Uganda

Hi everyone! My first blog from Uganda and unfortunately it is coming a few days late. We didn't get set up with internet until yesterday and our dorm buildings don't have very strong signals. Here is a little bit of what has been going on since I left the U.S.:

I flew form Chicago at 6 am to Philly and then to Washington. I got to Washington around 11:30 am and slowly but surely the group started to arrive. We all had to wait around until 3:30pm to meet and then didn't fly out until 6:30pm. By this point I was already tired from not sleeping the night before. We arrived in Amsterdam after 7 and 1/2 hour flight at 8:10 am-this is with the times changes. Then we flew on another 7 hour flight to Entebbe(Uganda) and arrived at 8:30pm on the 24th! That was wayyyy too much flying for me and I Am happy I don't do it again for 4 months.

Once we arrived we had to drive 1 and 1/2 hours to our school. We got our dorms and roomies and were sent to bed because it was like 11pm here. My roomies name is Jen and she is really nice. She is kind of quiet but we generally talk in the room. She is a music major, vocal, so we like to chat about music. :) Trying to adjust to the time change kind of sucks! I am exhausted all day!

I already feel close to my group and the Ugandan students that are here. There are only athletes here right now and then a few others. My dorm building has about 6 Ugandans staying in it, so we hang out with them mostly and eat our meals with them too. We all like to compare how Americans are and how Ugandans are. There are many similarities, but Ugandans view some things differently like: marriage, divorce, and dating. We learned that dating is super serious here and if someone introduces you to their family, you are basically engaged. Most don't believe in divorce except for adultery. Also, they have a strong opinion on homosexuality and do not tolerate-to put it nicely. However, guys and girls act basically the same at the college age. Boys will be boys and flirt and girls are catty and talk about any and everything. Needless to say, other than our skin color, we fit in wonderfully! Ugandans stare at us like there is no one else in the world. They not only stare for a brief moment, but continue to do so until you are out of sight; it is interesting to say the least.

I met a girl named Jassy the 1st night and I actually got close to her in the 2 days that I've been here. She just graduated, so she left, but we bonded immediately. She called me a "half-cast" which is what they call mixed people, I guess. She said it is not common here at all and people love to see half-casts. They are rare and special, so she said everyone will try and touch my hair and my skin...ha! That's kind of fun. Some Ugandan girls I have met are Ameto or Queen, Esther, Truth, Gloria, and Priscilla. They are all gorgeous with amazing skin! We met some Ugandan men too, but we mostly interact with them at meal time.

Life here is very different than the U.S., obviously. We have cold showers which are not that bad after the initial cold hits you. It wakes me up immediately in the morning on the bright side. Toilets look very similar here, but others are just a hole in the ground. We brush our teeth in the sinks with their water, but otherwise we go to special sinks for drinking water. We have to wash clothes by hand, which will be fun whenever I experience that...ha! We have to hang dry our clothes and then iron them because we were told mango flies could possibly lay eggs on our clothes while they are outside and get into our skin-fun tidbit :)

Meals: Aug. 25
Breakfast: eggs, a piece of bread, banana, pineapple, and tea
Lunch: Rice and meat sauce, putoko(thick, white trianlge of sugar and some other things mixed together), peanut sauce-purple, and water.
Supper: Matoka(fried plantains), half a sweet potato, and some sauce, cabbage and water.

Aug 26
Breakfast: 1 doughnut-not much bigger than a doughnut hole, hard-boiled egg, and water
Lunch: Rice and beans and water.
Supper: Rice and beans, putoka, peanut sauce, and cabbage w/carrots, and water.

Meals are small but surprisingly filling. All of our meals will be mostly these foods and same everyday. Rice and beans are the staple foods.

In the afternoon today we learned Luganda for 2 hours. This is their native language and we just learned how to greet people formally and informally for the day and evening. I am basically a pro ;-). Today we also went to Mukono town and did some shopping. The locals stared us down like we were a diseas..haha. But, we said hi to most and they were extremely nice back. They always ask how you are and smile back. A lot of the places are tiny and cramped together, but have neat things. The dresses here are so beautiful and colorful. The children always waved and said hi to us. Most adults called us "Mzungus," which means white people. On our way back, me and 3 of my friend were crossing the street, which is very dangerous because traffic is fast and unorganized, and a boda boda(motorcycle) hit Esther and I. The man tried to stop, but he was unable to do it in time. He hit Esther who then hit me and I got knocked over but Esther fell and rolled. She cut up her knee pretty bad and has a few cuts and bruises, but everyone is okay! :) It was a crazy little experience but will make for good stories later. It has already been an intense 2 days, but I am loving every minute of it.

Taui Ra