Traveling

 

Over the past two weeks, I’ve done a little bit of traveling and it made me realize how much I need these weekend getaways!  It’s not that I dislike Kuluva, there’s just not really much to do here.  Books and movies are entertaining for a while, and riding my bike to Arua town gives me a little bit of exercise, but I need to leave site occasionally and hang out with other PCVs (not just the Arua crowd).

Kampala is a central meeting place for volunteers (because all roads lead to Kampala) and it’s also the location of the Peace Corps Administrative and Medical offices, so PCVs are frequently coming and going.  We all tend to meet up at the same hotel and then pick a place to go eat – because indulging in food is what we do in the city.  Where else am I going to find cheesy nachos with guacamole, sub sandwiches, Tofu Pad Thai, or garlic broccoli over vegetable fried rice?  Definitely not in the village.

The 8-hour bus ride from Arua to Kampala has become surprisingly pleasant.  I pack up a few snacks for the road (granola bar, apple, banana chips, a bottle of water, etc.); I know how long between bathroom stops (and ration my water accordingly); I’ve learned a little about the villages along the main road (and know where to stop for the best price on pineapples); I always ride with the same bus company and feel like the conductors recognize me (the mundu [white person] from Kuluva).  I’m pretty comfortable with the journey now.

Going beyond Kampala is always a new adventure.  I love seeing different regions of Uganda and how the landscape changes.  The north is particularly dry and dusty, while the southwest is much cooler and greener.  For the most part, Ugandan towns are kind of the same – they all have the same type of shops and restaurants.  Although there are a few towns with some perks – Gulu has a coffee shop with actual lattes and cappuccinos!  Jinja has pizza delivery!  Mbarara has a bakery!  Unfortunately, Arua is too small for any of these luxuries.

This week a group of us (from the West Nile region) decided to go to Murchison Falls National Park.  It’s only a 2-hour drive from Arua, so we went there and back in a day.  During our 4-hour game drive through the park, we saw:

·      Ugandan Kobb

·      Warthogs

·      Ugandan Crested Crane (official bird)

·      Elephants

·      A python

·      Water buffalo

·      Giraffes

·      Hippos

·      Water buck

·      Vultures

·      Baboons

·      Crocodiles

But no lions :(

(Check out the rest of my pics on Facebook and Shutterfly.)

 

And we also went for a 3-our boat trip on the Nile River and saw Murchison Falls, which was absolutely stunning.  Next time I’ll do the hike to the top of the waterfall (we just didn’t have time that day).  Since Murchison is so close, I might venture there a few times during my service.  :)

FYI – the newest Peace Corps Trainees just arrived in country!  It’s hard to believe we’re not the freshman class anymore.  Unfortunately, none of the trainees will be coming to Arua or the West Nile region.  The Peace Corps rotates regions for training groups.  I don’t know when I’ll get to meet the newbies – perhaps on some random weekend in Kampala.

Numbers

• Number of books I’ve read: 12 (This number is incredibly low for a PCV – probably because I have electricity and internet, and I also have actual work to do at the nursing school.)

• Number of movies I’ve watched: 58 movies and 3 seasons of Mad Men

• Average number of hours per day I work on the computer at school: 5

• Number of nursing students I’ve taught:  11 in Social Psychology 

• Number of databases I’m working on: 3

• Number of times I went to the Peace Corps Medical Office: 1 (to get off Mefloquine)

• Average number of hours of sleep per night: 3-4 on Mefloquine, 7-8 off Mefloquine 

• Number of months without running water: 5

• Average number of times I bathe per week: 3

• Average number of apples I eat per week: 5

• Average number of tomatoes I eat per week: 10

• Number of jars of peanut butter I’ve eaten since moving to site: 3 

• Average number of hours per day on the internet: 2

• Average number of times I see other PCVs: 2 weekends per month

• Number of times per month I call Mom & Dad: 2-3

• Number of towns/villages I’ve stayed (overnight) at in Uganda: 14

• Number of care packages I’ve received: 23

• Number of pictures I’ve taken: 864 (plus another 600 photos that other people took)

• Number of times I’ve rearranged the furniture in my house: 3

• Average number of times per month I go out to eat (in Arua): 2

• Amount of weight I’ve lost or gained since arriving in Uganda: -10 lbs.

• Average number of miles I bike per week: 24

• Number of US dollars I make per month: approx. $306.00

• Number of months left in my Peace Corps service: 17 

 Want to know any other numbers?  Just ask!

Non-Work Week

The past two weeks at Kuluva have been exams weeks.  Students have to do written exams for lecture courses and practical (hands-on) exams for the medical portion.  All of the (nursing school) teachers in Uganda switch schools/hospitals to administer the practical exams and grade other students.  So the entire teaching staff, including Sister Anne, has been gone for a while.

And since ‘the boss’ was gone, the rest of the office staff just kind of lounged around all day.  People arrived late and left early.  Teatime was at 10:30am, then everyone sat in the break room and waited for lunch to be served at 1:00pm.  I might get used to this lazy work ethic, if only I didn’t care so much about completing my projects.

With my Social Psychology teaching career over (I finished grading my students’ exams last week), my time is now almost entirely for office administration and databases.  (I will continue to teach Computing to the students, since I’m one of the few people who knows how.)  I started looking at the school’s computer programs for databases and have many questions for the office staff about the functionality that they want.  But with it being exams week, nobody has really been working.  So, I spent most of the week at home on the internet researching database programs and equipment.  And I started writing a grant proposal (which is offered through the Peace Corps) that could help fund the purchase of this equipment.  Keep your fingers crossed that it gets approved.

Feeling pretty productive during this non-work week, I decided to take Friday off and went to town to do my market shopping.  At some point during the day, I ate something that gave me food poisoning.  My entire Saturday was spent on the toilet or on the couch cradling a vomit bucket.  The scary part is that every piece of food here is potentially contaminated, so I’ll never know what made me sick.  (Were the eggs not cooked enough?  Did I use enough bleach on my tomatoes?  Was it the salad I ordered at the restaurant?)  Today I’m recovering – and snacking on some of my brown rice.  :) (Thanks for the care packages!  I’ll be dining on my packaged American food for a while.)

Next weekend I’ll be going to Kampala to work on the grant proposal some more.  Since there are no computer stores in Arua, I have to look for software and get price quotes from places in Kampala. 

And maybe I’ll take advantage of the trip and have a little weekend getaway!  ;)

GLOW Pictures

Okay - after a few technical difficulties this week, here are some pictures from Camp GLOW!  The rest are on my Shutterfly website (click on the link in the right-hand column).

Field Day with Camp BUILD

 

  

Income Generating Activity

 Self-Esteem Class

 The Recreation Project

Singing our Giraffe cheer!