Uganda be in Africa...

Uganda be in Africa if you wake up to birds that sound like pterodactyls every morning.  Seriously…prehistoric storks wake us up every morning.  They are louder than the roosters.  They are terrifying, but pretty awesome. 

We finally moved from Banana village and are now in a suburb of Kampala staying with a family.  We currently are living in a small village with a family of seven.  Ruth 12, Joel 10, Grace 6, Jessie 4, Joy 3 months.  That is a small family in Uganda.  They love to have lots of children here.  Large families are considered wealthy.  Culture.  It’s wild.

Jesse

The family is great.  Good thing Aubdawg is great with kids…I apparently need some work.  I did let them beat me in soccer yesterday, twice.  Now anytime I walk in the room I get taunted for losing in soccer.  Don’t worry; I’ll bend it like Beckham next time.  The 3 month old has got nothing on my skills.  Also, they have a big avocado tree in their yard.  Their Avocados are massive compared to the ones you get at the grocery in the US.  Take that. 

Football under the avocado tree

After beating me in Football

We are training 6 days a week from 8-5 but we have an hour-long walk every morning and evening.  Occasionally we ride PC bikes.  We are the only people out of 46 that ride bikes to training.  There are serious dirt roads that people are scared of.  It’s a good work out.  We are in the raining season, which results in potholes and ditches that are massive. 

It is going well, but we definitely are ready to get out into Ugandan society and do what we came for.  Aubrey is training in public/community health, which has a focus on HIV/AIDS education.  I am training in economic development, which can range from ecotourism to agriculture.  The climate and soil are perfect for grapes to grow…Maybe I’ll start a vineyard?  Economic development viticulture style!

The weather has been amazing.  Ranging from 65-85 every day.  We are currently in the raining season, which makes it hard to successfully dry your hand washed clothes at anytime.  We definitely have some learning to do in the laundry department.   We have been laughed at by several Ugandans for our lack of laundry skills. 

The food is interesting.  They eat a lot of starch.  It is not uncommon to have 5 starches in one meal on one plate.  A 6 year old kid could eat me under the table in Posho (corn meal paste/tasteless white thing) and Mattoke (Green bananas mashed and steamed for 12 hours).  Mattoke is the national dish.  It is interesting.  It’s not bad if you smother It in G-nut sauce, which is not to be confused with G-Unit sauce, which is very different indeed.  Dairy and meat have been completely cut out of our diet…so I went down a belt size already, which is a good thing because the  PC nurse told me I needed to lose 10 lbs.  That’s right.  I was told that I should lose 10 lbs.  NO ONE ELSE WAS TOLD THIS.  I am now known as fat Pat by my fellow trainees. Also Pretty Patty, but that is a different story for another blog on another day. 

All is well in Uganda.  Send us chocolate.  And Hops.  And a wheel of cheese.