The Calm Before The Storm

After constant travel in December, I was looking forward to settling in back at site and getting a routine a school.  I thought staying put at the nursing school would help me refocus on teaching and working with the school staff.  It didn’t turn out that way.  

Last year the school administration decided to add another group of students to the rotation (mainly because the school wanted to collect more tuition fees).  So now the school is overcrowded (and they’re still in debt).  The principal decided to turn the computer room into a classroom for the extra set of students.  This means that when the students are in class, I cannot use the computer room.  It’s very difficult to create databases without access to a computer.  And there’s nowhere else for me to work, because the school brought on more part-time teachers and all of the office desks are occupied.  So I end up staying at home more, because I at least have internet access there and I can also read or take a nap.

The other major problem has been the power outages.  I mentioned in my last blog that the power goes out every day for 30-60 minutes.  Well after I posted that, it got worse.  Now the power goes out 3 times a day for about an hour each time.  And yesterday, it was out from 12:30pm-7:30pm.  I can’t teach computing if there is no electricity. 

Last night (during the power outage), I planned out my calendar until the end of my service.  It turns out that this is the low point in my work schedule and things are going to get really busy, really quick.  On Saturday, I’m leaving for Zanzibar.  (Yay!)  When I get back, I have 2 meetings in 2 different weeks for Peace Corps Committees.  (That’s going to take a few bus rides back & forth to Kampala.)  In April, there is a new group of PCVs arriving, and I applied to be one of the trainers.  I am also planning another vacation that month.  (I have 16 vacation days to use up before July!)  In May, there will be more training for the new arrivals; and June, the Kuluva School of Nursing is closed for break, but I’ll have plenty of prep work to do for Girl Tech, another committee meeting, (and maybe one more vacation).  And then July is our Close of Service Conference and August is Girl Tech!!!  Yeah, things are about to get crazy!

More Ups & Downs

Down

I’ve lost my mind.  Seriously, it’s gone.

After many many months of watching movies on my hard drive, napping, reading my Kindle, enduring 8-12 hour bus rides, etc., my intellectual capacity has greatly diminished.  I’ve been at site for a few weeks now and started some actual work, i.e. creating lesson plans for computing class, writing the grant for Girl Tech, researching grad schools, updating my resume and writing personal statements,  . . . but after one or two hours, my brain is exhausted and I need to lay down.  I’m in serious trouble for reentering the real world.

Up

I just had a great weekend with the other Arua PCVs.  On Friday, we went to dinner at the Indian Restaurant in Arua.  I’ve heard good things about it, but this was my first time eating there.  I had vegetable biryani, paneer masala, and garlic naan – it was soooo good.  Afterwards, we went to Heritage Courts (hotel) for a beer and live music.  Usually they play Ugandan dance music, but that night there were some country-western cover songs.  Very interesting.

On Saturday morning, Chelsea and Alex hosted a potluck brunch at their house.  It was so nice to see everyone and hang out before the Education PCVs go home.

Down

I’m in a bit of a rut again – feeling isolated and frustrated about living here.

• I miss driving a car.  I really dread riding the bus, but I get cabin fever if I stay at site for too long.  It would be nice to have another transportation option.  Even for going to town – sometimes I don’t feel like riding 12 miles on my bike just to go to the ATM.
• I miss convenience. Things like fast food, Netflix, Target, microwaves, high-speed internet, etc.  You don’t even realize how good you have it in America.
• I miss having a real job.  Most days I feel useless at the nursing school, and it’s not very rewarding for me.  It takes so long to finish a project; I just don’t feel like I’m accomplishing much.
• I miss my family.  I miss going to Ainsley’s soccer games and watching Roen run around.  And seriously Bergstrom cousins, five weddings in two years???  (Wendy & Matt, Scott & Kailey, Michael & Ashley, Joseph & Ruth, Dan & Josi)  Congratulations to all of you!!  I’m sorry that I’ll miss the weddings this summer – please upload lots of pictures on Facebook.  :)
• I’m tired of asking for permission from Peace Corps every time I want to leave site, go to Kampala, or travel somewhere.  I miss my independence.
• I’m tired of the bugs.  Last year was Year of the Spiders; now it’s Year of the Ants and Termites.  My house is constantly under attack from these pests.  A couple of weeks ago, I got up early to catch the bus to Kampala.  I went to the bathroom to find an invasion of safari ants streaming in through the window.  I used my Doom spray to kill them, but then still had to clean up the piles of ants.  The low point was scooping dead ants out of my toilet tank with a spoon.

Because of these challenges and struggles, I have pretty big mood swings and I swear a lot more.  F*#&@%! ants all over my bathroom!!!!!!

Up
Considering it’s the dry season, there has been a rain shower once or twice a week this month.  It gets nice and cool at night, so I’m not sweating all the time like last year.  And because of this small amount of rain, there has been electricity and water in my house . . . most of the time.  The power goes out every day, but only for 30-60 minutes.  I can manage that. 

Up

Zanzibar in two weeks!!!!