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!