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…).
Friday, September 24, 2010
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?
Sunday, September 19, 2010
No Longer Alone
I have a new roommate! No, not an animal or reptile or insect. A real live human being!!! We have a new intern who coincidentally also hails from Wisconsin. (She’s a Minnesota grad, but I think I can forgive her for that one.) Yay for a new friend! I met Claire in Kampala on Thursday. She had arrived in the country on Tuesday, and she was going to head back to Sembabule with me on Friday. So Thursday was her second day of orientation. I tagged along to keep her company, and I definitely amended her schedule a bit. I took out what I thought was unnecessary (like going to a snake park since she's already been to the Wildlife Reserve and eating traditional Ugandan food since we get that every day out in the field). I added what I thought were necessities for survival when coming into Kampala for a weekend: places for coffee and non-African food (Café Pap, 1000 Cups of Coffee House, Café Java), Nakumatt, Garden City, and how to ride a boda boda. It was a solid day and I am impressed with her level of energy since she was still recovering from jet lag. Thursday night I visited a friend in the city who has moved out of the place I lived in 2 years ago and now has a sweet new apartment. She’s looking for a roommate… I want to move in. Too bad I’m not based in Kampala or I totally would.
On Friday, I went through the fascinating process of trying to pick up packages from the post office. It took forever but was totally worth it. THANK YOU!! (special shout-out to CP… I love you, you rock my world, getting The Improper Bostonian in Uganda is AWESOME, I’ve never loved Jolly Ranchers as much as I do right now, and your card made me LOL. xoxo)
In the afternoon, we filled up the truck with luggage, all the stuff Claire and I managed to buy between Thursday and Friday (which included bottled water from 3 different large grocery stores, candy bars, and tons of crackers), and off we went to Sembabule. The operations officer graciously made Claire and I dinner, so once we got back to the office, we had a hot meal to eat! The process of unpacking tons of bags of groceries, Claire’s luggage, and reorganizing the room was a little intense but we managed to do it!
Yay for a new roommate!
On Friday, I went through the fascinating process of trying to pick up packages from the post office. It took forever but was totally worth it. THANK YOU!! (special shout-out to CP… I love you, you rock my world, getting The Improper Bostonian in Uganda is AWESOME, I’ve never loved Jolly Ranchers as much as I do right now, and your card made me LOL. xoxo)
In the afternoon, we filled up the truck with luggage, all the stuff Claire and I managed to buy between Thursday and Friday (which included bottled water from 3 different large grocery stores, candy bars, and tons of crackers), and off we went to Sembabule. The operations officer graciously made Claire and I dinner, so once we got back to the office, we had a hot meal to eat! The process of unpacking tons of bags of groceries, Claire’s luggage, and reorganizing the room was a little intense but we managed to do it!
Yay for a new roommate!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Mubende and Soda
 |
| Mubende in the morning |
I am spending a few days in Mubende again and the photo is the view as I walked from my hotel room to the office this morning. Morning fog, rolling hills, everyone starting their day... gorgeous, right?
My hotel room comes fully equipped with its own self contained bathroom, HELLO FLUSHING TOILET!!! And a king-size bed. I am now committing myself to someday owning a king-size bed for the sole fact that I can do a complete 180 while sleeping! And since I'm back in Mubende, I get to enjoy my favorite Mubende meal: chips and egg. Yay!
Soda in the Uganda makes my life happier. It tastes better than American soda. I think it has something to do with the fact that they use real sugar and they have fun flavors. There are the standards: Coke, Coke Lite, Fanta, Sprite, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew. The unique ones I never seen in the US include:
Krest Bitter Lemon- it’s like tonic water but with lemon added. A Coca-Cola Product.
Stoney Ginger Beer- Not alcoholic, strong ginger taste. Another Coca-Cola Product.
Mirinda- there are many different flavors to choose from. Here in Uganda it’s mostly grape, lemon, orange, pineapple, and the new apple. A PepsiCo Product.
Novida- A non-alcoholic malt beverage. Available in orange and pineapple in Uganda. A Coca-Cola Product. I’ve only ever tried the pineapple.
Alvaro- Another non-alcoholic malt beverage. Available in pineapple, pear, and passion fruit. I’ve tried all three. They’re all great, but my preferred order goes: passion fruit, pear, and finally pineapple. An East African Breweries Limited Product.
After trying every kind of pineapple soda available (as far as I know), my favorite still has to be Mirinda Pineapple. Absolutely delicious. Now if the US could only carry it… And if Alvaro could be something carried in the States, I'd be all over the passion fruit one.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
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...
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...
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
A little about my work and my weekend
We have done a survey of private practitioners who offer family planning services in hard-to-reach areas in the Sembabule District and I have been compiling all the information to write a report about it. It's been awesome to find that though most of these practitioners are not licensed by the District Drug Authority, they still make services available to people in their areas, and though many of the nursing assistants don't have formal training, they do have experience on the job and can still help women with family planning services.
I have also participated in a few supervision support visits where the Nutrition/OVC and HIV/AIDS officers go out into the community and talk with the community caregivers and their supervisors about the paperwork they are filling out to track the number of PHAs and OVCs they are offering services to. Unfortunately, my Luganda is horrible so I cannot understand any of their conversations. But the car ride brings me to remote areas of our district I have never been to. And I once again have to say, Uganda is amazingly beautiful. The countryside is so gorgeous, and now that the rainy season has arrived, everything is green and lush. While we were driving, I even saw 3 crested cranes. The crested crane is the Ugandan national bird and is even included on the Ugandan flag. Actually, the three colors of the Ugandan flag (black, yellow, and red) are colors found in the bird's plumage. It's a beautiful bird.
This past weekend, I went to Kampala. I made a few new friends and said good-bye to one (the awesome British girl who is in the picture with me and Lake Bunyonyi in the background). It was very relaxing to just hang out with non-Africans, speak real American English, and eat some delicious food. I was introduced to Cafe Pap, which is this fantastic cafe in the city center. The food is amazing. They have REAL tortillas for burritos and fajitas, which I have never seen in Uganda yet, so I was impressed. I really recommend this place if you're ever in Kampala.
PS Cafe Pap serves real Heinz Ketchup! If you've ever tried to use the other ketchup or tomato stuff the restaurants give you when they serve you chips here, you'll understand why this is so awesome. I've never been a total fan of ketchup but mmmm I do appreciate it here!
I have also participated in a few supervision support visits where the Nutrition/OVC and HIV/AIDS officers go out into the community and talk with the community caregivers and their supervisors about the paperwork they are filling out to track the number of PHAs and OVCs they are offering services to. Unfortunately, my Luganda is horrible so I cannot understand any of their conversations. But the car ride brings me to remote areas of our district I have never been to. And I once again have to say, Uganda is amazingly beautiful. The countryside is so gorgeous, and now that the rainy season has arrived, everything is green and lush. While we were driving, I even saw 3 crested cranes. The crested crane is the Ugandan national bird and is even included on the Ugandan flag. Actually, the three colors of the Ugandan flag (black, yellow, and red) are colors found in the bird's plumage. It's a beautiful bird.
This past weekend, I went to Kampala. I made a few new friends and said good-bye to one (the awesome British girl who is in the picture with me and Lake Bunyonyi in the background). It was very relaxing to just hang out with non-Africans, speak real American English, and eat some delicious food. I was introduced to Cafe Pap, which is this fantastic cafe in the city center. The food is amazing. They have REAL tortillas for burritos and fajitas, which I have never seen in Uganda yet, so I was impressed. I really recommend this place if you're ever in Kampala.
PS Cafe Pap serves real Heinz Ketchup! If you've ever tried to use the other ketchup or tomato stuff the restaurants give you when they serve you chips here, you'll understand why this is so awesome. I've never been a total fan of ketchup but mmmm I do appreciate it here!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
It's been almost 2 months in Uganda
(Written Sept 1) The one frustrating part about being in Sembabule is the Russian Roulette we play with internet and electricity. Sometimes you have network for the internet, but then you don’t have electricity for your computer to work. Other times, there is no network for the internet while electricity is on. Then there are the times when you don’t have either one, but you need to get things done at work. Internet is all done through SIM cards and the cell phone companies in Uganda, so it really depends on if the company you are buying internet through has network in your region. In Sembabule, MTN works best, but it is still comes and goes without warning. And as for electricity, our office, unlike the one in Mubende, does not have an inverter, so we are at the mercy of the electricity in the district.
We still do not have gas for the gas stove here in the office so I’ve been subsisting off of the smorgasbord of crackers/cookies/random things I picked up at grocery store in Kampala. The Haribo gummies in Uganda are imported from England, so though they are a little pricey, they taste fantastic! I had a Snickers bar the other day too; it was a gift and there’s no way I pass up any kind of candy while I’m here in Uganda. Not as sweet as the ones sold in the US, but still delicious. Thus far I have not been able to find any Kinder products, which makes me sad. Two years ago, we bought Kinder Buenos in the grocery store by Makerere University and hoarded them like starving children. This year, I’ve only been able to find Cadbury products.
The rainy season is officially upon us, which means temperatures actually cool down here. I write this wearing a jacket and wishing I could be wearing pants (must wear skirts in the office). It’s actually a great change of pace from the normal dry heat and avid amounts of dust. The rainy season has also brought many strange bugs to the office, which I have had the great pleasure of stepping on as I walk from my room to the office. Unfortunately for me, little did I know that some of these bugs omit a very odd and unpleasant odor when killed. Oops. Then I was able to watch ants move the carcasses of these dead bugs back to their homes, under the cracks of concrete in the office. I believe my coworkers think I am about 5 years old because I managed to sit and watch ants for about 15 minutes during lunch. I was extremely amused. I also chased a gecko around the office compound for fun after work, which made my supervisor laugh. Bugs, lizards… the things I do to stay entertained when there is no power and no internet and after reading three books in a row.
Update for today, Sept 2, finally got a little internet. As soon as it came, power shut off... TIA
We still do not have gas for the gas stove here in the office so I’ve been subsisting off of the smorgasbord of crackers/cookies/random things I picked up at grocery store in Kampala. The Haribo gummies in Uganda are imported from England, so though they are a little pricey, they taste fantastic! I had a Snickers bar the other day too; it was a gift and there’s no way I pass up any kind of candy while I’m here in Uganda. Not as sweet as the ones sold in the US, but still delicious. Thus far I have not been able to find any Kinder products, which makes me sad. Two years ago, we bought Kinder Buenos in the grocery store by Makerere University and hoarded them like starving children. This year, I’ve only been able to find Cadbury products.
The rainy season is officially upon us, which means temperatures actually cool down here. I write this wearing a jacket and wishing I could be wearing pants (must wear skirts in the office). It’s actually a great change of pace from the normal dry heat and avid amounts of dust. The rainy season has also brought many strange bugs to the office, which I have had the great pleasure of stepping on as I walk from my room to the office. Unfortunately for me, little did I know that some of these bugs omit a very odd and unpleasant odor when killed. Oops. Then I was able to watch ants move the carcasses of these dead bugs back to their homes, under the cracks of concrete in the office. I believe my coworkers think I am about 5 years old because I managed to sit and watch ants for about 15 minutes during lunch. I was extremely amused. I also chased a gecko around the office compound for fun after work, which made my supervisor laugh. Bugs, lizards… the things I do to stay entertained when there is no power and no internet and after reading three books in a row.
Update for today, Sept 2, finally got a little internet. As soon as it came, power shut off... TIA
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