Christmas
at last! It’s hard to feel the Christmas spirit here in the tropics. Luckily
for us, Christmas is celebrated here since Uganda is predominantly Christian,
but it is not blown up to the proportions as it is in the States. We are
currently at our homestays in the Southwest for four weeks. My homestay feels
like easily the best out of all the families—we’ve dubbed my house “Posh
Corps.” My family is blessed with running water and a running toilet, which is
more than I can say for the other host families. No steaming night bucket for
me!
My
host mom and dad are super sweet and remind me of a Ugandan version of
Francoise and Daniel. Their children are grown up and out of the house, and
occasionally an adorable grandchild can be found tramping around the house. We
also have three-week old kittens!
Waiting for our ride to the Southwest |
For
Christmas, we crammed all ten of us into a 7-seater car (including two in the
passenger seat) and went to the nearest city of Mbarara to celebrate the
holidays. We spent a lot of time in Nakumatt, an amazing, brightly lit grocery
store that makes you feel, just for a second, that you could be back in
America. Ok, maybe it’s not that
glamorous, but there are actual aisles and a bakery that sells freshly made sandwiches!
There are also hilarious brands of food, such as “Not Tonight, Honey” (my new
favorite brand of honey), and the exotic Chadder Cheese to be found in our sandwiches.
We checked into a hotel and spent Friday night anticipating December 21st
2012, the End-of-the-World, at Club Heat, drinking Nile Special beer and
listening to “Call Me Maybe.”
In Mbarara, we went out to
Indian food, and it has honestly never tasted so delicious. There was so much
flavor comparably to local Ugandan food, which consists of every flavorless
starch imaginable. Once in a while, we trainees will reminisce about food at
home: warm brownies, Annie’s mac n’ cheese, Mexican food… We’ll have to stop
ourselves before we go crazy; we’ve got a long road ahead of us. At least we’re
all in the same boat!
As we sat and ate Indian food
overlooking Mbarara, I watched the line at Stanbic Bank ATM grow and grow. If
you’re looking to stand in line and lose three hours of your day, go to a
Ugandan ATM. I’m not sure what people do in the ATMs here, whether they are
doing their tax returns or playing a quick game of poker, but somehow they take
forever in there. My theory is that
not everyone with a bank account is literate, and therefore the process takes
over 15 minutes a person…no joke. This gives new meaning to our primary project:
to promote literacy. I would also love to do a workshop titled “How to Use an
ATM” and see if this helps.
On
Christmas Eve, we cooked a big meal all together at a local PCV’s house, and
celebrated with a bottle of wine donated by my host mum and homemade apple
pie…. and Home Alone, of course. It was magical!
We
joke that our life could be an episode of True Life: I Am a Muzungu. We walk to
school alongside cows, cram 21 people into a vehicle made for 14, get called
“Sir White,” and have the little kids run up and touch your skin to see what
you feel like. My favorite moments are when a Ugandan tells me “I saw your
friend the other day!” assuming that all white people in Uganda know each
other. I also get asked a lot about Barack Obama and if I know him personally
(I do not, but we do share a birthday!) Life here has its ups and downs, and
every day brings new meaning to the old Peace Corps adage “Every fart is a
gamble.”
w | |
Welcome to the Equator! |
I love your blog already! I was a PCV in Uganda in `08-`09. Thank you for sharing your stories. They are beautiful.
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