Imagine a really full, satisfied, happy four year old. Squeals, rolls around on the floor, clapping, giggling. Yes, that would be me. Pretty much had a winning weekend here in Abuja. We kicked off Friday with the best meal I've had in Abuja yet. A woman I met at yoga brought Teresa and me to an undisclosed, pseudo-restaurant. It's an impressive place, but not open to the public. You definitely have to know someone to get lunch or dinner: my friend from yoga knows the manager of the restaurant- Uncle B. Wow... pretty much got our socks blown off. Potstickers, chow mein, short ribs, fresh homegrown Chinese veggies, CHICKEN FEET, & SQUAB. It was like I died and went to heaven. This meal was probably the first time I've been totally satisfied and full since I've gotten to Abuja (not saying I don't like Nigerian food or subsisting on crackers, but there's something to be said about eating the foods that you are most familiar with and associate with home). After a faaaaaantastic meal (and not having to pay because everyone is way too nice), Teresa and I went to our first US Marine party. The US Marines have a house here where they used to throw parties every other Friday night, or so, for the US embassy people and pretty much the whole expat community. However after the UN bombing, security was heightened, curfews were enforced, and the parties were cancelled. When Teresa and I first got here, all we heard about were these parties- great place to go, relax, meet people in a secure environment, etc. This Friday, they held their first party since the bombing. It was good to meet new people. The music was a bit loud, so it was hard to actually get to know anyone as you're screaming into their ear. But it was fun. We even spotted our mentor that evening. And don't worry, the Marines were true gentlemen. After kicking everyone out (cuz the party ended at midnight due to curfew still being enforced for the Embassy employees), they drove Teresa and me home in their armored SUV to ensure that we didn't get into any trouble on our way home.
Saturday was our weekly run to Wuse Market with the guy from the Taiwanese Trade Mission (same guy as last week). He's so nice to be willing to drive us to the market and accompany us as we attempt to haggle our way around. We managed to buy a Sam's Club sized amount of toilet paper, so hopefully we'll be set for a while on the TP front. We also got some more fabric to make curtains for our bathrooms. We didn't have curtains before, and I'm pretty sure our neighbors from the penthouse could see into our bathroom... Not exactly ideal. At the market, young boys try to follow us around with empty wheelbarrows. They want to wheel your stuff around for you while you shop for money. As a true Midwesterner, I think I can do it myself and can never bring myself to actually hire someone. I know it'd be nice to help them since they want to earn some money, but the independent, I-can-carry-this-myself, I-could-use-the-workout mindset takes precedent. So imagine me, lugging my Sam's Club, almost as big as me thing of toilet paper around. Probably should have gotten someone to take a picture... I'm still trying to figure out if I can become truly African (because I saw this in Uganda also) and carry stuff on my head. I've only gotten as far as walking 5 feet with a notebook on my head. I think I have a ways to go before I can carry a giant thing of toilet paper on my head.
This morning, Uncle B invited Teresa and me to breakfast at the Hilton Hotel. Pretty upscale eating. We had pastries, fruit, and slices of salmon, duck breast, roast beef, prosciutto, and cheese. Very delicious. Afterward, Uncle B brought us back to his place at the hotel. We hung out, took a nap, and watched some TV, while Uncle B did some work. After Uncle B drove us home, we just spent the afternoon relaxing. I read a bunch of stuff for work and played on the internet. It turns out 5GB of data is actually a lot more than I thought it was, so I have quite a bit of data for internet left before the month comes to a close and I have to buy more internet. Tonight, Teresa and I went back to eat at the restaurant. Potstickers and tofu. Nom nom nom. My belly is so happy. Uncle B also gave us 40 frozen dumplings to take home and make on our own. He's been so kind and willing to help us out. My stomach is forever grateful to him.
Nigerian Language Lesson:
Oyibo (which originated from Igbo which is pronounced Ee-bo, not Ig-bo) = the Nigerian version of Mzungu = White Person
Showing posts with label mzungu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mzungu. Show all posts
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
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:
This experience has been amazing and I have loved every minute of it (even the unlovable minutes).
I love Uganda!
- 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
- 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...
This experience has been amazing and I have loved every minute of it (even the unlovable minutes).
I love Uganda!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Head lamps and Danielle Steel
I've been in Mubende this week and am spending the weekend here. The program manager is back in the States, so Claire and I have been able to stay in the house at the office compound. It's definitely been a luxury. Better internet, electricity... most of the time. We've been cooking quite a bit in the kitchen: pasta with tomatoes, onions & green peppers and toast. It's definitely a nice change of pace. Plus any time we want something different and don't want to do dishes, a short walk down the hill for some chips and egg. There is also a fridge here so our Splash juice and water can be cold! Yes, I do enjoy the little luxuries in life.
Work has been pretty good. I'm here to help support the Mubende F/CBOs with their data entry, see where they are having issues, and continue to edit our M&E tools. They have a bit of catching up to do on data entry, but there are the usual problems with the data: lack of power for desktop computers, incomplete forms, difficulty collecting the forms, etc. Things are progressing though and hopefully we'll have a decent amount of data collected in the Excel databases I made by the time I leave. Just in time for me to pass the torch of work onto Claire.
We spent the morning at one of the F/CBOs my organization works with that is just down the hill. They have a program for children who come from vulnerable environments in the area to come together on Saturdays. They are provided with spiritual, cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional support. We stopped by for a visit and managed to disrupt every class. The children were really excited to see their mzungu visitors. Weirdly enough, they all had an easier time saying: "Hello Auntie Jessica" as opposed to "Hello Auntie Claire." I wonder why that is.
We took the 9-11 year olds into the field and tried to teach them songs/games. Turns out they all knew "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and "If you're happy and you know it" already. So in a last minute attempt to entertain them and because I do not have a cache of games to play with small children stored in my memory, I decided to teach them a Chinese song. There is something extremely amusing and slightly mind-boggling about teaching a group of 9-11 year old Ugandans how to sing in Chinese. I'm not sure if they'll remember what I taught them today, but I officially have that song stuck in my head. That might have been due to singing the song over and over and over again. And no, I do not enjoy singing in public. Claire played "Follow the Leader" with them and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them follow her, single-file, like a mother duck: walking, hopping, skipping, slow-motion running, crab-walking, and clapping. After a morning with the children, we were both extremely worn out. I definitely didn't have enough caffeine to match the children's energy level.
Electricity has been a bit spotty the last few days. The office runs on the inverter, which is great. Until the inverter runs out. Then we're left in the dark. But have no fear. We find ways to entertain ourselves, which include head lamps, finding Danielle Steel novels in the closet which were left behind by past volunteers, and taking photos in the dark. And yes, we are reading them.
Work has been pretty good. I'm here to help support the Mubende F/CBOs with their data entry, see where they are having issues, and continue to edit our M&E tools. They have a bit of catching up to do on data entry, but there are the usual problems with the data: lack of power for desktop computers, incomplete forms, difficulty collecting the forms, etc. Things are progressing though and hopefully we'll have a decent amount of data collected in the Excel databases I made by the time I leave. Just in time for me to pass the torch of work onto Claire.
We spent the morning at one of the F/CBOs my organization works with that is just down the hill. They have a program for children who come from vulnerable environments in the area to come together on Saturdays. They are provided with spiritual, cognitive, physical, and socio-emotional support. We stopped by for a visit and managed to disrupt every class. The children were really excited to see their mzungu visitors. Weirdly enough, they all had an easier time saying: "Hello Auntie Jessica" as opposed to "Hello Auntie Claire." I wonder why that is.
We took the 9-11 year olds into the field and tried to teach them songs/games. Turns out they all knew "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and "If you're happy and you know it" already. So in a last minute attempt to entertain them and because I do not have a cache of games to play with small children stored in my memory, I decided to teach them a Chinese song. There is something extremely amusing and slightly mind-boggling about teaching a group of 9-11 year old Ugandans how to sing in Chinese. I'm not sure if they'll remember what I taught them today, but I officially have that song stuck in my head. That might have been due to singing the song over and over and over again. And no, I do not enjoy singing in public. Claire played "Follow the Leader" with them and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them follow her, single-file, like a mother duck: walking, hopping, skipping, slow-motion running, crab-walking, and clapping. After a morning with the children, we were both extremely worn out. I definitely didn't have enough caffeine to match the children's energy level.
Electricity has been a bit spotty the last few days. The office runs on the inverter, which is great. Until the inverter runs out. Then we're left in the dark. But have no fear. We find ways to entertain ourselves, which include head lamps, finding Danielle Steel novels in the closet which were left behind by past volunteers, and taking photos in the dark. And yes, we are reading them.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Ugandan Animals are so Smart
I am the silly American. I like to watch bugs crawling on the ground. I find frogs jumping around the office amusing. Then I ask random, strange questions, like “why are all the chapati stands manned by guys?” Then the other day I added another question that added to my “I’m a weird American” status. It goes something like this:
Most animals roam freely around Sembabule. You see the random chicken walking the same path you are down the street. There’s the random pig and her piglet crossing the road. There’s the occasional goat trotting up the hill. I ask my coworkers, “How do you know who each animal belongs to?” To me, this seems like a fair question. There is no ID collar on every chicken, no identifying mark on every cow. The animals just roam freely, not tethered to something by the house of their owners. The answer I got was “just watch and see what house each animal walks into at night.” My reaction was a cross between “Huh?” and “WOW REALLY?!” Thus continuing to fuel my coworkers’ amusement. It was explained to me that in Uganda, animals know where home is. So during the day, they wander around, eating, living happily, and wandering through town. Then at night, they turn around and go home. Hmm I don’t know if animals, other than dogs, do this in the USA, but maybe Ugandan animals are just smarter… AND my last question is what happens when your pig doesn’t come home at night? What if someone steals it? Are people more trusting of their neighbors here in Uganda?
Most animals roam freely around Sembabule. You see the random chicken walking the same path you are down the street. There’s the random pig and her piglet crossing the road. There’s the occasional goat trotting up the hill. I ask my coworkers, “How do you know who each animal belongs to?” To me, this seems like a fair question. There is no ID collar on every chicken, no identifying mark on every cow. The animals just roam freely, not tethered to something by the house of their owners. The answer I got was “just watch and see what house each animal walks into at night.” My reaction was a cross between “Huh?” and “WOW REALLY?!” Thus continuing to fuel my coworkers’ amusement. It was explained to me that in Uganda, animals know where home is. So during the day, they wander around, eating, living happily, and wandering through town. Then at night, they turn around and go home. Hmm I don’t know if animals, other than dogs, do this in the USA, but maybe Ugandan animals are just smarter… AND my last question is what happens when your pig doesn’t come home at night? What if someone steals it? Are people more trusting of their neighbors here in Uganda?
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Electricity and Internet... not for long
(Written on Aug 19) I have spent a little over a week in Mubende now, and I am about one fourth of the way done with my time here in Uganda. But today I’m returning to Sembabule. An interesting tidbit for you, it turns out that the Central Region has a HIV prevalence of 9%, which is known to be the highest in Uganda. The coverage of services to PHA and OVC is low in the districts my organization is working in, thus the organization is working with the community to address these gaps in services.
Staying at the regional office has been nice, since there’s an actual house to live in, running water, toilets, and an inverter, which means even if the power goes, we still have power at the office. If only we had an inverter in Sembabule! The internet connection is also ten times better here in Mubende than Sembabule, since it’s a bigger town. The organization I am working at has been experiencing a high volume of staff turnover, and tomorrow the new program manager for the Central Region will be arriving to start working in Mubende. It’s very exciting for everyone at the office, especially since it will alleviate some of the workload my supervisors (one in Mubende, one in Sembabule) have been experiencing. This week I’ve been training the F/CBOs in Mubende to use M&E tools. It’s not too glamorous but is an important aspect of compliance for the funding the organization receives.
My favorite meal in Mubende is definitely chips and eggs, which is strangely only served at dinnertime. (Chips = French fries, for those of you don’t know) I always go to the same restaurant that is down the hill from the office, and now when I walk in, they know exactly what I’ll be ordering for dinner. I’m pretty sure I’m one of the only people who orders this meal, considering that I’m a mzungu, I think that’s acceptable. After I return to Sembabule, no more chips and eggs for dinner! I’ll have to start cooking for myself again…
Staying at the regional office has been nice, since there’s an actual house to live in, running water, toilets, and an inverter, which means even if the power goes, we still have power at the office. If only we had an inverter in Sembabule! The internet connection is also ten times better here in Mubende than Sembabule, since it’s a bigger town. The organization I am working at has been experiencing a high volume of staff turnover, and tomorrow the new program manager for the Central Region will be arriving to start working in Mubende. It’s very exciting for everyone at the office, especially since it will alleviate some of the workload my supervisors (one in Mubende, one in Sembabule) have been experiencing. This week I’ve been training the F/CBOs in Mubende to use M&E tools. It’s not too glamorous but is an important aspect of compliance for the funding the organization receives.
My favorite meal in Mubende is definitely chips and eggs, which is strangely only served at dinnertime. (Chips = French fries, for those of you don’t know) I always go to the same restaurant that is down the hill from the office, and now when I walk in, they know exactly what I’ll be ordering for dinner. I’m pretty sure I’m one of the only people who orders this meal, considering that I’m a mzungu, I think that’s acceptable. After I return to Sembabule, no more chips and eggs for dinner! I’ll have to start cooking for myself again…
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Maganda Uganda
As a tribute to my almost trip to the Philippinnes, "maganda" means beautiful in Tagalog. And it is true. Uganda is beautiful. Yesterday I traveled to the site where I will be living from now on. The drive passed through the Ugandan countryside which is amazing. Green trees and rolling hills make for gorgeous scenery. The drive was typical of Africa, but brought a smile to my face anyway. Most of the way, we traveled on a one lane, dirt road that fits a vehicle comfortable. Now if you see another car coming at you from the other directions, it is quite a squeeze to bypass each other. There are bumps and then there are speed humps. Yes, humps. They are American speedbumps on mega steroids. They are intense to drive over and make sleeping nearly impossible unless you can sleep like the dead. Also there are holes everywhere. Therefore drivers swerve to miss the giant ones and just drive over the small ones. Drives here are always an adventure. I have learned this: drink as little water as possible- bathroom breaks are difficult to come by; try not to eat anything- better to feel hungry than to get carsick and vomit on the side of the road. I finally arrived at Ssembabule last night, a fairly remote town about 4 hours away from Kampala that sits at the top of a hill.
I have my own room in the enclosed office compound, which is rather nice because I got to truly unpack for the first time since I've been here. I finally dug out my sunscreen! And impressively nothing exploded in my bags except for my shampoo. Good thing my mom was smart and wrapped everything in individual plastic bags! Thanks Mom!! We don't have a refridgerator, so I drank an entire quart of juice last night that needed to be refridgerated after opening. Finding out how to live without a refridgerator will be quite interesting. I'll just have to be creative! There is no running water here, but I got a jerry can full of water to bathe with and to use for any other needs. We have pit latrines to use, which make me smile. They are an adventure to use. The ones here are pleasant smelling, which was a fantastic surprise.
Today is Day 1 in Sembabule. I had chapati and fresh passionfruit for breakfast. Chapati is just fantastic. It's essentially dough that is rolled flat. Sort of like Indian naan but thinner. Fresh, hot, and delicious. I sat at the front of the office and ate. I got to watch all the children walking to school and became the main attraction. "Mzungu mzungu mzungu!!" I just waved and smiled. Today at the office, I have been copying Luganda by hand on about 100 sheets of paper. We printed about 700 registration sheets for OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) to be used for our project, but they didn't print correctly. Thus I am filling in the missing information by hand. I have severe writer's cramp, so I'm taking a break and am able to use the internet.
I have my own room in the enclosed office compound, which is rather nice because I got to truly unpack for the first time since I've been here. I finally dug out my sunscreen! And impressively nothing exploded in my bags except for my shampoo. Good thing my mom was smart and wrapped everything in individual plastic bags! Thanks Mom!! We don't have a refridgerator, so I drank an entire quart of juice last night that needed to be refridgerated after opening. Finding out how to live without a refridgerator will be quite interesting. I'll just have to be creative! There is no running water here, but I got a jerry can full of water to bathe with and to use for any other needs. We have pit latrines to use, which make me smile. They are an adventure to use. The ones here are pleasant smelling, which was a fantastic surprise.
Today is Day 1 in Sembabule. I had chapati and fresh passionfruit for breakfast. Chapati is just fantastic. It's essentially dough that is rolled flat. Sort of like Indian naan but thinner. Fresh, hot, and delicious. I sat at the front of the office and ate. I got to watch all the children walking to school and became the main attraction. "Mzungu mzungu mzungu!!" I just waved and smiled. Today at the office, I have been copying Luganda by hand on about 100 sheets of paper. We printed about 700 registration sheets for OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) to be used for our project, but they didn't print correctly. Thus I am filling in the missing information by hand. I have severe writer's cramp, so I'm taking a break and am able to use the internet.
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