1 Year in Uganda !?!

1 Year in Uganda


I am writing this on August 6, 2010. I arrived in Uganda on August 6, 2009 to begin my 27 months of Peace Corps service. The reality that I have lived here for a year is somehow difficult to grasp. Someone once described the passage of time here as dual-speed; the days can last forever, but the months fly by. This is not always true but it is a pretty decent representation.
I have also been told that the second half of service tends to move very quickly. In fact it seems that the pace of my daily life has already been picking up speed as some activities are finally taking root, a research idea for my thesis is taking shape(fingers crossed!) and maybe also because the pace of life here is taking hold of me. Whatever the reason(s), it is a nice change and I am doing my best to embrace the change and make the most of the opportunities as they come along.
Since a year is a long time, and even if the pace of life has been slow (even painfully so at times) there is still too much talk about in detail so I thought I would just hit some of the high points. Please write to me if you want to know more about something.
Some uniquely Ugandan/African things I have seen and experienced:
• Using a squat toilet almost everyday for the last year- toilet is being generous, mostly it is a latrine, or outhouse for us Americans. They dig a deep hole, build a basic structure over it, pour a concrete slab with a, sometimes way too small, hole in it where you simply squat and do your business.
• Taking bucket baths- pretty straight forward, get a bucket, cup and some soap and then go to town.
• Feeding monkeys on a hotel balcony- The Munyonyo Resort on the shores of Lake Victoria…highly recommended.
• Feeding monkeys not on a hotel balcony- The Entebbe ‘zoo’
• Pulling a monkeys tail and scaring myself as much as I might have scared him- also the Entebbe ‘zoo’. They were so cute, and so many of them, just wandering around. One of the smaller ones was on top of the canopy over the seating area but his tail was dangling down next to me…. I couldn’t help it.
• Developing an intense hatred of goats due to the truly horrific sounds they make, but somehow I still am not crazy about eating them
• Learning that I love matooke and G-nut sauce- matooke is a truly Ugandan food made by steaming plantains, then mashing them into a paste and steaming them a little longer. This is a staple food that is then served with some sort of sauce, like a thin meat stew, beans or my favorite, G-nut sauce. G-nuts are a type of peanut that is ‘pounded’ while still raw then the powder is boiled until it makes a purple-ish gravy that is served over a starch- my favorite being matooke. When you add a little chili sauce (spices are not commonly used) it is damn near a delicacy.
• Whitewater rafting on the Nile river- highly recommended. I have a video for when I get back home.
• Discovering the magical chemical transformation that occurs when you combine Uganda Waragi- a banana spirit- with Krest, bitter lemon- a soda made by Coca-Cola company. Individually these liquids border on disgusting, but mixed together they make a magical elixir that rivals some of the best cocktails I have ever had. Ok, that might be overstating it, but it is really f-ing good.
• Becoming a fan of Eagle beer, preferably cold, but even warm it is better than most other cold beers. Made with sorghum so for all you glutards (technical term for people allergic to wheat gluten) out there can also enjoy it.
• The Rolex!- this is the single best food in Uganda. It is scrambled eggs cooked into a circular patty, with cabbage, onion and tomato that is placed on a chapatti and rolled up for easy consumption. There are variations on this of course, but this is the standard version. I prefer to add a wedge of ‘smiling cow’ cheese, sprinkle of garlic powder, some avocado and a dash of hot sauce to mine. I am hungry just writing this….
• Using public transportation here- Riding in a Mutatu (minivan used as a taxi) that has seating for 15, including driver, but that is carrying 29 people and a few chickens. Riding in a ‘squeeze’ (Toyota corolla) carrying 10 people, including driver, and that’s inside the car. Seeing Boda-Boda’s (motorcycle taxi’s) carrying entire families of people, 4 is not uncommon and many times the women are also holding babies.
• Hiking at Sipi Falls on the slopes of Mt. Elgon- Incredibly scenic place where despite the fact it almost straddles the equator the river is ridiculously cold, almost too cold to swim in. In fact we used it to cool our beers on the second day there, and it worked very well.
• Buying movies on DVD even before they are out in the theaters in the USA- sorry for any copyright violations….sort of.
• Shopping for clothes that were donated and shipped from the USA to ‘needy’ people here in Uganda- thanks for your donations because I really like some of the clothes I have bought.
• Having my trash rummaged through almost daily- mostly by kids but also my previous supervisor used to like to go ‘dumpster’ diving whenever I put my rubbish out.
• Having my definition of personal space be adjusted to about 1cm- unless using public transport then it is 0.
• Seeing hippos playing in the water as we glided by in a dugout canoe on Lake Albert- New Year’s 2009, Pan Afrique Resort near Queen Elizabeth National Park, very nice.
• Eating “white ants” fresh from the ground- these are actually a type of termite. During the rainy season they take flight from their mounds and it is a rush to gather them up to eat. Its really cool seeing all the kids with their cups, buckets and other various containers catching them as fast as they can to take home and eat. You can eat them raw/live or fry them in oil. I ate them raw….not much to report other than that.
• Intestinal parasite- nuff said
• Eating fried grasshoppers- I am mostly sure this one and the previous one are not related
• Lots and lots of birds including the Marabou stork- truly a frightful creature that could never have inspired the story about where babies come from.
• Surprised by the number of lizards and toads here- but still have not seen a live snake
• Love the fact that I can eat locally (food from within 100 miles) and enjoy fresh pineapple, bananas, mangoes and coffee!

Things I miss from America:
• My friends!
• My family!
• 4th of July at Chris and Linda’s- with boating and fireworks!
• Paved roads
• Running water
• Constant electricity
• Refrigeration
• Air Conditioning!!!
• My house
• Lakes I can swim in without fear of hippos, crocodiles or bilharzias
• Restaurants where you can use the menu- rather than here where using the menu usually leads to a prolonged conversation where you ask for something you want, are told that it isn’t there, you ask for something else, are told it isn’t there, and this goes on until you either wise up and simply ask what they have, or you run out of options.
• Good baked goods- About 99% of everything that is baked here is horrible, sorry to my Ugandan friends but its true.
• My cats
• Memorial Day celebration at Lakeside Cemetery, with a trip to Ft. Snelling to visit my peeps.
• Autumn
• Beer- cold, tasty, frothy, tap beer. KBC beer in particular. All you Yoopers know what I am talking about.
• Snow- Wow, I NEVER thought I would write that but its true
• Sailing- Can’t wait to get back on the DigitalDan and show those other Perf 2 boats how its done
• Not standing out like a sore thumb- yeah, surprisingly 6 foot tall white guy is a very small demographic in Uganda, who knew.
• Veterans Day pub crawl
• Driving- We are not allowed to drive while serving in Peace Corps, and after being here I completely agree with the policy. Some of you might think you deal with bad drivers, but I assure you that you would have a new appreciation of their skills after living here. Still I miss the freedom of being able to go places without being at the mercy of public transport, bad public transport.
• NPR
• Meat- Steaks and Cheeseburgers to be specific. Meat here is generally pretty bad, even when you disregard the unsanitary conditions, it is usually tough, and can be full of bone shards since the meat is hacked off the carcass with a machete rather than cut off.
• Jim Beam Black, on the rocks
Well, there are probably other things I have missed, but hopefully I will get to them some other time.
Those of you that notice I did not mention missing Spam, the thanks for that goes to those friends who have sent me packages which included my favorite meat in a can, mostly mom and dad. Not sure if I would have made it this long without it!
Peace