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
