Adjusting to Life in Africa

I’ve been at site for almost 2 weeks now and I’m still adjusting – mentally.  I think that training was SO busy and stressful that I never really experienced the culture shock.  It’s hitting me with full force now that I’m on my own.  During my first week in Arua, I battled several illnesses (diarrhea, fever, head cold/cough, etc.).  My body was physically exhausted from life and desperately needed a week of rest - and I’m adapting to a new diet . . . again.  The food in training (Kampala) was different than the food I’m eating in the West Nile region.  There are different crops and different methods of preparation and my gut needs to be slowly introduced to everything.  (I am EXTREMELY grateful for the care packages of American food to help ease the transition!!!)

 Thankfully, I have electricity and running water to keep me somewhat sane.  The power has not gone out once yet – in Wakiso it was out for days!  The water situation is a little stressful – I have to boil water (& let it cool) to drink or cook.  I also have to wash all of my fruits and vegetables with clean water.  I am constantly boiling water when I’m at the house and I have numerous kettles, pitchers, and water bottles scattered in my kitchen that are used in the boiling/cooling rotation.  It’s a routine that I will eventually get used to.  Even though I have running water and a shower, there is no hot water heater.  And I prefer a hot bucket bath to a cold shower . . . at least for now.  Maybe during the dry/hot season, a cold shower will feel pretty good.

Another part of the culture shock is the number of critters that I share my house with.  Spiders are everywhere.  And I’m talkin’ HUGE African spiders.  I’ve come to accept that I can’t kill them all (most of them live in my ceiling) but if they are on my furniture or come near my clothes/shoes, they’re dead.  I have my designated spider-killing flip flops and a can of Doom Spray on hand.  Also good for killing ants and cockroaches.

 Lizards are also living in my ceiling.  I don’t mind them so much (because they eat mosquitoes and flies), but I still jump when they skittishly run up the walls.  And I hear them crawling in the ceiling . . . creepy.

Yesterday was a special day when I found my first snake in my house.  I didn’t freak out too much – I trapped it under a bucket lid and decided to let it go in the morning.  Unfortunately, the snake escaped during the night and I have NO idea where it is.  I can only hope that it found its way back outside.  (I’m still nervous about going back into the spare bedroom!)

There is also A LOT of noise outside – it sounds like someone pounding on my neighbor’s door.  Sister Anne laughed and said, “It’s just the monkeys on the roof!”  Sure enough, I see the monkeys in my trees all the time.  Here's one on my front porch this morning!

And last weekend during a rainstorm, there was some other commotion on my front porch.  When I looked, I saw 4 goats huddled on my porch trying to stay out of the rain.

Someday, this will all be normal to me.  :)

Swearing In Ceremony (and the Giardia Experience)

 

We did it!  We were sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers on October 13, 2011.  The ceremony was held at the private home of the Deputy Ambassador of the US Embassy.  After 10 long weeks of training and 3 whirlwind days in Kampala, we had one night to celebrate and say our good-byes.  It's too bad that I missed sending off my friends because I was so sick.

I won't go into too many details about giardia but here are the symptoms: frequent diarrhea, fever, SEVERE stomach cramps, nausea/vomiting, etc.  Basically, your GI tract throws a fit.  Knowing that I was leaving for Arua the next day, I called the Peace Corps Medical Office on Friday night and got the medication.  Unfortunately, I couldn't take it until the nurse was SURE that I had giardia, and not some other GI issue.  So I had to suffer for 3 days while traveling to Arua, trying to clean my house, buying things at the market, and starting work at Kuluva School of Nursing.  Thankfully, my supervisor, Sister Anne, is absolutely wonderful and let me stay at her house over the weekend and is giving me as much time as I need to recover.

I am still working on settling into my house and unpacking, so I'll write more about that when I finish.  Now that Peace Corps Training is over, I should have more free time to blog, upload pictures, email, and hopefully Skype!  :)

Shit.

I got diarrhea on Swearing In Day.  I guess it's a rite of passage to become a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Finals Week

The past couple weeks of training have been pretty hectic.  Between a 4-day field trip, 2 final presentations, a language simulation day, and the final Language Proficiency Interview, I haven't had much time on the computer.  The good news is that I'm more confident now about going to my site because the field visit and strategic plan presentations gave me a VERY clear picture of what my 2-year service will look like.  As for Lugbara, I think I have a 50/50 shot of passing the interview.  I find out my grade next week.  If I don't pass, then the Peace Corps will provide a tutor and I will have another proficiency interview in 3 months.  No big deal.  :)

Today we were supposed to have a "Thank You" party for our host families - unfortunately, it has been postponed.  I received a text from the Peace Corps Country Director that there is a high security threat.  I believe it has to do with the fact that day is the African Football (Soccer) Finals and Uganda is playing against Kenya - and the game is in Kampala.  Crazy soccer hooligans.  :)

So, the party will be rescheduled to ???  And this week is our final week in Kampala for the Swearing In Ceremony.  I think there is a very good chance that our schedule will be rearranged depending on what's happening in the city.  Peace Corps event schedules are the ultimate test of patience and flexibility.