January 26, 2009, Monday
I wish you could come to Uganda and see all that I am seeing now. I wish you could experience Ugandan life, Ugandan Christianity, Ugandan hospitality, etc. It is so very different than anything I have ever experienced.
Side note: I GOT MY LUGGAGE!!! My luggage arrived exactly two weeks after I landed in Entebbe. My bag has almost seen more of the world than I have. Here’s a little course my bag has been on. Minneapolis to Atlanta to D.C. to Amsterdam to Ethiopia to New York to Amsterdam to Uganda (whoops, Uganda didn’t tell me it was here) to Amsterdam to New York to Amsterdam and finally back to Uganda (where it was picked up on Friday). I wasn’t able to unpack until this morning since I was with my host family all weekend. We’re not supposed to bring all of our stuff to our families since my luggage could be more than all of their earthly possessions. Thank you to all of you who put secret notes in odd places. It was so fun unpacking and finding little notes of encouragement hidden in my q-tips and glasses case.
This weekend was our first and last full weekend with our host family. Friday, January 30th is our last day. This weekend was completely full with going into Kampala on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Each day was full so I’ll give a synopsis of each day.
Friday, Joy and I had class until 1:00. We quickly ate lunch and then our house brother, Julius, brought us to Kampala. Julius is 29 and is a lawyer. He works for the government (he says to pay the bills), he also owns a travel agency (which doesn’t get much clientele), and he also started up a loan agency which gives small loans to poor women who have their own business. There is only a 3% interest rate so he is barely getting a profit. He says he’s more interested in loaning to women because he finds them to be more reliable. Also, he said that because they are taking the initiative to run their own little business, they will care for their children. He does loan to men, but if a woman comes to him and applies for a loan, she will get priority.
Joy and I went with one of his employees (Rosette) to the market where the majority of their clients work. Now, I have been to many markets around the world, but I have never experienced anything like this before. First of all, we had to walk across town to get to the market. This means crossing streets where cross walks to not exist. Taxis, Boda Boda (motorcycles), and cars do not stop for pedestrians. Also, cars drive on the left side of the road. Anyway, we crossed several roads and Joy almost got slowly rolled over by a taxi. Rosette who was to be our tour guide for the afternoon was walking casually, barely looking where she went. Joy and I were darting here and there to avoid speeding vehicles which were swerving to avoid potholes at the expense of the pedestrians.
Once we finally reached the market, we found several blocks blocked off. I had expected several little shacks along a road or path. Imagine a little shack with pieces of tin as a roof, the roof held down with bricks and tires, and the walls of random pieces of metal and wood, the floor was plywood, and rotten wood, with occasional areas of concrete. Now take that image and multiply it by 100. The market took up about 4-5 square blocks. There was an area for shoes, food, clothing, flour, bananas, meat, etc. There were hundreds of vendors each with a little tiny area to sell their wares. I wish I had pictures to show you, but we were advised not to bring any valuables to the market. I’m glad we didn’t. The “path” between the vendors varied from one foot wide to maybe two feet wide. We were constantly turning sideways to squeeze past shoppers and vendors. Joy and I were the only white people in the entire market so everyone noticed us. We heard so many different sayings, trying to get our attention. The most common was “Mzungu” which means white person. We also heard “Barack Obama”, “Obama”, “Beautiful”, etc. Some funny ones I heard were… “Hey, do you have a phone number… do you have a phone.” and “Marriage? Are you marriage?”
Rosette brought us around to several of the companies clients. She says they do this to build relationships with the clients. I really enjoyed meeting all the clients; they were all very welcoming and sweet. And they didn’t try to sell us any of their products.
One thing you should know is that this place was very crowded. If we weren’t constantly looking at Rosette’s back, we would be lost. The problem is the path is very lopsided, rocky, etc. Occasionally we would have to take a flying leap to avoid a puddle with questionable things floating in it. We were also used to pulling our arms away from overly zealous vendors who wanted to stop us. Once we even lost Rosette for a second. I think she may have grabbed my arm as I passed by her, but I was so used to vendors doing it, I just wrenched it away. It wasn’t until I realized that Joy (who was in front of me) had stopped and was looking around that we were by ourselves. Thankfully I didn’t have much time to dwell on the fact that we were two female mzungus in a labyrinth of vendors, alone, without a guide, a phone, or a friend. But then Rosette came up behind me and we were saved.
We were in the markets for about an hour and a half, I don’t know when my heart would slow down. We walked through the “food court” where they set up little tables and served Matooke (mashed bananas), rice, and beans. The pots they cooked with were right on the path and if you weren’t careful, you could scald your leg as you walked by. Also know that electricity is very expensive, so there were open fires and charcoal throughout the “food court.”
A note on driving in Uganda:
First of all, there seem to be no filters that keep hazardous smoke from entering the atmosphere or people’s lungs. I leave Kampala with my eyes red and my lungs black from the exhaust. Driving is crazy. It’s similar to the Philippines in that, you don’t stop unless you’re about to t-bone another car and occasionally a person. Pot holes are the size of a small pond at home and drivers do all they can to avoid them, including going into the other lane while a ginormous dump truck is barreling at them. I find it easier to close my eyes and embrace the “ignorance is bliss” way of life while being a passenger.
Saturday:
Julius brought us to Kampala again to give us a touristic time. We went to the tombs of the last four kings of Uganda. It was a very good historical and cultural experience, but not really worth the 10,000 shillings ($5) we paid for it. The palace was made of elephant grass and grass for a roof. It was very interesting. One of the kings had about 80 wives and the houses surrounding the court yard were for them. Now the ancestors of his many wives are actually living there. Keep in mind, this king died around 1900, so not very long ago.
Later in the day Joy and I went to a craft market where they sell authentic Ugandan crafts. I bought a Ugandan bag/purse so I wouldn’t have to carry my backpack around anymore. And Joy bought sandals. We were being practical and figuring out prices so we could go around other places and see if the prices are different.
Julius than brought us almost to Entebbe to see the land he has where he’s building a house. It’s a beautiful plot, out in the middle of nowhere but with an incredible view of Lake Victoria. He had gotten the land for cheap from a client of his (when he was working as a lawyer). He intends to build a house, rent it out, and put the proceeds into his lending business.
We got home around 7:30 and were exhausted. Dinner usually isn’t served until 9 or 10.
Sunday:
Joy and I went into Kampala with Mirika (the mother), Frederick (the Reverend father), and Julius. Frederick is an Anglican priest at a church in the slums of Kampala. The slums are located on a swamp so the roads are always wet and the stagnant water is the perfect place for malarial mosquitoes. The houses flood regularly and the area is densely populated, especially with children. World Vision had built the church Frederick serves at 10 years ago. Since then, the building has sunk into the earth, the windows are now ground level and the earth that had been cement at one time was now bare earth. There is a school next door that was also built by World Vision but it has not sunk as deeply.
The service was very interesting. They performed all the rituals of an Anglican church except no communion. I think that’s because it’s too expensive. The sermon was replaced by a traveling group. They were a group whose intent was to inform the public of how to keep from getting HIV/AIDS and to get tested, and offer counseling. I was surprised at the lack of knowledge regarding AIDS. I was taught from middle school about how HIV/AIDS was passed around. They performed a skit and made sure everyone understood it was very important to get a blood test, even if they believed they didn’t have it. The group was very blunt about abstaining before marriage, being faithful while married, and emphatically said to use condoms. The leader even had a shirt that said “Abstain, Be Faithful, and Use a Condom.” So the whole idea of making the public aware is very important. I had always thought, raising awareness was the easy way out. But it is extremely important. There’s been a rumor that if a man with HIV/AIDS has sex with a virgin, than he will be cured. Because of this rumor, more and more young girls are being assaulted and infected with HIV/AIDS. The group is traveling around Kampala and surrounding towns attempting to dispel this lie. They are an incredible group. Some of them are HIV positive and gave their testimony at the end of the service.
So this weekend has been really busy and interesting. There’s so much more to tell, but it takes a lot of energy on my part to convey to you what I’m seeing and experiencing. I hope you can get a glimpse into my life here and experience Uganda through me.
Thank you for your prayers and emails.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
So far
January 11th, 2009
I have safely arrived in Uganda, and it is beautiful. I was reading Poisonwood Bible on the plane ride over and one of the characters commented on the lack of a smell in the U.S.. So when I arrived in Africa I made a point to notice the smells. Believe me, there are smells everywhere. Mostly good, some bad.
I’ll give you a run down of what’s happened so far.
We arrived in Entebbe at 9:00 on Friday the 9th (1:00 pm your time), three people from our group lost their luggage coming from Amsterdam (I had already lost mine going to D.C.). We had no problem going through customs. They just had all of us give our passports to one person from our group and wait for them to go through it all. I could have easily given someone else’s passport and they wouldn’t have known the difference. They didn’t check the pictures with the person, it was pretty lax.
We proceeded to drive 1-2 hours (I’m not sure how long, I fell asleep), until we got to Mukono, the city where Uganda Christian University (UCU) is. On the drive we drove past Lake Victoria, which was awesome. The people are very nice in my group. We chatted on the way but most of us fell asleep on the planes and bus ride.
When we arrived at UCU we were split up between IMME (the missions oriented people) and the USE (Uganda Studies Emphasis). I’m USE. Five of us were sent to Sabiiti hall where we are going to live for the rest of the semester. I was one of the five and all the rest were split into the part of the campus called “Honours College”. Apparently I didn’t quite cut the academic line. Just kidding, there wasn’t room for all of us among the smart ones. But at Sabiiti we’re in the first year dorm so everyone is very nice and welcoming. We always have our neighbors come knocking on our door to say hi and introduce themselves. My roommates are great. I have two. One is Kelsey from Olivet Nazarene University and the other is Emily from Messiah (Jesus). They’re both very sweet and fun, I really like them. They’re kind enough to offer me some of their clothing and toiletries until my luggage arrives. They even bought me a mug from Mukono so we can have tea together. Across the hall are two other USP-ers named Kristin and Katie (there are about 5 Katie’s in our group). I really like being separate from the majority of the group, it makes me reach out more to the Ugandan students.
My dorm is better than I expected. There are three of us in one room that was intended for four. There are two sets of bunk beds, I’m on the bottom. The mosquito netting makes me feel like I’m a princess with lace falling around me when I sleep. Apparently the Ugandans don’t care about others talking when they sleep. We hear several early morning singers in the showers (early morning = 4 am), conversations in the hallways, doors opening and closing, roosters crowing, and birds chirping. I tend to sleep through it all.
Meals consist of rice and beans in ginormous portions with a side of either potatoes, condensed corn meal, fried bananas, and other stuff I’m not sure of. I’ve tended to ask for ¼ of what they offer and still can’t finish it all. We try to sit somewhat separately so Ugandans join us. If all the white people are at one table, it tends to make us look exclusive. I’ve met several people doing this (it’s really hard to remember their names though, they sort of look alike.)
Saturday was pretty busy with orientation. We got cell phones!!! And you can call me. I’ll give you my info at the end. They set up our internet (which apparently works pretty often if you’re in the right spot), gave us a manual on Uganda, set up our classes (I’ve changed mine to History, African Traditional Religions, Reading the NT in Africa, African Christian Theology, and Faith and Action. Creative writing was only with USP students, I wanted some natives in my class.
The temp is beautiful. It’s only 85 degrees and they say this is as hot as it gets. I was even a little cold last night. After orientation, we went to climb Monkey Hill behind campus and saw monkeys, Lake Victoria in the distance, Mukono, and other cities around. The landscape is beautiful, it’s very hilly (mountainous if you’re from MN). Dinner starts at 7. The Cafeteria is incredible! It’s like a huge patio. There are posts all around, one side has a wall where the kitchen is, but everything else is open. So while I eat there’s a breeze blowing against me. It’s great.
There was a worship service last night at 8:00 we could attend. I went with most of the group (though the IMME’s had already been taken to their families in Mukono, Chuck included). It was very interesting. I’m not sure how long it lasted; I left early (10:00) after my head hit my chest for the millionth time. But there was a lot of clapping, swaying, testimonies, impromptu solos, impromptu speeches/sermons, and singing in Luganda and English. I really liked it but couldn’t stay up much longer.
Sunday was a free day. We went to church, it was pretty interesting. I think they were sort of catering to the new students and especially to the Americans. The father basically gave a thorough explanation of an Anglican service and why they have it. I’m excited for next week when they give their normal sermons. There are two services with huge congregations. My roommates and I went to the 2nd service at 10:30 which is apparently the smaller service. The earlier service has about 900 people. Yes, 900 people. It’s huge compared to what I thought there’d be.
After a lunch of rice and beans several of us headed into Mukono. We had been eating lunch with a second year guy named Ken. When we told him we were heading into Mukono he offered to be our tour guide. He proved to be invaluable. He brought us to the ATM where we can get shillings, showed us where to buy certain things. Unfortunately for me, my card was eaten by the ATM. I took too long calculating the difference between Shillings to Dollars, hit “Not Ready” a little too much and the ATM said I was taking too long so it ate my card. I talked to Ken, our new friend and he told me to come back tomorrow when the bank was open. I wasn’t too put out; I figured if that would happen to anyone, it might as well be me. Everyone felt really bad for me and offered to let me borrow some of their shillings to get my basic needs. Therefore I got six pairs of underwear, hoping that by the time I’m through with them, my luggage will have arrived.
I came back to campus and talked to our leaders and they said it has happened before. Usually what happens is the bank will send the card to the main bank in Kampala. We’re going their on Friday so I’ll just have to pick it up there. But Mom, if you could email me my account number (Wells Fargo) I think that would help get it back faster.
I got back to campus around 4 or so and have been lounging outside, embracing the sun and shade. One of the dorms where some of the girls stay has a porch with a couch. I’m actually sitting there now with seven other girls. Most are finishing reading Poisonwood Bible while others are chatting about their schedules. We often sit here and listen to the birds. One of the girls named Naomi in USP is from Bethel. There’s also a large group of senior Bethel Nursing students. Two of them just walked by with Naomi and we’ve discovered several mutual friends. One of them even knew Erik. She remembered him because he got frost bit on his finger and one of the upper class nursing students told him he’d have to cut it off. That’s how she remembered him. It was fun connecting with Minnesota.
Well, I’ve got to run now. I hope this was informative and humorous for you. I’m sorry it’s filled with punctuation errors and short sentences.
January 16th, 2009
I have safely arrived in Uganda, and it is beautiful. I was reading Poisonwood Bible on the plane ride over and one of the characters commented on the lack of a smell in the U.S.. So when I arrived in Africa I made a point to notice the smells. Believe me, there are smells everywhere. Mostly good, some bad.
I’ll give you a run down of what’s happened so far.
We arrived in Entebbe at 9:00 on Friday the 9th (1:00 pm your time), three people from our group lost their luggage coming from Amsterdam (I had already lost mine going to D.C.). We had no problem going through customs. They just had all of us give our passports to one person from our group and wait for them to go through it all. I could have easily given someone else’s passport and they wouldn’t have known the difference. They didn’t check the pictures with the person, it was pretty lax.
We proceeded to drive 1-2 hours (I’m not sure how long, I fell asleep), until we got to Mukono, the city where Uganda Christian University (UCU) is. On the drive we drove past Lake Victoria, which was awesome. The people are very nice in my group. We chatted on the way but most of us fell asleep on the planes and bus ride.
When we arrived at UCU we were split up between IMME (the missions oriented people) and the USE (Uganda Studies Emphasis). I’m USE. Five of us were sent to Sabiiti hall where we are going to live for the rest of the semester. I was one of the five and all the rest were split into the part of the campus called “Honours College”. Apparently I didn’t quite cut the academic line. Just kidding, there wasn’t room for all of us among the smart ones. But at Sabiiti we’re in the first year dorm so everyone is very nice and welcoming. We always have our neighbors come knocking on our door to say hi and introduce themselves. My roommates are great. I have two. One is Kelsey from Olivet Nazarene University and the other is Emily from Messiah (Jesus). They’re both very sweet and fun, I really like them. They’re kind enough to offer me some of their clothing and toiletries until my luggage arrives. They even bought me a mug from Mukono so we can have tea together. Across the hall are two other USP-ers named Kristin and Katie (there are about 5 Katie’s in our group). I really like being separate from the majority of the group, it makes me reach out more to the Ugandan students.
My dorm is better than I expected. There are three of us in one room that was intended for four. There are two sets of bunk beds, I’m on the bottom. The mosquito netting makes me feel like I’m a princess with lace falling around me when I sleep. Apparently the Ugandans don’t care about others talking when they sleep. We hear several early morning singers in the showers (early morning = 4 am), conversations in the hallways, doors opening and closing, roosters crowing, and birds chirping. I tend to sleep through it all.
Meals consist of rice and beans in ginormous portions with a side of either potatoes, condensed corn meal, fried bananas, and other stuff I’m not sure of. I’ve tended to ask for ¼ of what they offer and still can’t finish it all. We try to sit somewhat separately so Ugandans join us. If all the white people are at one table, it tends to make us look exclusive. I’ve met several people doing this (it’s really hard to remember their names though, they sort of look alike.)
Saturday was pretty busy with orientation. We got cell phones!!! And you can call me. I’ll give you my info at the end. They set up our internet (which apparently works pretty often if you’re in the right spot), gave us a manual on Uganda, set up our classes (I’ve changed mine to History, African Traditional Religions, Reading the NT in Africa, African Christian Theology, and Faith and Action. Creative writing was only with USP students, I wanted some natives in my class.
The temp is beautiful. It’s only 85 degrees and they say this is as hot as it gets. I was even a little cold last night. After orientation, we went to climb Monkey Hill behind campus and saw monkeys, Lake Victoria in the distance, Mukono, and other cities around. The landscape is beautiful, it’s very hilly (mountainous if you’re from MN). Dinner starts at 7. The Cafeteria is incredible! It’s like a huge patio. There are posts all around, one side has a wall where the kitchen is, but everything else is open. So while I eat there’s a breeze blowing against me. It’s great.
There was a worship service last night at 8:00 we could attend. I went with most of the group (though the IMME’s had already been taken to their families in Mukono, Chuck included). It was very interesting. I’m not sure how long it lasted; I left early (10:00) after my head hit my chest for the millionth time. But there was a lot of clapping, swaying, testimonies, impromptu solos, impromptu speeches/sermons, and singing in Luganda and English. I really liked it but couldn’t stay up much longer.
Sunday was a free day. We went to church, it was pretty interesting. I think they were sort of catering to the new students and especially to the Americans. The father basically gave a thorough explanation of an Anglican service and why they have it. I’m excited for next week when they give their normal sermons. There are two services with huge congregations. My roommates and I went to the 2nd service at 10:30 which is apparently the smaller service. The earlier service has about 900 people. Yes, 900 people. It’s huge compared to what I thought there’d be.
After a lunch of rice and beans several of us headed into Mukono. We had been eating lunch with a second year guy named Ken. When we told him we were heading into Mukono he offered to be our tour guide. He proved to be invaluable. He brought us to the ATM where we can get shillings, showed us where to buy certain things. Unfortunately for me, my card was eaten by the ATM. I took too long calculating the difference between Shillings to Dollars, hit “Not Ready” a little too much and the ATM said I was taking too long so it ate my card. I talked to Ken, our new friend and he told me to come back tomorrow when the bank was open. I wasn’t too put out; I figured if that would happen to anyone, it might as well be me. Everyone felt really bad for me and offered to let me borrow some of their shillings to get my basic needs. Therefore I got six pairs of underwear, hoping that by the time I’m through with them, my luggage will have arrived.
I came back to campus and talked to our leaders and they said it has happened before. Usually what happens is the bank will send the card to the main bank in Kampala. We’re going their on Friday so I’ll just have to pick it up there. But Mom, if you could email me my account number (Wells Fargo) I think that would help get it back faster.
I got back to campus around 4 or so and have been lounging outside, embracing the sun and shade. One of the dorms where some of the girls stay has a porch with a couch. I’m actually sitting there now with seven other girls. Most are finishing reading Poisonwood Bible while others are chatting about their schedules. We often sit here and listen to the birds. One of the girls named Naomi in USP is from Bethel. There’s also a large group of senior Bethel Nursing students. Two of them just walked by with Naomi and we’ve discovered several mutual friends. One of them even knew Erik. She remembered him because he got frost bit on his finger and one of the upper class nursing students told him he’d have to cut it off. That’s how she remembered him. It was fun connecting with Minnesota.
Well, I’ve got to run now. I hope this was informative and humorous for you. I’m sorry it’s filled with punctuation errors and short sentences.
Ashley
January 16, 2009, Friday
Hmm, Africa is a wonderful place! I wake up to the smell of smoke from the dining hall and to the sound of early risers singing their hearts out in the showers. Thanks to you all who have replied to my email and are praying for me while I’m here. I will try to get back to you individually as soon as I can, which may be a while yet because of slow internet connections. Several of you have also asked for pictures to be posted. This may be a bigger problem. The internet is very slow and pretty unreliable so it takes a long time to upload pictures even though I would love to post them and show you a picture into my world here.
I am just about to complete my first full week of classes at Uganda Christian University (UCU). I have wonderful classes, though some of them can be a little dull at times. I find myself mentally exhausted after my New Testament, History of E. Africa, African Traditional Religions, and African Christian Theology classes. These classes are all taught by Ugandan professors with distinct and African accented English. They are generally 2 hours long and I find myself more focused on translating their English to my English so I can understand the content. I have one more class called Faith and Action, which is taught by an American. When I finally get to that class I find I barely need to pay attention but can grasp everything he says. Despite the slight language accent barrier I am really enjoying my classes. My favorite is African Christian Theology (I can also understand this professor better than the rest). The way Africans teach their classes and how the students respond is much different than in the States. For example, if I was taking a theology course at home I would be expected to have my own ideas and even dispute with the professor if I disagreed with him. But here in Africa, what the professor says is law. I don’t think they would be very offended if I asked challenging questions, but it would be very unusual. It is so fascinating to participate in different cultures and learning here.
I’ve discovered several cultural differences since being here. First of all, cars drive on the left side of the road. You think this wouldn’t be a big problem for me because I’m not driving. However, driving on the left side follows though to walking on sidewalks or pathways. Often time I do the awkward right, then left, then right, nervous laugh, and scoot around the Ugandan. I am a pro at awkward moments. I’ve begun saying in my head as I walk by people, “stay left, stay left, don’t go right, stay left.” I’m amazed at how much American culture has affected my walking habits. My first couple days here I would smile and nod at people to say hello but often received blank stares. Yesterday I discovered why the Ugandans weren’t responding to my hello. While I was bobbing my head like a bobble head, they were very confused. But if I had just raised my eyebrows they would have responded likewise in the Ugandan way of saying hello.
My roommate (Emily) and I washed our clothes (by hand) for the first time since being here. We scrubbed the parts we knew were dirty (armpits, stains, sweat spots, etc.) and let the clothes soak for a little bit. We got so tired after hanging everything on the clothes lines. We’ve decided that if we ever get tired of rice and beans, all we have to do is laundry and we’d be excited to eat it once again. Two of our friends did their laundry soon after us with one of our Ugandan friends (Sarah). Apparently Emily and I were lacking on our washing skills. Sarah scrubbed every inch of fabric multiple times and rinsed over and over than washed again. I don’t know if I’ll ever be as proficient as the Ugandans.
We’ve only been here a week and I’m sad to say I’m already dreaming of American food. Green beans, strawberries, carrots, green peppers, pizza, etc. Every Wednesday is meat day in the dining hall. Our whole group was so excited to get some meat with our rice. I’m doing my best not to talk about certain foods so I can enjoy our meals at the dining hall. Vegetables and fruit are pretty scarce, which surprised me since the climate is prime for growing most of the year.
We’re heading into Kampala today to see the city. My luggage hasn’t arrived but should be here any day (I’m hoping). So if we call the airport and it’s not here, I’m going to buy a couple outfits in Kampala and try to fill in all the holes of things I’m missing so I don’t have to borrow from the girls in my group anymore. I’m not sure if I told you, but my luggage has seen a lot of the world recently. The airline flew it to Ethiopia, realized it was the wrong country, so they sent it back to New York. Now it should be coming to Entebbe (Uganda) any day. I’m praying this is so.
Tomorrow we’re going to be placed in our home-stays. We’re going to be with a family for two weeks. Next time you hear from me I’m going to have a Ugandan mother and father and probably a few siblings.
Thank you for all your prayers and I will update you again soon. I don’t want to overrun you with emails.
-Ashley
January 20th, 2009, Tuesday
White people here are called Mzungu’s by the natives. I went into town the other day to look into buying some clothes since my luggage has yet to arrive (last notice, it was in Amsterdam). Anyway, I walked into town and was quite a spectacle. A Mzungu walking around by herself looking into little boxes where clothes are sold. Of course, the shop keepers see a single female Mzungu looking at their clothes and immediately assume she has money (which, compared to them, I have a lot). Anyway every time I asked a how much something was I got huge prices. I never would be able to bring the price down to what they would normally offer a Ugandan. I attempted to bargain the prices down and still know I got cheated but have two new outfits to my name and a pair of sandals.
My home-stay with a Ugandan family started on Saturday. I am with one other student from USP, her name is Joy and we get along really well together. I have a Reverend Father, Frederick; a Teacher mother, Mirika; a Lawyer big brother, Julius; a 16 year old sister, Irene; and an 8 year old sister, Phoebe. I’ve been eating vegetables and fruit at every meal, which is a huge improvement from the University food of beans and rice alone. Meals are very different from the US. Breakfast is at 8/8:30 with tea, bread and margarine, sometimes eggs, Break Tea is at 10/10:30 with tea and bread, Lunch is at 1 or 2:00 with rice or Irish potatoes, or Matooke (mashed bananas), or beans, or beef, or pork, or gizzards. Afternoon tea is at 7. Supper is at 8 or 9 or 10 with food similar to lunch. After supper we have devotions as a family. We read a psalm, discuss it, pray, etc. I really like devotion time. Joy and I sleep in a room with Irene. Ashley is a very hard name to pronounce for Ugandans so they decided to give us Ugandan names. My name is Kwagala which means love. Joy’s name is Shinu which means joy. All we need is a little Peace, Patience, and Self Control to add to our family.
As much as I love my Ugandan family, they’ve made me realize how glad I am to have chosen the Uganda Studies Emphasis (where students live on campus) and not the IMME program (where students live with a family for the whole semester). I definitely need my own personal time which is really hard to find with a family.
I’ve got to run now, sorry this is a shorter email. Love you all.
Ash (Kwagala)
I have safely arrived in Uganda, and it is beautiful. I was reading Poisonwood Bible on the plane ride over and one of the characters commented on the lack of a smell in the U.S.. So when I arrived in Africa I made a point to notice the smells. Believe me, there are smells everywhere. Mostly good, some bad.
I’ll give you a run down of what’s happened so far.
We arrived in Entebbe at 9:00 on Friday the 9th (1:00 pm your time), three people from our group lost their luggage coming from Amsterdam (I had already lost mine going to D.C.). We had no problem going through customs. They just had all of us give our passports to one person from our group and wait for them to go through it all. I could have easily given someone else’s passport and they wouldn’t have known the difference. They didn’t check the pictures with the person, it was pretty lax.
We proceeded to drive 1-2 hours (I’m not sure how long, I fell asleep), until we got to Mukono, the city where Uganda Christian University (UCU) is. On the drive we drove past Lake Victoria, which was awesome. The people are very nice in my group. We chatted on the way but most of us fell asleep on the planes and bus ride.
When we arrived at UCU we were split up between IMME (the missions oriented people) and the USE (Uganda Studies Emphasis). I’m USE. Five of us were sent to Sabiiti hall where we are going to live for the rest of the semester. I was one of the five and all the rest were split into the part of the campus called “Honours College”. Apparently I didn’t quite cut the academic line. Just kidding, there wasn’t room for all of us among the smart ones. But at Sabiiti we’re in the first year dorm so everyone is very nice and welcoming. We always have our neighbors come knocking on our door to say hi and introduce themselves. My roommates are great. I have two. One is Kelsey from Olivet Nazarene University and the other is Emily from Messiah (Jesus). They’re both very sweet and fun, I really like them. They’re kind enough to offer me some of their clothing and toiletries until my luggage arrives. They even bought me a mug from Mukono so we can have tea together. Across the hall are two other USP-ers named Kristin and Katie (there are about 5 Katie’s in our group). I really like being separate from the majority of the group, it makes me reach out more to the Ugandan students.
My dorm is better than I expected. There are three of us in one room that was intended for four. There are two sets of bunk beds, I’m on the bottom. The mosquito netting makes me feel like I’m a princess with lace falling around me when I sleep. Apparently the Ugandans don’t care about others talking when they sleep. We hear several early morning singers in the showers (early morning = 4 am), conversations in the hallways, doors opening and closing, roosters crowing, and birds chirping. I tend to sleep through it all.
Meals consist of rice and beans in ginormous portions with a side of either potatoes, condensed corn meal, fried bananas, and other stuff I’m not sure of. I’ve tended to ask for ¼ of what they offer and still can’t finish it all. We try to sit somewhat separately so Ugandans join us. If all the white people are at one table, it tends to make us look exclusive. I’ve met several people doing this (it’s really hard to remember their names though, they sort of look alike.)
Saturday was pretty busy with orientation. We got cell phones!!! And you can call me. I’ll give you my info at the end. They set up our internet (which apparently works pretty often if you’re in the right spot), gave us a manual on Uganda, set up our classes (I’ve changed mine to History, African Traditional Religions, Reading the NT in Africa, African Christian Theology, and Faith and Action. Creative writing was only with USP students, I wanted some natives in my class.
The temp is beautiful. It’s only 85 degrees and they say this is as hot as it gets. I was even a little cold last night. After orientation, we went to climb Monkey Hill behind campus and saw monkeys, Lake Victoria in the distance, Mukono, and other cities around. The landscape is beautiful, it’s very hilly (mountainous if you’re from MN). Dinner starts at 7. The Cafeteria is incredible! It’s like a huge patio. There are posts all around, one side has a wall where the kitchen is, but everything else is open. So while I eat there’s a breeze blowing against me. It’s great.
There was a worship service last night at 8:00 we could attend. I went with most of the group (though the IMME’s had already been taken to their families in Mukono, Chuck included). It was very interesting. I’m not sure how long it lasted; I left early (10:00) after my head hit my chest for the millionth time. But there was a lot of clapping, swaying, testimonies, impromptu solos, impromptu speeches/sermons, and singing in Luganda and English. I really liked it but couldn’t stay up much longer.
Sunday was a free day. We went to church, it was pretty interesting. I think they were sort of catering to the new students and especially to the Americans. The father basically gave a thorough explanation of an Anglican service and why they have it. I’m excited for next week when they give their normal sermons. There are two services with huge congregations. My roommates and I went to the 2nd service at 10:30 which is apparently the smaller service. The earlier service has about 900 people. Yes, 900 people. It’s huge compared to what I thought there’d be.
After a lunch of rice and beans several of us headed into Mukono. We had been eating lunch with a second year guy named Ken. When we told him we were heading into Mukono he offered to be our tour guide. He proved to be invaluable. He brought us to the ATM where we can get shillings, showed us where to buy certain things. Unfortunately for me, my card was eaten by the ATM. I took too long calculating the difference between Shillings to Dollars, hit “Not Ready” a little too much and the ATM said I was taking too long so it ate my card. I talked to Ken, our new friend and he told me to come back tomorrow when the bank was open. I wasn’t too put out; I figured if that would happen to anyone, it might as well be me. Everyone felt really bad for me and offered to let me borrow some of their shillings to get my basic needs. Therefore I got six pairs of underwear, hoping that by the time I’m through with them, my luggage will have arrived.
I came back to campus and talked to our leaders and they said it has happened before. Usually what happens is the bank will send the card to the main bank in Kampala. We’re going their on Friday so I’ll just have to pick it up there. But Mom, if you could email me my account number (Wells Fargo) I think that would help get it back faster.
I got back to campus around 4 or so and have been lounging outside, embracing the sun and shade. One of the dorms where some of the girls stay has a porch with a couch. I’m actually sitting there now with seven other girls. Most are finishing reading Poisonwood Bible while others are chatting about their schedules. We often sit here and listen to the birds. One of the girls named Naomi in USP is from Bethel. There’s also a large group of senior Bethel Nursing students. Two of them just walked by with Naomi and we’ve discovered several mutual friends. One of them even knew Erik. She remembered him because he got frost bit on his finger and one of the upper class nursing students told him he’d have to cut it off. That’s how she remembered him. It was fun connecting with Minnesota.
Well, I’ve got to run now. I hope this was informative and humorous for you. I’m sorry it’s filled with punctuation errors and short sentences.
January 16th, 2009
I have safely arrived in Uganda, and it is beautiful. I was reading Poisonwood Bible on the plane ride over and one of the characters commented on the lack of a smell in the U.S.. So when I arrived in Africa I made a point to notice the smells. Believe me, there are smells everywhere. Mostly good, some bad.
I’ll give you a run down of what’s happened so far.
We arrived in Entebbe at 9:00 on Friday the 9th (1:00 pm your time), three people from our group lost their luggage coming from Amsterdam (I had already lost mine going to D.C.). We had no problem going through customs. They just had all of us give our passports to one person from our group and wait for them to go through it all. I could have easily given someone else’s passport and they wouldn’t have known the difference. They didn’t check the pictures with the person, it was pretty lax.
We proceeded to drive 1-2 hours (I’m not sure how long, I fell asleep), until we got to Mukono, the city where Uganda Christian University (UCU) is. On the drive we drove past Lake Victoria, which was awesome. The people are very nice in my group. We chatted on the way but most of us fell asleep on the planes and bus ride.
When we arrived at UCU we were split up between IMME (the missions oriented people) and the USE (Uganda Studies Emphasis). I’m USE. Five of us were sent to Sabiiti hall where we are going to live for the rest of the semester. I was one of the five and all the rest were split into the part of the campus called “Honours College”. Apparently I didn’t quite cut the academic line. Just kidding, there wasn’t room for all of us among the smart ones. But at Sabiiti we’re in the first year dorm so everyone is very nice and welcoming. We always have our neighbors come knocking on our door to say hi and introduce themselves. My roommates are great. I have two. One is Kelsey from Olivet Nazarene University and the other is Emily from Messiah (Jesus). They’re both very sweet and fun, I really like them. They’re kind enough to offer me some of their clothing and toiletries until my luggage arrives. They even bought me a mug from Mukono so we can have tea together. Across the hall are two other USP-ers named Kristin and Katie (there are about 5 Katie’s in our group). I really like being separate from the majority of the group, it makes me reach out more to the Ugandan students.
My dorm is better than I expected. There are three of us in one room that was intended for four. There are two sets of bunk beds, I’m on the bottom. The mosquito netting makes me feel like I’m a princess with lace falling around me when I sleep. Apparently the Ugandans don’t care about others talking when they sleep. We hear several early morning singers in the showers (early morning = 4 am), conversations in the hallways, doors opening and closing, roosters crowing, and birds chirping. I tend to sleep through it all.
Meals consist of rice and beans in ginormous portions with a side of either potatoes, condensed corn meal, fried bananas, and other stuff I’m not sure of. I’ve tended to ask for ¼ of what they offer and still can’t finish it all. We try to sit somewhat separately so Ugandans join us. If all the white people are at one table, it tends to make us look exclusive. I’ve met several people doing this (it’s really hard to remember their names though, they sort of look alike.)
Saturday was pretty busy with orientation. We got cell phones!!! And you can call me. I’ll give you my info at the end. They set up our internet (which apparently works pretty often if you’re in the right spot), gave us a manual on Uganda, set up our classes (I’ve changed mine to History, African Traditional Religions, Reading the NT in Africa, African Christian Theology, and Faith and Action. Creative writing was only with USP students, I wanted some natives in my class.
The temp is beautiful. It’s only 85 degrees and they say this is as hot as it gets. I was even a little cold last night. After orientation, we went to climb Monkey Hill behind campus and saw monkeys, Lake Victoria in the distance, Mukono, and other cities around. The landscape is beautiful, it’s very hilly (mountainous if you’re from MN). Dinner starts at 7. The Cafeteria is incredible! It’s like a huge patio. There are posts all around, one side has a wall where the kitchen is, but everything else is open. So while I eat there’s a breeze blowing against me. It’s great.
There was a worship service last night at 8:00 we could attend. I went with most of the group (though the IMME’s had already been taken to their families in Mukono, Chuck included). It was very interesting. I’m not sure how long it lasted; I left early (10:00) after my head hit my chest for the millionth time. But there was a lot of clapping, swaying, testimonies, impromptu solos, impromptu speeches/sermons, and singing in Luganda and English. I really liked it but couldn’t stay up much longer.
Sunday was a free day. We went to church, it was pretty interesting. I think they were sort of catering to the new students and especially to the Americans. The father basically gave a thorough explanation of an Anglican service and why they have it. I’m excited for next week when they give their normal sermons. There are two services with huge congregations. My roommates and I went to the 2nd service at 10:30 which is apparently the smaller service. The earlier service has about 900 people. Yes, 900 people. It’s huge compared to what I thought there’d be.
After a lunch of rice and beans several of us headed into Mukono. We had been eating lunch with a second year guy named Ken. When we told him we were heading into Mukono he offered to be our tour guide. He proved to be invaluable. He brought us to the ATM where we can get shillings, showed us where to buy certain things. Unfortunately for me, my card was eaten by the ATM. I took too long calculating the difference between Shillings to Dollars, hit “Not Ready” a little too much and the ATM said I was taking too long so it ate my card. I talked to Ken, our new friend and he told me to come back tomorrow when the bank was open. I wasn’t too put out; I figured if that would happen to anyone, it might as well be me. Everyone felt really bad for me and offered to let me borrow some of their shillings to get my basic needs. Therefore I got six pairs of underwear, hoping that by the time I’m through with them, my luggage will have arrived.
I came back to campus and talked to our leaders and they said it has happened before. Usually what happens is the bank will send the card to the main bank in Kampala. We’re going their on Friday so I’ll just have to pick it up there. But Mom, if you could email me my account number (Wells Fargo) I think that would help get it back faster.
I got back to campus around 4 or so and have been lounging outside, embracing the sun and shade. One of the dorms where some of the girls stay has a porch with a couch. I’m actually sitting there now with seven other girls. Most are finishing reading Poisonwood Bible while others are chatting about their schedules. We often sit here and listen to the birds. One of the girls named Naomi in USP is from Bethel. There’s also a large group of senior Bethel Nursing students. Two of them just walked by with Naomi and we’ve discovered several mutual friends. One of them even knew Erik. She remembered him because he got frost bit on his finger and one of the upper class nursing students told him he’d have to cut it off. That’s how she remembered him. It was fun connecting with Minnesota.
Well, I’ve got to run now. I hope this was informative and humorous for you. I’m sorry it’s filled with punctuation errors and short sentences.
Ashley
January 16, 2009, Friday
Hmm, Africa is a wonderful place! I wake up to the smell of smoke from the dining hall and to the sound of early risers singing their hearts out in the showers. Thanks to you all who have replied to my email and are praying for me while I’m here. I will try to get back to you individually as soon as I can, which may be a while yet because of slow internet connections. Several of you have also asked for pictures to be posted. This may be a bigger problem. The internet is very slow and pretty unreliable so it takes a long time to upload pictures even though I would love to post them and show you a picture into my world here.
I am just about to complete my first full week of classes at Uganda Christian University (UCU). I have wonderful classes, though some of them can be a little dull at times. I find myself mentally exhausted after my New Testament, History of E. Africa, African Traditional Religions, and African Christian Theology classes. These classes are all taught by Ugandan professors with distinct and African accented English. They are generally 2 hours long and I find myself more focused on translating their English to my English so I can understand the content. I have one more class called Faith and Action, which is taught by an American. When I finally get to that class I find I barely need to pay attention but can grasp everything he says. Despite the slight language accent barrier I am really enjoying my classes. My favorite is African Christian Theology (I can also understand this professor better than the rest). The way Africans teach their classes and how the students respond is much different than in the States. For example, if I was taking a theology course at home I would be expected to have my own ideas and even dispute with the professor if I disagreed with him. But here in Africa, what the professor says is law. I don’t think they would be very offended if I asked challenging questions, but it would be very unusual. It is so fascinating to participate in different cultures and learning here.
I’ve discovered several cultural differences since being here. First of all, cars drive on the left side of the road. You think this wouldn’t be a big problem for me because I’m not driving. However, driving on the left side follows though to walking on sidewalks or pathways. Often time I do the awkward right, then left, then right, nervous laugh, and scoot around the Ugandan. I am a pro at awkward moments. I’ve begun saying in my head as I walk by people, “stay left, stay left, don’t go right, stay left.” I’m amazed at how much American culture has affected my walking habits. My first couple days here I would smile and nod at people to say hello but often received blank stares. Yesterday I discovered why the Ugandans weren’t responding to my hello. While I was bobbing my head like a bobble head, they were very confused. But if I had just raised my eyebrows they would have responded likewise in the Ugandan way of saying hello.
My roommate (Emily) and I washed our clothes (by hand) for the first time since being here. We scrubbed the parts we knew were dirty (armpits, stains, sweat spots, etc.) and let the clothes soak for a little bit. We got so tired after hanging everything on the clothes lines. We’ve decided that if we ever get tired of rice and beans, all we have to do is laundry and we’d be excited to eat it once again. Two of our friends did their laundry soon after us with one of our Ugandan friends (Sarah). Apparently Emily and I were lacking on our washing skills. Sarah scrubbed every inch of fabric multiple times and rinsed over and over than washed again. I don’t know if I’ll ever be as proficient as the Ugandans.
We’ve only been here a week and I’m sad to say I’m already dreaming of American food. Green beans, strawberries, carrots, green peppers, pizza, etc. Every Wednesday is meat day in the dining hall. Our whole group was so excited to get some meat with our rice. I’m doing my best not to talk about certain foods so I can enjoy our meals at the dining hall. Vegetables and fruit are pretty scarce, which surprised me since the climate is prime for growing most of the year.
We’re heading into Kampala today to see the city. My luggage hasn’t arrived but should be here any day (I’m hoping). So if we call the airport and it’s not here, I’m going to buy a couple outfits in Kampala and try to fill in all the holes of things I’m missing so I don’t have to borrow from the girls in my group anymore. I’m not sure if I told you, but my luggage has seen a lot of the world recently. The airline flew it to Ethiopia, realized it was the wrong country, so they sent it back to New York. Now it should be coming to Entebbe (Uganda) any day. I’m praying this is so.
Tomorrow we’re going to be placed in our home-stays. We’re going to be with a family for two weeks. Next time you hear from me I’m going to have a Ugandan mother and father and probably a few siblings.
Thank you for all your prayers and I will update you again soon. I don’t want to overrun you with emails.
-Ashley
January 20th, 2009, Tuesday
White people here are called Mzungu’s by the natives. I went into town the other day to look into buying some clothes since my luggage has yet to arrive (last notice, it was in Amsterdam). Anyway, I walked into town and was quite a spectacle. A Mzungu walking around by herself looking into little boxes where clothes are sold. Of course, the shop keepers see a single female Mzungu looking at their clothes and immediately assume she has money (which, compared to them, I have a lot). Anyway every time I asked a how much something was I got huge prices. I never would be able to bring the price down to what they would normally offer a Ugandan. I attempted to bargain the prices down and still know I got cheated but have two new outfits to my name and a pair of sandals.
My home-stay with a Ugandan family started on Saturday. I am with one other student from USP, her name is Joy and we get along really well together. I have a Reverend Father, Frederick; a Teacher mother, Mirika; a Lawyer big brother, Julius; a 16 year old sister, Irene; and an 8 year old sister, Phoebe. I’ve been eating vegetables and fruit at every meal, which is a huge improvement from the University food of beans and rice alone. Meals are very different from the US. Breakfast is at 8/8:30 with tea, bread and margarine, sometimes eggs, Break Tea is at 10/10:30 with tea and bread, Lunch is at 1 or 2:00 with rice or Irish potatoes, or Matooke (mashed bananas), or beans, or beef, or pork, or gizzards. Afternoon tea is at 7. Supper is at 8 or 9 or 10 with food similar to lunch. After supper we have devotions as a family. We read a psalm, discuss it, pray, etc. I really like devotion time. Joy and I sleep in a room with Irene. Ashley is a very hard name to pronounce for Ugandans so they decided to give us Ugandan names. My name is Kwagala which means love. Joy’s name is Shinu which means joy. All we need is a little Peace, Patience, and Self Control to add to our family.
As much as I love my Ugandan family, they’ve made me realize how glad I am to have chosen the Uganda Studies Emphasis (where students live on campus) and not the IMME program (where students live with a family for the whole semester). I definitely need my own personal time which is really hard to find with a family.
I’ve got to run now, sorry this is a shorter email. Love you all.
Ash (Kwagala)
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