So, unsurprisingly, there is a lot to talk about. I’ve been in country now for two weeks and though a lot has happened at the same time not much has. As some of you may know, my very first day in country was also my birthday. There was an attempt to get an announcement made on the airplane and to send me champagne, but Air Brussels flight attendants are not as reliable as they pretend to be. I was getting my passport stamped in Entebbe as the clock struck 12 on August 9. It was a very long day because we drove from the airport to our hotel/resort where there was tea waiting for us. We stayed up until 1:30am then went to bed only to wake up at 7 to begin training. We went to bed around 11 pm and by the end of the day we were all ready to stop caring about me specifically. It was a good day. After a few days in Entebbe we went to Luweero to begin our official training. So far so good, it’s been two weeks and all I will say about that is that I am learning a lot, both about Uganda and about the US. I am learning Lumasaba which is a Bantu language spoken in districts near the border with Kenya. I’ve been told that the language manual that we are given by the Peace Corps is one of the only places you will find the language written. I think that’s pretty neat, though may not be useful later in life. Or maybe it will be, who knows.
In Luweero I, with the help of my friend Diana, have begun our first secondary project. It’s a journal club for those of us in our groups that want to be good a journaling but find that we don’t do it. Mostly it’s an excuse to go to a bar and have focused conversation. And no, there are no Ugandans in the group. Baby steps.
Now I am in the southwest in a village near a town call Bushyeni in Mbarara on my volunteer. Every step of the trip has increased my faith in cars and the ability of people to fit in small places. From Luweero to Kampala we were in a cab that looks like a VW bus. We managed to fit 16 people in that. I thought that was pretty impressive, but it was nothing like what I just rode in to get to this town. The taxi driver fit 9 peoplein a late 1980s or early 90s Toyota corona we traveled on a road that I would have been uncomfortable taking a Range Rover on. The cabbie drove fast and it was a hoot. It seems like if I am ever bored here I can now know a cheap way to get a thrill.
This place is very nice and it many parts of it feel familiar. Luweero is not the nicest place in the world, but it reminds me a lot of Argentina. There are many parts of Uganda that remind me of Argentina. In the southwest it looks like northern Spain, which is my favorite part of that country. It is green and lush with rolling hills. I took pictures of that and of the car we fit nice people in but I don’t think I will get to put that on now. The windmills are missing, the roads are not as nice and the people look a little different, but the countryside it familiar and that is comforting in a way.
Also, not everything is great. The kids here have a habit of shouting "Hi Muzungu" everytime you walk by. At first you feel like a celebrity and everything is gravy, but lately it's been frustrating. Diana (whatareugandado.blogspot.com) described it perfectly by comparing it to kids in america shouting "cow!" everytime you pass a cow. But instead of that cow being in a field in the country imagine it alone by a freeway. Uganda's median age is 14.9 years so there are a lot of kids shouting. I'll get used to it I know, but it makes me want to move to a remote village rather than a city. That, and the beds are uncomfortable.
That is all for now. If you were waiting for that entry, sorry. I get frustrated with dialup and people always seems to be ahead of me. I will try to do it more, it just takes a lot of effort. I don't have pictures up yet, but there are pictures of me on Renee's blog. go to www.peacecorpsjournals.com/ug.html and look at the "living life and loving it" blog.
Para mis tios, primos y mis abuelos: lo estoy pasando muy bien y conociendo gente nueva. Uganda es muy lindo y hay parted que me hace recorder Argentina y Restistencia especialmente. La clima es casi lo mismo y las calles son peores que de los Argentina. Me encanto cuando me llamaron y cuando colgamos sali de mi dormitorio y la familia me estaba esperando para comer. Oops. Siguen llamando y por favor manden correo,electronico y en papel.
