so thankful for the time I have had in Uganda.

Just to do a quick reflection on some of my general thoughts... I will never understand how a country can be so incredibly poor and another so rich. If only we could balance it out more evenly we could make the world a better place. And although the average Ugandan is living a life of extreme poverty, they are rich with love and laughter that is probably more than some of the richest people in the world. It's been amazing to see and come to know the people of Uganda and I can't express enough how grateful I am for the time I have had.

One of the greatest things I think I have learned over this time has been simple and I wish everyone could live by it, although sometimes I forget myself...
I've learned that I can love everyone and everything that I see because I'll never know when or if I'll pass that way again or what the next day will bring. To live each day like it's the last and laugh as often as I can, then I can live the best life imaginable.
Music can heal our souls and so will laughter and love, don't ever be without. and if you are, change. Music is sweet, so is laughing, and love and I believe that it's what makes life worth living...

Thank you to my Mom and Dad, family and friends for all the support you have shown me during my time in Uganda. And to my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers who I have had the incredible opportunity of sharing the past 18 months with, we have given up so much and are doing such great work... it has been a privilege to work with you all.

As I close this little book of my short lived life in Uganda, I'd like to leave you with a few thoughts from my head...

Twist off bottle caps are sweet...so don't take them for granted.

The most hilarious Olympic sport ever created is power walking... and if you get the chance, watch it, I think you'll agree... So, if you're ever down and out, just watch some power walking and you'll cheer right up.

I'll send my love and my happy thoughts through this blog and I hope they reach everyone and everything! Do that 'pass it on' thing... and don't forget to SMILE... even if it's a cheezer smile and people make fun of you for it... haha... at least we're all still laughing!

Send me on my way...

Love,
Kristy :)

Pictures

Taking a bath is like going to McDonald's....
I usually dislike both places, but once you have lived in Uganda for a while, those seem like amazing, glorious prizes out of your reach.

Buildings in Uganda
There are these buildings… they are small, brick, one story buildings that are stores. People sell things in them, like fresh produce, soap, toilet paper, radios, and about a billion other things people need. Some are stores selling cell phones or hardware.
Big companies come in and paint these buildings. They probably give a certain amount of money to the owner of the building and then some people come in and paint the entire outside of their building the main color of whatever company has bought the right to advertise on the building. For example, Coke has a huge marketing campaign here in Uganda and I suppose all over Africa, so they come in and paint entire buildings the color red and then put their logo at the top for everyone to see. They do this to about all the buildings, so there is this huge array of bright colors lining the streets.
Recently, a new company has come in and their color is hot pink. Because they are a new company, they have purchased tons of buildings to paint and advertise and now everywhere I look down the streets, in my village, everywhere, the cute little stores are radiating with this hot hot pink color.
I have thought about this idea that a big company with lots of money comes to a developing country such as Uganda, gives a small amount of money to a store owner, and then they are painting their logo all over the walls. I am not sure what I think of this, but it’s a good topic of conversation and just something to think about. Sometimes I think it’s not fair because the country is poor and so are its people so I wonder, are the big companies basically taking advantage of the developing world by shoving their products in their faces, paintings their logos, etc? And of course the store owner will not say no to painting their walls… it’s money. You would have to be crazy to turn down free cash… especially when you’re poor. Anyway, I’m not really saying I’m against it, I just like to see both sides and think about what’s actually going on. Are these big companies using the developing world to market their product when the people don’t have much say. At home if I own a business I wouldn’t want some company painting all over my store… I would want to paint it a color I wanted and then write MY company name on the outside or my stores name… I feel like here they don’t really have a choice. Haha, I don’t know really, but just something I thought about before looking at all these colors.

Miss White
As I walk down the street or through my village, I am always shouted at. People that know my name will call me, some yell, “mzungu”, others are quiet, but mostly people have something to say. The other day this man yelled, "Ms. White" to get my attention and it cracked me up.

I have a few freckles and beauty marks on my arms and face… some Ugandans think those are mosquito bites. I have been asked more than once, “oh, sorry, did the mosquito bite you?” and they will point to a freckle on my arm. I then explain to them, that no, that is a freckle that I was born with and also called a beauty mark… When I say that it’s called a “beauty mark”, that cracks them up.

I referenced Spiderman in my last blog and I would just like to say that Rambo, Arnold Swarsenagger? And most other superheroes or fighting men such as those are all considered real. Playing with the kids, they are always telling me about Rambo, how he will cut your head off and then they usually demonstrate with each other by pretending and then falling to the ground as if they were dead. Haha, one kid told me that Rambo is definitely the best and he can beat anybody. Side not, the kid is like 4 years old.
Oh, and by the way… not only is he 4 years old, he also knows like 4 different languages. He knows Lugisu, Lugwere, Luganda and English! The whole time he is telling me about Rambo, it’s in English… smart kid.

Burial
I went to a burial last Friday. The gardener at our school… his wife died and I am also good friends with their son. He had been telling me his mother was really sick and she died on Thursday. It was a really sad day. We arrived at the burial and there are tons of people standing around… under trees in the shade, around houses, standing all over the place. The people… there are always so many! And the sun… the sun always seems to be blazing at these burials. I think it knows that there is gonna be tons of people with little shade, so it just shines away… maybe it helps the tears just turn to sweat and no one even knows. The problem for me is that I am white. Everyone else with their dark black skin can stand in the blazing sun all day without even showing… I’ll turn red after a while... People are gathered everywhere to give their condolences to the family. The women, men and children gathered around singing beautiful songs. They are so beautiful that I guess it helps put us all to peace for the moment. And I don’t really know the words so I just hum along. At a certain point a man will come and stand in a big crowd of people preaching. This goes on for a while. Once they have finished, they take the body to where it will be buried. In Uganda they burry their loved ones together on their land. This particular family already had 2 of their children die, so the mother was to be buried next to them. When they bring her out, women begin to cry… they cry loud, sob, sadness all around. They don’t hold in their feelings at all. They let whatever they have in them come out, really whaling crying. It is also a tradition for the immediate family to wrap torn fabric, (all different colors and patterns) around their wastes and it looks pretty. Once it’s time, we walk over as a big group to watch the actual burial. I stood a little behind and prayed with the others. People are all crying and I even wanted to cry. Once they have lowered her down, it’s up to each person to pick a little bit of the soil and toss it on to help cover the space. I threw a tiny bit on and you say goodbye.

There is an offering… the teachers at our school collected and all together we offer it to the family of the person who has died. I contributed and as I was doing this, one teacher asked me if this is what we do where I come from. I said, “Well we don’t really give money, usually people send flowers.” He laughed a little and said, “Now what would we do with that (flowers)?” haha… it’s funny and pretty true.

And after, when we are all leaving, people always come up to me and ask, “is that how they do it where you come from?” And then I try and explain… I tell them about graveyards, wearing black, and what we might do at home for our funerals… I tell them how I haven’t really been to many and I guess I’m lucky, but they think that’s crazy. I guess cause it seems like here there’s a burial every week…

Light it up

Burning trash is the bomb- it's awesome and I really never realized it until yesterday when I burned a bunch of papers and other rubbish I don't really need anymore. The kids were helping me burn and they kept asking me... "You are burning that!!!???" They thought I was crazy for burning a cereal box, papers or the most prized possession among us was a wedding invitation that had a car on it... the kids loved this so much that a few hours after burning they were all gathered on my veranda looking at it in amazement... pretty cool. Also during the burning process I was burning a lot of papers that had my name on them, and this was agreed upon by the kids that I should burn them because otherwise I could be bewitched... the little girl did not want her brother to keep the paper with my name on it because if it got lost then a witchdoctor could bewitch me... this is all very true, look out...

Termites are good for eating...
A couple days ago I woke to kids screaming my name to come outside... I got out of bed to tell them to go away, but then I realized they were extracting termites from a hole in my house on the outside... gross... They were sticking a piece of long grass into the hole and the termites would latch on, the kids would grab the butt and put it in a container... When they started biting into them raw I told them to go home and cook them. Termites actually look really gross close up and they have these clamper things like a scorpion or something... they will bite you. Lovely morning... ha, really though it was fun.

Spiderman
Spiderman is alive and well and living in New York City?? I was looking through a magazine from home with my neighbor and we saw an add for Spiderman. He told me that this is how rumors get started... and I was like, wait a minute.. what do you mean?? He said that most people think Spiderman is real...
This is just one example of how American culture seen in the eyes of a Ugandan can be scewed? word? Point being... what else do some think is real?? hehe.

Yet again another hilarious BBC headline was as follows:
"it looks like green wool and actually... it smells like over cooked spinach" - this was a report referring to algae in the waters where sailing competitions will take place at the Bejing Olympics.. haha

Also random... one day I was talking with some girls at my school and one of the girls held up my hand and started examining it as well as my arm... as she looked down at my wrist she gasped and told the other girls to look at my blue veins that they could see... they thought it was crazy that you could see the vein (and as I almost threw up) because they have black skin so you can't see the veins...

I have started becoming a book reviewer and now a movie reviewer... I saw Adaptation and it sucks. I feel sorry for Susan Orlean because her book looked sweet, but the movie made it suck. Nicholas Cage makes the movie bad, but Merel Streep and Chris Cooper make it worth watching until then end... those are my reviews..

A couple weeks ago I lost my flash drive and today as I am entering the computer room, the computer man tells me that they have miraculously found my flash! woo hoo! It really made my day. Hold tight to the things you love, because you never know when they'll be gone, and if you're lucky they may return to you someday.. haha... goodness.

The Struggle

“The Struggle” is a statement written on taxis and coasters that travel around Uganda. I see them around where I live and in Kampala.
“The Struggle”… it used to make me laugh because it conjures up thoughts of rap songs, but now when I see it, I think yep… the struggle.
I see the struggle, feel the struggle and live the struggle. I guess we all do here in Uganda, at least a few times throughout the day. The struggle to get by, to carry your water, wash, teach, travel, live, provide, speak, wake, at night, in the day, always… there’s no getting around it. It’s basically what you do to survive. I guess to a certain extent people do it all around the world, but for some you just have to struggle harder.
When I visit schools, sometimes their motto is: “Struggle and succeed” I guess that’s true too. Thought it sounded strange at first, but here, it’s what you gotta do.
And, I think they like the word “struggle”… apparently I like it today too.

I heard the most hilarious BBC headline of all my time. The headline was approximately as follows:
Chinese people living in South Africa are now to be considered black people because of different rights or some sort of privilege they will get if they are considered black. Haha… what?

Hairy = Hotty

I have always been a trend setter since I can remember. (haha, not really). Anyway, the new black is hair. You should grow your armpit hairs and legs hairs out and you will be cool. Look and see, look and see.

Reflections and thoughts
I have been living in Uganda for about 16 months now, and sometimes it feels like forever, sometimes it feels like less. Lately I’ve been anxious and having feelings of being ready to move on thinking “I’ve been here for some time now, gotten to know people, the culture, helped out here and there, lived it, and now ready for a change” Not because I think I can or should or will or who knows… but the thoughts just run through your mind. Sometimes when I think about foreign aid, me being here, the world, life, my life, how short life is, my Dad, Mom, family, friends, etc. … then I think, ok, maybe it’s time to give back to where I am from. Even if that means just seeing and spending time with my family and friends, getting a job at home, volunteering at home… Anyway, the point of me putting this information on my blog is to just make anyone who cares aware of what thoughts and what it’s like sometimes being away for so long. I’m sure some can relate, some can’t, some think they can or can’t, but for me, I’m here, I’m doing this, and I’m writing this. I know what I know and I have what I have and for now there it is in short… ha.
Being here can be exciting, exhausting, fun, sad, boring, fast, slow, scary, fearless, thrilling, adventurous, and everything in between… I guess just like anywhere else except that I am in Uganda. Ha, before I came here, when I was first told I was assigned to Uganda, the honest truth is that I didn’t even know where it was on a map… and now I live here!

I can't reflect anymore right now.
By the way, I finally shaved those pits... and I ended up losing the bet, but seriously, it was the concept. Also, For some odd reason I ended up shaving at 2am on a Wednesday night or something... random and couldn't sleep...

Get on the Night Train

choo, choo... They sell night train here like a fine wine... haha, Night Train. I've been seeing posters and advertisements around in Kampala and on the shelves near me.

To get someone's attention here, it seems as though clapping or hissing are acceptable... for me, I don't really like it that much. Sometimes I will be walking down the street while people are hissing at me for their attention. I don't know... it makes me somehow feel like a dog.. although I think whistling is okay. Waiters and Waitresses are treated the worst. They are clapped at, yelled out, hissed at and about any rude forms of communication I have seen. They can sometimes be treated as though they are lesser of a person... They are sometimes not thanked, rarely tipped and treated like a slave. Seems pretty harsh. Maybe it's just not what I'm used to, but it just doesn't always seem right. I mean, we're all people. ha.

Lunch time can really be anytime here. I have eaten "Lunch" from times between 11am and 7pm... haha... they are calling it "lunch" no matter. At workshops a lunch may be delayed until 4 in the afternoon, but it's still called lunch. Once at my neighbors I ate "lunch" at 7pm and after we finished they told me to hurry home so I could prepare my dinner. hehe... I was thinking, that was dinner... but not in their book.

I just finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. It was pretty good, hard to follow at first, but I liked it... love story. I hear they're making a movie of it with Rachel McAdams, I like that girl. I am still reading The Poisonwood Bible too. While being here in Uganda I read more than one book at once... sometimes 2 or 3 at the same time, going back and forth... haha, I would never do that at home. Probably wouldn't have the time. The Poisonwood Bible is good... about a missionary family from the U.S. living in the Congo in the 1960's... as of now, it seems like the worst has yet to come... sometimes when I read it, the descriptions and details of life there reminds me of mine here.

I saw the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, ha... probably beat some of you readers to it. It was the first movie I have ever heard of as coming to Uganda on time. Usually the movies come out later than at home... by a few weeks, maybe a month. Indiana, however, came out Thursday... right on time. I liked the movie, thought it was pretty sweet.

I read a Vanity Fair article called "Continent Adrift" by Paul Theroux (guy who wrote Dark Star Safari) the article is talking about basically the state of Africa and in it, he says this..."Into that gap step the international superstars, Oxfam... the Peace Corps... However well intentioned, there is no real logic or long term plan; it just seems like a good idea, and it's not a bad way to add to your personal myth. But the simple truth is that nothing will change as long as the governments are corrupt, indifferent or merely posturing."
I'm sure the rest of the article can be found online...
So, I guess I am mentioning it in my blog because he mentions the Peace Corps, and that's me. Somehow I agree, somehow I am not sure, but it's there anyway.

Mid-service, been here 15 months, woah dude.

I have just returned from our mid-service conference for the Peace Corps. This means that we have exactly one year left until we end our service and say goodbye. One year may seem long, but in reality I am thinking it will fly and next May will be here before I know it. The workshop was nice, relaxing and a good time to sort of sum up our thoughts and organize plans for the last year. We have been in country for 15 months now and I feel like I have learned so much over the past year but still have so much more to learn and see and understand about life here, my life and a lot more. The group that I came with last March was 50 volunteers. For various reasons we are now 44, but the workshop also gave us a good chance to hear what we are all doing at their sites and all the great work in general throughout Uganda.

Akon was supposed to come to Uganda, but he canceled so far... the papers say he's canceled 5 times in Kenya and now here... let down, woah.

Kampala has 7 main hills, and it's a beautiful city. The afternoons and evenings are especially nice, the wind blows and everything. I have been here now for a few days because I had to go to the dentist again. That wasn't really fun, but I am saving my tooth somehow.

Since I have been away for about 2 weeks, with the workshop and dentist, when I return, all of my neighbors will say, "you have been lost". They will ask me where I was, what I was doing, and the best is when every single one always asks, "what did you bring for me?"

Sarah Budi was here! Sarah is my friend from home, we grew up together and she's a best friend of mine. I love her, I love you Sarah, ha. She came to Uganda, she saw, she somehow conquered and now she is gone. boo, that is the sad part. I can't decide if I'm gonna elaborate on our trip on this blog, but if I do, it won't be now... if you know Sarah, ask!

Well, in true Peace Corps form I've decided to stop shaving my legs and arm pits for the next few months and see how things go... I am now in a bet with another Peace Corps Volunteer, Rivka, so we will be hairy for a while. I know it's lovely.

I don't know if my cousin Katy reads this blog, but if you do... I just wanna give a shout out to you and Ted and the baby! wooo hooo! It's hard being here knowing that there's the first baby coming into our family, so but I am so excited even though far away! I can't wait to see pictures.

AKON is coming to Kampala Uganda! I can't wait for this either... it's April 26, and I really want to go. I love Akon, and I hope I can save up if it's fairly cheap and go!

Ain't no pizza parties in Uganda...we have goat slaughtering parties, woo, yee hawww. (credit to AK, my beautiful sister for this one)

Today is a beautiful day in Uganda and I just thought I would post another blog to follow up on the athletics competitions...
Yesterday there were inter-school competitions where the girls divided into different countries (teams) and raced each other. The team that won got a prize of a goat. The goat was black and lovely and when it came time to announce the winning team, I got to hand over the goat to the winning team. The kids were going crazy! People were yelling, hooting and hollering, smiling and laughing... it was so much fun! The goat I think knew it was on its death bed though... as I tried to pull him over with the rope he didn't seem to want to come so much. Once I finally handed him over to the winning team the kids went nuts! They started singing and they took the goat and started running all over the place with it chanting and singing their victory song. They didn't sing "we are the champions" by Queen, like my Mom likes to do sometimes, but they sang their own song... it was fun!

I am having a great day and I must say thanks to Mom and AK for sending me the Tao Te Ching... I am loving it and feeling the Tao already! woo hoo!

Also, thanks to AK and Erin, I got your packages, holy crap, Thanks sooo much! I love you!

Women's Day is celebrated here in Uganda big time... I think because every other day women are usually so supressed that this is the one day of the year where it is ok for a man to cook for his wife, get his own water, women wear their nice clothes and things like this... but through stories I hear that the day can actually backfire and some men end up beating their wives. At our school we celebrated with an assembly and dancing and good food and speeches all about women and how important we are and everything.... it was a fun day but when it was time to eat all the male teachers sat down and the women served them all... I was like what the heck is going on.... ha, it really defeated the whole point...

We were out of power for about a week there... I heard it was because some people had cut the cables in the middle of the night to sell... I hear they can get a lot of money for them, so when you're poor, that's what you do... at least it's an option that's there... finally power came back a few nights ago and the whole school went crazy, cheering, yelling "umeme" (that's the name of the power company) and it was pretty exciting... it's normal to lose power here, but a week was a long time... basically every single day it does go out at some point for at least a few hours... so I usually think about how thankful I am for the power we have in the US. I told some of my neighbors that the power might go out once a year at home and they thought that was crazy! They couldn't believe it really...

My neighbor transferred schools a couple weeks ago which means he had to move out, pack up his things and travel to a new home some where else.... as he packed up his things in the afternoon I sat on my front porch to watch. For him to move out took no longer than 5 minutes... he packed up his metal frame twin bed, a chair, one bag and a few other small things and that was it... I really thought about the contrast between him moving and any time I have every moved at home... I always have so much stuff! This man had hardly anything, but that was him and that was what he had... he moved out and moved on in less than 5 minutes...

Athletics are running competitions the schools have and the competitions are coming up, so lately I have been going to the practices... girls run around sprinting and running in skirts and dresses and no shoes... I always think they will step on something and hurt their foot, but they seem fine for the most part...

2 days ago I was visiting a school and when asking what their challenges were, one challenge was that every evening someone comes in to one of the classrooms and defecates on the floor, so every morning they come in and have to clean up poo. I asked about locks, but they can't afford them and the windows are broken anyway, and I asked why and the probably reason is that within the entire town there is not one single latrine (no place to use the bathroom except maybe the bush). This was only one problem though... another problem was that there is no boar hole near by.... the closest one about 3km away so they get their water from an untreated spring... this is crazy! Sanitation level is awfully low and it's just insane. I was reviewing some of the lesson plans and most were not up to a high standard, incorrect facts or misspelled words, etc, but I was thinking that no wonder they can't focus on these things when problems of health and sanitation aren't met first...

I've been in Uganda for a year now! I guess it feels like it, but sometimes not... I still learn so much about everything everyday and although I've grasped a little bit of how life works here, I still have a long way to go...

My Mom just sent me the Tao Te Ching book with commentary by Wayne Dyer... if you're in to that kind of stuff, it's really great!
Here's a lovely quote from it: "When you realize you have all you need, the world belongs to you."

Lately, I planted some plants and they finally began to grow, and I even used some of my own fresh basil and cilantro in my food. I planted the top of a pineapple (the top that you cut off before you eat it) and I never knew it, but it grows into a pineapple plant. Pretty cool, huh... my neighbor told me about it, and the other day I tugged at it and it wouldn't budge. That means it's growing roots! It's very thrilling, let me tell you. I've been reading a lot, and as a slow reader that I am, I've been flying through some books. ha. I just finished The Kite Runner, which I think they made a movie out of, huh... coolness. Then the other day I tried baking bread and somehow it worked. ha. I don't have an oven, so I have to make this weird one... you can take 2 large cooking pans, a small tin and bake whatever you want inside of it.
In a town close by I found out that this place has wireless internet... it's about the crazyiest, coolest, most awesome thing in the world. It's definitely the highlight of my life at the moment, and I'm very grateful. It's at a hotel and the dude at the hotel says it's expensive, so that sucks, but hopefully I can work out a deal. I am a volunteer for gosh sakes.
It's a nice day and the weather has been nice. I think the rainy season is trying to come, and it's coming slowly, slowly.

A couple weekends ago I hiked a mountain in town, it's called Mt. Winale. I went with 2 other volunteers, and it took all day to hike up the thing, and it was about the most beautiful site I have ever seen. We were up so high that I felt like a bird in the sky, ha, really even. From the town you can see the mountain we hiked, and I swear I'll never look at that mountain the same again. Every time I see the tower, I think... man, I was up there, what, what.

I listen to the BBC almost every day at least twice a day. I'm addicted actually, and I was kept up to date with George Bush coming to Africa and everything... I followed him to each country and knew where he was at all times... anyway, that's not the point. The point is that he wants to donate a bunch of mosquito nets to Tanzania and he said something like this, "I don't like to think that a little mosquito bite kills children all the time"(or something like that)- mosquitos kill because of malaria... anyway, on the BBC there is a response program, where people are allowed to call or text in what they have to say and there was this woman that said something good... she said, "politicians and the governemnt are more dangerous than a mosquito bite, so fight corruption first" - she is most definitely correct.

A new group of volunteers just came. I think there are 60! We are all really excited to meet them and next week I get to host 2 girls at my house so they can see what it's like i guess or something.

This is my family! We were all in Richmond airport when I came home over Christmas, that's where the picture was taken.

Millet bread:

Wheata, Kalo, Atop, millet bread are all the same thing. I went to my neighbors house last night to watch him prepare it and then we ate it. Basically all it is is you take boiling water and add flour to that, then you mix it up and then you eat it, with either beans, greens, chicken or fish. We ate it with greens last night. You eat it with your hands, which is actually easier because it's so sticky that your hands can grab bites for you just right. We sat down in his house which is actually just one room... it had 4 chairs, a small table, a twin size bed and a bucket for water with plates all around. He poured water over my hands to wash them, then he served me. After serving me, he washed his own hands and served himself. We said a prayer and then began to eat. He told me that most visitors that come, he won't eat with them. He will feed them, then let them eat by themselves. I thought this was really weird, so I asked him why. He said that visitors will eat alone in case they choke or drop food on their shirt or something like that, then they won't be ashamed in front of him. haha, this was cracking me up, and I laughed at this, and he did too. It is just so different then my own culture that I had to laugh. He said he would eat with me though so I didn't have to eat by myself. hehe, funny.
After we ate, we had a long conversation about the state of Uganda, the way he lives his life, and just general conversation about the poverty, disease and lifestyle most Ugandans are living. It was interesting and he was telling me most everything I already think of most of the time, but hadn't heard from most Ugandans. He was saying that he doesn't usually talk about any of this out loud. I asked him what I could do to help with the bigger picture, and he told me to just be sure I make the people at home aware of all the corruption that does go on, and to offer donations wisely... to research the organizations they plan to donate to, and be cautious and follow through to be sure the money is actually used for what it was meant for. There was so much more he talked about and I will share eventually, but for now, I don't have time... internet money is fading away. Goodbye.

I am writing today, Monday, January 21, 2008 in Mbale Uganda. It's a nice day, the sun is shining, the town is busy, and the market was hopping earlier. I understand that the GIANTS are in the superbowl... very awesome.

Anyway, life here in Uganda is good... I have done many things since I have been back, and helping my friend Wesley pass out 8,000 mosquito nets was one of them. We were heros that day, and even though Wes did all of the work, I still felt heroic. He did a great job and we were all very proud for him, and if you would like to check it out, the website is here,http://www.againstmalaria.com/en/Distribution.aspx?DistributionID=231
As I have said in earlier blogs, mosquito nets save lives every day in Africa, so being a part of helping more families have the opportunity to have a mosquito net was pretty amazing.

The scary snake
A couple days ago I was talking to my Dad on the phone and I heard all this ruccus outside of my house... I didn't think much of it so I just continuted talking. The next morning my neighbor was like, come out here and look at this snake...
it was a 6 FOOT LONG snake! Holy crap, it was very scary! They were trying to kill it the night before and succeeded, but that was what the commotion was all about...
The snake had been around for a while and killed 20 of my neighbors hens! All they kept saying to me was, "can you imagine if it were in the bed with you?" I was like no, but now I will, thank you for putting the fear in me.
I posted a picture of it and as always the camera does no justice for the scaryness of the snake, but let me tell you, it was scary. Yellow and black it was... ooo, look out.

School is still not in session yet, so with some of my down time I planted some seeds, tomatoes and some herbs like basil and cilantro, the kids helped me hoe because they think I don't know how. We cleared out some of the tall grass even before I heard about the snake, so that was well done. I've been playing with my neighbors kids a lot, they come over and we draw, I show them some things they have never seen before like my solar shower... they thought that was really weird... I showed them my right hand pinky which I broke playing volleyball a few years ago and it's still messed up, they were cracking up at it. haha. They loved my painted nails, so I painted theirs, even the boys... hehe.. they loved that too.
It's funny all the things that may seem "normal" or "usual" to us that is totally foreign to them... for example, a microwave... most Ugandans I have talked to have never even heard of one and if you showed them, they would have no clue what it is... there are so many things like this that I never really usually think about...

I cleaned up our "computer lab"... I am putting this in quotes, because if you saw the "lab", it would not resemble a lab you are used to seeing... it's small, dirty, just a few chairs, and many other things about it that I want to help with. I was thinking we should get some flat screen monitors to cut down on the power and also some battery inverters because right now the power supply sucks so bad, but of course that costs money, that we "don't have". We have 25 computers and can turn on at most 4 all at once... it's insane and stupid... I'm trying to think of ideas on how to solve our problems... so if you have any, I would love to know. Thanks.

Sweet Virginia

I just got back from America! I lOve America, and especially Virginia, that's my home. It was funny how easy I fell back into the life I had before I came here to Uganda. Everyone said I would have culture shock going back home, but it all seemed normal. There were a few things that made me be like, woah. Some of the coolest things were when I first got off the plane... I brushed my teeth and drank water from the sink, weird, I saw McDonald's in the airport, and even though I hated that place, I definitely ate there immediately... um, internet is way faster than I ever remembered, holy crap. Beer on tap.
Christmas was awesome, I got to be with my family and see all my friends.
I do miss home now though... not sure if I would recommend visiting while away, because it's really hard to say goodbye twice. A little too hard. I thought I was alright for a little while there, but when it came to the last few minutes ... it was pretty dern hard.
I am actually not even really back, back because I am still in Kampala waiting to leave tomorrow back to my site in the village... ask me then how I feel. hehe... good luck Kristy.

Kenya
As you know, Kenya borders us here in Uganda. Recently there have been riots, killings, and a lot of madness because of the recent election. Kenya is so close to us that it feels like we are a part of some of the crazyness. There was an election for a new Kenyan President recently. Raila Odinga was running against the current president, President Mwai Kibaki. This Raila guy was beating President Kibaki by a pretty large margin initially, but the next day it showed a much smaller margin. There was a delayed announcement and unsureness of numbers and a possible recount, but it never happened. Only that a couple days later, it was announced that President Kibaki had won again. Kibaki was sworn in much earlier than normal, probably so there wasn't the possiblity of a recount or a chance for any questions. The people supporting Raila went crazy after the election announcement and began burning homes and shops of any Kibaki supporters or Kikuyu tribe members (the tribe of Kibaki). Since then, the retaliation of Kibaki's supporters has been on going as well, as each groups supporters basically killing each other.
This is effecting us here in Uganda by fuel shortages, sky-rocketing the prices, and since Uganda is land locked, Kenya is the direct route to the coast.

Spaz

Spaz: We just ate lunch at a restaurant in Kampala that is called Spurs. It's a chain restaurant, but we are somehow obsessed with it. I used to hate coffee, but now I like it. Weird.
There are funny things that people say here in Uganda... The other day I was drinking a coke and I only drank half. I gave the glass bottle back to a man, and he looked at me and said, "It has defeated you." ... meaning that the Coke-A-Cola Classic had just defeated me since I couldn't finish it. haha.
One time we were laughing and a taxi man pointed at us in our faces while talking to his friends and goes, "look, they are getting happy." ha... almost like we were monkeys at a zoo or something.

This week, I attended a presentation on ethics, given by 2 returned PCV's. One was in the Peace Corps in 1960's and the other in the 80's. It was amazing to hear their stories, and realize all the impacts they've made... most of the impacts were things they never realized until years later. One of the returned volunteers was telling us a story of how he went back to his village for the first time in 21 years, and when he went to a pond he had built, it was filled in, but there was a man that came up to him and said "welcome back my son" as if he had never even left.
I have actually heard stories like this before from people here in Uganda. I mention Peace Corps, and a few times, I have had people tell me things like, "yes... do you know John? He taught me math in 1965." They will know the exact year, the PCV's name, and everything about them. It is awesome to hear just small things like that...

I am going home for a quick visit to see my family and friends and for Christmas... this is just a shout out to you all, that man, I can't wait!

Happy delayed Thanksgiving
I was away from home for the first time, so I came to visit my friends Leira and Eric, and we had a nice dinner, and before we ate we said all the things we were thankful for... it was really nice.
We actually celebrated 2 days, and the second day we slaughtered a turkey. My friend cut the head off, but the little 5-10 year old boys that were standing around really helped us the most. It's funny how they knew exactly what they were doing, every step of the way. They helped us kill, pluck, and remove and cut up all the insides. Once again I'm thinking, man these kids are awesome. They are so smart. Really, if they were left on their own, they could grow their own food, prepar it, kill and eat their own meat, make just about anything and really survive completely on their own...it's pretty amazing.

I know Thanksgiving is now over, but really we can give thanks any time. My Mom is this amazing person and her Thanksgiving email to me reminded me of everything I have and everything we should all be thankful for. She says I can post parts of her email, so here goes, :

"well, I hope you have a good Thanksgiving...remember, Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you have and where you are...so you can always celebrate that holiday...Especially where you are. You can just look around and have a million reasons to be thankful...share your gratitude by giving to someone else..You have so much to give...the neat thing about love is that the more you give it away, the more you have..it is endless and abundant...what a perfect thing...you are full of love. I love you more than all the turkeys that will be eaten tomorrow...now that's a lot."
Love,
Mom

CHOGM

CHOGM is the word of the year here in Uganda, and now it is finally here. Sometimes maybe I will be walking down the street and someone will say, "Are you ready for CHOGM?" I usually say yes. CHOGM is the https://www.chogm2007.ug/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=168&Itemid=185, actually, there is all the information.
But really what it is, is that I think I have said the word CHOGM at least a hundred billion times this week.

I wrote this in an email to my family and friends back home, but I thought it would be good for anyone to see... so here it is.

How to work out like a Ugandan:

My neighbor tells me that there are no gyms in Uganda, not because of poverty, but because they naturally work out on a regular basis. Here are some of their work-out routines, and if you want to try, here's how you can work out like a Ugandan:

1. Take 20-30 mile bicycle rides daily, but add a cushion to the back and carry a 150 pound person or extra weight on the back.

2. Fill 2 large containers with water and carry one on top of your head, and one holding with your arm. If you have an infant around, carry them on your back.Actually, carry everything. Every single thing you use daily, carry that... maybe you are building a house, carry the bricks... you want fire wood? carry that, coal, what... carry it.

3. Walk or ride your bike everywhere... no matter how far. Leave your car behind.

4. Go out to your front or back yard and plow for at least 3 hours in the morning and at least 3 hours in the evening.

5. This doesn't pertain to working out, but to eating meat: Slaughter all your own meat, that being, cows, chickens, pigs, goats, whatever you choose to eat, kill it yourself... you will feel prouder once you have it served in front of you. (Hunters, you already do that... well done).

6. Don't use your water from the tap... walk to your neighbors (at least half a mile away) house and fill buckets, then carry them back to your house, then use that water.

Pretty much do everything you normally do, but eliminate any machines or technologies that help you usually...ha, I actually don't do many of these while I'm here, I'm usually the 150 pound person riding on the back, thinking man... Ugandans work hard, but just thought about it and wanted to give you some insight on their lives... hope you like.

In other news:

In case you want to marry me, let me let you know that you must pay the dowery of 100 cows for me and about half a million dollars, ha, sike, shillings. Here in Uganda if you want to marry someone, you have to pay the dowery. I was told a few days ago all about mine, so thought I would let everyone know. haha.

We are warriors fighting for peace

Dancing is fun. If you haven't danced lately, then you should.

This week has been alright. It's November, and that means it's cold at home. It is not cold here. Actually, it is really hot. The hottest times in Uganda occur in November- February or something close. Sometimes if I am sitting in a room, maybe I will be just sweating sitting there. I pretty much don't like it too much. The worst is when you are sleeping and it's hot. ooo boy, not fun.

Caning is a common practice in the schools here, although it is ILLEGAL, but like a lot of laws here, it is not enforced. I am going to try to do a workshop for the teachers, making them aware of the alternatives to caning and beating a child and how to impliment these alternatives. It makes me upset to see, even like I want to throw up. It is quite terrible. "If your only tool is a hammer, pretty soon all the world appears to be a nail"
There is an organization here in Uganda that is working on fighting Violence against women and children. Their website is raisingvoices.org

America is a dream to some, maybe a lot of people probably for so many reasons. Maybe for money, opportunities, studying, anything really, but sometimes I forget how lucky we are to have the things we have, live the life we live, and have all the opportunities layed out before us. They really are there, we just have to go after what we want. It's not the same for everyone else in the world. Being here does help me open my eye lids a little to see, but still... I will never really know what it's like because I am me, and this is my life.
So, recently one of my friends lost his 16 year old brother. I was sad for him, and we were talking about it... he said that he wished he had been in America, America you know. He said he wished he had been there with his brother, because they would have had the machines that could have saved him.

One thing I hate here is being treated like I am a Queen or something. It is insane! Really, they roll out the red carpet for me to walk on usually, and a lot of times I have a hard time coming to terms with this. It doesn't always happen, but when it does I'm like woah dude, it's alright. I actually really hate it, and it makes me really uncomfortable. Some examples are as follows, If I am stopping by a neighbors house to say hello, I have to have a seat, even if it is the very one they are sitting on, then they will sit on the floor. If I am in a meeting or gathering, burial, wedding, church, anything, I am usually ushered up to the front. I may not even know what's going on, but I will be introduced and given a golden plate to eat off of. Yesturday I was at a ceremony, and I just wanted to sit with some of my fellow teachers/friends, but I was actually not allowed to. They made me move to the front row because it would look bad on their part as the hosts of the ceremony. I want people to realize that I AM NOT BETTER than them! These situations makes it difficult to prove.

Well anyway, Happy November to everyone who reads this and even those that don't. ha. I love November at home, fall, woo, I love it, so live it up!
oh... and did you know that Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants. ? haha... random email from my Dad, but interesting anyway.

I walked to Mbale one day from my house. It’s about 30 Kilometers! (that's about 17 miles) It was way too long, and once I arrived in town I felt like someone had taken a pole and beaten me down with it. Haha. Really though, the adventure was fun until the end… Along the way we (me and Julianna) stopped to eat some jack fruit on the side of the road, and the woman was so nice, she brought us a grain sack to sit on and water to wash our hands once we were finished. Very kind. We stopped for a few waters along the trading centers and everyone seemed to think we were crazy for "footing" to Mbale. About half way, my friend got a blister and had to go home. The rest of the way people would come up to me and walk for a few minutes, or even a few kilometers and we would talk... One man was on a usual walk, 5 km home, another woman I talked with was on the way to the hospital to see her sick sister, and I was reminded once again that God and prayers will save us all. Near the end, there were these 2 little girls, no older than 6 that follwed me for about 2km until they finally trailed off somewhere...

My neighbors live in one house with 5 teachers, which is actually 5 independent families in one house, probably the size of 2 of my living rooms back home. It is so small! Total, there are 5 teachers, 3 wives, and 9 children, which equals 17 people in one small house! The rooms are somehow divided by the walls that reach only a certain height because of course there are no ceilings, so surely you can hear everything, and if you wanted, you could throw something over and it would reach the other families room/house.

The kids here are so crafty, and I would love it if some of the kids back home would learn a few things from using creativity to make toys rather than spend tons of money on these things that are bad for the environment anyway... The kids here make jump ropes out of vines from trees (and they work rather well), they make toy guns from just about anything (one kid was using an aloe vera plant), they make balls from plastic bags people have thrown away, they use tops from bottles as wheels for cars they've made out of pieces of old wire, they were using old grain sacks like a sled and pulling each other across the lawn for fun... really, I always love to see what they will invent next.

I went to Soroti to work with some primary school girls on a psychosocial art therapy program. I really enjoyed working with them, and I think they had a lot of fun... at least I hope so. Getting to Soroti was an adventure... We took a taxi to begin our journey, and after riding for about 1 hour, the taxi came to a stop, but we were still 20km out from Soroti. Then we got on bicycle boda bodas (one man is driving the bike, and you sit on the back overtop of the back tire, but on a cushion), and they took us about 3km through about 6 inches of water covering the road. The next mode of transport was a wooden canoe that had to take us across the flooded road until we eventually reached a part of the road that wasn't completely flooded and we got back in a taxi to take us the rest of the way. It was fun.
On the way back, we decided to go the "faster way" according to some... however, we went around through a dirt road, and it ended up taking 4 hours! Way too long. The roads were so dirty that when I would wipe my face, literally you could see a layer of dirt come off and on to my hand. The inside of my ear looked like someone threw dirt at me, and oh, my nose, it definitely was loaded. haha. My friend said they could even see the dirt on my eyelashes and eye brows... beauty queen time.

Say some prayers...

Sipi Falls is beautiful, see.

Rough week buddy:
This week at school, one day I visited a primary school and 4 out of 10 teachers were present, I even, well my eyes started poofing up in the office just especially because when I think about the kids... it can be hard to think about. One of the teachers, actually he was the deputy, so this is like the principal, he had taken his class to his own garden to plow during class time, grr... it made me mad. Another class was without a teacher all morning, and I'm just like woah dude.

I think there is this cycle. ... Uganda is living life as a circle, and I suppose as we all are...
A circle that goes around and around, and only can be stopped or broken if someone actually steps up and does something... please God, do something someone. haha, I am trying, but not sure if I can manage this large task.
"Corruption is killing our souls", and yes, it really is. I always see corruption everywhere here too... I see it in town, at the police station, even in church.
Some days, I am not sure if there is anything I can do, but some days I think I can... when I got to a good school, I think woo, now we are getting somewhere.

Let's all look up.
I had a random conversation with a Kenyan man on the street the other day... we got into a usual conversation about life here, and what the answers/ solutions were to some of the madness going on.
He told me, "the only answer is prayer"... he said that the only thing that would save any of us would be to look to God and hope for the best.
haha, at first this made me laugh, because I am thinking, well of course there is more we can do than just say a few prayers, even Jewel says, "We pray for peace, but if praying were enough, it would have come to be."... and she is smart, so I was thinking there is more we should do.. who knows.
But then sometimes I think about the power of prayer, and the power of positive thoughts, and everything like that, and maybe that is the answer... maybe just enough people aren't involved. So let's all get involved and do some praying. hehe. Seriously though, do it.
Pray for us here in Uganda, and everyone else in the world that faces the hard times of poverty, disease, sickness, sadness, etc.
Ok, I'll start...
Now your turn. woo!

Night time heaven
The stars here and the sky always are amazing, I love them so much. I think I can surely see when I look up like that. This weekend I went on a trip to Sipi Falls, it is a place in the mountains of Mbale and it is lovely, lovely. There were rainbows almost daily, and one day there was one that arched completely over a waterfall, and it looked so beautiful, I thought maybe it wasn’t even real. Haha.
We tented out over this cliff and at night it got so freezing. I tried to wrap myself up, but it never worked... yes, it does get cold in Uganda, although this is rare.