It's been over a month since I last wrote. And it's been quite a busy month of July. First, at the end of June, we had an all volunteer PC conference. It was a 5-day conference in Kampala with all the PCVs in Uganda. We had various sessions each day that we could choose from to attend. One of the sessions was done by a Grameen Foundation employee, with a program they started here in Uganda called "AppLab." I had been trying to meet with this person for the past few weeks to discuss their work, since I used to work with GF, so it turned out well that he was actually speaking at our conference. They do mobile phone applications that are useful to people in the village. For example, farmers can find the selling price of matooke, rice, potatoes, etc by just using their mobile phones with the MTN network. This way, they know what the local price of that commodity is and how to price theirs, in order to gain the largest profit. Farmers can find buyers through the network, as well. AppLab is also working with farmers on how to fight disease and pests on their crops through teaching them various methods to control it, stop it from spreading and ruining their income. Another example they are looking at is allowing people to search for local health clinics using their phone. And they are in the process of developing more applications for use by villagers to obtain such information that would otherwise be difficult to receive in the village. In fact, I had the chance to go out to the field in Mbale District (1 hr away from me) with a field officer from Grameen Foundation/AppLab this past week to see how the CKWs (Community Knowledge Workers) are working with the farmers. Currently, they are doing pilot projects on some sample applications, which they may adopt into the mobile phone MTN network, if they find it is useful to people. It was great! I learned so much about the projects and how it works. He took me to visit three CBKs, who were meeting with their farmers on how to combat the diseases, which are attacking their matooke crop. The field officer was evaluating the CBKs on this particular day. Not only did I learn alot about the GF projects, but I learned a whole lot about crop maintenance and farming, in general, which I don't think I would otherwise have learned had I had not went on this field visit. I hope to go out to the field again with him in a couple months to see other pilot projects AppLab is trying out with farmers.
Back to the beginning of July - After the all-volunteer conference, I came back to Kumi, and had some meetings. One was with World Vision in Soroti to discuss a possible partnership with my NGO on some projects. Through World Vision, I was also introduced to their microfinance institution called MED-Net (Micro-enterprise Development Network), which gives loan specifically to WV clients in the village. A couple weeks later, I went out to the field with them to see a loan meeting being conducted. Although it was in the local language and I couldn't understand much (besides what they translated for me), it was great! I absolutely love seeing microfinance in action out in the villages. I'm hoping to work with them as a secondary project - I think I could assist them in some ways, as they are a very new MFI, while also learning a great deal from working with a start-up MFI.
The following week, my NGO was facilitating a workshop in Soroti (the town 1 hr north of me). It was a 4-day workshop for some NGOs in Lira (northern Uganda), on strategic planning and proposal writing. It was extremely informational for me as well, since I have not done much in this area previously. That Friday evening, I also had my first night "out" in Kumi. My counterpart had told me that there were some "muzungus" (white people) in Kumi for 2 months this summer, and that they were staying at the guest house just a few minutes from my house. So that Friday after returning home from Soroti, I went over there to meet them. 2 volunteers here with Build Africa - Will, from the UK, and Kat, from the U.S. (went to GW - weird, right?!). A third volunteer, Rosalinde, also from the UK, has arrived since. They are all great! It is so nice to have people to talk to and hang out with - especially at that time when I was really starting to feel lonely in my town. We went out to Kumi Hotel that night with some of their Ugandan colleagues from Build Africa. Every Friday night, Kumi Hotel has a dance party that lasts until the morning hours on Saturday. I will sum up that night briefly - beer, lots of dancing and arriving home at 4:30 am. It was an interesting experience though, at times a bit awkward, but I had a really good time with Will and Kat. And I became friends with some Ugandans, which is a really important aspect here. Up until that night, I really had only been acquaintances with Ugandans in town, but I was able to actually hang out normally with some of them, as well as meet other professional Ugandans around my age. All in all, a good time.
The next week, I had to write a process report of the workshop we did 2 weeks earlier in Soroti, along with my Ugandan colleague, Harriet. Harriet is around my age, recently graduated from University, is related (somehow) to the Executive Director of my NGO, and is a project coordinator for the organization (none of the staff is paid yet, but soon, I hear). It was definitely a test of my patience. Harriet is wonderful, but I didn't want to simply sit down and write the report myself; I wanted to include her in the thought process, and assist her in structuring and typing the report. Our job as PCVs is to build capacity within an organization so that in 2 years when we leave, the Ugandan employees at the organization are able to do the work without you. It would be too easy to just sit down and type out the report. In the process, she also, of course, taught me a lot. But taking our time writing the report included showing her how to create and insert diagrams and drawings in the paper, how to structure the report in an organized manner, what things to focus on from the notes we took at the workshop, etc. Through interactions like this, I am learning patience...and everyone at home knows I have always had very, very little patience. In 2 years, I'm going to be the most patient person ever! (probably not, but I will have more patience, which is definitely a really, really good thing).
That weekend, I went to Kampala to hang out with my first visitor in-country!! It was exciting. Ally, a friend who I worked with at the Grameen Foundation, came to visit me. She now works at ACDI/VOCA, and her projects are in Rwanda and Haiti. So she had been in Rwanda (next door to Uganda) for the last couple weeks on business and decided to come to Kampala for a weekend to see me. I honestly can't say how much this meant to me. It was sooo nice to see someone from home, and to share my experiences here with someone face-to-face. We went out to dinner with some of my PCV friends who live near Kampala, went to Lake Victoria to have amazing fish and chips and enjoy the great view, shopped at the African craft fairs and relaxed. Great weekend! Thank you, Ally, for visiting me!! Can't wait for my next visitor, my sister, in November! Only 3 months!
The following Monday, I came back to Kumi, along with 13 Dutch teachers who arrived to do a 3-week "World Teacher Project", funded by edukans and hosted by my NGO. They were also staying at the guest house/hotel right next to my house, along with the Build Africa volunteers, so I hung out and had dinner there every night for the past 2 weeks. That week we were in Kumi District, visiting 2 schools (half of the group at one, half at the other). Last week we were in Bukedea and now this week, we're in Soroti District. The project basically consists of conversations between Dutch and Ugandan teachers. The four sub-areas are 1) reading lessons in the mother tongue, 2) classroom management, 3) cooperative learning and 4) creativity and personality of the learner. Ugandan teachers, Dutch teachers, the 3 Dutch group leaders, my NGO's staff and Ugandan school administrators are divided into the 4 groups and spend the entire week at one of the two schools. Classes are observed, then discussed in detail about ways to improve and structure the lessons in regards to the sub-topic assigned to that group. Then the new ideas developed between the Dutch and the Ugandans are tested in a lesson later in the week and more feedback is given. After seeing 2 weeks of the program, I think it's a pretty good program. It's the first year for the project, but I think it's going pretty well, and I feel the Ugandan teachers really are learning a lot...but it is a bit difficult to get them talking in the beginning. Our NGO is then charge of doing follow-ups at the schools for the next year until the program comes back again next summer. It will be interesting to see if these teachers we work with this these 3 weeks pass along the newly learned methods to their colleagues and truly implement them in the classroom. All about the sustainability factor!
One other thing I will say about the last 10 days is that I learned the Dutch really like to speak in Dutch as much as possible! I find myself feeling at times even more lonely than usual, when I'm just with Ugandans from day to day. Not only do I have to deal with not speaking the local language, Ateso, that well, but I now also don't speak the language spoken by the 13 people I'm with each and every day for 3 weeks - Dutch. They're a great group, very nice, and I really like them, but wow, never heard so much Dutch in my life. I'm amazed at even how much they speak Dutch in front of the Ugandan teachers they're trying to integrate with. I can deal with it, but I think it's a bit uncomfortable for the Ugandans who are sitting in silence at lunch with the Dutch, not knowing if they're being talked about the entire time. I really believe it's quite unprofessional, but that's a debate that I suppose will always exist when 2 different nationalities are placed together.
I think that is the complete update on the last month of my life. I am really quite happy here. I truly feel that I have friends here in Kumi. I have been hanging out a lot with the Build Africa volunteers, but I also feel I have Ugandan friends - to an extent. At the very least, I am meeting many, many more Ugandans in Kumi, both through spending time with the other "muzungus" at the guest house near my house, but also through the visiting of the schools the past couple weeks. All in all, it's been a great month. The Build Africa volunteers leave in a few days (one more trip to Kumi Hotel this Friday night before they leave). However, I recently learned I will be getting 2 more European volunteers (both girls) - from Italy and the Netherlands - in September and October for 3 months each. They're volunteering with Red Cross in my town, and I'm friends with the Director of RC so I've been trying to convince him to have the girls live in the other half of my house, which is still vacant (it's a twin house). I have successfully convinced him! The first girl, the Italian, will arrive on Sept. 6th, and they will both me living right next door to me in the same compound.
This week, I am in Soroti for the week with the Dutch teachers, then home for the next week, then to Kampala for a week of technical training and finally, Soroti for a half-week of Ateso langugage training. And at that point, it's already September, and the first Red Cross volunteer will arrive. In September, I hope to really start some projects - get the VSLAs underway w/ my NGO, start some life skills training in the local schools, MAYBE teach a class at the schools. I think I will be staying busy for the next few months, at least. And I have been staying illness-free, thank goodness. Especially, no malaria! Unfortunately, Kat, Will and Rosalinde all got malaria in the last 3 weeks. And I hear everyday about at least 1 or 2 Ugandans who have malaria. Of course, some of them self-diagnose themselves as having malaria and never get tested so I'm not really convinced they all have it, but still, nonetheless, malaria is very, very prevalent here. But if you come to visit me here, do not take Melarone - it doesn't work! So nothing bad to report! Hope all is well at home! I miss everyone.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
I still love bananas!
I have to apologize for not writing in the last month. I don't really have any excuse besides just not ever wanting to sit down and write a blog entry in the internet cafe. I was waiting to write one until I had my counterpart's internet modem flash-drive again. There's something much better about writing a blog entry in the comfort of my own home.
As for the past month, nothing too exciting has happened. I even had to go back and read my last entry to remember what happened a month ago. Since then, I have been trying to keep busy w/ work stuff as well as trying to keep happy here. Overall, I think I've done a good job. About a few days after I wrote the last post, I did have a slight breakdown. It was the first (and only) time that I actually thought about going home. This is how it happened... I had my counterpart's internet modem for much longer than the one day I expected to have it. This turned into me having copious amounts of time to browse facebook, pictures of my friends, the jcrew website, talk w/ my friends on gchat and become really, really bored since there was no real work to do w/ my organization. This was not good. Since it was the beginning of the summer back home, I was seeing all the plans people had made for the summer - beach, shopping, late nights out in the city - and there was evidence of my friends doing all these things through pictures posted on facebook- to make me even more jealous and upset that I wasn't home, living the same life. This really brought me down. Then there was the jcrew website with the new, cute spring/summer fashion-line. At this point, I even started looking for jobs on idealist.org, just for the fun of it (more like, torture, not fun), to see what jobs I could have at home if I weren't here. And I even found a perfect one - program assisant in the small enterprise dept of a major intl organization in DC - one that I would love to work w/ in the future - oh, and also one that my friend currently works at. I refrained myself from even applying to it. I thought about it, but knew I couldn't. It would be taking this short mental breakdown too far. Now, in all honesty, I knew I wouldn't actually go home...at least not that quickly. I would have to be unhappy for weeks before I made that kind of decision. But it was my first real breakdown here, which included tears. But after about a day and a half, I felt better. I realized I really do love it here, and I knew that day would come - where you cry and want to go home...and then the next day you love Uganda again. It happens to all PCVs, and they all told us it would happen...in fact, quite often throughout the 2 years. But this was the first time for me, and I'm sure there will many more of those days to come. And in the end, I realized I can NOT get the internet modem for at least my first year here. It is bad news when all you have is free time. Amy and I had been comtemplating on whether to get it or not and share it (1 week hers, 1 week mine), but no, I will not get it. Maybe the second year, when I'm more busy, and will need internet for applying to grad school and/or searching for jobs. But not now, no way.
That same week, I went around to all the NGOs in my town with my colleague. We visited Red Cross, Build Africa, Self-Help Africa, UWESO (Uganda's Women's Effort to Save Orphans) and ActionAid - all pretty prominent NGOs. I really enjoyed these meetings. All the people we met with were so gracious with their time and explaining to us about their work and how we could possibly partner with them on some projects. That Friday, UWESO invited my colleague and myself to attend a meeting out in the village with one of their VSLA (Village Savings and Loan Association) groups, who were hosting this meeting to thank UWESO for all their support. Now, the meeting was supposed to start at 9:30 am; we, the guest of honors, were supposed to arrive by 10, which we actually did arrive promptly. However, the meeting did not start until 1:30 pm. Yes, me, my colleague, and some other girls who work with UWESO sat under a mango tree on some really hard benches for over 3 hours. But this is a typical African meeting in the village - nothing ever starts on time. But once it did get started, it was really great. We heard testimonies from the women, and even some men, about how the VSLA helped them start a business, build a roof on their house, pay for their children's school fees, etc. It was very inspirational, to say the least. It was about 4 hours of talking, many, many speeches. Nice, but long. I then ended the week by spending most of the weekend with my friend, Amy, who also had a not-so-good week (being sick). It definitely helps to talk with other PCVs about the difficulties and hardships we all have to face - I think we even came up with ways to keep busy and entertain ourselves when there's no work to be done and we can't hang out with other PCVs. After that week, I realized I would really be okay here.
As for my NGO, things are okay. I really like my colleagues - they couldn't be any better. We do have some promising partnerships with some major NGOs (SNV and edukans), but both are in the education sector, not economic development. However, I've been trying to change that. In fact, that next week (after my "bad" week), I was at lunch at a restaurant in town with my friend, when up pulls a vehicle for the same NGO that I had just found a job posted on idealist.org for their DC office. Weird, huh!? I knew they worked in Uganda, but not in my town, and I had never seen their truck around. So I finally decided to go up to the guy and introduce myself. Good thing I did! He was so nice; we had a good discussion about a possible partnership with them, as well as me going around with him when he's in my town visiting project sites. His office is in Soroti, the town 1 hr north of me. I refrained from telling him that earlier that week I almost applied for a job with his NGO in DC. But how ironic. This same week, my NGO also had a meeting with Build Africa and UWESO, both located in my town, to discuss the areas where we would each be doing VSLAs. Now, it was pretty cool, because this meeting took place because of the meeting that my colleague and I had with Build Africa a week prior, when we first went to introduce ourselves. They didn't know anyone else was doing VSLAs in Kumi until we talked to them so they called this stakeholders meeting. Although my NGO doesn't have any money yet to do the VSLAs, it was a good, informative meeting...especially for me to see how a professional meeting works in Uganda, which is much different, actually, compared to the US - at least in some ways.
Last week, I went to Kampala with another PCV, LaVera, to meet with some NGOs to discuss a possible partnership with our NGO. We met with World Vision, CARE International (who founded the whole "VSLA" idea and sponsors them across Africa), Catholic Relief Services and ACDI/VOCA. I won't go into detail about the meetings - probably not too interesting for most of you - but they were very fruitful. It will still be some time until we can form a partnership with any of them, if at all, but at least they know us...and me. While in Kampala, I also got to see some of my friends from my training group who are based around the Kampala area. I went out to see my friend, Amanda's site. She's a primary teacher trainer at a primary teacher college (helps primary teachers to become good teachers), and she lives on the grounds of a Catholic primary school. All I have to say is the nuns in Uganda are great - fun, hilarious and well-educated. Catholics are much different here than in the U.S. - that is, in a very good way.
And now we're up to this past week...it was fairly boring, but I managed to keep myself busy, which I am proud of. Lots of movies, books, running. I walk into the center of town once a day (besides my runs) to pick up fruits/vegetebales at the market, use internet maybe, etc. This is basically to just show my face so the people in my town know I'm still alive. They all notice when I've been gone for a few days - like the week before when I was in Kampala. When I returned from that trip, many people said to me, "I did not see you last week...I thought you flew back home." I'm still not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
Ayways, on Monday, I went to Mbale with LaVera to meet with another NGO - one that my former boss actually passed along its info to me. But when we got there, we found out they actually have a PCV there, at their vocational school in the village. Really great NGO, very nice staff. I may volunteer w/ them in the future on their MF project as a secondary project for myself, but we'll have to see how it works out. Other than that, somehow the week and weekend passed by fairly quickly. Oh, and besides my brief trip to Kampala the other week, I really have had to keep myself entertained because my friend, Amy, has been in Kampala sick for the last few weeks so without her regular day trips to my town from the village, it has been quite uneventful. But she is feeling better now, thank goodness. And yes, I am really becoming much better at being bored and happy and finding things to do all at the same time.
And finally, this week, I am going back to Kampala for the much-anticipated "All Volunteer Conference." All PCVs in Uganda will be getting together at a nice hotel (with a pool!) in Kampala for 5 days of meetings, discussions, learning sessions and fun. It's even more exciting for our training group since we've only been at site for 2 months, and usually we're not allowed to take any vacations for the first 3 months, so we get a brief vacation through this conference. And not to mention, we get to meet all the other PCVs in country that we haven't met since we're the newest group in-country. Should be a fun time.
So all in all, I'm doing well still. Trying to keep busy, trying to finish equipping my house with furniture (one big purchase/month). Next month - sofa cushions for my sofa (more like wooden bench and chair, and with cushions, will become a sofa). Oh, and I will also be starting Swahili lessons next Monday! I'm excited to learn it - because I'm out east here, most people do speak at least some Swahili. And if I can't French while I'm in the Peace Corps, then I might as well learn the 2nd most useful language to know in Africa, in preparation for my career in African MF.
And as for the title of this blog entry, it is sort of a metaphor, I guess. I am still eating tons of bananas - about 10-15/week, and I haven't gotten sick of them yet! Same with Uganda. I'm hoping neither gets old, as bananas are the best fruit here, aside from pineapple, which is expensive right now as it's out-of-season, and if Uganda gets old, then that's not good for me. So in summary, I still love both! Hope you are all doing well at home and enjoying the summer - beach and all!
As for the past month, nothing too exciting has happened. I even had to go back and read my last entry to remember what happened a month ago. Since then, I have been trying to keep busy w/ work stuff as well as trying to keep happy here. Overall, I think I've done a good job. About a few days after I wrote the last post, I did have a slight breakdown. It was the first (and only) time that I actually thought about going home. This is how it happened... I had my counterpart's internet modem for much longer than the one day I expected to have it. This turned into me having copious amounts of time to browse facebook, pictures of my friends, the jcrew website, talk w/ my friends on gchat and become really, really bored since there was no real work to do w/ my organization. This was not good. Since it was the beginning of the summer back home, I was seeing all the plans people had made for the summer - beach, shopping, late nights out in the city - and there was evidence of my friends doing all these things through pictures posted on facebook- to make me even more jealous and upset that I wasn't home, living the same life. This really brought me down. Then there was the jcrew website with the new, cute spring/summer fashion-line. At this point, I even started looking for jobs on idealist.org, just for the fun of it (more like, torture, not fun), to see what jobs I could have at home if I weren't here. And I even found a perfect one - program assisant in the small enterprise dept of a major intl organization in DC - one that I would love to work w/ in the future - oh, and also one that my friend currently works at. I refrained myself from even applying to it. I thought about it, but knew I couldn't. It would be taking this short mental breakdown too far. Now, in all honesty, I knew I wouldn't actually go home...at least not that quickly. I would have to be unhappy for weeks before I made that kind of decision. But it was my first real breakdown here, which included tears. But after about a day and a half, I felt better. I realized I really do love it here, and I knew that day would come - where you cry and want to go home...and then the next day you love Uganda again. It happens to all PCVs, and they all told us it would happen...in fact, quite often throughout the 2 years. But this was the first time for me, and I'm sure there will many more of those days to come. And in the end, I realized I can NOT get the internet modem for at least my first year here. It is bad news when all you have is free time. Amy and I had been comtemplating on whether to get it or not and share it (1 week hers, 1 week mine), but no, I will not get it. Maybe the second year, when I'm more busy, and will need internet for applying to grad school and/or searching for jobs. But not now, no way.
That same week, I went around to all the NGOs in my town with my colleague. We visited Red Cross, Build Africa, Self-Help Africa, UWESO (Uganda's Women's Effort to Save Orphans) and ActionAid - all pretty prominent NGOs. I really enjoyed these meetings. All the people we met with were so gracious with their time and explaining to us about their work and how we could possibly partner with them on some projects. That Friday, UWESO invited my colleague and myself to attend a meeting out in the village with one of their VSLA (Village Savings and Loan Association) groups, who were hosting this meeting to thank UWESO for all their support. Now, the meeting was supposed to start at 9:30 am; we, the guest of honors, were supposed to arrive by 10, which we actually did arrive promptly. However, the meeting did not start until 1:30 pm. Yes, me, my colleague, and some other girls who work with UWESO sat under a mango tree on some really hard benches for over 3 hours. But this is a typical African meeting in the village - nothing ever starts on time. But once it did get started, it was really great. We heard testimonies from the women, and even some men, about how the VSLA helped them start a business, build a roof on their house, pay for their children's school fees, etc. It was very inspirational, to say the least. It was about 4 hours of talking, many, many speeches. Nice, but long. I then ended the week by spending most of the weekend with my friend, Amy, who also had a not-so-good week (being sick). It definitely helps to talk with other PCVs about the difficulties and hardships we all have to face - I think we even came up with ways to keep busy and entertain ourselves when there's no work to be done and we can't hang out with other PCVs. After that week, I realized I would really be okay here.
As for my NGO, things are okay. I really like my colleagues - they couldn't be any better. We do have some promising partnerships with some major NGOs (SNV and edukans), but both are in the education sector, not economic development. However, I've been trying to change that. In fact, that next week (after my "bad" week), I was at lunch at a restaurant in town with my friend, when up pulls a vehicle for the same NGO that I had just found a job posted on idealist.org for their DC office. Weird, huh!? I knew they worked in Uganda, but not in my town, and I had never seen their truck around. So I finally decided to go up to the guy and introduce myself. Good thing I did! He was so nice; we had a good discussion about a possible partnership with them, as well as me going around with him when he's in my town visiting project sites. His office is in Soroti, the town 1 hr north of me. I refrained from telling him that earlier that week I almost applied for a job with his NGO in DC. But how ironic. This same week, my NGO also had a meeting with Build Africa and UWESO, both located in my town, to discuss the areas where we would each be doing VSLAs. Now, it was pretty cool, because this meeting took place because of the meeting that my colleague and I had with Build Africa a week prior, when we first went to introduce ourselves. They didn't know anyone else was doing VSLAs in Kumi until we talked to them so they called this stakeholders meeting. Although my NGO doesn't have any money yet to do the VSLAs, it was a good, informative meeting...especially for me to see how a professional meeting works in Uganda, which is much different, actually, compared to the US - at least in some ways.
Last week, I went to Kampala with another PCV, LaVera, to meet with some NGOs to discuss a possible partnership with our NGO. We met with World Vision, CARE International (who founded the whole "VSLA" idea and sponsors them across Africa), Catholic Relief Services and ACDI/VOCA. I won't go into detail about the meetings - probably not too interesting for most of you - but they were very fruitful. It will still be some time until we can form a partnership with any of them, if at all, but at least they know us...and me. While in Kampala, I also got to see some of my friends from my training group who are based around the Kampala area. I went out to see my friend, Amanda's site. She's a primary teacher trainer at a primary teacher college (helps primary teachers to become good teachers), and she lives on the grounds of a Catholic primary school. All I have to say is the nuns in Uganda are great - fun, hilarious and well-educated. Catholics are much different here than in the U.S. - that is, in a very good way.
And now we're up to this past week...it was fairly boring, but I managed to keep myself busy, which I am proud of. Lots of movies, books, running. I walk into the center of town once a day (besides my runs) to pick up fruits/vegetebales at the market, use internet maybe, etc. This is basically to just show my face so the people in my town know I'm still alive. They all notice when I've been gone for a few days - like the week before when I was in Kampala. When I returned from that trip, many people said to me, "I did not see you last week...I thought you flew back home." I'm still not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
Ayways, on Monday, I went to Mbale with LaVera to meet with another NGO - one that my former boss actually passed along its info to me. But when we got there, we found out they actually have a PCV there, at their vocational school in the village. Really great NGO, very nice staff. I may volunteer w/ them in the future on their MF project as a secondary project for myself, but we'll have to see how it works out. Other than that, somehow the week and weekend passed by fairly quickly. Oh, and besides my brief trip to Kampala the other week, I really have had to keep myself entertained because my friend, Amy, has been in Kampala sick for the last few weeks so without her regular day trips to my town from the village, it has been quite uneventful. But she is feeling better now, thank goodness. And yes, I am really becoming much better at being bored and happy and finding things to do all at the same time.
And finally, this week, I am going back to Kampala for the much-anticipated "All Volunteer Conference." All PCVs in Uganda will be getting together at a nice hotel (with a pool!) in Kampala for 5 days of meetings, discussions, learning sessions and fun. It's even more exciting for our training group since we've only been at site for 2 months, and usually we're not allowed to take any vacations for the first 3 months, so we get a brief vacation through this conference. And not to mention, we get to meet all the other PCVs in country that we haven't met since we're the newest group in-country. Should be a fun time.
So all in all, I'm doing well still. Trying to keep busy, trying to finish equipping my house with furniture (one big purchase/month). Next month - sofa cushions for my sofa (more like wooden bench and chair, and with cushions, will become a sofa). Oh, and I will also be starting Swahili lessons next Monday! I'm excited to learn it - because I'm out east here, most people do speak at least some Swahili. And if I can't French while I'm in the Peace Corps, then I might as well learn the 2nd most useful language to know in Africa, in preparation for my career in African MF.
And as for the title of this blog entry, it is sort of a metaphor, I guess. I am still eating tons of bananas - about 10-15/week, and I haven't gotten sick of them yet! Same with Uganda. I'm hoping neither gets old, as bananas are the best fruit here, aside from pineapple, which is expensive right now as it's out-of-season, and if Uganda gets old, then that's not good for me. So in summary, I still love both! Hope you are all doing well at home and enjoying the summer - beach and all!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Address and phone number change!
Update:
Changing my phone number (better company, cheaper price). New number is 0783378683. If you're calling from the US, dial 011-256-78-3378683 (leave off the "0" when dialing from out-of-Uganda).
Address change: So my NGO does not have PO Box 23. There was a mix-up at the post office in my town so we are still waiting to receive new PO Box. I will update it on here, to the right, when I receive it. Until then, use PO Box 110. Still Kumi, Uganda. For the packages that I know that have already been sent to Box 23, I notified the post office, and they will set them aside for me. I think they're pretty good, considering it's a smaller town.
Thanks!
Changing my phone number (better company, cheaper price). New number is 0783378683. If you're calling from the US, dial 011-256-78-3378683 (leave off the "0" when dialing from out-of-Uganda).
Address change: So my NGO does not have PO Box 23. There was a mix-up at the post office in my town so we are still waiting to receive new PO Box. I will update it on here, to the right, when I receive it. Until then, use PO Box 110. Still Kumi, Uganda. For the packages that I know that have already been sent to Box 23, I notified the post office, and they will set them aside for me. I think they're pretty good, considering it's a smaller town.
Thanks!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Let there be light!
I finally have electricity! (hence, the title of this blog entry). It was just finally installed this past weekend, and I love it! It's so nice not having to use a lantern every night and be in bed w/no light by 7. I can now also watch movies on my computer! I've never been a huge movie fan, but here, I am! There's a DVD place in Kampala that sells great-quality DVDs of any movie, tv show, whatever you request, for only $1.25. On Friday night, my friend, Amy and I, stayed up late, watching season 1 of Gossip Girl, and we are officially addicted to it. Electricity is great! In fact, right now, I am sitting in bed (it's 9:30 pm here) posting this w/ the wireless flash-drive modem that my counterpart has and lent to me for the day/night while she's away. It's amazing! I think I will stay up all night, catching up on e-mails, posting pics (check to the right for the website link!). Anyways, I can't believe I lived for 3 months without electricity. Not something I really ever expected myself to do before joining the PC.
My house is really becoming a home now. I got flooring for my house to cover the cement floors. Now, this is not great flooring that we have in the U.S. It comes in a 2 meter roll and you just cut it and lay it down on the cement (no adhesive). You usually need about 3 sheets puzzled together to fit the room, but it looks decent, albeit they do come in the worst colors/designs ever - much like most things in Africa. The fabric store and tailor can never figure out why I want solid, pretty periwinkle-blue curtains or teal and pink bed sheets made instead of the odd design and colored curtain fabric and sheets. Also, furniture for my house is being completed. Next month, I hope to get a sofa and a fan - for my insanely hot house! But all in all, my house is great. I love it.
Work is also going well. I go to the office a few days each week. We're a new NGO so work is just really getting started, but tomorrow I will be going around with my colleague, Harriet (who is about my age), to visit all the other NGOs in our town, introduce ourselves, find out about their work and where we can collaborate our efforts. I'm excited for it. We have some great NGOs in our town such as Built Africa, ActionAid, Care International and Red Cross.
But overall, I've been keeping very busy. The first two weeks, I had visitors everyday - either Adam and/or Amy, or LaVera, the PCV who helped start my NGO and who lives in the town an hour north of me, or other PCVs in the surrounding districts. Then last week, I was in Kampala for a couple days with Amy and Adam. Unfortunately, Adam decided to go back home to the U.S. So we helped him take his stuff to Kampala and deal w/ PC Headquarters-related things. It was sad to see him leave, especially since he lived so close to me. We also lost another guy from our group who left earlier in the week. It was a tough week to see two good friends leave, but they will do great things back at home, too.
Other than that, nothing much else is new. I still love Uganda, and I still haven't been sick at all. In 5 weeks, we have an all-volunteer conference in Kampala for 3 days, and then in July, my NGO is having 13 Dutch teachers come to do a "world teacher exchange" program w/ the Ugandan schools, and we are in charge of that so it should be fun!
'Til next time! . . . keep me updated on your life! Thanks for the e-mails, packages and calls. Oh, and I did post my new address to the right. Packages should come a lot quicker, now that they don't have to go through PC hands. Thanks again!
My house is really becoming a home now. I got flooring for my house to cover the cement floors. Now, this is not great flooring that we have in the U.S. It comes in a 2 meter roll and you just cut it and lay it down on the cement (no adhesive). You usually need about 3 sheets puzzled together to fit the room, but it looks decent, albeit they do come in the worst colors/designs ever - much like most things in Africa. The fabric store and tailor can never figure out why I want solid, pretty periwinkle-blue curtains or teal and pink bed sheets made instead of the odd design and colored curtain fabric and sheets. Also, furniture for my house is being completed. Next month, I hope to get a sofa and a fan - for my insanely hot house! But all in all, my house is great. I love it.
Work is also going well. I go to the office a few days each week. We're a new NGO so work is just really getting started, but tomorrow I will be going around with my colleague, Harriet (who is about my age), to visit all the other NGOs in our town, introduce ourselves, find out about their work and where we can collaborate our efforts. I'm excited for it. We have some great NGOs in our town such as Built Africa, ActionAid, Care International and Red Cross.
But overall, I've been keeping very busy. The first two weeks, I had visitors everyday - either Adam and/or Amy, or LaVera, the PCV who helped start my NGO and who lives in the town an hour north of me, or other PCVs in the surrounding districts. Then last week, I was in Kampala for a couple days with Amy and Adam. Unfortunately, Adam decided to go back home to the U.S. So we helped him take his stuff to Kampala and deal w/ PC Headquarters-related things. It was sad to see him leave, especially since he lived so close to me. We also lost another guy from our group who left earlier in the week. It was a tough week to see two good friends leave, but they will do great things back at home, too.
Other than that, nothing much else is new. I still love Uganda, and I still haven't been sick at all. In 5 weeks, we have an all-volunteer conference in Kampala for 3 days, and then in July, my NGO is having 13 Dutch teachers come to do a "world teacher exchange" program w/ the Ugandan schools, and we are in charge of that so it should be fun!
'Til next time! . . . keep me updated on your life! Thanks for the e-mails, packages and calls. Oh, and I did post my new address to the right. Packages should come a lot quicker, now that they don't have to go through PC hands. Thanks again!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
First Week at Site!
I have officially been at my site for one week. And I love it. I don't have too much to say in this post other than I'm doing very well. My house is great - brand new, really nice; there's still work to be done on it that they're currently doing, but it's definitely liveable. I don't have electricity or running water yet (hopefully soon, especially the electricity), but it's a clean, nice, safe and rather large house. I have 3 rooms, all about the same size - 2 bedrooms and one living room. Oh, and there's a kitchen room attached to the porch. I'm starting to get it all set up. Furniture is in the process of being made - will have most of it by next week. Thus far, I have a bed, dresser to hang all my clothes, dining table, 2 chairs and carpet that I bought. I am still waiting on a nighstand, real dresser, sofa, coffee table, bed for the spare bedroom and two tables for my cooking area. The problem with having a large house is there's a lot to furnish, but it's okay. I really just want to get my house set up sooner rather than later. In the last week, I've been shopping in town, getting all the cookware, dishes, etc that I need to live. About every other day, I see my friend, Amy, who lives 11 miles from me out in the village. We also hung out with our other friend, Adam, who is the next town on the main road. My supervisor has also been taking me around town to meet everyone - police chief, LC (Local chairperson), church, schools, etc. He's really been great in helping me to acclimate to my town. My counterpart has also been great. She lives just diagonally from me so she brings me water, cooked me breakfast on my first day (since I didn't have any dishes or food or gas for my stove) and just helps me get my house set up.
I've had some really good discussions with my supervisor (the Executive Director of the NGO) and my counterpart about what they see me doing with the organization, what they want me to get done in the next couple months, and it all sounds amazing. The organization is still very, very new, but it seems to have good funding, lots of interest from others, great goals. I'm still waiting for the catch...I feel this is just too good to be true, at times. We also have a lot of people from abroad coming in the next few months to work with us - 13 from the Netherlands in July, a consultant from Boston in June and some other Americans, I think, in August. It should be a fun summer! I really have no complaints. Ask me in a few more weeks.
What else?? I am about a 10 minute walk from town - the perfect distance - away from the commotion, but close enough to walk and be able to carry things I buy home. I am in a double house, but my neighbors who were living in the other half moved out to the village this past weekend so someone from my NGO will be moving in there soon. I will appreciate having the company; it is a bit lonely at times since I have to be in my dark (7pm). To everyone reading this, my life probably sounds pathetic at this point...I am in my house with doors locked by 7, asleep by 8 (I have no electricity or furniture so what else can I do!?), and awake by 6:30 to go for a run. I wash dishes, clothes, go to town, eat one meal a day, visit with friends/people in town. Yeah, that's my life for now. Next week, I will be at the office more so I'm looking forward to getting started.
Oh, and it is much hotter here than in the central region where we were for training. I knew it would be, but woah. The sun is so much stronger; I am getting a good tan - of course, only on my face and lower arms, but still. It is hot. It's hard finding a time during the day to even go running. I go early in the morning as soon as the sun rises, but it is still brutal.
Tonight, I am cooking dinner for a couple from State College, PA, who are here in Uganda for a few weeks to work with local farmers. They are retired farmers themselves and travel around the world, helping others. Amy and I met them randomly at a restaurant last weekend and since, have seen them about every day. They are leaving on Sunday so I decided to have them over for spaghetti (the only thing I can cook right now). And this weekend, I am going to Mbale with some others from my group. Mbale is about an hour south of me - very fun town - clubs, bars, pool and a lot more stores to get things I can't get here in my town.
I keep forgetting to get my new address from my boss. I will be using the post office box for my NGO so I will post that next time - I promise! Thanks for all the e-mails and calls this past week - they've been great! Miss you all - come visit!
I've had some really good discussions with my supervisor (the Executive Director of the NGO) and my counterpart about what they see me doing with the organization, what they want me to get done in the next couple months, and it all sounds amazing. The organization is still very, very new, but it seems to have good funding, lots of interest from others, great goals. I'm still waiting for the catch...I feel this is just too good to be true, at times. We also have a lot of people from abroad coming in the next few months to work with us - 13 from the Netherlands in July, a consultant from Boston in June and some other Americans, I think, in August. It should be a fun summer! I really have no complaints. Ask me in a few more weeks.
What else?? I am about a 10 minute walk from town - the perfect distance - away from the commotion, but close enough to walk and be able to carry things I buy home. I am in a double house, but my neighbors who were living in the other half moved out to the village this past weekend so someone from my NGO will be moving in there soon. I will appreciate having the company; it is a bit lonely at times since I have to be in my dark (7pm). To everyone reading this, my life probably sounds pathetic at this point...I am in my house with doors locked by 7, asleep by 8 (I have no electricity or furniture so what else can I do!?), and awake by 6:30 to go for a run. I wash dishes, clothes, go to town, eat one meal a day, visit with friends/people in town. Yeah, that's my life for now. Next week, I will be at the office more so I'm looking forward to getting started.
Oh, and it is much hotter here than in the central region where we were for training. I knew it would be, but woah. The sun is so much stronger; I am getting a good tan - of course, only on my face and lower arms, but still. It is hot. It's hard finding a time during the day to even go running. I go early in the morning as soon as the sun rises, but it is still brutal.
Tonight, I am cooking dinner for a couple from State College, PA, who are here in Uganda for a few weeks to work with local farmers. They are retired farmers themselves and travel around the world, helping others. Amy and I met them randomly at a restaurant last weekend and since, have seen them about every day. They are leaving on Sunday so I decided to have them over for spaghetti (the only thing I can cook right now). And this weekend, I am going to Mbale with some others from my group. Mbale is about an hour south of me - very fun town - clubs, bars, pool and a lot more stores to get things I can't get here in my town.
I keep forgetting to get my new address from my boss. I will be using the post office box for my NGO so I will post that next time - I promise! Thanks for all the e-mails and calls this past week - they've been great! Miss you all - come visit!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
I made it through training!!
I am officially a PCV now, no longer a PCT. Today was our swear-in ceremony. I have some pictures from it but don't have time to upload them now. We only lost 2 people along the way during training - and that was after the first weekend at homestay - one older couple. So we are a group of 30 and hopefully, it will stay like that for the next 2 years. It was quite a sad morning, saying goodbye to everyone. There are 10 of us (all going to the north and northeast) who are staying until tomorrow so we can leave early in the morning, first thing, since it will take us longer to get to our sites than most people. So we said bye to all our friends, helped them pack up and do some last minute shopping and then we are spending the rest of the day in Kampala, using internet, eating good food and doing getting some essentials for our new home.
Now, what everyone is really waiting for....I found out on Wednesday lats week, finally, where I'll be living for the next two years. I'll be living in Kumi District. It's in the east on the way to Lira, Gulu (the farther north). My town is not very big, but it's big enough that it has some supermarkets (not like the ones at home, but bigger than the one where I'm living now - which means it'll have pretty much everything I want, I hope) and a hotel, etc so it sounds good. My organization is very new, but it was started by a Catholic priest who was the counterpart (mentor/supervisor) for another PCV last year. He was moved to another town and then started this organization, which the other PCV has been working with as her secondary project. Now, I will be there official PCV. Normally, PC has a rule that organizations must be in existence for at least 1 year in order to receive a PCV, but they really felt good about this organization and its people. Basically I will be working with VSLAs (Village Savings & Loan Associations aka a form of microfinance!), small enterprise development, agribusiness and some other things as I'm sure the job description will change...but all in all, it's exactly what I wanted.
I met my counterpart for the first time yesterday during our PCV/host organization workshop, and she's great! Very intelligent, very hardworking, meticulous, a leader - I think we will work really well together. She has over 10 years of experience working with similar NGOs, and her position now w/ this NGO is "Program Manager," and I will be working with her on most projects so I'm sure I will learn a lot from her. I haven't met the Executive Director, the priest, yet, but I will meet him tomorrow when I arrive at my site.
Since the organization is so new, I came at a really good time. They are currently doing training for their volunteers for the VSLA groups and the field officers so I will be able to participate in these trainings, as well. Also, in June, a French man is coming to the organization to help us write our strategic plan so I will be a part of that, as well. I am really excited to start working (which will be on Monday). Although I technically don't have to work for the first three months at site, I want to. I'm a workaholic, and I can't wait to start working with them.
As for my house...it is brand new, just built. In fact, it's still in the process of being built. The info I received last Wednesday about my house included electricity, running water, toilet, 2 bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, shower, a fence. I'm not going to lie - I was quite excited. However, when I talked to my counterpart yesterday at the workshop, I found out a little different information. It doesn't have electricity, toilet or shower now, but it will. Maybe electricity in 1-2 weeks (that's on the hopeful side), and the tile for the bathroom is currently being laid down as well as the hole being dug for the toilet in the bathroom - which is all fine, I have no problem with it. It's just funny how things change. I think almost all of us found out some differences between what was written on paper about our houses last week and then what we actually heard from our supervisors yesterday. Some houses aren't ready, and my friends have to live in rented houses until they are completed; others found out they have to share a latrine and bathing area with their neighbors. Oh, it was interesting! But still, I'm keeping a positive outlook on the housing situation. The house will be great once it's all completed, and until then, I will be living just as I have been for the last 2 months - bucket baths and no electricity - I can do it, no problem!
So all in all - I'm in a good-size (small, but big enough) town, great organization/job and great house when it's all done. Oh, and two of my good friends will be living near me. One of them, Amy, will be in a village just 11 miles outside of my town - she will have to come to the town for any shopping, etc. And my other friend will be about 30 mins or so far from me in another town. And then there are 3 more people in another, larger, town about an hour north of us. This is just PCVs from our group - there are a few others in the region. Most of my other friends from my group are in the central region, around Kampala, and some a bit further east.
I think that's about it...I want to go buy some new books now, meet my friends for lunch and do some shopping at a Target-like store! Tomorrow morning at 7, 6 of us have rented a matatu (taxi van that fits 14 people) to take us and all our luggage to our houses. It will be about 5 hours for me, I think. And it's only costing us each $18! Now, let's just hope our taxi driver shows up tomorrow!
People have been asking me for my new address - please just wait a few more days. I forgot to ask my counterpart about it yesterday so I will find out tomorrow and try to get back on internet. I'm not sure if I will just use the organization's address or get a mailbox to share with my friend in town.
Hope you are all doing well! E-mail me with updates! I am sure I will have internet in my town.
Now, what everyone is really waiting for....I found out on Wednesday lats week, finally, where I'll be living for the next two years. I'll be living in Kumi District. It's in the east on the way to Lira, Gulu (the farther north). My town is not very big, but it's big enough that it has some supermarkets (not like the ones at home, but bigger than the one where I'm living now - which means it'll have pretty much everything I want, I hope) and a hotel, etc so it sounds good. My organization is very new, but it was started by a Catholic priest who was the counterpart (mentor/supervisor) for another PCV last year. He was moved to another town and then started this organization, which the other PCV has been working with as her secondary project. Now, I will be there official PCV. Normally, PC has a rule that organizations must be in existence for at least 1 year in order to receive a PCV, but they really felt good about this organization and its people. Basically I will be working with VSLAs (Village Savings & Loan Associations aka a form of microfinance!), small enterprise development, agribusiness and some other things as I'm sure the job description will change...but all in all, it's exactly what I wanted.
I met my counterpart for the first time yesterday during our PCV/host organization workshop, and she's great! Very intelligent, very hardworking, meticulous, a leader - I think we will work really well together. She has over 10 years of experience working with similar NGOs, and her position now w/ this NGO is "Program Manager," and I will be working with her on most projects so I'm sure I will learn a lot from her. I haven't met the Executive Director, the priest, yet, but I will meet him tomorrow when I arrive at my site.
Since the organization is so new, I came at a really good time. They are currently doing training for their volunteers for the VSLA groups and the field officers so I will be able to participate in these trainings, as well. Also, in June, a French man is coming to the organization to help us write our strategic plan so I will be a part of that, as well. I am really excited to start working (which will be on Monday). Although I technically don't have to work for the first three months at site, I want to. I'm a workaholic, and I can't wait to start working with them.
As for my house...it is brand new, just built. In fact, it's still in the process of being built. The info I received last Wednesday about my house included electricity, running water, toilet, 2 bedrooms, a living room, bathroom, shower, a fence. I'm not going to lie - I was quite excited. However, when I talked to my counterpart yesterday at the workshop, I found out a little different information. It doesn't have electricity, toilet or shower now, but it will. Maybe electricity in 1-2 weeks (that's on the hopeful side), and the tile for the bathroom is currently being laid down as well as the hole being dug for the toilet in the bathroom - which is all fine, I have no problem with it. It's just funny how things change. I think almost all of us found out some differences between what was written on paper about our houses last week and then what we actually heard from our supervisors yesterday. Some houses aren't ready, and my friends have to live in rented houses until they are completed; others found out they have to share a latrine and bathing area with their neighbors. Oh, it was interesting! But still, I'm keeping a positive outlook on the housing situation. The house will be great once it's all completed, and until then, I will be living just as I have been for the last 2 months - bucket baths and no electricity - I can do it, no problem!
So all in all - I'm in a good-size (small, but big enough) town, great organization/job and great house when it's all done. Oh, and two of my good friends will be living near me. One of them, Amy, will be in a village just 11 miles outside of my town - she will have to come to the town for any shopping, etc. And my other friend will be about 30 mins or so far from me in another town. And then there are 3 more people in another, larger, town about an hour north of us. This is just PCVs from our group - there are a few others in the region. Most of my other friends from my group are in the central region, around Kampala, and some a bit further east.
I think that's about it...I want to go buy some new books now, meet my friends for lunch and do some shopping at a Target-like store! Tomorrow morning at 7, 6 of us have rented a matatu (taxi van that fits 14 people) to take us and all our luggage to our houses. It will be about 5 hours for me, I think. And it's only costing us each $18! Now, let's just hope our taxi driver shows up tomorrow!
People have been asking me for my new address - please just wait a few more days. I forgot to ask my counterpart about it yesterday so I will find out tomorrow and try to get back on internet. I'm not sure if I will just use the organization's address or get a mailbox to share with my friend in town.
Hope you are all doing well! E-mail me with updates! I am sure I will have internet in my town.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
One more week of training!
So it's been awhile since I last posted. I am entering my last week of training. On Tuesday, we will give a final "Qualifying Presentation" and then on Friday is our language exam. If we don't pass, we only become a "provisional volunteer" and then have to re-take the exam after 3 months at site and pass then. Hopefully, I'll pass it the first time. I feel as if I'm doing okay - just need to get some vocab memorization done before the test. On Wednesday, we finally find out our site placements. Usually, this is done about half-way through training or a little after, but this is the first time they're waiting until 1 week before we swear-in to let us know where will be living for the next 2 years so needless to say, we are all very anxious to find out our sites. I will post on the 20th or 21st where my site will be, since that will be the next time I'll have internet.
As for how the last few weeks have been - they've been good. Nothing too exciting to report. We went to the U.S. Ambassador's house two weekends ago for the day to go swimming in his pool and to meet him, which was great. Yesterday, we went to Jinja, the source of the Nile. The town is so nice - very western, lots of foreigners (everyone goes white water rafting there - can't wait to try it out!). Other than that, I've just been in training, spending time with my homestay family and hanging out with my friends. No big sickness/diseases to report - thank goodness! There have been days where I was not feeling well, especially in the last couple weeks, but nothing major at all - no throwing up or diarrhea.
I am definitely getting tired of training; we all are, but that's to be expected. To help us get through it, us girls have been having sleep overs at each other's houses - it definitely helps to just get together, cook good food, watch movies, etc. It only hit me a couple weeks ago that I really want to move to site, live on my own, have a bit more freedom and start working instead of sitting in "class" all day. But it's finally almost here. We leave our homestays on the morning of the 20th, go to Kampala for a few days and swear-in on the 22nd! It will be sad to leave all my fellow trainees, but we will be able to visit each every so often in the first three months. We don't have any vacation time during the first 3 months, but we still have our usual 2 weekends off/month so we'll be able to visit each other then. I will also miss my homestay family, especially the 2 little kids. I really enjoy them - they're so well-behaved. I think they're taught to not "annoy" visitors so they would always leave me alone, say hi when I came home, but not much else. But when I initiated always playing with them and making time for them, that's when they really warmed up to me. It's the little boy's birthday on Monday so I got him a piece of cake and a present, a number "5" candle and a party hat - they don't really celebrate birthdays here, but I wanted to do something special/American for him. They're just so adorable!
I don't have much else to write, I think. I heard there was a stabbing/killing at my college a couple days ago, which is sad to hear. As for Easter, I won't be doing much of anything except studying for my language exam and preparing for my presentation. My host family isn't very religious, I think, so they're not going to church or doing anything major for the holiday, which is okay with me, since I really haven't celebrated Easter in years. But Happy Easter and Passover to everyone! And Happy Birthday to my sister, Wendy! Hope everyone is doing well!
As for how the last few weeks have been - they've been good. Nothing too exciting to report. We went to the U.S. Ambassador's house two weekends ago for the day to go swimming in his pool and to meet him, which was great. Yesterday, we went to Jinja, the source of the Nile. The town is so nice - very western, lots of foreigners (everyone goes white water rafting there - can't wait to try it out!). Other than that, I've just been in training, spending time with my homestay family and hanging out with my friends. No big sickness/diseases to report - thank goodness! There have been days where I was not feeling well, especially in the last couple weeks, but nothing major at all - no throwing up or diarrhea.
I am definitely getting tired of training; we all are, but that's to be expected. To help us get through it, us girls have been having sleep overs at each other's houses - it definitely helps to just get together, cook good food, watch movies, etc. It only hit me a couple weeks ago that I really want to move to site, live on my own, have a bit more freedom and start working instead of sitting in "class" all day. But it's finally almost here. We leave our homestays on the morning of the 20th, go to Kampala for a few days and swear-in on the 22nd! It will be sad to leave all my fellow trainees, but we will be able to visit each every so often in the first three months. We don't have any vacation time during the first 3 months, but we still have our usual 2 weekends off/month so we'll be able to visit each other then. I will also miss my homestay family, especially the 2 little kids. I really enjoy them - they're so well-behaved. I think they're taught to not "annoy" visitors so they would always leave me alone, say hi when I came home, but not much else. But when I initiated always playing with them and making time for them, that's when they really warmed up to me. It's the little boy's birthday on Monday so I got him a piece of cake and a present, a number "5" candle and a party hat - they don't really celebrate birthdays here, but I wanted to do something special/American for him. They're just so adorable!
I don't have much else to write, I think. I heard there was a stabbing/killing at my college a couple days ago, which is sad to hear. As for Easter, I won't be doing much of anything except studying for my language exam and preparing for my presentation. My host family isn't very religious, I think, so they're not going to church or doing anything major for the holiday, which is okay with me, since I really haven't celebrated Easter in years. But Happy Easter and Passover to everyone! And Happy Birthday to my sister, Wendy! Hope everyone is doing well!
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