Before I start my usual ramblings, I just wanted to update you all on some new additions to my blog. On your right, below the "followers," I have added a feature called subscribe by email. Hopefully, if you plug in your email address, you'll be alerted when I add a new post or make updates. Please let me know if this doesn't work or something goes horribly wrong so I can take it down. Also, I just wanted to thank everyone for being such faithful followers! I added a pageview counter, so you all know how many hits my blog has gotten. So far, we're almost at 1200, 43 of those being yesterday. Thanks again. I really appreciate the support, and of course it's further motivation for me in turn to be a faithful blogger.
If you were to ask a Uganda what the word muzungu means, you'll probably get a variety of answers. The most polite or politically correct Ugandan will tell you that it means foreigner. Then you could ask, would a Ugandan call a Kenyan muzungu? Absolutely not. The more honest or blunt Ugandan will tell you what it really means: white person. According to most Ugandans, my name will be muzungu until told otherwise. And, for the most part, it's not exactly the nicest word, and it doesn't carry the best connotations. While walking down the street, it's expected that at least every child will incessantly scream muzungu at you. More specifically they will scream "BYYYYEEEEEE MUZUNGUUU!" That's actually something I haven't figured out yet. Why bye? Why not hi or hello? It's always bye. And believe me, ignoring young children does not work. Even if you are by now 10 feet past them, the scream gets louder accompanied with a higher pitch. Honestly, the young children don't really bother me too much. I don't think they would know any better, and they always seem so happy to see us, it's hard to get actually upset about it. Whenever I can, I usually try to say "Muli mutye?" which means how are you? Surprisingly, they are so shocked most of the time that they don't respond and just stare as I continue to walk by. Only sometimes when I'm running do I just try to wave because yelling back a greeting at them would just take way too much energy.
Small children aside, the rest of the time I find muzungu to be a pretty inappropriate word, but maybe I'm just sensitive. This past week, when we met one of the town councilmen, he greeted me by saying "Oli otye, muzungu", literary saying how are you muzungu. Unfortunately, my gut response was "Mbe muzungu, ese ndise Chelsea." Yeah, didn't really answer his question. Just shot back at him that I'm not muzungu, I'm Chelsea. He didn't even know what to say because he was probably so embarrassed as he moved on to greet the other trainees in our group. I did notice that he didn't continue to use muzungu as part of his greeting though. I do understand that the word can be useful. There aren't too many white people around usually, so it can be a great identifier, but once someone knows my name, I would prefer them to use it. To be fair, they also use other identifiers such as "the fat one", "the skinny one", "the tall one" etc. I guess I'm glad they're not saying the fat one.
And further, I do think it's only continuing the problem when we, as volunteers, use the word! I just think it is justifying the usage and not helping to promote cross cultural understanding. It is just further defining the differences between us, instead of insisting upon the similarities. When would a volunteer use the word muzungu you might ask- well there is such a thing as "muzungu price", which means you got totally ripped off because you either probably didn't know how much something should cost in the first place, and the seller assumed you had enough money to spend that they started the bargaining high anyway. I just hope to use it as rarely as possible, although I am kind of horrified how many times I've had to type it just to explain what it means!
In other news, this is the first few days that we've had off in what feels like a long time, although apparently I didn't make clear that a Peace Corps Volunteer is "working" 24/7. We are always supposed to be working- which can mean integrating into the community, doing projects and basically just surviving- and we get two vacation days per month. Anyway, despite the fact that in the states, I usually slept in until 10 am, sometimes later, I found myself awake and unable to fall back asleep at 6:40 am. Is this what growing up is like? It feels silly- why would I want to be awake before the sun's up? Plus, it's not like I had a whole lot to do today anyway, so sleeping away the morning wouldn't have been such a bad thing anyway. I stayed in bed for as long as I could stand it, willing myself asleep. Alas, I was up eating breakfast by 7:30 am.
For all you readers at home, I realized I should have thrown it out there earlier: if something I write about doesn't make sense, I haven't been clear, you want me to expand on something, or you've got a random question about Peace Corps life in Uganda, let me know! I tend to just write about random things and whatever I've been thinking about that day. I honestly have a hard time remember exactly what I've said, so I could be leaving out some huge details and not know! Thanks again for being so supportive.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Playing footsie with a chicken
The past week has been a whirlwind of traveling, taxis, crowded places, buses and people yelling from all different directions. Last Saturday, we were finally allowed to visit Kampala, which is the capital of Uganda. For the past 5 weeks, it's only been a short 20 minute drive away, but it can be dangerous, especially during elections, so it's definitely been off limits during training. We broke up into small groups of 4-5 trainees and a leader- yeah, thank god. Can you imagine what it would be like with 44 of us running around Kampala all at once, all together? Bad idea. But, we covered a lot of ground! Unfortunately, Kampala is NOT a grid city, so you've got to have a great sense of direction or landmarks to get around. We visited the post office (not that exciting), the cool places to buy pirated dvds, the second hand market, an awesome spot to get Ethiopian food, a magical place called Garden City, which is essentially an American mall. Basically, you can find almost everything here, especially if you're willing to pay for it.
Let's talk about the taxi park though, seeing I've just arrived from there. You can't even imagine, and sadly I don't have any pictures to show you. Maybe it wouldn't be so daunting if the park wasn't in a bowl, so you couldn't stand above and see the madness and chaos that is the Kampala old taxi park. Let me try my best to explain what I mean. When you think of taxis, you're probably imagining one of the luxurious (it may not seem that way to you, but believe me, it is in comparison) yellow town cars that drive around New York. It's a little different here. The taxis are 14 passager vans called motatus - there are 4 rows that should seat 3 people each. And in the taxi park, there are hundreds of these white vans, and their respective conductors. Once you walk into the taxi park, the conductors start yelling at you "where are you going", "let me help you", etc. and grabbing at your arm or bag to lead you through the park. It's so overwhelming to try to navigate between the strangely parked motatus and people trying to sell you snacks, even when you know where you're going! One cool thing is, once you get onto a motatu, after which by the way you must sit and wait until it fills up with people that are going to the same place, people walk around selling things to you through the windows. Granted, it can be annoying sometimes, but it was really convinent today when all we wanted was a water and some chips.
So, motatus in Kampala are fairly regulated and there is definitely rhyme and reason to everything that goes on in the park. There's an order to how motatus are filled, where they are parked, and they never fill it past capacity. Once you go "up country" (which means anywhere outside of a big city), forget it. Conductors just want to make as much money as possible in one trip, which results in packing people into the motatu like it's a clown car. I seriously didn't quite believe the other volunteers when they told me how packed they can get, but I think I have a taste of it now.
For the past 5 days, we visited our future regions for language immersion, and obviously we had to get there somehow. The bus ride to Mmbale was perfectly fine, although it was strange that someone was selling products on the bus for about an hour. The motatu to get to our final destination on the other hand was a different story. "Madame, you extend" is how a conductor will tell you move on over because he wants to shove one more person in if he can. Remember, the van is meant for 14 people, so why in the world would anyone think it's a good idea to pack 27 people in there, I have no idea! But, at one point, that was our total. Because people get on and off pretty frequently, it kept me entertained to continue to keep track. Although it does scare me if I ever had to get out in case of emergency, but it's something I try not to focus on while I'm physically crammed inside. And, it's not just people that get in the motatus! Goats and chickens are also welcome. This morning, on the two hour taxi ride to Jinja, something brushed up against my feet. I nearly jumped out of my seat, but I had nowhere to go! Only then did I discover the woman in front of me had shoved her chicken under her seat, and now I had to figure out where to put my feet so I wasn't kicking the chicken. I just kept imagining that it was going to get angry and peck away at my toes, and I wouldn't be able to escape. I know, a little dramatic, but it was early and I was tired. For the rest of the trip, I tried my best to tuck my feet under my seat, but every once in a while, I'd feel that stupid chicken and shutter.
Lunyole has at least 10 greetings, all kind of sounding similar, but usually require a different response. Sometimes we'd just guess and mumble, Kaale, wesi, which usually works. Other times, shop keepers would start rambling on and on. It's terrible, but my response was always to just smile, and then you know they want you to say something, anything, but I usually would just look around for a little bit, and say sitegere (which means, I don't know) because let's face it, I had no idea what was going on! Despite the initial feeling of failure, I did feel like we learned a lot on our trip, and I know we'll pick it up once we get to site in a few weeks.
We spent one afternoon wandering around the nearby villages with our language trainer and a young local man, just greeting everyone we could find. We eventually came to what they called a swamp, but I would probably call a rice paddy and field. It was the first time we got to stand in a wide open space since we've been here. With the breeze and the sun, we could see for slightly rolling green fields for miles. As we walked along, we sang a local song that goes like this:
Fulya tonya, fulya tonya
Fulya tonya, hulya amaido
It means rain drops, rain drops, rain drops, we eat peanuts, but you can fill in that part with any food. It did finally hit me that, whoa, I'm in Uganda now. I feel like for the last 6 weeks, we've been in such an urban setting, which yes, is different from America, but this field just made it feel so much more real. It shouldn't be a surprise that wandering around in the equatorial sun turned me a little red, but hey, I did have on sunscreen!
Let's talk about the taxi park though, seeing I've just arrived from there. You can't even imagine, and sadly I don't have any pictures to show you. Maybe it wouldn't be so daunting if the park wasn't in a bowl, so you couldn't stand above and see the madness and chaos that is the Kampala old taxi park. Let me try my best to explain what I mean. When you think of taxis, you're probably imagining one of the luxurious (it may not seem that way to you, but believe me, it is in comparison) yellow town cars that drive around New York. It's a little different here. The taxis are 14 passager vans called motatus - there are 4 rows that should seat 3 people each. And in the taxi park, there are hundreds of these white vans, and their respective conductors. Once you walk into the taxi park, the conductors start yelling at you "where are you going", "let me help you", etc. and grabbing at your arm or bag to lead you through the park. It's so overwhelming to try to navigate between the strangely parked motatus and people trying to sell you snacks, even when you know where you're going! One cool thing is, once you get onto a motatu, after which by the way you must sit and wait until it fills up with people that are going to the same place, people walk around selling things to you through the windows. Granted, it can be annoying sometimes, but it was really convinent today when all we wanted was a water and some chips.
So, motatus in Kampala are fairly regulated and there is definitely rhyme and reason to everything that goes on in the park. There's an order to how motatus are filled, where they are parked, and they never fill it past capacity. Once you go "up country" (which means anywhere outside of a big city), forget it. Conductors just want to make as much money as possible in one trip, which results in packing people into the motatu like it's a clown car. I seriously didn't quite believe the other volunteers when they told me how packed they can get, but I think I have a taste of it now.
For the past 5 days, we visited our future regions for language immersion, and obviously we had to get there somehow. The bus ride to Mmbale was perfectly fine, although it was strange that someone was selling products on the bus for about an hour. The motatu to get to our final destination on the other hand was a different story. "Madame, you extend" is how a conductor will tell you move on over because he wants to shove one more person in if he can. Remember, the van is meant for 14 people, so why in the world would anyone think it's a good idea to pack 27 people in there, I have no idea! But, at one point, that was our total. Because people get on and off pretty frequently, it kept me entertained to continue to keep track. Although it does scare me if I ever had to get out in case of emergency, but it's something I try not to focus on while I'm physically crammed inside. And, it's not just people that get in the motatus! Goats and chickens are also welcome. This morning, on the two hour taxi ride to Jinja, something brushed up against my feet. I nearly jumped out of my seat, but I had nowhere to go! Only then did I discover the woman in front of me had shoved her chicken under her seat, and now I had to figure out where to put my feet so I wasn't kicking the chicken. I just kept imagining that it was going to get angry and peck away at my toes, and I wouldn't be able to escape. I know, a little dramatic, but it was early and I was tired. For the rest of the trip, I tried my best to tuck my feet under my seat, but every once in a while, I'd feel that stupid chicken and shutter.
Lunyole has at least 10 greetings, all kind of sounding similar, but usually require a different response. Sometimes we'd just guess and mumble, Kaale, wesi, which usually works. Other times, shop keepers would start rambling on and on. It's terrible, but my response was always to just smile, and then you know they want you to say something, anything, but I usually would just look around for a little bit, and say sitegere (which means, I don't know) because let's face it, I had no idea what was going on! Despite the initial feeling of failure, I did feel like we learned a lot on our trip, and I know we'll pick it up once we get to site in a few weeks.
We spent one afternoon wandering around the nearby villages with our language trainer and a young local man, just greeting everyone we could find. We eventually came to what they called a swamp, but I would probably call a rice paddy and field. It was the first time we got to stand in a wide open space since we've been here. With the breeze and the sun, we could see for slightly rolling green fields for miles. As we walked along, we sang a local song that goes like this:
Fulya tonya, fulya tonya
Fulya tonya, hulya amaido
It means rain drops, rain drops, rain drops, we eat peanuts, but you can fill in that part with any food. It did finally hit me that, whoa, I'm in Uganda now. I feel like for the last 6 weeks, we've been in such an urban setting, which yes, is different from America, but this field just made it feel so much more real. It shouldn't be a surprise that wandering around in the equatorial sun turned me a little red, but hey, I did have on sunscreen!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Riddle Me This
Being patient is a serious virtue in the Peace Corps. Let's face it, there's a lot of sitting around and waiting for something, anything, to happen. Patiently waiting can only go so far though. You've got to keep yourself entertained somehow. That's why it's absolutely necessary to always have a book on hand or paper and a pen to write letters home. In the last few days, I've blown through two books! Just so you know, I've decided to add another label on my blog to record all the books I'm reading over here. If you ever have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. It'd be even better if you sent them (unless they're classics because those are everywhere here). Back to being entertainment. Yesterday, we tortured each other will endless riddles. This one below took me forever, so I wanted to bother you all at home too. If you think you've got it, let me know.
Example:
I traveled to the following places:
St Louis
Houston and stayed for one day
Reno
Kansas
San Francisco
Where am I now?
San Jose
Another example:
I traveled to the following places:
Portland and stayed for one day
Carlsbad
Kansas and stayed for one day
Reno
Seattle
Where am I now?
Green Bay
Ok, now for one without the answer
I traveled to the following places:
Reno and stayed for one day
Nevada
Green Bay and stayed for one day
Redwood City
San Francisco
Where am I now?
So, when we're not playing riddles, we are of course learning more about the culture that we're living in. For the past week, we've been visiting and teaching at a Primary Teacher's College. This morning, our trainer approached our group of 9 women, and stay very quietly "Please, don't cross your legs." What? "Yes, please don't cross your legs. You're making the male staff uncomfortable." Why? "Well, they, uhhhh, can see things..." Wait, wait, wait, WHAT? They can see things? What kind of things? Is our underwear showing or something? Things? What does that even mean? "No, no, no, they can see your power." Ok, what? Power? What power? What in the world is she even be talking about? Is this a joke? "Your thighs! They can see your thighs, and you're all making them really really uncomfortable, so please don't cross your legs when you're sitting, unless you have a long skirt." Ok, so now we're getting somewhere. After more clarification, we learned that unlike in the states, only the lower half of a woman is considered to be sexual, which includes thighs apparently. This is why women must wear skirts that are below her knees, and apparently can't cross her legs unless it's ankle length. Also, it's the reason why slips are super important if your skirts a little see through (like when the light shines through) because even the silhouette of your legs is seductive. Therefore, us baring a little bit of thigh in a staff workroom would be the American equivalent of a woman showing too much cleavage at a meeting. Note: not crossing your legs is a very difficult habit to break.
The rainy season has officially begun. It's so cool, it's refreshing and surprising. I actually managed to go for a run today at 3:30 pm, when usually it would be crazy to even stand out of the shade! However, the rain could make teaching more difficult. Have you ever stood under a tin roof while the rain pours outside? It's LOUD! Now, try teaching a statistics lesson to a room of 60 students. And now remember that they already have a difficult time understanding your American accent. I was nearly yelling at my class today, and eventually had to just walk around explaining the instructions for the exercise. Surprisingly, the group work went really well, and our mentor teacher encouraged them to use our teaching styles when they do their practicals next term. Success despite the rain!
Mirror mirror on the wall. Wait- where's the mirror? That's right, it's a lot harder getting ready in the morning without the lovely luxury of a mirror at your disposal. Honestly, it probably helps me get out the door faster because I'm not standing in front of it wondering if this outfit looks good or if I should redo my hair for the 10th time. However, I can't tell you how many times I've been surprised when I get to the training center, which by the way is blessed to have mirrors, and realize I've been walking around with those awful white lines of deodorant on my pristine black top or that my blouse is see through and I have to teach that day. And let's not forget just how important appearance is in Uganda. I haven't quite found a solution to this problem, except maybe to pull my shirt on over my head a little more carefully.
We're closing in on the end of Week 5, which makes me want to bust out singing "We're halfway there, ohhhh, livin' on a prayer." So, yes, we're half way through training. On Saturday, we'll finally have our official tour of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Then, we'll be off to our different language regions for four intense days of language immersion. Butaleja, here we come!
Example:
I traveled to the following places:
St Louis
Houston and stayed for one day
Reno
Kansas
San Francisco
Where am I now?
San Jose
Another example:
I traveled to the following places:
Portland and stayed for one day
Carlsbad
Kansas and stayed for one day
Reno
Seattle
Where am I now?
Green Bay
Ok, now for one without the answer
I traveled to the following places:
Reno and stayed for one day
Nevada
Green Bay and stayed for one day
Redwood City
San Francisco
Where am I now?
So, when we're not playing riddles, we are of course learning more about the culture that we're living in. For the past week, we've been visiting and teaching at a Primary Teacher's College. This morning, our trainer approached our group of 9 women, and stay very quietly "Please, don't cross your legs." What? "Yes, please don't cross your legs. You're making the male staff uncomfortable." Why? "Well, they, uhhhh, can see things..." Wait, wait, wait, WHAT? They can see things? What kind of things? Is our underwear showing or something? Things? What does that even mean? "No, no, no, they can see your power." Ok, what? Power? What power? What in the world is she even be talking about? Is this a joke? "Your thighs! They can see your thighs, and you're all making them really really uncomfortable, so please don't cross your legs when you're sitting, unless you have a long skirt." Ok, so now we're getting somewhere. After more clarification, we learned that unlike in the states, only the lower half of a woman is considered to be sexual, which includes thighs apparently. This is why women must wear skirts that are below her knees, and apparently can't cross her legs unless it's ankle length. Also, it's the reason why slips are super important if your skirts a little see through (like when the light shines through) because even the silhouette of your legs is seductive. Therefore, us baring a little bit of thigh in a staff workroom would be the American equivalent of a woman showing too much cleavage at a meeting. Note: not crossing your legs is a very difficult habit to break.
The rainy season has officially begun. It's so cool, it's refreshing and surprising. I actually managed to go for a run today at 3:30 pm, when usually it would be crazy to even stand out of the shade! However, the rain could make teaching more difficult. Have you ever stood under a tin roof while the rain pours outside? It's LOUD! Now, try teaching a statistics lesson to a room of 60 students. And now remember that they already have a difficult time understanding your American accent. I was nearly yelling at my class today, and eventually had to just walk around explaining the instructions for the exercise. Surprisingly, the group work went really well, and our mentor teacher encouraged them to use our teaching styles when they do their practicals next term. Success despite the rain!
Mirror mirror on the wall. Wait- where's the mirror? That's right, it's a lot harder getting ready in the morning without the lovely luxury of a mirror at your disposal. Honestly, it probably helps me get out the door faster because I'm not standing in front of it wondering if this outfit looks good or if I should redo my hair for the 10th time. However, I can't tell you how many times I've been surprised when I get to the training center, which by the way is blessed to have mirrors, and realize I've been walking around with those awful white lines of deodorant on my pristine black top or that my blouse is see through and I have to teach that day. And let's not forget just how important appearance is in Uganda. I haven't quite found a solution to this problem, except maybe to pull my shirt on over my head a little more carefully.
We're closing in on the end of Week 5, which makes me want to bust out singing "We're halfway there, ohhhh, livin' on a prayer." So, yes, we're half way through training. On Saturday, we'll finally have our official tour of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Then, we'll be off to our different language regions for four intense days of language immersion. Butaleja, here we come!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
One Month Wisdom
As of yesterday, we have officially been in Uganda for ONE MONTH! Crazy, right? Honestly, at some moments I can't believe we've actually been here for one month because everything still feels so new and the weeks seem to go by really fast, yet there will be days when I can't believe it's only been one month because it feels like the days can drag on and on.
In order to celebrate my one month anniversary as a Peace Corps Trainee in Uganda, I thought I could share some of the wisdom I've picked up along the way.
In order to celebrate my one month anniversary as a Peace Corps Trainee in Uganda, I thought I could share some of the wisdom I've picked up along the way.
- The dry season really means the dry season: no rain, hot and super dusty.
- In that same vein, apparently the wet season means downpour in the morning and night.
- Be patient. Ugandan time usually means at least 30 minutes if not 2 hours later.
- Bathe twice per day, otherwise your host mom will ask you 10 times if you've bathed yet. Plus, it helps with the grime of the dusty roads.
- Medical sessions are meant to scare you so you never want to leave home. Just be smart and proactive in taking care of yourself.
- Talk s l o w l y. Kind of hard for me, but you'll make yourself understood. And Ugandans won't have to keep saying what? or pardon? so much.
- Equatorial sun means hot and strong. SPF is required.
- There are 3 types of bananas: very little sweet ones, green ones for cooking and big ones like we have in the states.
- Chelsea is a very difficult name is say for Ugandans until you remind them of the Chelsea soccer team.
- Be flexible. Plans change often, and you'll only be disappointed if you had your heart set on something, like a particular lesson plan.
- Creativity is HUGE for teaching. I hope some of these other volunteers will rub off on me.
- Contacts are an amazing invention, and I miss them very much.
- Mosquito nets rock and keep me bug free at night.
- I brought too much and too little all at the same time.
- Apparently, there is a stereotype that Americans eat a lot of bread. When my host mom asked me make a meal consisting entirely of bread, I didn't have a clue where to start.
- Chacos are super cool and one of the best things I brought with me.
- Sadly there is a notion that all African Americans and Africans are ostracized in America and mistreated. Although there are still many racial issues and divides in America, I couldn't believe how Ugandas perceived American diversity. It's difficult to convince them otherwise too.
- 20 liter jerry can is freaking heavy. Let's do the math: 20 L of water means 20 kilograms (yes, 1 L of water is 1 Kg, that's the miracle of the metric system), and 20 Kg is 44 lbs. Can you imagine carrying two 44 lb jerry cans any further than 50 m? No, and I haven't had to do it yet.
- Ugandans tell time differently than we do! Because the time that the sun rises and sets never changes, 7 am is considered the first hour of the day, and 7 pm is considered the first hour of the night. So currently is 3:42 pm, which means it's the 9th hour of the day. Minutes aren't important, which could better explain Ugandan time.
- Be positive. It makes things like waiting, plan changing and surprises less of a concern.
- Journal takes a lot of energy, which I should have known because I've been a journaler before, but when you're so tired from these longs days, it can be a challenge to stay awake and productively journal.
- Ugandan students all have great handwriting, including the boys! So that means American boys must be able to learn to write neater.
- Greetings are one of the most important things to Ugandans. Therefore, I know how to in three different languages so far.
- Peace Corps likes to give a lot of books and papers. I have a huge stack already in the corner of my room. Haven't exactly gotten through it yet... or really started.
- I love all fruit.
- Gardening here should be relatively easy. Apparently the soil is so fertile and the rains so consist that gardening is mostly left to nature.
- Many Ugandans completely acknowledge global climate change and speak passionately about the need for action. They claim it's why the wet/dry seasons are no longer predictable. It's March, and it should be raining by now.
- Communication is key. Thankfully, people can't read my mind, so I need to tell them what's going on and how I'm feeling.
- Cultural sensitivity is the most important aspect to being a successful and well integrated volunteer. It's also really uncomfortable when people aren't so much.
- Drawings can go a long way. It's easier than trying to wave around with your hands like an idiot.
- Yogurt exists here, and I love it. Although it was a little strange at first to drink it out of a bag.
- Ugandans know so much more about American and world politics than I do.
- Peace Corps is to promote world peace and friendship. Should have known that... didn't though.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Happy Women's Day!
Yes, for those of you that don't know, today is International Women's Day. International Women's Day. That's interesting, because I'm guessing more than 9 out of 10 Americans not only don't know what International Women's Day is, but also don't celebrate it. Honestly, I had no clue that March 8th was International Women's Day, and when I told my host mom this, she suggested maybe I hadn't joined the club yet... very funny.
At least in Uganda, the day is celebrated as a public holiday- meaning all government workers and schools get the day off. From what I can tell, it's a women's appreciation day. Women, hopefully, don't do any house work including cooking, washing, cleaning, etc. There are festivals and celebrations all around. Apparently, when the day was first initiated decades ago, there was quite a backlash from the male community. Now, it is a widely celebrated holiday, and all of our host families were shocked that Peace Corps was still holding sessions. I encourage you all at home to do some googling about it!
As for the PCTs in Uganda, we actually spent most of the day exploring gender roles and issues. Surprisingly, we focused mainly on American gender roles and stereotypes to have a better understanding of what kinds of expectations and assumptions we come from. Of course, most of the trainees acknowledged that when compared to other countries, America has more equal rights, responsibilities and standards for men and women. Still, there was harsh debate between the sexes about various topics. We talked about how women and men are portrayed in the media: for the most part, we focused on the negative aspects (such as body image) for women and the positive aspects for men. For example, the People magazine we were looking at had an ad for "Fat at Fifteen," some kind of youth weight loss TV show- all of the people on the show were women; however, the men had ads showing them strong, with six packs. It was interesting that we chose to not focus on the positive images in the media for women, such as Michelle Obama, and the men didn't see their representation as pressure to be more fit or more powerful. Although we claim America to be so progressive and so equal, it was quite obvious that we still are struggling with these issues at home.
The second part of the activity was to demonstrate the Ugandan gender roles and learning techniques to challenge our communities to be more open minded and flexible. In traditional Uganda, the woman is supposed to be submissive, do the housework, cook all the meals, take care of the children, be soft spoken and wear only skirts. In the Buganda region, it is common for women and children to greet men and show respect by kneeling to them, which has been some times uncomfortable for our male volunteers. On the other hand, the men are supposed to be the decision makers, bread winners and heads of the household. We discussed these differences based on our homestay, our time in the community and what we have learned from our Ugandan trainers. As an absurd example, we switched gender roles! Meaning, all of the men in our group had to play the part of Uganda women, and the women played the part of Ugandan men. For the most part, we focused on how we can empower Ugandan women and men to work together and establish more equal gender roles, such as talking about how while women may be the ones doing the housework, men are also physically capable of sweeping.
So, in celebration of women's day, be sure to thank and appreciate your mothers, sisters, girlfriends and friends! Although, and I hope this isn't too antifeminist of me, it makes me wonder why we don't have a men's day as well.
On another lighter note: Language class has been amazing the last few days because we're learning about food, which means we get to eat in class! The last few classes we've had peanuts, limes, passion fruit and sugar cane. My new favorite words is ebijanjalo which means beans!
At least in Uganda, the day is celebrated as a public holiday- meaning all government workers and schools get the day off. From what I can tell, it's a women's appreciation day. Women, hopefully, don't do any house work including cooking, washing, cleaning, etc. There are festivals and celebrations all around. Apparently, when the day was first initiated decades ago, there was quite a backlash from the male community. Now, it is a widely celebrated holiday, and all of our host families were shocked that Peace Corps was still holding sessions. I encourage you all at home to do some googling about it!
As for the PCTs in Uganda, we actually spent most of the day exploring gender roles and issues. Surprisingly, we focused mainly on American gender roles and stereotypes to have a better understanding of what kinds of expectations and assumptions we come from. Of course, most of the trainees acknowledged that when compared to other countries, America has more equal rights, responsibilities and standards for men and women. Still, there was harsh debate between the sexes about various topics. We talked about how women and men are portrayed in the media: for the most part, we focused on the negative aspects (such as body image) for women and the positive aspects for men. For example, the People magazine we were looking at had an ad for "Fat at Fifteen," some kind of youth weight loss TV show- all of the people on the show were women; however, the men had ads showing them strong, with six packs. It was interesting that we chose to not focus on the positive images in the media for women, such as Michelle Obama, and the men didn't see their representation as pressure to be more fit or more powerful. Although we claim America to be so progressive and so equal, it was quite obvious that we still are struggling with these issues at home.
The second part of the activity was to demonstrate the Ugandan gender roles and learning techniques to challenge our communities to be more open minded and flexible. In traditional Uganda, the woman is supposed to be submissive, do the housework, cook all the meals, take care of the children, be soft spoken and wear only skirts. In the Buganda region, it is common for women and children to greet men and show respect by kneeling to them, which has been some times uncomfortable for our male volunteers. On the other hand, the men are supposed to be the decision makers, bread winners and heads of the household. We discussed these differences based on our homestay, our time in the community and what we have learned from our Ugandan trainers. As an absurd example, we switched gender roles! Meaning, all of the men in our group had to play the part of Uganda women, and the women played the part of Ugandan men. For the most part, we focused on how we can empower Ugandan women and men to work together and establish more equal gender roles, such as talking about how while women may be the ones doing the housework, men are also physically capable of sweeping.
So, in celebration of women's day, be sure to thank and appreciate your mothers, sisters, girlfriends and friends! Although, and I hope this isn't too antifeminist of me, it makes me wonder why we don't have a men's day as well.
On another lighter note: Language class has been amazing the last few days because we're learning about food, which means we get to eat in class! The last few classes we've had peanuts, limes, passion fruit and sugar cane. My new favorite words is ebijanjalo which means beans!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Are Vampires Omnivores?
As a matter of fact, no. Vampires are not omnivores because they only feed on blood, which I'm pretty sure would make them carnivores.
Yes, this is a real answer I gave in class the other day while trying to teach my students about carnivores and omnivores (for those of us who are not science geeks, omnivores eat both flesh and vegetation while carnivores only eat flesh). Goes to show that vampire mania is not only found in America, apparently it has transcended across the globe! Despite stumbling over questions about vampires and bats, I felt like my last day of lessons went surprisingly well. I even incorporated group work and presentations skills, which was not preapproved by my mentor teacher and was probably poorly received on her end; however, my students appeared to enjoy it and benefit. Plus, they got all the right answers, and that's what counts right? My primary school was sad to see me go, and my mentor teacher even said "If you keep teaching, I think you'll be a wonderful teacher."
As most of us know, sub-Saharan Africa is currently struggling with a huge HIV/AIDs epidemic. In response to this epidemic, the president of Uganda, Museveni, has implemented a program called PIASCY. It is an initiative to educate the Ugandan youth about the truths and realities of HIV/AIDs and methods of prevention. In a primary school (remember, that is elementary school), there are signs posted all around the school to promote the PIASCY message. Here are some examples:
Always say no to sex
Incest is bad
Menstruation is normal
Make good choices
Stay safe
Follow your religion
Stay a virgin
Follow the ABCs (Abstain, Be faithful, Condom usage)
Avoid bad touches
Obviously, this is a very different approach to sexual education. Interestingly enough, when I interviewed the students about the various clubs available after school, their favorite was PIASCY, which means they must be doing something right. Since the implementation of this program, the HIV/AIDs rates among youth has decreased! Just something I wanted to share with all of you back home about some the differences in education.
What do PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) do on the weekends, you might ask? Well let me tell you what this PCT does on the weekends. On Saturday morning, we had a teaching fair put on by volunteers that have been in country for the last year. It was amazing to see how resourceful and creative these volunteers have been, and it seems like they have accomplished so much! Just a few examples of things they talked about: building a dutch oven to bake (yes we cooked banana bread!), making innovative teaching materials, dealing with the frustrations of PCV daily life, teaching reproductive health, educating Ugandan women about available, cheap, reusable sanitary pads, doing yoga, making a work out routine using your body weight, making a rocket stove, etc etc. They had so much to offer- even more importantly they are willing to come to your site to do workshops with your students and teachers about these things. It was awesome and got all of us excited about getting to our sites and starting whatever work we'll find there!
I spent the rest of Saturday having meals with my homestay family, which by the way are amazing! I love the food that my homestay family feeds me. I've never eaten so many bananas, they always have homemade passion fruit juice, sometimes I get yogurt for breakfast and we basically had mexican food the other night! To make up for all this food I've been downing at homestay (and believe me they want me to eat three whole plate fulls-I stick to one), I went for a 5 mile run with a friend.
This morning, I washed all my clothes- how in the world did I accumulate so much dirty clothes in only one week, I have no idea. Believe me, I will NEVER take a washing machine for granted again. As I was standing over my dirty clothes, with the four basins spread out in front of me (one for soapy water, three for rinse), listening to my running mix on my iPod, hearing the breeze whip through the banana leaves, I realized that people can get used to anything because it felt totally normal. My host mom actually said that I did a good job and was surprised I knew how to wash clothes- seriously, one of the best compliments that I could get from a Ugandan woman! Hopefully, my arms will get that work out more than once a week. I think it will help me manage my clothes situation, and it won't take an hour and half! I then organized my room and mopped my floors. From here, I'll be going to training center to hang out with the other trainees and relax some before Week Four starts up with a bang tomorrow morning at 6:30.
Note: Sorry there are no pictures on my blog yet. There have been numerous requests. I'm only using computers at the internet cafe, which are full of nasty viruses, so I don't want to be sticking my flashdrive anywhere near here. Hopefully, in a couple months, I'll have an internet modem for my laptop and I can do lots of updating on the picture front. Thanks for being so concerned and interested in my blog though!
Yes, this is a real answer I gave in class the other day while trying to teach my students about carnivores and omnivores (for those of us who are not science geeks, omnivores eat both flesh and vegetation while carnivores only eat flesh). Goes to show that vampire mania is not only found in America, apparently it has transcended across the globe! Despite stumbling over questions about vampires and bats, I felt like my last day of lessons went surprisingly well. I even incorporated group work and presentations skills, which was not preapproved by my mentor teacher and was probably poorly received on her end; however, my students appeared to enjoy it and benefit. Plus, they got all the right answers, and that's what counts right? My primary school was sad to see me go, and my mentor teacher even said "If you keep teaching, I think you'll be a wonderful teacher."
As most of us know, sub-Saharan Africa is currently struggling with a huge HIV/AIDs epidemic. In response to this epidemic, the president of Uganda, Museveni, has implemented a program called PIASCY. It is an initiative to educate the Ugandan youth about the truths and realities of HIV/AIDs and methods of prevention. In a primary school (remember, that is elementary school), there are signs posted all around the school to promote the PIASCY message. Here are some examples:
Always say no to sex
Incest is bad
Menstruation is normal
Make good choices
Stay safe
Follow your religion
Stay a virgin
Follow the ABCs (Abstain, Be faithful, Condom usage)
Avoid bad touches
Obviously, this is a very different approach to sexual education. Interestingly enough, when I interviewed the students about the various clubs available after school, their favorite was PIASCY, which means they must be doing something right. Since the implementation of this program, the HIV/AIDs rates among youth has decreased! Just something I wanted to share with all of you back home about some the differences in education.
What do PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) do on the weekends, you might ask? Well let me tell you what this PCT does on the weekends. On Saturday morning, we had a teaching fair put on by volunteers that have been in country for the last year. It was amazing to see how resourceful and creative these volunteers have been, and it seems like they have accomplished so much! Just a few examples of things they talked about: building a dutch oven to bake (yes we cooked banana bread!), making innovative teaching materials, dealing with the frustrations of PCV daily life, teaching reproductive health, educating Ugandan women about available, cheap, reusable sanitary pads, doing yoga, making a work out routine using your body weight, making a rocket stove, etc etc. They had so much to offer- even more importantly they are willing to come to your site to do workshops with your students and teachers about these things. It was awesome and got all of us excited about getting to our sites and starting whatever work we'll find there!
I spent the rest of Saturday having meals with my homestay family, which by the way are amazing! I love the food that my homestay family feeds me. I've never eaten so many bananas, they always have homemade passion fruit juice, sometimes I get yogurt for breakfast and we basically had mexican food the other night! To make up for all this food I've been downing at homestay (and believe me they want me to eat three whole plate fulls-I stick to one), I went for a 5 mile run with a friend.
This morning, I washed all my clothes- how in the world did I accumulate so much dirty clothes in only one week, I have no idea. Believe me, I will NEVER take a washing machine for granted again. As I was standing over my dirty clothes, with the four basins spread out in front of me (one for soapy water, three for rinse), listening to my running mix on my iPod, hearing the breeze whip through the banana leaves, I realized that people can get used to anything because it felt totally normal. My host mom actually said that I did a good job and was surprised I knew how to wash clothes- seriously, one of the best compliments that I could get from a Ugandan woman! Hopefully, my arms will get that work out more than once a week. I think it will help me manage my clothes situation, and it won't take an hour and half! I then organized my room and mopped my floors. From here, I'll be going to training center to hang out with the other trainees and relax some before Week Four starts up with a bang tomorrow morning at 6:30.
Note: Sorry there are no pictures on my blog yet. There have been numerous requests. I'm only using computers at the internet cafe, which are full of nasty viruses, so I don't want to be sticking my flashdrive anywhere near here. Hopefully, in a couple months, I'll have an internet modem for my laptop and I can do lots of updating on the picture front. Thanks for being so concerned and interested in my blog though!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Why do you build me, buttercup baby?
For the first time in my life, I taught not only one classroom of elementary school students, but two! For practice and experience in teaching primary schools, we were assigned a mentor teacher and subject at a local school. I got to teach science to the P-6 level, our equivalent of sixth grade. My lesson was about fish--- really don't know too much about fish, but the teacher textbook was helpful (students don't have their own). However, I think the lesson went really well! There were 56 students in my first class and 59 in the other, but they were all so well behaved. The classroom itself was about the same size as the states, just twice as full. The roof is tin and the walls concrete, so it felt like the room was radiating heat. All of the students were responsive and answered all my questions correctly.
As a reward for finishing their exercises on time, I let them ask me any questions about myself or America. Here are some examples:
Are you married?
Do you have children?
How old are you?
I let them guess about this one. 15, 30, 37, 28, 22. Ding ding ding- 22! 15 though? C'mon.
Can you sing your national anthem?
Is it bad that I work for the US government, and I couldn't remember how it starts?
Can you sing anything for us?
... well, not really, but I did sing and dance to "Why do you build me up, buttercup baby?"
How many terms does a US president serve?
Do you have posho or maatoke in the states? (Ugandan food)
Do I know film stars?
Can I bring students back with me to the United States?
In America, what is my favorite food?
Who is my best friend in Uganda?
Do I have any siblings?
What are the names of my parents?
What are my favorite foods in the United States?
When I said ice cream, they told me that's only for children... well, since some of them think I'm 15, apparently it's ok.
Overall, I think it was such a rewarding and educational experience to be able to actually see an Ugandan classroom, and be able to participate in the lesson planning and teaching. The whole thing was a little disorganized, of course, but isn't that part of the learning process too? Learning to roll with the punches and tobe flexible is probably one of the biggest parts of training.
I'll be teaching again on Friday. This time about mammals-- again, the teaching text book came in handy.
As a reward for finishing their exercises on time, I let them ask me any questions about myself or America. Here are some examples:
Are you married?
Do you have children?
How old are you?
I let them guess about this one. 15, 30, 37, 28, 22. Ding ding ding- 22! 15 though? C'mon.
Can you sing your national anthem?
Is it bad that I work for the US government, and I couldn't remember how it starts?
Can you sing anything for us?
... well, not really, but I did sing and dance to "Why do you build me up, buttercup baby?"
How many terms does a US president serve?
Do you have posho or maatoke in the states? (Ugandan food)
Do I know film stars?
Can I bring students back with me to the United States?
In America, what is my favorite food?
Who is my best friend in Uganda?
Do I have any siblings?
What are the names of my parents?
What are my favorite foods in the United States?
When I said ice cream, they told me that's only for children... well, since some of them think I'm 15, apparently it's ok.
Overall, I think it was such a rewarding and educational experience to be able to actually see an Ugandan classroom, and be able to participate in the lesson planning and teaching. The whole thing was a little disorganized, of course, but isn't that part of the learning process too? Learning to roll with the punches and tobe flexible is probably one of the biggest parts of training.
I'll be teaching again on Friday. This time about mammals-- again, the teaching text book came in handy.
Congratulations, you have survived the night!
Yisuha owire. In the language I'm learning, Lunyole, this is how you greet in the morning. It literally means, congratulations, you have survived the night! And, I've survived my first few weeks in Uganda and in Peace Corps training. Obviously, this is the first time I've been able to access internet in the last three weeks, so sorry I've been so MIA and I won't be able to update you all on everything, but I'll do my best. It also meant that I had over 100 emails to sort through.
Let me give you all a typical day in training, as if there was one! Now that I am living with my homestay family, I have to wake up at 6:30 am and bathe. My bucket baths are actually quite nice because the bathing area is outside (it's enclosed, don't worry) and I get to see dawn breaking. I eat breakfast, which so far has been an assortment of things, including hardboiled eggs, yogurt, bread, muffins, apples and bananas. I rush off to meet the other trainees so we can do the 2 km walk together to the training center. Sessions start at 8 am, and they cover everything including medical, safety and security, language, teaching methods, learning aids, development strategies, peer teaching, life skills, etc etc. They can be quite long with lots of group work, skits, discussions and questions, but it's a lot of information. The first few days, I felt like I couldn't absorb anymore, but writing everything down has helped a lot. We take break tea at 10:30- originally, we weren't all into the idea but now we almost riot if it seems like our break tea is going to be shortened or not taken. It's obviously tea, but there are snacks there too, including popcorn on some days! We eat lunch at 1, and we are supposed to be done at 5. Usually it's more like 5:30, and I get home at 6. I try to run or do yoga, but some days I just write in my journal or relax. I usually bathe again around 7, right before the sun sets. Some people in my host family bathe after dark, but I want to be able to see! (Ugandans bathe twice a day, so I'm trying to follow their example.) Dinner can be quite late at our homestays, but most days we eat by 8:45 or 9 pm. For the most part, I enjoy the food! The fruit in particular is absolutely amazing. After dinner, I play cards with my host cousin and maid- they already knew crazy 8s, and I'm hoping to teach them some other games. Bed time's about 10:30.
Just another note about language- I'm learning Lunyole. We only found out last week, and so far I've only had 3 lessons. The most exciting thing about it so far is I know where I'll be placed! I'll be going to the southeast of Uganda, and the nearest big town is Mmbale if you want to look it up on a map. Although the region that speaks my language is relatively small, it's a Bantu speaking language, which means most other Bantu languages will be able to understand me. There are 54 languages spoken in Uganda, and Bantu languages are spoken in the south of the country, so it'll help a lot when I travel and get around. In our training class, there are 9 languages being taught, the most out of all the other Peace Corps programs!
Today is the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps, so celebrate! We actually sang happy birthday to Peace Corps and a current volunteer reenacted JFK's famous speech that started the Peace Corps iniative. Also, a staff member baked us cookies and they were amazing.
Just a quick run down of what's next to come. We're in Week 3 currently. Week 6 we go on a week long trip with our language trainers and group to our region to be fully immersed in the language. Week 8 we find out our official assignment and placement and actually go visit it. Week 10 is the end!
So far, training has been a very interesting experience. The first two weeks almost felt like adult summer camp because we couldn't really leave the compound due to security reasons. People played their guitars at night, we lived in dorms, there was a dance on our last night, we ate all of our meals together, etc. Now, it feels a little more real because we are living in the communities, finally getting to see the schools and doing more outreach. It's been overwhelming too- there is so much information we need to know, so many things we need to get done and relationships to form. One of the current volunteers said that training was the hardest part about her service. I'm focusing on keeping a positive attitude and enjoying what I have right now- i.e. the access to internet, the supermarket close by (which has yogurt!) and all the new friends I've made.
I miss you all from home and hope all is well. Sorry communication has been lacking- we're very busy most of the time, and I haven't bought a phone yet. Working on it though.
(Note, I wrote this post yesterday at an internet cafe. Moments before clicking PUBLISH POST, the power cut. Go figure.)
Let me give you all a typical day in training, as if there was one! Now that I am living with my homestay family, I have to wake up at 6:30 am and bathe. My bucket baths are actually quite nice because the bathing area is outside (it's enclosed, don't worry) and I get to see dawn breaking. I eat breakfast, which so far has been an assortment of things, including hardboiled eggs, yogurt, bread, muffins, apples and bananas. I rush off to meet the other trainees so we can do the 2 km walk together to the training center. Sessions start at 8 am, and they cover everything including medical, safety and security, language, teaching methods, learning aids, development strategies, peer teaching, life skills, etc etc. They can be quite long with lots of group work, skits, discussions and questions, but it's a lot of information. The first few days, I felt like I couldn't absorb anymore, but writing everything down has helped a lot. We take break tea at 10:30- originally, we weren't all into the idea but now we almost riot if it seems like our break tea is going to be shortened or not taken. It's obviously tea, but there are snacks there too, including popcorn on some days! We eat lunch at 1, and we are supposed to be done at 5. Usually it's more like 5:30, and I get home at 6. I try to run or do yoga, but some days I just write in my journal or relax. I usually bathe again around 7, right before the sun sets. Some people in my host family bathe after dark, but I want to be able to see! (Ugandans bathe twice a day, so I'm trying to follow their example.) Dinner can be quite late at our homestays, but most days we eat by 8:45 or 9 pm. For the most part, I enjoy the food! The fruit in particular is absolutely amazing. After dinner, I play cards with my host cousin and maid- they already knew crazy 8s, and I'm hoping to teach them some other games. Bed time's about 10:30.
Just another note about language- I'm learning Lunyole. We only found out last week, and so far I've only had 3 lessons. The most exciting thing about it so far is I know where I'll be placed! I'll be going to the southeast of Uganda, and the nearest big town is Mmbale if you want to look it up on a map. Although the region that speaks my language is relatively small, it's a Bantu speaking language, which means most other Bantu languages will be able to understand me. There are 54 languages spoken in Uganda, and Bantu languages are spoken in the south of the country, so it'll help a lot when I travel and get around. In our training class, there are 9 languages being taught, the most out of all the other Peace Corps programs!
Today is the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps, so celebrate! We actually sang happy birthday to Peace Corps and a current volunteer reenacted JFK's famous speech that started the Peace Corps iniative. Also, a staff member baked us cookies and they were amazing.
Just a quick run down of what's next to come. We're in Week 3 currently. Week 6 we go on a week long trip with our language trainers and group to our region to be fully immersed in the language. Week 8 we find out our official assignment and placement and actually go visit it. Week 10 is the end!
So far, training has been a very interesting experience. The first two weeks almost felt like adult summer camp because we couldn't really leave the compound due to security reasons. People played their guitars at night, we lived in dorms, there was a dance on our last night, we ate all of our meals together, etc. Now, it feels a little more real because we are living in the communities, finally getting to see the schools and doing more outreach. It's been overwhelming too- there is so much information we need to know, so many things we need to get done and relationships to form. One of the current volunteers said that training was the hardest part about her service. I'm focusing on keeping a positive attitude and enjoying what I have right now- i.e. the access to internet, the supermarket close by (which has yogurt!) and all the new friends I've made.
I miss you all from home and hope all is well. Sorry communication has been lacking- we're very busy most of the time, and I haven't bought a phone yet. Working on it though.
(Note, I wrote this post yesterday at an internet cafe. Moments before clicking PUBLISH POST, the power cut. Go figure.)
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