One Roommate Wants To Go To Mars, The Other Does Not Follow UK Politics.

How I am friends with these two to be honest, I have no idea but I am extremely grateful to have these two wonderful, funny, intelligent, and enjoyable young men around. I have learned a lot from them in the short time we have been together. They are two very different people which makes them even more special in my mind. 

Will, Myself, and Max

 The first is my roommate Max, Max has lived on my side of the house since I arrived at site back in August, he is doing a Princeton In Africa Fellowship. He keeps me sane and also puts me in my place when I need to be and I do the same for him (I hope). He is a nerd but a wonderful nerd, he is smart, he knows about a lot of different things and many random facts and information from all over the world, and he is also fluent in Geography. However, I was able to stump him when I asked about the small little islands of the world so now all my geography questions revolve around those islands hehe. He has this passion, drive, and pure love for Africa that makes me very jealous. He is wonderfully short (he is standing on a stoop in the photo), an Ashkenazi Jew mixed with a Japanese and Chinese background which I love as we have some great conversations about religion and race. He is always up to date on the latest world events, loves to research and be in the know on everything. He has a love for getting to know the people and the cultures around him. He is extremely patient, loves to laugh and has a lot of love to give to others. He is one of the most hardworking man I have ever worked with.  He can be frustrating as he works all the time, likes to ask a lot of questions, and be right about 97% of the time but who doesn’t right?! He has done so much in his life, his résumé blew me out of the water when I read it and this kid is only 22-years-old and he has done so much in his community with education which is another passion of his.     

What gets me the most is he takes every punch that is thrown at him from people around him with grace and dignity when I would have punched all their faces in, had they said or written some of the emails he has received from people he works with but he does his best and continues on. 

I have had some crazy adventures with him and lots of great memories from first meeting to talking for hours, hiking and visiting the local lodges. I love to tease him as he does not like organized fun but loves to be adventurous. Surprisingly enough just like my last name no one can ever spell his last name ‘Sugerman’ correctly either. I love this guy and will be so happy to see where his life takes him and most likely will cry when he leaves in June.

**Then comes Will, it may seem like Will’s section of the blog is a little shallow but I have only known Will since January 14^th when this tall young man walked out to open the gate for our taxi returning from Kampala. Max and I have been through a lot together and we have shared a lot of intimate stuff and I know Max really well so I am not trying to offend anyone as I am still getting to know Will so hopefully I will do this friendship justice and if not I am very sorry.** 

For the most part William or Will is the opposite of Max. Yes, he and Max are both 22-years-old, fresh off the University presses looking for their places in this large world.  However, Will is 6’5”, skinny as a twig, passionate about field hockey, with a English/British background was more into the socializing aspect of university versus Max’s love of the library. Will is from Salisbury in the UK and Max is from Washington State in the old US of A. Will and I both love to throw parties, watch a movie/TV show, and enjoy a glass of wine or beer at Duchess. Now I know what you are all thinking ‘Will is a party boy’ well yes that is true but there is a side of him that is way better than his ‘party boy’ side.

Will has a way of making everyone feel comfortable and at home when you are around him. He has a good sense of humor with great confidence in himself but not the normal cocky confidence you get from 15-99 year old men. This is the good kind of confidence that will take him very far in life and dare I say it with the ladies as well. He is a good sport about a lot of things like the time I made his sit through Into The Woods with me or made him carry all the shopping. Nothing is off the table for us when it comes to conversations, we talk about everything from sex to zebras, we share a lot of laughter as well and some great awkward situations. His relaxed style though probably annoying to some is wonderful to have around as it makes me relax. He is in love with life and has a very big heart which he shares with those around him. He loves working with children and young adults. The respect he shows Ugandans is something you only see once in a while and makes me so jealous. I had a feeling he was young but not as young as 22-year-old because I have yet to meet a 22-year-old who is as mature, caring, respectful, and downright great like Will. He may be ‘young’ in some people’s eyes but he is one of those guys who will tell you how they see it. He can read my body language and knows when to leave me alone but also when to help me cool down. There have been a few moments when he has said a word or two in response to something that is going on in my life and it snaps me out of whatever is happening and makes me go wow where have you been all my life?! This kid is 22-years-old! He has such kind words which are beautifully articulate and mead a lot. I will miss Will and his awesomeness when he leaves in about a month and I will miss our ‘town dates’ as we like to call them and watching movies/TV shows together.

 

My Boys!

These two young men share a lot in common but also they are opposites of each other but what makes them amazing is the fact they are different, they come from different backgrounds, upbringing, education, lifestyles, but they both ended up on the same continent (Africa), country (Uganda), district (Kabarole), town (Fort Portal), and village (Kasiisi) with me. Max and Will have so much heart and Love to share with the world and they have been wonderful roommates and I cannot wait to see what the world brings these two.

And The Dust Turns To Mud

Well the dry season has come to an end here in the West. Since December, there has been no rain, the sun had been shinning all day long, and it has been hot. Hot as in 80 plus degrees. I arrived in Uganda back in June during the dry season and arrived at site at the end of that dry season now I am sitting on my front porch listening to the rubble of the thunder over Kibale Forest making its way to the house. Half of the sky is bright blue the other is dark and ominous. So starts what I am told is the worse rainy season but heck everyone one said that about the last season so I have no idea. All I know is it will be wet. When I got back from Italy, I was so happy because I was not cold anymore and to be honest, I love the dry season. Minus the dust and smoke from bush burning. 

I found everyone I talked to was like ‘oh it is too hot’ or ‘oh there is too much dust’ well they said that about the rainy season ‘oh there is too much rain’ or ‘oh there is too much mud’ or ‘oh it is too cold.’ Guess you can’t please everyone. 

Prices for food have gone up and there has been a lot less supply in the markets so I have changed my diet to fit that which you really do when things are out of season. The trees and plants around the roads turned brown and red because of the dust and leafs started to fall from the tress and things turned brown. With the start of rainy season people are prepping their fields and there is an excitement of having rain again. Everything has turned a bright beautiful green again. We cleaned the rain tank we have yesterday. We dumped so much water but had to do it as the roof was covered in dust which got washed down into the tank with the rain (does not taste good), we filled all our jerrycans and buckets with water but had to waste a lot of water took almost an hour to drain. Now it will be our luck that we don’t get rain for a couple days.

The other night, my roommates and I sat out on our front porch watching the lightening and storms that were all around us. The sky filled with dust and smoke from bush burning turned the lightening a bright red, orange and yellow it was amazing. It was also a dry storm as well so that was really cool. A true African storm.

My favorite part of dry season has been riding motorcycles (I have a wavier) in and back from Fort and to schools as I would come back a nice color brown/red from all the dust even when wearing a helmet.

Now the clouds have come back. The weather again changes every 30 minutes; cloudy, sunny, cloudy, windy, sunny, rainy, hail, sunny, and so on. I hear that this one will last until around May but global warming is hitting this part of Africa hard so who knows when it will end. 

So lets raise a glass to the rain and drink it in.

Some Days I Wish I Didn’t Have Roommates

*My living situation is slightly different then most Peace Corps volunteers.

I live in a beautiful house just off the path on a tea plantation. The house has six rooms, two of which I live in on one side of the house with my own kitchen and living area. Currently, there are two other volunteers and one possible new volunteers living in the house. 

There are some days here in Uganda that I wish I didn’t have roommates. Don’t get me wrong, I love them to death but it would be nice some days to not have to make an effort to be me.

The rather large ‘long term volunteer’ housing that KFSP/The Kasiisi Project built is what I like to call the ‘Frat House’ cause we host parties, we have people over every couple of days, we are constantly changing people in and out every couple of months as volunteers come and go, we have drama, and we have the occasional dance party (either by ourselves behind closed doors or in a group in our living room), we kill sperm bugs with newspaper when we get pissed off at something that was said at work or in an email and bitch to each other. We are a bunch of adults trying to figure out the path that is before us.

I just wish some days I could home and not have anyone around. I like to spend time alone but I also will work the room in social situations if need be. I have about two/three hours in the afternoon when no one is around in between the cook leaving for the day and the guard arriving. Yes I can lock myself in my room but come on a roommate texts inviting you to watch a movie next door how do you say ‘no’?    

When I am frustrated or pissed off I would like to be able to walk around the compound glowering in true Katelyn fashion and not have people freak out and ask if I am okay?... Some days I want to scream into my pillows and not have the guard, cook, or roommates hurry over worried something is wrong. I am grateful to have that ‘concern’ if that is the right word and it has been wonderful having roommates here in Uganda but some days I would like to be alone. As much as I may complain about it I am grateful for it at well.

*I only feel about this way once in a while and for the most part I love living with people.