Ugandan Hospitality

I feel very privileged to live where I do. I am in a country that has 40+ languages, but for everyone to communicate across the country they speak bits and pieces of English. I lucked out, because language is an Achilles heel for me. My first month at site is all about integrating into your community, no classes, workshops or students at my campus. The days can be long and lonely because the campus is dead and everyone including the faculty leave and we are pretty isolated back in the hills of Bushenyi district. But I have been able to walk/hike around with Tamby, help coach our girls futbol team, visit fellow PCVs and make a lot of art for my house.

I have been able to visit with a lot of Ugandan neighbors on my hikes and I even attempt to speak to them in local language. They normally repeat my response in English or respond to me in English. It will be a work in progress. I was able to go to Reumah's family's house for Easter and sit and talk to them for hours about differences in America and Uganda. Her family is very well educated and a lot of the discussion was about how the school system here makes it difficult for the students to succeed because of money issues, lack of quality teachers and all the education being taught is straight memorization and regurgitation. I really did not want to leave their house that night, but luckily they live down the street from campus and they invited me back whenever I would like.  Before we left they loaded me up with papaya, passion fruit and oranges. It was incredible to see a family so sweet to me, when they had met me for the very first time.

I also have gotten to know my next door neighbor, Peruth and her three children really well. They are one of the only families left on campus because she still has some work to do on next term's curriculum. The first day that we interacted I was washing clothes out on my back porch and she approached me and told me that I was going with her to her village. (They don't really ask you to join them here, they just tell you that you will be going with and you can't really say no.) I was in the middle of doing my laundry, but I am not the biggest fan of doing it, so I gladly set it aside to soak for the day, jumped in the shower and headed off with her family into the bush. (Bush is the term we use here for the villages and sites that people get when they are extremely far off the well beaten path and not really close to other civilization.) Apparently the family was having a get together for her sister's post wedding ceremony and there was about 20 of us there. I was greeted very warmly when I walked into the house, but unfortunately with being far away from many other Ugandans, they did not speak much English. The conversation was pretty sparse, but I interjected and asked questions when I could with them. I basically got to sit all day and watch how families interact here. They are very family oriented and of course the elders are held with upmost respect. Like all other Ugandans I have met, they tried to over feed me, and looked at me with a funny face when I couldn't finish my ginormous plate filled with matoke, rice, millet poshoe, veggies and meet sauce. I am in the land of dairy apparently, and they tried to feed me some sort of cream, but the smell of it didn't sit right with me so I let that sit next to my plate and just moved around the hard chunks that were in it to make it look like I at least tasted it. (Maybe it was rude, but Ugandans don't have a sense of time, so the last thing I wanted to do is get an upset stomach or get sick and have no where to relieve myself in privacy. I think I made the right decision, because they met me for the first time and I was there until 8.) Again before I left the family embraced me with hugs and talked to Peruth how I was the most lively and talkative person they had met and were very persistent on me coming back the next time she came back to visit. I had to laugh, because I didn't really say more than 3 sentences at a time, but I got the Ugandan "mmhmm" down which lets them know you are listening (even though I didn't really understand a word). Once back home, Peruth kept telling me how I was too skinny and her goal was to fatten me up before I went back to the states so my family could be proud to have a "large" sister. She is very sarcastic (like most Ugandans) so I get to tease her in my responses, but I think she will have a hard time getting to eat a lot of local food. She still wakes me up almost every morning to have porridge with her family and invites me over frequently for lunch or dinner if I am not already cooking. My goal is to have her and her family get used to and even like Tamby by the end of my 2 years. She seems doubtful, but I see her grin every once in awhile when Tamby takes off running and gets caught up with his large paws and lanky legs and tumbles over himself. I think I will win her over for sure when he is finally trained, but it is going to take awhile, because he is a pretty naughty rambunctious puppy.

Tamby hunting insects

Tamby is a true puppy and I love almost every minute of it. I have gotten to experience what it is like to have a pet in another country, and it is a lot more challenging than back in America where we actually like them. I made sure I picked a dog that would get into everything, chew on absolutely anything in site and contract almost every puppy disease. First thing I got to do was get rid of his fleas, and he now hates bathes. (Not much different than Nanuq back home though.) Then, lucky me, I got to wake up in the middle of the night with worms next to me that were exiting his rear. (Graphic I know, but this was what I got to deal with in the middle of the night.) Of course, naturally, I freaked out. I stripped off all my sheets and threw them into bleach and the next day completely bleached the floors in every room. I examined, like the true scientist in me, what was being left behind. I soon figured out he made sure he got two different types of worms, roundworms and tapeworms. Fortunately other volunteers have dogs here and I was going into Mbarara for a trip to see everyone the next day that I was able to buy a bunch of deworming medicine. He was cleared up within 2 days and we haven't had any problems sense. (Thank you John for sending me more, I am very sure he will get infected in the future, it's Uganda!) He is now getting nice and plump and he is actually being trained quite easily. He already knows how to walk on his leash, so I am able to take him into town. Now other Ugandans get to see how to treat their pets, while I get to work on cross-cultural exchange. Of course, in the demanding style that Ugandans like to give, they get excited when they see him walk on a leash next to me and insist that I give them my dog.  I grin and say no, but tell them how easy it is to do and that the reason that most people have dogs everywhere else is that they are companion animals. So far it goes over their head because they like them as guard dogs as they tell me, but I am sure I will eventually win them over as well. He is a cuddle monster and sleeps right by my neck most nights and always wants to be on my lap. That will have to change as soon as he gains a couple two-shree more pounds.. Unless he just pretends he is a small dog, we'll have to wait and see. (Quite the opposite of my small dogs at home that have Napoleon complex. Humorous to say the least.) We are now working on the word "no". Baby steps for sure!

The only problem with Tamby is that he doesn't catch mice. So Ash has made a nice little nest in my house and comes out to test out my kitchen every night. I don't have the heart to kill him, so we have tried to block off the holes that he enters through. That didn't work so well, so we had to submit and get a mouse trap but he was too smart and continued to eat the peanut butter off the trap and just go back home to take a nap. Considering how much I enjoy my peanut butter and that it is a hot commodity I am not trying to use that anymore. Eventually, when Galen was over, Ash came out durning the time we were cooking dinner in the kitchen, and Galen was subjected to catching him. I really wished I video taped the whole ordeal, because all three of us looked like a circus. I was laughing hysterically the whole time. We did catch him despite all of our antics, and being animal lovers we released him out in the field far away from the house. He of course new exactly where my house was and that I was a very nice person that would feed him and make him nice and plump, that he just marched right back to my house. I found him when I came back from Fort Portal just staring at me from the door way. He took the stuffing from the wholes to make a nice cushy nest and proceeded to jump on my head to escape right back up the pipe. I now have a bruised bum and almost broke my wrist while taking all the skin off my elbows. I didn't think I could get that scared from a mouse trying to tell me hello and thank you. I either have to learn to live with him or get angry enough to get someone over here to kill him. I haven't decided what to do, because he is pretty darn cute.

Crested Crane

We were able to hike up into the mountains and see the beautiful country. It made me smile and truly realize that I am in Africa now. It was a fun little journey which included many attempts to talk to local people and to meet many passing cows and goats. (Chels, you would have died.) The best people to attempt to talk to are the elders because they get so excited that you are trying to learn their language. The only problem with this in the bush is that they speak very broken if any English. So the conversations are pretty one sided after you say everything you know. This trip was especially exciting, because one of the ladies persisted on taking us back to her house to meet her family. I of course said yes because any opportunity to meet and greet more people and learn about the lifestyles here is awesome. And I am so glad I did! We went back to her farm and met her cute kids and neighbors and then she walked us around all her acres of matoke plants. I got to see every type of plant/ crop that grows here and got to pet some really cute empunu (pigs). She gave me a ton of avocados (which aren't cheap), green peppers, hot peppers and coffee beans. What also made it a great experience was making them laugh at how silly Americans can be. When you are handed food from someones farm, you are supposed to eat it, right? Well Galen made sure he did just that, so when it came time to the hot peppers he just popped them in his month and preceded to cry. They went hysterical. It was beyond amusing. But I couldn't believe it. I was about to cry from being over joyed with how hospitable the people are here, it makes me so happy to be chosen to live in Uganda, let alone Bushenyi. I told her a million wabares and told her I would come back with Tea one time so we can sit and attempt to have an Uganglish conversation. This has been how everyone has treated me, and I can't wait to take that back to the States with me, because I do believe that it is something lacking in our culture. Not often do we see a stranger and embrace them with open arms and invite them into our houses and feed them. It is a humbling experience.

Mean looking baboon!

Last weekend I got to visit Fort Portal which is north of Queen Elizabeth National Park and I have gotten to check more animals off my list! I got to see me a lot of cobb, water buffalo and some baboons! We saved chimp tracking for another adventure. Fort Portal is beautiful, almost just as beautiful as Bushenyi. ;) I was told by the DPP of Canon Apolo PTC that I needed to stay up there, which I am debating after eating the dericous pizza that they had in town! I got to meet some AIDS patients and hear their stories and see the excitement in their eyes when we sat down to talk to them. I also got to see all the beautiful artwork that they do, and I can't wait to go up there again, with money this time, to help donate to their cause. Fort Portal is a touristy kind of town, so there was a lot of things to do, but unfortunately a lot of places to get the muzungo price! The ride back to my site by myself was much more interesting.

A 4 hour trip turned into a 7.5 hour trip of pure excitement. (Heavy sarcasm..) The second taxi I got in shoved 30+ people and some chickens into a vehicle that should fit 14. It started to rain so all the windows had to be shut, and then we stopped so people could buy fish from the market. So, just think of all those beautiful smells mingling about in the air. (And some Ugandans don't smell the best, to say the least.) Also, because we were packed too full, the conductor had to hold the door shut because it wouldn't completely shut and we had to drive extra slow. My driver was a shadey dude in the first place and it got later confirmed. We made sure we still tried to pick up more passengers on our way home and every time we stopped the driver got out to go do some side business somewhere. So stops that would take 2 minutes took 10. Then when we got to a traffic police stop our driver got arrested for bad insurance, and over packing the vehicle. Again, because there are 40+ languages here I didn't understand a word that was being said. But I did notice that my driver and the conductor disappeared. Eventually all the passengers got out and they impounded the taxi. I was beyond irritated at this time because it was reaching dusk and I knew that morning that I left with plenty of time to get home, but I was getting nervous. Eventually I was able to find someone who spoke some English to help me out and get into another taxi home. But as we were taking off, shortly down the road we stopped when we were flagged down by the conductor. He tried to get money from the passengers he recognized in another language and than looked at me and told me I owed him 5000. I of course refused to pay. I was not in the best mood, so I wasn't really being nice about it at this point. It got into a little bit of a heated argument and I finally won when I got through his head that I wasn't going to pay for a ride, where they got arrested, which wasn't my fault and they never got me to my destination. There was some exchange between the two conductors and we finally took off. I then recognized some Runyankore and heard them trying to charge me 8000. I was fed up and put my foot down and told them that I wasn't a stupid muzungo and I wasn't going to be over charged. This taxi was only getting 5000 if that for their services and if they didn't like it I would call someone and get it taken care of. I got a couple cheers from the ladies in the taxi and the men finally left me alone. Taxi and bodda drivers are a rare breed, but don't get me wrong, most of them are really nice. I was bound to get my one ride that was going to be a pain in the rear. So is life!

But I am more than excited that students are coming back in a little bit to bring some more life to campus. I get to go on a field trip with one of the classes to Queen Elizabeth and I am already trying to join in to lead a bunch of the clubs. This term is all about the arts, so hopefully I can have Chelsey channel me and I can help out a bunch.  With no one here, I am not sure how to get my packages, but people are arriving back this week. So I am very much looking forward to receiving them! A BIG thank you to everyone who has already sent them. Makes me so warm inside!

New ideas:
Powdered juice drinks! (Country Time lemonade is the best!)
Baking mixes (Brownies, cake, cornbread, ect.)
Canned/preserved meats
Nuts/snack food
Seeds for planting (Flower, sweet corn/food, herb, ect.)

Thought for the day from Bweranyangi:
Sow to Reap