Holiday Break

School is out for two weeks – and I realized this is the only break teachers have for the entire year!  (Because classes are on a rotating basis.)  And in typical Ugandan fashion, the plans for Christmas came together at the very last minute, giving me only 1 day to get ready.  I have decided to take advantage of the time off from school and travel to the southwest region of Uganda to visit the PCVs there.  About 20 people from my training group are getting together for Christmas - we’re going to have our own lunch menu prepared at a local restaurant on Christmas Day.  I’ll be staying at hotel (with electricity and hot water - pretty swanky) in a town called Rukungiri, which is near Mbarara (the closest ‘big’ city).  Since it is a 2-day journey from Arua to Rukungiri (and then another 2 days back), I decided to make it worthwhile and go on a safari at Queen Elizabeth National Park!!!  My friend Tomas (who works at Ugandan Safaris) put together the complete itinerary of 2 ½ days and 2 nights.  It’s going to be an awesome African Christmas!!!

For New Year’s, I’ll be back in Arua.  (The nursing school resumes classes on January 2^nd.)  I hear New Year’s is just as crazy in Arua as it is anywhere else in the world: people in the streets, fireworks over the golf course, music, partying, etc.  So I’ll meet up with the West Nile PCVs to celebrate!

I’m not taking my computer with me on the southwest trip (so no more blogs or emails for 2 weeks) but I’ll be sure to post lots of pictures in January!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Christmas Poem

Hi again – I just have to share this poem with everyone!  My Aunt Lynn wrote it and posted it in the comment section of my blog – but it’s so amazingly thoughtful and creative that it deserves it’s own blog entry.  I love you Lynn!

Christmas Poem, by Lynn Bergstrom

T’was the night before Christmas
And, Laura, my niece
Was living in Africa
Bringing the peace.

Over mountains and oceans
She traveled so far
To Kampala, then Arua
Without even a car.

She left her belongings
And her family behind
In search of a treasure
She was sure she would find.

And when she arrived
In the country so new
She was a little bit nervous
But knew what to do.

She held her head high
And went on with her plan
To learn all she could
About this new land.

The food and the language
And the culture was different
But the people were friendly
As on her journey she went.

She learned Lugbara
The language they speak
And lived under a roof
That sometimes did leak.

She boiled lots of water
So that she could eat
Lots of fresh fruits and veggies
But not any meat.

She bathed with a bucket
For clean, hot water she grieved
But she had a toilet inside
For which her aunt was relieved. :)

There were spiders and snakes
She slept under a net
And the goats on the front porch
She will never forget.

The monkeys on the roof
Kept her up through the night
And her bout with Giardia
Gave her a fright.

But she never lost faith
In her reason for going
And her desire to help others
Kept growing and growing.

She taught them about AIDS
And computers and more
And helped the school organize
The data they stored.

Her skills were so needed
By everyone there
That they gave her great projects
And showed her they cared.

Her knowledge was vast
And her smile was bright
And the people she met
Thought she was a delight.

She knew she was achieving
Her goals and her dream
And her fellow peace makers
Were her family and team.

And back at home
Her family was there
Watching in amazement
With love and with care.

Laura is a woman
We would all say
Who is strong and inspiring
In so many ways.

She went far away
To help others in need
She gave them her gifts
And their souls she did feed.

So as Christmas day came
And she was not in sight
We said Merry Christmas to Laura
May YOU be blessed tonight!

December Update

It’s been a while since I wrote a lengthy blog post.  Here’s what’s been going on with me:

Work

·      I’ve been teaching about 3 or 4 days a week (2-4 hours a day).  Research and lesson planning take up a lot of my time.  I’m also working on random projects that Sister Anne assigns me (e.g. creating a school brochure for visitors and potential new students).

·      Last Monday, I attended a School Management Committee meeting with Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau.  I finally learned some details about the school’s challenges and goals, - now I have a clear picture of the many administrative tasks Kuluva needs help with.  The school staff is having 2 more meetings about it next week, so those projects will be starting soon too.

·      In addition to my work at Kuluva, I have to write & submit reports to the Peace Corps about my job/site – and, of course, I procrastinated until the week they were due.

·      Now, I’ve got a stack of papers to grade this weekend . . . I have officially turned into my parents.  (Ha ha!  Love you Mom & Dad.)

Around the House

·      The power cord to my computer is on the fritz.  I think I need to limit my computer time (and not go on the internet everyday).  Blogs and emails may be fewer and farther between.

·      The dry season has arrived in Uganda – which means water is starting to run out.  The plumber can usually fix something with the pressure and the pump, but it takes him 3-4 days to respond to my phone calls (so no water for those 3-4 days).  Thankfully, I have a giant stash of Wet Wipes that will help get me through.

·      Amviko is still helping out.  We’re in a good routine of one day a week – I’m just not messy enough for her to be full-time.  Plus, I enjoy cooking for myself.  I’m trying out different recipes from the Peace Corps Cookbook that past PCVs created with local/seasonal foods.  Favorite recipe so far: Basque Style Green Beans

·      And I bought a bike!  It’s a used Schwinn in good condition.  It has several gears (to help me get through the hills near Kuluva) and I added a few extra accessories: a bell, mudguards, and a basket.  The Peace Corps provided me with a helmet, bike lock, and bike pump.  I’m set!  Now instead of a 6-mile walk (like I had during training), I’m doing a 12-mile bike ride to Arua 2-3 times a week.

Social Life 

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been so focused on work that I started to feel somewhat isolated from other PCVs.  I decided that if I have the afternoon off from teaching, I’m going to ride my bike to town and visit the other volunteers.  I’ve got to keep my mental health in check!  (And it’s a nice workout too!)  A couple of weeks ago I went out with George and Brady for drinks (sodas); then last weekend I met George, Betty, Chen, and Latoya at the Ethiopian restaurant for lunch; and on Wednesday Marcy and I went to Sherry’s house to use her (conventional) oven and bake Christmas cookies!  We put on some Christmas cd’s and baked 5 different kinds of cookies: ginger cookies, snickerdoodle, peanut butter, lace cookies, and Viennese Crescents.  (The crescents were no good and didn’t bake – I think the recipe in the Peace Corps cookbook is off.)  And since we were there, Sherry let us take advantage of her hot shower!  It was so nice to completely wash off the layer of sunscreen and dirt.  :)

People Pictures

I posted a lot of pictures on Facebook - but it occurred to me that not everyone who reads my blog is on Facebook.  And, as Mom pointed out, there are not many people pictures on my blog.  So here are some pics from training and from site.

The West Nile Peace Corps Group

Sitting in front: Me, Robert (Lugbara teacher), Tiffany, George, Brady

Standing in back: Walter (Lugbara teacher), Tom, Marcy, Anne (Peace Corps staff), Betty
*But Tiffany had her site changed and she's now in a different region.

Party after the Swearing In Ceremony.
(Howard, Holly, me, and Allison)

 Me, Katie, and Jenna

Amos, Sister Anne, and one of the local counsel members
at the Set 6 Graduation Ceremony

Two of my students - Sylvia and Neema

More to come!  I take my camera with me to school everyday (now that I'm a familiar face around the hospital/school compound) and I've got some travel plans over the next couple of months (Peace Corps conferences).

Holidays in Arua

 

 (This is NOT my house!)

Christmas is quickly approaching and it’s hitting me pretty hard just how much I miss my family.  I’ve have always spent the holidays with family, whether it was Thanksgiving in Denver or Christmas in Chicago.  I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself in Uganda last week for Thanksgiving.  Yeah sure, some of the PCVs were organizing events in different cities.  But I guess I prefer a more traditional holiday celebration – not a Thanksgiving Day booze cruise on the Nile River . . . that sounds more like the 4^th of July to me.  

(*I’m reminded of the 4^th of July boat parade at Pigeon Lake . . . especially since it’s 80+ degrees here right now.  Ha ha.)  Anyway-

It turns out there is a good number of Americans living in the Arua area doing missionary work.  Marcy and Tom Macaulay (PCVs from my training group) met them through their church and bible study group.  Since Ugandans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, the Americans in the area get together every year for a traditional holiday dinner – Marcy sent me the invite, after our original Peace Corps group dinner plans fell through.

Sherry Meyer, one of the missionaries, hosts the dinner every year because she has one of the nicest houses in Uganda.  It’s huge.  And she has all of the wonderful modern appliances that you have back in the states (i.e. dishwasher, oven, washer/dryer, etc.).  And she also has all of the fun little appliances, like a drip coffee maker and an ice cream maker!  So I was able to eat ice cream in Africa last week!  Amazing.

I had such a great time meeting new people and talking about the cultural adjustment, difficulties with Lugbara, cooking local foods, etc.  There were a couple of people who just arrived a few weeks ago but most of the group has been living in Uganda for 10+ years.  (Sherry has been here since 1991.)  I feel much more comfortable about the area now and have some great resources for answering my questions about transportation, traveling, food, or whatever.  :)

Towards the end of dinner, we were all invited back to Sherry’s for her annual Christmas party/dinner (which includes a tree-lighting ceremony, Christmas carols, and more ice cream!!).  I’m not sure what the other PCVs are planning but I know where to go for my holidays in Arua.