So I have finally moved into my house!! I am working at a Primary Teachers College as well as a Coordinating Center, so I live at the college with the rest of the teachers. In Uganda they call them “tutors”. There are about 15 teachers at my college, all of which are much older and much more qualified than myself. There are a little over 300 students at my college and they are all future Primary Teachers. I am excited to begin teaching here and hopefully make an impact of the future teachers of Uganda. Classes just ended here on the 24th and they have a month long break before they start classes again at the end of May, so I have a full month of settling in and working one on one with the Coordinating Center Tutor with in-service teachers and the community.
My house is a palace by Uganda standards. I have 2 bedrooms… yes my friends 2! When you walk into my house there is a small sitting room and the bedrooms branch off onto either sides. Next to my bedroom there is a bathroom, with a FLUSHING toilet!! There is a shower as well, but it seems to get the whole bathroom wet so I am still taking bucket baths. The kitchen is connected to the sitting room and has a sink (that doesn’t work) as well as a concrete shelving unit.
I live about 4 miles outside of Masaka town which is probably the 3rd or 4th largest town in Uganda. The school itself is fairly rural and about 2 K from anything. I live about 20K from Lake Victoria and apparently its in Ugandas “wetlands”. Basically that means I live in somewhat of a swamp. But let me tell you, a very beautiful swamp indeed. My nightly runs go through banana plantations, on dirt roads past mud shacks and my neighbors. I thought that I had seen all of the birds of Uganda when I was in Wakiso but the birds that live in the wetlands of Uganda are like those you would imagine living in Papua New Guinea. There are huge white birds with beaks that look like they could kill you and crazy black birds with foot long beaks that curve like machetes. This place is beautiful to say the least.
I have been trying to use my Luganda as much as possible because I want people to speak to me in Luganda instead of English, although most of the time their knowledge of English far exceeds mine of Luganda. I am sure to greet everyone that I pass on my runs and it usually startles them that I am able to greet properly. I like to see the smiles that spread over their faces as they realize that the muzungu knows their language. I greet everyone on my runs, out of breath and red-faced. They are first confused that someone is running (no extra calories to spare in Uganda), then they are confused that someone is white and running in their village, last they are confused that someone is white, running, and speaking Luganda. Ha.. But when I get back to the States I know I am going to be taken aback by how much we fail to greet each other. If you do not greet your neighbor, your friend, or even someone you pass on the street and have never met then you are implying that they have wronged you in some way. It is a comfort to know that when I walk down the street at least 15 people will say hello and thank you for your work within my first 10 steps.
Ugandas are such interesting people. They are constantly reading into whatever you say, because they themselves are not very forward. It is interesting being an American (who is exceptionally forward, and usually means exactly what she says) and living in a cultural where they are continuously thinking you mean something other than what you are saying. As an example, I was asking my technical trainer whether or not she was the one who decided exactly what it was that we would be learning, with the intention of simply knowing whether or not she was the one who created the “syllabus”. She said that is wasn’t her and left it at that. The following day she came up to me and said that she could not stop thinking about what I had asked the previous day and was wondering if I asked the question because I was un-satisfied with the program. When I explained that I just wanted to know if she decided what we learned or if it was someone else, she continued asking for another 15 minutes until she was fully satisfied that I had indeed just asked because I was curious and for no other reason except for that. To give you an example of how a Ugandan might ask a question or statement that implies much more than they have said, here ya go:
“Was the power off last night?” = Why are your clothes wrinkled, didn’t you have power to iron them?
“I think you wash your clothes on Saturday.” = Even though you wash your clothes on Sunday, you should start doing them on Saturday so they are fully dry.
Not only their lack of forwardness, but their love of meetings and long ones at that still baffles me. I sat through a 4 hour meeting today. Yes you may be thinking, what could you be doing for 4 hours in a meeting and I am still asking myself the same question. Ugandans are people who LOVE protocol and hate the idea of being on time. The meetings started at ten, so I was there bright and shiny at 10 sharp. I was the ONLY one there at 10. So I read my book, and then the newspaper, and then another newspaper, did the crossword, then Sudoku, and then decided that it was noon and therefore my lunch time and I should go home to prepare it. So I did. When I returned at 1 the meeting was just starting and we were still missing half of the people. Ugandans begin their meetings with prayer (and interestingly enough, they have posted on the wall of the school the denominations of every teacher, which I find to be both strange and a bit unnerving because there is an obvious split between the Muslim and Christian faiths) No clue what they will have to do whenever they put my name up there. Ha. So the meeting began and went on and on and on and on and on. Finally at 4 they decided that everyone must be hungry for lunch (can you believe so late!?!?) and so lunch was served. They always get super unnerved when I eat about 1/10th of the amount of food they eat, but really I usually have already eaten and on top of that 95% of their diet is carbs, which we all know I adore. ha. After the lunch we finished the meeting with feedback and then I was permitted to go home for the evening. I am going to be the worlds most patient person when I return to the States.
On a very exciting note, I finally got a Ugandan name. It is Nakimera, pronounced Nah-chee-may-lah. I am part of the “grasshopper” clan, which means I am unable to eat grasshopper (shame) which is a delicacy here and apparently it is grasshopper season right now. We all know I am very sad about this. Not. Autumn (who is placed very close to me) is called Nalubega (nah-lou-begga) which reminds me of Lou Begga who sang Mambo Number 5 and that’s all I can think of every time someone calls her it. Too funny. But it is very hard for people to pronounce my American name here because their language doesn’t pronounce R’s like ours and also their vowels are different, so its very convenient that I know have an African name.
Well…. That about all I have right now. I am sure once I start working I will have stories galore. I hope that life is good for everyone at home. I miss and love you all.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Pictures
The huge stork-like birds in Kampala. Chillin in an Urban area, they creep me out like no other.
Luganda language group! (the best one of course)
Everyone on graduation day.
Masaka countrysideThursday, April 16, 2009
Masaka
I found out my placement yesterday. I am going to be living in Masaka District right outside of Masaka town!! I am totally stoked to go there in a week. For those of you who have no clue where that is, let me fill you in. Masaka District borders Lake Victoria and is one district away from the border of Tanzania. Masaka town itself is apparently fairly good-sized but I will live 3K outside of it, so pretty close to say the least. I am not going to be working at a Coordinating Center as I had originally thought, but I am working as a teacher at a Primary Teachers College. I will be teaching there throughout the school year as well as doing outreach programs for the local community. According to research that I have done here at the internet cafe, the region that I will be in was hit the worst by the HIV/AIDS epidimic in all of Uganda. Not only that, but apparently it was rampaged by war during both the dictatorship of Iddi Amin as well as Obote. Because of this fact there were a lot of orphans, but Masaka district is currently in the rebuilding phase and has supposedly come a long way since its hardship. It seems like there is a lot to be done there and that excites me. :)
Well... I dont have much time, but will try to write this weekend when I am in Kampala. Love you all and miss you all!!
On another note, I was talking to some locals about how much a Ugandan teacher gets paid versus an American teacher and was astounded at the facts. Since many of you are teachers yourselves (and many of you have moaned about the salaries of American teachers) I would like to enlightening you about the plight of the Ugandan teacher. Ugandan primary teachers begin their days at 7 AM. They enter a class of anywhere from 100-200 students, usually without any books or materials. Most children bring a notebook and pencil to class with them. After a LONG day of work, teachers usually leave the schools at 5. Thats a 10 hour work day people. The average Ugandan primary teacher makes 200,000 shillings PER MONTH. For those of you who arent up to date on the dollar/shilling exchange rate, that comes out to a little under $100 Us dollars. When I substituted at Prarie Point, I made that much in a single day. Now granted, the cost of living here is lower, but not 30 times lower! Just thought I would make a little point to remind everyone that we as Americans still have it better than 99% of people on this earth and therefore should be thankful!!
Well... I dont have much time, but will try to write this weekend when I am in Kampala. Love you all and miss you all!!
On another note, I was talking to some locals about how much a Ugandan teacher gets paid versus an American teacher and was astounded at the facts. Since many of you are teachers yourselves (and many of you have moaned about the salaries of American teachers) I would like to enlightening you about the plight of the Ugandan teacher. Ugandan primary teachers begin their days at 7 AM. They enter a class of anywhere from 100-200 students, usually without any books or materials. Most children bring a notebook and pencil to class with them. After a LONG day of work, teachers usually leave the schools at 5. Thats a 10 hour work day people. The average Ugandan primary teacher makes 200,000 shillings PER MONTH. For those of you who arent up to date on the dollar/shilling exchange rate, that comes out to a little under $100 Us dollars. When I substituted at Prarie Point, I made that much in a single day. Now granted, the cost of living here is lower, but not 30 times lower! Just thought I would make a little point to remind everyone that we as Americans still have it better than 99% of people on this earth and therefore should be thankful!!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
"Excuse me, I'm facing my fears."
My sister Shamim, me, Brother Joseph, and Sister Fatuma
My Ugandan Momma!
All of the girls at a sleep over at Amys house.
The whole clan at my house for my 23rd birthday!!
Me and Lestee on a trail in Mabira Forest (the largest forest in East Africa)
Me, Celestee, and Tine at the Source of the Nile in Jinjatown.
The name of this blog comes from a shirt I saw on one of our language trainers the other day. Fell in love with the quote and have been trying to use it as much as possible. I feel like it basically sums up my time here in Uganda so far. ha.
This week has been an interesting one. A few nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night to noises in my room. This is not unusual here so I turned on my flashlight to look around but found nothing. A few minutes later I heard the same noise and was fairly convinced it was cockroaches but I turned on my flashlight again to find a momma and baby mouse trying to gnaw their way out of my room. I am not really all that scared of mice so I let them be, in fact as most of you know I love anything that is a baby so I watched them play together for a while thinking how cute and sweet this picture was. Then I tried to go back to sleep. An hour and a half later they were still going at it, gnawing on the door, running across my earrings, rustling my papers and so I decided to open the door of my room to let them out. I was convinced that this would solve the problem and I finally got back to sleep. I was out cold and suddenly felt four little tiny paws in my hair. We all know that I am a deep sleeper, but apparently if a rodent gets in my hair I am up in a heartbeat. So I flipped out, lifted up my mosquito net and got the thing out of my bed as fast as possible. Then I turned on my head lamp covered myself in a cocoon of blanket and read my book for the rest of the night. The next day Autumn and I searched diligently for the mice family but couldn't find them anywhere. I zipped up my suitcase so they wouldn't get in it and felt confident that I would get a good nights sleep the following evening. This was my fatal flaw.
Fast forward 24 hours. I am laying in bed the following evening and yet again hear scratching, only this time I cant find them. It takes about 15 minutes of searching but I finally realize that they are INSIDE of my suitcase. The zipped one. That I zipped up the DAY BEFORE! At this point I am thoroughly convinced that all of my clothes will be eaten through and destroyed, so I wake up my mom and dad to come get the little rascals. They don't believe me but finally find the perpetrators chilling in a bag of delicious cookies I had purchased and put in my suitcase specifically so the mice would not eat them. That's what I get. So my mom takes the bag outside, kills the mouse, and then says that if I want to see the dead mouse I can go outside and see it. Mind you its 3 AM and i am exhausted from not sleeping for a good 48 hours. I pass on the invite and head back to bed for a sweet night of sleep.
On a totally different note, the kids here are crazy strong. A few days ago I was running (running seems to always create the best stories) and I was on the last 800 meters of my run which is basically a huge hill. I start up the hill and see a kid, probably 15 years old carrying a 25 liter jerry can up the hill. 25 liters. I can't even lift up a 25 liter jerry can and this kid is carrying it up a hill like its nothing. But wait it gets better. Then we make eye contact as I pass him, I smile at him, thinking "What a strong kid" and he seems so understand this and begins to run. Up the hill. As fast as I am running. Then I find myself thinking "Either this kid is the worlds strongest Ugandan child, or I suck at running." So I pick up the pace. His pace increases at about the same pace that my confidence in my running abilities are decreasing. We continue this running battle, or at least it was a battle in my mind (as most things are) for a good 400 meters and then he becomes exhausted and stops. I win!!! ... I guess except then I remember that I can't even pick up a 25 liter jerry can. He wins.
We have been visiting schools lately and they have this amazing project called PIASCY that is supposed to be implemented at every school. It stands for Presidential Initiative for Aids ______. It is a really neat way to get the students aware of HIV/AIDS and excited about learning at the same time. One morning a week a group of students will put on a play/skit/song about HIV/AIDS, its causes, symptoms, reasons, and ways to avoid it. We visited a school where this was happening and were blown away. The kids here are so animated and excited to be on stage and it was great to see something happening other than just rote memorization. Along with this are messages that are written all over the school to promote safety. Some of them are really funny so I thought I should include a few on here:
* Don't be alone in lonely places
* Bad touches, Bad friends
* Always walk with a security friend
Cant remember anymore right now, but they are humorous to say the least.
Yesterday we went on a "field trip" to Jinja. It is "the source of the Nile" and we were able to put our feet in the Nile :) We also stopped along the way to hike to a waterfall and then went to the Mabira Forest (picture above). Lestee and I walked around for a good hour on the nature trails chasing butterflies and whatnot. We even saw a few monkeys, which was sweet. Well, time is almost up here so... hope everything is wonderful at home. I will be in Kampala again in 8 days because we will be heading to our sites then, so make sure and shoot me an e mail in between now and then so I know that you love me... because I love you all!!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Abeka Bali Batya?
So everytime I get to the internet cafe I get a huge blank about what I should write. I guess I will begin by teling you a little bit about Kampala to give you an idea about a big city over here in Uganda. Kampala is Ugandas largest city and reminds me of what I imagine Detroit would be like. HA. Sort of run down, crammed full of people, really busy, and really dirty. Exciting ya? The strangest thing about Kampala is that there are these Massive birds that have come from some forest and set up camp in the trees there. This might not be so strange if they didnt have nests the size of bathtubs. And if they didn't rummage through garbage like vultures. And if they didnt swoop unbearbly close to your head. The are stork-like birds with a pouch under their beak, presumably for catching fish though I think they only eat rubbish. I would put their wing-span at atleast 6 feet. Bizarre.
Last weekend was my first of three birthdays in Africa :) My mom here asked me to invite all of my friends over so we had a big get together in my "backyard". We made pasta, fruit salad, and this wonderful creation called Chipati Delight which consists of chipati, bananas, sugar, peanut butter, and chocolate. Basically the most calorie laden thing per bite that you could possibly eat besides straight lard. And it was delicious. Friends made me no bake cookies and my family here got me flip-flops and earrings, so sweet. It was nice to be able to celebrate here, but I never really saw myself turning 23. It just seems too old! Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! On my actual birthday we got to go to the American Ambassadors house here in Uganda. He has a pool and connections with the local pizza place, so I was in heaven.
Anyways, I have started running here after taking a four week hiatus. I was a huge crab apple during that time and realized that I should have never taken the break in the first place, but now I am back on track so no worries. This leads up to my next story about running on the road near my house. Everyone here thinks running is rediculous, and technically for them it is because they expend so many calories hauling water, walking to school, etc. that they can barely make up for it, but for me it is obviously my sanity. So I was running the other day with my ipod in trying to stay in the zone and came upon a group of high school boys who were walking home from school. I had been harrassed, made fun of, and screamed Muzungu at for the first 15 minutes of my run without cracking my focus but these boys were being especially obnoxious. Then one starts running in front of me acting like a high-schooler (of all things) and then runs with me. At this point I am a fairly frustrated but keeping my cool by jamming out to Beyonce. I pass him, but at some point am forced to turn around and head back to my house. As I pass him on the way home he does the same thing and refuses to stop immitating me so I made a swift push with my left shoulder that left him stunned (and maybe faltered his step a bit). :) He was embaressed by this, so he got up and began chasing after me in a dead sprint. I bolted and managed to outrun him until he gave up. I then realized that I should probably not let things get to me as much and letting things go is a positive thing, especially in a country in which one is trying to assimilate... but atleast it was a good sprint workout.
We spent this morning learning how to make a fuel-efficient cook stove. It is a possibility for a secondary project and it was very interesting to learn. We started by gathering dirt, water, grass and the stem of a banana tree and worked diligently for 4 hours to create a fuel efficient cook stove for one of the host families. It was so rewarding to actually use our hands to create something that will be useful in the community.
Things are beginning to wrap up in training. We find out our sites in about 10 days, then take our final language test and swear in as official Peace Corps Volunteers. I am so excited to find out where my final placement will be, but a bit hesitant because it will mean leaving all of my amazing friends and really being on my own for the first time. They tell us that we will spend the first couple of months in our community just simply getting our bearings and meeting people. We will have our house to clean, organizations to meet, and people to visit. I cant even wait! What I also can't wait for is MAIL?!?!?!?! Though it may seem small to all of you people with regular internet access, electricity, running water, TV, Newpapers... Let me assure you it is not. Send me mail! Send me an empty letter for all I care, just so long as I know that you took the time to spend 94 cents and think about me :) But, if you do get the urge I updated my wish list with some really cheap things you can send me that I can't get in country.(Actually my list wouldnt update on this slow internet so here are some other things I would love to get: GUM (anykind), Ketchup packets, Mustard Packets, Ranch packets, Velveeta shells and cheese cheese, News, Crosswords, etc.) This entry is entitled "Abeka Bali Batya?" Which means "How are the people at home?" I would love to hear how you are all doing, what life is like at home, and what new things are happening, or what is not changing at all. Thanks and I love you all.
Oh, and by the way, if you want to write me an e mail please dont write it to my school account anymore because my password expired and I can't reset it from here. The e mail address that I check is as follows:
ambercommer@gmail.com
Thanks
Last weekend was my first of three birthdays in Africa :) My mom here asked me to invite all of my friends over so we had a big get together in my "backyard". We made pasta, fruit salad, and this wonderful creation called Chipati Delight which consists of chipati, bananas, sugar, peanut butter, and chocolate. Basically the most calorie laden thing per bite that you could possibly eat besides straight lard. And it was delicious. Friends made me no bake cookies and my family here got me flip-flops and earrings, so sweet. It was nice to be able to celebrate here, but I never really saw myself turning 23. It just seems too old! Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! On my actual birthday we got to go to the American Ambassadors house here in Uganda. He has a pool and connections with the local pizza place, so I was in heaven.
Anyways, I have started running here after taking a four week hiatus. I was a huge crab apple during that time and realized that I should have never taken the break in the first place, but now I am back on track so no worries. This leads up to my next story about running on the road near my house. Everyone here thinks running is rediculous, and technically for them it is because they expend so many calories hauling water, walking to school, etc. that they can barely make up for it, but for me it is obviously my sanity. So I was running the other day with my ipod in trying to stay in the zone and came upon a group of high school boys who were walking home from school. I had been harrassed, made fun of, and screamed Muzungu at for the first 15 minutes of my run without cracking my focus but these boys were being especially obnoxious. Then one starts running in front of me acting like a high-schooler (of all things) and then runs with me. At this point I am a fairly frustrated but keeping my cool by jamming out to Beyonce. I pass him, but at some point am forced to turn around and head back to my house. As I pass him on the way home he does the same thing and refuses to stop immitating me so I made a swift push with my left shoulder that left him stunned (and maybe faltered his step a bit). :) He was embaressed by this, so he got up and began chasing after me in a dead sprint. I bolted and managed to outrun him until he gave up. I then realized that I should probably not let things get to me as much and letting things go is a positive thing, especially in a country in which one is trying to assimilate... but atleast it was a good sprint workout.
We spent this morning learning how to make a fuel-efficient cook stove. It is a possibility for a secondary project and it was very interesting to learn. We started by gathering dirt, water, grass and the stem of a banana tree and worked diligently for 4 hours to create a fuel efficient cook stove for one of the host families. It was so rewarding to actually use our hands to create something that will be useful in the community.
Things are beginning to wrap up in training. We find out our sites in about 10 days, then take our final language test and swear in as official Peace Corps Volunteers. I am so excited to find out where my final placement will be, but a bit hesitant because it will mean leaving all of my amazing friends and really being on my own for the first time. They tell us that we will spend the first couple of months in our community just simply getting our bearings and meeting people. We will have our house to clean, organizations to meet, and people to visit. I cant even wait! What I also can't wait for is MAIL?!?!?!?! Though it may seem small to all of you people with regular internet access, electricity, running water, TV, Newpapers... Let me assure you it is not. Send me mail! Send me an empty letter for all I care, just so long as I know that you took the time to spend 94 cents and think about me :) But, if you do get the urge I updated my wish list with some really cheap things you can send me that I can't get in country.(Actually my list wouldnt update on this slow internet so here are some other things I would love to get: GUM (anykind), Ketchup packets, Mustard Packets, Ranch packets, Velveeta shells and cheese cheese, News, Crosswords, etc.) This entry is entitled "Abeka Bali Batya?" Which means "How are the people at home?" I would love to hear how you are all doing, what life is like at home, and what new things are happening, or what is not changing at all. Thanks and I love you all.
Oh, and by the way, if you want to write me an e mail please dont write it to my school account anymore because my password expired and I can't reset it from here. The e mail address that I check is as follows:
ambercommer@gmail.com
Thanks
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