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.  

A Killer of Technology

Wow it is already almost the middle of February. These last couple of weeks have been packed with planning and activities. I’ve been back and forth between Kampala for was known as Youth Think Tank but is now called Youth Camp volunteerism Think Tank and I was also in for medical. Of course Peace Corps Medical has no idea what is wrong with me as my tests came back negative which I guess is good but also frustrating their solution is I stop eating okay great will get on that. The new Education sector volunteers arrived at their sites a couple weeks ago and one is at a site right up the road from me in Kigarama at Kigarama Primary School and we also have one at another KFSP school of course they did not tell KFSP about getting volunteers so there is drama and such surrounding that but by the end of their two years KFSP will love them and not want them to leave this is very typical when something is not communicated to the heads of KFSP which is understandable but also frustrating. 

On a sad note, my computer died this past week, I did have a feeling it would and was just waiting for it to crap out and of course I had backed everything up (NOT!) and I lost most everything. This is normal for me to not back anything up. Lesson for future and current PCV’s back everything up at least two times a week. To be honest I dropped my hardrive on the floor and it will not work since probably October and then I forgot, actually I didn’t forget, my Tablet forgot its passcode so I have not been able to use it since getting here. I dropped my smartphone and broke that then made sure it was finished by throwing it across the room at the wall. I guess you could call me technologically challenged when it comes to keeping things alive and functioning. So currently I am using one of the organizations laptops which is okay so far just been a frustrating couple of days trying to figure out such and such of the computer it is a Windows 7 and my other computer was a Windows 8 which made it challenging to jump back in time. I had a freak out over that computer but after a week or so I am okay with it I just want to make sure I can get my photos off of it which is eight months worth of photos!

This week has been packed with planning and prepping for the Patrons Meeting with all 13 schools (normally 14 but one of them got grounded for bad behavior), patrons from the Environmental Conservation Program came, Head Boy and Girl Teachers came for the Health meeting and also all the head teachers attended. It was a good day busy but had lots of information to share about this coming. I am happy to report I got nine of the 13 schools to sign up for possible trainings on Reusable Menstrual Pads (RUMPS) and also two of the schools currently receiving monthly pads requested information on them! Big day! Slowly slowly bring some new ideas to the table. The Boys Program was received with much support and all of our programs will start tomorrow (Monday!) which I am very excited about should be a good busy week ahead. I am happy and content with how things are going which is a good sign.

Saturday Morning

Woke up this morning to a few bees in my kitchen and by a few I mean a large amount that you do not want anywhere near yourself or your kitchen especially African bees. I killed a bunch but they kept coming and this morning was a lot of stress and calling bee people in town and my father back in the USA (sorry about that – I woke them up around 11:45PM oops). I even put a tray of honey right outside my window… nope would not touch it, put a mosquito net over the window and vent no luck. So finally I stopped freaking out, cleared out of the kitchen with my food, closed up the kitchen with the bees inside and just went and did other things and waited for them to swarm with the Queen. Well, after about three hours, for the most part they have left my kitchen, guess they did not like being locked inside, there are one or two left which will most likely meet the bottom of my shoe after I post this but not my idea of starting the morning off and all I wanted was a cup of tea.

Oh Roma!

Well thankfully a couple days ago after I finished taking a nap, I woke up with the excitement that I am going back to Africa! My experience here in Rome has been amazing and it has been a dream/bucket list come true for me to finally have travel to Europe. I've learned so much over the last couple weeks but to be honest, I am ready to head back and hit the ground running and get back to my life in Uganda (mainly because its cold here in Rome - I don't do well in the cold) but also I have a lot to do in Uganda with my org, Peace Corps and I want to go back. However, I will be coming back to Rome and Italy in general over the years. I want to plan a motorcycle trip up and down Italy's coast (both coasts) in the near future (after COS) or even when I have my honeymoon (my future husband has to go where I say - hehe). There is so much history and so many amazing places to visit that it would take years and years to know everything and see everything. Just walking down on one side of the street then coming back up on the other side opens a whole new view of the city. It is amazing.

The family I have been staying with have been wonderful and have taken me in like one of their own and thankfully have given me some time on my own to explore Rome and I got to see Naples. The two girls have been wonderful and also fun and crazy. It has given me a great idea of what having children will be like. Still a couple years down the road I think (sorry mom and dad).

I do wish I spoke Italian, I absolutely love the language (inserting request for Rosetta Stone Italian) the girls have taught me some but I speak English with them all the time as they need the practice. Goal for the coming year and a half before COS to learn Italian. I've also learned a lot from just interacting with people. It is funny when you ask people if they speak English they go "No, I do not speak English." in perfect English. They also love to give you directions in Italian even though you just told them you don't speak any Italian. Everyone is so shy to speak English with you and when they do its great. The schools don't speak it at all. That has been the most challenging for me during my time here. Well time to hit the Italian language books.

Favorite places so far have been the Pantheon, Ancient Rome, Tearo di Marcello, walking the different streets in the former Jewish Getto, also any street that are not full of tourists, Castel Sant' Angelo, and the top of St. Peter's Basilica, Mon. Vittorio Emanuelle II, Musei Capitolini, seeing the pope give his weekly address, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Museums, and really everywhere I have been. I have found being the first person in line right at 9AM is awesome as by the time you are finishing up the crowds are showing up. Since it is winter go out when the weather is pooo no one is out. Only down side of being here in winter other then it being cold is that a lot of the sites are under renovation. Trevi Fountain was all covered in scaffolding and a part of Musei Capitolini and the Vatican Museums were being set up for a new exhibition.

I have not done a ton of eating out because the family has given me free range to their kitchen and I have been wanting to save my euros but I have gone to a couple places. Antico Forno Rosciali is amazing...I went on a Sunday and it was packed so I went in and turned around and went right back out and found another Pizza placce which had a signed photo of Silvester Stallone on it so I knew it was good. But I went back to Antico Forno Rosciali for lunch today and I think the guy thought I was ordering for two which was fine because he gave my twice as much pizza and I got these amazing chocolate filled things started with an "N" which had a pastry outside covered in hazelnut and they were amazing and pure heaven. Ate for two this afternoon and not ashamed of it. Really I've just picked random places away from tourist sites and done really well. The only food I did not like at all was Pizza in Naples (I think the place we ate at was yucky in general - have to go back and try a better place - come on Pizza in Naples it has to be amazing). I've just tried about everything that has been placed in front of me. I hate cheese and I've tried some random crazy cheeses and I can still tell you I hate cheese (minus on Pizza). I didn't drink but now I can't say that any more because I've drank so much wine more than I have ever had in my life and it has been amazing wine. Gelato is just amazing. The cakes they make here are to die for. Italian food why why do you have to be amazing?!

Rome is well worth the trip.     

So back to Uganda I go. I will be leaving on Sunday around 1:30PM and will arrive on Monday around 3:15AM in Uganda then a five hour bus ride back to Fort Portal and jump right into work.