Children Make Me Smile

So yesterday this woman named Annette asked if I could come and see her friend's pigs. I was doing nothing so I said that would be fine. We walked to the farm from town...well truthfully I don't really know if it was a farm. Just because there are pigs doesn't mean it is a farm. There are animals everywhere here. Goats, chickens, pigs, cows....all just chillin' on the road. So we went the "pig location" I suppose. When we were walking there we were getting into this area where it is a bit more remote and I suppose fewer Muzungos go. The kids were absolutely hilarious (I really should have taken my camera). They don't speak much English but it is nice to have someone who speaks the local language with you so you can get a translation of their conversations with one another. There were a few really funny things that the kids said.

As we were walking past this one house there was one kid who cups his hands and says "Anyone who wants to see a whiteman come now or you will miss it. He is very tall!" how great is that? The next kid was seriously no more than 3 years old he (or maybe she...I find it hard to tell) says her "I am fine!" and then runs up to the house "Mom I just saw a Muzungo!" The last one was the best. This HUGE group of kids started following us and just chattering trying to be close to me. So as they run I start to run they start saying "Wow! Muzungoes run on their feet too. I thought that they would break when they run!" I love this place.

The kids continue to amuse me and I don't think I will ever be tired of them. I can't wait to get to the villages where us Muzungoes are even less common.

Every Turn Something New.

So now that I am in this little town there is a whole new set of things to get used to. Yesterday we made supper in our little kitchen. Our kitchen consists of a table, sink, one cupboard and a little fire pitt in the centre. Last night we went to the market and bought this meat. He just hacked a chuck off with a machete type tool. It was goat meat and I was a little afraid of it but it was ok. We ate it with spaghetti. Then this morning when I woke up I had African tea. Which is milk (straight from the cow) boiled with tea leaves. It was pretty good but it really tasted raw…like how it smells when you are milking a cow. I think I will get used to it. Then for lunch we had HOOF!! The girl I stay with (Hilda) says “Have you eaten…I don’t know how to say in English….hoof?” Then I say “No you must have it wrong, you can’t eat hoof.” Then she sends this young guy up the hill to buy it. I went with him to this freaky little shack where no one speaks English and get this little container. Take this unknown item home in a dish, get there…yep it's HOOF! It was soo incredibly chewy…I certainly will not be eating that again. Also today I had to learn how to wash clothes by hand. It took me FOREVER. I am going to have to learn how to make my clean clothes last longer. The worst were my socks as the leather from my shoes stains them. I washed for about 2 hours, and that was with help. Now I must iron my clothes but we have no power at the house right now so I will wait until tomorrow I guess. Then after washing my clothes I had to have my shower. The first time I looked in the bathroom I never even saw the shower. It is just a spout in the corner. Nothing around it to separate it from the rest of the bathroom and it has only cold water. It was actually nice today as I worked up a bit of a sweat from the clothes washing. But first thing in the morning it might be a bit much.

Overall I am loving this life. It is simple yet very fun. Tonight a young man will take me out on the town I think…I am not really sure. He just said he would be back tonight so we could go into town. I must now head back on the street to get a few things.

PS: I added pictures to yesterday's post.....check them out!

I am in ...

If you guessed Mbrara then you are corect. I finally arrived in Mbrara today. I gave up on my ride and just ended up taking the bus. It left Kampala at 8 am and it arrived here at noon. The ride was pretty fun. It was raining today so it was too bad as the country side doesn't looks as good as it could but it was still really great. It is so green. I took a whole bunch of pictures but the computer I am on can't even keep up to my typing let alone upload pictures. I took the postal bus which is supposed to take longer but be more reliable and less packed. Well it wasn't slow but it sure was packed. There were some interesting things that happened on thebus. This one lady came o with about 5 chickens (see right) in each hand but that were tied together at the feet. They made her put them underneath the bus with the luggage and still tied up. Then when she and her daughter and grand-daughter got on her daughter breast-fed her baby. I am totally cool with breast feeding but correct me if I am in wrong...in Canada do women just let them hang out for all to see? I was sure that usually they covered up with something. NOT HERE! I look over (she is right beside me) and there is this big black boob staring back at me! Oh Uganda.

Now that I am in Mbrara I got the chance to ride a boda-boda (little dirt bike thing). It was so fun...I got my picture taken on it and the driver thought it was hilarious. I can't wait to take one home again.

The people in Mbrara are a little less accustomed to seeing a Mu zungo...as you walk past people they say to you...."Muzungo, Muzungo!" and then they say "How are you?" in this very characteristic tone and voice. Little kids just walk up and say "How are you?" not hello...they are taught that is how to greet someone in English. It makes me smile and laugh. My friend was just telling me that when she was a kid. Getting touched by a Muzungo was such a big deal. So apparently this picture would have made their whole year!

My time is about out here so until next time...

Rain, Rain Go Away...

Well I am still in Kampala and it has been raining all night and now continues to rain today. Those of you who have spent time with me in the rain know how much I love rain.

I have learned that time and Ugandans really don't mix well. Time is something they speak of but have no real understanding of (or not in a North American sense anyway). As you can see from my attempts to make it to Mbarara with my ride the day is just a general idea. Monday means nothing, Tuesday means nothing but I think we can pin it down to weeks. I will be going to Mbarara this week, will it be today? Likely but I won't get my hopes up. I have been staying with a German man who is a professor here at the University. Some mornings he comes into the kitchen and will say "We are leaving right now." So me in my shorts and t-shirt rip around the house trying to shave, shower and get dressed only to end up waiting for him for another half hour. The other morning I skipped the shower because I didn't want to be late. But really "Right now" means....well I actually don't really know what it means. Maybe just the fact that at some point we will be leaving. Yesterday I talked to the head of the NGO for which I will be working. He was at the airport repairing the donation box, not waiting for a load of books which I was sure he said (I am still learning the accent), and said he would be here to meet me at 3 pm. Well 3 pm turned into 4:30 pm which turned to 8 pm and finally at 9:15 pm I met up with him and went for supper (which is the time at which I have regularily been eating supper). It is a tough adjustment for our Canadian "Go-Go-Go" brains to just chill out and when it happens it happens. Hopefully I don't get too used to it....showing up 6 hours and 15 minutes late in Canada might not go over so well.

So today I am supposed to be going to Mbarara via public transport at 5 pm. Will I hold my breath? Certainly not (I know the risks...I am a doctor afterall). But I really do hope that I do in fact make it there today.

Mashed Maize = Kalo

So I finally got a chance to experience some local foods and meet some of the local people. Because I have been hanging out with Muzungos (white people) I haven't had much of a chance to eat some traditional food. Well I got my chance today, unfortunately. Ha ha ha. I actually ordered something that I liked but tried some of my colleagues and it was not so nice. I ate sweet potatoes and smoked meat which was actually pretty good. The meat tasted a little like jerky which is just fine and the sweet potatoes were just fine. Then I tried something called Kalo. It is apparently mashed maize that is steamed. Well I say apparently because it looks and feels more like silly puddy. It was this huge blob of brown/grey material that had a rubbery texture, didn't quite jiggle like jello but you felt like it should. The taste was like pure flour. I really didn't care for it very much. I am hoping to find some more dishes I enjoy.

I also met some people today who I got a chance to chat to which was nice. I met one man who was our driver. His name was Robert and he was a 32 year old man with 3 children. He is hired by the university to drive faculty around. He was telling me a little about his family and his living conditions. He lives in what as far as I can tell is a shack (from his descriptions) no water or electricity and he pays 80,000 Ugandan Shillings a month which is about $50 Canadian Dollars. Which is apparently quite expensive for this type of accomadation. He was really nice and we exchanged mobile numbers (yes I have a phone now). The other man I met was here at the university and was a study in CIT (Computer Integrated Technology) a very friendly guy named Alex who lives on campus, has a laptop, and comes from quite a well off family I would think. He was very intrigued by pictures of my family and the snow in Canada. We also exchanged numbers and I hope to meet up with him again tomorrow.

So I do have a phone. I bought it for 20,000 UGS (Ugandan Shillings) or about $22 CAN. Pretty good huh? I have pretty much all capabilities (text messaging, voicemail, etc.) but it still seems really weird to have a cell phone in this country. Suprisingly everyone has one and if they don't they are trying to get a cheap one. The other weird thing is that everyone texts, even in the professional world. Today when I went to meet with the dean of Veterinary Medicine, his secretary texted him to tell him I was there (and on the other side of the wall).

Looks like I will going to Mbarara tomorrow or Wednesday. Good night!

Settling in...

Sorry for such a note the other day. It was our first access to internet and we didn’t know when the dean would show up so I was trying to make it quick (of course had to make my stops at Facebook, Gmail and Hotmail as well).

So I am still in the capital Kampala and it looks like I will be heading to Mbarara tomorrow which I am super excited about and ready for. This country is full of culture shocks and on Saturday I was experiencing it in the most real way possible. I felt like I was in a daze the entire day and all I could think was “I can’t do this, I can’t stay in this place for 4 months. I need to think of a reason to get out of here.” I guess it is hard to explain really where the shock is coming from. Already today it seems much less and I am trying to think why it was so bad before. I guess it all started when I got off the plane well more like once I left the airport. The airport itself recently had a huge facelift for an event called CHOGA put on by the UN and it looks more like a Canadian airport. Upon leaving the airport we were subject to the insane driving of the locals. The fact that they drive on the other side is nothing compared to they way they drive. They all drive in the middle of the road so when you approach someone from behind you flash your lights so that they can tell you are coming up behind them. The other thing is no one signals, when you want to change lanes…. you change lanes, making for some very white knuckles on my behalf. To top it off there are these people on what they call “Boda-bodas”. These are like dirt bikes that work somewhat like a taxi service. They consist of a driver and sometimes 2 passengers which whip in and out of traffic like crazy over the huge potholes. Oh yeah the roads here are brutal, Saskatoon residents….we have absolutely nothing to complain about. So aside from the people using motorized vehicles on the road there are people on feet everywhere. And just like the drivers they too dart in and out of traffic, babies strapped to their backs, barefoot, and often with huge amounts of bananas or sticks…it’s hard to watch and often find myself closing my eyes (don’t worry I am not the one driving). Ok and the last thing on driving which is actually really interesting. As crazy as it may sound there really seem to be no accidents and the flow of traffic is really smooth AND there are no traffic control. That means no lights, no signs, just good old round-abouts.
Aside from the roads themselves there are tons of other things to get used to. The shear poverty is amazing. I mean the buildings on the side of the roads that are to serve as homes are shacks at best. I am in a HUGE city right now, like massive and there are goats just wandering on the streets alongside these shacks. The really crazy thing is that no one looks poor. These people dress up no matter what. Sure they may not be wearing shoes but they still have nice pants (NO SHORTS) and nice button up shirts. There are some stark contrasts here, they have these markets and malls where there are actually a lot of white people and operate very “Westerny”. There are bookstores, cappuccino shops, cell phone providers, Wal-Mart-like places and tons of people shopping. Meanwhile down the street goats graze on who knows what. The other thing is that people here don’t eat. I don’t mean the poor, I mean people in general. They basically eat one meal a day. Yesterday I honestly didn’t think I was going eat and then at about 9 pm our host asked if we were ready to eat supper. YES, for about 12 hours now! Unfortunately when I went for supper I didn’t recognize anything. I looked through the menu (whose cover was an old hard cover from a thesis on cattle) and the few things I recognized they didn’t have…including Coke. I ordered a vegetable curry dish that was really good and I had it again tonight when we went back to that same restaurant.

Overall, I haven’t experienced a whole lot yet but I am hopeful that when I reach Mbarara I will settle in more and start to feel even more comfortable. Still working on my cell but will let you know when I get one.

I am here....or there to you I guess!

Last night I arrived in Uganda! It was well a shock and I really think I am still in shock here. There is just so much to take in. From the driving on the other sise, to people everywhere, to being one of few white, to sleeping under a mosquitoe net to jet leg it is just overwhelming. Right now what I am having trouble with is the fact that this is my life right now....for 4 months. I am sure once I settle in it will fly by but at this point 4 months seems like an eternity.

I woke up at 5 am local time and no one else in the house woke up until noon. 7 hours was a long time to lay around and do nothing which meant my mind went rampant on me. I had a mild freak out where I broke out into a cold sweat felt like I couldn't breath. Is that normal??? ha ha ha. I then went to a local mall which was pretty much like a mall in Canada or US so that was nice as it was nothing too crazy. I got a SIM card so it looks like I will have a cell phone while here....who would have though. Just off the top of my head I think my number is 0777192436 but I will have to double check and post it. Right now I am at the Makerere University in Kampala which is the capital city. The facilities are what I would compare to an old farm basement in Saskatchewan. We are supposed to have a meeting with the dean to talk about getting the students some hands on experience with me later this year so we will see how that goes.

Thanks for all your notes and emails I look forward to more. And mom, sorry for the 30 second call at 2:30 am your time...we will talk once I get my cell phone going.