Now I'm not going to lie, I'm VERY excited to come home!!! I can't wait to get back to my clothes (so I don't have to wear the same 7 outfits that I've been wearing for the last 3 months), food (bagels, chocolate milk, etc.), hot water for a shower, washing machine, and my family and friends!!!
This last week was less than exciting. Initially, I was really looking forward to getting back together with our huge group of 32 mzungus, but then the stress and annoyance of traveling with that many people kicked in, and I was over it by the end of the first day. Then we had 3 long days of presentations and my research was criticized by the ADs in front of the whole group after I had presented. It also didn't make things better that the same AD brought it up again, the following day, as an example of what not to do. I was less than thrilled, to say the least....
We came back to Kampala today, and I have tomorrow and most of sunday to hang out, pack, and do last minute shopping before I leave for entebbe airport Sunday at 7:30pm. First I fly to Amsterdam, arrive there around 6am, then I depart for san francisco at 11am and land in Cali at 1:30pm. It would be nice if it were only a 2 1/2 hr flight from amsterdam to san francisco, but in reality its 11 hours, blah. I hope there are some good movies on the flight to keep me entertained, and I'm expecting to have to do stretches in the aisle so I can manage sitting for so long! But I'm looking forward to my free glass of wine :)
It's crazy to think that before I know it I'll be back home and back to the all the comforts I used to take for granted. I think I might be in shock/euphoria for a few days before it really hits me that I'm home. Although I'm super excited to come home and see everyone, I'm concerned that I won't be able to convey what this experience has meant to me in a way that people can understand. I'm expecting most people to want a one sentence answer of how my time in Africa was, and the idea of summing up 3 1/2 months in Uganda into one sentence is immensely daunting. At the same time, I'm worried that I'll struggle transitioning back into life in the US with all the comforts of a car, good roads, safe food/water, and the security of a job and money. At this point I don't really know how I'm going to manage re-adapting to my old life, the thought of it right now scares me.
On a more positive note, I've grown so much from my experience here that I'll be able to tackle so many more obstacles at home that before I would had been to afraid to. For instance, riding public transportation in Denver. I wouldn't say I was afraid, but it was more of not wanting to trek down to the light rail station and just not feeling comfortable traveling around on my own. But I realized here, if I can tackle Kampala, I can tackle any city. Additionally, I think I'll be much more comfortable being independent and making sure my needs are met instead of allowing people to walk all over me. Living in a developing country forces you to develop a thick skin or else you'll never survive. I hope I can bring this Ugandan survival skill back home with me.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The day I ate a grasshopper....
and this wasn't unintentional, it was on purpose!! It's pretty shocking that the self-proclaimed pickiest eater in the western hemisphere, ate a grasshopper! But now here's the thing: the next time anyone tries to make me try mayonnaise or anything else absolutely disgusting my response will be: "go eat a grasshopper and then come back and talk to me". So by eating this grasshopper I've pretty much secured myself from ever having to eat anything I know I won't like, ever again.
Okay so lets back up and I'll tell you the whole story of how I got to eating a grasshopper.
Ever since I've been back in Kampala, a little bit over a week now, everyone in the city has been selling grasshoppers and it just came out of nowhere. The first time I noticed this was when I was in the taxi park and this guy came up to my window and asked me if I wanted to buy crickets, and I was like what? Did I hear him right? And yes, yes I did. People eat grasshoppers here, and there's actually a grasshopper season, that's why it just seemed like they came out of nowhere. I wasn't too bothered by it because I wasn't expecting my family to bring them home....
I woke up Saturday morning, strolled into the kitchen to find my mom, my 2 sisters, and one of my brothers circled around this huge bowl of big green grasshoppers. They were removing the wings and feet, and when they saw me they said:"have you ever eaten a grasshopper". I was so terrified in that moment that all I could do was laugh and say people where I'm from don't eat grasshoppers! I spent the whole day afraid that I would be served them for lunch or dinner, but luckily I was not.
After dinner my mom and I were talking about them and she asked me if I wanted to try one. Knowing this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to eat a grasshopper, and knowing how much this would shock everyone back home, I said yes. She pulled out a bag full of them, they were cooked mind you. I asked her how she cooks them, and she said they fry them in a pot over the fire, but I wouldn't call it frying, because I was hoping for a tempura style grasshopper, where you wouldn't actually be able to tell what it was. But no, it had just changed colors from a bright green, to a yellowish/brown. And the little beady eyes were staring at me!
She instructed me to pull off the legs if there were any remaining and she said I could take off the head since its a little more tough than the rest of it. So I did what she said, relieved I didn't actually have to eat the head with the beady eyes. And then I ate it! And believe it or not...it wasn't half bad! I wouldn't say its my new favorite snack, but it could have been far worse. It tasted a little salty and was a little crunchy but other than that it wasn't terrible.
So there is my grasshopper story! I feel like now I could go on fear factor and win some money no problem!
Okay so lets back up and I'll tell you the whole story of how I got to eating a grasshopper.
Ever since I've been back in Kampala, a little bit over a week now, everyone in the city has been selling grasshoppers and it just came out of nowhere. The first time I noticed this was when I was in the taxi park and this guy came up to my window and asked me if I wanted to buy crickets, and I was like what? Did I hear him right? And yes, yes I did. People eat grasshoppers here, and there's actually a grasshopper season, that's why it just seemed like they came out of nowhere. I wasn't too bothered by it because I wasn't expecting my family to bring them home....
I woke up Saturday morning, strolled into the kitchen to find my mom, my 2 sisters, and one of my brothers circled around this huge bowl of big green grasshoppers. They were removing the wings and feet, and when they saw me they said:"have you ever eaten a grasshopper". I was so terrified in that moment that all I could do was laugh and say people where I'm from don't eat grasshoppers! I spent the whole day afraid that I would be served them for lunch or dinner, but luckily I was not.
After dinner my mom and I were talking about them and she asked me if I wanted to try one. Knowing this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to eat a grasshopper, and knowing how much this would shock everyone back home, I said yes. She pulled out a bag full of them, they were cooked mind you. I asked her how she cooks them, and she said they fry them in a pot over the fire, but I wouldn't call it frying, because I was hoping for a tempura style grasshopper, where you wouldn't actually be able to tell what it was. But no, it had just changed colors from a bright green, to a yellowish/brown. And the little beady eyes were staring at me!
She instructed me to pull off the legs if there were any remaining and she said I could take off the head since its a little more tough than the rest of it. So I did what she said, relieved I didn't actually have to eat the head with the beady eyes. And then I ate it! And believe it or not...it wasn't half bad! I wouldn't say its my new favorite snack, but it could have been far worse. It tasted a little salty and was a little crunchy but other than that it wasn't terrible.
So there is my grasshopper story! I feel like now I could go on fear factor and win some money no problem!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Summary of the last 3 weeks....
So I've been trying to decide what to write about the last 3 weeks and its really hard to think of the words to summarize my experience at Kyangwali Refugee Settlement. I wish it were easier to explain than it is. And I think I'm going to have an even harder time trying to explain to people in person what this experience was like without having the person also experience it. If I could choose 3 words to describe it, I guess I'd say it was: heart-wrenching, challenging, and amazing.
It was heart-wrenching because as an outsider looking in, its incredibly difficult to imagine the life of a refugee. A poster I saw in one of the NGO offices I visited summed it up pretty well by saying, "A refugee wishes to have your problems". To see these people who are completely out of their element, who have been randomly moved to this settlement, and expected to carry on their lives like nothing happened to them is what was heart-wrenching for me. Then to be interviewing unaccompanied minors, whose parents were killed in the Congo, and some of them witnessed the death of their mom or dad, and be in a position where they are asking you advice for how they can get money to go to school is heart-wrenching to me. And then to have to tell them that you're just a student and you're not in any position back home to be able to support them or to be able to lobby for their resettlement in the US is even more difficult.
This experience was challenging because I've never been so acutely aware of my skin color, and the incredible meaning behind what it means to be white, until being surrounded by refugees who have no power or voice in this world, and who look to you, the mzungu (white person), like you are there to fix all their problems and knowing that I can't. During one of the home visits, the UNHCR official I was working with told me this family said they felt so blessed that I had come to their home because I was like an angel to them. It was very hard to then leave, go back to my semblance of a normal life at the guesthouse on the settlement, knowing full well that I couldn't save them or provide any salvation from their suffering. I started to feel like being white was almost an additional burden I carry here in Africa, because it alludes to so many expectations that I cannot fulfill and it breaks my heart that the world is set up in such a way that it is only the white person who can come in and fix Africa's problems.
In the end, the 3 weeks at Kyangwali were amazing because I learned so much from the minors I spoke to and the people I met that I would never regret going there. Everyone I met, from the UNHCR people, to the children I interviewed, were incredibly gracious and welcoming and I will miss all the people I met there. I hope to remember all the stories I heard because I was so fortunate to be witness to the plight of refugees. One of the most inspirational moments I had there was through meeting my translator DJ who works for an organization called COBURWAS which stands for Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Sudan. It's a youth organization formed by refugees 4 years ago in order to improve the lives of the youth through leadership training and providing educational opportunities for the many orphans who do not have access to school. He was so nice, energetic, and optimistic about the future of youth here that it really made me feel like I could contribute something to the lives of the orphans here by contributing to the work of COBURWAS. He described the work of COBURWAS as a way for the people to not become a slave to the name refugee. He said people can be a refugee by name but not by action and it would be through refugees solving their own problems by working together that they could improve their lives. I thought that was a very powerful statement and I couldn't be more grateful that I had the opportunity to meet DJ and spend time learning so much from him. If you want to learn more about COBURWAS go to www.coburwas.org.
It was heart-wrenching because as an outsider looking in, its incredibly difficult to imagine the life of a refugee. A poster I saw in one of the NGO offices I visited summed it up pretty well by saying, "A refugee wishes to have your problems". To see these people who are completely out of their element, who have been randomly moved to this settlement, and expected to carry on their lives like nothing happened to them is what was heart-wrenching for me. Then to be interviewing unaccompanied minors, whose parents were killed in the Congo, and some of them witnessed the death of their mom or dad, and be in a position where they are asking you advice for how they can get money to go to school is heart-wrenching to me. And then to have to tell them that you're just a student and you're not in any position back home to be able to support them or to be able to lobby for their resettlement in the US is even more difficult.
This experience was challenging because I've never been so acutely aware of my skin color, and the incredible meaning behind what it means to be white, until being surrounded by refugees who have no power or voice in this world, and who look to you, the mzungu (white person), like you are there to fix all their problems and knowing that I can't. During one of the home visits, the UNHCR official I was working with told me this family said they felt so blessed that I had come to their home because I was like an angel to them. It was very hard to then leave, go back to my semblance of a normal life at the guesthouse on the settlement, knowing full well that I couldn't save them or provide any salvation from their suffering. I started to feel like being white was almost an additional burden I carry here in Africa, because it alludes to so many expectations that I cannot fulfill and it breaks my heart that the world is set up in such a way that it is only the white person who can come in and fix Africa's problems.
In the end, the 3 weeks at Kyangwali were amazing because I learned so much from the minors I spoke to and the people I met that I would never regret going there. Everyone I met, from the UNHCR people, to the children I interviewed, were incredibly gracious and welcoming and I will miss all the people I met there. I hope to remember all the stories I heard because I was so fortunate to be witness to the plight of refugees. One of the most inspirational moments I had there was through meeting my translator DJ who works for an organization called COBURWAS which stands for Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Sudan. It's a youth organization formed by refugees 4 years ago in order to improve the lives of the youth through leadership training and providing educational opportunities for the many orphans who do not have access to school. He was so nice, energetic, and optimistic about the future of youth here that it really made me feel like I could contribute something to the lives of the orphans here by contributing to the work of COBURWAS. He described the work of COBURWAS as a way for the people to not become a slave to the name refugee. He said people can be a refugee by name but not by action and it would be through refugees solving their own problems by working together that they could improve their lives. I thought that was a very powerful statement and I couldn't be more grateful that I had the opportunity to meet DJ and spend time learning so much from him. If you want to learn more about COBURWAS go to www.coburwas.org.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
So there have been many changes since my last post....
Practicum is not going as smoothly as I had anticipated, but being that I'm in Uganda, that should have been expected.
I met with my advisor last night who pretty much knows everything there is to know about refugees so he is perfect for my project, but he's also a little scary. I haven't quite figured him out but basically he doesn't smile and is very unenthusiastic, but he's also the encyclopedia on refugees so although he's incredibly intimidating, I'm lucky to have him as my advisor. When we met last night he advised me against going to two settlements because he thinks the majority of my research will be in Kampala. He also recommended that I interview people from the US and Canadian embassies in Kampala in addition to UNHCR and OPM. Last night I was feeling pretty good about my research plan, but then today I met with my AD (academic director) to tell her what Moses said about my research. She disagreed with him and said I should go to both settlements, then said I shouldn't even bother making appointments at the embassies and should just walk there and ask to speak to someone. She also forgot that I was planning on leaving on monday for Hoima and said maybe I should postpone leaving in case the embassies can meet with me next week. Then at the end of our meeting she told me not to worry about figuring out if I'm going to one or two settlements and that we'd discuss it later...when is later!? It's thursday and I'm leaving on monday!
I left that meeting so frustrated. I don't feel like she listened to anything I said and then contradicted what Moses had said. I left there feeling so confused about where my research was heading. But now, hours later, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to listen to her and instead follow Moses' advice because he is the expert on this topic and has spent a considerable amount of time at Kyangwali and knows how best to go about research in the field. So that being said I think, well as of now, that I'll leave for kyangwali on monday, stay there for 2 weeks and then come back to Kampala to do interviews.
My day got way more frustrating as I attempted to do research at SIT today. First, I was able to find a ton of articles online about resettlement and refugees from protracted conflicts, so I saved them onto my flash drive. Then I went to print them and the SIT printer ran out of paper and ink at the same time. So I decided to wait until tomorrow and make phone calls instead. But when I went to use the SIT phone, there was no airtime on the phone! So now I'm writing this post to complain about my day, but once I finish this I'm heading out with my friends Courtney and Derrick to grab a beer because today is a day that deserves a beer.
I met with my advisor last night who pretty much knows everything there is to know about refugees so he is perfect for my project, but he's also a little scary. I haven't quite figured him out but basically he doesn't smile and is very unenthusiastic, but he's also the encyclopedia on refugees so although he's incredibly intimidating, I'm lucky to have him as my advisor. When we met last night he advised me against going to two settlements because he thinks the majority of my research will be in Kampala. He also recommended that I interview people from the US and Canadian embassies in Kampala in addition to UNHCR and OPM. Last night I was feeling pretty good about my research plan, but then today I met with my AD (academic director) to tell her what Moses said about my research. She disagreed with him and said I should go to both settlements, then said I shouldn't even bother making appointments at the embassies and should just walk there and ask to speak to someone. She also forgot that I was planning on leaving on monday for Hoima and said maybe I should postpone leaving in case the embassies can meet with me next week. Then at the end of our meeting she told me not to worry about figuring out if I'm going to one or two settlements and that we'd discuss it later...when is later!? It's thursday and I'm leaving on monday!
I left that meeting so frustrated. I don't feel like she listened to anything I said and then contradicted what Moses had said. I left there feeling so confused about where my research was heading. But now, hours later, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to listen to her and instead follow Moses' advice because he is the expert on this topic and has spent a considerable amount of time at Kyangwali and knows how best to go about research in the field. So that being said I think, well as of now, that I'll leave for kyangwali on monday, stay there for 2 weeks and then come back to Kampala to do interviews.
My day got way more frustrating as I attempted to do research at SIT today. First, I was able to find a ton of articles online about resettlement and refugees from protracted conflicts, so I saved them onto my flash drive. Then I went to print them and the SIT printer ran out of paper and ink at the same time. So I decided to wait until tomorrow and make phone calls instead. But when I went to use the SIT phone, there was no airtime on the phone! So now I'm writing this post to complain about my day, but once I finish this I'm heading out with my friends Courtney and Derrick to grab a beer because today is a day that deserves a beer.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Practicum Plan
So practicum has officially begun, which is exciting but also scary. Now I no longer have classes, or any schedule for that matter for the next 6 weeks. That means its up to me to figure out what I'm doing and make sure I get in the required 180 hours of research! I'm excited to get out of Kampala, see more of Uganda, and have a little alone time! My plan for the practicum is as follows:
Week 1: Staying in Kampala with my homestay family, who refuses to let me pay to continue to stay with them. So I have to figure out some way of getting the money through SIT people to them. Considering the fact that they have 3 children who will be attending university next year, they need all the money they can get! Anyways, this week I'll hopefully (fingers crossed!) be attending a conference on displaced peoples of Africa where supposedly 12 heads of state will be attending. That will be tuesday and wednesday of this week. Then after that I plan on meeting with representatives from UNHCR and OPM (Office of the Prime Minister) to interview them about refugee resettlement.
Week 2: Hoima/Kyangwali. On Monday Oct. 26th I'll be heading to Hoima, which is in Northwestern Uganda. It'll be about a five hour drive, and I'll be taking the post bus! Its the safest bus in Uganda, but because it makes frequent stops, it takes longer to reach your destination. But I'd rather go slow than be robbed, so I don't mind. And I'm actually looking forward to it, I think it'll be an adventure! Once I reach Hoima I'll be picked up by a representative from Kyangwali refugee settlement who will take me to the settlement and to the Saint Patrick's Guesthouse that I'll be staying in. Luckily, the guesthouse is inside the settlement so I won't have to pay for transport everyday because I'll be right there!
Week 3: I haven't decided when I'll leave Kyangwali, but the word is that I won't need more than a week and a half to conduct my research. If I'm done early I'm considering heading North to Murchison Falls National Park to see some elephants and giraffes! Unfortunately, there is no public transport there, so my only options are to take a private hire (a private taxi) for 100,000 shillings= $50 or take a boda-boda (motorcycle) for around 10,000 shillings = $5 and hope we will not come across a buffalo on the journey there. I haven't decided if I want to go because the transport there will be difficult. But I'm waiting to make up my mind until I get to Hoima and ask around and see if I can arrange better transport. At the end of the week, I'll either head to my next destination directly, which means a six hour journey on a bad road, or I can head back to Kampala and then go west to Fort Portal.
Week 4: Fort Portal/Kyaka II. Fort Portal is in southwestern Uganda in the land of tea plantations. I haven't officially received clearance to do research at Kyaka II refugee settlement but its in the works. And I don't have accomadations set up either, which is annoying considering the fact that I'm a crazy perfectionist who likes to be organized and know where I'm going. But I have to remind myself daily that this is Africa, nothing goes as planned, and I'll figure it out when I need to. But hopefully if all goes well I'll do research for the same amount time as I did at Kyangwali, a week to a week and a half.
Week 5: Once I'm done at Kyaka II I'll head south to Kibale Forest National Park to see some chimpanzees! There are guided chimp tracking which costs $90...ouch, but its 95% guaranteed that you'll see the chimps and maybe get to play with them, so fun! They also do guided night walks for $25, much more my style, where you can see nocturnal monkeys. The place I'll be staying at, Safari Hotel, is a cheap family run hotel, with a famous....Pineapple Pie!!! Oh my god if nothing excites me more during my practicum, I think it might just be pineapple pie. I've been deprived of any good dessert here (besides ice cream, and brownie sundaes which are amazing) so I cannot wait to have me some pie!!!! I'll update you when I finally get to week 5 and have the pie, but it better be worth the trip!
Week 6: After eating pie I'll head back to Kampala for the last week of Practicum. I'll return to my homestay for the week and spend most of my time writing the 20-40 page practicum report due at the end of the week. On saturday I'll move back into Jeliza hotel, which is where the program began back in August and stay there for two nights with the rest of the group.
Week 7: On Monday we head to the Kingfisher Beach Resort in Jinja which is about 2 hours outside of Kampala. We'll spend most of the time doing practicum presentations, but I'm hoping to squeeze a few hours in one day to visit the Nile Brewery Factory to go on a tour and get some t-shirts to bring home! Then on sunday December 6 I head to the airport and come home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait, I'm already day-dreaming of the food I want delivered to me at the airport, so prepare yourself for a hefty order. I haven't narrowed it down yet, but I think I'm pretty set on a smoothie, maybe a bagel, and I'll figure out the rest in the coming weeks. I'll be landing around 1 pm on December 7 I don't know whose picking me up besides Melinda, well I haven't even confirmed if Melinda is coming, but she better be....
I hope to update you more as my practicum progressions. Wish me luck in navigating through the transportation, housing, and food issues I'll be encountering very soon.
Miss you all, can't wait to come home and share all my stories!
Mia
Week 1: Staying in Kampala with my homestay family, who refuses to let me pay to continue to stay with them. So I have to figure out some way of getting the money through SIT people to them. Considering the fact that they have 3 children who will be attending university next year, they need all the money they can get! Anyways, this week I'll hopefully (fingers crossed!) be attending a conference on displaced peoples of Africa where supposedly 12 heads of state will be attending. That will be tuesday and wednesday of this week. Then after that I plan on meeting with representatives from UNHCR and OPM (Office of the Prime Minister) to interview them about refugee resettlement.
Week 2: Hoima/Kyangwali. On Monday Oct. 26th I'll be heading to Hoima, which is in Northwestern Uganda. It'll be about a five hour drive, and I'll be taking the post bus! Its the safest bus in Uganda, but because it makes frequent stops, it takes longer to reach your destination. But I'd rather go slow than be robbed, so I don't mind. And I'm actually looking forward to it, I think it'll be an adventure! Once I reach Hoima I'll be picked up by a representative from Kyangwali refugee settlement who will take me to the settlement and to the Saint Patrick's Guesthouse that I'll be staying in. Luckily, the guesthouse is inside the settlement so I won't have to pay for transport everyday because I'll be right there!
Week 3: I haven't decided when I'll leave Kyangwali, but the word is that I won't need more than a week and a half to conduct my research. If I'm done early I'm considering heading North to Murchison Falls National Park to see some elephants and giraffes! Unfortunately, there is no public transport there, so my only options are to take a private hire (a private taxi) for 100,000 shillings= $50 or take a boda-boda (motorcycle) for around 10,000 shillings = $5 and hope we will not come across a buffalo on the journey there. I haven't decided if I want to go because the transport there will be difficult. But I'm waiting to make up my mind until I get to Hoima and ask around and see if I can arrange better transport. At the end of the week, I'll either head to my next destination directly, which means a six hour journey on a bad road, or I can head back to Kampala and then go west to Fort Portal.
Week 4: Fort Portal/Kyaka II. Fort Portal is in southwestern Uganda in the land of tea plantations. I haven't officially received clearance to do research at Kyaka II refugee settlement but its in the works. And I don't have accomadations set up either, which is annoying considering the fact that I'm a crazy perfectionist who likes to be organized and know where I'm going. But I have to remind myself daily that this is Africa, nothing goes as planned, and I'll figure it out when I need to. But hopefully if all goes well I'll do research for the same amount time as I did at Kyangwali, a week to a week and a half.
Week 5: Once I'm done at Kyaka II I'll head south to Kibale Forest National Park to see some chimpanzees! There are guided chimp tracking which costs $90...ouch, but its 95% guaranteed that you'll see the chimps and maybe get to play with them, so fun! They also do guided night walks for $25, much more my style, where you can see nocturnal monkeys. The place I'll be staying at, Safari Hotel, is a cheap family run hotel, with a famous....Pineapple Pie!!! Oh my god if nothing excites me more during my practicum, I think it might just be pineapple pie. I've been deprived of any good dessert here (besides ice cream, and brownie sundaes which are amazing) so I cannot wait to have me some pie!!!! I'll update you when I finally get to week 5 and have the pie, but it better be worth the trip!
Week 6: After eating pie I'll head back to Kampala for the last week of Practicum. I'll return to my homestay for the week and spend most of my time writing the 20-40 page practicum report due at the end of the week. On saturday I'll move back into Jeliza hotel, which is where the program began back in August and stay there for two nights with the rest of the group.
Week 7: On Monday we head to the Kingfisher Beach Resort in Jinja which is about 2 hours outside of Kampala. We'll spend most of the time doing practicum presentations, but I'm hoping to squeeze a few hours in one day to visit the Nile Brewery Factory to go on a tour and get some t-shirts to bring home! Then on sunday December 6 I head to the airport and come home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait, I'm already day-dreaming of the food I want delivered to me at the airport, so prepare yourself for a hefty order. I haven't narrowed it down yet, but I think I'm pretty set on a smoothie, maybe a bagel, and I'll figure out the rest in the coming weeks. I'll be landing around 1 pm on December 7 I don't know whose picking me up besides Melinda, well I haven't even confirmed if Melinda is coming, but she better be....
I hope to update you more as my practicum progressions. Wish me luck in navigating through the transportation, housing, and food issues I'll be encountering very soon.
Miss you all, can't wait to come home and share all my stories!
Mia
Saturday, October 10, 2009
3 minute post!!
Okay its taken 4 minutes to get this page to load so I have to write really fast because I only have 3 minutes left of internet! Let me give you the highlights from the rural homestay:
1. Stayed in a grass thatched hut with bats
2. Pit latrine was actually really clean, except for the flies that came flying out of it.
3. Family was really cool, even the cute kids who just stared at us.
4. The village was beautiful and the people so nice and welcoming!
5. Learned about the numerous challenges villagers and farmers face in a rural area and how the government has failed to support them.
Gotta go!
Mia
1. Stayed in a grass thatched hut with bats
2. Pit latrine was actually really clean, except for the flies that came flying out of it.
3. Family was really cool, even the cute kids who just stared at us.
4. The village was beautiful and the people so nice and welcoming!
5. Learned about the numerous challenges villagers and farmers face in a rural area and how the government has failed to support them.
Gotta go!
Mia
Sunday, September 6, 2009
"Welcome To Africa"
Sorry it's taken me so long to update my blog, but the internet is so incredibly slow here that it's almost like pulling teeth trying to get the website to load. And I only have about a 15 minute window of time in the morning to use the internet at school during which time it's faster because most of the other students have not arrived yet. But some mornings my taxi breaks down, has a flat tire, or incurs some other malady that prevents me from arriving early. But I made it on here finally!
This past week I have encountered many new challenges and cultural experiences that have really opened up my eyes. I've been creating a mental list of them which I can now post on here:
1) Taxis and Transportation
2) Food and late meals
3) Bucket bath
4) Handwashing laundry
5) Lack of a mirror
6) Heat and sweatiness
7) Lack of water
Now, I've always been told never say never so I'll modify what I wanted to say and say this instead: For the near future or at the very least this next year, I will never take for granted my car, paved roads without huge potholes, availability and variety of food, a shower and clean running water, a washing machine and dryer (and mom doing my laundry), a full size mirror, fog, rain, wind, and once again clean water. Oh and a fan!
On Saturday, as I was sitting in a crammed taxi at a dead stop in the seat with a broken window that doesn't open, sitting next to a little boy who wouldn't stop staring at me, for 20 minutes drenched in sweat (where I could literally feel every bead of sweat running down my arms and legs) with the biggest pit stains of my life, all I could do was dream about the bucket shower awaiting me at home. As our language teacher said to us on our first day "Welcome to Africa".
I came to the conclusion this week that vanity, at least among muzungus, really cannot exist n Africa because there are so many forces working against us: Heat, dirt, lack or mirrors, and laundry facilities. But believe it or not, Ugandan's maintain a level of cleanliness and hygiene that I would argue is unparalled. Every day I struggle with staying sweat-free (which is an impossible task), wrinkle-free, dirt-free, and frizz-free. But I always manage to come home looking a mess while my Ugandan family always looks perfect. It's a very strange phenomenon.
My bathing routine at first was difficult to adjust to, but now I feel like I have the bucket bath down to a science. Fortunately, unlike some of the other members of my program, I have an indoor bathroom with a toilet and bathtub. Unfortunately, there is no light so I normally bathe by flashlight or candlelight. Now I learned after the first time that the key to the bucket bath is to wash your hair first or else you end up washing your hair in dirty water. And it's much easier than I thought to bathe with cold water. Maybe because I'm in Uganda where the temperature has been in the high 70's to mid 80's but I actually think it's refreshing.
Now onto the laundry. Yesterday was my first day of handwashing my clothes and my host sister thought it was funny that I'd never handwashed clothes before. It took me a while to get the technique down and I think it'll take me a few times to really master it. She was a super speed washer, she would wash almost 3 shirts in the time I had finished 1! But it was nice she helped me and now I know hot to set up the buckets and where to hang everything. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day, it had rained in the morning, and then after I washed my clothes, it rained again when they were out on the line! I guess I picked the one cold/cloudy day in Uganda to do my laundry.
I was finally able to give my family my gifts saturday night. Everyone wasn't there but it doesn't seem like there will ever be a time that they're all around. They enjoyed the gummi sharks and taffy, the photo album, and really liked the Obama Rolling Stones magazine. Everyone here loves Obama and everyone I meet says one of two things to me: "How is Mr. Obama?" or "Isn't Schwarenegger your Governor?" It's pretty funny.
Of all the places I could gave gone, I got pretty lucky with the Ugandan food. It's mostly rice, beans, potatoes, matooke, fruit, and lots of carbs. But my biggest complaint is the lack of variety. Pretty much this past week I've had the same dinner, it started with rice, beans, and potatoes. Then switched to rice, potatoes, and g-nut sauce which is a purplish sauce that kinda tastes like peanuts. Then it went back to rice, beans, but this time mashed potatoes. Then the last few nights and lunch on sunday I had rice, matooke, and a pea sauce, not sure what it's called but it was pretty good. It's a lot of repetitive textures and flavors and it's only the beginning of week 3 and I'm already day-dreaming about bagels, donuts, pie, smoothies, tacos, corn dogs, and so many other delicious foods at home.
Well I'm running out of time, hopefully I will have a chance to post more near the end of this week before we depart for the western Uganda/Rwanda excursion next week. If not I'll be sure to post after we return to fill you in on my adventures. I hope everyone at home is doing well. I miss you guys so much!
Love, Mia
This past week I have encountered many new challenges and cultural experiences that have really opened up my eyes. I've been creating a mental list of them which I can now post on here:
1) Taxis and Transportation
2) Food and late meals
3) Bucket bath
4) Handwashing laundry
5) Lack of a mirror
6) Heat and sweatiness
7) Lack of water
Now, I've always been told never say never so I'll modify what I wanted to say and say this instead: For the near future or at the very least this next year, I will never take for granted my car, paved roads without huge potholes, availability and variety of food, a shower and clean running water, a washing machine and dryer (and mom doing my laundry), a full size mirror, fog, rain, wind, and once again clean water. Oh and a fan!
On Saturday, as I was sitting in a crammed taxi at a dead stop in the seat with a broken window that doesn't open, sitting next to a little boy who wouldn't stop staring at me, for 20 minutes drenched in sweat (where I could literally feel every bead of sweat running down my arms and legs) with the biggest pit stains of my life, all I could do was dream about the bucket shower awaiting me at home. As our language teacher said to us on our first day "Welcome to Africa".
I came to the conclusion this week that vanity, at least among muzungus, really cannot exist n Africa because there are so many forces working against us: Heat, dirt, lack or mirrors, and laundry facilities. But believe it or not, Ugandan's maintain a level of cleanliness and hygiene that I would argue is unparalled. Every day I struggle with staying sweat-free (which is an impossible task), wrinkle-free, dirt-free, and frizz-free. But I always manage to come home looking a mess while my Ugandan family always looks perfect. It's a very strange phenomenon.
My bathing routine at first was difficult to adjust to, but now I feel like I have the bucket bath down to a science. Fortunately, unlike some of the other members of my program, I have an indoor bathroom with a toilet and bathtub. Unfortunately, there is no light so I normally bathe by flashlight or candlelight. Now I learned after the first time that the key to the bucket bath is to wash your hair first or else you end up washing your hair in dirty water. And it's much easier than I thought to bathe with cold water. Maybe because I'm in Uganda where the temperature has been in the high 70's to mid 80's but I actually think it's refreshing.
Now onto the laundry. Yesterday was my first day of handwashing my clothes and my host sister thought it was funny that I'd never handwashed clothes before. It took me a while to get the technique down and I think it'll take me a few times to really master it. She was a super speed washer, she would wash almost 3 shirts in the time I had finished 1! But it was nice she helped me and now I know hot to set up the buckets and where to hang everything. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day, it had rained in the morning, and then after I washed my clothes, it rained again when they were out on the line! I guess I picked the one cold/cloudy day in Uganda to do my laundry.
I was finally able to give my family my gifts saturday night. Everyone wasn't there but it doesn't seem like there will ever be a time that they're all around. They enjoyed the gummi sharks and taffy, the photo album, and really liked the Obama Rolling Stones magazine. Everyone here loves Obama and everyone I meet says one of two things to me: "How is Mr. Obama?" or "Isn't Schwarenegger your Governor?" It's pretty funny.
Of all the places I could gave gone, I got pretty lucky with the Ugandan food. It's mostly rice, beans, potatoes, matooke, fruit, and lots of carbs. But my biggest complaint is the lack of variety. Pretty much this past week I've had the same dinner, it started with rice, beans, and potatoes. Then switched to rice, potatoes, and g-nut sauce which is a purplish sauce that kinda tastes like peanuts. Then it went back to rice, beans, but this time mashed potatoes. Then the last few nights and lunch on sunday I had rice, matooke, and a pea sauce, not sure what it's called but it was pretty good. It's a lot of repetitive textures and flavors and it's only the beginning of week 3 and I'm already day-dreaming about bagels, donuts, pie, smoothies, tacos, corn dogs, and so many other delicious foods at home.
Well I'm running out of time, hopefully I will have a chance to post more near the end of this week before we depart for the western Uganda/Rwanda excursion next week. If not I'll be sure to post after we return to fill you in on my adventures. I hope everyone at home is doing well. I miss you guys so much!
Love, Mia
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