Homestay 2014 – Hoima Style Part 1

Packing to leave for Hoima. We fit everything in that taxi.

June 18, 2014

Well, after one flat tire, two traffic stops (don’t ask how fast we were going – let us just say in most American states it would be classified under reckless driving), and an empty fuel tank, we arrived in Hoima! Hoima is located in Western Uganda, north of Fort Portal. We are doing 25 days with a homestay family. I am staying with a woman named Margaret and three teenagers who she actually took under her wing as an adoptive parent which is very common here in Uganda. You don’t leave a family member behind. Two of them are children from the community and one is the son of her sister’s daughter. As Margaret said “It is a long story.” I tried to follow who comes from where but then again I’m not sure if she has four of five children of her own she keeps adding them on when she tells stories and I am really bad with names so I have no idea! Lets just say everyone is family and to make it easy on people they just say everyone is a brother or sister. A massive rain storm is making its way over my house which is a large home with four bedrooms, indoor kitchen, a toilet (minus toilet seat, no one here seems to have toilet seats - my thighs are getting a great workout) and shower. She also raises pigs and has a couple chickens and a cute little puppy they named “Puppy” to chase the monkeys away which live in the backyard. Which is really funny because he/she is only about a month old so it would be the monkeys chasing him/her away. More to come soon! 

Countryside on the way to Hoima

You Have Not Seen A True Pot Hole Until You See A Kampala Pot Hole.

**Old Post**
You think America has a hard time keeping up with its pot holes think again… Kampala's pot holes are large…correction they are massive! Pretty sure if you fell in one you would not come out. All the manhole covers have been stolen because they are made of iron so you’re walking along minding your own business and a second later you’ve fallen in and the stuff on the other end is not something you want to have on you. Anyways back to the pot holes…You see there is what I like to call the parting of the sea of Boda Bodas and Taxies and anything else driving along the road. It’s kinda funny to watch the parting of the seas, until you end up having to drive into one of them in a taxi that has no shocks left then it is not so funny.

Anyways…Today (Sunday the 8^th) was a tough day. Nothing went to plan and by the end of it all I wanted to do was scream. The Peace Corps did tell me along with my parents “during your time in the Peace Corps, sometimes nothing goes right.” Well it is true and especially in a third world country. We had our first tour of Kampala today and on Sunday’s it is considered the quiet day of the week… If Sunday is the quiet day I don’t want to be anywhere near Kampala on a weekday holy Moses. Kampala traffic makes LA traffic look like a town with one stop life… LA traffic is nothing compared to Kampala traffic. Somehow it works, I have no idea how it does but it does. We arrived just outside of the New Taxi Park and made our way past the Old Taxi Park (picture below). 

I thought sitting in LA traffic was bad. (Side note yesterday Tuesday the 17^th we did sit in Kampala traffic. It’s horrible the fumes from all the cars and trucks which would have LA pollution control giving out fines to everyone and the smoke from all the fires cooking for dinner combined with the fact that there was a 7MPH wind blowing makes you gag – Trying fitting the 405 down to two lanes during rush hour ).

Also the Boda Bodas and Taxies DO NOT STOP FOR YOU! They play “how close can we get to other vehicles and people without crashing or hitting there?” Trust me they get close and by close I mean the person/car is within inches or under the vehicle… I need to learn how to say "Hey! I'm walking here!" (In whatever language I will be speaking) and smack the hood of the taxi or boda… man what movie is that from?!?! You have to live on the edge. I guess. I did have some good pizza and we had some fun traveling the streets and everything is in British English which is great because I love it. I am excited to start language classes so I can communicate with people here. It’s hard not being able to and I really want to. But I don't plan on going to Kampala unless required by Peace Corps after training. Not my cup of tea.

All of the trainees are working on our bids for our sites in Uganda. We write brief sentence on why we want to go to the top three places of interest. It has been stressful for many of us. Me it’s like whatever! :)

Post from Monday, the 16th and Site Location

It has only been about 10 days since our group left the United States and arrived but it feels like it has been 10 years! It was our first full week of training which lasts from sun up to sun down. I was told it was going to intense but I didn't know it would be this intense. 8AM to 7PM every night with evening activities thankfully most of them are optional. They pack so much information into us that I don't know if any of us can think anything other than Peace Corps. Most of us climb into bed and pass out when the evening is over. I sleep like the dead every night (minus the night I woke up to a massive dog fight outside my window). I have learned more about Uganda in the last 10 days then if I had taken a class on it. Uganda's culture is so different from America, they focus more on family and values close to the home not focusing on material things like America. I like that. They live simple lives. The women work very hard and by very hard I mean 4AM to 11PM everyday day in and out. The men not so much. I’ll write about this more in the future.

**We start living with our homestay families on Wednesday so I am proud to say I will be going to in Fort Portal, Uganda (just more south by Kibaale National Forest) starting August 6^th working with Kibaale Forest Schools and Student Support Program focusing on children, nutrition, technology, and so many other things. That will be for my 24 months of service here after we swear in on August 6! I am so excited we head to up Hoima for our language training and homestay families. There are seven of us heading West with our two language instructors. All of the six groups they go all over Uganda for their four weeks of language and culture training, everywhere but the North East which we are not allowed to go because of civil unrest.** (I will write more about my job when I know more about it)

We started language classes yesterday. I am learning Runyoro-Rutooro which is used in the West. It is going to be a challenge. It will be nice to move out and live with a host family were only one person is required to speak English in the house so it will be Runyoro-Rutooro and learning how to live on my own in a different culture. Oraira Ota? How did you spend the night? I love the greetings here in Uganda. They mean so much more here. “You are all welcome” “How did you spend the night” “How are they at home” (family) and so on. They greet each other that way every time and they greet everyone and if you don’t greet them they think you are a rude person. 

Last night I was able to see a Blood Full Moon! It was my first time ever seeing one and it was very cool. I spent a while watching rise higher and higher into the sky. Made my night.  

Today was our second trip to Kampala, went a lot better than the first time. I kind of enjoyed myself and we had some good food and I even went shopping. Found a really good artist in town who showed us his work. I wish I had 300,000USH or about 300 dollars US… I GOT CHOCOLATE!!!!!! Oh man have I been missing that. Another trainee who shares my dislike of cheese but love of chocolate bought himself a ton of chocolate. We all did. Yummy!

I am starting to fall in love with this country. When I first arrived I thought “What the hell am I doing here?!” but that is starting to change and I am falling more and more in love day by day. J I can’t wait until I get to site.

***Please don’t send me letters or packages until I get to site as it’s too hard with moving around for me to be able to get it. I’ll let you know when it’s okay!***

I will say it is hard to write about everything that happens here because so much has happened since we arrived.  I will do my best but I am sorry if it’s short. I don’t have a lot of time I am hoping in a couple months to be able to write more. Also I should say I am sorry for the spelling and grammar. I’m not an English major and have no talent when it comes to the English language so I am sorry if something is not written properly. It looks correct in my head J You all must come see Uganda for yourselves.

Days One Two and Three

*This was written last week during my travels. This will probably happen a lot due to lack of internet.* :)

WE MADE IT! After about 30 hours total of bus rides, plane flights, and sitting around our group of 40 health and agriculture business volunteers from all around the United States arrived in Entebbe at 7:30PM on the 5th (about 11AM in the states). Our very tired group then made our way onto a couple of buses and drove three more hours through Entebbe, Kampala, and arrived half way between Gobero and Busunju (North West of Kampala) on an organic farm that provides education to local farmers on being organic. The staging event in Philadelphia was awesome as we finally got to meet each other in person and also meet some of the staff we had been emailing with for many months. We all thankfully share a lot of the same fears about the next 27 months which makes me feel a lot better about serving but I am not going to beat around the bush... I'm scared sh*&less. I slept most of the trip mainly due to the lack of sleep I had since I left my home on the 3rd. We all slept, ate, watched movies, read, and zoned out for the flight. South African Airlines pamper you.  All ready the Ugandans have shown us kindness as we tend to stand out with our large group of white people. This morning (Friday) after only a few hours of sleep we took a tour of a local market/village just south of us. It was the first time we interacted with the local people in the day light as we had landed at night. I was very nervous about it and I know others were as well. It was the first experience with being a minority. All eyes were on us as we made our way through the small town. People were friendly and I only heard a couple comments about us "Muzungus" It was very hot this morning and humid here but the sun goes down kind early. Still trying to figure out which way is North, South, East, and West.

We had technique training today on simple things like bathing, going to the rest room, how to start a fire, what to wear, and so on.

Some random things I found out over the last couple of days

Toilets in the South African Airport don't flush the opposite direction… made me sad! They just flush down. Like every other toilet on this planet.

I finally got over my fears of airplane toilets!

I found out my computer has 8 hours of battery life instead of the 4 I thought it had.

Not having internet on your phone sucks.

I found someone who also dislikes cheese as much as I do but loves chocolate just as much as I do.

Plane food is either nasty or the best thing on the planet. 

Uganda is very pretty!

Cheers and Siiba Bulungi! (Spend the day well!)

Katelyn Has Arrived in Africa!

Hi everyone!

Katelyn asked me to let you know that she has arrived in Uganda !! As I write, she will be waking up to her first morning in Africa! A big beautiful day for a wonderful woman --

The Country Desk Director for Uganda, Christina Stegura sent us this photo of the 40 new Peace Corps trainees during their staging event in Philadelphia on 6/3/14.

We can't wait to hear from Katelyn and to see her pictures!

I will sneak in a great big Thank You to you ALL for your love and support,

                      Martha (Katelyn's mom)

Leaving Tomorrow!

Hello All!

This will be a short entry as I am leaving tomorrow bright and early for Philadelphia then on to New York City and off to Johannesburg, South Africa then up to Entebbe, Uganda!

I spent most of today packing and this is the end result (see photo below)... Two large bags, a backpack, and a duffle all of which each weigh under 40 pounds. Kinda crazy my life for the next 27 months in four bags. Should be a good time and I may have a hard time sleeping tomorrow and the next few days with excitement.

 

Flight information

June 4, 2014 - Wednesday

Leave JKF at 11:15AM (East Coast Time)

June 5, 2014 - Thursday

Arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa at 8:20AM (Time change - 8 hours ahead from the US Central Time Zone).

Leave Johannesburg, South Africa at 2:00PM

Arrive in Entebbe, Uganda at 7:05PM 

  

I will try to update as my trip goes along but we will see how that goes :) Also I would like to send out a thank you to everyone who came to my going away party this past Saturday! It was wonderful to see many of your faces before I left. Thank you! It meant a lot to me :)

Cheers and Siiba bulungi! (Spend the day well!)