Bushenyi, My Kind of Town

Nka wareeba for not writing in sooooo long. I have been a busy lady over here.

I have found out my site. I will be living in Bushenyi for the next two years teaching Biology and Computers at Bweranyange Girls Secondary School! Very very exciting. It is an all girls school of 1,500 great and very excited students. It is the most beautiful, large campus in the southwest set among the hills. It is a public school that still gets a lot of input from the Anglican church. The buildings there are really clean and large. The school also has one of the best futbol pitches I have seen in Uganda, I can not wait to play! The staff here is awesome. There will be about 70 of us all together ranging from all ages and backgrounds. I am their first volunteer of any sorts, so it should be exciting to get some good cross culture exchange in.

I will be living on the campus in my own "little" house. AKA I have a mansion! Unbelievable. It is a three bedroom house with electricity and running water. I have a living room/dining room as well, which has a fireplace! I have two kitchens, two sinks and huge closets in them. My head mistress, Mrs. Jennifer, is amazing, she has furnished my whole house. I have two sets of couches and chairs, a full sized dining room table with chairs and a desk in my living room. My bedroom has a bed, mosquito net and a sink. The other two bedrooms have beds in them already. My bathroom has a toilet, sink and a tub! Luxury I am telling you! She also fully stocked my kitchen with pots, pans, dishes, silverware and food! I am going to be living a pretty cush life for the next two years. Almost like I'll be back in America! I forgot to get a PO Box when I was there, so I will get it first thing when I go back to let everyone know. The Post in Bushenyi works really well and volunteers get their packages in about 2-3 weeks is all! Pretty Excite about that.

the front of my lovely abode

the fireplace in my living room, ya a fireplace

view of our hills from my site

 I was able to cook the third night I stayed at my site and it was dericious!! We made everything from scratch. The only pain was cleaning because I forgot to get a rag or a brush! Oops, but I will get that when I go back to site. I can't wait to start to decorate my house when I get back to make it my own. It will start with a nice huge self portrait of Mister Daniel Koza above my fireplace. It will be pretty bodacious.

my first meal at my house, guacamole, salsa, chapatti, spaghetti and alfredo (ALL home made and from scratch, even the cheese! Amazing meal too!)

rolling out some homemade chapatti

Speaking of making it my own, I AM GETTING A DOG! One of the Peace Corps Trainee's home-stay dogs had a litter. I got first pick and he is the runt and adorable. I have already named him Ninija Tambura (I will walk with you), Tamby for short! (Or Ninja according to Galen.) He is black and tan and super duper cute. I am sure my boys at home can't wait to meet him. Haha, specially Beast, she loves new dogs in her life. But they will have to wait two years. It was a quick decision for me, of course. It will be perfect for my large house and my back yard. Mrs. Jennifer was a little nervous because it will be the first dog at the school, but she is already like my mom and I am sure she will fall in love with him. I think it is going to be great working at the school and living there to be able to take him out whenever and the hills are going to be amazing to hike in!

I will be living really close to two amazing people, Emily and Ryan. They are working at the primary teaching college down the road. They are also excited for me to get Tamby and said we will coordinate trips to leave at different times to always have someone watching him. Their site is amazing too, so we will be frequently hanging out together when we need group dates. Also including Gene, our momma of the Southwest. She is awesome!

I have been having an amazing time in Uganda. I love my host-family more than ever. They make me feel so warm and welcomed! I also spend a lot of time with Galen's host-family. He has four amazing sisters (3 that I have met) which are all around my age. Ephy, Angela and Amandah. I call and talk to them basically everyday, so I am now their sister and I feel they will be some of my closest friends. We all go to the beach, shopping and out at night together. (The picture below, they played dress up with me, kinda fun and different!) I am going to be in Ephy's introduction ceremony and the wedding. She surprised me the other day with that news. I will be going to get fit for my dress tomorrow! She has two little ones, Nichole and Nicholas. They are cute as buttons and will be totally naughty because we all spoil them. It is so easy to do though. Galen's house is always bustling with a lot of people and I really feel at home there. They have taken me as one of their own. It is really fun to talk with them and exchange our different points of view. We are all really open and honest, so it makes for great conversations.

Mister Galen and our little ones, Nichole and Nicholas/Punchoo

my other sisters, Ephy and Angela

We were a very fortunate group that we got to be part of the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary! It was a great time. Almost the whole PCV Uganda crew was able to show up to the event weekend. We all went to the school next to Lweza and did a bunch of activities. I was playing soccer all day with the students. Pretty awesome if you ask me! Other people painted, made a garden, taught life skills, fixed their water system, built a rocket stove and cleaned up the school. We capped off the night with an awesome reception/dance party at Lubowa Gardens down the road. I love our Peace Corps group. Everyone here is amazing! I can't wait to travel around the country to see everyone's sites and the spectacular views that Uganda has to offer.

most of Peace Corps Uganda

I am taking my language test this Friday and swearing in next week. I can't be more ready and excited for this. I want to go to site and jump in with both feet and make a difference. I know we shouldn't expect much, but it is so hard not to get ahead of myself. Something I will be definitely be working on. I will have internet at my house so hopefully I will update this more, because I really know I am forgetting to add things. Again, write me if you have questions so I can let everyone know! I love it here, and can't wait for people to come and visit. So start getting your itineraries together!

Here's a link to our PC video for the 50th Anniversary. I am interviewed in it! If you can't get to the site, I will try to get a copy sent to me of it from Rebecca. She worked so hard at it, I think she did a wonderful job!

50th Anniversary Video (curtesy of Rebecca)

Love and Kisses! Bail