WiLd SaFaRi AdVeNtUrE!!

So this past Friday into Saturday, we went on a safari adventure!! A group of about 15 USP students set out on a 9 hour drive to the western part of Uganda near the border of Congo. Our destination: Queen Elizabeth National Park. After getting on the road at 6 am, with a few pit stops on the way, we arrived at the park. As we drove to the visitor’s center, once inside the park, we were surprised to find elephants crossing our path! We were like little kids in a candy shop! Screaming and squealing over the baby elephants, we started taking pictures like it was our job. We were just so excited to see animals the second we arrived!

We continued to the visitor’s center, where we secured a camp site for the night. We set up our tents, then headed to a canteen (restaurant type places here in Uganda) and had dinner. We went to bed early, since we had to wake up at 5am the next morning.

Around 4:45am, we were all woken up by a typical African rain storm… aka torrential downpour with lots of wind. What an experience that was! I’ve never felt so vulnerable to the weather before in my life! The rain eventually stopped after a half hour or so, and we got up and prepared for an exciting day.

At 6am, we set off on our “game drive” where we took our coaster (a small bus) into the depths of the park with a hired safari guide. On this 3 hour drive, we saw TONS of elephants of all sizes, a bunch of wart hogs running around with their tails sticking straight up, herds of water buck and water buffalo, and a ton of birds. We even spotted a leopard resting up in a tree. Another group that was out saw a pack of lions, but we didn’t have time to get there because we needed to head back for a water tour.

So we got back and immediately loaded a boat that was to take us out on Lake Edward. On this ride, we saw masses of hippopotamuses, both in and out of the water. They are such funny animals. We also saw these huge lizards called monterreys, some 3 foot fresh water crocodiles, flocks of birds, cranes, pelicans, and some more water buffalo. The ride also took us past a fisher village that was allowed to live in the park because they were there long before it became a national park. As we passed, it seemed like the whole village was out on the shore of the lake. The guide told us that the men had just returned from an overnight fishing trip, so they were all down there to welcome them back and help them unload. The men and some young boys were untangling nets, while the women sat around and socialized. It was a very neat thing to see. The scenery was also breathtaking, as we were almost completely surrounded by the Rwenzori Mountains. It was beautiful.

We returned from our ride, made some PB&J, packed up our tents, and began our long ride back home. We laughed as we realized it was only noon and yet we had done and seen SO much! On the ride home, 4 of us took out our braids from when we went to Soroti. Our hair had been in a good month or so, and was absolutely awful and disgusting to take out. I think there is still fake hair lying all over the bus. Ew! But it feels great to finally be able to wash my hair, thank God.

I hope you all are well. It’s hard to realize that I will be home in little over a month. Please start praying for my return, as I am well aware that it’s going to be a very difficult transition.

This weekend, we are white-water rafting on the Nile River, doing some class 5 rapids that aren’t even allowed in the United States. So pray for my parents, because I think they are more worried than I am, haha. Love you all!

Last two days in homestays...

My last full day at my homestay was very eventful, as usual. First, Florence took me into the garden to dig up sweet potatoes. That was fun, but only because I did it for like 5 minutes. I couldn’t imagine doing it for much longer. We then headed to Peter’s school where he teaches. After about an hour walk, we arrived at the school, only to find all the students outside in an “assembly.” Turns out, they were publicly disciplining a boy for fighting in front of his parents and the whole school. And this “discipline” was getting hit with a bamboo stick. I found this absolutely ridiculous and simply not okay… but that was just the beginning.

The kids got let out of the assembly, and the second they saw me, a crowd started forming around me. Most of the young children there have never even seen anyone white before. They all just stood around me staring, and finally I got sick of it and just needed to break the ice. So I took out my camera and video taped them, while having them all wave at the camera. All of a sudden, someone rang a bell and all the kids dropped to their knees. Then another bell, and they all stood up. Then one last one, and they all began sprinting to class. Then began round two of inappropriate discipline. All the kids who were “late” had to drop to the ground, and they couldn’t go into class until one of the teachers came around and gave them a whack on the butt. I just couldn’t believe that was how things were still done. According to some of my peers here, they heard from their homestay parents that beating isn’t allowed anymore. So I don’t really know the deal with it, but I do know that I was definitely surprised to see it.

I then sat in on Peter’s P7 class (primary 7, similar to our about 8^th grade), went to a P3 class full of little guys learning the English alphabet, and then went to a P1 class of pre-school aged kids. It was really cool to experience school there. It made me realize how fortunate we are to attend school for minimal costs and what great schools we have. Most kids were sitting on the floors, they don’t have text books at all, class sizes are around 50 with only one teacher, and the building is just cement without water or electricity. Plus, every child needs to pay “school fees” similar to our private school tuition. So there is no such thing as free education. Their public schools here are considered the poor schools with a bad education, and even in that case, families are still paying out the butt for their kids to go there. So next time you complain about having to school, take a second to remember how fortunate we are to even get an education.

I came back, rested, washed clothes with Florence, and just kinda sat around all night. For dinner, we had goat meat, which wasn’t too bad. The chicken gizzard equivalent on the goat is the heart. So you better believe, as the honored guest, I got served the goat’s heart. And I ate it! It’s amazing what you are capable of doing when you have no other choice!

The next day was pretty somber. Doreen and Daddy Peter stayed home from school so they would be there to say goodbye to me. We had no idea when I was getting picked up so we were all a little anxious all day. I really didn’t want to leave. Doreen kept freaking out every time she thought she heard a car. She insisted she was going to cry when I left, but I didn’t really believe her. I guess I just didn’t think I could make such an impact in only 4 ½ days of being there.

So we tried to go through the day normally. Doreen taught me how to make “chipote” which you all definitely want me to make for you because it so good. It’s basically fried dough, like everything else they eat here haha. When Florence served me lunch, I found out that she has secretly slaughtered another chicken to surprise me. They had made me go away on a walk with Doreen to another house earlier that morning, but I just went along without thinking much of it. Turns out, during that time, Florence was preparing chicken for me again. What an honor! So we sat down to eat, and sure enough, 5 minutes later, my ride came to pick me up.

Saying good bye was AWFUL! I started going around giving everyone hugs and kisses and saying good bye. Then I got to Doreen, who was standing underneath the hut so I couldn’t see her face. I go to give her a hug, and I see that she is hysterically crying. So of course, I couldn’t hold it in and started bawling too. Then I went back to hug Florence, and she was crying and trying to cover her eyes. And then little Aaron started crying too. Oh man, it was terrible to leave. Going into this homestay, I NEVER could have anticipated how much I’d fall in love with my family. I will seriously miss them so, so much.

So on Sunday, we woke up, had some millet porridge, and walked a while to church. Church was okay. It was all in Ateso language, so I never really knew what was going on. There were SO many children there, all free to just run around as they pleased. At one point a jet flew overhead, and I think pretty much every single kid ran out in the middle of the church service to go see it. I couldn’t help but laugh. After church, I helped make some lunch and learned to make passion fruit juice from scratch. Do we have passion fruits in America? If we do, I’ll definitely make you some juice! It’s sooo good! Later in the day, we walked to a woman’s compound who sold a lot of produce that she grew herself. Again, this woman thanked me profusely for coming to Uganda and visiting her home. It’s so difficult to deal with these situations, because in reality, I am the one that is SO thankful for them hosting me. So I just thanked her back for having me as much as I could. Tough situation. She showed me her lemon tree, and gave us a ton. I finally saw how pineapples grow (so strange) and then she sent us on our way with three 10ft long reeds of sugar cane! I LOVE sugar cane. Hopefully I can find some in America to show you all and teach you how to suck the juice out of it. It’s so fun to eat!

The next day, everyone was at school except for little Aaron, myself, and Mommy Florence. In the morning, we went out to the fields and I learned how to dig in the garden. Pretty serious work. I dug up cassava, carried it back, then learned how to peel it. Later, we went out again, and I learned to cut down “speargrass” with a sickle, this hooked shaped sharp tool. They harvest speargrass to use for the roofs of their huts. I spent the afternoon sitting and talking with Florence about marriage and family in the village, then went and rested and wrote in my journal. Whenever it gets hot after lunchtime, they would always make us go rest. I’m not complaining because lord knows I needed it, but its funny that they knew we’d be tired.

Okay so Monday night was my big night!! It was the night they were serving me chicken, a sign of honoring your guests here in Uganda because chicken meat is the most rare and expensive. The first step of this process was catching the chicken. This was hysterical! Catching a chicken is NOT very easy. So Daddy Peter, Monica, and myself ran all over the yard chasing the chicken we picked out until it got tired and we cornered it. Then Monica caught it, carried it around and played with it for a while, then it was time… time for the slaughter. They offered to let me do it… and how to you pass up such an opportunity?! I just HAD to. So first Doreen helped me start plucking out the neck feather. Then I put one foot on the chickens feet, and the other on its wings… and Doreen told me to just start cutting off its head. It was the craziest thing because the chicken just laid there and let me murder it. I don’t get it, but whatever. I’m glad it didn’t start freaking out. So anyway, the knife, as most knives are here, was SO dull. So I got about halfway through the neck and into the bone and then I started to freak out a little. I started yelling “Mommy help me! Come over here and do it! Ahhh. Help me” all while laughing. Everyone in my family started hysterically laughing, as did I. So Florence came over and finished off the job for me, all while making fun of me for getting scared.

So then we ripped the rest of the feathers out, roasted it over a fire to burn off the really small feather, then I watched Florence gut the thing. Yummy. She cut it into pieces and started cooking it. An hour later, we were eating it! Talk about fresh! I had the honor of eating the chicken’s gizzard, which is served to the guest or person you killed the chicken for. It’s incredibly rude not to eat it, so I ate it without giving any thought to it. It wasn’t so bad.

That night was so beautiful. It got dark and I saw more stars than I’ve ever seen in my whole life. About an hour later, an almost full moon came up, illuminating the whole compound. It’s amazing how much light the moon gives, when it’s pitch black all around you. And I would take my baths outside in the little grass room thing with a gas-lit lantern underneath all the stars and moon. It was just so beautiful.

After these few days with them, I realized how much their simple lives just make sense. They pee anywhere and everywhere- and why not? It’s a human need and it just goes into the ground so why use the latrine? They eat with their hands because silverware is expensive and pretty much pointless for the food they eat. They nap at the hottest part of the day because it’s too hot to do anything else, but they get up with the sun so they can get work done while it’s still cool and not waste daylight. They bathe twice a day, if not three times, because its hot, dirty, sweaty, and deodorant is too expensive. They work hard in the garden so that their family has food to eat everyday. Like everything has a purpose and a reason, and it’s all just so simple. This Friday in my Faith & Action class, we are learning about ideas for simple living, trying to integrate the things we’ve seen here and make a difference in our own living habits. I’m really looking forward to this class because I’m just craving ways to take home everything that I’ve learned here.

For visuals for all the things I’ve done… go to this link… http://messiah.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2020673&l=aced7&id=55300263

Enjoy!

Soroti Homestays!!!

Hello hello! Well, I am now back on campus after our 10 day adventure. It was simply amazing! A lot went on so I think I’m going to just divide it into a few entries and update a new one everyday.

After a 7 hour or so drive, we arrived in Soroti district in the western central part of the country. We stayed overnight at Margaret’s house. Margaret helps out with USP and is the director of Honours College housing. Her husband is a Reverend and teaches here at the University. Both grew up in Soroti, so it is purely thanks to them that we had this opportunity to go to a rural homestay. Then throughout the day on Saturday, we each got delivered to our homestay.

I was one of the first to leave, and this time was alone without a partner. I was a little anxious to be alone, but also really excited to be able to have complete control over how my homestay went. We took a short drive on small dirt paths deep into the bush… and then pulled into an open space. In front of me were four decent sized huts made of dirt bricks and grass roofs. My new family flooded around the car to meet me. Immediately, my homestay mom, Florence, gave me a hug… at that point I knew it would all be fine. My family was (and is) so sweet.

Florence and her husband, Peter, are in their early 30’s. They have a daughter, Monica, age 9, and a son Aaron, age 3. Also living with them for the time being was Florence’s niece, Doreen, age 16. Let me just say that words can not describe how much I love Doreen. She was amazing. We shared the hut while I was there, so she was my roommate, and we talked about anything and everything. She is so smart, had great English, and was so eager to not only learn about me, but also teach me everything about the way they lived. She was SO great at helping me try things and teaching me how to wash, cook, peel, dig, and everything else I did.

But Doreen also breaks my heart. I soon found out that she was orphaned around 2^nd grade when her mom died of AIDS. She never knew her dad, so she and her older sister were left to live with my homestay family. Now the sister supports Doreen and pays her school fees- but apparently the sister wants to go back to school herself. So if that happens, Doreen has to drop out of high school and won’t ever finish. It’s awful. I don’t know what I can do for her or how I can help right now, but you better believe I’m going to figure something out.

After we said our hellos, I helped wash some dishes and chatted with the girls. Then Florence said she was going to a burial. I was very interested in seeing one, so I asked to come. It was about an hour walk in the sun (because they definitely don’t have cars, only bikes that the men usually ride). The burial/funeral was really sad… it was a 40 year old man who died of AIDS, leaving behind 3 kids and his wife. I couldn’t help but start crying along with all the other women there. We walked up for a final viewing, then right after, they closed up the casket and buried the body right in the back yard. Not to my surprise, the Reverend leading the service saw me arrive, and thanked “the white” for attending. We get specially recognized all the time, with is fairly frustrating for us because we as Americans realize we aren’t that different. We see ourselves as punky college kids, but the Africans here have such high regard for us- and a high regard that we don’t usually even deserve. I didn’t even know this man or his family, so I was pretty frustrated that they thanked me for coming.

Before dinner, the Doreen and Monica took me to fetch water from the “swamp” as they called it. It was really just an underground spring where many people in the surrounding area got water. We carried our jerricans (big plastic jugs) down, filled them, and then I carried it back on my head!!! The girls can all balance it on their heads, which is incredibly difficult. I had to hold it with one hand to balance, but it was still awesome. Carrying things on your head is just so smart! It’s so easy.

Later we had dinner- pork, rice, and at-top. At-top is this funny textured, globby “bread” made of millet and cassava flour, mixed with boiling water. Cassava is root that is the most common food in that area. As all the other foods here, its white and starchy without nutrition- but it fills their bellies, so I guess it’s good enough. We all ate with our hands, which is SO much fun. And since everyone knows my knife cutting skills SUCK, it was a blessing to be able to just use my fingers. The women also all ate on the floor in my family, which is very traditional. I’m still not sure how I feel about the gender differences here, so I’ll leave that topic for another time.

Their compound consisted of 4 huts- one was where the family slept, one was a guest house, one was the kitchen, and one was the sitting room with 2 chairs and a couch inside the hut. There was a “long call” latrine about 25 yards away (I’ll leave you all to figure out what “long call” means on your own) The compound is covered with animals- chickens, chicks, goats, turkeys, sheep, roosters, cats. And each one has its purpose, which is cool to see.

Before bed, Florence gave me a great mosquito net, so I felt very safe haha. We all prayed together, and then Florence, Doreen, and Monica taught me a song in their language, Ateso. Doreen and I talked for a while, before I fell asleep.

The best part about this whole trip was that a bunch of us put our watches and clocks in a bag and left them on the bus at Margaret’s. It was our challenge to ourselves to not care what time it was. So most of the whole homestay, I had no idea was time it was. What a freeing experience!

Look for Day 2 tomorrow…. So much more to come!