Easter Pictures
06 May 2011 1 Comment
I fergot me camera at home, so I stole a bunch of good pictures from other people’s albums and made me own album for ya (I meant my, but it makes me sound Irish so I’m going to leave it lol)! 
here it be…
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.724799429040.2269741.6908232&l=cd97fc9d71
May the pig and 2 chickens rest in piece. The chickens I don’t mind hearing their deaths. But the pig I chose to be somewhere else for, and it was a bit traumatizing hearing it dying (partially because instead of swiftly killing it, Nick [who hails from Manhattan] acted like he was in a knife fight in Harlem, jabbing at it multiple time). I also tried to watch the video later, but made it about 15 seconds before running out of the room. Anyways, hope you had a tequila filled night last night and all you can do today is look at my pictures, read my blog, and try and piece together what you did last night because you are so hung over. Happy Cinco de Mayo! oba [or] Itaanu Mugwokutanu Omulungi! (in my African Lusoga language)
Peace, Love, and Psytrance,
Dan
Bits and Pieces
04 May 2011 Leave a Comment
Be warned – this is going to be an extra-long one.
Dear Loyal Readers,
Sorry about my lack of blogging over the past month or so. Or maybe I’m not sorry. I saved you from at least a half hour of your lifetime reading about me complaining about something I signed up for. When I applied to the Peace Corps, I knew what I was getting myself into and I was thoroughly mentally prepared to live for 2 years in the village by myself. The only problem was just that training f-ed that all up [but is also indispensable at the same time]. I spent three months at a home stay family with 44 other Americans who I truly love and adore. I got used to that regimen of hanging out with my American friends in Uganda; poking fun at the culture with endless amounts of laughter in our little bubble with some people I’ve now created what I hope to be lifelong friendships. During that time, I sort of forgot/pushed out of my mind the fact that “oh yea, after 3 months I’m going to be sent to a town in the middle of a foreign African country, nowhere near another American for 2 years.” Oops.
Then when you finally get to your site, without any Americans by your side, you think, “OH NO! What have I done?!”
So, that sort of set the scene for the roller coaster ride that is Peace Corps. Last time I wrote my blog it was negative and I felt that one super negative blog was enough and you get the picture. I decided instead to note down thoughts over the past month or so for when I emerge from the trough of this roller coaster [I know you like my use of the word trough, Sheddie]. Now, my thoughts are random at best so I’m trying to sort them. So this blog and possibly another following will be a collection of thoughts and random short stories, tidbits about Ugandan people and their sometimes odd and frustrating ways of doing things, and what I’ve been doing here.
My first comparison I find quite hilarious. I hadn’t seen any of my friends in almost a month and I had about 15 movies on my computer that I ended up watch 2 to 3 times each, including the Lord of the Rings series. And I noticed that the ents [the large tree characters from the Two Towers, including Treebeard] reminded me of Ugandans. This may make more sense to you IF ANY OF YOU COME AND VISIT ME J and see for yourselves. Ugandan greetings are long. Something like this:
Person A: Thank you for the work sir.
Person B: And also you thank you for the work sir.
A: Are you there?
B: I am here. Are you there?
A: I am here.
B: How have you spent the day sir? [or night, which is said until noon]
A: I spent it well sir.
B: MMMMM (for real they make this sound)
A: How have you spent the day sir?
B: Well, sir.
A: MMMMM
B: MMMMMM
A: How are the home people?
B: They are there. You?
A: We are okay.
B: Your office?
A: They are okay.
B: Your farm?
A: The animals are getting on well
B: Good.
A: Good.
B: MMMMM
A: MMMMM
B: MMMMM
A: mmmm….
While watching the Lord of the Rings 2, I found them similar to the trees. Here are some quotes that relay my comparison:
“Treebeard: You must understand, young Hobbit, it takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish. And we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say.”
- New Scene (where the trees are supposed to be discussing whether to go to war or not) -
MERRY: It’s been going for hours.
PIPPIN stands and walks over to him.
PIPPIN: They must have decided something by now.
TREEBEARD turns to them and shakes his head.
TREEBEARD: Decided? No.
Slowly, TREEBEARD turns to the HOBBITS.
TREEBEARD: We only just finished saying…good morning.
MERRY looks on in frustration.
MERRY: But it’s nighttime already. You can’t take forever.
TREEBEARD: Don’t be hasty.
MERRY: We’re running out of time!
TREEBEARD: Why rush young hobbit? Ugandans are always late anyways!
MERRY: You’re right, Treebeard. We should get there 2 hours late because the Ugandans will just be arriving then.
(last part made up by me)
Well, it’s pretty funny because this is how it is. And that’s what I get for watching these movies 3 times. Also, Inception is now my favorite movie of all time. I’ve watched it over 7 times and it never gets old. If you haven’t seen it, you must watch it now. And Leonardo DiCaprio still has his mojo even though he’s getting old. Despite the teen craze for him while I was in 5th grade, he really pulled through and is a spectacular actor. (Inception, The Beach, Body of Lies, Shutter Island, Blood Diamond)
———
Tidbit: So, Peace Corps encourages learning the language as best as you can, which is great and all. If we didn’t get the language training we got during training, I would be SOL in many situations. I know greetings very well and learn new words from day to day. The most important thing I’ve learned was numbers (esp. working at a bank) and the forms of the tenses. Because of this, I am now generally able to get the gist of people’s conversations and what’s going on, which can be helpful, especially when I’m trying to buy things or bargain for things. It helps me tell when people are trying to rip me off (other than the evil smile on their face before they quote me an outrageous price because I’m white). It’s good because they think I don’t understand the language, but while I’m standing their trying to buy their product, I can understand when they tell their friend right there “This usually costs 20,000 haha” and then says to me “30,000.” And I’ve also recently learned how to say, “Do I look stupid?” in Lusoga when this happens. And through 9 months of bargaining, I’ve learned that silence or walking away is probably the best way to get people to lower their price.
But the worst thing about knowing the language is when people use it as a laugh or to impress their friends. So now when walking on the street, I’ll walk past a group of people, one of which who knows that I know how to greet in Lusoga, and they’ll greet me, almost like a test, and then of course I’ll have to greet them back as I’m walking. And then I’ll see them uproar with laughter. Many times this will happen with the same groups of people a few times a week. And now I’m to the point where it’s like “Are you serious? Is it really still that funny?” Sometimes I come close to going off on people about little things like that, but I have to control myself and if I really started screaming in quick American English, they wouldn’t understand anyway and then I’d be a screaming muzungu with everyone staring on the street. No thanks.
Tidbit: A reason why it’s so hard to sort through these notes because I write them when I’m just waking up or not paying attention to what I’m writing. Example A:
“Next weekend. Cats? Or some other kind of inspiration… are you going to the royal wedding.. possibility, because I need to get my zip from staying at this hotel, and it’s well worth the bathroom and facilities.”
This could have something to do with the fact that we had numerous conversations about the play “Cats” during Easter weekend and whenever we talked about it and someone said the word “Cats”, my only thought was “THE LONGEST RUNNING BROADWAY MUSICAL!” because of those damn commercials from my childhood.
Short Story: Some time back I went to visit my friends in Soroti for the weekend, and the road to Jinja has gotten terrible since the rainy season started. I have to take this road if I want to go anywhere. The potholes on the road from Jinja to Kamuli are getting worse and worse. The 1 ½ to 2 hour ride to Jinja is the driver swerving all over the road to avoid the potholes. Sometimes it looks like we’re about to have a head on crash with the car coming in the opposite direction because we’re all the way on the other side of the road. There are also dirt strips of road off the side of the paved road that it’s easier to drive on than the paved part with potholes. It makes me not wants to leave the district and wish that it was actually a dirt road because you can go faster on dirt roads since they don’t have potholes.
On the way there, I saw a few taxis pulled on the side of the road with a flat tire or something wrong with the vehicle. I thought of numerous friends that told me stories about their taxi breaking down. So when I saw those pulled over taxis, I was just thinking, ‘I’m definitely due for that to happen to me since it hasn’t happened to me since I got here.’ Sure enough, I had the worst ride back because of the potholes and one of the tires started losing air. So we had to stop for a half hour for them to charge the tire. I don’t know too much about cars, but from what my dad taught me plus common sense. You’re supposed to take all the people out of the vehicle before you use a carjack to lift it to change the tire. But this is Uganda and they decided to leave all 18 of us in the taxi, so that it was harder for them to lift the taxi and took them much longer to change the tire than necessary. Especially because they didn’t have a wrench for tire bolts and had to flag down other taxis to get one lol.
And when I came home, I killed about 4 cockroaches lurking around the house [ew! I still have a deathly fear of them.]. So then I was unpacking and chilling and I saw two more. WTF?! Killed those in the kitchen and then realized that they were coming from a pile of sugar on the floor. [Side story: About a week before this, it was late, and I was tired and I accidentally spilled a pile of sugar on the floor, and thought – eh, I’ll clear it up tomorrow. And I totally forgot about it until I saw 4 more cockroaches emerge from the pile.] Now, you would think that ants would be on that pile, not cockroaches. I found about 12 total and I got them all and the cockroaches [knock on wood] have been gone since then. Since then, I’ve only found little mice running around, which don’t really bug me, but I do chase them out of the house… and they eat things like cockroaches and other bugs, so it’s cool. Plus, I can’t kill them because A. they’re quick, B. they’re fast, C. they fit through the tiniest holes ever, and D. as soon as I come close to killing one I start to feel bad. Lol
Last creature story: my pet Golem that lives in my ceiling, I found out this morning was a rat. I really don’t mind him shuffling around up there. But I was walking to my job this morning with my next-door neighbor and he told me I had rats living in my ceiling, so I told him about Golem. But I didn’t really know what it was until today, and I sort of preferred it that way. See, he doesn’t come into my house, but he does come into my neighbor’s house, which doesn’t have a ceiling, so I sort of feel bad for my neighbor. But since I can’t get up there, I’m not going to do anything about it. And I figure Golem is also eating random creatures that venture about my ceiling; he’s really just doing me a favor.
Shout-out: I would like to shout out to my parents and Aunt Sharon for two of the best care packages ever! I got tons of chocolate from my Aunt and I ate it all in about a day and a half and loved every second of it. And my manager loved the necklace she bought her (from J Crew, now my manager has no idea what J Crew is but..) and wears it all the time. And my Mom sent a “She really is listening” care package, which consisted of everything I casually asked for over the phone [Jolly Ranchers, Blow Pops, Marshmallow Lovers (SCORE!) Swiss Miss, Annie’s Mac n Cheese, Shampoo, (I told Anna over the phone yesterday that I got Annie’s Mac n Cheese and her response was “WHAAAAAAATTT?! Annie’s?! Screw You.” Lol) and Knorr’s Easy to Cook Rice Packets, a hilarious Easter Card, and the best – all Cherry Valentine’s lollypops (I always save the red candies for last, because they are the best and I didn’t have to do any sorting!)]. Everything was amazing and made me a happy boy this week. Thanks Mom and Aunt Sharon! And a shout out to Michelle who sent me a wonderful package as well, esp. with the Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in it!
FYI: I’m really bad at responding to emails right away, so sorry if you’ve sent me an email and I haven’t responded yet. I will, I promise! But I’ve been writing about what’s going on here and it’s mainly so you readers and my family can hear what I’m doing, especially the ones who I don’t speak to at all or on a regular basis. It’s also for me to document what I’ve been doing here, so one day when I’m having my mid-life crisis and my four children [yes, you better believe I’m going to have four kids] are driving me insane, I can go on the internet and reminisce about my time in Africa. But mainly it’s for you and to keep you interested, so make a comment on this blog with some questions or stories you want to hear about or your curiosities/myths/rumors about Africa/Uganda and I will tell you. Plus, it will help me better direct the way my blog is… to write what you want to hear about.
Thought(s): I absolutely hate British spelling and some of their sayings that I’m picking up. I DESPISE the British ‘u’ in rumour, colour, etc. And now instead of saying “too” [I want that one, too.], I say “as well” [I would like that one, as well.]. One thing I do like though is the morning routine left by the colonists of having tea/coffee and a snack at around 10 am. Everyone here takes a half hour out of their day to have tea and a snack and we sit down together [if possible] and take a nice break to start the morning. And if you don’t have it and someone notices, people get really worried about you. [Me: “We’re going to be late!”, My manager: “But will you be okay, you haven’t taken your tea yet! You take tea and then we will go.”] Another thing, I’ve picked up is saying “Sorry!” when something bad happens to someone. If you’re walking and someone busts their ass and trips on a rock or something, people here say “Sorry!” as if it was their fault that you’re not watching where you’re going. I now do the same thing. But, I suppose it’s better than the American tradition of laughing at someone who trips or falls off a bike.
Thought(s): I’ve been in Uganda for about 10 months now, 7 of which have been spent in Kamuli. Every group of PCVs anywhere in the world that arrives together thinks that their group is special. It’s because you’ve been thrown into this incredible experience together, you’re forced to make friends quickly, and experience the joys and pains of living in another country together. In my opinion, this is the best way to make good friendships that last. In high school, college, and at work are where I’ve met some of my best friends by going through a similar and sometimes scary experience.
The first day of staging in Philadelphia was one of the scariest, most nerve-wracking experiences of my life. Coming into a room of 44 people that I had never met and knowing that I was going to spend the next two years with them was scary. Looking back to that day with my friends here, it’s funny talking about our first impressions of each other. Thinking about how we stayed up all night, eating our last American food, drinking and talking, I knew that I was with good company.
Anyways, I really do think that our group is special. We still do have some time to go, but 45 is a lot of people, and most groups have lost at least a minimum of 1 person at this point. Usually, in any country, once a volunteer has made it past the one year point, there’s a low chance of them leaving, unless something terrible has happened at their site or at home. We provide a great support to each other, and without that support I don’t think I would’ve lasted. Many people in our group have gone through way worse situations than I have, and they’re still here. I’ve thought about going home many a time and without my friends here, I probably would have. I hope that we can be the one group in the recent history of Peace Corps that makes it through the whole 2 years together. We’ve already beat the Peace Corps Uganda record of no one leaving early. And, most times, I’m happy to be here still.
Short Story: My office got a modem, so they could all check their email and so my manager could send things to the national bodies governing SACCOs. But, I find it hilarious because I had to help them all sign up for email accounts. My manager is the only one who had a previous email account, and she’s the only one who actually gets email. So, on the day that I signed my co-workers up for email accounts. Two of them came to me later freaking out because they forgot their password. LOL. It was literally like two hours later. And now once a week they are always trying to check their email. But I’m the only person who has their email address! I find this hilarious because I don’t know what they’re expecting to happen when they check it! And then yesterday, I asked my manager about an itinerary for one of the regional SACCO meetings, but she said she couldn’t get it, because she forgot the password to the SACCO’s email address!
Rant/Insight into Ugandan culture: Ugandans LOVE talking in front of groups. Why? I have no idea! It doesn’t matter if they’re at a staff meeting of 5 people or at a large event. At large events, there is always a guest of honor and the guest of honor always has to make a speech. In my experience, the guest of honor most times has nothing to do with the event at hand. They are usually just a semi-high level person in the district government. Yet, the guest of honor will go on and on about everything and once they finish their 20 minute speech, they will improvise. Anything to keep them in the spotlight. When you don’t have to sit through the speech it’s quite funny. And when you look at them look up at the crowd while speaking, you can almost see this glimmer in their eyes, as they realize that for those few minutes they are ‘famous.’
When at an event or meeting and someone asks for a volunteer to pray in front of the group at the start of the meeting (always a prayer, no matter the religion), there is no reluctance, someone will always raise their hand. And once they get in front of that crowd, it will be the longest prayer you’ve ever heard.
This is what makes meetings go on so long, what makes people late to other events, and what attributes to the important parts of events not getting enough attention because the chairperson’s communication went for so long. And by the point of the important part of a meeting, I’m ready to run away out of boredom. It’s funny to me because Americans generally don’t like to speak in front of groups and when you ask for a volunteer for something like that, it’s like pulling teeth. But I generally leave meetings/events now during these speeches and such and then come back for the main part of the meeting in order to spare my own sanity. If anyone needs to go to Hollywood, it’s Ugandans, they’re dying to be in the spotlight.
A rundown of my Easter Week:
I went to Anna’s place for Easter week and to help her plan for World Malaria Day festivities. It was a week well needed and well deserved. I worked with her on getting things organized for Easter weekend where we had 30 other volunteers coming to spend the weekend with us in Nkokonjeru.
We went shopping in Lugazi and spent over 300 dollars in food items for cakes, pizza challenge, Sseibwa Waterfalls, 150 eggs for dying and for food items, having a pig roast using an empty bed frame (amazing) and a bonfire, crazy little kid on a sugar high, dance parties, laughing non-stop all weekend – which is some thing I need for my well being. And I gained at least 5 pounds back of what I lost (I think I went from a men’s 36 waist to 32 waist) because we ate such good food for the weekend.
Since I’ve visited Ann 3 times now, it was helpful to have me there since I know almost all of the nuns there and where everything is, so people didn’t have to bother Ann for every little thing, and I also took control of her cell phone while she prepared for everything else. For all being PCVs mostly from the same group, I was a bit disappointed with the lack of collective responsibility for doing dishes and helping out with clean up, which left me cleaning up after meals I didn’t even eat. And for a lack of responsibility with money and paying back for the food that was prepaid for. But such is life and we all had a spectacular time.
We dyed Easter eggs with the kids at the Providence home (where I spent Christmas) and they were delighted. We baked cakes for them to eat while they were dying eggs (with Paas kits my Aunt sent). The kids loved dying the eggs, but they barely waited for the eggs to dry before they started eating them.
It was so refreshing to spend a week with another PCV for one, and then to have 20 more people come from our group was really great and I was helping Anna the entire week to host Easter weekend and mainly planning for World Malaria Day event on Monday, so this week was counted as a work week there. After being at a major low point before I left for Anna’s, spending the week with her really gave me a pick-me-up and I’m feeling better about being back in Kamuli after that experience.
World Malaria day was successful, but due to a lack of communication, the event started an hour late, it started pouring rain and there was not many people that attended, but all of the kids were there and learning about Malaria and how to present it. And the nuns like me and remember me, so I was able to get a lot of things done without bothering anyone.
Excitement: Parents are coming on the 19th, and Anna and I staying with our British friend John in Lweza/Entebbe eating good food in a ritzy, foreign national area of the country and then I’m going to meet them at the airport, since I want to make sure that my parents okay when the arrive into the dark continent (aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!) just kidding. It will be spectacular; the Dark Continent is a myth, unless we’re speaking about average color of skin. And I don’t want my parents to be totally overwhelmed right when they step out of the plane, so I want to meet them there and be waiting at their time of arrival, especially since the smell of Africa is so distinct and different until you get used to it. [And you thought the New Jersey air was bad! Ha!]
Anyways, I think that about sums it up, 9 pages later, except for my random comments that no longer make sense. One day I’ll figure them out and let you know. For now, all be well, and know that I’m missing you all everyday. Live life and do things out of your comfort zone, be spontaneous, be immature at times, eat good food and enjoy it, all at least until my next blog.
Happy early-Birthday Stephanie! Miss my other half. Until we meet.
Love,
Dan
