Monday, January 7, 2008

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.

Friday, December 7, 2007

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!

Monday, November 26, 2007

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

Friday, November 16, 2007

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.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

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.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

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.

Friday, October 12, 2007

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.