Life is still good. I'm having some issues with the neighbors. They let their goats run loose everyday and they are destroying my corn. I'm pissed needless to say but I'm not sure what is & isn't culturally appropriate to say. So far I've caught a few + demanded the owners bring me bamboo so I can finish my fence. I have 1/2 an acre so that needs about 200 yards of fencing so getting the bamboo is slow & tedious. I might have to break down and start hiring people to help me.
Teaching is going a lot better this term. I asked the students to tell me what changes I should make. Some of them were really helpful, but others were complaints out of my control or complaints about my calculator policy. I don't allow calculators in my class because these kids can't multiply single digits without a multiplication table.
So now the students are understanding me better and class is more fun. I don't have to kick kids out nearly as often and kids are beginning to show up more and more. There are still about 20 or so who have only came once, but the rest are doing well. One of the changes I made was giving weekly quizzes. The students really like to be able to see how they are doing each week. It also keeps me really busy. 240 students are a lot to grade for.
I am also getting a long with my fellow teachers a lot more too. We laugh and joke in the staff room and just the other day they brought up wanting to make some side income. So I suggested soap making. Another PCV has done it at her school and it is a big success, so I figured we could give it a shot. Everyone of the teachers seemed really gung-ho about it, so we will see if their actions follow suit. Folks here seem to have a hard time following through on their words.
Case in point: Two months ago I had to go for 2 weeks of training in the capital, so I asked one of my students to finish planting my garden for me and do a few other things. In exchange I would bring hims some sneakers + a school bag from the city. Well I help up my end to be sure. But he only did half the work. He made excuses and I believed him even though the neighbor said otherwise. So I gave him some other work instead. He failed to do that on time but I forgave him and gave him other work. All this time he has been insisting that I give him the bag and shoes. He promises the work will be finished on Saturday so finally I gave in. He's 15, I know where he lives, and he is my student. I should be able to trust him. Well that was a mistake. Saturday rolls around and he is no where to be seen. A week and he isn't around. Finally he comes back all smiles and jokes as if nothing is wrong. So I chew him out and demand the bag and shoes back. He starts getting sour and even says I'm being rude. Cultural differences aside, he is acting like I'm at fault. He says the bag and shoes were borrowed by a friend and sure enough they aren't at his house. His parents live 14km away in the village so I go and talk to one of the local elders about what I might have done wrong and what I ought to do now. She says I was in the right and that she would handle it. That was yesterday. We'll see how things go.
In other news, Pearl, the gal I've been tutoring on the front porch most evenings, just had her baby. I haven't seen her or the baby yet but I hope she brings him by soon. I also want to wish her luck on her exams. I sure hope she passes.
I finally got some aluminum foil and have lined my satellite dish with it. I lit one potato on fire and burnt two more before I finally got the right distance and rotation speed figured out. Then I preceded to roast sweet potatoes for me and all my neighbors. Awesome! Then, that very night a storm came in and blew the damn thing halfway across the garden. Wouldn't you know it: It was bend up pretty bas so its going to take some work to straighten it out. I might have to get the welder in town to make some supports for it.
As for the windmill pump. I am working on a miniature version first. I just got all the parts from town to make a small dual piston pump using 1/2 inch pipe parts. The non-return valves were pretty expensive, but if it works I'll have running water in my house. More on that if it works.
I also have been at the mission quite a bit because a dude from Milwaukee came in for a week to do some water filter training with the Parish. Apparently the Parish here is partnered up with Three Holy Women Parish of Milwaukee. So I've been sharing cultural insights and learning how to make water filters out of sand and gravel. Cool stuff!
Lastly, but not leastly, Penny G has moved up to "Best-Friend-In-The-World" status as she was the first to send me a care package. Not only that, but it was full of BBQ sauce and coffee. I have been exercising every ounce of will power I have to not consume it all in one week. So a giant thanks to you Penny. I will give you a giant bear hug next time I see you. As for the rest of you slackers: Shame.... shame.
I reckon that is about all I got for now. I wish you all the best.
In peace, love, and laughter,
Dave
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Mt. Climbing
Sorry for the delay all, but here is the long and short of it.
I, John Sullivan, and some folks from Peace Corps are going to climb Mt. Elgon and raft the Nile. If you want to come, you are all most welcome. We are planning for Jan 17-22 for the climbing and rafting, if you want to come earlier or stay later that is awesome. I know it is late notice, but if you can make it then great! Contact Sullivan (his email is somewhere on this blog) and ask him about he flight dates and airlines. He flies out on the 13th and arrives on the 15th. You might be able to get on the same flight so you all can talk trash about me before you get here, kidding... I hope. Again, sorry for the late notice, but that is the general way I operate.
Cheers Ya'll, and see ya there.
I, John Sullivan, and some folks from Peace Corps are going to climb Mt. Elgon and raft the Nile. If you want to come, you are all most welcome. We are planning for Jan 17-22 for the climbing and rafting, if you want to come earlier or stay later that is awesome. I know it is late notice, but if you can make it then great! Contact Sullivan (his email is somewhere on this blog) and ask him about he flight dates and airlines. He flies out on the 13th and arrives on the 15th. You might be able to get on the same flight so you all can talk trash about me before you get here, kidding... I hope. Again, sorry for the late notice, but that is the general way I operate.
Cheers Ya'll, and see ya there.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Some Pictures and coordinate location
In August Dave gave me some pictures. They are just a random assortment of photos, mostly of where he is living. He also provided me with his coordinate location. The coordinate location I have to encrypt because of PC policy. Click on the link below and the passcode is the same as the last post, but is one of Dave's mottos, all lower case, with no spaces:
If you need the passcode shoot me a facebook message or email: john.allan.sullivan@gmail.com
Also, the photos are located here:
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0099009/photos/54600950@N05/
If you need the passcode shoot me a facebook message or email: john.allan.sullivan@gmail.com
Also, the photos are located here:
http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0099009/photos/54600950@N05/
Monday, August 16, 2010
Africa Lite
It is now the end of the school term and I am Pooped! (that's right, with a capital P). I started out the term by moving into my house, getting my schedule three days late, and making lesson plans. But that really isn't such a big deal because the students don't really show up for the first two weeks of classes anyway. The ministry of education says that students have two weeks to show up for school before they can be expelled. They also cannot be held back at all for poor academic performance, and the only legitimate way to have a student removed from the school is for behavior or failing to pay school fees. There really is more to explain, but to keep it short, Uganda has fully implemented the "No Child Left Behind" act.
So the first two weeks of the term were basically spent watching a few of the more serious students doing the general maintenance work around the school (mowing grass, cleaning class rooms, etc.) and getting all my little ducks in a row at my own home. I needed to mow grass, clear a path to the latrine, clean, put in a ceiling, buy stuff for cooking, pick up tools, and build a fence. A lot to do when you are supposed to be learning students names, making lesson plans, and grading homework. Keep in mind that staying up late to do the work doesn't happen because as soon as the sun is gone, work stops.
I obviously wasn't going to be able to accomplish all that in two months let alone two weeks. So I focused on my job, teaching. In my freshmen (they call it senior one, or S1 for short) math I have two lessons three times a week. Each lesson is 80 minutes long and is supposed to have around 65 students. However, my lessons are usually in the morning so they start 40 minutes late because the 35 students who do arrive, are extremely late. Needless to say, I get frustrated a lot. However, there are highlights. Some of my kids are truly interested and come and ask questions. They even come to my house on Saturdays and Sundays to do practice problems. I also teach S2 (equivalent of sophomores, also 65 in a lesson) in physics and I have been able to do some awesome demonstrations with them. I got some clear hose and demonstrated a siphon, I got a straw and demonstrated a venturi, and I used a piece of paper to show how an airplane wing causes lift. Things that the other physics teachers had never end thought of let alone seen. So all in all, I have around 230 students who I am still getting to know, some of whom I never will, and others whom I am extremely grateful to have gotten to know.
I don't like teaching inside the classroom. I am fairly convinced that it may be one of the least efficient ways to convey knowledge, and understanding is all but none existent. My preferred method is when they come to my house and I can use a stick to scratch in the dirt, use some bamboo and a machete to build a demonstration on the spot, but most importantly to answer questions they have and do it in such a way they have to ask another question to understand the answer. Mwahahaha, I'm such and evil-genius-educator.
On top of my students from my school, I am also tutoring a girl in the evenings in math and sciences so she can pass the national exam at the end of the year. She was in her fourth year in secondary school when she got pregnant a few months ago. Because, while it is ok for teachers to come to school drunk, it is not ok for students to come to school pregnant. She isn't the brightest star in the sky, but despite her set backs, she still wants to take the exam at the end of the year, carry out the pregnancy and then go onto the advanced level. I give here a standing ovation every time she comes to my house simply for her fortitude. Especially since her father, and her new "husband" aren't really keen on her bothering with education. Her name is Pearl.
Then I have the one and only entrepreneur in Uganda living in my community. This guy is on the ball. He is aware that all the billions of foreign dollars that are pouring into Uganda won't last forever. In fact, he has already seen it begin to wain. So before the well drys up, he wants to start a company. A lot of infrastructure still needs to build around the North, so he thinks a construction company could do very well while people are still building churches, schools, clinics, shops, roads, and other such things. On top of this, he wants to begin using some technology from South Africa that uses a hydrolic press, 98% local dirt, and 2% cement. This way of making bricks is 30% cheaper (no burning of clay), it is stronger, lasts longer, and takes less time. He wants to be ahead of the curve by jumping on it now. All of the stuff he has done without me. What he wants now is an engineering consultant to help him get off the ground. I'm not fronting any money, I'm not putting my name on anything, and he isn't asking me for that either. I think he is pretty genuine and really just wants me to tell him that his grand plan will work, and perhaps having a white dude helping his company will get him more business. In any case, I like where he is going with this, I can see the benefits of this technology, and I like him as a person, so I'm on board.
I still haven't gotten my solar death ray to work. I finally got a busted six foot diameter satellite dish about a month ago, but the only reflective material I was able to get was aluminum paint which did not work. It would only make your hand hot, not light wood on fire. But now I am in the capitol and here they have everything, so hopefully I'll be able to get some aluminum foil at least.
My windmill is on hold at the moment. The local community is a little leery of me doing anything with or near the borehole-well. The school shares the well with all the villagers out of kindness and to keep them happy and so if I go and start putting a big scary windmill on it they are afraid it will damage their nearest source of water. That is a legitimate fear I suppose, as clean water is still not an easy thing to get around here, so I will have to do some more sweet talking with the locals and the school to get that one going.
Now I am in the capital city for some Peace Corps training, enjoying a pool, beer and friends. I have a minor infection in my hand from using a hand hoe to dig up (plow) a half acre of garden. I got my beans, corn, onions, cassava, and potatoes in the ground in exchange for a giant bruise on the palm of my hand which then turned infected. Part of it was that the ground was really hard, part of it was digging like a man possessed to vent my frustrations with the ministry of education, and part of it was "if your gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough." So my bad bruise turned into an infection, which I didn't know could happen, but did. After it swelled up to the size of a balloon, I realized it wasn't just a bruise and had the doctor at the local clinic lance the abscess. The doctor used a local anesthetic, but knelt on my wrist just in case. The local anesthetic did the trick because it was a world better than when I was trying to squeeze it out myself. Story short, I now have a 1/4 inch hole in my hand that is healing nicely. Obviously I can even use it to type. Oh, it was my right hand by the way. If it was my left, I probably would have had to see the doctor a lot sooner.
So that brings me to the tittle of this entry: Africa Lite. I was talking with a few other volunteers who had already served in west Africa. Guinea, Togo, Mauritania, and others are worlds off worse than Uganda. So even though I have pretty much listed nothing but set backs in this entry, I definitely have it easy compared to what they had. Even when compared to other East African countries like Kenya, we have it made in the shade. I just read in the local paper about how Kenyans come to Uganda and make a killing in nearly any venture they try, and Ugandans who go to Kenya... come back. Thinking about it, life here really isn't too dang bad in a simple "are you living or are you dieing" kind of sense. You throw seeds on the ground twice a year. Two hours in the morning you tend to them and you harvest twice a year. A mud hut only costs labor, and most medical supplies are so cheap that people are dieing of malaria more often because they don't like doctors than because they can't afford treatment. So if you start thinking that you might be sorta be tempted into thinking that I have it rough... DON'T! I actually have a bigger house, more pay (relative to the standard of living), and better health care than at any other time in my life thus far. I do manual labor because I like it, and my job could be much, much worse. So T.I.A.L.
Well, that is about all. I am anxious to go back to my home and garden and begin lessons for next term and correct all the mistakes I made this term.
In laughter, larder, and love
Dave
So the first two weeks of the term were basically spent watching a few of the more serious students doing the general maintenance work around the school (mowing grass, cleaning class rooms, etc.) and getting all my little ducks in a row at my own home. I needed to mow grass, clear a path to the latrine, clean, put in a ceiling, buy stuff for cooking, pick up tools, and build a fence. A lot to do when you are supposed to be learning students names, making lesson plans, and grading homework. Keep in mind that staying up late to do the work doesn't happen because as soon as the sun is gone, work stops.
I obviously wasn't going to be able to accomplish all that in two months let alone two weeks. So I focused on my job, teaching. In my freshmen (they call it senior one, or S1 for short) math I have two lessons three times a week. Each lesson is 80 minutes long and is supposed to have around 65 students. However, my lessons are usually in the morning so they start 40 minutes late because the 35 students who do arrive, are extremely late. Needless to say, I get frustrated a lot. However, there are highlights. Some of my kids are truly interested and come and ask questions. They even come to my house on Saturdays and Sundays to do practice problems. I also teach S2 (equivalent of sophomores, also 65 in a lesson) in physics and I have been able to do some awesome demonstrations with them. I got some clear hose and demonstrated a siphon, I got a straw and demonstrated a venturi, and I used a piece of paper to show how an airplane wing causes lift. Things that the other physics teachers had never end thought of let alone seen. So all in all, I have around 230 students who I am still getting to know, some of whom I never will, and others whom I am extremely grateful to have gotten to know.
I don't like teaching inside the classroom. I am fairly convinced that it may be one of the least efficient ways to convey knowledge, and understanding is all but none existent. My preferred method is when they come to my house and I can use a stick to scratch in the dirt, use some bamboo and a machete to build a demonstration on the spot, but most importantly to answer questions they have and do it in such a way they have to ask another question to understand the answer. Mwahahaha, I'm such and evil-genius-educator.
On top of my students from my school, I am also tutoring a girl in the evenings in math and sciences so she can pass the national exam at the end of the year. She was in her fourth year in secondary school when she got pregnant a few months ago. Because, while it is ok for teachers to come to school drunk, it is not ok for students to come to school pregnant. She isn't the brightest star in the sky, but despite her set backs, she still wants to take the exam at the end of the year, carry out the pregnancy and then go onto the advanced level. I give here a standing ovation every time she comes to my house simply for her fortitude. Especially since her father, and her new "husband" aren't really keen on her bothering with education. Her name is Pearl.
Then I have the one and only entrepreneur in Uganda living in my community. This guy is on the ball. He is aware that all the billions of foreign dollars that are pouring into Uganda won't last forever. In fact, he has already seen it begin to wain. So before the well drys up, he wants to start a company. A lot of infrastructure still needs to build around the North, so he thinks a construction company could do very well while people are still building churches, schools, clinics, shops, roads, and other such things. On top of this, he wants to begin using some technology from South Africa that uses a hydrolic press, 98% local dirt, and 2% cement. This way of making bricks is 30% cheaper (no burning of clay), it is stronger, lasts longer, and takes less time. He wants to be ahead of the curve by jumping on it now. All of the stuff he has done without me. What he wants now is an engineering consultant to help him get off the ground. I'm not fronting any money, I'm not putting my name on anything, and he isn't asking me for that either. I think he is pretty genuine and really just wants me to tell him that his grand plan will work, and perhaps having a white dude helping his company will get him more business. In any case, I like where he is going with this, I can see the benefits of this technology, and I like him as a person, so I'm on board.
I still haven't gotten my solar death ray to work. I finally got a busted six foot diameter satellite dish about a month ago, but the only reflective material I was able to get was aluminum paint which did not work. It would only make your hand hot, not light wood on fire. But now I am in the capitol and here they have everything, so hopefully I'll be able to get some aluminum foil at least.
My windmill is on hold at the moment. The local community is a little leery of me doing anything with or near the borehole-well. The school shares the well with all the villagers out of kindness and to keep them happy and so if I go and start putting a big scary windmill on it they are afraid it will damage their nearest source of water. That is a legitimate fear I suppose, as clean water is still not an easy thing to get around here, so I will have to do some more sweet talking with the locals and the school to get that one going.
Now I am in the capital city for some Peace Corps training, enjoying a pool, beer and friends. I have a minor infection in my hand from using a hand hoe to dig up (plow) a half acre of garden. I got my beans, corn, onions, cassava, and potatoes in the ground in exchange for a giant bruise on the palm of my hand which then turned infected. Part of it was that the ground was really hard, part of it was digging like a man possessed to vent my frustrations with the ministry of education, and part of it was "if your gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough." So my bad bruise turned into an infection, which I didn't know could happen, but did. After it swelled up to the size of a balloon, I realized it wasn't just a bruise and had the doctor at the local clinic lance the abscess. The doctor used a local anesthetic, but knelt on my wrist just in case. The local anesthetic did the trick because it was a world better than when I was trying to squeeze it out myself. Story short, I now have a 1/4 inch hole in my hand that is healing nicely. Obviously I can even use it to type. Oh, it was my right hand by the way. If it was my left, I probably would have had to see the doctor a lot sooner.
So that brings me to the tittle of this entry: Africa Lite. I was talking with a few other volunteers who had already served in west Africa. Guinea, Togo, Mauritania, and others are worlds off worse than Uganda. So even though I have pretty much listed nothing but set backs in this entry, I definitely have it easy compared to what they had. Even when compared to other East African countries like Kenya, we have it made in the shade. I just read in the local paper about how Kenyans come to Uganda and make a killing in nearly any venture they try, and Ugandans who go to Kenya... come back. Thinking about it, life here really isn't too dang bad in a simple "are you living or are you dieing" kind of sense. You throw seeds on the ground twice a year. Two hours in the morning you tend to them and you harvest twice a year. A mud hut only costs labor, and most medical supplies are so cheap that people are dieing of malaria more often because they don't like doctors than because they can't afford treatment. So if you start thinking that you might be sorta be tempted into thinking that I have it rough... DON'T! I actually have a bigger house, more pay (relative to the standard of living), and better health care than at any other time in my life thus far. I do manual labor because I like it, and my job could be much, much worse. So T.I.A.L.
Well, that is about all. I am anxious to go back to my home and garden and begin lessons for next term and correct all the mistakes I made this term.
In laughter, larder, and love
Dave
Monday, June 14, 2010
Mailing Address
This is Sully, but I have Dave's mailing address for those who are interested. Unfortunately PC rules make it so I am not allowed to just post it publicly, but luckily due to a trick Dave showed me I can encrypt it here. You need to know the encryption key to access it. The key is a motto of Dave's (all lower case with no spaces).
If you don't know the passcode shoot me a facebook message or email john.allan.sullivan@gmail.com
Friday, May 21, 2010
Aceba Kimara
I have finally arrived at my new community. The place I will call my home town for the next two years. After 10 weeks of gruelling training and endless anticipation, I am finally here in Lamwo District in Northern Uganda. I am in the extreme North, only a stone's throw from Sudan, so the weather here is HOT! This is the rainy season and I am still breaking a sweat just by getting out of bed. The only time I feel comfortable is when I'm standing in the rain.
Being in a new land, and on a new adventure, calls for a new name. My language instructor is pretty awesome in general and was really good about picking out a name for me. I decided that since David is Hebrew for "Beloved one", my Acholi name should be something along those lines. So that is where Kimara (Kee-mara) comes in. In Acholi it means "They love me." Pretty sweet. Then after being at site for just a few days, the local folks started calling me Aceba (Acheba) Kimara, or just Aceba for short. In Acholi, Aceba means strength and courage as it was the name of the rwot (chief) who founded that little community in which I now live. Because of this, the people also refer to themselves as the Aceba people, meaning their tribal group. So now my full name means "The Aceba people love me." Pretty sweet! "They like me, they really like me."
The past few weeks at site have been pretty uneventful because it is term break. The schools here have 3 terms per academic year starting in February. I have gotten to know the Head Teacher (my boss) pretty well. He is a very non-traditional guy with a lot of education. He was in the seminary where he got his degree in divinity, then after the war in the North broke out, he left the seminary and became a teacher. Then he went to Cairo to study Arabic for a bit then onto Islamabad University for Islamic studies. He speaks 7 languages, of them are German, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. He is married and has 3 kids, between 5 and 15 I think. All in all he is a pretty awesome guy and has been pretty interested in some of my plans.
My plans: Let me tell you. I am teaching math and physics, and what better way to get kids interested about such feared subjects than to build stuff, especially if it ends in fire, explosions, or slip-n-slides. So my first project will be to find a busted satellite dish, one of the 10' diameter ones, and line it with aluminum flashing. Then light stuff on fire :). After we get done burning everything insight, we can use it to do some sweet math on how much energy we are focusing on a single point. Then we can move on to actually using such an impressive instrument of death to cook the school lunch of beans and posho. The school spends over $50USD a week on firewood to cook the lunch. My sweet dish might help reduce the cost... or I might create a bean-posho explosion that rains fragments into southern Sudan starting WWIII. In either case, it will be epic.
My other project is to build a windmill to pump water for the school. Right now the students are getting by just fine using the hand pump at the well, but they aren't using very much water. I want to use a windmill with 8' blades to pump 10L/s into a 10,000L tank 30' in the air so that we can irrigate 4 acres of beans during the dry season. This will have some significant start up cost, but will pay dividends when the school is no longer paying for 3000kg of beans during the dry season. It may fail miserably and just waste a lot of time and money, but even if it does, one or two students might just get hooked on this whole math and science kick. In which case: mission accomplished. Mission extra-accomplished if I make an awesome slip-n-slid down the hill infront of the school.
Other than that, I have been training for a marathon (bare foot mind you, cause that is how the Acholi do it), and I've been reading 3rd grade level novels in Acholi to work on my fluency. I figure once I can read the paper, spend a whole day speaking Acholi, and listen to the radio all without having to look up a word or resort to English, then I will be fluent.
Also, my mind numbing free time has hit. Of the books I have read in the past three weeks, I would recommend strongly:
"Lies my Teacher Taught me"
"The Last King of Scotland"
"Tall Grass"
"Heretics" or anything by G. K. Chesterton, he's a hoot.
I still don't have a house yet nor an address, but when I get some form of residence I will let you all know my coordinates.
In life, love, and libation
Dave
Being in a new land, and on a new adventure, calls for a new name. My language instructor is pretty awesome in general and was really good about picking out a name for me. I decided that since David is Hebrew for "Beloved one", my Acholi name should be something along those lines. So that is where Kimara (Kee-mara) comes in. In Acholi it means "They love me." Pretty sweet. Then after being at site for just a few days, the local folks started calling me Aceba (Acheba) Kimara, or just Aceba for short. In Acholi, Aceba means strength and courage as it was the name of the rwot (chief) who founded that little community in which I now live. Because of this, the people also refer to themselves as the Aceba people, meaning their tribal group. So now my full name means "The Aceba people love me." Pretty sweet! "They like me, they really like me."
The past few weeks at site have been pretty uneventful because it is term break. The schools here have 3 terms per academic year starting in February. I have gotten to know the Head Teacher (my boss) pretty well. He is a very non-traditional guy with a lot of education. He was in the seminary where he got his degree in divinity, then after the war in the North broke out, he left the seminary and became a teacher. Then he went to Cairo to study Arabic for a bit then onto Islamabad University for Islamic studies. He speaks 7 languages, of them are German, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. He is married and has 3 kids, between 5 and 15 I think. All in all he is a pretty awesome guy and has been pretty interested in some of my plans.
My plans: Let me tell you. I am teaching math and physics, and what better way to get kids interested about such feared subjects than to build stuff, especially if it ends in fire, explosions, or slip-n-slides. So my first project will be to find a busted satellite dish, one of the 10' diameter ones, and line it with aluminum flashing. Then light stuff on fire :). After we get done burning everything insight, we can use it to do some sweet math on how much energy we are focusing on a single point. Then we can move on to actually using such an impressive instrument of death to cook the school lunch of beans and posho. The school spends over $50USD a week on firewood to cook the lunch. My sweet dish might help reduce the cost... or I might create a bean-posho explosion that rains fragments into southern Sudan starting WWIII. In either case, it will be epic.
My other project is to build a windmill to pump water for the school. Right now the students are getting by just fine using the hand pump at the well, but they aren't using very much water. I want to use a windmill with 8' blades to pump 10L/s into a 10,000L tank 30' in the air so that we can irrigate 4 acres of beans during the dry season. This will have some significant start up cost, but will pay dividends when the school is no longer paying for 3000kg of beans during the dry season. It may fail miserably and just waste a lot of time and money, but even if it does, one or two students might just get hooked on this whole math and science kick. In which case: mission accomplished. Mission extra-accomplished if I make an awesome slip-n-slid down the hill infront of the school.
Other than that, I have been training for a marathon (bare foot mind you, cause that is how the Acholi do it), and I've been reading 3rd grade level novels in Acholi to work on my fluency. I figure once I can read the paper, spend a whole day speaking Acholi, and listen to the radio all without having to look up a word or resort to English, then I will be fluent.
Also, my mind numbing free time has hit. Of the books I have read in the past three weeks, I would recommend strongly:
"Lies my Teacher Taught me"
"The Last King of Scotland"
"Tall Grass"
"Heretics" or anything by G. K. Chesterton, he's a hoot.
I still don't have a house yet nor an address, but when I get some form of residence I will let you all know my coordinates.
In life, love, and libation
Dave
Friday, March 12, 2010
TIA
The mysteries of Matoke, Mephloquine, Muzungus and Mud.
I arrived in Philly and spent Monday night at a very nice hotel, compliments of your tax dollars. The next day our PC (Peace Corps) training was to begin. This is kind of a big deal because once I signed on the dotted line the PC officially became responsible for me. This means I am on their dollar and under their health insurance. What a relief. However, this little celebration was shortly lived. My fellow PCT's (Peace Corps Trainees) and I were informed that "the great snowapocolypse of 2010" was about to descend upon us. So we quickly checked out of that hotel, drove from Philly to NYC and stayed in a hotel near JFK airport. So the afternoon we were supposed to spend going over logistics, how not to get lost, and meeting everyone was spent scrambling to beat the snow. Don't worry; it all came out well in the end. We made our flight the next morning and in 15 short hours we were landing in Johannesburg South Africa. A short layover with the Spring Boks and then a quick four hour flight later found us in Entebbe Uganda.
We were greeted very warmly, both by the weather and the people. We drove to Lweza training center just outside of the capital city of Kampala and then collapsed into our dormitory style housing for a much needed nights rest. The next three days were three quick jabs of Luganda language sessions, getting to know one another, and meeting staff and other PCV's (Peace Corps Volunteers). I had the opportunity to go to Mass on Sunday with some other PCT's. What an experience. Drums, singing, smiles, enthusiasm galore. It was all in Luganda, but we could follow the structure as that is the same everywhere. Our short bout in Lweza was cleaned up by a stiff right hook taking us on a tour through Kampala, the capital city. What an amazing place. I hope I never have to go back there again. I don't even like cities in the US, so this amalgamation of shops, taxies, boda boda (motorcycles), bicycles, and masses upon masses of people left me ill to say the least. I did get a pretty nice shirt though for about $10 dollars. It is hard to describe what it looks like, so I will have to borrow a camera and post a picture. I also purchased some toilet paper which we were advised to bring with us when we travel as many latrines don't have toilet paper supplied.
Monday found us driving to Wakiso town to meet our home stay families. We waited at the RACO training center for the families to arrive. One by one, like puppies in a box on the corner, we were claimed and found a home... except me. After a few hours of watching each PCT greet his or her home stay mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, grandmothers, and so on I was still left all alone. Then sitting by myself I was informed that my home stay mother was on her way from Kampala. I was still high on being in Uganda and so any amount of waiting wasn't going to bother me. Finally, my home stay mother arrived. I had been practicing my Luganda introduction for the last few hours so I was all ready to use it. However, when I put out my hand and began saying hello, I was promptly stopped by a quick slap to knock my hand out of the way so that she could give me a great big hug. I don't know who was more excited, not that it mattered. Our introduction was enthusiastic and warm.
Our first week in our home stay was filled with sessions on culture, government structure, education, economy, history and other such topics. Not always that exciting, but interesting none the less. Then at the end of the week we were finally told our region of service within Uganda. This was very exciting as it not only gave us some idea of where we were going, but also what language we would be learning to use as our staple. The Luganda we had learned early was just enough to greet people, bargain for prices and ask for directions for when we are in central Uganda and the capital city. Not all of Uganda speaks Luganda, hence the need for learning our regional language. Our regions were decided for us based on our qualifications, interests, and two interviews we had shortly after arriving. During my interview I requested to be as rural as possible. I asked to be sent to the place no one else wants to go to because it is so far out in the bush. It just so happens that they have several secondary schools in the Acholi region which are very far out in the bush and all in desperate need of teachers. I don't know to which village I am going specifically, but I will be in the Acholi speaking area along with four of my fellow PCT's. The Acholi region is in the far north central near Sudan. There are four districts in that region that speak Acholi: Kitgum (farthest north, bordering Sudan), Pader (just south of Kitgum), Gulu (where the largest city in the north is), and Amorro (north west, closest to the Nile). I don't know which district I will be in either, but I am guessing Kitgum. This area of Uganda is sub Sahara, so it has a wet season and a dry season. It is generally hotter and more arid than the rest of the country with a few small mountains and many flood plains. I can't wait to get there.
The past few weeks have been comprised mostly of language sessions in the morning, then tea around 10:00, then a technical or cultural session until 1:00 or so. Lunch is spent talking with each other, eating, laughing, joking, bitching, and the like. After lunch we usually have more specific sessions/lectures. We generally divide up into our three groups: Secondary Education (teaching high school level kids), Primary Educations (teaching soon-to-be teachers at a teachers college), and CHED (Community Health and Economic Development). I am going to be a Secondary School teacher, teaching math and physics. Then from lunch until about 5:00 we are in our groups working on technical training such as how to write on chalk boards, how to interact with students, how to make lesson plans and other such things. Then from training we generally do whatever. Some go to the local "joints" as they are called for a cold bottle of something up lifting, others go for a walk/run, some play sports out in one of the fields, and some go home. It just depends on what you are in the mood for that day and what is going on with other folks. I have the farthest walk/bike ride to training, about 5k (3 mi) so I have little motivation to exercise when I am already sweating through my shirt twice a day. So I either go home, or stop to hang out at one of the pubs. I gave up booze for lent, but it is still fun to shoot the proverbial breeze with friends. On Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday the church choir practices so one of my colleagues and I go to practice with them. It has been a lot of fun singing with them. We have learned a couple songs in Luganda, one in Swahili, and my friend brought her Gather book so we have been using that to teach the Ugandans some songs as well. They really like Agnus Dei and Holy Holy Holy Lord. Then after practice or the pub I have to hurry home because we are supposed to be back by dark. It isn't safe for Muzungus (white people) to be out at night. This wouldn't be bad except we are on the equator so it is twilight by 7:00 pm and completely dark by 7:30 pm. So that really only gives us a two hours of free time each evening. At home we are expected to help with chores, do our laundry, mop our floor, shine our shoes, do home work, eat and/or visit with our home stay family.
Saturdays are usually half days. On one we went to learn how to build a compost pit, an elevated garden, and plant vegetables. It wasn't too different from what we do in the states except they have an all year growing season. So it is kind of like planning for a green house. Then on Sundays we are left on our own. I go to 7:00 am mass and get home around 9:30 or 10:00, (masses last a lot longer here because not only is the homily longer, but then at the close of mass the deacon reads all the announcements that would be in the bulletin because they don't have one). Then I do laundry for the week, mop my floor again, shine my boots, and then help my family with chores/learn how to do chores. Most of the cleaning stuff was fairly easy to learn, but the cooking is not going to so smoothly. Everything is cooked over charcoal on these little mobile clay stoves. I'll post pictures when I get the chance. So because of my lack of heat control I end up burning a lot of stuff.
Ok, now I have divided my thoughts up by subject rather than chronologically so forgive me if things get confusing.
Food: Breakfast is light, generally some bread, a hardboiled egg, and maybe some fruit and of course tea. The tea is pretty good, but surprisingly the coffee is instant, cheap, and crappy even though it is a main export. Morning tea is usually really good, but light. We have somosas (kind of like the innards of a potpie folded into a triangular eggroll shell), French toast egg sandwich things, cassava fries, popcorn, or g-nuts (pea nuts, but they refer to them as ground nuts as they come from the ground, hence the contraction g-nut). Lunch is also good, but that is because the PC provides it. There is almost always matoke, another starch, meat sauce, g-nut sauce, vegetable, and fresh fruit. The dinner here generally consists of a starch, a protein sauce, and then sometimes a vegetable. The starch is almost always matoke. Let me tell out about matoke. It looks like a green banana, and is in the banana family like a plantain. It is always steamed, usually in banana leaves, mashed, and generally tasteless. It is pretty calorie dense, but after being steamed it is almost completely void of any nutrition. You need to slather it in the protein sauce to make it edible because it is pretty dry and solid even though it is steamed. Sweet potatoes are also a staple, though they are not the orange ones you are used to. They are more of a white color with a purplish skin. They also are not nearly as sweet. Irish potatoes, or "Irish" as they are called, are also served from time to time, but not very often except for lunch because the PC knows we like them, especially mashed. Rice is very common and is always white and steamed. They also have cassava, generally diced up and boiled. Again, it is generally tasteless and needs lots of sauce. Finally there is posho. This is the hardest of all for us Americans to choke down. It is bleached corn flour mixed with water and then steamed. It is absolutely tasteless, dry (almost chalky) and really hard to swallow even when soaked in sauce. I eat them all of course because I want to adapt as quickly as possible so that I can be accepted into my community, but it is still hard. Then the sauce is usually a meat that has been boiled until it is soft and reasonably chewable, along with some onions, maybe some peas or carrots too. G-nut sauce is ground g-nuts boiled into a thick sauce, it is ok. My favorite however, is the bean sauce which is like pork and beans minus the pork. It usually has some onions, carrots and a few greens in it too. The vegetables aren't too bad. Usually steamed or sometimes made into a soup. Spices are not used here very much at all. Salt and pepper seldom grace the table and I have never seen anyone put any kind of herb or spice in the food while cooking it, nor have I tasted anything of the like. So the food at most meals is bland at best. However, the street food is pretty tasty. They sell stuff called roll eggs or rolex. It is basically a flour tortilla fried and then rolled up with a tomato, cabbage, and onion omelet. They are greasy and delicious. All of that really isn't anything too exciting; however the fruit here is amazing. I have had some of the sweetest pineapple, jack fruit, mangos, avocadoes, and papayas of my life here. Last weekend we made guacamole with huge avocadoes, fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, and some really tiny local peppers that are about as hot as a habanera. Unfortunately, most people here consider fruit as a treat and produce as a once or twice a week side dish. Both are incredibly cheap and rich in vitamins, but they don't fill you up so people prefer nutritionally void starches. People are changing, but slowly.
Currency: They use the Ugandan shilling (USh). The conversion rate is about $1 USD to 2,000 USh. To give you some reference, a pair of cheap plastic sandals cost me 3,000 USh and a roll of toilet paper is 350 USh. A pineapple is about 1,000 USh, and one of the rolexes I was talking about is around 500 USh. Food and beer are cheap and technology is relatively expensive.
Travel: Most travel is done by matatu. These are about the size of VW mini buses and hold between 9 and 15 people depending upon how many the driver can squeeze into the seats. These are generally used to get from one town to the next, so you just ask the driver where he is headed next then wait till the taxi is full. You get to your destination, and then pay and you are good to go. These are usually for relatively short distances, less than 20 mi. For longer trips like going to the north, there are coach busses, or mail busses. Roughly the same price as the matatu, slower, but much more comfortable.
Mud: In the town of Wakiso, there one paved road and it goes to the capital. The rest are red dirt roads and are about the same as what you would expect in Georgia... 100 years ago. The roads are dirt and clay and do not have good drainage at all, so during the rainy season there are lakes in the low spots and ravines on hilly roads. The clay has this awesome effect of causing a nice slick, thin layer on top of the road so that it is relatively firm, but as slippery as greased ice. This isn't that bad except we are expected to dress "smartly" for training. After one day of walking my pants were completely red from the knee down as were most of my colleagues. The Ugandans however, miraculously only had a few small splashes here and there around the cuff. Then next day I tried my bicycle and the result was only slightly better. The mud has so much clay in it that is will stick to the tires and actually clog up around the fender and brake locking up your bike. This resulted in less total pant leg coverage and more giant chunks of clay all over the inside of my pant legs. I don't know how the Ugandans do it.
Dress: We are expected to dress "smartly" for training. For guys this means trousers (dress pants or slacks), button down shirt, and shined shoes. For girls this is a nice blouse with at minimum of short sleeves (no sleeveless-ness), a long skirt (at least knee length when sitting), a slip, and nice shoes or dressy sandals. Ugandans put a lot of emphasis on your dress as it reflects how important the person you are meeting is. If you dress "shabby" then it means the person you are meeting isn't very important to you. I personally think they put far too much effort and emphasis on protocol and not enough on substance, but I am trying to keep an open mind.
Muzungus: This is a Luganda word barrowed from the Swahili word mzungu which means traveler. However, this has come to mean white person almost exclusively. So every day I walk out of my house I have little kids barely able to talk shouting "Bye muzungu! Bye muzungu!" almost in a chant. It is pretty ridiculous how small these kids are and yet they are shouting at us as we walk down the road. Most children don't learn English until they get to primary school (elementary school), yet they know how to say "Hi muzungu!", "Bye muzungu!" (much more common), "Muzungu, how are you?" (some of the older toddlers). It still doesn't bother me, but I think it might eventually. I don't really care what it means or implies, but having everyone call you "nice person! nice person!" repeatedly every time they saw you would get annoying too.
Mephloquine: This is the malaria prophylaxis most of us get. Not only does it keep you from getting malaria almost 100%, but it also can - and does for me and a few others - cause some pretty gnarly dreams. One of the highlights of the morning when we arrive at training is to share our sweet meph-dreams with everyone. It isn't that the dreams are particularly awesome in anyway, but they are incredibly vivid and real. For instance, a few nights ago I dreamt that Sam Malone and I were going from village to village building a "Cheers" in each one as an economic development project and to boost general morale. Sam was really convinced this would turn Uganda around and get it on the right track. He was incredibly convicting and by the time I woke up I was designating a "Norm" in each village. Even after I woke up I was still completely on board with this idea. I pitched it to the Peace Corps staff and they aren't going for it yet, but I'm working on it. Unfortunately, not everyone gets to have awesome dreams of building Boston style pubs in Uganda to boost the economy. Some people have been having some pretty terrible nightmares about being paralyzed and with bugs crawling all over them. If it keeps up then they get switched to doxy which doesn't have such side effects, but will inhibit your ability to tan. So it’s up to you which you can handle the best. If you stop taking both however, the PC will give you the boot.
Home stay: I am living with a Muslim family and they are incredible. The husband and wife work in the capital city (45 min to 4 hr commute depending on traffic), the three year old son is staying with a relative until May (it is really common to send your kids to live with extended family for months at a time), the 1.5 year old is home all day with the maid, and the father's youngest sister is in elementary school so she lives with us as well so that she can go to a good school. I play with the 1.5 year old toddler, Papa, a lot but he doesn't talk yet. He is really lively and fun but pees on everything and everyone. The elementary school girl, Aisha, is very quiet so we don't interact much. The maid, Auntie, isn't very good at English and I am terrible with Luganda, so I practice basic phrases with her and vice versa. My home stay mom is younger than me so I call her sister. Her name is Sarah and she is awesome. She has an elementary education degree and a certificate in basic computer use. She doesn't teach because teachers here don't make squat for pay, if they get paid. So she works for a shipping company doing invoices and such. Her English is excellent and she is incredibly open about everything. Religion, politics, economics, sex, culture, music, love, racism, and anything else under the sun is easily and candidly discussed with her. She is incredibly progressive and a hoot and a half to talk with about anything. I am extremely lucky to be placed in her home. Her husband is also very "modern" but he is really quiet and doesn't get home until 10:30 at night so we don't talk much. Sister gets home around 7:30 so I get to talk with her while supper is cooking. I will try to borrow a video camera and get some shots of her and my home stay house.
That really sums up all the important things for the time being. I will be happy to answer questions and such whenever I get the chance. I will also reply to any mail I receive, but it takes about 4-6 weeks for it to arrive in Uganda. My address for the time being is:
David Weldon
Peace Corps Volunteer
PO Box 29348
Kampala
Uganda
However, if you send anything there it needs to leave by April 21. After that you will need to send it to my site address which I don't have yet, but I will let you all know as soon as I do. Thanks for reading and I will post more exciting stuff when it happens/I get a chance to write.
In peace, love, and life
David
I arrived in Philly and spent Monday night at a very nice hotel, compliments of your tax dollars. The next day our PC (Peace Corps) training was to begin. This is kind of a big deal because once I signed on the dotted line the PC officially became responsible for me. This means I am on their dollar and under their health insurance. What a relief. However, this little celebration was shortly lived. My fellow PCT's (Peace Corps Trainees) and I were informed that "the great snowapocolypse of 2010" was about to descend upon us. So we quickly checked out of that hotel, drove from Philly to NYC and stayed in a hotel near JFK airport. So the afternoon we were supposed to spend going over logistics, how not to get lost, and meeting everyone was spent scrambling to beat the snow. Don't worry; it all came out well in the end. We made our flight the next morning and in 15 short hours we were landing in Johannesburg South Africa. A short layover with the Spring Boks and then a quick four hour flight later found us in Entebbe Uganda.
We were greeted very warmly, both by the weather and the people. We drove to Lweza training center just outside of the capital city of Kampala and then collapsed into our dormitory style housing for a much needed nights rest. The next three days were three quick jabs of Luganda language sessions, getting to know one another, and meeting staff and other PCV's (Peace Corps Volunteers). I had the opportunity to go to Mass on Sunday with some other PCT's. What an experience. Drums, singing, smiles, enthusiasm galore. It was all in Luganda, but we could follow the structure as that is the same everywhere. Our short bout in Lweza was cleaned up by a stiff right hook taking us on a tour through Kampala, the capital city. What an amazing place. I hope I never have to go back there again. I don't even like cities in the US, so this amalgamation of shops, taxies, boda boda (motorcycles), bicycles, and masses upon masses of people left me ill to say the least. I did get a pretty nice shirt though for about $10 dollars. It is hard to describe what it looks like, so I will have to borrow a camera and post a picture. I also purchased some toilet paper which we were advised to bring with us when we travel as many latrines don't have toilet paper supplied.
Monday found us driving to Wakiso town to meet our home stay families. We waited at the RACO training center for the families to arrive. One by one, like puppies in a box on the corner, we were claimed and found a home... except me. After a few hours of watching each PCT greet his or her home stay mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, grandmothers, and so on I was still left all alone. Then sitting by myself I was informed that my home stay mother was on her way from Kampala. I was still high on being in Uganda and so any amount of waiting wasn't going to bother me. Finally, my home stay mother arrived. I had been practicing my Luganda introduction for the last few hours so I was all ready to use it. However, when I put out my hand and began saying hello, I was promptly stopped by a quick slap to knock my hand out of the way so that she could give me a great big hug. I don't know who was more excited, not that it mattered. Our introduction was enthusiastic and warm.
Our first week in our home stay was filled with sessions on culture, government structure, education, economy, history and other such topics. Not always that exciting, but interesting none the less. Then at the end of the week we were finally told our region of service within Uganda. This was very exciting as it not only gave us some idea of where we were going, but also what language we would be learning to use as our staple. The Luganda we had learned early was just enough to greet people, bargain for prices and ask for directions for when we are in central Uganda and the capital city. Not all of Uganda speaks Luganda, hence the need for learning our regional language. Our regions were decided for us based on our qualifications, interests, and two interviews we had shortly after arriving. During my interview I requested to be as rural as possible. I asked to be sent to the place no one else wants to go to because it is so far out in the bush. It just so happens that they have several secondary schools in the Acholi region which are very far out in the bush and all in desperate need of teachers. I don't know to which village I am going specifically, but I will be in the Acholi speaking area along with four of my fellow PCT's. The Acholi region is in the far north central near Sudan. There are four districts in that region that speak Acholi: Kitgum (farthest north, bordering Sudan), Pader (just south of Kitgum), Gulu (where the largest city in the north is), and Amorro (north west, closest to the Nile). I don't know which district I will be in either, but I am guessing Kitgum. This area of Uganda is sub Sahara, so it has a wet season and a dry season. It is generally hotter and more arid than the rest of the country with a few small mountains and many flood plains. I can't wait to get there.
The past few weeks have been comprised mostly of language sessions in the morning, then tea around 10:00, then a technical or cultural session until 1:00 or so. Lunch is spent talking with each other, eating, laughing, joking, bitching, and the like. After lunch we usually have more specific sessions/lectures. We generally divide up into our three groups: Secondary Education (teaching high school level kids), Primary Educations (teaching soon-to-be teachers at a teachers college), and CHED (Community Health and Economic Development). I am going to be a Secondary School teacher, teaching math and physics. Then from lunch until about 5:00 we are in our groups working on technical training such as how to write on chalk boards, how to interact with students, how to make lesson plans and other such things. Then from training we generally do whatever. Some go to the local "joints" as they are called for a cold bottle of something up lifting, others go for a walk/run, some play sports out in one of the fields, and some go home. It just depends on what you are in the mood for that day and what is going on with other folks. I have the farthest walk/bike ride to training, about 5k (3 mi) so I have little motivation to exercise when I am already sweating through my shirt twice a day. So I either go home, or stop to hang out at one of the pubs. I gave up booze for lent, but it is still fun to shoot the proverbial breeze with friends. On Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday the church choir practices so one of my colleagues and I go to practice with them. It has been a lot of fun singing with them. We have learned a couple songs in Luganda, one in Swahili, and my friend brought her Gather book so we have been using that to teach the Ugandans some songs as well. They really like Agnus Dei and Holy Holy Holy Lord. Then after practice or the pub I have to hurry home because we are supposed to be back by dark. It isn't safe for Muzungus (white people) to be out at night. This wouldn't be bad except we are on the equator so it is twilight by 7:00 pm and completely dark by 7:30 pm. So that really only gives us a two hours of free time each evening. At home we are expected to help with chores, do our laundry, mop our floor, shine our shoes, do home work, eat and/or visit with our home stay family.
Saturdays are usually half days. On one we went to learn how to build a compost pit, an elevated garden, and plant vegetables. It wasn't too different from what we do in the states except they have an all year growing season. So it is kind of like planning for a green house. Then on Sundays we are left on our own. I go to 7:00 am mass and get home around 9:30 or 10:00, (masses last a lot longer here because not only is the homily longer, but then at the close of mass the deacon reads all the announcements that would be in the bulletin because they don't have one). Then I do laundry for the week, mop my floor again, shine my boots, and then help my family with chores/learn how to do chores. Most of the cleaning stuff was fairly easy to learn, but the cooking is not going to so smoothly. Everything is cooked over charcoal on these little mobile clay stoves. I'll post pictures when I get the chance. So because of my lack of heat control I end up burning a lot of stuff.
Ok, now I have divided my thoughts up by subject rather than chronologically so forgive me if things get confusing.
Food: Breakfast is light, generally some bread, a hardboiled egg, and maybe some fruit and of course tea. The tea is pretty good, but surprisingly the coffee is instant, cheap, and crappy even though it is a main export. Morning tea is usually really good, but light. We have somosas (kind of like the innards of a potpie folded into a triangular eggroll shell), French toast egg sandwich things, cassava fries, popcorn, or g-nuts (pea nuts, but they refer to them as ground nuts as they come from the ground, hence the contraction g-nut). Lunch is also good, but that is because the PC provides it. There is almost always matoke, another starch, meat sauce, g-nut sauce, vegetable, and fresh fruit. The dinner here generally consists of a starch, a protein sauce, and then sometimes a vegetable. The starch is almost always matoke. Let me tell out about matoke. It looks like a green banana, and is in the banana family like a plantain. It is always steamed, usually in banana leaves, mashed, and generally tasteless. It is pretty calorie dense, but after being steamed it is almost completely void of any nutrition. You need to slather it in the protein sauce to make it edible because it is pretty dry and solid even though it is steamed. Sweet potatoes are also a staple, though they are not the orange ones you are used to. They are more of a white color with a purplish skin. They also are not nearly as sweet. Irish potatoes, or "Irish" as they are called, are also served from time to time, but not very often except for lunch because the PC knows we like them, especially mashed. Rice is very common and is always white and steamed. They also have cassava, generally diced up and boiled. Again, it is generally tasteless and needs lots of sauce. Finally there is posho. This is the hardest of all for us Americans to choke down. It is bleached corn flour mixed with water and then steamed. It is absolutely tasteless, dry (almost chalky) and really hard to swallow even when soaked in sauce. I eat them all of course because I want to adapt as quickly as possible so that I can be accepted into my community, but it is still hard. Then the sauce is usually a meat that has been boiled until it is soft and reasonably chewable, along with some onions, maybe some peas or carrots too. G-nut sauce is ground g-nuts boiled into a thick sauce, it is ok. My favorite however, is the bean sauce which is like pork and beans minus the pork. It usually has some onions, carrots and a few greens in it too. The vegetables aren't too bad. Usually steamed or sometimes made into a soup. Spices are not used here very much at all. Salt and pepper seldom grace the table and I have never seen anyone put any kind of herb or spice in the food while cooking it, nor have I tasted anything of the like. So the food at most meals is bland at best. However, the street food is pretty tasty. They sell stuff called roll eggs or rolex. It is basically a flour tortilla fried and then rolled up with a tomato, cabbage, and onion omelet. They are greasy and delicious. All of that really isn't anything too exciting; however the fruit here is amazing. I have had some of the sweetest pineapple, jack fruit, mangos, avocadoes, and papayas of my life here. Last weekend we made guacamole with huge avocadoes, fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, and some really tiny local peppers that are about as hot as a habanera. Unfortunately, most people here consider fruit as a treat and produce as a once or twice a week side dish. Both are incredibly cheap and rich in vitamins, but they don't fill you up so people prefer nutritionally void starches. People are changing, but slowly.
Currency: They use the Ugandan shilling (USh). The conversion rate is about $1 USD to 2,000 USh. To give you some reference, a pair of cheap plastic sandals cost me 3,000 USh and a roll of toilet paper is 350 USh. A pineapple is about 1,000 USh, and one of the rolexes I was talking about is around 500 USh. Food and beer are cheap and technology is relatively expensive.
Travel: Most travel is done by matatu. These are about the size of VW mini buses and hold between 9 and 15 people depending upon how many the driver can squeeze into the seats. These are generally used to get from one town to the next, so you just ask the driver where he is headed next then wait till the taxi is full. You get to your destination, and then pay and you are good to go. These are usually for relatively short distances, less than 20 mi. For longer trips like going to the north, there are coach busses, or mail busses. Roughly the same price as the matatu, slower, but much more comfortable.
Mud: In the town of Wakiso, there one paved road and it goes to the capital. The rest are red dirt roads and are about the same as what you would expect in Georgia... 100 years ago. The roads are dirt and clay and do not have good drainage at all, so during the rainy season there are lakes in the low spots and ravines on hilly roads. The clay has this awesome effect of causing a nice slick, thin layer on top of the road so that it is relatively firm, but as slippery as greased ice. This isn't that bad except we are expected to dress "smartly" for training. After one day of walking my pants were completely red from the knee down as were most of my colleagues. The Ugandans however, miraculously only had a few small splashes here and there around the cuff. Then next day I tried my bicycle and the result was only slightly better. The mud has so much clay in it that is will stick to the tires and actually clog up around the fender and brake locking up your bike. This resulted in less total pant leg coverage and more giant chunks of clay all over the inside of my pant legs. I don't know how the Ugandans do it.
Dress: We are expected to dress "smartly" for training. For guys this means trousers (dress pants or slacks), button down shirt, and shined shoes. For girls this is a nice blouse with at minimum of short sleeves (no sleeveless-ness), a long skirt (at least knee length when sitting), a slip, and nice shoes or dressy sandals. Ugandans put a lot of emphasis on your dress as it reflects how important the person you are meeting is. If you dress "shabby" then it means the person you are meeting isn't very important to you. I personally think they put far too much effort and emphasis on protocol and not enough on substance, but I am trying to keep an open mind.
Muzungus: This is a Luganda word barrowed from the Swahili word mzungu which means traveler. However, this has come to mean white person almost exclusively. So every day I walk out of my house I have little kids barely able to talk shouting "Bye muzungu! Bye muzungu!" almost in a chant. It is pretty ridiculous how small these kids are and yet they are shouting at us as we walk down the road. Most children don't learn English until they get to primary school (elementary school), yet they know how to say "Hi muzungu!", "Bye muzungu!" (much more common), "Muzungu, how are you?" (some of the older toddlers). It still doesn't bother me, but I think it might eventually. I don't really care what it means or implies, but having everyone call you "nice person! nice person!" repeatedly every time they saw you would get annoying too.
Mephloquine: This is the malaria prophylaxis most of us get. Not only does it keep you from getting malaria almost 100%, but it also can - and does for me and a few others - cause some pretty gnarly dreams. One of the highlights of the morning when we arrive at training is to share our sweet meph-dreams with everyone. It isn't that the dreams are particularly awesome in anyway, but they are incredibly vivid and real. For instance, a few nights ago I dreamt that Sam Malone and I were going from village to village building a "Cheers" in each one as an economic development project and to boost general morale. Sam was really convinced this would turn Uganda around and get it on the right track. He was incredibly convicting and by the time I woke up I was designating a "Norm" in each village. Even after I woke up I was still completely on board with this idea. I pitched it to the Peace Corps staff and they aren't going for it yet, but I'm working on it. Unfortunately, not everyone gets to have awesome dreams of building Boston style pubs in Uganda to boost the economy. Some people have been having some pretty terrible nightmares about being paralyzed and with bugs crawling all over them. If it keeps up then they get switched to doxy which doesn't have such side effects, but will inhibit your ability to tan. So it’s up to you which you can handle the best. If you stop taking both however, the PC will give you the boot.
Home stay: I am living with a Muslim family and they are incredible. The husband and wife work in the capital city (45 min to 4 hr commute depending on traffic), the three year old son is staying with a relative until May (it is really common to send your kids to live with extended family for months at a time), the 1.5 year old is home all day with the maid, and the father's youngest sister is in elementary school so she lives with us as well so that she can go to a good school. I play with the 1.5 year old toddler, Papa, a lot but he doesn't talk yet. He is really lively and fun but pees on everything and everyone. The elementary school girl, Aisha, is very quiet so we don't interact much. The maid, Auntie, isn't very good at English and I am terrible with Luganda, so I practice basic phrases with her and vice versa. My home stay mom is younger than me so I call her sister. Her name is Sarah and she is awesome. She has an elementary education degree and a certificate in basic computer use. She doesn't teach because teachers here don't make squat for pay, if they get paid. So she works for a shipping company doing invoices and such. Her English is excellent and she is incredibly open about everything. Religion, politics, economics, sex, culture, music, love, racism, and anything else under the sun is easily and candidly discussed with her. She is incredibly progressive and a hoot and a half to talk with about anything. I am extremely lucky to be placed in her home. Her husband is also very "modern" but he is really quiet and doesn't get home until 10:30 at night so we don't talk much. Sister gets home around 7:30 so I get to talk with her while supper is cooking. I will try to borrow a video camera and get some shots of her and my home stay house.
That really sums up all the important things for the time being. I will be happy to answer questions and such whenever I get the chance. I will also reply to any mail I receive, but it takes about 4-6 weeks for it to arrive in Uganda. My address for the time being is:
David Weldon
Peace Corps Volunteer
PO Box 29348
Kampala
Uganda
However, if you send anything there it needs to leave by April 21. After that you will need to send it to my site address which I don't have yet, but I will let you all know as soon as I do. Thanks for reading and I will post more exciting stuff when it happens/I get a chance to write.
In peace, love, and life
David
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Encryption
I'm trying to figure out how to add password protected information. The Peace Corps (from here on out will be known as PC) doesn't like addresses, locations, times and dates events, and other such information publicly accessible on the interwebs. So lets see. My current address is:
You have to email me for the password.
This is all thanks to this website and the instructions found here.
I had to do this because unfortunately blogspot.com doesn't have the option to password protect parts of my blog.
You have to email me for the password.
This is all thanks to this website and the instructions found here.
I had to do this because unfortunately blogspot.com doesn't have the option to password protect parts of my blog.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Figuring out blogging
I'm trying to get the hang of this so cut me some slack. I'll add a picture of me as soon as I get an idea of what typing is like.
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