First Days in Uganda

Hey everyone!

[This is copy and pasted from my tumblr, because it would never allow people to read it. I wrote this on February 6th]

So I’m a little late in updating first impressions and days in Uganda and getting in touch with everybody, but I’m finally getting settled in with my internet and living situation, so it’s finally time to post something on here!

The first week here was orientation for us, and they had us all stay at Jeliza Hotel in the middle of the city for orientation sessions like health, safety, etc and some survival Luganda (the language). The first time they really let us out on our own was Thursday, which was the infamous “drop off” where they pair us up and have us each do a task and report back later in the day when we’ve found our way back. Another girl, Alex, and I got restaurants and food, so naturally we were pumped because thats the easiest/funnest task ever. We started on our pub crawl except with food, and it was great. However, things took a turn for the worse later in the afternoon when after running into 2 of our other classmates, I was robbed. We were walking back up a PACKED street (Kampala is absurdly chaotic) and as I crossed a road up onto a curb with about 30 people on it, a guy walking the opposite direction of me came out of nowhere and yanked the gold cross necklace I got for my birthday off of me. Before I could even jump to feel my neck, he was fighting through the crowd to get away and I was left there in shock. The day before we’d learned Ugandans think it’s unusual to cry in public, so I began to almost have a small panic attack because I was in shock, couldn’t cry, and had just been robbed on my FIRST day in the city. Thank god I was with 3 other friends, one of whom was a boy, to get me through the next tough little period of shock.

I’m still not quite over the incident, as I’m now constantly paranoid that anyone is going to go for my bag or any piece of jewelry just because I’m a muzungu (white person) and they assume that I’m rich. I don’t want to feel like this, as the majority of people here are amazing and SO welcoming. I even debated telling anyone the necklace story because I don’t want to feed stereotypes, but I promise there will be a billion more positive memories/stories than the prick who jacked my necklace. I’m going to trust that that was God trying to teach me a small lesson early on, and in the end it will have happened for a reason. My mom has even already ordered me a new one (its not real gold or expensive, so that persons gonna be sadly disappointed) because she’s the sweetest person ever, so I’ll have that to look forward to when I’m returning.

So Saturday (yesterday at this point) was the day that we got assigned to our homestay families and sent home with them. We had this ceremony thing at another hotel and just stood across from each other until they called our the muzungu student name and then we walked out and met our family. It was nerve wracking, but at this point I’m really happy with my family! I’m living with Marjorie and Meddie and their 4 kids, all of whom are girls ranging from age 4 to 26 (I think). I was really worried about what their standard of living would be, and the first few hours were a culture shock, but I think I’m getting used to it and realizing how lucky I am because this region is filled with poverty and it could be A LOT worse.

They have a nice little house north of Kampala that has a gate and high brick wall around it, because if you have any kind of money here you do this to ensure security and don’t give any outsiders “temptations” like Marjorie says. So that makes me feel safe. I even have my own room, but it’s hot as hell and I’m in a bunk bed with a mattress with a comfort level of a rock slab. But all in all, its cozy and I’m glad I have my own space.

They have electricity (unless it goes out in the area, which it did last night) and running water, but the flush toilet doesn’t work :( sooooooooooooo that means we all get to go outside to the pit latrines next to the big chicken house. So that’s an experience FOR SURE. But once again, it could be worse. I can’t wait to see what everybody else on the program’s living situations are like tomorrow at school, and I’m hoping I’m not the worst situation haha

They also have a car so that is HUGE (words can’t even describe) relief because that means that I get to ride to school in their car and NOT in the scary, dangerous, death trap taxis (matutus) here. THe doctor at orientation told us not to ride them in any event because they are so dangerous and filled with pick-pocketers, but the program directors told us most of us will have to take them. So I only have to take them on the way home, which I’m hoping I can figure out and get used to by the end of this week. My fam also has cell phones so my dad told me “if you are anywhere you don’t know, just call mommy or daddy and we will come get you and remove you from the situation.” So hallelujah for that.

Today (by the way, its 10:36 pm here while writing, or 2:36 pm Chapel Hill time) I woke up early and first went with the parents to their farm a few miles away to “check” on the workers and the work their doing. It was beautiful out there. Then mom and I went to decorate for a graduation party at “Denise’s Pub” in about 100 degree heat. I thought I was going to pass out, but I had to withstand this “decorating” for 3 hours before we could come home and rest. We bathed and rested shortly then went back for the party, and it was such an experience.

It was for 5 university graduates, which is a huge deal here because barely anyone can afford the school fees, and they all invited family and friends for the party. Four out of five were girls, which I also thought was great. In total, there were probably 200 people there, and the majority were dressed in traditional wear, or gomes, which I love seeing. Everyone was really nice to me, even though I could hear them whispering “muzungu” at times. At the party, which lasted roughly from 1 to 8, there was tons of dancing, speeches, and hugs. I hope I can put up pics later, because it’s really hard to explain, but Americans could really learn a lot from places like this where people don’t rush through celebrations and reasons to be with family and friends. It was really cool to see how much they all cared about each other and wanted to be around one another.

I think that’s a long enough post for now, especially since I have to wake up at 6 am for school so I hope that will suffice. Hopefully I will give better details and stories soon!