Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Yay we have Internet at the house!

5/30/10
We did so many things today it is hard to know where to begin. We made a point to make coffee this morning with the coffee we bought from the coffee shop. I was excited because I ran of the coffee that I brought back in December, so I hadn’t had any since then. It was as good as I expected it to be, and really cheered me up. Meagan had two cups.
From there we left to go to town. Our friend Richard invited us to a party that was being thrown by some friends of his that run a nonprofit that sponsors children to play soccer. The party was for the team because they had a good season and won all of their tournaments. On the taxi someone starting talking to Meagan. They asked her if she voted for Obama. Lots of people have been asking us about Obama. They like him because of his Kenyan heritage. They always want to know if we voted for him.
Once we got into town we walked to a hotel that I was pretty sure would have a business center. We stopped for the bathroom. I went just fine, but Meagan got suck in the bathroom stall because the door wouldn’t unlock. She kept turning the key, but the lock wouldn’t turn. Finally just as things were starting to get panicky it unlocked. It was a good thing too. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get her out of there if she was truly stuck, and I’m sure that being in that little stall would be horrible. It is like another room, not like the kind that you can just crawl out from underneath the divider.
We walked to the place we were going to meet Richard. From there we went to the old taxi park to take a taxi. You many remember from my description last year what the taxi park looks like. If not you can look at the pictures. It is just an open space where they squeeze as many taxis as possible for people to travel in and out of town from the “suburbs”. Some how everyone has the locations memorized of where each taxi is in the park that is going to be traveling to the different locations. We also passed by a lot of vendors who are trying to sell us all kinds of trinkets and candy. At times it was sort of difficult to keep up with Richard who could weave through the crowd so easily. He often asks about what things are like in America. It is surprisingly difficult to describe. He’ll ask something like, “do you have potholes in America? Do you have dirt roads like this in America?”
And the answer is always yes and no. Yes we have dirt roads and potholes, but not in the middle of the city. Unless maybe you are in New Orleans where the roads are horrible anyway because the water table is so high. There are dirt roads but you have to get out in the rural parts a bit before you see one. I try to explain that we also get bad sink holes like the one at the end of our drive way that Mrs. Freddie drove into, and several family members have stepped in. So the answer is yes, but it is different in situation and extent. Difficult to communicate.
We took a taxi out of the city. It was nice to get out of the city for a while. Once we got to our stop we had to take a boda to the top of one of the hills close by. At the top of the hill they had leveled out part of one side into a soccer field. There the boys team that we were supporting was playing a match. Although in Uganda they call it a pitch. We met some of Richards friends. They were all very nice. One of them was a young German woman. She had to have been around Meagan and I’s age. She had come for three months originally and decided to stay. She had now been there for fourteen months. It was really interesting to meet someone who had really gone native. She lived and worked like most other Ugandans.
While we were watching we had some sugar cane. It was nice to have as a snack although it makes your hands filthy and sticky as the juice runs out of the stalk all over everything. Meagan had a big time with it. I was lucky in that I’ve had sugar cane before, although Ugandans just peel off the bark with their teeth. I definitely had trouble with that, but the men that were standing around were laughing at Meagan when she was trying to bite it. I could only get through two joints of it before I got tired of it. Richard was so efficient - it was amazing. He made short work of his and the rest of Meagan’s. I passed mine off to someone else.
The boys ended up winning the match. They didn’t seem to be surprised about their victory. One even said that he was tired of winning. At this point they were very shy and didn’t want to talk to us very much. From there we walked down the hill to the village. It was a beautiful view to be able to look out over the rolling hills. All along the hill you can see where people have been planting their crops. They were trying to tell us the different kinds of plants, but I could remember some of them. I remembered how they grew their tubers in small mounds that they had built up so that when they went to harvest them, they would be easy to recover. I always thought that was clever. We also saw all of the common garden items closer to the house.
To get to the houses we had to weave through all kinds of houses and gardens along a little dirt foot path. You would have to know exactly where you were going to know how to get there. I like that there are no fences that keep people from walking through. Nobody worries about stealing. Everyone has a garden and so it isn’t necessary to worry about stealing because everyone has the same stuff. The only thing that might cause trouble is if someone’s livestock got into another’s garden. When we got to the house it was a simple small house. The woman, Sonja, and her Ugandan boyfriend, Moses lived there together. It was a two room concrete house. They had electricity but no running water. Minimal material items. A rack for clothes, a set of shelves in the front room for cooking materials, and a bed on the floor with a mosquito net. However, they did have a few things that indicated modernity. They had a satellite TV, a DVD player, and an ipod to listen to music. Although I suppose that none of those things would be useable if the power went out, as it does on occasion.
Along the way we made a new friend named Roger. He was one of the coaches of the boy’s team. He was asking us many of the typical questions. Where were we from, what state, how long had we been in Uganda, etc. They were going to prepare a meal for the boys and he was in charge of the rice and he showed it to us. He had cooked the rice in an enormous pot with onions. He called it “pilawo”. I told him that we had something similar called rice pilaf. We agreed that I would try his cooking and he would try mine and we would decide who’s was better. After trying it, I think it would be a pretty tight race. He also started us on a vocabulary of Luganda words.
Anyway, Ugandans eat enormous meals because they tend to eat only one meal a day. Hopefully we will have some pictures up soon so that you can see. Meagan and I had to share one plate. In addition to rice we had potatoes, and cooked vegetables. Even between the two of us we couldn’t finish it.
I didn’t realize that everyone was going to eat with their hands until Richard happened to offer us a fork. Richard himself used a fork. Either way I was ok. I would have eaten with my fingers. There wasn’t anything that was too messy, although I’m not sure how people would eat matoke with peanut sauce with their fingers. It would be like trying to eat mashed potatoes and gravy with your fingers. Not even any bread to soak up the juice. Anyhow the meal was great, and everyone ate their fill. Afterwards the boys got up and stretched their stomachs because they were so full. Even some of the neighbors came by to get a plate. It was funny because they didn’t ask, they just took, and they brought their plates with them. It seemed like a common occurrence, so no one in the group thought anything about it.
The boys left for the dance party while the adult cleaned up. They wanted us to watch a documentary about Ida Amin. So we sat and watched while they cleaned. I felt sort of bad about it, but the documentary itself was very interesting. It isn’t that different from the movie The Last King of Scotland, but less graphic. The guy who plays him in the movie is just like he was in real life. We didn’t get to watch the whole thing because they wanted to join the boys at the dance party. By this time it was dark so we all walked with a flashlight as our guide.
When we got to the party we danced and danced. All of the people thought that we were so funny. The music was in Luganda, but it had a good rhythm to it. The boys themselves could dance so well. We had so much fun, and I was glad that we went. I was reminded of why I liked coming here so much in the first place. I could write a lot more about the night, but I can’t be spending all of my time blogging. You’ll have to look at the pictures when we get them up to get an idea of what it was like.

P.S. I’m not always sure what to write about so feel free to post questions. Also thanks for all of the posts and keeping me updated on what is happening in the U.S. We now have an Internet modem, so we will be able to communicate a lot more effectively now.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Ginger! I'm so glad things are going well and that you have internet in your apartment now. I'm up to my ears in apartment shopping. I can't believe I found my place in Memphis in one day! I found a place I liked today but the person before me took it so I have 7 more viewings in the next 2 days then a wedding Sat for friends who are moving to Bhutan in a month. I hope you find a place in Charleston easily. Sunday I got to ride a horse. My brother has been seeing a great girl for awhile who has 3 horses: a Standardbred, a Paint/Belgian cross and a Clydesdale. I rode the Belgian and I am still sore, but it felt SO great to ride again. She is an eventer and has offered to let me ride whenever because it helps her condition the horses. Jackpot! Of course, I don't want to crowd their relationship, but I can pop by once in awhile. I finally got my total financial aid offer and even if I don't find a fall GA, loans will cover everything. Phew! Good luck turning in the paperwork and I can't wait until you get to go to all the schools. I wonder what the locals think of an American playing Idi Amin in Last Kings of Scotland. You should tell them we stayed near Obama's house in Chicago. I'll catch up later and will be thinking of questions for you. Take care, Nic

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  2. Hey Ginger It's mom. I am up early because I forgot to turn off my alarm. I have been training for my triathalon in July. Mrs Barbra Maher is training with me. She got a little tired yesterday. I hope I don't lose her. She always asks about you and wishes you well. My week was busy with work. I am headed to New Iberia tomorrow to work with Uncle Michael and several accountants from the UK. Granny and Pops are coming in from their European Vacation on Monday. I am sitting here with snowball on my lap and Lucy at my feet. Last night when we were all in bed I noticed that snowball was grooming Lucy on the head and eye. Do you think she knows that Lucy has a tumor there? Lucy just layed there and let snowball lick her head. It was so sweet.

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  3. It is me again. It is not 5 here it is 7. anyway I am sorry that you didn't get the approval you needed but government work is like that even in the US. It sounds like you and Megan are doing well. Out and about and really experiencing Ugandan culture. It sounds as if you and Megan are social butterflies and I am happy that all is well in that department. I am going to play tennis today and then have lunch with Christopher. I will call you tomorrow morning. Love you and stay safe. Mom

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