Happy Holidays!

Tomorrow night, I'm flying back to Wisconsin to spend the holidays with my family. I'm strangely excited to wear a winter jacket and wear holiday socks. It's been hard to get into the festive holiday spirit when it's still 90 degrees outside and sunny. However it is Harmattan season, so the evenings have cooled down quite a bit. I love the weather now. I wish it would stay this way, but I have been warned that soon the weather will turn and we will hit triple digits.

I have nothing really important to report about the last week, but here are some highlights:

• Last Friday, I had an amazing dinner with some new friends at a Lebanese restaurant. We had spinach pies, stuffed grape leaves, lamb, hummus, and other delicious goodies. The food was fantastic, probably some of the best I've had in Abuja (other than the Chinese place we go to).
• The past week has been interesting in respect to taxis. People keep telling me there is a fuel crisis in Abuja and the lines of cars waiting to get gas at gas stations are extremely long. I've had to pay more for taxis recently than I ever have in the past. However yesterday I noticed the lines at the gas station were no longer as long as they were before. No matter how many taxi drivers I talk to, no one seems to be able to explain what happened.
• Washing my sheets by hand is really rather difficult, but I gave it my best attempt.
• There is a spider that hangs out above the water heater in my bathroom. He and I have come to an understanding that as long as he stays up there, I won't attempt to kill him. But the minute he comes down, he takes his life into his own hands because I will chase him down with my shoe (which is what I did with the last spider I saw in the apartment).
• I have mosquito bites everywhere. I have no idea where I got them from, but I am so itchy. I have definitely upped my chances of developing malaria in the last few days.
• Many people are on leave at work, so the office has gotten very quiet. It's kind of nice.
• My face is healing pretty nicely and didn't end up being as bad as I imagined it would be. So I'm now ready to go home and take Christmas pictures with my family!

To all my Wisconsin readers (mainly the ones located around the Milwaukee area), I'd love to see you when I'm home!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Independence Day, Nigeria!

On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom. Happy Independence Day! Actually in Abuja, it's technically the 2nd. However it is still the 1st in the US, so I think it still counts.

Hello from Abuja! I arrived late on Wednesday night and was met at the airport by someone who works at the CDC and the driver. Teresa and I were picked up by an armored SUV, bullet proof glass and everything. Security measures have been heightened since the UN bombing, so any time US Embassy personnel (the CDC person who picked us up) leave the city center, they are required to go in armored vehicles with an armed escort. So along with our armored SUV, we were also followed by another armored SUV with a man with a gun in it. Pretty intense for a very peaceful 30-45 minute drive into the city of Abuja. I did not get much sleep on the plane rides here, so I slept pretty well my first night. It felt great to be horizontal again after 20-some hours of travel. Our flights here were pretty smooth. The only hitch was that our actual flight from Amsterdam to Abuja was delayed by an hour. When Teresa and I were standing in line to go through security again in Amsterdam (which by the way, I don't understand why they do it this way in Amsterdam, but that's neither here nor there), people kept asking us if we were sure we were going to Abuja. "Yes, I am going to Abuja. I'm sure I'm in the right line. I know where I'm going. Yes, I want to get on this flight. My ticket says I am going there." Was not sure why people kept asking.

I am currently staying in a hotel room with Teresa. Our apartment is not ready for us yet, so we will be here until next Wednesday. Not much to report about the hotel... just a hotel room with a giant bed for 2 small Asian girls to sleep in. Nothing too fantastic or interesting.

We have not done much work-wise. On Thursday we went to the CDC office but other than that, we have not seen much of the office. I think we'll start working on Tuesday. I got to go into the US Embassy for the first time Thursday, which was interesting. I have never been inside an embassy. Pretty strict security rules. They wouldn't even let me bring my pack of gum with me that was in my purse. We went to the embassy to get some money exchanged. So rather than having to find a For Ex, we were able to get Nigerian Naira at the embassy.

I don't have too much to report. Our hotel is kind of on the outskirts of town, so we haven't gone into the city too much. Abuja is definitely different than Kampala.

• The roads are nicer, there seems to be less traffic (that remains to be determined), and there are no boda bodas. I guess boda bodas (or whatever they call motorcycle taxis here) are banned inside Abuja. This makes traveling a little more inconvenient because you have to hunt down a taxi. The official taxis are green, while there are also unmarked taxis you can take. Same policy as Kampala for taxi riding tho- haggling the price of the taxi ride.
• It's hotter here. Right now we're on the tail end of one of the rainy seasons, so it's rather humid and warm. Next up will be the dry season, which I have been told by expats here is like scorched earth, deathly hot. That should be joyously fun. The great thing about Ssembabule was definitely the weather. Warm during the day, cool at night. It was rather perfect. 
• There is no chapati here. I'm going to have to find some new substitute for chapati. Or just figure out how to make my own. Or make a special trip back to Uganda for chapati. And rolexes. I cannot tell you how much I crave a good quality rolex. 

Those are my only comparisons as of right now. I haven't seen very much, nor have I experienced too much of the city. Jet lag and lack of transportation kind of hampers my movement. But have no fear, I'm moving to my new place on Wednesday. Whether or not I have a bed to sleep in Wednesday night remains to be seen. But I'll be able to explore much more after Wednesday.

The last few nights, Teresa and I have been meeting different people who live in Abuja. It's been really nice to meet new people and to get their perspectives on the city and the country. I'll keep those observations to include as commentary when I form opinions of my own. I have to confess that I know absolutely no Yoruba, Hausa, or Igbo. Every time I jump in a cab, all I want to do is speak Luganda. WRONG language. I'm going to have to work on that.

Oh, to help clarify, Teresa is my fellow fellow (yes that's what we say) and is doing the same fellowship as I am, except different programs. She's in Epidemiology while I am doing Program Management. She is also Chinese and hails from LA. We'll forgive her for her West Coast tendencies for now. And for probably one of the only times ever (other times are when I stand next to 2 out of 3 sisters), I am taller. Hehehe. 

Anyway, I'm here. I'm safe. And I'm happy. This may sound like a stereotype but I walked outside on Thursday night, took a deep breath, and sighed, "Mmmmm smells like Africa." It smells wonderful. I'm excited about my new adventure. It's just beginning!

PS Mosquito bites = 1, Bouts of malaria = 0.

Last Days...

I only have a few days left in Sembabule... in Uganda in general, and I am incredibly sad. The things I will miss:

• Chapati and Rolexes
• My foam mattress and my pink, hole-ridden bed net
• Finding random amphibians hanging out in my room
• Getting away with not showering for a day (or two) because we don't have any water
• The music blasting from across the street (whether it's Ugandan music or a remix of Shania)
• Frying everything and anything we can get our hands on
• Wearing my head lamp
• Tea breaks at work
• My cell phone with its torch (aka flashlight)
• Pit latrines
• All the staff
• Claire
• And much, much more

Things I probably won't miss as much:

• Public transportation
• Getting woken up at 5am by a random cow, goat, or person yelling outside
• Red dust covering everything
• My hair never being actually clean
• Electricity problems
• Internet problems
• Bats hanging out around the pit latrine doors
• Finding ants in my food
• Getting called mzungu every 2 seconds
• The possibility of getting malaria with every mosquito bite I get
• The roads
• There are probably a few other things I am forgetting right now...

I am finishing up handing over my notes, documents, and just about everything related to the last 5 months to Claire and my supervisor. My supervisor is an amazing seamstress and is making the fabric the staff gave me into a dress for me in these last few days I'm in Uganda. I'm incredibly excited to wear it! I'll be heading into Kampala on Thursday and flying out of Entebbe in the middle of the night. Then over a full day later, I'll be landing in Milwaukee!

This experience has been amazing and I have loved every minute of it (even the unlovable minutes).

I love Uganda!

Pit Latrine, Oh How I Missed You

I am back in Sembabule and I have to admit, after being away for a week and a half, I missed it! There is something incredibly homey about my room, squatting to bathe myself, using a pit latrine, enjoying the random power outages and battling with the internet. After using a flushing toilet, it seems a bit easier to just squat, do my business, and just toss the toilet paper down the hole. It skips the pushing lever to flush part! And plus, isn’t it just more fun to be going to the bathroom and see a gecko running across the wall right by your face? Or marveling at the massive number of malaria-filled mosquitoes swarming around your head at night? Or being surprised by the random toad hanging out in the back corner of the latrine? I’d say so. I love Uganda!!! It's pretty hard to believe but I only have about a month and a half left in Uganda. I'm going to miss it after I leave.

C-pop in Sembabule

My favorite piece of electronic equipment here in Uganda would have to be my iPod. Nothing drowns out the cows mooing, roosters crowing, random radios blaring, and incessant whining of mosquitos better than a little C-pop in the early morning.

I can't really think of anything profound to say, but here's a little update on life here. You know how they say you can never "catch up" on sleep? They are right. I've been a bit of a walking zombie all week from the lack of sleep last weekend. As for work, we had visitors from the project that funds us this week. There were meetings and discussions for them for a few days. We're also coming down to the end of this fiscal year, which means lots of reports are due. I've been working on data collection for our projects all week. Every time I think I'm done with the data and I submit it to my supervisor, the next day or even that night, she tells me that we've filled out the wrong form or we didn't get all the data they needed or we've done something else wrong... It gets a little frustrating after a while. Especially when you're hand counting several hundred forms and tallying up totals. But I'm happy to report that the data is now completed... but that might just be wishful thinking.

The tap wasn't running for part of this week so Claire and I were running out of water to bathe, do laundry, etc with. This is slightly inconvenient but I think I've reached a point in Claire and my relationship where she doesn't mind when I wake up, looking horrible after not showering for 2 days... maybe... unless she's not telling me something.

I do all my laundry by hand in the basin I wash myself with. The water always turns a beautiful reddish brown color. And no matter how many times I rinse my clothes, I can never seem to get the water to run clear. I cannot wait to get home to Wisconsin and throw all my clothes into the washing machine.

I miss food. I miss hot meals that don't involve matoke or beans. I miss my mom's cooking. Nothing can relate how much I'd kill for some quality Chinese food right now. OR when I'm paging through the few magazines I've accumulated and I come across an ad for DiGiorno's pizza. Sigh. What's worse is flipping through these magazines and stumbling across images of food. Delicious sandwiches, meals, salads, cakes... I know you might find me slightly pathetic at this point, but I'm beyond caring. I miss food.

I stayed in Sembabule this weekend so it's some quality time to lay around and recover from last weekend and my zombie-state. I've finished The Wizard of the Nile (a fascinating book about Kony and northern Uganda) and am now tackling Atlas Shrugged.

The countdown begins: 2 months until my feet touch American soil again.

Just A Small Town Girl...

Last night, my roommate and I set up our small home entertainment system (which involves a tiny Netbook screen on a stool and the volume cranked up) and watched several episodes of Glee. LOOOOOVE!!! The title of this blog post is a shout-out to the Glee rendition of the Journey song. Now if people here would just break out into song randomly with a band playing in the background, they would make my trip THAT much more fun… Sadly, I am missing the beginning of the new seasons of all my favorite shows while I’m here… Does someone want to DVR my shows for me??????

I have reached the half-way point of my trip!! It’s so insane that it’s already the end of September. Part of me feels like I just got here yesterday, then the other part feels like I’ve been here way longer than under 100 days. In summary, thus far I’ve:

• Tried sugar cane and jack fruit for the first time
• Eaten more chapati than is probably healthy for any human being
• Learned that I am still rather inadequate at lighting matches
• Ridden my fair share of bodas and have not gotten into an accident yet
• Read about 20 books
• Watched a chicken get slaughter for the first time
• Saw a live praying mantis for the first time, only to turn around and accidentally step on it
• Dreamed about pizza at least twice
• Had one nightmare about falling into a pit latrine
• Ridden in a 5 person vehicle with 8 passengers and a driver
• Spent time in 5 different districts of Uganda
• Managed to keep up with writing in my journal
• Mastered washing my hair in a basin
• Stayed within the budget I made for myself before coming to Uganda
• Made some awesome friends
• Not gotten MALARIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wonder what adventures will be in store for me the second half of my time here in Uganda!

I think my new roommate is good luck because we haven’t had any major electricity issues all week. Pretty impressive since I have never had the electricity be this reliable since I arrived in July. For those readers in the USA, please enjoy the fall farmer’s markets for me (apples, zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, banana bread, apple cider, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, everything autumnal…).

Expert Bug Killer

As is typically my habit before going to bed, I turn off the lights (if we have power), sit inside my bed net, turn on my head lamp or a flash light, shine it at the wall, and wait. Inevitably some bug (whether mosquito or otherwise) will be attracted to the light and will then succumb to the unavoidable death via my hand squashing it against the wall. It’s most gratifying when it is a mosquito but any bug will do. I currently have giant mosquito bites that look more similar to small tumors on my legs; very attractive. No malaria yet though!

Our organization has a new program manager (PM), which is very exciting since now there is another go-to person for any and all questions I may have during my stay here. As for work, I have been all over the place. We’ve come pretty far in our initial M&E data collection process. I have to sit down with the Sembabule data and go through it. Microsoft Excel and Access are really difficult to manage all the data in, but it’s the only system we have right now. I’d download CSPro or at least something else, but the internet is way too slow for that. I was in Mubende for 2 days, meeting the new PM and attending regional meetings. It’s a little difficult to coordinate between the two sites since I spend most of my time in Sembabule, so I worry about data a lot. But it looks like next week I will be heading back to Mubende to spend some time there, helping out with the M&E stuff. While I was in Mubende, I attended and Legal and Human Rights for OVCs meeting. It was really interesting to see the different stakeholders come together and discuss the problems they face in Mubende for OVCs. We had speakers from the District, the Police, the Prison, and another organization working with OVCs in Mubende. It was really eye-opening, and I really see the challenges that need to be dealt with so that OVCs know and exercise their rights.

The cell phone I have here is less high-tech than the cell phone I use in the US, but it does come with a feature I wish I had on my phone in the States. This would be the torch (aka flashlight). At the top of many, even the most basic, flashlights, they have a built in flashlight that you can turn on and off. This proves to be very helpful rather than using the bright screen of the cell phone to illuminate whatever you’re trying to do. Love it. What I love less, the lack of a full keyboard on which to text on. I never learned that skill since I wasn’t able to text until after I got a phone with a fancy keyboard. Thus texting takes me about 10 years...

Lake Bunyonyi Weekend

I was able to spend the weekend in Southwestern Uganda, specifically at Lake Bunyonyi. Bunyonyi means "the place of many little birds" and is almost 2000 meters above sea level. No one seems to know exactly how deep it is. My favorite aspect of this lake is that it is only one of the few lakes in Eastern Africa that is schistosomiasis free! Which translates into: the water was safe to swim in. If Lake Bunyonyi is not schisto-free... too late now and hello Praziquantal!

Sunset over Lake Bunyonyi

My friends and I took the overnight bus from Kampala to Kabale (not to be mixed up with Kibale which is a completely different town). It gets pretty cold at night and none of us packed accordingly. Consequently the bus ride was rather cold as we climbed to higher altitudes, and the bus windows next to me continuously rattled open ever 10 meters or so. Needless to say, we didn't get very much sleep during our 8 hour bus ride, which included mysterious stops in the dark and strange sounds coming from our bus. We sleepily arrived in Kabale around 7am and managed to secure a driver who drove us to the dock of Lake Bunyonyi. From this dock, we then got into a dug-out canoe, hoped we didn't capsize, and rowed to the island where we would be spending the weekend. Rowing a dug-out canoe is much harder than one would assume, but we safely arrived at Itambira Island.

Our dug-out canoe

We stayed at Byoona Amagara Island Retreat this weekend, which is a not-for-profit establishment which supports education and sustainable community development at Lake Bunyonyi. They have GeoDomes you can stay in, which were beautiful. But we opted for the cheaper dorm stay. Upon arrival, we indulged in breakfast and then napped for the better part of the afternoon. We were exhausted from all the traveling. The rest of the day was just spent relaxing and enjoying the view.

The food was fantastic; if you ever go there, I recommend the Crayfish Avocado Meal for dinner. I had one friend order it for breakfast on Sunday because he insisted on having it one more time; it's that good. The rest of the weekend was spent hiking around the island, enjoying the fresh air, sun, and clean water, and in the company of friends. Over the weekend, I spent quality time with many British girls and was able to learn many new vocabulary words, including:

Jumper = Hoodie

He's fit = He's hot (the Brits never describe someone as cute, I'm told)

It was an amazing and relaxing weekend away from dust, pollution, noise, and motor vehicles. I really didn't want to leave this little paradise, but hopefully someday I'll be able to visit again.

On our hike around Itambira Island
(The island behind us is Bwama Island which was formerly a leprosy colony but now is the location of a school)

Mosquito bites from the island = 0Total bites to date = 19 (I'm losing track)I do have one very strange bite on my arm. Not from a mosquito. It makes me think of the girl from my Uganda trip 2 years ago we had a bump on her arm, which turned out to have a maggot-like thing inside of it. Sure hope that's not what mine is!

Bugs, Bugs Everywhere

I don't think I was ever the child who had a mad fascination with insects and I have never developed a true love of them. I find them either annoying or just terrifying (depending on size and bite lethality). And when at home, I usually scream like a little girl for my dad (or even my mom) to kill whatever bug I find. Well, my dad nor my mom is with me here...

Last night, I was happily eating my ramen for dinner when a small fly stupidly landed in my noodles. Normally I think I would have been disgusted and might not have continued eating. But since I'm here, I love my ramen, and there was no way I was going to make anything else for dinner, I drowned the fly with my fork, flicked it to the side of my pot, and proceeded eating. I did make sure, however, I didn't accidentally eat the fly.

When I lay in bed, I stare up at Fred, Murphy, and Sylvia in the corner of the ceiling (spiders). There's also Jack, the extra large spider, who hangs out above my door. Now, if these spiders were doing their jobs, they would be killing all the bugs that fly into my room for me. Instead, I spend at least half the night, running around my room like a crazy person and squashing as many mosquitoes and small flies as I can. Hey it's entertaining!

What isn't entertaining is laying awake and hearing a creepy rustling noise coming from the bag where you left your one onion to cook with the next day. It's extremely unsettling when you know you haven't opened your door for hours and there is definitely something crawling inside the plastic bag over in the corner of your room, where you were pretty sure the last time you checked there was only an onion in the bag. So in true, terrified girl fashion, I grabbed the chopsticks I brought with me, opened my door, hooked the bag on the chopsticks, and swung it out the door with an "ahhhhhh! ew ew ew!". Then I watched these large juicy cockroaches crawl out of the bag. That resulted with an "AHHHHHH!" and the slamming of my door. I decided I'd just leave the bag outside and deal with it when it was light out (when hopefully the cockroaches had left). Needless to say, I had the heebie jeebies for the rest of the night and I tucked my mosquito net in extra well.

**Update to my story** The guard found my bag this morning before I woke up and I guess he just threw it away. I tried to explain that there had been cockroaches in the bag and I was sorry he had to throw it away for me. I was going to take care of it when I woke up. I'm pretty sure he just stood there and thought: She's crazy. Plus if he'd heard me freaking out at my bag or if he'd heard me when I was dealing with Bob, he'd already know of my craziness.

Mosquito Bite Count To Date: 16

Electricity, Mosquitoes & Music in Sembabule

We didn’t have power for much of Tuesday, which proved to be a blessing. I walked outside at one point to use the bathroom and look up at the sky. It took my breath away. The sky was so clear, and I could see hundreds of stars up in the sky. It was so unpolluted since there was no electricity and no big city close by. Utterly amazing. I have never seen anything like it. This is one reason why being outside a big city is such a refreshing experience. You would never see stars like those in Kampala or when the electricity is working.

Total mosquito bite count to date: 15
Total mosquito killed by my hand: 2
Times I’ve had malaria: 0

If I could put a numerical value to the itchiness of my mosquito bites, it'd be around the one billion value. My legs look more like I'm growing red tumors every day. One of those dead mosquitoes is a new stain on my wall since I managed to kill it after it had bitten me. It may have bitten me, but I still had the guilty pleasure of crushing the life out of it. There is still at least one mosquito escaping death around my room. I spent much of last night trying to hunt it down, but as of right now, it is still alive. I truly despise mosquitoes.

There is a store across from our office that blasts African music almost every single day. So while I'm working, I get a constant supply of upbeat music to jam out to. It's never bothersome, unless I'm trying to talk to someone and then it can prove to be challenging to hear what the other person is saying.

Yesterday, after work, I took a walk with one of my coworkers around the town where I live. Sembabule is the name of the district I am living in AND it is the name of the "chief town" or town council, as they call it here. The district headquarters is located about a kilometer from our office. To give you some perspective on where I live, Sembabule is a relatively new district. It was carved out of the neighboring district, Masaka District (where Masaka the main town is) in 1997. So Sembabule District is bordered by Mubende District to the north (where the regional office for my organization is), Mpigi District to the east, Masaka District to the east and the south, Lyantonde District to the southwest, and Kiruhura District to the west. My district is considered fairly rural, which receives relatively little rain and has long dry spells- accounting for the large amount of dust. It is estimated that the town Sembabule has a population of about 4000-5000. I can walk around the area where most people live completely in under an hour. The people in Sembabule are mostly either Buganda or Banyankole (though I've heard there are a few Rwandese and some other ethnic groups mixed in). Which made for some confusion on my part when I first arrived because sometimes I see Sembabule spelled as Sembabule and other times as Ssembabule. I have been taught that the Buganda would spell it with a double s, whereas the Banyankole will spell it with a single s. I decided to follow Wikipedia and spell it with one, but I'm not even sure if that's correct (it's Wikipedia, so it must be correct, right?!).

After my walk, I went to the "hangout" spot my coworker always goes to, the salon her friend owns. Her friend then spent some time playing with my mzungu hair, admiring its straightness, and complaining that I shouldn't have cut it before I came to Uganda. I was told I should grow my hair out again, come back to Uganda, cut it off, and donate it to the salon, so they can use my hair for weaves. I found that amusing.

Uganda Day 4

Uganda is having a National Week of Mourning for those who died in the bombing. Such a tragedy! All those lives taken so pointlessly. My heart goes out to the families and friends who lost loved ones. I am staying at my organization's Country Director's home for a while. It is a beautiful home with an amazing view of Kampala. I am rather eager to get to work in the field, but I am very aware of all those who need time to mourn. The heat in Uganda is different than the humid heat I experience in Boston and Wisconsin. It's dry heat, so in the middle of the day, being out in the sun takes a beating on you. But at night, it cools and feels great. I sleep under a bed net which makes me feel like a princess, surrounded by white "curtains!"

I got my first Ugandan mosquito bite. Please don't let me get malaria.