Osiibye Otyanno

So I am finally back in Kampala again! Internet is glorious, although I specifically remember it working faster than this when I was in 5th grade, so consider it a major act of patience for me to update my blog. (And we all know patience is my strong suit) I am starting out this blog with all the information to contact me so here it is:

To call me use the following number:
0011-256-075-272-6203 (I am not positive about the 0011, but I think that is how my mom called me. If that doesnt work, call her. Ha. 816-510-3623 and ask her how she did it... sorry mom)

To send me a package use the following adress:

Peace Corps Uganda
P.O. Box 29348
Kampala, Uganda

Send it via Airmail (write that on the package)Apparently letters only take 2 1/2 weeks, and they can be full of wonderful things as follows:

Ranch packets (singular that last a while, or dry ones)
Interesting Journal articles
Interesting Education articles
Interesting NEWS articles (I have not read international news in almost a month and I am itching to do it, but have to update my blog first, so consider it your gift to me to send me news)
Taco seasoning
Any other delicious seasonings
Stretchy headbands (like the ones you work out in)
Seeds
The cheese that is in macaroni and cheese

I know this all seems like trivial stuff, but let me assure you it is not. So... onto the real stuff.

I moved in with my homestay about 3 weeks ago. They are a wonderful muslim family. There are 7 children, ranging in age from 7-25. But 5 of them are right around my age and very fluent in english as well as educated. My mother here is 42 and has so many of the characteristics that my real mom has that it is scary.

Exhibit A: Today she told me to leave my laundry out because she wanted to do it for me.
Exhibit B: When I came home sick the other evening, she boiled some water and made a home remidy which she soaked a warm cloth in and then put all over my head and shoulders
Exhibit C: We played cards for hours the first night I moved in.
Exhibit D: She makes me eggs every morning for breakfast.

The list could go on, but for times sake I will stop. Either way, the family is amazing. I live in a house with no running water and no electricity. It is made of concrete and has a corregated tin roof. There is no furniture to be had, but there is a table and chairs in the "dining room". I shower from a bucket, and actually have gotten my showers down to about 2 liters, so I am pretty darn proud to say the least. We have a spiget close to our house to use water, but we also catch it in buckets when it rains and use that water to bathe and wash our clothes. All of our water must be boiled before we drink it which at some point will become a nuisance, but right now there is always someone to do it so its not a problem. It gets dark at 730 here, so I have to be home by then at the latest. Then we light our lanterns and hang out around the house. I am really lucky that I live with locals my own age because oftentimes as we are dancing around the house barefoot, or sipping on a cup of tea I forget that I am 5000 miles away from home.

In the morning, I wake up around 6 and take a bucket shower, then walk the three miles to our training center. If I could only justify the African sky with words. The nights are endless with no city light to obscure the mottled sky. You have no concept of how many stars exist until you can see an African night. The road I walk on to training runs east to west, so the sun rises perfectly over it. It illuminates the sky with streaks of orange and red and takes my breath away.

Training begins at 8, and starts with langauge. I am learning Luganda and am getting much better at it than I thought I would, although I am constantly pulling up the french word for a particular item instead of the Lugandan. Osiibye Otyanno means "How is your day going?" And I probably use it 100 times a day. In Uganda it is very important to greet everyone that you see on the street and know or they may get the impression that you are mad at them. In collectivist communities like this, you know basically everyone so I find myself spending a lot of time greeting. After language we have medical and technical training that goes until 5 pm. Although I thought I was good to go with all of my shots, it has not been the case and every week I find myself being poked and prodded. I really think I could go anywhere in the world and not get sick (I hope I am not eating my words later).

At night we walk the three miles home or go and just get a beer to relax. There is a really good one here called the nile special :) I have to be home by 730 because it gets dark, and I mean pitch dark. They like to make sure we are safely home by then. My nights are spent studying, reading, and talking to my family. For dinner we eat matooke (which is boiled plaintains), cabbage, potatoes, avacado, rice, and greens. Talk about eating local... We cut down the greens from outside and then tear off the leaves to cook. My sisters steam it and then we eat. Rice is purchased, but almost everything else is from the land behind our house. We even grown our own jackfruit, which is really yummy. After dinner I spend about an hour reading before I blow out my lamp and crawl under my mosquito net to go to bed. Life is simple. Good but simple.

It still blows my mind that the world I currently live in and the one I was raised in can exist on the same planet. It does not seem humanly possible. But the thing that always frightens me so much more than that, is how much happier people here are. I wonder how many americans can truly grasp what happiness is when there is so much stuff blinding them. It is funny how accustomed we get to the things that we think we need, but it has become blatently clear that the line between want and need does not exist in America. It merges into one...

I am learning so much here. About patience and gentle strength. About finding the best in people. About acceptance and understanding. I am learning to stop talking and start listening. I am learning to slow down. Walk slower, talk slower, think slower, eat slower, breath slower.... in luganda they say Mpolla mpolla "slowly slowly". And slowly but surely I am blending into this new Ugandan life.