Ginger Goes to Uganda!

Leaving

2011-07-21T06:05:00.001-07:00

We should be leaving in an hour. Wanted to drop a quick message. Check back and I'll write more after I get home about our trip and the last couple of days.

Week 7

2011-07-13T20:51:00.001-07:00

Right now Meagan is sitting at the kitchen table writing her next blog entry on the Mac and Ginger is sitting to my right hand writing her notes for the day and both of us have our feet stretched out on the wooden coffee table. I’m sitting with my laptop in my lap, listening to Dave Matthews Band. We spend a lot of time sitting together, independently writing up our notes, occasionally stopping to verify someone’s name or a quote with the others.

I’m not sure what I’m going to miss the most about my time here, especially since I’m feeling homesick lately. I will probably need time back home to process everything. Physical distance and the distance of time help me see what I cannot when near. But I know I will miss living with Ginger and Meagan. We’ve spent so much time sitting, working together, in grad school and now here, and we are all entering times in our lives that are pulling us to different parts of the US. Meagan will be in New Orleans and Ginger will be in Oregon and from this point on in our careers research will largely be done alone. Just sitting and working with two women who I adore on a person level and implicitly trust on a professional level is something I’m trying to appreciate while I can.

I’m a bit maudlin today as we also reported our recommendations back to the foundation and I think it went quite well. We were able to document how Ginger and Meagan’s recommendations from last year have been implemented and have helped. The curriculum has become more gender balanced and inclusive of children who already are HIV+, for whom HIV education focused solely on prevention is not helpful. There are also drafts of children’s books now which were recommended from the first summer and countless other small ideas that came from their evaluation. I had a few small ideas to contribute too so who knows if they will be helpful in the coming years.

As Reverend Obed asked us about our personal sense of satisfaction beyond our professional input, I think we all got a little emotional talking about getting to be part of this organization. We are naturally critical by training and in the day to day we do focus on the weaknesses of SAS we want improved, but when you step back, it is rather inspirational. But enough sap; little less conversation, little more action!

We are also preparing for a trip to the West, which will serve as a treat to ourselves for working all summer without pay. We are going to Kabale, then Bwindi Impenetrable Forest where we will do a nature hike, then to Mhagahinga National Park where we will climb up Mt. Sabyinyo. Its peak is the international border for the DR of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda so we will be in three counties at once atop it. After that we go to Lake Bunyonyi and will probably be exhausted and manage little more than the dug-out canoe ride to the island our hotel is on. We get back Monday evening, have two days packed with work, then leave Thursday at 11:30 pm.

I’ll try to write before I leave about the trip and be sure to check out the absurd number of pictures we will upload 

The last few days have been jam packed with focus groups, observations, and interviews. It’s also been interesting politically. Last Friday South Sudan became a country and Monday the taxi drivers held a strike to protest unfair fees. There were still taxis out because the President agreed to meet the Taxi Union officials early in the strike, but the fewer taxis made prices go up and made boda boda fees almost double.

Monday I had the longest matatu ride of my life, figuratively and literally. It took me 2 hours to travel a few miles. I got on a matatu and it took forever to leave, then proceeded to stop at every possible point to pick up more passengers, sometimes passing the point and reversing back, only to eventually take off again without success. Then traffic jams made things worst and because I was in the front seat I was squished, sharing a row with three others instead of the usual two. Then the conductor thought it would be a good idea to over charge me. I had a 10,000 shilling bill and he gave me 5000 back when I should have gotten 8000 back.

Now 1000 shillings is less than 50 cents, but it is more about the principle than the price. The conductors think they can overcharge white people because we don’t know better and because they assume we are all rich and can afford it. That day I had had enough though and seeing the correct change available in his hand as he avoided my gaze spurred me to action. I got off the taxi and walked right in front of the man, demanding my balance. He gave me a 1000 bill and still refused to look at me as he called the names of the stops the taxi was about to go, attracting new customers. So I took a step back, blocking entrance to the van. That got him looking at me. I said balance and he put another 500 shillings in his hand for me to take, but didn’t extend it. To get the little gold coin I would have to step closer, allowing patrons on. I looked at his hand and then put mine across the door way, more obviously blocking entrance and said “balance sebo (sir)” in a patient, even tone. He made a smacking, tisking sound with his mouth, a common expression of disgust or disapproval here, and gave me another little gold coin.

By this point he was charging me 3000 for a 2000 ride and had tried to charge me 5000. I was happy with the situation and walked away knowing I had still been overcharged but not wanting to escalate matters further. When I told Ginger and Meagan about it they laughed, saying I was becoming a real Ugandan.

Earlier in the week the store owners shut their stores in protest and the electricity has been cutting out more than usual, the fruit of some tension between the government and the power companies. The newspapers are full of articles about the weakening shilling and the rising power of the dollar. After a focus group a mentor told us that most of the expensive apartments are sold in dollars, not shillings. Our neighbor told us her place was $650 US last year but rose to $800 this year and since our place is furnished it goes for $900 US a month! We also had to pull US dollars for our trip because the national parks take dollars if you are not a Ugandan.

It is odd to think about how much the US dollar impacts things here and how the citizens are holding their government responsible. Part of me thinks, what can the President do to control global markets? However a Kenyan doctor I interviewed that worked I humanitarian aid said in her home the price of fuel goes down when the global crude oil rate goes down. She said in Uganda it never goes down once it has risen. As the fuel price rises, so does the cost of food.

Only the well-off farmers also handle their own transportation. Instead middle men traders buy the food for low prices using the cost of gas as an excuse for why they can’t pay more. Transporting traders, not farmers, set the price. The doctor said few farmers are trained in keeping track of their inputs to get a profit and so they accept the traders’ prices. Earlier this summer I spoke with a sociologist who also farmed. He carefully kept track of things, but still only got 2 million shillings out of his crop after investing 3 million into it. He is a Ph.D., so it isn’t only about education and tracking. Many farmers are going under and that combined with the unpredictable weather in which season are shifting means crops are spoiling.

The humanitarian monitoring measures say there is a food shortage and that food prices are higher than ever recorded, though the UN recording only started in 1990. As a result people have been shifting to food that is filling but less nutritional en mass over the last two months. Basically it is a horrible situation, but opportune for me. Because I can see how this plays out on the ground. That said, all the people I’ve been trying to talk to are out of town because of this situation too, but I’m managing where I can. I was talking to a lady about it on the matatu today. You never know when you will find a helpful insight!

Well this is not everything I wanted to write about but the power is out and I’ve run out of juice. I’ll catch you on the flip side!

Holliday on the way

2011-07-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

7/13/11
Today was recommendation day. It went surprisingly well, and all of our suggestions were well received. We also spent a lot of time talking about how things have changed over the past three years. I think they were impressed that we have learned to like matoke and use public menas to get around. Most whites are tucked away in their cars with their spaghetti. We will have a few loose ends to tie up when we get back from our trip, but by and large we are finished working. It is nice, and I’m really looking forward to the trip out west.

We uploaded all of the pictures from this week. Some of them are of letters that we received from students. Most of them are what you would expect, but some are extremely sad. Some of them asked us for help. It is hard to know what to do, but I think we will at least leave a letter for the class.

7/12/11
I’ve spent the entire day transcribing a focus group and there’s still 25 minutes to go out of an hour and 15 minutes. It is so slow and tedious. The fact that it was held under a mango tree doesn’t help either.

Moses helped though, and I’m really starting to enjoy his company. Things are moving forward in arranging his studies in Germany, and he is asking us a lot of questions about traveling and living in a Western country. We told him to try the moving sidewalks. I think he’ll be impressed by them.

7/11/11
We had two focus groups today, and I got asked hard questions again. One that keeps coming up is “Where does HIV come from?” Sometimes I wonder how children fit these types of diseases into their world view and what it would be like to grow up in a world where disease and premature death was common.

7/10/11
Eritrean day! We went over to Rose’s house and had lunch and coffee. For roughly three hours we had lunch and coffee. It was delicious though, and I didn’t even mind watching the wedding video of the wedding that we ourselves attended. Then Rose was nice enough to take us to a shop where we could buy the spices necessary to cook Eritrean food. I need someone to volunteer to taste it for me in the U.S. including the njarra. We’ll see how it goes. I was so tired by the end of the day. I’m feeling better, but I still have a lot of sleep to catch up on it seems like.

7/9/11
Feeling better but still not well. We spent the whole morning at home writing and entering tests. At least the power is holding out for us today. We made a plan to go out with Rose tomorrow. I’m excited about our Eritrean day. We decided against going to Jinja which makes me sad, but I’m just not feeling well enough. Plus I find myself wanting to spend time with people rather than see places. Our trip out west is going to be enough scenery.

7/8/11
Still have a cold. Nicole has been really great in helping me get along. I feel bad that she can hear my sniffling in the night since it is my week to move back into the room with the king size bed. At least she is so far away from me that I can stretch my arms all the way out and still nto touch her.

7/7/11
What a frustrating day, and so much time lost. We met with Seith, who is going to be our guide, but we had to make a deposit on our trip. The only issue is the city wide protest that is going on. Everyone has closed down their shops and I couldn’t draw out any money. I had a really American moment getting frustrated that I couldn’t pull money out of the ATM when I wanted to. I tried three different ones. Two of them had errors messages when I left them (I think I might of broken them), until the third one finally worked.

Other than that we’ve been going to the Foundation everyday this week. I think it has been extremely helpful in showing them what we have been doing.

The last full work week

2011-07-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

7/4/11 – 7/8/11
Happy 4th of July! We decided to just work because it isn’t that exciting to celebrate the holiday here and it isn’t worth going to the embassy across town. At least I don’t think so. I do like America though, mainly because as precarious as the situation seems in America, it is always less so than it is here in Uganda. There have been several days of protest here in the city, and I’m hoping things hold together long enough for us to conclude our trip. I’m not really concerned about running into trouble outside of the city because most of the issues revolve around the strength of the US dollar versus the strength of the Ugandan shilling and inflation of fuel prices. Since people in the village don’t really rely on fossil fuels, it doesn’t really concern them the way it does in the city.

I’m afraid that I don’t have that much to write about because we are scrambling to get as much done as possible this week. We finally got all the data entered at student number 3335. That’s a lot! Now we have the luxury of deciding on how to limit the data collection for the post test that will occur in December. We had our first focus group on Wednesday, and it went incredibly well. We had a lot of good discussion from the students about their concerns surrounding HIV/AIDS, prevention, and management. The group was mostly girls, so we ended up getting several questions about mother to child transmission. It is hard to keep the adults from jumping in and giving their two cents! Meagan did a school observation, and the students all wrote letters for us. A lot of them are really cute and filled with pictures, but some are really sad and pleas for help. We were thinking that we would leave a letter for them if anyone would like to add anything. I think it would be nice for them to know that people are thinking about them.

Lastly we put down a deposit on our trip to the West. Look out Bwindi Impenetrable Forrest, Mgahinga National Forrest, and Lake Bunyonyi! We are supposed to do a nature walk in Bwindi that has several species of butterflies and birds indigenous specifically to the Albertine Rift Valley. Then we will hike to the top of a dead volcano in Mgahinga that stands at the border point between Rwanda and the Congo. Lastly, we will stay in a geodome on an island in Lake Bunyonyi that you get to by dugout canoe. I’m not sure what a geodome is exactly, but it sounds fun. I’m so excited to celebrate the conclusion of our project (for now) with Meagan and Nicole.

I’ll probably make one more post before we leave town on Thursday. We have one more focus group, descriptive statistics for the remaining tests, a couple school observations, and then a meeting with the Foundation to give our initial recommendations. We also have to start catching up with our friends and saying goodbye. I’m not looking forward to it.

Banange!

2011-07-03T07:56:00.000-07:00

7/2/11
So this is probably the longest entry that I’ve made for any one day, but its because it was probably the best day that I’ve had. I’m really going to be sad when we leave.

Today I overheard Annette, the lady who washes our clothes, telling Gerald the gardener, that we weren’t going to be coming back. He didn’t understand at first. He said, “yes, they go away and then come back after some months for June and July.” She said no and explained it again. The day started off emotional. Meagan and I left the house with every intention to finish writing and get caught up in preparation for next week. I think we are going to be super busy next week. Anyway, so we walked to Mulago hospital, and took a different route. We got a little lost, but a long the way we heard people singing as they were planting their crops for the season. It was lovely to walk beneath the banana trees listening to hymns and catch glimpses of the city between the leaves. Meagan and I spent the time reflecting back on this summer and the past summer, talking about things that we would have done differently and things that went surprisingly well, our development as researchers, and our development as anthropologists. A running analogy that we have been using is the act of blowing on a dandelion in hopes that some seeds will settle and grow. We have more dandelions than we know what to do with. I told her, “Now I know why they’re considered weeds.” But as always, we concluded that the experience has been positive, and that we still have a lot to learn (seeing as how we can still get lost and still need to ask for directions in a place that we are fairly familiar with).

We got to Mulago and the café was closed. Damn. So we took a boda to 1000 Cups, again took the wrong direction. This time we knew where we were and decided to walk the remainder of the way. As we walked we heard music coming from one of the schools where the Foundation has implemented the program, and we peeked around the corner to see what was going on. A construction worker (who had nothing to do with what was going on) saw us and coaxed us into going up around the fence to see, and we happened to come upon a group of traditional dancers and musicians practicing for an event. The director then spotted us and coaxed us to come to the front to watch the performance. We were so embarrassed and I’m sure it was clearly visible, but we managed to breathe and sit in chairs while they performed traditional dances and songs using traditional instruments from different tribes in Uganda. They were incredible dancers, drummers, musicians, singers. It is hard to convey because you could tell that they were actually enjoying what they were doing, and it wasn’t just a dance or a song. It was truly an artistic expression of an emotion and an experience and a culture.

Given that Meagan and I were already feeling sentimental, we burst into tears, increasing my level of embarrassment to astronomical levels. We couldn’t even look at each other. I don’t think that they could see us crying from the distance, thank God. Afterwards, we spent time talking with the musicians and dancers. We explained who we were. We even happened to have the children’s books that the Foundation has been working on per our suggestion. They wanted to take them away to read, but we had to explain that they were originals, and we didn’t have any copies to leave with them. They suggested that we hold an event so that they could come and perform for us. I’m certainly inclined, but they also said it would be ok if we come and watch them rehearse again during the week. You can count on that. It is an experience that you dream about when you are studying, and then while you’re in the midst of it you think to yourself, “I really am an anthropologist. I really can do this…well.”

Then we decided to continue to 1000 Cups. It was coming to 11:00, we left at 8:30 and still hadn’t accomplished anything that we had intended to do. Since we were on a roll of whimsical endeavors, we stopped in a dress shop, and spent another period of time since Meagan decided that she wanted to have a dress made. We picked some nice fabric and designed a dress. Then when we walked up we saw some our friends Frank, Ruby, and Joan. We got a smoothie and socialized. We also had to explain to Joan that we were leaving soon and that we weren’t coming back. She said, “but you come back in June.” We had to tell her that we weren’t coming back next June.

By the time that we were through, it was time to go home because Grace was preparing lunch for us - my favorite dish that she makes, Thai chicken for my birthday. Also avocados and gooseberries. I still hadn’t accomplished anything workwise, so I sat down to do a little writing. Got distracted again with phone calls from home, and then I needed to take a shower. Meagan and I switched rooms, and we made pizza. We’ve been making our own sauce, using pita bread for crust, and putting goat cheese and olives on top. I’m starting to like it better than any other kind.

We then went to join our friends for the evening. We got stuck in a jam on a matatu, and I had everyone laughing because I could understand some of the Luganda that was going on. I’ve been trying to learn a new word everyday. Today was “Banange!” which doesn’t really have a direct translation, but is something along the lines of “Oh my God!” Ladies use it a lot when they are gossiping and talking about the prices of things. They wanted to me to speak a bunch, but I’m just not there yet. I’m only just beginning to understand, which is an accomplishment in of itself to me. I’m really excited about how much easier it is getting to understand what is going on, even if I don’t understand every word.

We met with a good group of our friends to talk and dance and laugh. Our Ugandan friends like to make jokes about how white people dance. They say that the white people are always dancing to the next song. I thought that was pretty funny. They make these jokes because they are often surprised that we can at least keep up with them dance wise. I did do my impression of what they were talking about, dancing to the next song that is, and they were rolling laughing. I’ve also started doing impressions of them in my best Ugandan accent, which they love equally as well.

7/1/11
Mentor meeting went well, and we got a lot of good feedback from them as well. It was nice to see a lot of them again. Many familiar faces.

6/30/11
We have been talking about taking a trip out west, so we spent the day discussing and planning this trip. For me traveling (I guess it’s pretty obvious by now) is one of the best gifts, and planning those trips is a close second.

We also did some shopping, ate pizza, met some British missionaries who were working with orphan children. All around a great birthday.

6/29/11
More writing and trying to crank out the statistical results for our pretest to hand back to the Foundation on Friday. Meagan has spent a number of hours combing through and fixing errors that we’ve caught. All in all it has gone pretty well, and its exciting to start seeing certain trends emerge from the numbers. None of the trends are that surprising, but it is reaffirming to see those trends emerging in the numbers. It also means that we have been doing good work so far in past summers, before I was confident about what I was doing.

I have finally gotten all of my field notes written up, and I feel like I need to add some things that I forgot on our trip…so here is our trip to Hoima and Gulu revisited…
6/28/11
…except my visit to the UNCST. I don’t really want to revisit that.

6/27/11
By now, maybe you have seen the videos that we took at one of the schools that we went to. We spent a long time sitting and talking with the administration there. They were very good and warm people. Sometimes the Acholi get described as fierce and belligerent, and as with anyone I’m sure that’s true in the appropriate context, but everyone we’ve met has been warm and welcoming. This particular school was fortunate because they had an administrator who was also a nurse. That means she could provide counseling to many of the students for their health needs, but she was explaining some of the challenges that their school faces. Namely that many of the students are orphans, but still live in their homes with their remaining brothers and sisters. These “child-run households” mean that older children manage the home while the younger children are able to go to school if they are lucky. The head teacher said, “we have become the parents of the parentless.” The administration doesn’t know how to provide for these children. I wouldn’t presume to know the best way either, but its clear that the needs, despite the fact that the town is swamped with NGOs, are not being met.

I think that I’m still trying to process the experience, and I keep thinking about a speech that I made at a fundraiser for the Foundation in October. I spent my time trying to translate my experience into terms that were understandable to the audience, and why a program that offers education, counseling, and guidance is important. I said, “I’m appealing to you as parents, or as grandparents as the case may be, to support a program that in turn supports children in a place where an entire generation of parents has been lost.” (or something very close to that). At the time I was drawing on an experience that I had in a school where the majority of the students were refugees from the Congo or the northern part of Uganda. I still believe the statement to be true, but now that I have been to Gulu, it feels even more true, if that is possible.

6/26/11
The local tribe in this area are the Acholi. Their language is totally different from Luganda. I don’t think that it is even in the same Bantu language group that includes most of the languages in East Africa. Anyway I felt like I was at square one in terms of accent and phrasing. All of my Luganda words useless, which made it a little more challenging to get around seeing as how the map in our travel guide was wrong. It had two roundabouts on the map when there was only one in the city.

Later when we were discussing what was so eerie about Gulu I kept thinking about the one roundabout with the sculptures of the children in the middle reading books. There were many children going to school, but there were very few parents visibly caring for the multitude of children. I think Nicole articulated it best when she said, “it was obvious that people were missing.”

6/25/11
I woke up with the sun before the alarm. When the alarm started going off, I stopped it and replaced it with my own alarm noises for Meagan and Nicole’s enjoyment. They laughed at it, and at least it is more pleasant than some electronic buzzing irritating you out of sleep. I really don’t like alarms incase you didn’t notice.

On the way to Masindi, we saw a troop of baboons. That’s were Nicole’s thumb picture was taken. Past Masindi we went through small town after small town, each with its own set of speed bumps. We crossed over the Nile at a place called Karuma Falls, which also is surrounded by a forest conservation area. That is where we fed the baboons from our car. Later we read in our travel guide an explicit statement to not feed baboons because it makes them aggressive and they end up biting people. We aren’t very good tourists.

6/24/11
In the car we asked Rev what it was like to live here in the 70s and 80s. He told us that where we were driving, it was not possible to travel there in that time because it was controlled by rebel groups. It is hard to think of a place has only been passable for about twenty years. I forgot how beautiful the landscape is in the country side on the way to Hoima.

As we were about to leave for lunch after the mentor meeting. Rev realized that the car was dead because he had left the lights on. Seeing as how we would have to walk into town anyway to find someone to help us, we walked in to town to get lunch first. Luckily we packed peanuts in our bag to snack on along the way because it was almost 3:00 pm, and we hadn’t had a meal since that morning at 6:00 am. We’ve gotten much better about preparing for things that are likely going to happen. We stopped in a tiny restaurant, and the people were extremely nice to us. I wonder if they had ever served white people before. Not because the service was unusual or anything by Ugandan standards, but because the restaurant was so small, it only two tables in it. One inside, one outside. The man running the restaurant helped Rev get a jump.

At the hotel, I finally finished the book Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Anne Kidd Taylor. It is about relationships between older mothers and daughters. I really recommend it if you fall into one of those categories. Meagan, Nicole, and I have been passing around books, so I passed in on to Meagan. She asked if it was good and I said “yes, it almost made me cry.” Meagan goes, “ok, so then I probably will cry.” Rev sat in on the conversation, and also thought it was funny.

Gulu and Hoima

2011-06-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

6/28/11
Just getting ready for the week and the mentor meeting on Friday. Got our approval from the UNCST. It feels like a dream. Also we should have the pictures up soon, so be on the look out. Cheers!

6/27/11
Rev was pushing to get home for some reason, so we squeezed two school visits in and headed home. The children and the school staff were very helpful. They gave us some more tests as a parting gift. The people at the hotel seemed sad that we were leaving. It was fun to meet people so quickly. The trip home was relatively uneventful except that I was worried that Rev was going to loose his bumper because it was coming loose. We also bought a ton of mangoes, more than we can possibly eat for 2,000 shillings (less than a dollar). I thought we were buying like five, but it was more like fifty.

6/26/11
Sunday we were free to roam around Gulu on our own. It was fun to do a lot of walking after spending so much time in the car. Not much going on in Gulu, however. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

I got to meet two of the mentors in the area and interview them. They both went very well. Gulu is definitely different from the rest of the country. People just want to get on with their lives so badly and live peacefully and healthy. P.S. also met someone named Simba. I thought that was fun.

6/25/11
I woke up with the sun, around 6:45. The restaurant for breakfast was still locked. No such thing as a 6:00 am continental breakfast here. We went for a meeting with another organization that works with HIV positive people in Hoima. SAS is looking to partner with them as well. We got lost looking for the office, but we were only lost for roughly 45 minutes. That just doesn’t seem like a very long time to me anymore.

The meeting went well, and it seems like they might be interested in partnering with SAS in the future. We continued on our way to Gulu via Masindi eating mangoes like apples and stopping to take pictures of the baboons and the Nile River as we crossed over. Rev was a good sport to stop from time to time to let us be tourists.

We crossed the path of a rat, which is supposed to be bad luck. We had a good laugh about superstitions as I explained how people in America sometimes derive meaning out of what is probably a coincidental experience. I told him about the time Summer Brooke saw a hawk snatch a squirrel in Marion Square in Charleston, which she interpreted as an omen that Auburn would beat LSU in football that year (she predicted correctly).

Gulu itself feels sort of like a town out of an old Western movie. It is the last town before people cross the border into Sudan, and has been plagued by guerilla war for a while. It is just now safe enough for children to go back to school. The hotel was nice although it didn’t have power. Again, it isn’t something that bothers me anymore. They ran a generator at night at least. On the other hand we all had to share a double bed, which was rather trying. Poor Nicole, who is the tallest among us, had the biggest challenge.

6/24/11
We made it to Hoima without a hitch. Along the way we saw lots of Ankole cows, which I love. Their horns arc and sway so gracefully as they graze. We arrived at Meeting Point first which is an organization that SAS collaborates with in Hoima. Meeting Point is a networking organization for HIV positive people. SAS tries to employ HIV positive people as mentors to teach in the classroom in an effort to empower people living with HIV.

We went to observe two schools in Hoima. One was an Islamic school, which was interesting. One of the teachers told me that there is an Arabic word for AIDS. I didn’t know that. The Islamic religion in Uganda is something that I haven’t had much exposure to, and doesn’t often come up in the context of HIV spread, so it was nice to visit a school and talk with some of the teachers.

At Meeting Point we got a chance to talk with some of the mentors that were around. It was good to see some of the same ones from last summer. They’re really a great collection of people. When we got in the car to go check in the hotel, the car wouldn’t start. The lights had gotten left on after driving through the fog into Hoima. I was just thankful that we made it into town before we started having car troubles. At least we were able to get a jump easily and deal with it.

The hotel didn’t have water for the day/night that we stayed there, so we had to use jerry cans and wash basins to get clean. I’ve gotten really good at washing in a wash basin.

Tests Complete

2011-06-23T02:15:00.000-07:00

6/23/11
Doing some last minute things before we leave tomorrow. We won’t be back until Tuesday evening, which means that we’ll be out of touch till Wednesday or so. I’m really excited! Especially for Gulu. We are supposed to get there on Sunday, which I hope will give us time to see the city and maybe the surrounding areas before we meet with mentors and schools.

6/22/11
I’m really proud of myself today. I walked to town and saw three people that I knew along the way on the street. Augustine, who’s house we went to a few weeks back for a birthday party, a SAS clinic employee, and Andrew, the youngest of Dr. Muhumuza’s siblings. I found him stranded o the side of the road in the middle of a driving lesson because the car over heated. Since I was walking I couldn’t be of much use except to lighten the mood and make jokes. He told me that he had been trying to get in touch with me. He said that he had heard that I had lost a lot of weight. =? I’m not sure who is discussing my weight to Andrew, but I think it is Rachel, another one of the ten siblings. I guess it is a compliment, in a way, after not seeing someone for a year. Either way it makes for a great story in the classroom when I’m teaching about beauty and weight. Here it is desirable to be on the thicker side.

We’ve been generating the statistics for the tests. Not sure what to make of it yet, but I’ll let you all know when we’re finished.

6/21/11
Today I met a deaf student on the matatu. Talk about really peaking my interest. I watched him negotiate the situation so cleverly, asking the conductor where the taxi was going, tell him where he needed to get off, and then explaining that he only had 500 shillings even though the fair is supposed to be 1,000 shillings. Obviously we didn’t speak, but we wrote notes to each other back and forth in my notebook. I’m always impressed with the acceptance and incorporation of people with disabilities here in Uganda. It just simply isn’t a big deal. I think part of it is because it is so common to have a disability of some sort, that you just aren’t special because you have one; however, people who are disability free have so much more patience because they are accustomed to interacting with all kinds of people. There is just a much more integrated community here, whether it’s age, or disability. Maybe gender is an exception. There is some segregation socially by gender, but it isn’t any more than any other place that I’ve been or lived.

We met at the Foundation to make plans for traveling with Rev and Beatrice, the older sister to Dr. Muhumuza. Looks like we are going push on straight from Hoima to Gulu without a break in between. Rev is going to drive us all around which should be interesting. I always love getting to meet with Beatrice. She is stately to say the least, commands respect when she enters the room, always dressed trendy, but still true to the African fashion, is a member of parliament to the dismay of many men. Isn’t thwarted when they try to poison her food, and enjoys well landscaped gardens. I admire her as a multidimensional woman.

Lastly, from there we dropped by SAS clinic where the Foundation used to be housed to catch up with our acquaintances there. One of our friends, Florence, got married this year and is now eight months pregnant. I don’t feel like I’ve changed that much in a year, so it is weird to see people again and they’re totally different (and enormously pregnant). She was giving us a hard time, the way that many people do, because we are getting rather old to still be unmarried according to Ugandan standards. Especially Meagan and Nicole, not me so much. They also know that Americans wait longer to get married and have less kids, so they think it is funny to make jokes and watch us squirm and blush. Its ok, I joke right back about having large numbers of children (which is a changing trend between the younger and older generations of Ugandans. Younger Ugandan women want fewer children than before. Like four instead of twelve. This is often a source of unspoken tension between younger and older generations of Ugandan women and ripe for making jokes). This is about how the conversation goes:

Pregnant Florence: “So Ginger, when are you getting married.”
Ginger: “I don’t know. Not soon.”
Pregnant Florence: “Maybe I should anoint you.”
Ginger (grimace): “No way. “
(Everyone laughs)
Ginger: “But I think by the time I come back next year, you should be having another. I want lots of nieces and nephews.”
Florence (grimace): “No. I taking a break after this one.”
(Everyone laughs)

6/20/11
We finally finished entering tests! But we’ve discovered that are likely more waiting for us in Hoima and Gulu! In my mind I keep thinking, “Please stop sending us data. I’m begging you.” What a luxury, right? Anyway, Moses helped us with the last of the tests, numbering somewhere around 2,400. Meagan wins the bet, although we still haven’t settled on what she wins exactly.

Moses also got some good news today. He got accepted to a language program in Germany. This means that he can get a visa to go there as a student and live with Sonja. It’s really fun cheering on their relationship. He was so excited that he couldn’t do anything but sit there an smile. So much so that he was getting late for his German class, so we pushed him out the door. Good thing he has us Americans making him keep time.

That night we relaxed and watched a bootleg movie. One of my favorite things to do. It was the best-worst movie ever, so bad that it was comical. I won’t tell you which one it is, but if you’re in need of a laugh let me know and I’ll recommend it to you.

Week 4 Pictures

2011-06-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

We've posted the pictures from week, and we have some videos! We have made plans to travel at the end of the week. Very exciting - Hoima then Gulu.

A Barn Burning Weekend

2011-06-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

6/19/11
Happy Father’s Day! We went to church today. It was only two hours instead of four this time, but that was partially because we got delayed two hours by the rain. There was a guest pastor from Nigera who was pretty entertaining. We dropped by Mary’s house because we knew that she would be expecting us on Sunday even though we hadn’t discussed it. I’m starting to feel like I have to drop by and see her the way that I feel like have to make sure that I call my mother at least once every week.

She made us stay for lunch. Meagan and I agree that we are starting to acquire a taste for something called ghee, which is along the lines of fermented butter added to beans. Needless to say it has a strong flavor that is reminiscent of blue cheese. She has finally learned to give us what she calls “baby sized” portions of food for lunch. It is the first time that I haven’t walked away painfully full.

Afterwards we went out into the yard to take a photograph. It was like taking a family photo. Largely because we had to take at least 20 photographs to make sure that everyone looked normal with their eyes open in the picture and so that everyone would have a picture on their personal camera. Her children Julius, Judith, and Julian are in the pictures with us (Mary as well). I really enjoy feeling connected to another family here. Especially this morning I was feeling a little homesick, enough to curl up with bo bear (yes he’s here with me) while I was writing up my field notes.

6/18/11
We had a “barn burning” day as Nicole calls it. We entered so many tests, somewhere around 750. We’re up to 2000 students entered, 64,000 data points, and we probably have one more full day of work before we’re done. I’m getting excited in a nerdy way about generating the statistics. I can already see some of the trends (some good, some not so good) having spent so much time with the data.

6/17/11
Having some more issues with the database and the student tests. We actually have so much data that it is difficult for my computer to process all of the information. Never in a million years would I think that I didn’t have enough computer power to deal with the data collection and analysis portions of our evaluation.

Nicole and I went to dinner with one of our friends from the coffee shop and his girlfriend, Frank and Ruby. We went outside of the city which is always a nice change. It was actually really beautiful because the sun was going down over the hills lighting up the crops of sweet potatoes and corn. Stocks of hand made bricks here and there between the hills. The heat of the day finally lifting while the woker’s dust settles. It’s enough to make anyone feel romantic, even me.

Given the ambience, I plucked up the courage to ask Nicole if she liked Africa. She said yes. It was a relief knowing that she had been working up to this trip for several years now.

6/16/11
Oh man, what a day. We went to the UNCST. I dropped off all the paperwork (for the second time). The secretary said that we should have approval by Monday or Tuesday, which I know means Thursday or Friday. So here’s hoping.

Meagan did an observation at a school while our test was being administrated. I think we will post it in picasa, or somewhere so you can actually see what we’ve been working on for three years. It was encouraging to me at least.

Prepping and Planning

2011-06-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Instructions for posting to the blog:
1. Click the link that says comments
2. Type your comment into the comment box.
3. Select the profile of your choice. If you do not have an account, select anonymous
4. Click “Post Comment”
5. Type in the code at the bottom. This is a safety measure. Hit post comment.

Now that I have posted the instructions, I expect more comments.

6/15/11
Prepping and planning all day long. We have set some tentative dates for traveling to Hoima and to Gulu with Reverend. And it is all going to be the week before we meet with the mentors (July 1) in Kampala to give them the results from these tests. Mmmmmmk. So we are going to have to really push to get the statistics generated. Yikes! That is also the same week as my birthday.

Today Meagan told me that she is ready for my birthday. That’s funny because I am too. And it is hard to describe what it is about the day that is so exhausting. Everything takes such a long time. For example we took pictures to go with the paper work that we have to resubmit to the UNCST (because they don’t have them on file), and we got the express ones that are supposed to take 15 minutes, but we waited for 30. I always have to budget twice as much time as I think it should take.

However, I’m really looking forward to traveling, and I think it’s going to be a great experience.

6/14/11
Today we entered data into the database like crazy all day long. We are up to student number 745 (approximately 23,000 data points), and it looks like we are only about 1/3 of the way through. We’ve decided to take bets on how many we think there are. I’m at 2500. Meagan is 2300. Nicole is 2800. When we reach the 1000 mark we decided that we are allowed to adjust the bets. We haven’t decided exactly what the winner gets, but I think it is going to be a massage and a half day alone at the house.

6/13/11
Did another observation at a primary school with four first grade classes. I learn a lot of Luganda this way. I feel like I need to be sitting in the first grade classroom all the time. It’s hard to do observations in the younger classrooms because our presence causes such a disturbance, but it is really cute the way they steal glances at us and then turn back to giggle with their friends.

Been in communication with my favorite person at UNCST. They say that they can give us temporary approval to start our research so long as we resubmit the paper work to the president’s office. Honestly, it feels a little like a trap, but we’ll continue to follow along.

6/12/11
We cooked tacos today and hosted Joan for her birthday. Her kids came along too, and it was good to see them again. I hadn’t seen them in two summers. I think they had a good time – Louis the oldest one said that he wanted to come back next Saturday.

Other than that we started catching up and getting ready for the week. Got a lot to do. Got a lot to do. Only five more working weeks.

Fruitful Weekend

2011-06-12T03:16:00.001-07:00

6/11/11
We took a taxi from the taxi park today, which was a huge accomplishment for me and Meagan. Look back a pictures from previous years and you’ll understand why. Moses hosted us at his home in Kygera outside of the city. It was so nice to get out of the city for a while and breathe the fresh air. He even cooked lunch for us. It was delicious.

We tested our focus group questions with a group of high school students that Moses works with. It went really well all around even though it was raining and even though people kept coming in to join the conversation. We had Moses lead the discussion while we simply observed and answered questions as necessary. I think my accent is getting better because I spent several minutes answering a question about the transmission of HIV from other primate species to humans. They said that they could understand everything that I said. Yay, for having acquired good African English.

Coming back we got super lost in the rain. I guess every day has its ups and downs. The funniest part of getting lost was that I was giving Nicole advice on how to get back to a familiar place by walking up the hill to the main road, but it turns out that we were on the wrong hill. The suggestion doesn’t help if you are on the wrong hill.

Nicole in particular had a trying day with lots of new experiences. First time to the taxi park, first time out of the city, a chicken got in her purse while we were at lunch, the boda that she and Meagan were on broke down while on the way back, lost in the rain, but she tolerated all of it well which is a good sign for the remainder of our time here. I suspect more trails are to come.

Luckily…and this was a huge relief….Gerald had fixed the water to our apartment and we had running water in the bathrooms, so we could all take hot baths and wash away the coldness of the rain and the weariness from the day. We stayed in an drank tea and reflected on the day. Tomorrow Joan is coming over with her kids, and we are throwing a small party for her for her birthday. I got excited and bought Roald Dahl books as presents for the children too. I’m looking forward to giving all the gifts, but now I’ve started to read the books and I’m hoping that I can finish them before giving them to the kids. I forgot how much I enjoyed his books as a child.

We decided to try and make tacos. I hope they go over well.

6/10/11
Today we attempted to go see our contact person at the UNCST. I say attempted because we never ended up getting in touch with that person which is to be expected. But the fact that we even made it there is an accomplishment because we got all the way downtown to the building and learned that their office had moved to another location which was within walking distance of us. The cosmic joke of our battle with the UNCST continues…We stopped at a place that I like and got a banana split at 11:00am to recharge and then try to find the new office in Ntinda.

We took the taxi back home, and walked to the office. We actually found it with minimal trouble. When we got there our contact person was gone already at noon on Friday. Not a surprise. Luckily, we did get her contact information, which is what I was after anyway.

We got home and there was no water. And we have a reservoir tank, but for some reason the connection is bad. I asked Gerald, who acts as the grounds keeper and maintenance man. We had another “Let me do some technology” moment. Gerald ran a hose up to the tank and created a siphon. I filled the Jerry cans and carried them back to the house. I really needed to bathe before we went out for the evening, so it was worth it to me even though it was a lot of work. It is amazing when you don’t have running water how much work it takes just to live and do house hold chores like bathing, washing clothes (which are already being washed by hand), cooking and washing dishes, flushing toilets, washing your hands, brushing your teeth, you get the idea. In short it gets old fast, and if all I had to do was maintain a house that wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s hard to wrangle with the UNCST all over town and then come home and tote water around.

Anyway, small vent, we met up with some of our friends for the evening and went to a birthday party. It was a lot of fun and we danced and celebrated and caught up with people that we haven’t seen since last year.

6/9/11
Big day planned for today. We sat and came up with a work plan and timeline now that we have a better idea of what is happening and how long things are going to take. On Saturday we planned to meet with a group of high school students to test out our questions for our focus groups. We picked up some scissors which I’m really excited about because it seems like no one uses them here. They are a really great tool, and something you don’t realize that you’re going to miss until you don’t have them. I spotted some sheep skin slippers at the craft store that I’m eyeing since I wore a hole through the soles of the other ones that I used to have.

Flu, Banana Bread, UNCST prep

2011-06-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

We are also working on getting the pictures up from this week, so be on the look out.

6/8/11
Meagan is feeling way better, which is good because I’m hitting the three week mark where I’m needing some space. I went to Mulago hospital after talking to Dr. Bagenda and Dr. Muhumuza who both suggested that we should go down to my favorite place, UNCST (Uganda National Council for Science and Technology) to check on the status of our IRB approval (imagine a grimace on mine and Meagan’s face). The UNCST is the equivalent of going to the Mississippi DMV. It’s horrible, and I have to mentally prepare at least two days in advance before I go so that I exercise enough patience while I’m there. I’ll let you know how it goes (or doesn’t go most likely) on Friday.

So I went to the hospital to print things in prep for going to the UNCST, make copies, and hang out at the coffee shop. In one short sentence that sounds kind of weird to want to hang out at the hospital, but Mulago is a complex of buildings used for clinical practice, research, and teaching. One of the facilities does research primarily on HIV and mother to child transmission, which accounts for roughly 10% of the new cases in Uganda each year. This is such a sad statistic because it is largely preventable, but issues like poverty and access to medication are large contributors. They are large contributors to the HIV epidemic in general. Anyway, what I love about this research facility in general is that they recognize the social factors that contribute to HIV and have allowed women with whom they conduct research to open a coffee shop and a souvenir shop. All the profits go to those women, so I like to be a conscious consumer and spend my money there.

6/7/11
Lot’s of commotion today. Grace’s “house girl” (housekeeper) “ran away” (she quit and left without telling anyone), so Grace brought her 18 month old to the house. She was full of energy the whole day. Moses came over to help us with the tests. We made a significant dent today. I think we only have like 300 more to grade and then we have to enter them into the database. Meagan was still sick, which makes me nervous because we have been sharing the big bed, so I called a friend to take her to the doctor.Luckily, we can see the doctor for free, and we happened across Dr. Grace when we got to the SAS clinic. She wrote Meagan a prescription, I also got a refill for anti-malarials, and we were on our way in no time. Hopefully it will help.

For good news, the banana bread pan has been located. It got moved to the other house that the Muhumuza’s use when they come to Uganda. I’m not sure why it got moved, but it’s good to know that it’s around somewhere. I don’t know that we could find another one.

6/6/11
Meagan has caught a cold, so she stayed home in bed today. We picked her up some medicine and then headed out in the city. Nicole went to one of the schools by herself today, which was a success. I think she is starting to get the hand of it. I went to another school where they are trying to start the program for a teachers meeting. I got to see the children’s books that SAS is developing, which was one of our suggestions from the previous summer. It’s always good to know that our ideas are turning out to be useful.

We dropped by 1000 Cups afterward and saw Joan. Her birthday is coming up, so we decided to have her and her kids over on her Birthday. I wonder what we’ll make for them? Last year, we made cheese burgers for our friends which was a big hit, but we’ll have to cook something for the kids that they’ll like.

I made spaghetti and tomato sauce for everyone tonight. It went over well. I’m getting really good at manipulating the stove, which can be pretty tricky since only one pot has handles, and it’s a gas stove, but there’s no pilot lights. It doesn’t want to stay on all the time, and sometimes the grates slide off.

Also our banana bread pan is missing! We can’t find it, although I can’t imagine that someone would want to take it since it is such an oddly shaped pan and very few people have ovens. I’m sure it got put somewhere.

A Week Gone by Already

2011-06-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

A Week Gone by Already
6/5/11
Today we went to church with Mary and then had lunch afterwards. I have to say I’m all churched out. The service lasted for four hours with singing, dancing, and two sermons. I felt guilty after two and a half hours because I had to sit down for a while. Otherwise I enjoyed the service, and I could tell that Mary was pleased with our attendance.

Lunch was wonderful as usual, and we even managed to eat two whole plates of food between the three of us and ask for seconds. Her daughter Julian came with her new infant. He was really cute and happy. We all took turns passing him around. We didn’t get home till 6:30, which made for a long day. Amazingly, I’m the last one up. Nicole and Meagan have already gone to bed. It’s Meagan’s turn to not feel well. Tomorrow we’ll jump right back into the work week. The various stacks of tests are taunting us.

6/4/11
We went with Moses to watch his kids play football. He runs a nonprofit for children from the slums to play football (soccer). He does well with them, and often times they end up getting scholarships to go to school that they would not get otherwise. The name of their team is Sparta after the German team. Nicole stayed behind because she still wasn’t feeling good. It was a shame too because I think she would have liked it, but there is nothing worse than not feeling well and being stuck in a place. The team remembered us from last year, and they won.

There was also a Ugandan game, so we watched that. Uganda also won, so everyone was in high spirits

6/3/11
To day was a public holiday for Martyr’s Day. It gave us a chance to start tackling the stacks of tests that are now all over the table. Meagan and I had Nicole laughing. The dialogue went like this. Meagan, “What is this a stack of?” Ginger, “Things that stack well.” And that is how our analysis is beginning. Nicole was good enough to help us grade tests for three hours and we still only made a minimal dent. We also learned that we don’t have all the tests from all the districts, and Mary wants to administer the test to the new school that we visited on Wednesday. We are going to have to figure out a way to off load some of this burden. The only problem is that we can tell that the tests were not always administered correctly, so we are hesitant to also have people grading them on top. Surely there is a solution somewhere in there.

We went out to try and catch up with some of our friends for the evening, but it ended up being a short night. I wasn’t feel that great, and neither was Nicole, so we decided to come back early.

6/2/11
I had scrambled eggs with cheese this morning. Purchasing cheese while we were in Amsterdam was a great investment because the cheese here is just so bad.

We had another day at the Foundation. This time we met with Echiba. I always really like interacting with him because he always is enthusiastic about the Foundation. We went with him to a new school where they are trying to start the program. Did some more catching up and planning for the summer. I think things are pretty well established now that we have had roughly two days of catching up and planning.

Today we went to our pizza place. It was a lot of fun to go back, and we ate entirely too much food. We went home because it was coming to almost three in the afternoon, and everyone was getting tired. Even though we are jumping right back in, I forget how taxing it can be just to try and get one or two things done in a day. It was nice to come home and spend the rest of the afternoon reading and writing. I feel like I’m writing all the time, but it still isn’t enough. The electricity has been flickering more this year, which makes it more difficult.

6/1/11
Whew… our first real day of work. Everyone seemed excited and ready to get going. We stopped by Mary’s first. She was so happy to see us. It is funny how it is all coming back. Getting around and negotiating. It was nice to give her apricot preserves as a gift. I hope she likes them. The most exciting news is that mary has a new boyfriend and is planning to get remarried within the year. I would love to be able to attend, and admittedly the wheels are already turning on how this might be a possibility. I’ll just have to see.

Meagan and Nicole continued with Mary while I split off and met with Rev at SAS. It was good to catch up and make plans for the summer. A lot of things have happened since we’ve been gone. The good/bad news is that we had some tests that SAS was supposed to administer in Feb, and it was much more successful than we expected. Now we have over 1,000 tests to grade and enter into a database. Thank goodness we know that Moses will be able to help us like he did last year, and he already knows what he is doing.

After getting the test home, which are now stacked all around the living room, I rejoined Meagan, Nicole, and Mary at a school where the program is just getting started. It is a huge school by our standards. I sat in on the 3rd grade class, and there was roughly three hundred students in the room.

We walked all the way home so that we could talk about the day, and when we got home we had Ugandan gin and homemade juice and watched Seinfeld in celebration of a successful day.

5/31/11
Another slow day. Starting to get really restless. Our friend Pharouk dropped by to catch up. Some of his family lives in Britain so he has this really weird accent that is a mix of British and African English.

5/30/11
Today was a slow day and I’m anxious to be getting things done. I know that it takes time to get things moving. We walked to town, dropped by the post office, and then stopped at our favorite Indian restaurant. We shared one plate between the three of us and it was enough. I noticed that when we walked by city square, no one was sitting in the park except for police men. That was sad to me. Even for someone like me who has spent minimal amounts of time in Kampala, I have memories associated with that place, and now it is unusable.

Nicole took her first boda ride, which is always a big deal. At first she was a little nervous, but then I think she really enjoyed it.

Pictures

2011-06-03T04:46:00.003-07:00

We have the pictures posted from this past week under my picasa picture albums instead of Meagan's. Hope you enjoy them. Look for a blog post soon. Click on the link that says my pictures and they will be under week 1.

Catching up

2011-05-30T01:29:00.001-07:00

5/29/11
Today we ran some errands in town and started to get in touch with our old friends. We went to 1000 cups and had coffee. Joan was there, and started screaming when she saw us. She is one of my favorite people here, and I think about her often while I’m in the States. I was really happy to see her, and it was the first time that I really felt emotional about being back again. We browsed the craft market so that Nicole could get a look at the different items. I had my eye on a couple of things as well. I hoping for a leather bag, and maybe some bark cloth.

That night we had Moses and Richard over for dinner. It was great to catch up with them as well. We were able to discuss the political situation with them in the country and get a feel for the situation. I wanted to discuss it with them in particular because as we were walking to the coffee shop and got stopped briefly by the police. They didn’t want us to be taking pictures in a certain area, and it wasn’t a problem, but it was a tad unsettling, especially for Nicole I think since she was the one taking the pictures.

Dinner went over well, and we gave them some gifts from Sonja and from Meagan. She had been looking for baseball t-shirts to give them from the states because they couldn’t find them here in Uganda. Even Richard was smiling when he tried it on. That is a rare occasion. I’m glad we got a picture of it.

5/28/11 Continued….

The wedding reception was a blast, and I am so glad that we saw our friend Rose by chance. We scrambled around to get a gift and settled on a pitcher with some glasses for juice, and some preserves that I brought from home. We had several different kinds but decided on peach. It would be hard not to like peaches right? I was also going to say in our note that peaches were a traditional fruit for us to eat in the summer time, but did you know that they are indigenous to China? We wanted to look it up before we said that they were native to America. Apparently, the Chinese have been infiltrating American culture for hundreds of years. Too bad people are only just getting upset about it now.

Anyway, I think the gift went over well. Meagan ended up being the one to give it to them. She had to walk right up to them front and center. She was really embarrassed. I’m glad I wasn’t the one who had to do it. Anyway, I’m telling the storey out of order. We took a matatu into town, which was Nicole’s first ride in one. It went pretty smoothly, and I find that I’m not having very much trouble stepping by into Uganda culture, using the few Luganda words and gestures that I know. Seems like last year I had to mentally prepare myself before resuming normal activities. Also I have Meagan sharing the responsibilities with me which is wonderful and takes loads of pressure off. Again, a tangent.

So we found the place relatively easy (good feeling) and we arrived long before the wedding party. The invitation said 6:00, someone called and said 7:00, we arrived at 7:30, and the wedding party didn’t arrive until 8:30. =) I wasn’t really surprised, I figured we would be there early, but I didn’t realize that we would be about an hour early. The reception hall was elaborately decorated with all kinds of things the color of Tennessee orange. When the wedding party arrived, it was interesting to see the melding of traditional and contemporary cultures. The bride was in a Western white wedding gown, but a lot of the female guests were wearing traditional Eritrean attire. I is a long white dress with a patterned trim and then a white scarf that goes over the head. There is also a traditional way of wear the hair braided back like corn rows, but the braid them over a piece of material so the rows are long and sort of conically shaped. You’ll have to look at the pictures. The gold jewelry is also impressive.

Dinner was served in the traditional manner with njaara (the spongy bread) with lots of saucy meats, and you eat it with your hands. Someone sitting by us insisted that we eat a dish because it was “white people food”, and I realized that it was a version of lasagna. It was actually pretty good. We did our best to eat everything on our plates, but it was difficult to say the least. I wish that we could get away with sharing a plate without getting raised eyebrows. Meagan got what she thought was a potato and it turned out to be a whole egg. The incidences of whole eggs has become a running joke for us, if you can recall the story of the eggroll from last year where we thought we were getting a Chinese egg roll, but we ended up with a whole egg rolled in mashed potatoes and fried.

We had cake and dancing even though there wasn’t supposed to be any dancing. It was a Pentecostal wedding. There was lots of fireworks and confetti. At one point something caught on fire up on stage. Meagan gave our gift to the bride and groom. I was giggling because she had to walk right up to the front and give the gift directly to the bride and groom. She was so embarrassed.

Oh man, its been a long trip. Much longer than we expected….

2011-05-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

5/27/11

Our last two days in Amsterdam were wonderful. On Tuesday, we actually gave ourselves some down time. We had a picnic in the park picked up a few items that we knew we would need in Uganda. We made a friend at the hostel who was Australian and he joined us at the park. I’ve never been to a park that got so much use. It was like the whole city was having a picnic together. That night we splurged and had a fantastic dinner at a restaurant recommended by Anne and Char called the Supper Club. It was wildly fun and the food was divine. We were so full that we walked all the way home so that we could sleep comfortably.

On Wednesday, our friend Sonja came from Germany to spend the day with us. We originally met her last summer while we are in Uganda. She and her boyfriend, Moses, has started a nonprofit in Uganda for slum children to play soccer. Moses also worked for us some last summer. In any case, they have become very close friends, and it was wonderful to see her again. We were crying over each other on the tram from the train station back to the hostel (approximately 15 minutes in).

I also think Nicole had a great time meeting Sonja. We were reminiscing about our adventures in Kyngera for the soccer party and Bulisa when we got stuck in the game park at the Nile, slept in a hut where goats were coming through the windows, and ran out of gas on the way home. It is actually one of my favorite memories from last summer.

We sat and drank coffee, walked around, picked up some last minutes items. All around it was a perfect last day in Amsterdam. We gave Sonja “a push” as they say in Uganda, and saw her off from the train stations. Again the tears were plentiful. That night we had snacks for dinner and spent most of the time repacking our now large disarray of souvenirs, gifts for people in Uganda, dirty clothes, clean clothes, electronics, etc. It was a lovely night, and I spent some time out on the balcony over looking the street. We were directly across from a musical hall, so I watched the people enter the hall dressed elaborately for the show.

And that’s how it ended, in what I feel was a European fashion. Sitting, enjoying the evening from a balcony, listening to beautiful music, and watching the people on the street while conversing with the people in your direct presence.

The next day we decided to spring for a taxi to take us all the way to the airport. Which turned out to be a really great investment given the amount of luggage that we had accumulated now that Meagan had her bags and Nicole purchased another bag while we were there. We didn’t have that much trouble at the airport, although they charged us for having two bags which is crazy, and I have every intention of writing a letter of complaint to every relevant party in that endeavor. I might call too, but I haven’t decided.
The flight itself was fine, although as we were taking of it was announced that we would also be stopping in Kigali on the way. We didn’t really have a choice, so we went a long with it. Getting through the Entebee airport was actually easy. I couldn’t believe how quickly we got through; however, when we called Rev to see where he was, he thought that we weren’t coming until the following day. Thankfully, he was still able to come and get us after a couple of hours. It gave us time to relax and take a soda.

At about midnight we left the airport and headed to Kampala. There were numerous road blocks along the way, which was interesting because the president was recently re-elected. I’m sure it wasn’t by an honest democratic vote, and there has been some civil unrest due to inflation. The men where in fatigues and wanted to be able to see in the car. I’m not sure what they were looking for, although I would suspect that they aren’t really looking for anything. The whole performance is more like a symbolic act of control rather than a specific action toward a specific goal.

There was a nice smokey haze over the neighborhoods from people burning their trash. It was a nice welcome to Kampala. We got to the compound with bottoming out only a few times. The poor car was laden with bodies and luggage. Of course no one was at the house because they didn’t think that we were coming till the next day. After knocking on the door for some time, we decided to stay at a hotel for the night. It was a relief to finally get into bed. By this time, it was coming to 2:30 and we had be traveling since 7:30 the previous morning.

We managed to drag ourselves out of bed at 9:00 a.m. to meet with Rev who had been by the house again without any luck. We took a quick breakfast, which was exciting because it was the first time that Nicole got to try some of the fruits that we rave about constantly.

We finally met up with Grace at the house. She was pretty upset, which I knew was going to happen. It was really nice to see Grace and Annette again. I brought her some Tony’s and I can’t wait to give it to her. She already had some fresh juice made for us. They got a few things in order and left us to take naps. I have since slept several hours, took a shower, unpacked, and had some dinner. I finally feel like I can recompose myself. I was so tired of living out of a suitcase, and having so many things. Nicole and Megan took a brief trip to the store. We decided that we would let Nicole have the single bed to herself for the first couple of weeks so that she has time to adjust. She is pretty excited though. The double bed is so large that Meagan feels far away even though I know she’s in it, so I think we’ll be ok sharing.

It’s good to be back. It doesn’t feel like I have been away for very long. I feel myself falling back into the pace of things more quickly this time. It is nice to have Meagan, who is experienced and confident, helping to run things. It is also nice to have Nicole, who is new but eager and easy to travel with. She is so smart, I know that she won’t have any trouble and then she’ll have the “I love Africa” bug the way that we do. She’s already ruined on the bananas, mangos, and pineapple.

The power and the water just went out. Welcome to Uganda.

5/28/11

We got invited to a wedding reception by our Eritrean friends. Very exciting. I'll report back to tomorrow on how it went.

Pictures

2011-05-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

The pictures are up and we have a ton of them! Click the link to Meagan's pictures. I was the one who messed up and accidentally put them in two folders, but I'm going to hand it back over to Meagan after this point. Cheers and enjoy.

Last night in Amsterdam

2011-05-25T13:21:00.001-07:00

We are packing up our things and buying last minute items. Our flight to Uganda leaves tomorrow at 10:30. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here, but I'm ready to settle into our cozy apartment in Bogolobi and eat some passion fruit. We have done many things in the past couple of days that I need to write about. We are going to go ahead and get the pictures up. We've already had complaints. I'll explain everything later.

It's Sunday and I need some rest

2011-05-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the flower market. I was surprised that it was actually more seedlings and bulbs than actual flowers. All kinds of tulips that I've never seen before. We also walked to another market that had tons of stuff. We had a picnic in the park for dinner. People were really congregating in the park. It was like a party. I enjoyed it a lot, and it has probably been my favorite meal so far. Just bread, cheese, fruit, raw veggies, salami, and wine and chocolate. The weather was just perfect and warm enough to sit in the grass comfortably in the sun. They have really good fresh rasberries here, and I ate a package yesterday and today. I think I'll get one tomorrow too. We went to the harbor then stopped for a beer. We all good time dancing at a disco especially because the Dutch don't seem to be very good dancers. We were showing up everyone. =)

Got up at 8:00 to go to Haarlem. It was lovely, although we weren't paying attention at first. We missed our train stop and ended up all the way at the ocean. We rode back and got off at Haarlem. It is more of what I think of as a typical European city with a huge cathedral, open square in front, and cafes along the edges of the square. The weather wasn't as nice today, so I ordered some hot chocolate and soup. Yummy. The church was closed (weird right?) as were most of the shops. We did tour a wind mill which made the whole trip. They are designed so smartly. One person can manage this huge and super heavy piece of equipment that is also a building. And for all different purposes: milling, grinding, and drawing water among other uses. They are also designed to be broken down and reassembled in a different location with ease. Huge wooden pegs that look like you could slay a vampire with them. I was really excited about it. There are still 1,100 working windmills in The Neatherlands. Our tour guide was this really sweet old Dutch man. If we wouldn't have been so tired, we probably would have gotten back on the train and gone back to the ocean, but we've really run out of steam.

Tonight we cooked a meal at the hostel, and we are having some much needed down time before we start again tomorrow. Gosh I'm tired.

First day in Amsterdam

2011-05-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

We have dropped back by the hostel for a brief respite before going back out again. Amsterdam is really a lovely city, and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. I forget how charming and walkable Europe is. It seems like simply because the cities in Europe are so old and people have been living in the cities for so long that humans have left their mark even in the air. I don't mean smog, pollution and the like but the way a drawer smells when you haven't opened it in a long time. The smell of human presence, and I find it very soothing. You never feel alone. People like to sight Amsterdam as a city of vices, similar to New Orleans, but I find that viewpoint, also similar to people's views of New Orleans, to be that of a simpleton. It is very rich town with offerings of history, art, canals, and the most gorgeous tulips among other things. We have seen some curious sights in the red light district, but it isn't nearly as tacky as I thought it was going to be. Europeans are always so subtle. Tonight we plan to have a picnic of cheese, wine, and fruit in the Vondle Park. Tomorrow, I think we will go to Haarlem, a suburb of Amsterdam and the original town which the American city of Harlem is named after. It is know for its architecture and cathedrals. On Monday we plan to go to the Van Gogh Museum and the house of Anne Frank. I have already bought some tulip bulbs that I think I'm going to have to sneak through customs into the states. We are hoping that our friend Sonja will join us on Wednesday in the city. On a practical note, Meagan's luggage still has not arrived. I hope for her sake that it gets here soon. Other

Holly Moley we made it!

2011-05-20T04:08:00.000-07:00

Just briefly, we made it to Amsterdam safe and sound. Already been a little tricky, but not too bad. More later when I've had a nap.

And thus, the conclusion in a three part trilogy....

2011-05-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

(I wish I could make the type scroll)

Over the past year I have spent countless hours reflecting on my past experiences in Uganda, fulfilling my current obligations to our ongoing evaluation of the SAS program, and anticipating the new challenges and surprises that I will inevitably encounter as I spend my third summer in Uganda. At this point, it really does feel like a three part trilogy. For those friends and family who have been keeping up with me for the past two summers, hopefully you will share my excitement in seeing the people with whom I have built lasting relationships such as Grace who is our mother/housekeeper, Mary (who is also our mother) and her three children, Rev Obed at SAS, Dr. Bagenda. at the University, and Joan from the coffee shop. I'm sure that there will also be a new cast of characters to introduce.

I can already introduce one, Nicole Smith, who has decided to come with us for the summer as a member of our research team. She is the one on the left and Meagan is on the right in the picture. Nicole and I began our Master's degree at Memphis in the same year, and she was one of my very best friends while I was there. This past school year she has started a PhD in Medical Anthropology at the University of Kentucky and survived. She is interested in humanitarian aid and disaster relief in Africa, so we offered to have her come along with us to see what it is like. Meagan has also transitioned this year as she has successfully completed her Master's at Memphis in Medical Anthropology and has recently been accepted to a doctoral program in the Department of Public Health at Louisiana State University. She is moving down to New Orleans as I type. I have also spent the year in transition. I have decided to matriculate this September at Oregon State University in the Department of Public Health in their doctoral program (p.s. I'm looking for a place to live in or around Corvallis, OR if anyone has any real estate they need to rent). All in all I am enthusiastic about our research team, and I feel extremely privileged to be working with such a talented group of ladies who are also close friends.

Meagan and I have had a successful year working with SAS in the U.S. We have raised all of the funds to cover our trip through numerous and generous donations. If you are one of those people, thank you. Meagan and I also participated in a larger fundraiser for the SAS Foundation that has allowed the foundation to expand to several new locations in Uganda, particularly in Northern Uganda, which has experienced unrest for decades for political reasons. Being caught in between Sudan and Congo lends itself to turmoil. You might be familiar with the organization Invisible Children that has been working in this area to rehabilitate child soldiers escaping from the Lord's Resistance Army or LRA. It has rates of HIV as high as 10% of the population, some of the highest rates in the country. Let me go ahead and prepare you by saying that we are planning to travel to this area. It will be a new experience for all three of us. I am already looking to it with some trepidation. Every year, I have had an experience where I have come away a different person. In the summer of 2009, it was interviewing a 20 yr old prostitute in the poorest slum of Uganda. I was 23 at the time. In the summer of 2010, it was the bombing at the Rugby Club in Kampala the night of World Cup Final. A place where we frequented, but not on that night. I acclimate to the poverty in Uganda, but I never grow accustomed to the suffering that I see around me while I travel. I do not know this for sure, but I suspect that the suffering in Northern Uganda is more that any that I have been exposed to at this point. If you pray, start saying your prayers for this event, if you meditate, focus on this area, and if you don't do either of these things, just send me your best juju. Luckily, I'll have Meagan and Nicole. The three of us have already been through so much together that I have no doubts about our abilities to support each other in this particular experience and throughout the entire summer.

We will be leaving Thursday, May 19th. Feel free to call me in between now and then. We will be staying in Amsterdam for a week before continuing to Uganda. Trying to take advantage of the fact that we are passing through Europe, and this will probably be the last time for a while. We are planning to meet up with our German friend Sonja while we are there. You might remember her from last summer as the lady who started a non-profit soccer team for children in the slums of Kampala. We will be in Uganda from May 26th to July 21, and make it back to the States on July 22nd. Of course, I will be keeping up with the blog all through that time. I encourage you to leave me posts. It is always nice to be reminded of home and people who care about me. Also, feel free to ask me as many questions as you like, with the disclaimer that you have to be prepared for the answers. I will answer any and all questions.

For now I will leave and get back to organizing myself and this trip. Have a lot to go in the next week and a half. Much love.

Finally home

2010-08-13T05:33:00.000-07:00

After a long trip, I'm finally home. I had to fly through my least favorite airport, Atlanta, but in the end I made it to New Orleans safe and sound. Dad took me to get some seafood, which I've been missing terribly. I intend to post some more pictures of Kenya today so that everyone can see. It is really an amazing country. Now that I'm home I probably won't keep up with the blog too much. It is very much my preference to talk over the phone or in person! However, I will announce, that it has been placed on my heart to continue working in Uganda, and perhaps spread my work into Kenya. I have appreciated everyone's support so much, and I hope that you'll continue to stick with me and help me influence people's lives for the better.

I'm in Amsterdam

2010-08-11T21:28:00.001-07:00

and the flight wasn't so bad, I'm more concerned about the next one to Atlanta.

On my way

2010-08-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

So today is my last day. We will be leaving shortly from Nakuru to go back to Nairobi, and I'll catch my plane from there. Hopefully there won't be any delays and they'll let me out of the country without any hassle. Soon I'll be talking with you over the phone! I'll let you know when I'm in Amsterdam. Shitufu! That's It!

Safari

2010-08-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today was an awesome day. I saw giraffes and lions today. We saw all kinds of things. I hoped that I would be able to post the pictures, but I'm really tired and struggling to get things done. I will try to get it together in the morning. Much love.

I'm in Kenya!

2010-08-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

I thought that I wouldn't be able to post on the blog, but it turns out that I can. The house where I'm staying has WiFi. I was telling Bill that I pretty much forgot what that even was... Anyway, already some exciting things: We drove to Nakuru this morning which is east and slightly north of Nairobi. The car ride was actually great and our driver was safe. The city of Nairobi is quite nice, but I think that I didn't get to see the really rough parts. Nairobi is home to the largest slum in the world.

The trip itself was nice. We went through a landscape that was similar to a high altitude landscape in the US. Evergreen trees in particular. There are a couple of things that are different. Here they have carts drawn by donkeys. I've haven't been able to get a picture of one yet, but I'm hopeful.

Nakuru is located in the floor of the Rift Valley, and for a while we were driving along the escarpment and could look down into the valley and see volcanoes, craters, geysers, lakes, and the valley floor itself. I've already seen baboons, zebras, and gazelles. I've got some really good shots of the zebras and baboons. I could see flamingos from a distance in the lakes, so hopefully that is another thing that I will get to see up close. I've already bought some earrings made of flamingo feathers.

I've enjoyed talking to Bill a great deal and seeing him again. It's been about three years, and so much has happened in that time. As always, he is continuously encouraging of what I'm doing and has good insight into the difficulties I face and the challenge of the decisions that I'm trying to make.

All in all I'm so excited to be here. People are excited that the recent vote on the constitution has gone well and maybe that is why people seem so cheerful. I think it will benefit the average people a great deal. There has been a dispute over land that was acquired unfairly in the past, and I think it will resolve some of those issues. Along the way, we stopped at a mission clinic to drop off some medications, everything seemed fairly clean and well managed. There are so many similarities between Kenya and Uganda, but in a lot of ways Kenya seems to be a bit better off. It may be that I just haven't spent enough time here.

The landscape looks just like it does in the documentaries. I think tomorrow we will go to church and then go on a safari. I'm crossing my fingers for a giraffe and a lion. I keep hearing the Lion King theme song playing in my head while I pray. I think it adds flair.

P.S. I just heard someone say "hakuna matata".

On the way to Kenya

2010-08-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

Will be leaving soon and the last post for a while. Wish me luck. I'm supposed to be meeting bill at the airport. I'll be leaving on the 11th and back at the New Orleans airport on the 12th. Cheers!

Be on the look out

2010-08-03T02:22:00.000-07:00

We'll be making one last post of pictures from last week and this week. We have actually done some pretty cool things in the past couple days. The weekend we have spent trying to catch up on writing, and making last minute visits with our friends. Yesterday we went to Owino market. We tried to take a video of the chaos. Pretty much everything that you could think to buy is in that place. Maybe like Walmart, but cramped and outside. Our friends Moses and Sonja took us there to meet Moses' mother who sells fruits and veggies. I bought some delicious spices to make tea with. As many of you know I'm a bit of a tea fanatic, and I'm continuously on the look out for different types of tea or something to add to it. Our friends also bought some fresh cinammon. I had never seen it before just plain. It looks like mulch. Something that I didn't expect here the first time that I came was the significant Indian minority in the country and the influence it has on the different things that are available. In this case quality spices. We often saw things that we did not recognize, but the people had difficulty telling us what it actually was. Look for a pictures with something hot pink, orange, and then yellow. We have no idea what kind of spices those are. It was funny that as we walked from place to place, sometimes we would get a whiff of something delicious like Mangos and then a whiff of something rank like warm and raw fish. We also bought some black currants to try. Not a big fan. It was good a first, but at the end was bitter in such a way that it felt like something had sucked dry all of the saliva in my mouth. Win some loose some I guess.

From there they took us to where Moses grew up and Sonja spent an internship. The area is called Mengo pronounced like Mango. It is one of the biggest and worst slums in Kampala. Going there was pretty rough, but it was different from my experience in other slums. I think maybe because it was in an industrial area. I cringed to see the kids walking around without shoes on, not knowing what sort of chemicals are on the ground. We visited the homes of a couple of students who are being supported through their organization. They also showed us where they practice. The kids themselves were very sweet. One was funny because he heard a man calling out to me, and he said “Ah, your too young for him.” I said, “I know, and he’s very old, yuck.” I think he’s in one of the videos from earlier in the summer.

Today I woke up with a rash on my stomach and in a couple of places on my limbs. I feel bad that we have spent a portion of Meagan’s last day at the doctor’s office. I think it might be the detergent that is irritating my skin. They gave me a shot that was the most painful thing that I’ve had in a while. Luckily Meagan was there with me. Afterwards we also went to the craft market. The Foundation is having a fundraiser on October 29th in Baton Rouge. Let me know if you’re interested in going. We have bought a few items from the craft market. I got a cool wooden bowl with wire handles, some baskets, greeting cards, some salad spoons, and earrings. one pair gold, one pair purple. I’m looking for a necklace, but I can’t find one that suits me. The proceeds from these items will go to our project so that we can continue our research next summer!

Our last week…

2010-07-31T02:31:00.001-07:00

Monday 7/26/10
We were pretty tired to day, so we spent most of the time at home and only went out for Thai food. Jude went with us, and he and Meagan had never had sticky rick with mango before. It was a pretty big hit between the two of them, especially Jude, who is a particularly picky eater.

Tuesday 7/27/10
Trying to wrap up the research and provide some initial recommendations to the foundation. We are having trouble because we had such a great weekend. I can’t stop talking to Meagan and reliving the fun. We are also trying to buy a few things to take home to friends and family. Last year I bought all of my Christmas presents here and I plan to use that strategy again.

Wednesday 7/28/10
Again trying to build a report, people who went with us to Jinja keep dropping by so that we can exchange pictures. We had our friends Sonja, Richard, and Moses over for dinner and then we intended to go bowling. We didn’t have luck with the bowling. We left late, then couldn’t find it, and then it was closed. Bummer. As a consolation we did find another restaurant that we had previously asked about and were told that it wasn’t there. They had bagels, so we each bought one for the morning. Cinnamon Raisin I been missing you!

Thursday 7/29/10
One more day of report writing. Pretty boring. Our friends are wanting to go out a bunch because they know that we will be leaving soon. I think everyone is starting to feel the crunch, but I’m starting to get worn out with socializing. That evening we did manage to get another egg roll. We dissected it and took pictures so that everyone at home can get an idea of what we are talking about and why we were so surprised the first time. It has become a running joke amongst our friends about how we made such a scene the first time that we had an egg roll.

Friday 7/30/10
We had a long a day at the foundation today. We introduced Moses to Echiba and Reverend so that he might be able to become more involved with the Foundation in one capacity or another. We also went over our initial recommendations. I think they went over ok. There were a couple of things that they weren’t aware of and many thing that they already knew. We got some Indian food quickly in a restaurant that was air conditioned. Weird. We went back to the foundation and got prepared for our meeting with all of the mentors.
The meeting went really smoothly, and we handed them back the results from the pilot tests. They seemed to be pleased with the results of the project. We also said our good byes. It was very sad, especially since was the second time that I’ve said goodbye and now I’ve come to know so many of the people personally.
We took a taxi with Mary home because she was going to a wedding reception in our area. It was nice to spend a little time with our African mother before we left. Finally, we stayed home for a night. People kept dropping by to say hello and chat with us. Eventually we were able to watch some Seinfeld and go to sleep. I’ve started reading Sherlock Holmes and it is really good.

Back from Jinja

2010-07-26T02:50:00.000-07:00

We had a blast in Jinja for Meagan's birthday. I think the story is best told in pictures (follow the link like usual), and between Meagan and I we got some really amazing shots. We arrived on Friday night. Although it isn't that far from Kampala, it took us a while to get through the Friday afternoon traffic. The next morning, we went horseback riding at the Nile, then went to a set of falls call Bujagali Falls, We picnicked at the source of the Nile eating fresh Nile perch and fruits and veggies that we brought ourselves. Then we took a boat ride around on the river. We pretty much gave the Nile and Jinja a thorough work over. I was really pleased with the way everything turned out and I think that Meagan as well as everyone else enjoyed the birthday celebration.
On Sunday we stopped at another set of waterfalls that was not on the map, but one that only the local people knew about. It was a place where people who have traditional beliefs go to ask for blessings and relief from evils. We took a tour of the grounds and washed our feet in the stream. Hopefully we didn't pick up any bad juju along the way...but we made it back safely at least and are preparing for our last full week here in Kampala. It is an ominous feeling knowing that we will be leaving soon, and neither we nor our friends care to talk about it. It's hard to explain what it is that makes Uganda so enjoyable despite all of the strange and difficult things that we have to deal with. Meagan and I are already trying to think up ways that we can come back and spend some more time here.

Trip to Jinja

2010-07-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

Meagan and I are going to Jinja with some friends for Meagan's birthday. Source of the Nile here we come! Plus we have planned a horseback riding trip with just the girls. Can't wait! Look forward to more posts on Sunday.

Pictures

2010-07-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

More pictures are up. Check em out!

A better update

2010-07-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Finally the internet is working more effectively and I can give a better update. Let me start upfront by saying that I'm not going to leave early. I understand that many of you are concerned about my safety, but both Meagan and I have decided that we are not in immediate danger. Although one American was killed and others were injured, the attacks were not directly specifically at foreigners but at the general public by a Somali terrorist group. We have been keeping in touch with the embassy and getting information from them. You also can get information from the embassy and the state department to see what they recommend. They each have a website and the information is readily available. Thanks for all of your concern and we are still exercising a level of caution as we being to go back to our daily routine and move about the city.
The atmosphere around here is getting back to normal. A lesson that seems to be difficult for me is that the world doesn't stop moving when people die, even if it is tragic. That doesn't mean that the event is insignificant, but life continues on all around. We don't know anyone who died directly, but our friends almost always knew someone. One lost an uncle and his car is stuck at the rugby club because the uncle borrowed the car. By now most of the dead have been buried.
We stayed at the compound for a day and a half, but have started to venture out keeping closer to home and for things that we need. The difficulty with not having internet is not being able to get decent information, and the newspaper and televised news is never that great. So ultimately we had to leave if we were going to get information. Plus our friends keep us updated and watch over us as always. In all honesty that is how we found out about what happened before it was ever on the news. As the game was ending one person got a text that there was an explosion, then another, then another, until everyone's phone around us was lighting up. We were out that evening watching the game at a small local bar not that far from the Rugby Club. After the game we went directly home, knowing that something was going on in the city, but felt safe in the compound. All night we could hear the sirens passing by as they took the dead and injured from the Rugby Club to Mulago Hospital. It wasn't until the next morning that we knew the explosions had been at the local rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant in Kabalagala, a neighborhood south of downtown close to the American embassy.
So yes, it is sad and unsettling and atrocious that someone would do something like that, but out of principle I feel that it is important for me to stay and continue working. As Meagan and I have been talking about what happened and working through it in our own way, I think she made an excellent point in saying that because terrorist groups don't have the means to carry on an outright and upfront war with whomever they decide is their enemy, they resort to psychological warfare and preying on people's fear to get what they want. I refuse to allow anyone so cowardly as to attack innocent people enjoying the World Cup, which was intended to be a symbol of African unity and peacefulness to prey on and instill fear in me. That's how I feel about it, take it or leave it. See you all August 11th.

Just to let everyone know...

2010-07-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Meagan and I are aware of the attacks that happened in the city last night. I'm posting so that you know we are safe at home and were not effected by the attacks although I think it is safe to say that we are both a little rattled and uneasy about what is going on. We are struggling to get information about what happened since it occurred so late in the night and now it is still very early in the morning. I do know that one of the places, the rugby club is one that we have frequented. You may remember about Meagan and I running on a rugby field. That is the place where one of the bombs went off. So we are definitely blessed to have been somewhere else in the night watching the game. However, I hope you will keep those people who were effected in your prayers. I will keep everyone posted through the blog as soon as anything else happens.

World Cup Finals Tonight!

2010-07-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

So I’m not sure when I updated last I think I have a whole week to cover…

There are a couple of things going on. We have been meeting with parents at schools where we intend to do case studies. We had meetings at three different schools this week, and that in itself was a lot of work, but surprisingly two of the three meetings went really well. Many of the parents are excited about the research we are doing, and also want to participate. We hired one of our friends to help us named Moses, which turned out to be a really smart move. He’s really good at what he does helping and translating. He understands our research with ease. He keeps time, and he loves children. You can tell that the children are equally excited about the research. Many of them are so smart and they continually impress me with their maturity of thought. I wonder sometimes if it isn’t because of the reality that most have to live in day in and day out. It forces you to grow up a bit faster.

We are still working on the IRB, baine of my existence, approval. Now we have the sister of Dr. Muhumuza, Beatrice helping us because she is a member of parliament. So it’s looking like its going to figurative take an act of parliament to push this thing through.

Of course we aren’t wasting any time. We are doing things that are helpful to the foundation. We got in all of our pilot tests and are working on getting them graded and entered into a data base. The results are actually quite exciting because they reflect some of the opinions that we developed based simply on our school observations. We call it triangulation, and it usually means that you are doing a good job.

Last Sunday we went to church with Mary, a supervisor at the foundation. She is the one that I described as Mary Poppins. We arrived at her house at nine. Then we arrived at church at ten and we were there for three hours. It seems that would be like a long time, but it actually was a lot of fun. I could get my sway and my clap on for the songs. I actually knew some of the songs as well. There were what seemed to me to be two sermons. One of them was entertaining because it was based on the world cup. We went home with her to have lunch and all of her children came to the house to have lunch with us. It was another hour and a half before lunch was ready, so again the photo albums came out and we had to look at endless pictures of almost the exact same thing.

When lunch was ready we ate as much as we possibly could, but it still wasn’t enough. I really thought I was going to be sick. By time we ate lunch, took pictures outside, ate some pineapple for dessert, it was coming to six in the evening. Can you believe? The whole day for just church and lunch. We were so full when we left that we walked a large portion of the way home so that we could sleep comfortably.

On Tuesday we were invited to dinner with Dr. Muhumuza’s mom, Rachel, and Andrew. Rachel has two children that were very cute, Hannah and a little boy called Tama, but that’s his nickname. I can’t remember his real name. He was super cute because he knew a few English words and would yell them out and then clap for himself. The meal was delicious and this time I seemed to be more successful at eating. She had stuffed a chicken with rice, peppers, onions, and tomatoes, that was fabulous. Again we didn’t eat enough to her liking. She also made a mini mat for the each of us in the style that they make traditional mats. It is on our table acting as a table runner right now. I told her that we were so grateful and that when we came back we would bring back something for her.

This weekend we have been doing the world cup thing. I have to say I’ll be glad when it’s over because I can’t get enough sleep between work and watching the games. But it’s unthinkable to miss the games, right? All in all we’re just trying to make the most of the time that we have left. It is amazing how fast the time has past. I really think that I would like to live here for an extended period of time, like a year or so. It seems like as soon as we have started to really get in the swing of things, we are having to leave. I think Meagan wishes that she could stay longer too. Part of it is that I love my job here so much. The people and children are so nice. All in all its just so enjoyable to be here despite all of the small difficulties that we have a long the way. Well, that’s enough sentiment for the moment. Will try my best to keep things updated in the remaining weeks.

Pictures!

2010-07-06T11:52:00.001-07:00

Again, we have the pictures posted from last week in case you haven't notice. My birthday is included.

Weekend #6, which started on Wednesday

2010-07-03T04:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 6/30

Today was really a great day. I already told about how I went swimming and laid out by the pool. I was excited that I had some semblance of a tan line.
Meagan and I went to get Thai food and the restaurant was so much fun. We were able to sit outside as the sun was setting. I enjoyed the peacefulness on the patio minus the sound of traffic and fumes. Because the restaurant was on a small road it gave a sense of detachment from the city that I thoroughly enjoyed. The service and the food was really good. I got them to make me the closest thing that I’ve had to cocktail since I’ve been here. They didn’t have any martini glasses, but mixed a martini with fresh passion fruit juice and rimmed the wine glass with sugar. I had the Pad Thai and ate it with chopsticks. I was pretty excited about the chopsticks.
When we left the restaurant we met up with a friend, but when I got there they had a surprise party waiting for me at the bar. I didn’t really realize what was going on until they brought out the cake and showed it to me. At first I was a little confused because the cake said “Happy Birthday Jinjer”, but was really happy when I realized it meant me. I actually enjoyed that the cake was misspelled. It encapsulates my experience and I felt like it was honestly how people think of me in African terms. Perhaps that is a bit of a romanticized way of looking at it, but I can’t help it. The person who bought me the cake, Jude, was upset that the bakers had misspelled the name especially since he had spelled it for them plainly. Cheers to Africa.
Everyone that we have met along the way came to the party. Many of them brought gifts, which was completely unnecessary. Among the things that I got was a carving of a gorilla, a Ugandan football team jersey with my name on it, music, a purse. Lots of great gifts. I’m still not sure how to thank everyone. I had gotten wind that people would be there to spend the birthday with me when I got there, but I was completely surprised at the elaborateness of the affair. It was truly a wonderful birthday.

Thursday 7/1
Meagan was nice enough to let me have one more day off, but unfortunately I couldn’t spend it lounging by the pool. The idea of it being July spurred me to start applying for jobs again, so that’s what I spent the majority of the day doing. I got three applications in, which is good. Hope things work out.

Friday 7/2
Today was my day to go out in the field. A dropped by the Foundation to see if the mentor had brought back any of the surveys that we sent out with them. We’ve gotten a few back, we took the time to grade the ones that we had. The results are pretty promising. At least we are getting a feel for what the children know and it is confirming some of our suspicions about the things that they don’t know.
I also stopped by the clinic to for a few errands. Dr. Grace, Dr. Muhumuza’s sister is also getting on board trying to help us with the IRB issue. I told her that we would welcome any and all help.
We shared the cake with Grace and Annette. I think they were really excited about it. I told them that I didn’t want to eat all of the cake myself and get fat, and they remarked that since they were women and not a girl like me, they would eat as much as they pleased. I had them laughing for some time.
That night we went to see a band called Afrigo. They are the oldest band in Uganda, and were playing during the Idi Amin era. That’s certainly something. They were an excellent band and had dancers who would do the traditional dances for the Buganda people (the local tribe in Kampala). They were amazing the way that they could move their hips. I can’t every figure out how women can move their hips, but not their shoulders when they dance. We also watched the Uraguay/Ghana game, which was a spectacular game even though everyone was upset that Ghana lost. They were the last African team left in the tournament. Oh well, life goes on.

Happy Birtday to Me

2010-06-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 6/30/10

Today is my birthday, and it has been very pleasant so far. I decided to buy a swim suit and go swimming at the fancy pants club where I had the incident with the vice president last year. I really enjoyed laying out by the pool and reading. I took a dip and swam a few laps, but the pool was cold!

Meagan has gone out to do a few things with the foundation.

We finally posted the pictures from last week. Most them are of the parents meeting that we went to. For those of you who attend or have attended parents meetings, you'll probably find them pretty interesting. We also posted a really cool video of the children singing for us and the parents.

Fifth Weekend

2010-06-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

I forgot some other things that happened over the weekend. Friday we went out with our friend to watch more football. It's getting really exciting now that it's coming to the end of the tournament and the stakes are high. We went to watch at the rugby club, which was kind of cool. We ran around on the field afterward and I think we embarrassed our friends a little bit. Two white girls running and doing cartwheels.

I'm not going to talk about the U.S./Ghana game

Yesterday I went with our friends Sonja and Moses to watch the Germany/England game, since I needed a new team to cheer for. It was a lot of fun because we went to a restaurant that was German. I always like being in places where everyone is going for the same team. And they won big, which made it even better. We have decided to ask Moses to help us with our research project some. I think it will be a good fit. I'm not sure if I already said or in case you forgot, but Moses and Sonja run an organization that sponsors young kids from the slum to play football and go to school. In case anyone who plays soccer is interested, they could use some sponsors. Their team of slum kids is actually really good. They always beat everyone.

Lastly, my birthday is coming up soon. Meagan is telling everyone, and I'm not used to all of the attention surrounding it. I think it will be fun though, we are going to try to make a rum cake, which will be an adventure. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm not sure what I'm going to do on Wednesday, since that is the actual day of my birthday. We are talking about trying to go and get Thai food. Last year I treated myself to a massage, but I don't know if that's what I want. Got any ideas?

Getting behind on the posts

2010-06-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone, I'm starting to get lax on the posting. Not much of interest has happened. At least I don't think so. We spent the week preparing for Friday since we had a parents meeting to gather consent and a meeting with all of the mentors on Friday. When we went to the school, we were really surprised that when we walked up and they had decorated the school with streamers and fresh flowers. The meeting with the parents itself went really well and the response from the parents was extremely positive overall. Many of them also volunteered for interviews. I'm not sure how we are going to squeeze it all in.

At the mentors meeting, we asked the mentors to pilot a survey for us. I'm not sure how it's going to go, but it's one of those things that has to be addressed. Currently the foundation doesn't really track how much knowledge the children are acquiring over time, so of course to demonstrate whether or not the children are learning, a simple survey is necessary to test their knowledge. It should be really simple, but we didn't get a lot of encouragement on it from the administration, and in my mind I'm thinking "Hmmmmm, I wonder why that is."

Meagan is really spear heading the whole survey which is exciting. Now that we have spent a significant amount of time her, she is really taking charge of the different parts of the project that she enjoys. It's nice to have an equal partner in this thing again to take some of the burden off of my shoulders.

That's sort of a tangent, but anyway, when she was explaining how to administer the survey, all I could think of was an image of a dandelion and us blowing on the seeds to watch them float away. All we can do is hope that it works, and if it doesn't, adjust it until it does. It's amazing how much we make this up as we go along, and it's not that we aren't prepared or that the outcomes aren't quality outcomes, I"m just proud of us for being flexible enough to finesse quality outcomes out of some seriously precarious situations. Such is the nature of research, and we're getting really good at it. Cheers!

Finally I can tell you what happened

2010-06-24T01:03:00.000-07:00

Our trip. I have tried to include all of the important parts. Looking back now it was a long trip and I still think that I’m trying to get over it. Now some of the pictures may make more sense.

Thursday 6/17/10
Today was the day that we left for Hoima. Many of our friends were worried about us traveling around. I told them I would call them if we were in jail and needed help, but they didn’t think that was very funny. We took a coach bus to Hoima, which was about three hours away. It was hot and cramped, and the guy next to meet kept leaning over to read my paper. The landscape slowly became more hilly and as very charming dotted with banana trees and corn fields. We travel with two of Dr. Muhumuza’s siblings: Andrew and another that I had not met yet called Rachel. They were both very excited to go to Hoima and spend time with their father who resides there.
We almost missed our stop because we all fell asleep. We were all sitting so close together that we were propped up and didn’t have any trouble sleeping upright. Their father came to meet up with us, actually, at an organization called the Meeting Point. The coincidence was not intentional. The Meeting Point is an organization for people with HIV to engage in self help activities. It was a good fit for SAS and Meeting Point to work together since they are looking for sources of income for people who are HIV positive and SAS attempts to recruit people who are HIV positive. At the Meeting Point we got to meet many of the new mentors who had been recruited into SAS. It was really amazing how they were all very comfortable admitting that they were HIV positive and citing it as motivation to become part of SAS. The stigma surrounding HIV here in Uganda seems to be a bit different than that in the United States, but it is often difficult to put my finger exactly what those differences are or why those differences might exist.
The mentors were very eager for us to come and visit their schools. We ended up visiting five schools in a day and half, which by Ugandan standards is a great deal of work. That afternoon we walked to two of the schools. They were both interesting in their own right. I noticed that many of the children were not wearing shoes at any of the schools that we went to, but after thinking about it for a while, I realized that since the area is so much cleaner than it is in Kampala, it probably doesn’t matter that much.
By the time we visit both schools, roughly 5:30 pm we were both starving and realized that arrangements had not been made for us to have a place to sleep. That made for a relatively nasty combination. We stayed with the father, but felt bad for imposing on such short notice. He also took us to get something to eat. We each got fish, but it started to rain heavily and we were sitting under an awning. I didn’t realize that in this part of Uganda it is actually the rainy season, unlike in Kampala where it is actually the dry season. So anyway, as soon as they brought us fish, which turned out to be an entire fish with eye balls and everything, the power went out. We were left to attempt to eat a whole fish in the darkness. Eventually I gave up and started using my fingers because it was too difficult to maneuver my fork around the bones in the darkness. That is how most Ugandans eat anyway.
On a tangent, I find myself becoming detached from the need to use utensils to eat. Not that I will have any problem switching back when I get to the US, but now that I’m used to eating with my hands, it feels so much more normal where as utensils seem rather superfluous.
Coming back to the story, Mr. Tibagwa the father had two cars to bring us home in. One of them was a 1960 Toyota Crown. It is truly amazing that he has been able to hold onto something like that through gaining independence as a country, and three coups over the past fifty years. We settled in for the night at his home. It was modest but plenty comfortable.

Friday 6/11/10
The next morning we met Mr. Tibagwa’s wife, Jannette. She was very nice and very old. She ran a nursery school behind their house. She wanted us to come and see it, and the little children were just so cute. They were arranging colored bottle caps over numbers and letters.
We had a great breakfast minus one issue. We each had a boiled egg, but when I cracked mine open, there was a chicken inside. =? I tried to cover it back up, but it was so stinky. I didn’t know what to do with it. Luckily Janette took it from me and gave me a fresh plate and a fresh egg, and everything was cool. We had freshly roasted peanuts that were delicious, with fresh tea and milk. Of course the milk was boiled first. Here they make tea mostly with milk rather than water. I think it’s pretty good, but I can only drink so much because it’s so heavy. We put butter on our bread and then smashed the peanuts into the bread. Tasted just like toast and peanut butter.
We piled back in the car and rode back to the Meeting Point. Mr. Tibagwa didn’t come with us, so we said our goodbyes to everyone in the home. I told him that we kiss our elders goodbye in America, and so I kissed him once on each cheek and he thought that was pretty funny. I also said goodbye to Janette in the same way. At the Meeting Point, we met with a reporter who is interested in writing an article on the Foundation. I hope it works out well. From there we walked to three more schools. Each one was interesting in it’s own right, but repeated we heard that the Foundation was doing good work and that parents and teachers also wanted to get involved with the Foundation.
We walked a good ways this day and by the time that we got back to the Meeting Point, I was ready for a shower and to rest a while. We got a hotel room where we had gotten food the night before, but luckily this time we didn’t have any problem with the power. The hotel room was simple but comfortable. I don’t think that either of us cared that much at that point. We watched part of the American game on the TV. I was so excited that it was at least a draw.
That evening we met up with our friends, Richard, Sonja, and Moses who were going to be traveling with us up to Bulisa. Richard was from the town of Bulisa right on Lake Albert. We hung out long enough to have a beer and watch the next game. Sonja is an interesting person. She is German and came to Uganda to take an internship for a couple of months, but ended up deciding to stay. She’s now been in the country for over a year.
I was really tired by the end of the day and ready to go to bed. I didn’t have any trouble falling asleep.

Saturday 6/19/10
We woke up pretty early so that we could get an equally early start to Bulisa. We got on a taxi, but had to wait for more people to get on, then pick up a set of tires, and then pick up one more person. Minus all that we were wizzing down the road pretty quickly. It was a dirt road the whole way and extremely scary given the speed that the driver was pushing the taxi. It took us about two and half hours at full capacity to get to the edge of the Rift Valley. When you could finally look out over the valley from the edge it was striking. You could see Lake Albert as well. But we only had a short time to admire the view before we were fearfully focused on coming down into the valley safely. And once we hit the bottom at least ten more people got in the taxi with us. Meagan gave a head count of 25 people including children and some fish. They were all going to Bulisa. Luckily it was only like another hour like that. Along the way we saw lots and lots of baboons, and I was trying to explain to the student next to me what a cactus was. The valley is semi arid, so it was filled with a variety of plants suited for dry weather, including cacti.
I was crazy thankful to make it to town. We were practically spilling out. We went to visit Richard’s family. I already knew one of his uncles because he works with the Foundation as a mentor. He was also visiting at the time. The grandmother was very picturesque in her traditional clothes, cropped grey hair, skin leathery from the sun, sitting on the porch giving advice and direction to people as they passed by. It was like even though her legs were tired, her arms and hands hadn’t lost their enthusiasm for giving orders.
We ate a brief lunch of rice and chicken broth. Sonja and Moses were vegetarian and Richard didn’t understand why they couldn’t eat chicken. Everyone was anxious to get to the park. Time quickly gets eaten up with family. We piled in the car that offered to give us a ride. Getting into the park was extremely frustrating. They charged us a ridiculous amount of money according to Ugandan standards. I felt bad because it was so obvious that normal Ugandans wouldn’t be able to enjoy a park like this. It reminded me of that series about the American park system and how America is unique in that parks are readily available to the public.
We got to the hostel and they didn’t have any rooms. My heart just sunk. Our driver had left us. Tensions were running high. The person running the desk directed us to some people who taking a river tour so we sort of pushed our way into the car with them. I don’t think they minded so much because they offered us some ginger snaps. I think they were Danish or Dutch. We also tagged along on the boat, but it wasn’t a private tour, so I think the people funning the tours were happy because we filled the extra seats and made them more money.
The tour itself was wonderful. We were able to relax and not worry about our troubles for a while. The wildlife and the water falls were beautiful, which I will leave the pictures to describe.
Getting back was another fiasco. When we got back to Richard’s families house, I think we were ready to call it quits for the night and have something to eat. We went through the same issue of chicken not being meat again. I was so hungry I didn’t care. I ate a lot. No utensils. We slept down the road in some huts that were made out of clay with grass thatched roves. It was actually pretty comfortable and I was excited to really be doing what anthropologists do.

Sunday 6/20/10
We woke up to the sound of goats. In the middle of the night a drunk guy came in and was looking for a place to sleep. Richard directed him to another place, but I was in such a deep sleep it was like a dream until he told me about it until the next morning. We got ready that morning and played with Richard’s little cousins. They would just sit and watch us write. Eventually we started drawing pictures for them, and then gave them pens and notebooks so that they could draw some pictures for us.
We decided instead of trying to go back to the park, we would walk to Lake Albert and try to put our feet in the water. It was a long walk, but it wasn’t hot yet. When we got there we saw the crested cranes and went to the fishing village. It was right out of a movie. The people were too shy to come and talk to us. They just stared. The Lake itself was just as beautiful up close as it was from far away. You could see the shores of the Congo across the lake. I loved the tons of periwinkle shells all along the ground.
We walked back and by this time it was pretty hot. I was thankful to get back to the village and rest under a tree in the shade. Some of the people came and started talking to us. One of them wanted to give Meagan a cow so that we would take him out drinking. Luckily we escaped the situation by going to get some lunch. At luch time we got to try a new food called calow, which is a sticky substance made out of millet. It didn’t taste like anything, but the texture of it was so interesting that I couldn’t stop eating it. We also had some fresh fish that was pretty good.
Then I couldn’t find my money to pay, I had left it at the house. Even then it took me a while to find it, and even though I was sure that it hadn’t been stolen I was getting really upset really quickly. Meagan found it for me. As soon as we packed up our things, the taxi arrived. We really didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, but we couldn’t miss the taxi because we weren’t sure when it would come again that day. This time we took a different route back to Kampala. Along the way the driver ran out of gas in the middle of a sugar cane field. He said that someone had stolen his gas. I was worried that we weren’t going to make it back to Kampala that day. Luckily someone walked back to the previous village to get a jerry can full of gas. Meagan had to volunteer a water bottle which became a funnel. Luckily we made it to the town where we had to make our connection with only a few minutes to spare.
We took another large bus back to Kampala, but right as we were coming to the city we had to get off early. We were stuck in a jam and I had to go to the bathroom so badly. Once we got off I had to go so bad that I used the men’s room on accident. Luckily no one saw me. Our friend Jude came and picked us up and dropped us off at home so that we wouldn’t have to find another sort of transport to get to the city. We crashed when we got home.

Monday 6/21/10 Tuesday 6/22/10
Not much happened on these days except that we tried grasshoppers, which tasted like soft shell crabs so we ate them with ketchup and called it a day. We can actually get Heinz ketchup here but the writing is all in Arabic. Pretty cool. The other thing that happened is that we went out with some friends to watch the world cup. Afterwards we tried to get something to eat. We stopped by a roadside stand, and I order what I thought was a Chinese egg roll, but instead I pulled something that looked and felt like a fried soft ball. Turns out that a Ugandan egg roll is a whole boiled egg rolled up in mashed potatoes and then deep fried. I think we embarrassed our friends a little because we couldn’t stop laughing and they couldn’t understand why we were laughing in the first place.

Pictures!

2010-06-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

We have posted some pictures from our trip. Use the same link as before. There are some really great ones in there. Enjoy!

Hippos

2010-06-21T00:24:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived safely back home in Kampala although we had many adventures along the way. I will give a more thorough recounting later when I have had time to write it all up myself, but on a short note thanks so much for the prayers. I can tell because I saw so many hippos and tons of other wildlife too! Miss everyone.

Bout to Leave

2010-06-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

I thought that I was going to have more time to give a full update, but it just isn't possible. Of course the day before we are trying to leave town, everyone wants something out of us. We left the house this morning at 10:30 and didn't get back until 8:30. Makes for a long day. Now we're frantically trying to get cleaned up, pack, and monitor the South Africa/Uraguay game. Can't get behind on what's happening. Will let you know how it goes on Sunday or Monday when we get back. Wish us luck and include hippo sightings in your prayers.

Cheers!

Third Weekend

2010-06-14T07:25:00.001-07:00

Saturday 6/12/10

Had a blast watching the World Cup. We went to a place where they projected the game onto a wall between two giant palms. It’s exciting to be in Africa while everyone is experiencing something new. It’s the first time that the World Cup has ever been held in Africa and people are pretty excited about it. Mostly it’s a man’s sport, so a lot of the men in the city are being let off work early during the week to watch the games and no one seems upset about it. Everyone expects it. We were two of very few women watching the games.
After the game they also took us to a bachelor party. I think they could tell that the idea made us uncomfortable, but they kept insisting that it was different from American Bachelor parties. We got there we were surprised to see the entire family of the groom, and friends of the family all dancing and getting down. It’s funny to see even the fat old men dance to the rap music.
We went to watch the US play today. We went with Jude and his cousin Derrick to Entebee to have a “change of scenery” as they said. The game went all right, but afterwards we went to the beach to see Lake Victoria up close. It was a lot of fun and the water was nice and warm. I couldn’t see the color of it so hopefully it wasn’t neon green or something like that. I had to fuss as Derrick because he was driving like a crazy person down the road.

Sunday 6/13/10

Not much going on, just catching up. We had a guest over, who was supposed to arrive sometime after lunch, but didn’t show up till 8:30 at night. Then we gave them something to eat, but it had cashews in it, which they had never had before and didn’t like. =) all smiles.

Monday 6/14/10
Today we actually got finished early, and that never happens. I didn’t even know what we should do. We are planning a trip to Hoima at the end of the week and then will continue to Mysinde to see the Nile. I’m so excited because I think that we will get to see the Muhumuza’s parents again and stay with them. Another friend will meet us in Hoima and then travel with us to Mysinde because his family is from there and he knows the area. There is a park that surrounds the falls and the Nile, There is also supposed to be hippos and crocodiles, elephants and buffalo, etc. Hippos here I come!

P.S. We have posted the pictures from week three. It is the same like that is posted, but when you arrive at picasa, there should be another folder. Cheers!

2010-06-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 6/9/10

Woke up this morning feeling a tremendous amount better. We went to the coffee shop to have lunch and see Joan. We had an interesting conversation with her because her ex husband’s parents had died recently and they had kept her children with then in the village to go to school, so they were very involved. She attended the funeral was showing us pictures from the funeral. We asked her about how people were buried, and it sounded pretty normal until she said that it was a bad omen for people who hung themselves. People would just dig a hole underneath, cut the body down, let the body fall directly in the hole, and cover the body as it lay. No one would touch the body at all. A little melancholy but interesting.
Stopped at the market to buy a fake red Juicy Couture purse. I’m pretty excited, mostly because it’s red. We went home afterwards because my body just isn’t up to par yet.

Thursday 6/10/10

For the life of me, I could not get out of bed this morning. Meagan had to come and wake me up because Mary wanted us to meet her an hour earlier for a school observation. The observation itself went really well. We went to a school that used an integrated learning model for children with learning disabilities. The classroom was mixed with two regular children for every disabled child in the classroom. The classes were very small, and everyone worked under the philosophy that everyone had something to learn from each other. The idea really appealed to me, using school purposely to teach compassion for people who are different by learning to work together. It is so different from the American model, which is often critiqued for segregating “special ed” students because they never learn how to integrate into normal society and people never learn how to interact with people how have special needs.
The mentor was really good with the children. He told me that he had been walking seven miles each day to work with the children in this part of Kampala. Mary had us over to her house after the observation. We had a fantastic time and stayed for the remainder of the afternoon. My favorite part was probably watching her make juice by hand and listening to her tell stories about her children and her late husband. Later her son stopped by to meet us, named Julius. He seemed to be pretty nice.
For lunch we had most of the typical dishes, with the addition of posho and pumpkin. Posho is something like grits, but with a lot less water. I ate until I felt like I was going to pop, but still not to the satisfaction of Mary. She commented that I didn’t eat enough, and Meagan, jumping to my aid, said that I ate more at home. I also said that I wasn’t thin after all, and Mary agreed, saying that I had “big legs” (smile).
After lunch we drank the delicious juice that she had made herself and looked at pictures of her family. We sat and looked at pictures for at least two hours and had every picture explained to us in detail. I didn’t think that we were ever going to get out of there. They sent us home with some chilies, a papaya, and on the street the bought each of us what is called a rolex. Clearly it is not a watch, but something comparable to a breakfast burrito. In the evenings vendors stand by the road side and make fresh chapatti, which is an type of Indian bread that is flat and round and dense by cooking them on a hot flat skillet. Then they crack two eggs, mix them with onions and tomatoes. And pour it on the skillet to make like an omelet. The man who was doing it was very good, he could use his knife to both cut things and as a spatula. Then they place the chapati on top, lifted and flipped the whole thing and then wrapped it over on itself. Then you ate it just like that. We waited till we got home to eat them, and even though we weren’t hungry we each ate the whole thing. I feel like I’ve eaten enough for three days.

Friday 6/11/10

Spent the whole day trying to catch up on writing. Grace is here and I almost can’t stand it because she pecks at me continuously. Looking forward to tonight, we are meeting some friends to watch the next world cup game. We have been watching the opening ceremonies and the Mexico/South African game as we have been working. Think it’s going to be a blast!

Feeling Better

2010-06-08T22:09:00.001-07:00

Just to let everyone know, I'm feeling much better. Although I'm a medical anthropologist and love the traditional stuff, when it comes down to it, I'm not going to snub my nose at some good old fashioned antibiotics. Both the nose and the stomach are better. Kinda cool to be killing two infectious birds with one stone. Not something we really consider in medical anthropology.

First Observation

2010-06-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

Monday 6/7/10
I thought that I would be feeling better today, but I don’t. I’m worried that I might have a sinus infection. I was sure that I was going to be feeling better today. Anyway, we decided that instead of going to the clinic and then the foundation we would go to the foundation and then the clinic, thus giving me another hour of sleep.
At the foundation we had a very long meeting with Rev Obed. We told him about our research registration predicament, and it made him extremely upset. I was actually a little surprise about how adamant he was about finding out why it is taking so long and helping us along in the process. I was glad that I found someone else to deal with the secretaries so that I don’t have to anymore. The meeting went well, and afterwards we went to the SAS clinic.
We happened to meet Dr. Muhumuza’s father, which was actually a little intimidating because he’s lived through so much turmoil and managed to raise so many successful children. He turned out to be really funny and charming. He would start to talk about his different children, at about the fifth one he would get distracted and loose track of what he was talking about and start another conversation. I suppose remembering five out of ten is pretty good. I was able to give him the razor blades that I brought from the U.S. I accidentally broke the dispenser in CVS trying to get them out, but I think it was worth it. He said a blessing over us as he left. It was very sweet of him. I then took a nap, wrote a little and went to sleep. My cold is still bothering me and I seem to be acquiring an intestinal issue on top of it. P.S. it was my mom’s birthday today

Tuesday 6/8/10
Woke up in the night with a killer sinus headache and nausea on top. So I’m not feeling better today. I took some cold medicine and felt better for a while. Meagan got up and we made a heavier than usual breakfast because I knew that we wouldn’t be back to the house till pretty late in the afternoon. We left in time to make it across the city in an hour and a half, and we actually made it on time. We met with the supervisor, Mary, to do our first observation at a school. Mary is really cute in a grandmother sort of way. Today in particular she was reminding me of Mary Poppins because she had on a stiff dress and a large bag, and she used an umbrella like a parasol for shade while we were walking. The only thing she was missing was the hat.
Doing the observation was a lot of fun, and has been the best part of the week so far. We caused a huge commotion when we showed up with our whitness. The children were very smart and asked a lot of good questions. Towards the end though, the cold medicine was starting to wear off, and I was glad that we didn’t go to two schools like we had originally planned. On the way home, Mary helped us bargain for a pineapple. The mentor as well, was exceptionally sweet. We asked her why she decided to be a mentor, she said because she had a “sympathetic heart”. Also because she was HIV positive it was something she wanted to join in.
I knew I was going to get fussed at when we got back by Grace for going out, and she didn’t fail me. She also wouldn’t let me have any juice because she said it wasn’t good to drink cold things when you had the flu. She also fussed at me because we spend so much time walking and breathing in dust and that is why I was sick. I decided to start taking antibiotics. Between the nose and the stomach, I’m really having a difficult time, and I’m pretty sure that I’m grossing Meagan out. Fortunately tomorrow is another public holiday, so we don’t have to go anywhere. I’m not sure I would be able to anyway. However, I’m optimistic that I will start feeling better tomorrow.

Second Weekend

2010-06-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

Thursday 6/3/10
Today was a public holiday, Martyr’s Day. So there wasn’t much to be done because nothing was open.

Friday 6/4/10
Went to catch up with another friend. She has been managing a health club. She was the one who took me to the market last summer to buy clothes. Hopefully we will get to go again this time. Grace made her Thai chicken for us today. It was soo good, just as good as I remember it from last time. It rained again today. It seems to be raining a lot more than last summer. I took Meagan to this BBQ restaurant today. It is funny because we have been having this ongoing conversation of exactly was gristle means. I thought it was the stuff left in the pan after you fry something. She thinks of it as the occasional rubbery piece that you get when you bite into a piece of meat. Anyway, she doesn’t like it, so I wasn’t sure how this adventure was going to go. The BBQ is different from what we think of as smoked meat with sauce. The bring out piece of meat that has been roasted on skewers with salt and this hot chili paste. I love it and think that it’s great, especially because you eat with your fingers and they bring sides of tomatoes, avocados, bananas, ect. So she didn’t like it too much.
From there we went to another place that I knew about where you could get fast food, burgers, milkshakes, pizza, etc. We had better luck while we were there ordering a pizza. I’m pretty sure that pizza has been my saving grace on several occasions since I have been coming here. It is just so nice to be able to order something, and you know approximately of what it is going to taste like, but since pizza is pretty versatile, it tastes good no matter what you put on it (for the most part).
From there we went out with some of our friends for the night. Ugandans really like to stay out late, so they we pretty surprised when we wanted to go home around one or so.

Saturday 6/5/10
Feel like I’m coming down with a cold. I spent a lot of time sleeping today and hanging around the house. Meagan wanted to go to a movie, so we made plans to go see “Sex and the City” at the shopping mall here. I really like how the shopping mall is arranged. It is an open air mall, but it gives you the feeling that it is enclosed because it has several floors and ramps to get from one floor to the next. It just has several points where windows would normally be, but are just left open. There was a lot of white people there too. I still can’t find anything in my size in the stores.
We went to the food court to get some food. I had never been to a food court here before. I should have known that it wasn’t going to be like what I expected. Immediately we were bombarded by restaurants that would have people standing out front trying to get us to take a look at their menu, i.e. trying to sell their food to us. They had a lot of ethnic food, but out of curiosity we went to the Lebanese restaurant because Meagan has a Lebanese heritage. We took and ordered the hummus, and it was actually really good, with fabulous pita bread. Ugandans aren’t really particular about their bread. I think that they eat bread that to me is almost stale. They don’t think the softness is important. So it was a pleasant surprise to have pita bread that was actually soft and malleable. We bought some to take home with us =).
We went to the movie next. A friend met us to see it. The line at the ticket booth was a free frall, like all other kinds of lines. I had to push my way to the front. When we went in the theater they screened us for weapons. The guard felt my purse and told me that I had a lot of “gadgets” in there. They didn’t look it it. They might have found my pocket knife and mace, but I suppose I couldn’t only do so much with that anyway. The theater was air conditioned! Weird. By now I’m accustomed to not having it. I was cold through most of the movie, but Meagan somehow managed to fit a sweater in her bag. I didn’t care for the movie that much. People were talking through the whole thing anyway, and our friend Jude kept answering his phone in the middle of the movie. Cell phone etiquette is one of my things, and it’s hard to set it aside. We always talk in anthropology about cultural relativism, which is the idea that you can’t pass judgment on other culture’s customs because those customs are the result of different historical processes and value systems. So I can tolerate all kinds of customs in Uganda, like polygamy and traditional healers, and all of the beliefs that people have surrounding HIV and AIDS that would bother most Americans, but I just can’t set aside the cell phone etiquette.
Our friend Jude took us home. He tends to pay for us a lot, which makes me uncomfortable at times, but when I buy something for him, like the movie ticket. It clearly makes him uncomfortable. Not sure what to do, might have to come to a compromise somewhere along the way. He really looks after us though. He wanted us to go out again that night, but we were both wiped out, and my throat was getting worse along with my mood. So he took us home. I think though his friends were disappointed when we went home. They seem to think that we are a lot of fun.

Sunday 6/6/10
The cold is better today. Staying in was a good idea. I’ve just been writing and sleeping through most of the day. I know that tomorrow will be busy, so trying to relax and enjoy the down time. I realized that we can even download music on the internet =).

Pictures!

2010-06-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

Meagan has uploaded some pictures from our first two weeks here. Here is the link, http://picasaweb.google.com/114343566893152925273/UgandaWeek12010?feat=directlink But I will also post the link on the right had side of the blog for future use.

Round Two and Three

2010-06-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Monday 5/31/10
I woke up tense because I knew that I would have to see the secretary at the UNCST again. First we stopped at the hospital to meet with Dr. Bagenda. Meeting him was actually very nice. He is always so helpful to us and has a good sense of humor. I think at some point we will go have dinner with him and his family. He married an American physician and have a daughter that’s 21 months. He always introduces me to interesting people. This time was the person who was the principle investigator for the Rakai project, which is a major HIV surveillance project that began because this is the area of Uganda where HIV originally emerged. He was one of the first doctors to distinguish HIV as a unique collection of symptoms, i.e. he is one of the people to first recognize HIV. How cool is that?
We talked for a long time, and Meagan was anxious to get down to the UNCST as well. It was funny because as we walked out of the building she said, “We’re taking a boda!” And I laughed because they frighten her so much, but given our time frame we really needed to get there. We did take a boda, and sat down with the secretary for round two. Some of our paperwork was wrong, so we had to fill it out again, and then I was so relieved because we had finally gotten it all together, and then I asked how long it was going to take to process the paperwork, and she said SIX WEEKS. I was so upset, I could barely speak. So I went outside and called Dr. Bagenda right away. He had the same reaction, but tried to encourage us and offering to call the different people that he knew who might could help. We found a place to have lunch. We mostly sat in silence because I was still too angry to speak. And the we proceeded to walk the rest of the way home.

Tuesday 6/1/10
This morning we went directly to purchase an internet modem. The thing is so cool. It works anywhere, and on any computer that you plug it into. You just pay by the month. It makes me wish that we had something like that in the U.S. Grace and Anette came today. Grace cooked lunch for us and it was delicious. She also made some fresh juice. While we were eating it started to rain and then hail. I was mostly impressed that the power stayed on the whole time. We got a call from Dr. Bagenda that was encouraging, he said that the paperwork at the UNCST was already processed and that it would be sent to the president’s office, which was four weeks at the most. Lastly he told us to go by the UNCST again and meet the person who was helping us (round three).
David came by in the evening. David, you might recall, was the student who had been sneaking into school because he couldn’t pay his school fees, and mom and I decided that we would give him the additional money that he needed to finish school. He sat for his exams and did very well. I think he did better than most students that passed. He said that 40% of the students didn’t even pass their exams. What a bummer. Now he is in the process of applying for college. He wants to go to the one in Kampala, Makerere is the name of it.

Wednesday 6/2/10
Meagan got an email from someone at the University of Memphis saying that they would like to do a write up on our project for the Memphis magazine. It was pretty exciting to get some good news. I assumed that they would just want Meagan in it since she is a current student, but they said that they were also interested in alumni, so I’ll get to be in it too. Generally things are starting to look on the up and up.
We went to see the lady, Leah, who had helped us. It wasn’t the one we had been talking to all this time, but their desks were adjacent. We tried to be as polite as possible, but even still she had the attitude of “why are you here again”. Turns out she needed a few things from us anyway, so it was good that we dropped by. That means four more weeks at the most, so it seems that things are becoming a little more manageable. I wish that I could come back in the middle of the year and do some more observations.
From there we had our Wednesday pizza lunch. Always relaxing. The restaurant is really nice because it is all open air, but completely shaded by all kinds of different plants. It makes it really nice and cool. It also blocks out the sound of the street, so it is quiet and relaxing. The only thing is that they play really bad soft jazz. We had another person ask us for our number so that when they got to America, we could help them get a job. I it s so interesting how we don’t even think about how easy it is for us to move to another place to visit or to work if we want to, and it is so difficult for so many people. I know it is important to control the inflow of people, so that the system isn’t overwhelmed, but it makes me appreciate my privileged position.
We had a good meeting at the Foundation. Things are starting to move in the direction. The biggest thing is that we are working with children and that requires parental consent. And they won’t let us send the forms home with the children. So we have to gather the parents together. If we pull it off it will be quite an accomplishment and make the information we gather very uncommon.
When we came home we happened so see the lady Rose, who is our neighbor. Turns out that she is Eritrean, not Ethiopian. I was so embarrassed upon the discovery. Anyway she invited us in, and it turns out that she and her family we just sitting down to dinner. I was so excited to eat with them. They eat very similar to Ethiopians with the njara (njaara?) that looks like a giant spongy crepe. They had cooked chicken that had a thick spicy sauce with it and they just dumped the whole thing in the middle of the njara. We also got served a portion of cooked vegetables on our portion of the giant plate. It was so fun to eat with our hand and pinch some of the bread and then grab some of the chicken. They kept telling us that we weren’t eating enough, but I felt like we had already eaten so much. They asked us a lot of questions about what we have been doing, and America. Rose has a daughter that speaks fantastic English and is extremely social, so we answered a lot of questions from her. They gave us lots of compliments on our hair since it was so much lighter than theirs. Rose’s husband works for the UN in Liberia, but she lives here in Uganda with her daughter, two sisters, and brother. We spoke with all of them on different topics. We were having a lot of fun. The really cute white dog belongs to them, named Dede.
After dinner we had coffee. Rose showed me how she makes it from the raw bean. She showed me how she roasts the beans in a ban over the gas stove. When they are ready you are supposed to bring them out and let people smell the beans. The guests are then supposed to waft the steam coming from the beans and remark at how delicious they smell. So we smelled the beans and they really did smell so good. Then she let them cool and ground them using a modern coffee grinder. Boiled water. Added the grinds. They put the coffee in a special pot that looked something like a gourd that was carved for pouring and sat in a round basket. In the end of the spout she put this confetti looking stuff that was supposed to filter out the remaining grounds that didn’t fall to the bottom. The coffee was super strong, but delicious. I could only have two cups. We drank out of these really small cups that look like what you drink sake out of or sometime green tea. Just a little bigger. After two cups I was already wired.
We graciously thanked them for the coffee and then went to another social engagement with some friends that we hadn’t had a chance to catch up with yet. We ended up doing so much more than we had originally planned for the day.

Thursday 6/3/10

Not much going on, just trying to catch up on the writing and start getting prepared to start doing observations in schools. I can’t wait to work with the children.

Yay we have Internet at the house!

2010-06-01T12:11:00.001-07:00

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.

Catching up

2010-06-01T04:52:00.001-07:00

Friday 5/28/10
I’m looking forward to having a relaxing weekend of reading and writing and drinking coffee. Today we went to the supermarket (again) and the Foundation. At the supermarket we got a blender, which Grace has been requesting for the second summer now to make juice. I’m hoping that we will be able to make smoothies too.
We went to the Foundation to use their printer, and realized that they had wireless internet as well. So that was a bonus. At the very least we can go there to use the internet until we get something at home. And all of the equipment works properly for the most part. Rev. Obed’s computer is a bit slow. I was trying to educate him about things he can do to speed up the processing, like removing files from his desk top, and it sort of reminded me of being a home. We laughed because he said that he always got his son, Michael, to be close by to help him when he had problems. Sounded familiar.
So although it is frustrating to me to get all of this paper work sorted out, things seem to be looking better and moving forward. Monday will be our next attempt to turn in paper work, and again take up the ongoing feud that I have with secretaries in Uganda.
We walked all the way back to the apartment from the foundation. When we were measuring it out on the map it only said that it was two miles, but I’m pretty sure that isn’t write. The map also says that things are at locations where they aren’t. So I’m approximating between three and four miles. What I like about walking on this particular road, is that there are many schools in the area. The children walk along the side walk to go home in the afternoon. They are very cute in their uniforms walking home. Sometimes there are siblings together and the older with hold the younger’s hand. In fact Meagan got a picture of this type of pair while we were walking behind them. Hopefully soon we will be able to post pictures so that you can see for yourself.
We were pretty hot and sweaty when we got home. It is the type of hot where you just can’t eat until you cool off after a while even though you haven’t eaten very much that whole day. Today we are attempting to make banana bread for the first time. As I’m typing I can smell it in the oven. Hopefully it will be a success…

Saturday 5/29/10
We put out some roach poison today. Hopefully the poison will work. I felt like we were trying to protect ourselves from vampires by putting out lines of this powder that they can’t cross. We picked up a taxi and went to our old haunt, 1000 Cups of Coffee to see Joan, read, and have some coffee. She was very happy to see us when we arrived, and she helped Meagan order a drink so that she wouldn’t end up with another cold curer like she did the last time. We mostly ended up talking with people while we were at the shop rather than doing any reading. First we spoke with one of Joan’s regular customers who was a landscaper. Ugandans are very much entrepreneurs. He was telling me how he wanted to start exporting hides to Italy to be made into leather and then having the leather shipped back to be manufactured into different products to sell on the Ugandan market. We also spoke with two women who were alumni of the College of Charleston. They were leading missions for medical students and nurses in a town in the north western part of the country called Mysinde. They were working for a non-profit out of Charleston, so I asked them if they knew if there were any job openings. =). It will definitely be something that I follow up with eventually. I also took the time to talk with the owner of the coffee shop. I remember him from the last time. He was asking about the book I was reading, and coffee, and the different types of customers that he gets. I think that we will try to do the coffee tour again because it was so much fun when I did it last year.
After we were all hopped up on caffeine from delicious coffee, we walked across the street to the market so that Meagan could see the different crafts and things that they had. I knew that we weren’t going to make it out there without buying something, so I bought a pair of earrings and Meagan also go some paper beads. I also found a store that had fake designer bags. They claim that they are real, but I don’t believe it because they are only selling them for like 30-45 dollars. But… they are nice leather bags, so I think that at some point I’ll get one anyway.
We walked home and stopped along the way to pick up something that we could use for chips. We choose pita bread and we ended up buying some fresh goat cheese in the process. Our plan was to make pita chips for guacamole and use whole pitas for pizza crusts. I made a simple guacamole with just lemon, onion, salt, and tomatoes, and Meagan said that it was the best guacamole that she’d ever had. The avocados were perfect.
All in all today was a really nice day. I knew that I needed a day to relax and unwind after the long week, and do something for fun.

2010-05-30T02:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry Everyone, i can't get the computer to read my flash, so an update will have to wait until Tuesday.

Ginger

Starting to get the ball rolling

2010-05-28T03:11:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 5/26/10

Today has been a busy day. I had to make myself get out of bed because I’m still not adjusted to the time difference. I’ve been waking up in the night about the time of dinner in America, and can’t go back to sleep. Grace came today to cook for us, and she made some traditional Ugandan food: Matoke, which is the green bananas boiled and mashed, peanut sauce, cabbage and greens, pineapple, tomatoes and avocados. It was all delicious and it was fun to watch Meagan experience it for the first time. We also had fresh tangerine juice, which was amazing. The food is so good here. Lastly we stopped by my favorite pizza place today and got a pizza with pineapple and ham. Delicious. Enough about the food, we also worked today.
Most of the time was spent trying to print and send emails, and get all of the correct forms to the appropriate office to get our approval to do research. Of course we had all of the wrong items, and didn’t make enough copies, and I’m supposed to have four copies of my passport photo instead of two. We also got lost trying to find the office. I think deep down I knew that this was going to be a first attempt, but I’m still adjusting to the pace of things, and am anxious to get moving forward.
Our meeting at the Foundation balanced out our filing experience. The people we met last summer welcomed us warmly, and it was enjoyable to talk with them again. Rev wasn’t there but we met with some of the new employees that they have hired. It seems that the program has made a lot of improvements, many of which are based on the recommendations from last summer. That makes me feel very good, and is a compliment to our work.
I was happy to get home after the long day. We took a boda home this time, which is a motorcycle that you can hire to take you around instead of riding a taxi. Meagan was definitely afraid but game for the experience. She has been really good about trying new things. When we got to the house Grace had cooked a big meal for us to last several days. It is nice that we won’t have to cook tomorrow. She cooked some fresh beans for us, which is one of my favorites, for tomorrow. We finally got a really good pineapple.
After dinner Dr. Muhumuza’s brother, Andrew came by for a while. It was nice to catch up with him. Tomorrow we will see another one of the friends that I made last summer. =) Starting to have fun and relax.

Thursday 5/27/10
I thought that I would wake up earlier today, but I had no such luck. It was almost noon when I got out of bed. I think Meagan was also frustrated that she wasn’t able to get out of bed. She is an early bird like me. I finished up my writing from the day before. We ate a quick breakfast/lunch and then headed out.
Today we went to get some more passport photos made. When they took the pictures I felt like they were glamour shots. They had me pose and everything. We went to the post office and the bookstore. The book store had a lot of books about Obama since his father is Kenya. Actually a lot of shops and restaurants are named after him.
I forgot that you really have to demand attention from people if you want any kind of service. People don’t assume that you want something from them even though you are standing there. When we went to the post office the lady was chatting with a friend and only paused briefly to answer our questions. Same thing with the other woman who was selling the maps. People are just very social and are continuously in conversation. It is something that I’m not used to, but maybe it would be nice to have a job where your friend could stop by and chat with you while you weren’t doing your work.
While we were waiting for our friend to get off work, we sat down in the park. A group of young were trying to take pictures of us without us noticing. I think they were embarrassed when we did see, and then took pictures of them. Our friend also spotted us in the park from a distance like a bad Where’s Waldo. There were probably a hundred other people (but no white people). I am constantly reminded of how different I am, but things are slowly becoming more and more comfortable again.
It was dark by the time that we got home. It is difficult to walk on the dirt road at night. There are only a few lights. You sort of have to walk like you might be stepping into a dip so that you are ready when you actually do.

First Couple of Days

2010-05-26T00:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday 5/23

We finally made it to Kampala after a long journey. I spent a lot of the time sleeping. I guess this time around I’m a little more relaxed because I could sleep on the plane. On the plane ride from Detroit to Amsterdam, I requested a glass of wine with dinner and the flight attendant asked me how old I was. Irritating. We arrived in Entebee a little late because we were delayed in Amsterdam, but it didn’t take as long as I thought it would to get our visas and our bags. They weren’t checking us for swine flu this time, and I made sure that I got a stamp on my passport. All of our bags made the trip safely.
It didn’t take us very long to find Rev Obed, who drove us from Entebee to Kampala. Meagan was pretty tired at this point, and so was I. I realized how tired I was when I was standing on the wrong side of the van, trying to figure out how to open the passenger door when there was no door at all. Many things were just how I remembered them. People are still driving just as crazy and the roads are so congested, continuously choked and slowed by people getting in and out of taxis, people trying to peddle small items while you are stopped, cars that are stalled, etc. The temperature outside was very comfortable with a light breeze. By this time it was pretty dark and you could see the different lights across the small towns that we passed.
Rev brought us directly to the compound, and we are staying in exactly the same place as we did last time. Grace, the lady who cooked and cleaned for us two days a week last summer had sent one of her nieces to wait up and prepare a meal for us. I felt much better after having a shower and eating a little something. The niece’s name is Janette, and she didn’t hang around for too long.
I went right to sleep, but had trouble sleeping all the night through. Grace came to check on us early in the morning. She looked really good and she said that her new baby was doing well. I also spoke with the grounds keeper who we had made friends with last summer named Gerald. He was always very kind to us. Since I was awake I began to unpack, but I didn’t get very far before I fell asleep again. It seems like I didn’t have this much trouble adjusting to the time change last time. I didn’t wake up again until 2:30 or so in the afternoon. I woke up Meagan so that we could begin to adjust to the time difference. We were both still groggy when we left the house.
We walked into town, one because we didn’t have any money, and two because I thought it would be a little bit easier for Meagan instead of riding in the taxis. I think walking down the side of the road with the way that people drive was a little unsettling to Meagan. However, it was nice to look at everything with fresh eyes. There were some new buildings that I didn’t remember. My favorite coffee house is gone =( I dumped as much information on Meagan as possible with the hopes that some of it would stick. I know it will take some time for her to learn all of the different areas in the city.
A funny aside, as we were leaving I showed her how we go in and out of the gate, and then close the door behind by reaching through the peep hole to close the latch. She was a little unsure about having to reach through, which was funny because we came back later and she tried to unlock the door. As she was feeling around for the latch, the guard came up from behind the gate to open the door and grabbed her hand. She screamed and jerked her hand out. We all laughed.
Anyway while we were walking the 3-4 miles into town, we stopped in the coffee shop where my friend Joan used to work. She wasn’t working that day, but was supposed to be in the next day. I’m looking forward to getting in touch with her again. We continued to the exchange bureau and got our money. Then we stopped at the internet café. We will be limited for a little while on our internet usage until we get our modem back. It seemed to be faster than how I remember it. Meagan’s wasn’t working at all which was frustrating to her. I think she was anxious to get in touch with her mom, but we got it all worked out.
From there we went to another coffee shop that was closer by. I was starting to get really tired, so we some drinks and some fruit. Meagan ordered this drink that turned out to be terrible. It was ginger tea with a lot of lemon in it, so it was super sour and made your face contort when you drank it. Later the waitress explained that it was supposed to be for people who have colds, which makes sense because it was pretty potent stuff. I took the safe route and ordered a latte, which was delicious, so I shared it with Meagan while they made her another drink. They could tell we didn’t like the tea. The fruit was fantastic. Meagan said it was like she never had a banana before that day. I agreed that they were excellent, and they make you frustrated at what they try to pass off as bananas in the US.
We also had watermelon, pineapple, papaya (which they call pawpaw), apples, mangos, tangerines, lemons, and passion fruit. The pineapple and papaya was really good too. I had never had passion fruit before, and it was pretty weird. It has a hard rind which you crack open. On the inside it is sort of slimy with crunchy seeds. Although it tasted good, the texture was too weird for me to handle. Meagan didn’t really like it either.
I decided that we would take a taxi back toward our part of town. We had to stop along the grocery store along the way. Crossing the street to get to a taxi stop is always a little precarious, and Meagan always waited for me to step out into traffic first. It feels a little funny being the leader, although I know it is necessary for the time being. Most of the time I wait for a Ugandan person to step out first anyway. In the taxi is was packed. There was a little boy and a mom sitting next to Meagan who kept smiling at her. He was really cute.
When we went to the grocery store, we picked up some of the things that we will be needing, and carried them back to the apartment. I can tell that I’m out of shape because I was getting tired carrying the water. Towards the end of last summer I could carry a pretty heavy load without getting tired. We lost two eggs out of twelve in the transport, which I thought was pretty good given that they just put them all in a plastic bag with the rest of the items.
We put everything away and Meagan took a shower. The power went out just as she got out. My lovely headlamp was perfect for the occasion and Meagan got to use her too. I’m sure we looked pretty funny walking around the house. We had to cook dinner without electricity, which was fine since the stove is a gas stove. It took a couple tries to get it lit. We finally ate an avocado, which I have been looking forward to for some time now. It was very good. Then we sat down to write some.
Then we had a roach incident. Meagan went to use the bathroom and there were two big ones in the bathroom. We managed to kill them both with a lot of screaming, and spraying of bug spray. At least I know that when I sleep under my mosquito net it keeps out bigger things too. The power came back on shortly after that which was good so I didn’t have to be afraid of the shadows that my headlamp was casting and thinking that they were roaches. The bats were also out last night, but I actually like the bats because I know they are eating the mosquitoes. There seem to be a lot of them.

Tuesday 5/25
I slept a little better, but I was still having lots of dreams. One of my friends from last summer called at 8:00 in the morning and I could hear the phone ringing in my dreams. He said that he was sorry for calling so early, but he just couldn’t wait. It feels good to know that people are excited that I am back in town, and I think that they are really going to like Meagan too. I also know that I’m going to have to do a lot of explaining as to why Dustin is not here, which I will have to deal with as it comes. I’m trying to be professional.
I woke up a little earlier today, 12:00, so hopefully by tomorrow I will be waking up at a more reasonable hour to begin my day. Meagan got up right away when I got up. I love her enthusiasm. I’ve been making lots of phone calls, trying to catch up with people. I feel like we have so much to do, and it will require everyone’s cooperation to pull it off.

We're Here!

2010-05-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Kampala after much traveling. Many things are exactly the same, and a few things are new in different. We are staying in the same exact place as last time, which is really nice. Meagan is pretty tired, but really positive for the first day. I have posted the link to her blog, but let me know if it isn't working. I wasn't able to test it. We don't have internet at home so not much time to talk. Will post more very soon.

Cheers!

Well, It's been a while...

2009-08-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last posted a blog, but I wanted to give a little update since we've been State side. We are still duking it out with the IRB board in Uganda. It is exhausting to be dealing with people who argue over the minute details. However, I refuse to let it dampen the success that we've had with the foundation. They seem to be very pleased with the work that we did, and are already starting to implement some of our recommendations. It's weird to have people actually listening to my opinion.

For Dustin and I there is no rest for the weary. We have to start writing up a formal report, search for grants, and facilitate some of the recommendations. I will be teaching a class this semester, so I have to get prepared for that. The most exciting thing is that we have decided to raise some money for the foundation for next summer. For those of you who have been keeping up with the blog, you might remember some of the people that we met along the way. David, the phenomenal young man who had been sneeking into school because he couldn't pay, or the old woman who was caring for eight children, four of whom were abandoned at her home and four who's parents had died of HIV. These people were so generous with their time and knowledge, we feel that we would like to be able to help these people as we meet them next summer.

So.... now the tricky part...We are asking people to donate money to the foundation for this purpose. The great thing is that it doesn't take very much. We managed to pay David's school fees so that he could finish out his high school education, and it only cost $150. He was in tears when we gave him the money. It costs that much for an elementary age child to go to school for a year. We left almost all our clothes with the grandmother for the children because they were dressed in rags. Some of them are not going to school and some of them are. It's also difficult for them just to have enough to eat.

Having said all this I hope you are encouraged. No amount is too small. A dollar goes a long way. You might also remember the time we interviewed a prostitute. Her going rate was a dollar. We gave her ten dollars for her time so that she could go home early that night. We probably gave her as much money as she earns in several days. Let me know if you are interested. You can contact me by email, it's listed in my profile with this blog. Or you can call me. Or you can get in touch with my mom, and she can direct you.

She's actually been a great help in motivating all this.

P.S. and if you donate, it's tax deductible.

2009-07-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

Hey gang

I'm going to have to postpone my blog updates till after this week. We're just too busy trying to gather some last minute information and present all of our recommendations. Things are interesting. I'm getting to buy a lot of stuff to bring home finally. It's fun.

2009-07-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

Hey, I know it's been a while... I have picked up a cold over the past few days, and I haven't been feeling very good.

June 22
Today has been an extremely productive day. The meetings at the foundation got canceled once again without our notification. Everyone is in a scramble to get ready for this Winner's Society election, but it allowed us to conduct some interviews. I interviewed my first HIV positive person, who actually told me that they were HIV positive. It was a great interview and very informative. I also got to talk casually to some of the mentors. They really like talking to us. Everyone is so eager to give their opinion.

We have been preparing for our meeting with people in the Ministry of Health, and I took the time to ask them what are the biggest problems. It was really cool when a lot of their ideas matched mine. They're big one is poverty and so is mine.

We also went to have coffee with one of our friends, Willy. His father was in town visiting from Rwanda. We talked with him briefly. I enjoy meeting people's families and watching our friends interact with their families. It always gives you a new perspective.

The last thing we did today is meet with another young man who has become our friend. We feel bad for him because he has lost his parents and he has no way to pay for his school fees. Often times he doesn't have a place to sleep or anything to eat. We usually give him something to eat. He never asks for anything. I suppose that's why we help him. Usually people assume that because we have money and they don't, we should be helping them. Dustin and I have been trying to think of ways that we can give him a little work, so that he can make a little money, but we're having a hard time coming up with things. We don't want to just give him money, but we don't want him to drop out of school either. Because he can't afford to go to school right now he sends in his assignments to be graded with his friends. I don't think I had that sort of dedication.

June 21

Today we went to a school to observe. My cold is still bothering me so I've loaded up on cold medicine so that I can push through. I just don't have time to be sick right now. I feel like I do toward the end of the semester. I start getting sick and tired. But the observation was so much fun! We were supposed to have gone to this school two weeks ago, and we were told that it was very disappointing to the children when we didn't show up. So we had to make sure that we went before we left. The smallest children were so happy to see us. They laughed at my accent when I talked. I was able to ask them a few questions, and they were very knowledgeable. Some times they gave answers that were much more sophisticated than I thought.

The mentor was very good while he was teaching. It is fun to watch people speaking in public here. They are very charismatic. I feel like it helps my own public speaking to watch and then imitate.

June 20

Luckily we have stayed at home all day because this cold is really bothering me. My nose is like a faucet. We are trying desperately to get the proposal finished so that we can be done with it.

June 19

We had a great day with Joan. Today is the day that we went with her to see her children in the village. They live on a farm with their grandparents and go to school out there. The first thing we did was visit the school where they go. They had some boarding children there, and we caused a great commotion when we arrived. Some of the littlest children got scared from all the excitement and started crying. I felt like the big stuffed mascot at a sports even that is trying to hug the kid and they start crying.

From there we went to the grandparents farm. It was really fun. They had everything they needed right there. Both of the children were fairly good at English, especially the older one Louis, who is only six. It was a surprise to the children that we were coming, and I'm not sure they knew what to think at first. They were a little overwhelmed. Once they loosened up a bit they wanted to show us around. Louis led me around by the hand every where. They took us to see their cow. They each had their own pig. They took us through the banana garden and picked guavas for us.

We had lunch with the family. They were very kind to us. We had the typical traditional meal. Stewed hen, rice, potatoes, matoke (green bananas) pineapple, avocados, and peas. It was all very good. The pineapple especially was the best. I think it was the best I've ever had in my life. I'm ruined from now on on pineapple. We had brought a cake for dessert. It was actually really good, although it didn't look that good at first. It was like a spiced cake with rasins.

I was very sad actually to leave. It was so nice to get out of the city for a while. Plus it made me realize that there is so much more to learn. People live so differently outside the city. They are almost entirely self sufficient. The land is so fruitful where we were. It's a shame to know that in other parts of the country people go hungry. They have so much food sometimes, they often throw it away, or feed their pigs with it.

In denile at the Nile!

2009-07-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

June 17th

To follow up on my last post...We had a meeting at the foundation with all of the mentors. I saw the woman that we had helped before and she sat down to talked to us. We actually got ssshed by Rev. They are trying to get ready for their big Winner's Society elections. They have this club that meets in every school called the Winner's society. Once a year they hold general elections for all the schools and they elect a president. I think it will be interesting and fun. I'm looking forward to talking to some of them. Hopefully they won't be too shy.

Andrew and I made our final plans to go to the Nile. Dusting decided not to go, to save it for another time, so Andrew said he would go with me.

June 18th
Nile Day! I woke up super early to work on the proposal before I left. I couldn't stand not doing any work for a day, but I restricted myself to 45 minutes. After that I packed all my things. I felt like I was getting ready for a safari. I packed all sorts of things like I was going into the bush for several nights. I guess it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

Of course we got a late start, there was a mix up on where we were supposed to meet. But we got on our way. We hit a traffic jam before we even got all the way out of the city. We took the public transportation, and they were driving down all of these dirt roads to try to bypass the traffic. I was worried that I was going to be carsick. That's actually one of my big fears while I'm here, that i'm going to get sick and throw up on all the people in the taxis.

Anyway we finally got going once we got out of the city. We passed many farms on the way to Jinja. Mostly tea and sugar cane. Jinja is the name of the town built around the mouth of the Nile. We passed through one of the national forests called Mabira forest. I fantasized that we would see a group of gorillas while we were driving through, but it didn't happen.

Finally we started getting close to the city and traffic started to slow down again. About a kilometer from the Nile traffic came to a complete halt. At least by this time some of the people had gotten off the taxi so we weren't crammed in there. We decided that we would catch a boda the rest of the way since they never seem to be bounded by traffic like everyone else. They just wriggle they're way on through the traffic. They even get up on the sidewalk if necessary.

Once we caught a boda we began to make progress again. We crossed over the Nile to get to the west bank and it was beautiful. It was everything I hoped it would be: cool breeze, clear fast-moving water, lined with all kinds of bright green foliage. Wide enough to swallow your focus.

I was trying not to embarrass Andrew with my excitement. We continued on down the road and traveled along the Nile to get a set of falls that were further down. They turned out to be much further down than I realized, and along the way the boda got a flat tire. I guess he had been hopping too many curves. Luckly he was able to handle the vehicle safely and get stopped, but by this time we were out in the middle of the country agian (it doesn't take long). We had to wait for another boda to come by and pick us up.

We finally reached our destination,Bujagali Falls. It was beautiful (I took pictures of all these things, but I don't think that I will be able to upload them until I get back). The big thing that I wanted to do was to put my feet in the Nile, so we looked for a place to get close to the water.

Andrew is like a nanny goat. He is always worried about me falling or stepping into traffic or slipping or anything. He's always nagging me to be careful. The whole time he was like "be careful stepping down... make sure you go slowly... be careful the algae is slippery ... the rocks are slippery...keep and eye on your things you might loose them, ect." I don't mind it, I actually think it's rather funny. And nothing happens until he makes a comment on it. If anything I'm more careful than he is. He almost fell himself into the river because he was stepping on rocks covered in algae.

Anyway, we worked our way down to the very edge of the water. I asked him if crocodile's hang out here, but he said that the water was moving too fast for them. It makes sense I guess. I took my shoes off and sat on a rock and let the water run over my feet. It felt so good. I expected it to feel cold, but it was quite warm. I was tempted to go for a swim, but I didn't bring a swimsuit. We stayed around long enough to get our fill of the view, take pictures, and take pictures for other people. There were a few other people seeing the sights but not that many. The people that lived close by were washing their clothes in the river. There were also pipes running from the river up to people's homes. I guess they have gravity pumps to get fresh water, although I'm not sure how clean it is to drink. You probably still have to boil it.

We caught a boda into the town of Jinja. It was so different from Kampala, I couldn't believe it. Apparently the majority of the town was built in the 1940s so it has a very interesting architecture to it. It doesn't seem to have been devastated by the different wars. All of the roads are in really good condition, traffic is minimal. It is just a quiet small town. Perhaps this why it appealed to me so much. At the same time you could still get pizza and cheeseburgers. It clearly had a Western influence. I suspect that it may be a vacation spot for some people, and I can understand why, it was absolutely gorgeous. We stopped in a cafe to get lunch. By this time it was 4:00, and I was getting hungry since I hadn't had any lunch or very much breakfast.

Then we went to the mouth of the Nile. When we got there I was really upset because it was 10 K shillings for non Ugandans, but only 1 K for Ugandans, but then I realized that it was only five dollars to me and then I relaxed. I'm starting to think only in shillings now.

The mouth of the Nile was equally as beautiful with the same picturesque landscape. People offered to take us on a boat ride, but just to see it was enough. They had an old abandoned bridge that you could walk on out over the river. We took lots and lots of pictures. This time we saw some people swimming in the river. It looked like so much fun to me. We hung around for a while. I didn't want to leave at all. It was so nice. I don't think Andrew wanted to leave either, he was enjoying himself as well. He told me that he hadn't been there since he was very young.

I was very sad when we got on the bus to leave. The good news is that we were able to take a bus back instead of a taxi. They're much more comfortable. The traffic was still bad coming back, but I was able to doze most of the way. We met up with Dustin for a while, and then went home. I was very tired by the end of the day. However, I went to sleep so content.

Our proposal

2009-07-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

June 15

We presented our proposal today before the IRB. It was an extremely long affair, although Dr. Bagenda told us that it was actually quiet short. We were the last ones on the agenda which was at 1:00, and we arrived at 9:00. We have to sit through several proposals, some of which were not even research. I'm not sure why they were presenting in the first place

When it finally came time for us to present, they had a lot of changes for us to make. It was pretty disheartening. Dustin and I took the rest of the day off. I just laid on the couch and watched movies.

June 16
Today I'm over it. It was upsetting to be criticized so heavily, but after a night of rest I feel much better. It's hard to keep in mind that this is a learning experience and our first time doing something like this. Part of the problem is a problem of understanding the type of research that we do. Dustin and I talked through it and came up with a plan of action.

We also had a meeting at the foundation that got cancelled without being notified. This is actually the second week in a row. I actually didn't mind because we went to our favorite pizza place. It's really refreshing to have a place that tastes familiar.

We went home after the cancelled meeting and spent the evening around the house.

June 17
Today has been a day full of writing. One exciting thing is that we met someone who works with the ministry of health. He wants us to meet his colleagues in the Ministry. I think it will be fun.

Another week gone by

2009-07-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

7/9/09
This day wasn't interesting at all, we just wrote all day

7/10/09
Grace came today, and another person named Janette has also been coming. Grace is pregnant and is due in September, so she is starting to get tired during the day and has gotten someone to help her. I don't like her as much. I was really irritated the other day when she opened and drank an entire box of juice by herself. I didn't even get any.

Today we had a meeting at the foundation. They had moved it to this day in place of the usual Wednesday meeting. It wasn't very interesting either, although it is nice that things are starting to reach a state of consistency. After Dustin and I stopped for a beer and to talk. We actually spent a lot of time talking about the things that we have learned since we have been here, and how this experience has changed our direction. There are a lot of things, but they all seem to be good. I'm very happy with my decision to come here, even though we have only achieved about half of what we set out to do.

We invited some people over for Sunday to cook a meal for them. They all seemed pretty excited about it. We haven't yet picked out a menu, but we want to cook somethings that are very American.

I still haven't made it to the Nile. I'm getting antsy to do it, but it keep having trouble finding a way to get there.

7/11/09
I slept in today, which was pretty awesome. I spent some time writing and had one brief interview. I went to the same place where I saw the vice president, but I didn't see him this time.

Since it was Saturday, we went out with our friend Joan for a little while and by ourselves for a little while. Dustin got pick-pocketed, but he is crafty enough to place a small wallet that just contains business cards in his back pocket, while he keeps all of his money and credit cards in the front. I thought it was pretty clever. At the bar I got in a long debate with some guy about how to get a white woman. He couldn't understand that white women expect to be treated as equals with men, and that men are expected to be able to take care of and feed themselves. I'm pretty sure that if most Ugandan men married white women they would starve to death.

7/12/09
Today we had our friends Joan and Willy over for dinner. We told them we would make an American meal for them. We finally settled on a menu of guacamole and pita chips for an appetizer, then a cucumber and tomato salad, for the meal, country fried steak and gravy, broccoli and cheese sauce, and baked potatoes, for dessert was banana bread. It all turned out really well, and they ate everything up. We waited to cook everything so that they could watch us cook. Of course, they were particularly impressed with Dustin's ability to cook. Willy was sure that Dustin was amazing. I told Willy that everything we were doing was really easy, and that he could definitely do it on his own if he choose.

It was fun to watch then look at all the food, and not know exactly how to eat everything. Willy really liked the gravy, and put it on his broccoli along with the cheese sauce. I actually enjoyed the incident because I was able to interpret his actions. Ugandans really like sauces of any kind on their food. they really hate anything that is dry, so everything is cooked to be extremely moist or they load it down with some kind of sauce. At first Grace gave us a hard time because we didn't eat enough sauce, but I think she finally figured that we just don't eat our food that way.

We were able to sit down and show them pictures of our families, they were intrigued by the pictures of different holidays like Christmas and Halloween. I think they enjoyed being able to see where we come from.

They stayed for a long time, till 11:00 and afterwards we had to stay up and work on our research proposal. We found out on Friday that our presentation was supposed to be on Tuesday. So we were scrableing a bit. But the presentation itself is not going to be the hard part, we also alloted a certain amount of time where we are asked questions.

7/13/09
We had an early meeting at the foundation this morning. We spent the afternoon working on our proposal. I've noticed that i've been very tired lately. Mentally I'm starting to get tired I think. We are always constantly thinking about our research, and it seems like almost everything is of interest to our research.

We had a short meeting with Dr. Bagenda. He had been in the states for a couple of weeks and this was our first time seeing him in a while. He has turned out to be a very good mentor and supervisor. He has a certain ease about him that makes him very easy to work with and talk to. We discussed our presentation with him, and then settled down for bed. We had another early morning.

To Catch Up

2009-07-09T01:10:00.000-07:00

Like I said, we didn't have the internet for a couple days, and yesterday was really busy, so today is the first chance I've gotten to sit down and really write about everything that has been happening.

July 4
We had a blast! The American embassy put on a party for the Americans in the country complete with a cookout and a fireworks display. The held it at this country club type place that was actually very nice. I was really excited to have some potato salad and some baked beens. We didn't see anyone that we knew, but Dustin went and spoke to someone that had gone to UT since that is where he did his undergraduate degree. They also had performers there doing some traditional dances, which I of course loved much better than anything else.

Here in East Africa they make these really cool drums with goat hides stretched over a wooden frame. I think that I'm going to get a small one for my self.

The cookout concluded around eight thirty so we met up with our friends for a while afterward, but we made sure not to stay out as late as we have been. This way we would be able to do work the next day.

July 5
I spent almost the entire day writing. The best part was that I conducted an interview with one of the people that I have met along the way. He was great and gave me a lot of information. For what ever reason, Ugandans are eager to talk and give their opinions, so I sat there and listened for over two hours. We were at another country club sitting at the restaurant, and the waitress had to bring me a candle so that I could continue writing. That is how long I sat there.

On our way out the person I was interviewing waved to a man in a suit. Once we had passed the suited man he told me that was the vice president. I said "The vice president of what?". "of Uganda." I was totally blown away by the fact that I had practically brushed by what would be a huge political figure in America. I was also really embarassed because I only had on a t-shirt. I wish I had worn something a little nicer. All of his body guards were in the parking lot. I guess that politicians are a little more accessible here.

July 6
Today the day was spent trying to figure out how to send a package home. Dustin wanted to send some coffee and a few other things back to his wife. It turned out to be really expensive because the only place we could find was a fedex express. I had also set up another interview for the day. The person also turned out to be really great, and it ended up being another two hour interview. This same young man has also offered to take us to different areas of town where the rates of HIV are very high, so that we can talk to people and see for ourselves what it is like. (This is the point where our internet stopped working, and we couldn't figure out how to fix it).

July 7

Both Dustin and I have been sick from eating something. It effected me much worse, and I couldn't hardly leave the house at all. Dustin did go to try to get the internet fixed, but it didn't work. At this point I was really hoping that it would get fixed soon because Dustin was starting to loose his cool over it and he doesn't feel good on top of it. The problem is that we have paid for this service, and it is frustrating when it doesn't work. I'm so uncomfortable that it is difficult for me to even sit and write. I wouldn't be so frustrated by being sick if I could at least catch up on my writing.

July 8

Today was an exceptionally busy day, so it was a good thing that I was feeling much better, although I'm not totally right again. I met up with Joan to go to pick up my dresses that I had made. We had to travel to an area south of Kampala, sort of in between Kampala and Entebee. We went to her sister's house, who had made the dresses for me. It was soooo interesting.

The sister had a small store adjacent to her house, the equivalent of a convenience store. In the store she also had her sewing machine. The sewing machine she had looked like an antique to me. It was a singer that you had to continually press the pedal back and forth for it to run.

She had her toddler son there with her. He was very interested in me. He kept speaking to me in Luganda because he didn't understand that I couldn't understand, but it actually was helpful in picking up a few words since toddlers use such simple words and repeat them over and over again. I taught him to make sweet eyes at me, which was very cute, and he wanted to come into the dressing room with me while I tried on the clothes. He also gave me a piece of his candy, which I was pretty impressed with for a two year old.

Before I tried on any clothes Joan and her sister made a quick meal. The used little charcoal stoves and just placed their pots directly over the coals. I wish I could have taken a picture of it. We had an interesting array of things, African tea, which consists of tea and milk, instead of tea and water, scrambled eggs, avocados, and spaghetti pasta with tomatoes in it. It was actually all very good, but I felt like I was having breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack all at once.

Afterwards I was able to try on the dresses. I'm very excited about the long dress. It needed some alterations and she was able to do them right then and there. Then when she was finished I was able to try them on again to make sure that they fit correctly. The long dress turned out much better than I expected, and I'm really excited to be able to wear it. I like it because the pattern of the dress looks very much like an African print, but the cut of the dress is more American or European, so it's not so over powering. And the color of it suits me very well. It's a very deep red, almost purple color.

Everyone was fussing over how good it looked, and it made me a little embarrassed. I had to insist that it be let out a little because they like to wear their dresses very tight. I told them that I had to be able to move.

We had to rush back into town so that Joan could make it to work on time and I could make it to the meeting at the Foundation. She helped me find a taxi bus and the taxi park, which is a nightmare of a place. They squeeze as many taxi's as they can into this acre sized plot of land. There are sign posts stating where the taxis in that vicinity are going, but you have to know what general area they park in. So you get on a taxi and you have to wait and wait for the taxi to fill. It's hot and the air is stagnant especially at mid day like I was doing. People walk around with their little trinkets for sale trying to make a few shillings, and they always target me because I'm white and they thing that I have a lot of money to spare. Especially when I am by myself they like to hassle me, thinking that I'm going to give in. Men yell at me and tell me that they want to marry me.

I have actually come up with a good response for that comment. Here men have to pay a bride price for the the woman they are going to marry, so they have to give many items to the woman's family before he can marry her, and he has to pay for the entire wedding. So I tell them that they don't have enough money for me, and it makes them laugh because I'm playing into what is their culture.

Anyhow, so I took a taxi bus from the taxi park to the foundation. I was worried because I knew I was going to be late. Here it isn't a big deal to be late, but that's one of the things that I can't let go of. I can't stand to be late. However, I lucked out because the meeting had been canceled. Everyone but Dustin and I knew about it, but the trip wasn't wasted because our favorite restaurant is down the street from the foundation. It is an Italian place run by and actual Italian. It's really good, I can't remember if I have written about it yet. It's the only place we can go where things taste familiar, so we have gotten into the habit of going there when we go to the foundation.

From there we met up with one of our new friends, William. This is the one that we interviewed on Monday. He took us to his home, because he lives in one of the slums in Kampala that is well know for prostitution. He introduced us to his grand-aunt. He wanted us to talk to her because she has been living in that same area for a long time. She has adopted about eight of her grandchildren because many of her children and their husbands have died from AIDS. William and a few of the other relatives help her to keep up with the children. That's just part of his story, but I don't have time to type it all out. He's a really good person, I'll just leave it at that.

He wanted us to come so that we could see for ourselves what the area is like when the girls come out at night to look for customers. We didn't feel entirely safe, but since we were with someone who lived there and knew all of the residents, we figured that was about as good as it was going to get. He also knew one of the "agents" in the area, which isn't exactly like a pimp, but similar. We interview him and one of his girls.

All I can say is that it was really rough on both Dustin and I to interview these people, emotionally speaking. The woman started crying in the middle of the interview, and it was difficult for me to hold back the tears. You could tell that she hated what she was doing. Even William was struck by the experience. The best that we could do in good conscience was give her some money for her time. We probably gave her as much money as she would make in a week. It was impossible not to intervene at this point.

After that we decided to go home before things really got going. Things don't really pick up till 11:00 or so, and we decided it was in our best interest to leave before then, in particular for my safety. Other women are not really welcome. William went with us into town and helped us find a taxi (again from the taxi park). We made it home safely, but we were so overwhelmed by the events of the day, that we couldn't do any more work for the night. We just relaxed and read, then went to sleep.

2009-07-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

Hey Gang!

Our internet has been down for a couple of days, so I haven't been able to post. I had a great 4 of July. I have to spend some time tonight writing about it because I'm on my way out the door to pick up the dresses I had made. Keep your fingers crossed that they came out ok! P.S. If you haven't already notice, we posted some new pictures. Just click on the same link as before.

Fourth of July week

2009-07-03T10:28:00.001-07:00

July 2
Today we went to see a school for the first time. It was exceptionally interesting to see the children and watch the mentor teach the children. They were excited to have us there. Everyone is very nice, and one of the supervisors accompanied us. It was actually outside the city, making it so beautifly. I'm glad that people went this us because we would have gotten lost for sure.

We have learned a lot from being the school. I wish that we had more time to collect information. The kids were very smart despite the fact that their room was so sparce. By the time we were done we were very hungry. So we took some time to get sushi. It was delicious. I was so glad to have something that I really liked. After that we got invited to some kind of presentation, but I'm still not sure what it is that we were attending.

We came back to the kitten, he is just so cute. I had to give him another bath. He has too many fleas to be in the house. I fell asleep very early because I was so tired. We have gotten good at taking the boda boda's around the town. During the day they are pretty scary weaving in and out of traffic, but at night it is so nice to be able to have someone take you straight home. The taxis are always cramped and uncomforatble. Dustin and Andrew in particular have trouble because they have long legs.

July 3

Today we had another meeting at the foundation. This time we met with all of the mentors. They seemed very interested to meet us. I helped one woman call the U.S. from her phone. She was trying to help her friend change the name on a plane ticket. It was our good deed for the day.

After that I went around trying to find some kitty litter. It is actually pretty difficult to find. I guess most people keep their cats outside. Dustin went to get a hair cut, so I have had the house to myself this afternoon. It's been rather pleasant. I found someone to take the kitten. The girl next door said she would take him. It is something that I was worried about.

Tomorrow we are going to somewhere around the embassy. they are having some kind of event. should be fun.

Birthday day

2009-07-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

June 30

So my birthday went very well. It was nice to take the day off to do whatever it is that I wanted to do. I slept in, and instead of taking the morning to write I read the paper and dozed on the couch. I went to my massage in the morning. It was fabulous and relaxing. I could have laid there for three hours while she rubbed me down. She even did my stomach, and I could choose the type of oil, which was eucalyptus. After that it felt like I floated down to the hair salon.

One of the women in the compound told me about a place where a white man could cut my hair. I needed one so bad, I thought I would take the risk. It turned out to be a much better idea that trying to cut my own hair. He did a great job and it felt so good to have my hair washed. The salon was in this really nice hotel/country club. It is sort of weird to be in a place like that. It seems so serene and removed, but then you have to step back out into the city again.

I think my favorite part of the day was to loose track of the time. When I came back I ate some lunch, and distracted Dustin while he was trying to work. Grace was there and sang happy birthday to me.

We had planned to go out to get sushi, so I hopped in the shower to get cleaned up and to wash some of the oil off me, but when I came out, people had already started to arrive! I wasn't sure what had happened because we had banked on them all being late. This was the first time I anyone had ever arrived early,and people were notorious for being late. So we had to scrap that idea and come up with a new plan of action.

I also didn't realize that as the birthday person, I was supposed to provide food and beverages to everyone at the party, so Dustin and I started scrambling to come up with at least some snacks. We actually pulled it off very nicely, but we were lucky because Grace had been to the market for us earlier in the week, so we had a lot of food on hand. Dustin was fabulous in playing host and cooked banana bread for me as a cake. Everyone was so impressed that Dustin could cook at all, especially the banana bread, which takes a little bit of measuring and mixing. It all turned out great, and we had enough food to feed everyone.

We sat down to watch a movie, Seven Pounds, but I didn't really like it. Too slow for me, but fine. People hung around for a little while, but most of them left after the movie because they all had things to do in the morning.

Dustin walked Joan to the road where she could get on a taxi, and on the way back he found a kitten in the ditch. He came in and said "Ginger don't be angry" and then walked in with the kitten. (I thought something had really happened, and of course I was not angry about it). It was so pitiful that we decided to clean it up and find a home for it.

It has turned out to be the sweetest little kitten. It's really too small to be away from it's mom, so he thinks that I'm his mom. He insists on always being in my lap and sleeping. Even now while I'm laying on the couch and typing he is trying to make a nest in my hair so that he can sleep. I suppose my hair is a bit of a nest anyway. I'm not sure what we are going to do to find a home for it. It's not like you can just take it down to the animal shelter to be adopted, and we can't put it back outside, something will come and snatch it up.

So that night we spent cleaning up the kitten after every had left. He was pretty filthy from having been in the ditch. After a washing he turned out to be orange and white tabby, with little green eyes. I wish I could ship him home to mom cause I know she would find a home for it.

July 1

I can't believe we have been here for an entire month now. I turns out the kitten, although a little small, is actually pretty healthy. He has perked up a great deal since we have given him a few meals of milk.

Today I went to have a dress made. Joan said her sister could make formal dress, so I thought I would give it a shot. I need a formal dress for Katie's Debutante ball. I picked out the fabric and everything. I picked out a maroon and green pattern, so it should turn out very interesting. I will certainly look different from everyone else.

Then we went to the foundation for a meeting. I was actually impressed with how well the meeting went. We were also supposed to have an interview, but we got tired of waiting around and tired in general, so we went home.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go to a school for the first time to see the children. I hope it goes well. I hope we can at least find it. We still have trouble finding places because we don't know the city well enough.

Yay for deviled eggs

2009-06-29T02:31:00.000-07:00

June 29

So the deviled eggs went over really well. There weren't any left so I suppose that people liked them. The BBQ was much more fun that I expected. Everyone was very social and very nice. We had an eccclectic group of people. Americans, French, British, Dutch, Ethiopian, and then Ugandans of course. Everyone has a completely different story. I loved the food that the Ethiopians brought. It's probably my new favorite ethnic food. Our two friends came, Andrew and Joan. Andrew also brought some of his family members. They weren't shy about helping themselves to all of the food. So we are slowly accumulating more and more friends. The BBQ lasted very late, and then we went out after that, so both Dustin and I were wiped out through most of Sunday.

Today I have already gone to set up my massage for tomorrow. I still don't know what else I want to do. I really want to get sushi in the evening, but I'm a little nervous about eating raw fish while I'm here. I might have to stick with the tempura. I really just want some hot saki. Very exciting. I'll be sure to let ya'll know how it goes.

2009-06-27T03:10:00.000-07:00

June 25

Dustin and I have started moving forward again on our project. We decided that we would try to make contact with some of the other NGO's in the area, especially those that work with children effected by HIV. It will be benedficial to get another perspective on the epidemic in the area. There are some really neat ones out there that we have found so far. My favorite is something like a summer camp put on by the queen Buganda to teach teenagers how to take care of themselves. =) I know some people that could use something like that.

We also went and talked with Joan about our project. She seemed very interested in what we were doing and was glad to tell us about her experiences. I understand now why it is almost impossible to stay impartial. She told us that she was having trouble affording to send her children to school, and was wondering if there is anyone that would like to sponsor them. She is so kind to us and is such a good person, I think that Dustin and I are going to try to find a way to help send her children to school. She invited us to go to meet them, which is also really exciting. She has two and one of them is having a birthday in July. She said that it is a treat for her children to meet white people because we are so different. I said that it would be exciting for us too because it is hard for us to get out of the city.

June 6/26/09

Doing anything is a chore here. All we have done today is go into town, have lunch, change money, try to get pictures on a CD, and stop by one store, and it has taken almost the whole day. We have started to get in touch with other NGO's so keep your fingers crossed that we are successful. We also decided that we would start trying to develop the funding for next summer. We found a grant through the embassy that we are excited about, but if anyone else knows of other options, perhaps you could let us know? It's times like these that I understand the value of marrying well.

June 6/27/09

Last night we went to hear some live music and it was so fun! Joan decided that she was going to join us. The band was a congolese band, and they were fabulous dancers. The men in particular were very good and fun to watch. I think it is something that we will keep doing.

We have a BBQ to attend today at the compound. I told them i was going to make deviled eggs and they gave me a funny look. I hope they go over well, but I think overall it is going to be a good time. They told us we could invite all our friends, but we only have two, Joan and Andrew, so we've invited both of them. It should be an ecclectic group. We live next to some Brits, and some of them are French, One husband is a Swede who has been living in Italy with his wife, but I'm not sure what nationality she is, and there are others. It should be interesting.

Reassessment time

2009-06-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

June 23

We've had to totally reassess our project because I don't think that we will get approval in time to do direct research. So we've come up with a few things and decided that we would still try to do as much work as we can while we're here. I was upset about it at first, and I was particularly worried about how Dustin was going to react, but I think we're both over it.

June 24
We've made a new friend today! Her name is Joan and she let us interview her, but once we ran out of questions we ended up talking for a long time after. She was actually our tour guide. You might remember her from that. She has two kids, and she said that she was going to take us to see them because they live with their grandmother outside of the city. Anyway, we had a lot of fun hanging out with her, and I think she had fun too.

My birthday is coming up soon but I'm not sure what to plan for myself. I think I might go to the spa or something.

On another note the mouse in our house is still at large. Dustin said he saw it sitting in our living room chair. The gaul right? We also think he's been eating out of the trap but not getting stuck. I think we need to come up with a new plan.

Just so everyone knows, I do get all of the comments. It's really fun for me to sit down and read them.

Not much to report

2009-06-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been much going on since Friday. Just trying to catch up on writing. I have a whole in my mosiquito netting and I put my foot through it in the middle of the night. I was half awake and very confused as to why I couldn't get my foot back.

There is a mouse living somewhere in our kitchen. They didn't have mouse traps at the store, so we had to buy this glue stuff. You put it on a piece of board and then bait it with peanut butter. I can already tell this is going to be a disaster.

We're having some trouble with our research proposal. It's starting to get frustrating because the committee won't hear it soon enough for us to get anything done. I think we are going to have to reassess our long term plan, but I'm not sure how we are going to adjust so that the summer is still productive. We still have some work to occupy us in the mean time. I'll let ya'll know what happens next.

Monkey Sighting

2009-06-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's day to everyone!

June 19
Today was coffee safari day! What a great day we've had. It didn't start out that way. They wanted us to be at the coffee house at 7:00. So we woke up with the man who calls the Islamic prayers at 5:30 in the morning over the loud speaker. At 6:15 we were out the door, and the sun was just coming up. The taxi ride into town was very fast, and so we arrived before the shop was even open.

We started with a breakfast of fresh fruit, museli, yogurt, fresh juice, toast, honey, and coffee. It ended up being just me and Dustin for the tour, and we had a tour guide and a driver. We were very glad to have a driver and ride around in a personal car instead of being crammed into a taxi.

The first place we went to was the Uganda Coffee Authority. Here they taste all of the coffee that gets exported out of the country to ensure the quality and to regulate the price of the coffee. What was so cool is that we were always right in the middle of the work space. It quickly became clear that the tour is more of an impromtu type deal rather than an organized regular thing. Our tour guide, Joan, just always called ahead to let whomever know that we were coming.

Anyway back to the coffee tasting...They were constantly roasting, griding, and tasting coffee. They would taste it with spoons and spit it out to check for defects. They let us taste the coffee right along with them. I felt silly sucking the coffee into my mouth from the spoon and then spitting it out. It was sort of like a wine tasting. All the while Joan was giving us tons of information about the different beans that are grown in Uganda, and what the different varieties look and taste like.

The next place we went was the coffee processing plant. The first thing I noticed was how the potholes were filled with old coffee beans. They had acres of coffee laid out in the sun to dry. They also had a pavilion where women were sorting the coffe and picking our the stuff that wasn't coffee. The chief engineer gave us a tour, and showed us the entire line of production. It wasn't that interesting, just loud and dusty. Mostly just elevators and things shaking. They let us climb on top of the machines and watch the coffee running through. I've never been allowed to stick my hands in the machinery on a tour before. It probably wasn't very safe, but totally worth it.

We learned about the different chemical concentrations in different coffees. The smaller beans actually have a higher concentration of caffeine, but the bigger ones are better quality. There is also natural coffee and washed coffee. natural coffee is dried with the hull still on. Washed coffee is husked, washed, and then dried. The husks are red and coffee is a seed. I never knew any of these things.

The next place was the roaster. The roaster asked us all kinds of questions and I was able to answer them. He was impressed, but it was because Joan was giving us so much information. We stood there and talked while he was doing his roasting. He told us that it releases the carbon in the bean, and the size of the bean almost doubles. He also said that it is best for the coffee to be consumed at least two days after roasting.

Then we went out of the city to the national agricultural research center. There a plant pathologist gave us a tour of the facility. They test the different strains of coffee to test their resistance to different diseases and to help maintain the quality of taste. They had several "experiements" running at the time, but it was really just fields with different plains, and they just waited to see which ones would die from disease. There were mother crops, which were the original strains of plants that could be cut and given to farmers to grow. They were also doing experiments on other crops like coco and palm oil, but we mainly stuck to coffee. I learned that there are several different types of diseases that attack coffee plants, most of them are fungi. It was cool to get a biology lesson, and to actually use the information.

The whole time I was thinking of this one time when my mom was trying to help me learn different scientists. I was having rouble with Gregor Mendel. And mom goes "all he did was cross pea plants, when will you ever have to know this again?" And here it was in action.

The research center was out of the city. I was glad to see some of the country side, and it didn't take us much to get out, but I loved seeing the country. People were making bricks by hand and baking them in large brick ovens. Domestic animals were grazing every where. Children walking home from school. Little babies running around naked. True huts.

We went from the research center to a farm where they grown coffee. This is where we were served lunch. All of the food we ate was grown right there on the farm, and it was all delicious. Potatoes, Matoke and peanut sauce, beef, fish, pumpkin, cassava, sweet potatoes, greens, fresh pineapple juice, local coffee, fruits, and sugar cane. This was the first time that Dustin had ever tried sugar cane, and I was excited for him to try it. He showed us all of his different gardens, and how they graft different plants onto lemon roots so that they produce fruit faster. He showed us a zuchinni he had planted as an experiment, and it had an enormous zuchinni on it. It was funny because he was so knowledgable about so many of the plants, but he asked us if we know when it is supposed to be picked. I told him that it was past due, and showed him the length it should be. I giggled to myself that I would know such information because I'm so bad at growing anything. He said he expected it to change colors. He had so many different crops. He even had vanilla vines, and rice. He also had livestock, and the pigs had just given birth to piglets. He also had guinea hens as an experiment.

The best part was that we walked down to the coffee fields, and he let us plant our own coffee plants. I put a sign next to mine. He said that we could email him and he would let us know how our plant was doing. I drew a sunshine on my sign. The other cool thing was that I saw a monkey in the tree. It was a red tailed monkey. I feel like I have completed one of my major objectives.

I was exhausted by the time we got home, and I went to bed almost immediately.

June 18

Today has been spent writing. Nothing exciting.

June 17

Just work today. We met some new people that work for the program. They were very eager to talk to us and seemed very skilled at what they are doing. It's a little difficult to be working with people that are so much older than I am. The one funny thing, one of the people we were talking to had never seen freckles before. He asked me if there was something wrong with me. It was difficult for me to explain that this was just the way I was, and that as I got older I got more of them. He asked if they itch. He probably thought it was a rash. They also wondered if eventually I would be totally black. =)

2009-06-17T22:25:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I was able to post last, so sorry about that.

June 15
Today we spent a lot of time walking through the neighborhoods. I always try to give the kids a high five, but they don't know what I mean. They just stare at me funny when I hold my hand up. Today when we passed some small children I got a hand shake instead. But they all yell "bye muzungu" even if they really mean hello.

We also went out to eat for the first time today. We went to the same place where they had karaoke, but we went a little earlier this time. We ordered pork skewers and they bring out these long skewers with pieces of pork on them. They brought us some side items, like tomatoes and avocado. The best part is that you eat everything with your hands. They walk around with pitchers and basins and wash your hands for you. But I still used hand sanitizer even after the hand washing.

This time we met to older men. I think they were curious as to what we were doing and decided to come and talk to us. It is interesting once we start telling people what we are hear to do, they always have an lengthy opinion about it which is good for us as we are trying to collect information. I think we lucked out by coming into a society that likes to socialize and discuss.

I noticed that my ear is getting better for hearing African English. I'm still not very good at speaking in African English. People are funny because they claim that I have an accent, but they don't mean a southern one, they mean an American one.

June 16

Today we walked all the way to the foundation to see how long it would take us. It was only and hour and a half. Today was mostly a working day at the foundation. Going through files and taking notes. It's good work though.

For lunch we went to an Italian place down the road. We have since discovered where all the white people are hanging out. I thought it was pretty funny. I ordered Ravioli and Dustin got a Hawaiian pizza. It was all excellent, and authentic. I think the man who owned it was actually Italian. I broke the parmasian dish and spilled parmesian cheese every where. I was just trying to put some on my ravioli. And then I tried to cover it up with my plate, but it just smooched it into the table cloth. =) Dustin seemed to think it was pretty funny. While we were at lunch it actually rained with thunder. This was the most it has rained since we've been here. I don't think it would be very nice during the rainy season. I like when it rains because it settles all the dust.

We walked back that evening and picked up a watermelon along the way. Dustin almost dropped it when he slipped on the dirt road that leads down into the compound and almost fell into a car. I'm pretty sure it was karma coming back around to him for making fun of me when I slip.

June 17

Today was another day at the foundation. Not really interesting except for that we met some of the mentors and supervisors. Two exciting things happened. One, we got a little modem for our laptop and so now we have internet at our house! It's pretty exciting that we won't have to walk down to the internet cafe anymore. It's still slow, but now I can write and wait for pages to load at the same time! Two, Dustin and I sign up for a coffee safari. It sounds pretty touristy, but I'm excited to finally get to do something touristy. We go to the coffee shop early in the morning. They feed us breakfast and then take us out to a coffee plantation for the day. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, that's more of Dustin's thing, but I'm super excited to just get out of the city for the day.

Another short history lesson. During the dictatorship of Amin in the late seveties and early eighties, the economy in Uganda was collapsing. To make money people on the eastern boarder of Uganda would pack up their coffee beans and drive them into Kenya on bikes, and make tons of money. They would then buy lots of goods and transport them back into Uganda. All of this was highly illegal, but the money was so good, many people dropped what they were doing and picked up the trade. So if you had Kenyan coffee during that time, it is likely that some of it was actually Ugandan.

A comfortable weekend

2009-06-15T02:59:00.000-07:00

Dustin is trying to put on some video, but you might have to view it from his blog. It's only traffic, so it's not that interesting, but we will try to get something better soon.

June 14

Today has been a really relaxing day. I have spent the whole day catching up on writing and reading. We tried to make French toast today, but I hate the frying pan we have. It doesn’t have a handle on it, so you have to hold it with a dish cloth. The stove is a gas stove, and I’m afraid that the dish towel is going to catch on fire. It all tasted fine. I have enjoyed listening to the church crowd today. They were going late.

Somehow the children in our compound hangout under my window. It’s like their hangout spot where they just sit and talk. I can overhear their entire conversation, and they talk. Today they were climbing on it. I went to knock on it, and it scared them away. It wasn’t really my intension to scare them, but they couldn’t see me through the window. And they run around in our yard.

I noticed in the paper that they are banning plastic bags. It’s funny that they are very environmentally conscious, you can’t smoke in restaurants or anything. It’s such an unusual system because they have spent the last 20 yrs. developing from the ground up. And so they have skipped a lot of the stages that other western countries have gone through. They don’t have the infrastructure to really pick up the garbage, so they just skip ahead to eliminating a lot of it. In the same way they don’t have land lines for phones, so everyone has a cell. The electricity is unreliable, so there is a big push for solar energy. I think it’s just interesting.

June 13

Today is the first day that Dustin and I were brave enough to go out at night. We went to a bar that was just down the road from where we lived. They were having a karaoke night, which was interesting. They were all singing in Lugandan so we couldn’t understand what they were saying. Afterwards, we stopped and picked up a pizza with pepperoni with olives. It wasn’t half bad.

Nevermind

2009-06-13T03:53:00.001-07:00

You should be able to see the pictures on the right. Let me know if you can see them.

One last thing

2009-06-13T02:40:00.000-07:00

I have changed the blog, so that you don't have to have a username to make posts, but put your name in the comment so I know who you are! =) cheers. We are having an unusually good connection, so I'm taking the time to change things around a bit.

Ginger

Pictures

2009-06-13T02:34:00.000-07:00

I have to say, thanks everyone for the posts. I enjoy them so much. We should have some pictures up now. If you click on Dustin's blog (there's a link below) there should be a stream of pictures. They are just ones that we have taken around the city.

June 10
Today we started at the Foundation. We managed to take taxis all the way there without getting lost. Everyone was impressed with us. At the foundation we met with Rev Obed to ask him some questions about the evaluation and to tell him about what we were doing. We have already run into a bit of a problem. It is difficult for anyone to judge success in this program, so we are kind going to have to figure it out along the way. In the end I suppose that will be a major contribution we will make. Defining success.
Interestingly, for all the family members, we met a doctor and her daughter from Baton Rouge. I can’t remember their names at the moment, but the daughter goes to school with Caroline. Dr. Muhumuza had invited the mom/physician to visit SAS for three weeks, and she brought her daughter with her. We happened to be at the clinic at the same time. It was very enjoyable to sit and talk with them at the Foundation.
The foundation gave us lunch, and I had that archetypal experience that you see in the movies. I had them serve my plate, and the two meat options were goat and fish. I went with the goat because I had not tried it yet. The meat part was very good, but then I ate something that I thought was a vegetable because it was bumpy. Then when I put it in my mouth it wasn’t a vegetable at all, it was an organ of some sort (I’m pretty sure it was the stomach). I had to get it down to be polite, but it was tough going. Everything else was great, but now I know I guess.
We’ve had a little difficulty with eating meat in general, so we have been eating vegetarian a lot. We certainly aren’t any worse for the wear. I think we me have some pictures coming soon. We managed to get the pictures transferred from Dustin’s camera onto a CD, so the next task is going to be uploading them to the internet.

June 11
Today I haven’t felt very good. I woke up with a head ache that was right behind my eye. I have spent most of the day sleeping and trying to get a draft of our proposal ready for Dr. Bagenda when he came by. He only stopped briefly and helped us with a couple of different things. Andrew also came by so that we could catch him up on what was going on. I think he is going to help us take some notes.

June 12
Dustin and I have traded off. Yesterday I didn’t feel good, now he doesn’t feel good. His is a stomach problem. He bought some local peanut butter and we think that might be what it was. The jar wasn’t sealed very well, and I didn’t have any of it.

So I quickly made some last minute changes on the proposal. I was frustrated and stress that we didn’t have it done sooner, but Dr. Bagenda picked me up and took me to the research center and the hospital where the IRB committee was housed. He gave me a tour of the entire complex. I meet several deans and the chair of the IRB committee. He had recently been to Memphis and thought it was wonderful, so I guess that’s good for us. In the family center Dr. Bagenda conducts his research, and they study the transmission of HIV between mother and child. In the center there is children running around everwhere, up and down the office halls. They also have a small store where the women who are participants make crafts. The money they earn, they get to keep. So the hospital is very good about supporting all of the needs of their participants. I think Dustin and I will end up buying a lot of things from that store. After six hours around the hospital we finally got the IRB turned in. It was difficult to have copies made, and to meet up with the right people (as always). He also said that monkeys hang around the area a lot, but I didn’t spot them this time.

Grace came today, which I was glad for. I made me feel better about leaving Dustin at home. She made some soup for us. She keeps complaining that we don’t eat enough. She accuses us of starving ourselves, which is clearly not the case. But she just mothers us so much, and she worries all the time. Especially when we are not feeling well, she immediately wants to take us to the clinic. It’s hard to talk her out of it, you can’t directly oppose her.

By the time I got back, Dustin was feeling fine. I think he was just tired from not having eaten and expelling all the bad stuff.

The beginning of a new week

2009-06-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

June 8
Hey everyone, I hope you are enjoying the blog so far.

Today has been an interesting day, and we have managed to do a lot of things on our own. We made it into town as I said before, we went to the book store, then the internet café, then the phone store, then for lunch, we met with Andrew Briefly, then the coffee shop, then home again. I’m pretty sure it’s the most we’ve accomplished in any one day.

We are trying to get a better internet situation, but one has not come about just yet. It would be expensive for us to by something for the computer, so we are looking into the library.

Dustin bought a coffee press and some fresh coffee and it is delicious! I’ll probably be bringing back a bunch.

June 9
Today we have spent the day at home. We have been working on the proposal all day trying to get it prepared and submitted by the end of the week. Papers, books, and notes are spread out all over the tables. The weather has been wonderful today. Sunny and I nice breeze, no threatening clouds.

I have already finished the book I bought. It was about the abduction of children by the Lord’s Resistance Army in the northern part of the country. Of course it was so sad and heartbreaking to hear the stories of the children that had been abducted, and the brutality they endured. It is the sort of thing that is hard for me to understand, especially after interacting with the children the bit that we have so far. They are so eager and happy.

For those that are maybe not aware of what I’m talking about: when the current president took power in 1986 there were a group of rebels, who eventually came to be know as the Lord’s Resistance Army that would go back and forth between Uganda and Sudan. They would attack villages and steal the children. Then the children would be forced to become part of the army and conduct ruthless acts of violence. Then these children would abduct other children and the cycle would begin again. The leader of the army was a man by the last name of Kony. He essentially thinks he is a prophet guided by the holy spirit. Thousands of children have been abducted over the course of the 20 yr period. Kony is still alive, but I think the resistance has lost almost all of its momentum.

Now the problem is rehabilitating all of the children that have been released. They have all been severely traumatized, the children as well as the adults, and the rates of post traumatic stress disorder are staggering. They need counseling in some form or fashion whether it is in a traditional way or in a clinical way.

If you want to learn more about it, look up the organization Invisible Children. I think the LRA also has a website, but be careful it’s full of propaganda. I haven’t looked at either myself, but I’m sure both would be informative.

Sometimes when I think of all the things that need to be done around the world, people, and especially children that need help, it becomes very overwhelming. I want to be able to help all of them. I know that I can’t help all of them, but I do feel partially responsible because I’m so able. In my mind withholding and being complacent is almost as bad as refusing. I suppose that I’m on my way to helping a lot of children at once, but it’s hard to allay this sense of urgency I get.

Anyway after feeling so heavy I took a nap and I feel much better. When I start to feel a little sad or homesick, that usually means that I haven’t slept enough. I’ve been pretty good about homesickness, but it would be nice if people could post some of the normal things that are going on at home.

2009-06-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

June 6
I was up with the sun this morning, and a little disappointed that I didn’t sleep a little longer. Nothing gets going around here till ten o’clock anyway, so there isn’t very much use in waking up too early. However, I do like to quiet. This is the first morning I’ve woken up and it’s been quiet. No loudspeakers, no crying children, no nothing.
Andrew Muhumuza was supposed to come over today, but he has a cold, so I think he will come by tomorrow instead. It is very nice around here that if you are sick, you can just take the day off. It isn’t like in America where you have to be really sick before you can even think about taking the day off. People really value their health here, I imagine because it isn’t as easily attainable as it is at home.
This morning we also had two black and white horn bills in our yard. A male and a female, I got a great picture of them, but we are having some technical difficulties with uploading pictures. Dustin brought two cameras and one video camera, and something is wrong with all three. With one camera, the computer isn’t recognizing it because he doesn’t have the software. On the other two, he doesn’t have the right cords, so we are trying to figure out how to get the pictures on the internet. All that to say that I got some really great pictures of the birds. I had to walk into our neighbors yard to get them, and now I’m not sure that we will be able to share with everyone.
The reason I know that they black and white horn bills is because we went to the Uganda museum today. We were able to walk there comfortably. We aren’t brave enough to take a taxi by ourselves yet. The difficulty is that we don’t know the names of everything or how much it costs. There is a set price for the distance you are going, people just have them all memorized. I supposed we will probably get cheated once or twice while we are figuring it all out.
It’s funny that people think they are cheating us, but they only try to get 1 or 2 hundred extra shillings out of us. The exchange rate is somewhere between 2100 and 2200 shillings to 1 US dollar. So 100 shillings is somewhere around 5 cents. People think they are being clever, but in the long run 200 shillings doesn’t even really matter to us anyway, and if they really need it then they can have it.
Back to the museum, it was wonderful. They had exhibit after exhibit on the different traditional cultures. For all of the anthropologists out there reading this, they had all of the similar items matched together, like all of the headdresses together, all of the masks together, all of the bows together, ect. Instead of having them grouped by tribe. It does make it very difficult to distinguish the character of one particular tribe when they’re items are spread all around. I can see Boas’s point.
However, it was very exciting to see everything anyway. There were some very interesting items, like a trap for hippos and elephants. They would dig a hole, and get them by one foot. Then they would let a heavy stone with spines come falling out of a tree above, and smash the hippo. There were remains of a very important person who was a warrior legend. When the traditional religion was still prominent, they thought the soul resided in the jaw bone, so they had his jaw bone in a beautifully decorated case. They often use a specific type of shell to decorate things. They also had his penis and testicles in a case, which made me blush a little. It certainly pushes the boundaries of my open mindedness. But also a cheetah skin, and all of his war gear.
After going through the museum, we stopped in the adjoined restaurant for some lunch. It clearly catered to foreigners of all types. There was American food, Indian, European, and Chinese. I got vegetable bajiya, which I think is Indian. It was like hush puppies with vegetables on the inside. Dustin got a cheeseburger and potato salad. We also got one of the local beers, Nile. A beer costs about 3,000 shillings ($1.50) but the alcohol content is much higher, 4.5% I think. And they come in bigger containers. So drinking one is almost like drinking 3 at home. I always feel pretty fine after drinking one of those, but I have to be careful because I’m not drinking nearly the same volume. The food was good. All of the meat here tastes a little different, so far we’ve had both chicken and beef. I can’t do the chicken, but the beef is tolerable. I imagine the difference is in what the livestock consume.
It was interesting the people that sat beside us were also researchers working on an evaluation. They were evaluating a midwifery program. A wedding party also came into the restaurant. I think it was a reception. But everyone was dressed just like in a wedding in America. The bridge had on a white gown, there were flower girls, bridesmaids and groomsmen, and a ring bearer.
We stopped at the grocery store on the way back. I’ve been fixated on making banana pancakes and I needed baking powder. I’ve never made them from scratch before, but it doesn’t seem too hard.

June 7, 2009
Today is Sunday, and so everyone is at church. I can hear several different choruses in Lugandan. It sounds like they are all competing for loudness.
I think we’ve made a friend. Andrew came over again today, but just to hang out with us and socialized. I made him try banana pancakes, but I couldn’t tell if he liked them or not. Ugandan’s are not very emotional people. Anyhow, it’s been a relaxing day just writing and reading. I even layed out on the porch for a little while. This coming week things are going to start becoming a little more busy. We are going to meet with several different people from the SAS foundation. Tomorrow we are also going to try to take the taxi by ourselves for the first time. Which us luck!
We made it into town by ourselves! I think we are starting to get the hang of things. Dustin and I are considering going halvesies on a modem thing for his computer so that we can have internet all the time. We will have to see how things play out today.

we're definately going to make it

2009-06-05T04:51:00.000-07:00

June 2

We have this clock in our house that plays an electronic version of Fur Elise at eight in the morning. That is what I woke up to this morning. I always think it is the door bell. I had toast and honey for breakfast. The honey tastes just like cane syrup. I find comfort in a lot of unusual places like this. It happens all the time.
There are so many children here it is unbelievable. Everywhere you go there are children and every couple hundreds of yards there is a primary school. It seems like there is always one screeming within earshot of the house.
We were supposed to meet with Rev Obed today, but he has been ill, so today we were on our own. We weren’t brave enough to try the taxis because we still don’t know exactly how to tell them where we want to go, or how to negotiate the price. Instead we decided to walk down the main road in each direction for a while. It was very much an act of participant observation. It was not too warm to walk even though we got a lot of sun. So far the weather has been warm and sunny, but not overbearingly hot like it is in Memphis. People are surprised to hear that it is hotter at home than it is home.
Back to our journey along the road, we found a grocery store, bought a paper, found a baker, had coffee, and used the internet (That is when I made my last post). It is hard to explain how these things are such an accomplishment, but they very much are. The coffee we had was delicious, and I had a meat pie to go with it. Dustin and I had each drunk a small pot of coffee before we realized that we had drunk the local water. However, 24 hours later we are fine, so I think we will be fine, but it is hard to always be thinking about those sorts of things.
The internet has been really difficult and slow. It is REALLY slow, like going back to the dial up days, and it gets really frustrating. It was pretty funny to watch Dustin get frustrated with the internet while he was all hopped up on the caffine and it was going so slow. Because we want to maximize our time, we type out everything ahead of time and then just copy and paste it into the spaces so that we don’t waste our time on the internet typing. We have learned to economize a lot of things actually. All in all we probably walked about four miles. The closest internet is about one mile in one direction. I hoping that we will have an office with an internet connection soon, so that we don’t have to work so hard to get on the internet.
Today was the first day that I noticed how much people stare at us as we walk by. We are really out of place. People dress fairly nicely here even thought it must be so hot. Men always wear pants and often long sleeve shirts. Women also wear pants or long skirts. As we passed along the different nurseries the children would run up and wave to us. The children are really the only ones that will talk to us on the street. Even the toddlers know how to say hello and goodbye. I think they are just excited to see someone so different.
The biggest event of the day was that Dr. Muhumuza’s brother came by the house today. He is our age and is in college. I think he has been assigned to work with us and look after us at the same time. However, I was grateful to talk to someone my own age, and he has a very easy personality, as do most of the people here. He was very concerned as to whether we were comfortable or not.
I person also came by to bring us a phone, so we will be able to make calls now to all of the people we will be working with. This is very good for us, but we will not be able to make international calls from this phone. We finally figured out where it is that we live: Bokoto. It is more like an area of the city like we do in the states in the way that I live in Midtown in Memphis.

June 3, 2009
Today was also an eventful day. We are trying with much difficult to finish a draft for our research proposal. Reading the paper has been very informative and interesting. There is a lot of discontent with the government here, but that isn’t really a huge surprise, but the perspectives that people have are interesting. You often don’t hear about African peoples speaking out on their own behalf, but it is happening all of the time. I believe that one day, they will get to a better position. I’m not nearly as fatalistic as I was before coming here.
Andrew came over today to take us to the SAS foundation and the clinic, which were in two different areas. It was nice to meet the different people that are working for SAS. Everyone was very interested in talking to us. I met one person who had been to Memphis. I certainly did not expect to meet anyone who had been to Memphis. He did say that everyone was so nice there, which is very good to hear. People seem to like Americans here, as opposed to Europe, where they think Americans are heathens.
Andrew is very interested in working with us, so we are going to add him on to our research team. I think he will be more of an asset to us than he realizes. We have so many questions about the way things work, but he is very patient in answering all of our questions and providing us with information. I do think he gets a good laugh out of us every once and a while, especially when we try to pronounce words in Lugandan. Lugandan is the language that most people speak here, and it is the preferencial language of everyday life, although most people speak some English. I have also realized that we have much common ground in that we are all students. We were laughing about how students here try to sneak in kegs to the dormitories like we did.
My stomach is finally all better. The antimalarials were giving me terrible heart burn for a while. It is nice to be able to eat whatever. There are so many foods I want to try. But the biggest excitement is that I can drink the fruit juice. It is SO delicious. I wonder if there is crack in it because I drank almost an entire container of it today.
Tomorrow we are supposed to be meeting with the rest of people who are helping us with our research. I’m very excited to be moving forward, and ready to get into a routine. However, we are still needing some time to adjust. I find that the maximum amount of time that Dustin and I can tolerate in the city is about four hours. There is just so much going on, and everything is so different, and we have to make so many adjustments in the way we act even though we aren’t even talking to anyone. People don’t really make eye contact on the street, you only make eye contact if you want something, and it’s weird if you smile at anyone on the street. We are still getting used to the currency which is done in thousands. Often we pay people the wrong amount, but they are nice enough to give the money back when we pay them too much. But they laugh at us. There’s just too many zeros.
However, it is amazing how cheap different things are. We can take a taxi all over town for about 3, 000 shillings which is a dollar and fifty cents. Our stop at the bakery cost about 8,000 shillings. We got to small pots of coffee, a personal veggie pizza, and a meat pie. Less than four dollars in American money. In our research we have read that the majority of Ugandans live on less than 1 US dollar a day and around 90% on less than 2 dollars a day. It makes a lot more sense now. We are living pretty lavishly compared to the rest of the population, but we are probably only spending about 5 dollars on a regular day. Cheers! I miss you all.

Greetings!

2009-06-02T04:41:00.000-07:00

Just as a disclaimer my first blog from Kampala is going to be pretty long. So make sure you’re in a comfortable chair…

May 30-31
On the whole our travels were pretty uneventful, which I guess is a good thing. We made all of our connecting flights without having to wait around for a long time. The flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was roughly 7 hours and so was the flight from Amsterdam to Entebbe. They served curried vegetables as dishes on both flights. And each seat had it’s own screen, and so you could select an watch the movie of your choosing. I only watched one movie which was the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was good. I started some other movies like Marley and Me, but I got bored with them.
When we arrived at Entebbe, there were nurses there to check us for swine flu. All we had to do was fill out a little card, and I’m certain that some people lied on it. I saw one man with a cold pass right through the line. The nurses were dressed in dresses with aprons and those little hats that you have to pin on your head. Getting our visa was not a problem. Everything just took a long time. All of our bags made it, which is something that I was extremely worried about, but they both ripped as I pulled them off the conveyer belt (sorry Christopher). I’m going to have to buy some more luggage at some point. We weren’t sure how to go through customs so we just walked buy without having our bags checked at all. Reverend Obed was waiting for us with his son. I think he was worried that we hadn’t made it because it took us so long to get through all of the lines. His son’s name was Michael. He looked to be about 13 or 14. He texted on his phone the whole way home. It’s funny the things that are the same.
I’m so thankful that Rev Obed came to pick us up because we never would have been able to drive ourselves. Traffic was really scary. They drive on the left side of the road, for starters, and there are people on mopeds darting in and out of traffic. There are very few traffic signals. I was surprised at the number of people that were out and about at the bars that lined the road. There was a lot going on for a Sunday night, but it seems now that it was the normal level of activity. I was getting a little car sick on our drive from Entebbe to Kampala from all of the brake slamming and swerving to avoid other vehicles. We turned and twisted up and down the different roads until we turned onto a dirt road. From this point we progressed very slowly down a steep hill. We came to a heavy metal door. A man peeped out of a hole, and then opened the gates for us. I felt sort of like I was entering the city of Oz because the gates were big and green and heavy.
There was some confusion if anyone was at the house waiting for us because none of the lights were on. It turns out that the power was out, but Grace, who is going to help us around the city and at the house, and her friend Faith was waiting for us. Grace and Faith are their Christian names, but they have other more Ugandan sounding names. They showed us our rooms. They are both very comfortable. We each have our own bathroom, and the kitchen and den are fairly large. Grace had made us a late meal, which was very good. We had fish, green beans, and rice. Some where close to us there is a bar where they play reggaton and rap. I didn’t expect to be able to recognize some of the songs, but I did. I had some tea and then went to bed. I have to sleep under mosquito netting, but I didn’t mind it.

June 1, 2009
I woke up to the sound of roosters and children, both of which were crying. I was the first to wake up. We spend the morning writing and poking at the breakfast food that Grace had set out for us. Wheetabix was the cereal we had. It was different. It came in a whole loaf and you broke some off, but it flaked off a lot. It tasted like all bran. Grace came again. She cooked some more food for us for breakfast. For all those concerned, we never eat enough to satisfy her liking. I don’t think we will be going hungry any time soon. She took us into the city to change our money and buy groceries. The power came back on which was exciting. It was difficult to do anything by candle light like the night before.
The whole affair was pretty overwhelming. Supposedly 1.4 million people live in the city, and that number doubles during the day because so many people work in the city. There is very little personal space to go around. We took a taxi bus into town, which we shared with any where from 10-12 other people. There didn’t have to be an available seat for more people to get on. The taxi just goes a long a route and people get off a long the way. There are so many people on the side walk, that you are constantly bumping into people, but you don’t have to be as polite here and say “excuse me” when you do.
The grocery store was supposed to be the “Western” grocery store, and in a lot of ways it was. They played old country music in the store. One of the songs was a George Straight song. Dustin and I thought it was hilarious because Grace knew all of the words to the songs. It was difficult for us to explain why it was so funny. Some of the things we bought were interesting, like black currant juice and washing powder. We bought so many things that we had to hire a drive to drive us back to the house. I’m really glad we had Grace with us. I would have been a mess without her. I feel like a child again because I can’t hardly do anything for myself and I don’t know where anything is.
Along the way, we stop at an internet café, so that I could briefly write something. I hope no one was too worried about me. There wasn’t any place that we could stop up until that point. By the time we got back I was ready to be done. All of the new things were just overwhelming, and we were only gone for about 4 hours. Behind our house there is a soccer field and the kids were playing there after school today. Tonight the reggaton is going again, and I have spent the majority of the down time writing – trying to capture everything before I forget it. I am still forgetting lots of things.
The bananas are really good
There are only two channels on the TV.
I brought cards, but when we started playing I realized that it was a set of pinochle cards
I can’t figure out how to make the stove burner stay in the on position.
We bought a wheel of cheese =)
We bought powdered coffee, but it tastes like ash.
We still don’t have a phone
We each have a map

We are hoping that Rev Obed will come by tomorrow since we don’t have a phone. This is my biggest concern at the moment. But we do know enough now to be able to get around a little bit, so we won’t be wasting any time.

2009-06-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I'm making a quick stop to let everyone know that Dustin and I made it to Kampala safely. I'll have to write more later because we are pressed for time. Much love to everyone.

Getting prepared

2009-05-26T11:38:00.001-07:00

So I've gone to Target like three times, trying to get prepared for Uganda. It is a lot of work just getting prepared and making sure that everything is in order here in Memphis while I'm gone. I bought a really cool head lamp because Mrs. Eva says the power is cut off sometimes. I'm sure it will come in handy on more than one occasion.

And the blog is created

2009-05-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

I have created this blog so that I can keep in touch with everyone while I'm away. I plan to periodically update the blog on all of my adventures, and you can write back to me too! All you have to do is type in what you would like to say in the box. Then in the selection box if you do not have a gmail account, go ahead an set one up, then it will allow you to post comments from now on. If you would like to write me emails anyway, that's fine, but I can't promise how often I will be able to respond. Cheers!... next stop Africa!