Full House, Full Heart

29 June 2015

Hello, from homestay!  I’ve arrived in sunny Mityana where I’ll stay for the next 4 weeks learning Luganda.  I was told my homestay family consisted of a mom and dad and their 6 kids.  Imagine my surprise when I found out there are 16 total people in my family, instead!  Ready for this?

There’s…
Pastor Robert
Maama Esther
Amon
Isaac
Saul
Jemimah
Grace
Betty
Florence
Ziatoon
Brenda
Karen
Robert Junior
Peter
Bernadette

Whew.  With me, that makes 16 in one house.  I am so thankful to have all of them call me their sister/daughter for the next month.  I’m living the posh corps life right now; my home is so large to accommodate all of us that we have electricity, running water, toilets, and showers.  I love washing my feet in the tub at the end of the day.  It’s dusty here, and that’s easily my favorite part of the day.  

As soon as I arrived and met Pastor Robert he told me that this is my home not just for the next month, but for as long as I want it to be.  I am always welcome.  I nearly started weeping joy everywhere, but I kept it together and just thanked him profusely.  Weebale nnyo.  I even have my own room (it’s Peace Corps policy).  Privacy is nice, but I love spending time with my new sisters as they braid my hair over and over while we play cards, color, and eat Skittles.  It’s usually one girl on each arm with another on my lap as two are behind me combing my muzungu hair.  My heart is full.

Saturday night, my first night at homestay, I was asked if I liked weddings.  Um.  Yes.  Weddings and I go literally and figuratively hand-in-hand.  So then they asked if I’d like to go to a wedding reception.  My first Ugandan wedding!  I couldn’t believe it.  I put on my best dress to look as smart as I could, but it was nothing compared to the elaborate dresses some of these women wore.  And some were in velvet!  Not what I’d be wanting to wear in this heat.  But the venue was beautiful, I got a plate of food, the bride and groom were up on this platform eating dinner with the wedding party and their names were written in giant cakes which everyone got to eat.  So from what I understood, instead of “You may now kiss the bride,” is actually, “You may now sensually feed each other cake.”  And that seals the deal.  From what I could see, it was pretty funny and there was some water sipping as well.  But people crowded the couple with cameras and iPads, wanting to get a good shot of the digestion, so my vision was partially skewed.

Yesterday morning, we went to Lifehouse Community Church, where Pastor Robert preaches.  I assumed it would be a lengthy service, but I didn’t think it would take as long as it did.  Since they had a visiting pastor, it was especially longer than usual.  He, his wife, and his son all spoke in front of the congregation.  It was a beautiful service, from what I could understand; it was mainly in Luganda, but there was an English translator.  Sometimes, though, the speaker would talk so fast and so loudly that the translator couldn’t keep up.  He looked at me with big eyes, and I gestured to just forget about it, it was too much to work with.  I was good with sitting in confusion. 
At one point, when Pastor Robert was speaking, he had me stand up and introduced me to everyone.  He told them I was from Pennsylvania (where I’m sure not many people have heard of before) and that I was with Peace Corps, staying at his house.  He wanted everyone to greet me afterwards but in Luganda only.  No English.  I’ve only had about a week of class so far, so I can say the basic:

Hi.  How are you?
I’m fine, how are you?
How was your night?
How is your day?
Good night!
My name is…
I’m from…
What did you say?
Thank you for your work!
You’re welcome!
How’s the family?
They are fine!

But besides that…I got next to nothing.  So for introductions, I was limited.  It worked out, though.  Everyone for the most part spoke English and were very happy to meet me.  That’s the thing I love about this country.  Everyone is so welcoming.  I feel so at ease here in almost every situation (I’ll pass on the interactions with the boda drivers) that it’s like I’ve always been here.  And it’s only been 2 days with this new community.

Pastor Robert and Esther - My host parents!

5 hours later, church was over.  The siblings and I headed home, had some lunch, I skyped with Alex (got a wifi modem usb thing!) and then it was time for choir practice, back at the church.  Peter, my one brother, is a teacher at King’s Kids school where there was choir and dance rehearsal.  He’s actually a Brit who’s been here on and off for the past 4 years or so.  He teaches science to the kids, and they just adore him.  There’s some big performance on this week, so they were trying to get as much practice in as possible before we ran out of sunlight.  Boy, can these kids sing.  They write their own songs and even recorded a record to sell across the country.  And the dancing is just as impressive.  I jumped in the back to join in after I watched it; it was fantastic.  I loved being a part of the group. 

When the sun went down and I had given out about 400 high fives and bongas (fist bumps), it was time to head back with the family.  Grace kept falling over from wearing my sunglasses in the dark and Karen held my hand the whole way home.  I can’t wait to spend more time with them.  I’m sure I won’t be saying that when I just want to sleep or study and they want to play, but for now, I’m loving having little brothers and sisters.

Today we had Luganda class.  It’s at a local hotel that has beautiful facilities, a café where I’m hanging out with other trainees now, and wifi.  Posh Corps is rocking my world right now.  I’m sure when I get to my permanent site in Biikira mid-August, I’ll have another culture shock primarily because I’ll be on my own.  But at the moment, I’m enjoying being around familiar faces and quick English speakers. 

Mom keeps reminding me that this service is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.  I have to think of these 2 years in increments like fluid stations when I did the Pittsburgh half.  The first water station is the end of PST.  The next is In-Service Training.  Then vacation in London and Dublin with Mom, Dan, Alex, and Lyss.  I’m so looking forward to that even though it’s a good 10 months away.  Two weeks with the people I love most is going to be much needed.

Looks like we’re wrapping up here at the café and are heading back home to our families.  We’re talking about what we’re going to cook for our families on the 4^th of July.  It’s going to be a lesson on American eats for Independence Day.  No Bill Pullman, but still an old fashion burger. 

All is well here.  Thanks for checking in.  When I find the post office, you can all expect postcards within the next few weeks.

Until then,
Kelly 

Welcome to Kampala, Don't Walk on the Grass.

14 June 2015

Finally a free day!  We get to do whatever we want to do today!  There’s no schedule!  This is awesome!  Amazing!  Wow!

It rained.  Like a monsoon.  I slept for 16 hours.  Here we are.

All right, I’m almost 2 weeks in on this Ugandan Adventure.  Every day is pretty structured:
     We have breakfast at 7, training sessions at 8, morning tea around 1030, more sessions until lunch at 1, sessions again until afternoon tea usually at 330, then the final training sessions are until usually 530 or 6 and dinner is at 7.  Lather rinse repeat.  We’ve been getting a little burnt out especially since there hasn’t been much free time, so sometimes I sneak off during tea time and grab a 10-12 minute nap.  But that usually leaves me more tired, so there’s no winning.  The food is good too, but when you’ve had matoke (the main banana dish) for every lunch and dinner every day along with the same cabbage, rice, beans, and potatoes, things can get boring.  It also gets difficult to poop.  Or easier, depends who you are.  The pit latrine in the girl’s dorm was just finished up so that’s a nice touch.  You just have to be careful when you flush not to get your skirt wet and be sure to not have your phone on you in there; those things are like 50 feet deep.  There’s no getting it back.

The trainees have this pot going of 10,000 shillings a person.  Whoever is the last in the group to have explosive diarrhea wins it all.  We all have burner phones and sim cards on a closed network.  They’re old school Nokias which are awesome.  So if it happens, you have to text the group saying “OUT.” And then we’ll all know.

Things here are good.  I’m starting to get a rhythm down and enjoy the limited free time that the trainees have together.  Last night there was a communal volleyball game with both trainees and Ugandans while others tossed a Frisbee around.  It was a beautiful summer evening just having everyone join together.  Moments like that make me think that this is possible, that maybe I can do this.  After the initial shock of being here wore off, I struggled emotionally to get my act together.  I was afraid that random bursts of crying about missing home would become my mantra.  But I talked about it to some PCVs and other trainees, and realized I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.  What was important was taking care of myself, so I left dinner, shut myself in my room, looked at all the pictures Alex gave me before I left and had a good ole cry.  It kind of washed me out, and I felt better afterward.  I know it’ll hit again, but I think it’s important to feel what you’re feeling.

Ok sentimental over.

Last Sunday was our first trip to the capital, Kampala!  We drove by taxi (which is not a taxi, it’s more like a mystery machine van with lots of seats which is awesome) into the city on the supposedly calmest day of the week.  Calm day my butt.  I’d hate to see what the city looked like on a busy day!  They dropped us off in the southern part of the city.  We were in groups of 4 with a slight scavenger hunt feel to the day; we had to locate the PC Headquarters, a Barclay’s bank, and some other stuff.  The best term I can use to describe my first impression of the city was organized chaos.  And sometimes not very organized.  There were people, cars, buses, and boda bodas (motorcycles) everywhere.  With one hand on my bag, the other reaching for someone in my group, I kept looking at the ground as to not step on a rock, a person, or in an open manhole.  So it was kind of hard to get a good look around.  But I felt like people got a good look at us, we kept hearing “Muzungo” everywhere.  And people stared.  I mean, we kind of stand out.  You just get used to it, though.  I either wave or say something in the very limited Luganda that I know.  Hopefully soon I’ll start language classes in the language as to better communicate. 

Once we got more centered in the city, our tour guide, Ken (who is a Kampala native) helped us look at the map on the steps of the post office.  We asked the one guard if it would be all right to be there because the building was closed on Sunday.  He said it was fine, but once we got on the other end of the patio, the other guard stopped us.  Well, actually, we woke him up.  He was enjoying a Sunday nap.  He then proceeded to threaten to arrest us because we were trespassing on government property and how we’d get a hefty fine.  Ken swooped in, very apologetic, and explained the misunderstanding, and we got off the patio.  Honestly, he was just pissed we woke him up.

The rest of the day consisted of getting a ride in some guy’s car up to the northern part of town for pizza and beer, getting our phones set up with MTN (I have a Ugandan number now!), and making our way back to the matatu station to get a ride back to the training center.  When I got home and took off my shoes, I thought I had gotten a pretty nice tan line…and then I took a shower.  Not the case.  It was a dusty day.

The week has been kind of had a high school feel to it.  Up early, sessions all day, done by dinner, up again the next day.  I’ve heard from other vols and RPCVs that PST is the roughest part.  I’ll be excited to get to language training during my homestay and then be at my site afterwards.  Speaking of which, I know where I’m going!  We had this “The Site is Right” ceremony to find out where we’ll be for our permanent sites.  When they called me up, I was told I was going to St. Andrews Community Health Centre III in Biikira.  Which was a shock.  Because I didn’t ask for St. Andrews at all.  It wasn’t even on my radar.  We were able to submit a Top 3 list for the sites we were interested in.  I didn’t pick St. Andrews because it offered little to no information on the site description.  So that was a big disappointment especially when most everyone else was giddy with excitement of their placements.  I tried not to show it, though, because afterwards there were dancers and drummers outside the main hall performing a traditional Ugandan dance!  They were in traditional dress, check out the pictures:

But the site placement thing was really bothering me.  I knew there would be a lot of ups and downs within my service, I just didn’t think so many would happen within the first week and a half of being here.  I was really upset; I don’t like not knowing what I’m going to do, and I thought that after being in Uganda for a bit would help clear that up, when really it’s made it more confusing.  I stayed in my room all night texting Mom, Lin, and Alex about it which helped.  But people kept telling me that personal health comes first, so when I saw Danielle, another health trainee, she could tell something was wrong and we got a beer and a slab of concrete and she let me cry out everything for a good half hour.  Bless her soul.  The crying mixed with beer gave me a headache, so I called it a night with a phone date with Alex in the waiting. 

I got up early, around 6, to call him at 11 back on the east coast.  Sitting in a plastic chair under the teatime tent in the dark, he gave me the long distance kick in the pants I needed (I knew there was a reason I loved him).  I complained that this isn’t what I thought it would be, and maybe it’d be better if I just came home.  He told me to get my freaking act together and put on my big girl pants.  I’m still in Africa, where I’ve always wanted to be.  Not knowing the details of my site could be a great thing; I can make it into whatever I want it to be.  If I came home now, I’d hate myself probably for forever.  And he’s right.  I would. 

So I’m here and thankful.  And trying.  This morning before the monsoon hit, I sat out under this beautiful tree with branches that stick out only at the top making it look like a pink umbrella.  A couple other trainees were out this morning with a book or cup of tea, enjoying the day.  Carson had a Frisbee and we got a game going with some of the kitchen staff.  Then it was back to reading with some music on.  I mentioned the volleyball game moment earlier, and this was just like it, only more peaceful.  I think I can do this.  Fingers crossed.

Until next time,

Kelly

Uganda Chose Me

4 June 2015

This morning I woke up in Africa…let that one settle in for a second.  The past few days have been nothing but changes.  It’s been kind of a whirlwind here.  There are about 48 volunteers in my group; half are health, like me, the other half are agricultural business.  Put us all in a room, have an icebreaker, and immediately become best friends, support systems, and fellow world changers.  At least that’s what the idea is.  These things take time.

Mom drove me across the state to drop me off in Philly for my 3 days of staging events.  Alex drove down from Connecticut, too, to see me off.  A lot of hugs and crying later, I was alone.  Well, kind of.  There were 47 other people who were in the same situation with me.  And like many people who are faced with this situation, we began to get to know each other over some drinks.  TJIFridays was right next to our hotel.  The staging events were really helpful.  Our directors had us do a lot of activities that showed we were all feeling the same kinds of things in regards to similar anxieties and aspirations for the next 2 years.  Tuesday morning we boarded the buses and were carted off to JFK to start this whole new adventure.  2 plane rides, 20+ hours, and 1 less iPod later (yeah. Forgot it on the plane), we had finally arrived in Entebbe, Uganda.   Not much to see; it was 10 o’clock at night.  So we hopped in a few vans and were greeted by fellow Ugandan PCVs. 

“Hey guys!  Congrats on making the awesome choice to join Peace Corps Uganda!!”

-lots of cheers-

“Just remember, these are the best two years of your lives!  Have a great PST (pre-service training), oh and don’t have valuables like cameras hanging out the van windows, people like to drive up and snatch them.  Ok bye!”

And that was it.  That was also the time I realized that I had missed my chance to go to the bathroom before this 1.5 hour bumpy van ride.  Woops.  The ride to our training site was full of energy, until everyone realized what time it was back home and for how long they had been awake.  But we made it.  I’m pretty sure all we wanted to do was crash, but dinner was waiting for us in the dining hall.   We eat a lot of matoke here! (bananas) After that were a few short intros, key distribution, health packet distribution, luggage collection, and finally we could settle in.  Let’s see, in total, it was about…24…30...hours of traveling?  That time difference thing really throws me.

Rue was my roommate at the hotel and she’s paired with me again here at the training center.  We’re outside Kampala in a town called Mukono right now.   Here are some pictures!

We’ll be here for the next 3 weeks before we move to our homestays.  There, we’ll be working on language training that will match our future 2 year sites (I’m hoping to study Luganda!) and after that, we’ll be back at the center for our swearing-in ceremony.  So don’t be confused, I’m still technically not a volunteer yet.  Once I (hopefully) pass all the training, I’ll be official and will wear the pin, badge, t-shirt, bumper sticker, with pride.  If I don’t pass….I’m not sure.  Maybe they’ll make me wear the cone of shame.  I do not like the cone of shame.

Has the change settled in yet?  I hope it has for you, because I’m still working on it.  The first day of sessions, our country director spoke so beautifully about the country, different hardships she’s faced, and how much she loves the peoples and the land.  Listening to her made me feel a little more at ease, so I made a list.  I love lists.  I called it,

Things I love about Uganda since being here for 16 hours:

• Mosquito Nets – safety
• Tea time – comfort
• Cool breezes – relief  
• Encouragement – support

Tea time is actually twice a day.  Once in the morning and again in the afternoon.  Tea time is best time.  But this list is growing really quickly.  The landscape and environment is lush and welcoming.  I truly am in the Pearl of Africa.  It’s kind of ironic moving from Menton, the Pearl of France, to here, but I’d like to think Uganda chose me.

I got the call to be on the waitlist for Uganda right before Christmas last year.  At this time, though, most of the volunteers here had gotten the call to serve in Uganda, no waitlist involved.  My only other option, if I didn’t accept the waitlist position, was to reapply.  I was not about to start this whole process over.  It was weird getting the call for Uganda since I have a French degree; Uganda’s national language is English.  But I took the chance.  During the first few months, I had to do all the necessary requirements that actual invitees had to do:  get my medical work done, physicals, shots, boosters, dental exams and x-rays, eye exams, visa and passport applications, etc. etc.  And still I didn’t know if I would be chosen to go.  But when I got the call to serve, I knew Uganda picked me.  Hopefully sometime soon I’ll figure out why.  Until then, I’m learning, and trying to grow.  I’m working on getting into a rhythm, but it’s only been a day. 

I only have internet in the main hall, so I’ll post this when I can. 
Thank you all for the love and support I’ve felt while traveling and arriving in this wonderful place.  One of my favorite phrases comes from my brother (ok he didn’t coin it, I think Carousel did, but Liverpool has it and it hits home.  But I learned if from Dan so he gets the credit): 
Walk on with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone.
 And though I’m far away, I don’t feel alone at all.

Gros bisous tout le monde,

All is well,
Kelly