Journal Entry No. 12

7/23/10

8am-

This morning it was harder to wake up for some reason. I was too comfy I suppose :) I'm really liking the toast with peanut butter and jelly for breakfast. I could get used to this...

9:30am-

The music videos at the cafe make me wish I had Shazam implanted in my brain. Oh, and the only mzungu they seem to play is Michael Bolton...?

[Editor's note: I was going to do the next entry too since these two were so short but the next one is important and I feel needs its own posting. So tomorrow, my friend. Tomorrow we will read more...]

Journal Entry No. 11

7/22/10

10 pm Iganga time

Spent the morning at the cafe today and baked good stuff. After lunch I met with Haril to talk about taking the kids swimming in Jinja this weekend and it looks like it's going to work out.

After the meeting, I was reading about eight 5-year olds a story and one other kid ran in, yelled frantically in Lusoga, and sprinted off. Immediately all the kids I was reading to abandoned the fishy faces they were making (we were reading Nem0), and ran outside. When I caught up, there was a camel sitting in the middle of the field. Apparently Morris and Haril got it for the kids to ride. We spent the afternoon letting them ride it.

My favorite part was definitely when the camel would stand up and all the kids standing near it would scream, run away, and follow it as it walked off. It was the same reaction for every ride.

We ate dinner at the cafe. I had a chicken sandwich that consisted of a tomato and chicken. It was pretty good, but I was still hungry after and so I went down the street to get a Rolex [not the watch]. My first Rolex. Ahhhh, Rolex. It's chapatti with an egg omlette-type thing that had tomatoes, onions, and peppers in it. And it cost me 900 shillings, or about 50 cents!

Journal Entry No. 10-B

I'm taking a night off from journal-ing to let you all catch up. In the meantime, here are some cute videos from the trip!

Slow-moving walkway in LAX:

A Song :)

Elvis lip :)

Journal Entry No. 10

7/22/10

7am Iganga time

You know, I'm getting used to cold showers. I just pretend I'm diving into the pool at 6 in the morning. I must admit, I've never quite been in cold enough water to force a gasp out of me before.

I also love sitting in breakfast for half an hour with the rest of the house. It's a very nice way to start my day.

[Editor's note: We'd circle around toast, peanut butter, and bananas along with coffee and tea for at least an hour to sit and talk every morning.]

Journal Entry No. 9

7/21/10

10 PM Iganga time

Went to a village to make beads with the women today. Lindsay, Sam, Sam and I went with Joseph. He said we had to take bodas into the village, much to my horror.

"Bodas" are motorcycles with extra long seats that you sit on the back of and get driven places. This doesn't seem that scary, except for the fact that traffic here is similar to the hardest level of Frogger except without the lane dividers. Regardless, we made it there safely.

When we arrived, there were about 20 villagers gathered around a large baobab tree south of the crumbling church. The children were still in school; it was mostly women and a few men. The men gathered a table and two small wooden benches for the four of us, thinking we wouldn't be ok with sitting on the grass like they were.

Sitting under the tree, we began to roll the paper strips into beads. The villagers sat across from us, staring and laughing. We asked Joseph what they were laughing about and he said they thought it was funny that we were sitting on the bodas like men.

We went to the cafe after dinner (sweet potatoes, g-nuts, and mango juice), and played Taboo and Fast Scrabble. It was a fun night.

Journal Entry No. 8

7/20/10

9pm Iganga time

Well, I'm smelly.

I forgot what being clean feels like. It would be nice to shower except candles tend to burn out when water is sprayed on them. So I'll have to wait till morning.

Oh, did I mention the power's out? It's kind of rustic, actually. I'm carrying a candle around and, as volunteer Lindsay put it, "journaling by candlelight."

Dinner was delicious tonight. We had fresh mangoes, pineapples, and avocados, along with Irish potatoes, beans, rice, and cabbage. It is ironic how bland the Fanta I bought at the market tasted after eating such fresh fruits and vegetables.

I tutored Ivan today in "science". We learned about garden tools. He's a sweet kid. After school Bella, Grace and I made bracelets together and watched the boys play soccer. I still can't get over how good they are.

We're thinking about digging a new water well and putting in a purification system. We spent the morning at Sol looking it up on the (super slow and unreliable) internet. I think it could be done.

Well, it's 9:30 and I'm off to bed. These kids wear us out! I'm not homesick but I do think of them a lot.

Journal Entry No. 7

7/20/10

Afternoon Iganga time

The days being switched only affects me in the afternoons. It's so difficult to resist the urge to sleep. Ah.

We arrived at the school and played with the younger kids who were already out for lunch. One asked me if I knew Spiderman and I said of course and they were very impressed. In!

A boy ran up to Kristin, another volunteer, and said (about me), "I do not know this Mzungu, who is she?" Kristin replied, "That is Auntie Teri." So he ran up to me screaming, "AUNTIE TERI! AUNTIE TERI!" and gave me a huge hug. The rest of my day followed suit, getting so much love it was impossible to feel unwelcome.

At lunch (posho and beans), the older girls sat with me under the shade of a small tree. They made sure I had the most shade, got my food first (with a fork--Ugandans eat with their hands) and that I was enjoying myself. I still, after four meals, cannot get over the hospitality of the children.

I was standing in line with a boy named Vin today and he refused to stand in front of me, insisting I go first. Near the front of the line an older girl, Marcia, was waiting with a plate full of posho, beans, and a fork.

When I sat down again, all the young children came to sit with (and on) me. They love teaching me Lusoga, their language. Maria, a girl of about thirteen, asked what "Ubuntu" meant (my tattoo). When I explained the philosophy of the word and that it was in Swahili, she said, "Ah! Muntu!" In her language, the philosophy is known as "muntu".

After lunch the girls still had a while to rest before classes began, so they took my hand and led me to their dormitory, the "Victory House". There are about thirty girls staying in this dorm, and above each bed is a colorful mosquito net. It was only after I left that I realized the entire dorm was only slightly bigger than my bedroom.

The girls asked me what my favorite subject in school was and I attempted to explain to them what psychology was. They said they were only in primary school (even though most were over the age of 12) and that they didn't get to learn such cool subjects.

Then Maria said, "What is your name?" and I told her she knew my name was Auntie Teri. She smiled and replied, "No! Your name is Kwagala. Means 'love'."

And from then on, every time one of the children said my name, I was to respond something along the lines of "quanti mama okopatch", which basically means "That's my name, it is beautiful, what's up?". The kids LOVED saying this to me. And I didn't mind in the slightest. :)

One of the volunteers bought all the children sodas to go with dinner. Boy, did they ever have sugar rushes! Pipih gave Sam and I soda called "Stoney Tangawizi", which was spicy! It had ginger in it. It was like a cross between ginger ale and lemonade but warm and burned a little. Still not sure how I felt about it...

Journal Entry No. 6

7/20/10

7 am Iganga time

The loans were meant to give them a start on a new life. Ben gave them to people he sincerely thought wouldn't waste the money but rather invest it and eventually pay them back. He told us the average Ugandan makes around 3000 shillings a day (around $1.50 USD). Andrea (one of the Musana founders) thinks it's even less; the villagers we live around live on next to nothing.

After the cafe we went to the post office where Sally mailed a letter to the US. She said she didn't care how long it took to get there, just that she liked getting the stamps.

We then returned to Musana, along the way being called "Mzungus" and giving Bongas to every child who walked by. We stopped for chapatti, a type of deep-fried crepe, if you will. It was delicious, even if we were being rude because Ugandans think it's improper to eat and walk. They believe eating is a time to enjoy life and food and to pause from the daily grind. Speaking of eating, I'm gonna grab some breakfast before there's none left!

The breakfast/dinner/lounge/living/mouse-dwelling area of the volunteer house...

Journal Entry No. 5

7/19/10

10 pm Iganga time

Wow...what a first day. So much love was around us from the minute we left the house and began our walk to Musana. Sam described it as feeling like a celebrity, walking to and from the home.

My day began with a breakfast of a piece of toast with peanut butter and a banana. I scooped way too many leaves into my tea and it was grainy but still delicious.

We walked to the home and were greeted by children screaming "MZUNGU!!" and running up to us to give us hugs along the way. "Mzungu" means white person, or ghost. We were amazed and taken aback by the sheer love these children poured out on us. We weren't expecting to be welcomed so warmly by the people of the village. Every new bend of the road brought with it 4-10 children sprinting up to give us "bongas" and to knock our wind out with hugs. [Bongas are fist bumps]. "Mzungubonga" is in my permanent vocabulary now, and I believe it is my name.

On our walk over Sally told us the Ugandans don't have a greeting that is just "Hello". They say a word that is translated as, "Hi, how are you doing?". And the amazing thing is that they are genuinely asking us. In America you say "Hi" in order to pass by more quickly. Saying "how are you?" doesn't even require a response. It's rude to even pass by here without acknowledging every person around you.

The walk set the stage for the rest of the day. After going to Musana and talking with the other

volunteers, Sally took us into town. We went to the cafe owned by Musana and met a guy named Ben who was here to give loans to promising Ugandans.

(I fell asleep accidentally after writing that. Woops.)

[that footnote was actually in my journal] .

Journal Entry No. 4

7/18/10

11 pm Iganga time

We arrived in Iganga around 10pm tonight. Driving from Entebbe International Airport to Iganga took longer than planned because we were delayed and there was a TON of traffic.

We landed in Entebbe just before sunset. Landing on the strip was surreal; if not for the fact that the mountains were smaller and more rounded, I might've thought the pilot had mistakenly taken us back home. The air was perfect: warm but not to the point of being uncomfortable. It had a sweet taste to it, like a thousand mangoes had just rained down their juices before we landed and walked out onto the tarmac.

We were picked up by Sally (the volunteer coordinator) and Abdallah (the driver) in a right sided car! and headed out just as the clouds were turning pink. Driving through

Entebbe and then Kampala was an odd experience. It felt like the country had been waiting for me. I didn't feel like I was in a strange new place but rather like I was visiting a friend. The type of friend you don't really remember but you remember the fact that you were close and when you see them it's strange but not uncomfortable.

Likewise, looking out the window didn't seem like I was looking at brand new sights, but rather familiar scenes I had been reading about for 5 years come to life in front of me. It was...well...comforting, in a way.

I am grateful for the net above my head in my bunk as I write this and the bed under my body. To sleep in a horizontal position will be a treat.

Well, it's time to sleep. Gonna meet the kids tomorrow. Gotta remember why we're here :)