Officially, I've been at site for one week now, and finally it is starting to feel like home. Not going to lie, the first few days were pretty rough and overwhelming. It almost felt like being dropped off at WashU again for college, but this time I was given only a bed, I didn't have a roommate, there were spiders and unimaginable insects, lights out was at 7 pm due to the lack of power and I couldn't understand the language. Needless to say, I made a few late night, teary phone calls.
For starters, I just felt very alone, and the thought of trying to make my house feel homey was pretty overwhelming. Where in the world can I find somewhere to get some furniture! And sadly, there's no IKEA in sight.
Let me first describe my house. My house is designed to be a shop. It is a cement building with big front doors that open to the street. The backroom is my bedroom, and it has a door that enters the family compound of Madam Brandy. More on that later. While the backroom has a window, the large front room sadly does not. This means if I want light or ventilation for cooking during the day, I need to open my doors to the street, from which everyone stares at me because I'm the most interesting thing in town right now. And that's not me being full of myself. I'm the hit of town gossip. So, my first order of business? Can I PLEASE put a window in? And my land lady said yes! So hopefully that'll be in there in the next week or so, which is very exciting.
Next up, furniture. My land lady kindly helped me find a carpenter to construct me a table to do my cooking, food prep and dishwashing at. It's already been finished, and is currently sitting in my front room. Sadly, the varnish is still drying, so it's been difficult resisting the temptation to set things on the table. What a tease! I'm waiting on the construction of my wardrobe, which will hopefully begin the process of organizing my room. As for sofas, my land lady offered to loan me a sofa set for my two years, which is sweet because that'll save me $100! Yesterday, as I organized my rooms yet again, I decided the wood frames of the sofa set needed some dusting. Only then did I find the massive families of spiders living underneath the chairs. Oh, did I run to find the girls fast to help me. They kept asking "Chelsea, you fear? You fear?" "YES I fear! I don't want them in my house" "But they are only minor. You fear? Really? You know those things called cockroaches? Do you fear those too?" Unfortunately yes, and I would prefer to not have them in my house. Anyway, after an hour of cleaning, for which I gave the girl a big bar of chocolate, I still can't bring myself to sit on them! All in due time, I'll be more comfortable with the fact that there's critters living with me. I hope anyway.
As for the village itself, everyone has been very friendly and is so happy when I speak Lunyole with them. I'm very good at greeting now, and hopefully will be able to find a language tutor soon to continue improving. Whenever I tell Ugandans that my name is Chelsea, they always think that I've changed the conversation to the subject of soccer (there's a British soccer team named Chelsea). To avoid confusion, I have taken the local name "Negesa", which means someone born in the time of harvest (I figured October was close enough, and I liked the sound of it). Now, whenever I enter the market place, I hear the women calling "Negesa Negesa!"
I feel so grateful to be living in the family compound. Because it is school holiday, all of Madam Brandy's children are home for the time being, which includes one teenage boy and five girls. I can't express how welcoming and helpful this family has been to me in the past week. They've done everything possible to make me feel at home, including inviting me to eat Easter lunch with them, sending me home with sweet potatoes, serving me tea in the afternoon, escorting me everywhere, helping me figure out what else I need for my house, making sure I set out basins or buckets when it rains, etc. It does feel like sometimes I'm a child because there are so many things I don't know how to do! But, it is starting to feel like I'm coming home when I enter the compound gates. I made the girls tortillas the other night, and they were so intensely watching everything I did because making tortillas without oil is unheard of here! The recipe here, which they call chipatti, calls for 3/4 cup flour to 1 cup oil. I don't know if they actually liked the tortillas, but they love learning about Americans and about me. I promised to make them a cake before they all went back to school in May.
All next week, I'll be at a teacher's workshop with my counterpart and a few other PCVs, so I may continue to be MIA. Don't think I've forgotten about you guys. I just need to figure out how to get power in my place. I'm thinking solar.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
It's Ms. PCV to you
It's official- I'm finally a Peace Corps Volunteer, abbreviated as PCV to those in the biz. Apart from now addressing your letters to Chelsea Roberts, PCV, does it really make a difference? YES! This title may not mean much to you all back home, but believe me, it means so much to all us here. For the last 10 weeks, we have been constantly referred to as trainees, only to remind us, that no, we're not yet volunteers. Today marks the day that we've graduated from being a trainee and have earned the title volunteer. It means we've been officially sworn in by the American ambassador of Uganda, it means we've survived training, it means we're going to our sites to finally start what we came here to do, it means we've been presented to the Ugandan Ministry of Education, it means this is going to be a super short blog post so I can go celebrate my last night with my fellow volunteers.
We move tomorrow to our sites, so I'll update you all soon on life in Butaleja!
We move tomorrow to our sites, so I'll update you all soon on life in Butaleja!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Moving on Up
Today was one of those beautiful Ugandan days. The sun was, of course, shinning but there was a light breeze to blow off the heat. At the conference center, it seemed like the birds were whistling, calling and hawing more than usual. The lush trees swayed in the breeze from Lake Victoria, and you could see the monkeys playing amongst the branches.
So, while this picture is totally true, it's basically true everyday. What made today so special? Duh- it's the last day of training! Yes, I said it. The LAST day of training!!! The whole day had that last day of school before summer feeling, which is a feeling I thought I had left in the past. As much as I feel like we've all been waiting for this day, I think we were all surprised it is actually here. Technically, we'll still be trainees for another week, and we'll finally claim that coveted title of Peace Corps Volunteer. Is it lame that I'm so excited to finally have that following my name? Chelsea Roberts, Peace Corps Volunteer. It sounds so much better than Peace Corps Trainee at least!
Today, most of us took our LPIs, which is the Language Proficiency Interview. This is the only test that Peace Corps ever gives you. So, yeah, it's kind of a big deal. And people take it very seriously. For good reasons. If you do not pass, Peace Corps will have to evaluate whether they should send you into the field where you'll hopefully improve. In three months time, you'll have to retake the LPI. Let me be clear, the LPI isn't some standardized test you can just cram for and hopefully remember your verb conjugations correctly. It is an interview. This means it is an oral exam, in which you're basically rambling on about whatever they want to know. It's pretty intimidating, especially because the person conducting the interview may be someone you've never met before, such as my case.
Because there was only one tester for Lugwere and Lunyole languages, some of us had to take the LPI yesterday, which I volunteered for. I thought it would have been a relief to take it earlier and just get it over with. Another trainee in our language group went first, and it felt like he was in there forever! Seriously, at least 30 if not 35 minutes. We couldn't figure out what the in the world he could be saying, and it only meant doom for the rest of us. Of course, once he finished, he clued us in on what was to come. Apparently, our tester is from the Mbale area, which speaks a different language all together. This means that while he can of course speak Lunyole, he has a slight accent and uses different verbs than we're used to. Our fellow trainee added nonchalantly, "Oh yeah, and he holds the recorder to your face, so don't freak out or anything." Yeah, no pressure whatsoever.
Honestly, I think it went alright...? I'll find out tomorrow. He did ask me about random things, including what my brothers in America like to do. By the way Grant, you like to read books and go running if you didn't know. And John-Paul, you watch movies and cook. Hey, I only have so many verbs in my vocabulary!
Hopefully, once I get to site, I can get a better grasp on my language. It was such a disadvantage that my host family (even though I love them so much) didn't speak my target language. I hope to befriend some village kids who are patient enough to teach me some more basics before I graduate to conversing with adults! I really want to use my language because I think it will make my integration and acceptance into the community so much easier. Bummer though that if I go 5-10 miles in any direction, I'll no longer find people that speak Lunyole!
For the last nine weeks, I feel like we've been in limbo, forever in transition. I'm so looking forward to finally putting my clothes away and to no longer be living out of a suitcase. Finally, we'll have a place more permanent, a place we can make our own and call home. Granted, that doesn't mean the next step is going to be easy. I'm a little anxious about jumping into a new community, in which I know only a handful of people, and try to make it my home. It's going to take courage, perseverance and patience.
Our Country Director told us that, no pressure of course, but the next 90 days at site will be setting the foundations for our next two years. However we act in the next three months will determine our relationship with our community. So, obviously, be the best volunteer you can, get out of your house, talk to people, do any work you can, stay at your site, practice the language, form friendships with your neighbors, set up your home, get a routine, find where you fit in. Even if we don't have any major successes, if we can integrate into our community, we've accomplished something. Remind me of that in three months when I'm complaining about not getting things done.
One of our fellow trainees reminded us of a very inspiring quote in the spirit of moving forward and on: "Wherever may go, go with all your heart." - Confucius. Yeah, there are some smart people here spouting off Confucius quotes, but I found it very fitting. We all need to have the right attitude to be an outsider for some time and work our way towards acceptance.
Last tid bit: I've been given a new name! I'll now be Chelsea Negesa. Honestly, I'm not sure what Negesa means, but my language trainer decided it fit me. I know it'll be so much easier than trying to explain that it's Chelsea, not Chelr, or Chelser, or Kelr. For whatever reason, people really like to throw that "r" in there, and then I never respond when they are calling my name.
So, while this picture is totally true, it's basically true everyday. What made today so special? Duh- it's the last day of training! Yes, I said it. The LAST day of training!!! The whole day had that last day of school before summer feeling, which is a feeling I thought I had left in the past. As much as I feel like we've all been waiting for this day, I think we were all surprised it is actually here. Technically, we'll still be trainees for another week, and we'll finally claim that coveted title of Peace Corps Volunteer. Is it lame that I'm so excited to finally have that following my name? Chelsea Roberts, Peace Corps Volunteer. It sounds so much better than Peace Corps Trainee at least!
Today, most of us took our LPIs, which is the Language Proficiency Interview. This is the only test that Peace Corps ever gives you. So, yeah, it's kind of a big deal. And people take it very seriously. For good reasons. If you do not pass, Peace Corps will have to evaluate whether they should send you into the field where you'll hopefully improve. In three months time, you'll have to retake the LPI. Let me be clear, the LPI isn't some standardized test you can just cram for and hopefully remember your verb conjugations correctly. It is an interview. This means it is an oral exam, in which you're basically rambling on about whatever they want to know. It's pretty intimidating, especially because the person conducting the interview may be someone you've never met before, such as my case.
Because there was only one tester for Lugwere and Lunyole languages, some of us had to take the LPI yesterday, which I volunteered for. I thought it would have been a relief to take it earlier and just get it over with. Another trainee in our language group went first, and it felt like he was in there forever! Seriously, at least 30 if not 35 minutes. We couldn't figure out what the in the world he could be saying, and it only meant doom for the rest of us. Of course, once he finished, he clued us in on what was to come. Apparently, our tester is from the Mbale area, which speaks a different language all together. This means that while he can of course speak Lunyole, he has a slight accent and uses different verbs than we're used to. Our fellow trainee added nonchalantly, "Oh yeah, and he holds the recorder to your face, so don't freak out or anything." Yeah, no pressure whatsoever.
Honestly, I think it went alright...? I'll find out tomorrow. He did ask me about random things, including what my brothers in America like to do. By the way Grant, you like to read books and go running if you didn't know. And John-Paul, you watch movies and cook. Hey, I only have so many verbs in my vocabulary!
Hopefully, once I get to site, I can get a better grasp on my language. It was such a disadvantage that my host family (even though I love them so much) didn't speak my target language. I hope to befriend some village kids who are patient enough to teach me some more basics before I graduate to conversing with adults! I really want to use my language because I think it will make my integration and acceptance into the community so much easier. Bummer though that if I go 5-10 miles in any direction, I'll no longer find people that speak Lunyole!
For the last nine weeks, I feel like we've been in limbo, forever in transition. I'm so looking forward to finally putting my clothes away and to no longer be living out of a suitcase. Finally, we'll have a place more permanent, a place we can make our own and call home. Granted, that doesn't mean the next step is going to be easy. I'm a little anxious about jumping into a new community, in which I know only a handful of people, and try to make it my home. It's going to take courage, perseverance and patience.
Our Country Director told us that, no pressure of course, but the next 90 days at site will be setting the foundations for our next two years. However we act in the next three months will determine our relationship with our community. So, obviously, be the best volunteer you can, get out of your house, talk to people, do any work you can, stay at your site, practice the language, form friendships with your neighbors, set up your home, get a routine, find where you fit in. Even if we don't have any major successes, if we can integrate into our community, we've accomplished something. Remind me of that in three months when I'm complaining about not getting things done.
One of our fellow trainees reminded us of a very inspiring quote in the spirit of moving forward and on: "Wherever may go, go with all your heart." - Confucius. Yeah, there are some smart people here spouting off Confucius quotes, but I found it very fitting. We all need to have the right attitude to be an outsider for some time and work our way towards acceptance.
Last tid bit: I've been given a new name! I'll now be Chelsea Negesa. Honestly, I'm not sure what Negesa means, but my language trainer decided it fit me. I know it'll be so much easier than trying to explain that it's Chelsea, not Chelr, or Chelser, or Kelr. For whatever reason, people really like to throw that "r" in there, and then I never respond when they are calling my name.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Out of Control
So for those of you that don't know this about me, I tend to get stuck on words and phrases, then use them nonstop until I can find another hip phrase I like. In the past, I've gotten stuck on hilarious, horrific, ridiculous, triste, etc. I know there are more, I just can't come up with any right now. Well, the current favorite is out of control. I honestly didn't know I was even using it that much until someone commented on it. They asked me how can everything be out of control? Well, in actuality, the last 10 weeks or so have been comletely out of control.
Let me give a brief list of things that are usually out of control here in Uganda:
-my hair. It never seems to be neat.
-the portion sizes. It's a struggle to finish a meal sometimes
-driving. Chicken is not a game here, it's just how you drive
-how sharing everyone is in Uganda. People are always willing to share meals, tea, their homes, anything with you.
-how many languages are spoken in Uganda. 54 languages! And most people know at least 4, if not 6 or 7.
-the rain. It rains so crazy hard here and it just gets amplified by the tin roof.
Of course, these things aren't out of control in a bad way necessarily, but it's just over the top sometimes.
On the other hand, I've been trying to figure out exactly why this phrase has entered my vocabulary now. And, I've come to the conclusion that it's because that's how I feel right now, a serious lack of control, which I completely contribute to training. In training, we have absolutely no say or direction in what we do each day, when we do it, what we eat, when we eat, any alone time, where we're going in country, where we'll be living etc. We pretty much gave up all that control once we stepped on the flight to staging. And of course, I completely understand why it has to be this way, but that doesn't mean it isn't exhausting, stressful and frustrating. People always say that training is the hardest part of their Peace Corps service, and I'm beginning to understand why. For the most part, the people that join Peace Corps are very independent and like to discover things themselves. Essentially, these 10 weeks of training have been the exact opposite of that. Maybe that's why I've suddenly starting using out of control in order to describe everything going on around me.
Needless to say, I'm very much looknig forward to going to site, to having my own space, to cooking for myself, to getting back into my exercise routine, to doing things at my own pace, to finally getting started in whatever work I'll be doing here. I know that I'll miss my fellow trainees, my homestay family and having a schedule to follow, but right now all I can think about is getting training over with. Tomorrow, we have a round robin type of oral exam, in which we need to be able to answer questions about anything we've covered in training, including medical, safety, cross cultural, etc. On Friday, we have our final language evaluation. Hopefully, I'll pass, but I'm pretty sure if I don't, they aren't going to send me home!
Last week, I visited my future site, but only briefly so I don't have too much to report about it, except my counterpart is super excited to start working with me. My house is a work in progress to say the least, but at least it's really safe, I've got some neighbors to hang out with and I'm really looking forward to making it my own. Hopefully, once I get to my own place, I'll finally feel a little more in control. My hopes aren't too high for my hair though.
Let me give a brief list of things that are usually out of control here in Uganda:
-my hair. It never seems to be neat.
-the portion sizes. It's a struggle to finish a meal sometimes
-driving. Chicken is not a game here, it's just how you drive
-how sharing everyone is in Uganda. People are always willing to share meals, tea, their homes, anything with you.
-how many languages are spoken in Uganda. 54 languages! And most people know at least 4, if not 6 or 7.
-the rain. It rains so crazy hard here and it just gets amplified by the tin roof.
Of course, these things aren't out of control in a bad way necessarily, but it's just over the top sometimes.
On the other hand, I've been trying to figure out exactly why this phrase has entered my vocabulary now. And, I've come to the conclusion that it's because that's how I feel right now, a serious lack of control, which I completely contribute to training. In training, we have absolutely no say or direction in what we do each day, when we do it, what we eat, when we eat, any alone time, where we're going in country, where we'll be living etc. We pretty much gave up all that control once we stepped on the flight to staging. And of course, I completely understand why it has to be this way, but that doesn't mean it isn't exhausting, stressful and frustrating. People always say that training is the hardest part of their Peace Corps service, and I'm beginning to understand why. For the most part, the people that join Peace Corps are very independent and like to discover things themselves. Essentially, these 10 weeks of training have been the exact opposite of that. Maybe that's why I've suddenly starting using out of control in order to describe everything going on around me.
Needless to say, I'm very much looknig forward to going to site, to having my own space, to cooking for myself, to getting back into my exercise routine, to doing things at my own pace, to finally getting started in whatever work I'll be doing here. I know that I'll miss my fellow trainees, my homestay family and having a schedule to follow, but right now all I can think about is getting training over with. Tomorrow, we have a round robin type of oral exam, in which we need to be able to answer questions about anything we've covered in training, including medical, safety, cross cultural, etc. On Friday, we have our final language evaluation. Hopefully, I'll pass, but I'm pretty sure if I don't, they aren't going to send me home!
Last week, I visited my future site, but only briefly so I don't have too much to report about it, except my counterpart is super excited to start working with me. My house is a work in progress to say the least, but at least it's really safe, I've got some neighbors to hang out with and I'm really looking forward to making it my own. Hopefully, once I get to my own place, I'll finally feel a little more in control. My hopes aren't too high for my hair though.
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Big Reveal
Today was the big day. The day we've all desperately been waiting for. The day when the unknown would finally become known. Today was site announcement day! What does that mean, you might ask? It's the day we are finally told exactly where we are going and exactly what we are going to do. Yes, we had to wait 8 weeks to find out, and believe me, it was driving us crazy to not know.
Of course, site announcements weren't the first thing we did this morning. We had to sit through two hours of language, take break tea, then get the run down of how they even find out sites, etc. Finally, around 11 am, our program manager took the floor. In her hand were 44 brown manalia envelopes that had all the answers. We all drum rolled on the tables as we waited for her to announce the names. Once someone's name was called, people cheered, clapped and hollered. When we received our envelope, we read off the name of our school or assignment, which honestly didn't mean much until you actually opened the envelope and could read the information provided.
Well, I guess I have tortured you enough, and I can tell you all now what my site placement is. Drum roll please.....
For the next two years, I will be living in Butaleja! Yes, I know I have already told you that I'll be living in Butaleja district, so that's not new news or anything. But, now I know I will be living in Butaleja town. When I say town, we should keep that term pretty relative. It probably doesn't have more than two blocks, but it will definitely have market days, a town butcher, a small shop to buy soap and other ammenities. I won't be exactly in the middle of town, but my house will be a short walk away, maybe 500 meters. Speaking of my house, I really don't know anything about that yet except that I have a bedroom and a sitting room. Pretty vague, I know. Butaleja actually can be found on Wikipedia, although there isn't too much information to be found there. I am 24 miles from the largest city, which is Mbale, and the town is at an elevation of 3,600 ft. The 2011 estimated population is 5,700 people. I will only be maybe 8 kilometers from another volunteer, so don't worry, I'm not alone by any means.
Map of Butaleja- it's not the best map, but you can zoom in and at least see where in Uganda this Butaleja place is.
As for my official assignment, I will be working with Butaleja Integrated Coordinating Center. The Coordinating Centers (aka CCs, and those that work at them are CCTs) work with the surrounding primary schools to improve the level of education provided. Usually there is a model primary school near the CC, which I will probably be working with and be able to do after school clubs/secondary projects with. The CCs report to a Primary Teacher's College (PTC), and the PTC my CC reports to is in Tororo, a town further east on the border of Kenya and Uganda. According to my offical site announcement, my work at the CC will be:
1. Support the CCT in running outreach activities in outreach schools.
2. Provide professional support to teachers in the outreach schools by way of making instructional materials using locally available materials.
3. Assist in computer science since the college has a computer lab.
4. Support the CCT in resource room development for outreach schools to learn from.
5. Support the CCT in developing positive relationship between the coordinating center and immediate community.
Honestly, I'm pretty excited about all of this, although it's only sparked further questions: what's the town like, what's my house like, what's my counterpart like, what's the school like, etc. I'm especially excited about developing a resource room from local materials because it will be physical project that I can definitely see results to and know that it will be used as motivation and inspiration for teachers. I'm not too sure how teaching computer science will work out because the PTC is in Tororo, which is at least an hour and half taxi ride away, but if they're really interested in it, I'll totally be willing to go once a week to teach. I'll just have to feel out their expectations of me and my duties as the PCV at the CC. Sorry if this post seems like a bowl of alphabet soup, the acronyms are just so much easier to use sometimes.
On Wednesday, we will be traveling to our future sites to get a feel for the place and hopefully have many of our questions answered. We'll be able to see the CC and the model primary school, meet teachers and students, meet our counterpart, see our future house (and check if we have running water or electricity!), know how far we are from other towns and other PCVs. Even if my house doesn't have running water or electricity, I'm definitely not super rural. Because I am so close to a small town, I'll be able to find almost everything I need, transportation will be fairly regular to other towns and I'll always be able to find someone with a generator to charge my phone if worst comes to worst. Since we were recently in the region, I know I'll be able to run and bike because the surrounding area is relatively flat. Overall, I can't tell you how happy I am with my placement, and now how excited I am to finally swear in as a volunteer and get to work.
Of course, site announcements weren't the first thing we did this morning. We had to sit through two hours of language, take break tea, then get the run down of how they even find out sites, etc. Finally, around 11 am, our program manager took the floor. In her hand were 44 brown manalia envelopes that had all the answers. We all drum rolled on the tables as we waited for her to announce the names. Once someone's name was called, people cheered, clapped and hollered. When we received our envelope, we read off the name of our school or assignment, which honestly didn't mean much until you actually opened the envelope and could read the information provided.
Well, I guess I have tortured you enough, and I can tell you all now what my site placement is. Drum roll please.....
For the next two years, I will be living in Butaleja! Yes, I know I have already told you that I'll be living in Butaleja district, so that's not new news or anything. But, now I know I will be living in Butaleja town. When I say town, we should keep that term pretty relative. It probably doesn't have more than two blocks, but it will definitely have market days, a town butcher, a small shop to buy soap and other ammenities. I won't be exactly in the middle of town, but my house will be a short walk away, maybe 500 meters. Speaking of my house, I really don't know anything about that yet except that I have a bedroom and a sitting room. Pretty vague, I know. Butaleja actually can be found on Wikipedia, although there isn't too much information to be found there. I am 24 miles from the largest city, which is Mbale, and the town is at an elevation of 3,600 ft. The 2011 estimated population is 5,700 people. I will only be maybe 8 kilometers from another volunteer, so don't worry, I'm not alone by any means.
Map of Butaleja- it's not the best map, but you can zoom in and at least see where in Uganda this Butaleja place is.
As for my official assignment, I will be working with Butaleja Integrated Coordinating Center. The Coordinating Centers (aka CCs, and those that work at them are CCTs) work with the surrounding primary schools to improve the level of education provided. Usually there is a model primary school near the CC, which I will probably be working with and be able to do after school clubs/secondary projects with. The CCs report to a Primary Teacher's College (PTC), and the PTC my CC reports to is in Tororo, a town further east on the border of Kenya and Uganda. According to my offical site announcement, my work at the CC will be:
1. Support the CCT in running outreach activities in outreach schools.
2. Provide professional support to teachers in the outreach schools by way of making instructional materials using locally available materials.
3. Assist in computer science since the college has a computer lab.
4. Support the CCT in resource room development for outreach schools to learn from.
5. Support the CCT in developing positive relationship between the coordinating center and immediate community.
Honestly, I'm pretty excited about all of this, although it's only sparked further questions: what's the town like, what's my house like, what's my counterpart like, what's the school like, etc. I'm especially excited about developing a resource room from local materials because it will be physical project that I can definitely see results to and know that it will be used as motivation and inspiration for teachers. I'm not too sure how teaching computer science will work out because the PTC is in Tororo, which is at least an hour and half taxi ride away, but if they're really interested in it, I'll totally be willing to go once a week to teach. I'll just have to feel out their expectations of me and my duties as the PCV at the CC. Sorry if this post seems like a bowl of alphabet soup, the acronyms are just so much easier to use sometimes.
On Wednesday, we will be traveling to our future sites to get a feel for the place and hopefully have many of our questions answered. We'll be able to see the CC and the model primary school, meet teachers and students, meet our counterpart, see our future house (and check if we have running water or electricity!), know how far we are from other towns and other PCVs. Even if my house doesn't have running water or electricity, I'm definitely not super rural. Because I am so close to a small town, I'll be able to find almost everything I need, transportation will be fairly regular to other towns and I'll always be able to find someone with a generator to charge my phone if worst comes to worst. Since we were recently in the region, I know I'll be able to run and bike because the surrounding area is relatively flat. Overall, I can't tell you how happy I am with my placement, and now how excited I am to finally swear in as a volunteer and get to work.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Happy 50th Birthday Peace Corps
Right now, I'm sitting here in my awesome blue "Peace Corps Uganda" shirt, which I hope will be the first of many. For those you that don't know, Peace Corps celebrated it's 50th anniversary on March 1st. Just a refresher course, Peace Corps was started by JFK in the 60s with the intention to "promote world peace and friendship" through cultural exchange and understanding while providing services to countries in need.
In order to celebrate this very significant event (without it, I wouldn't be all the way over here!), we just completed a service project at a near by primary school. We completed a peace garden, painted classroom and dormitories, conducted a student mural, held teacher workshops, taught life skills to the students and played sports. I was on the sports front, which meant that I've spent the last 6 hours baking in the sun. Despite this fact, I managed to escape with minimal reddness thanks to Peace Corps sunscreen and a very handy hat. We ran a session on stretching and warm up drills for soccer, which is called football here and is by far the most popular sport in Uganda.
I can't tell you how amused not only the students today were, but anyone in general is, when they find out my name is Chelsea. It might not seem so strange to Americans, but any where else in the world, Chelsea is a very well known soccer team. Recently, my host mom asked me what my real name was. I had no idea what she could possibly mean, and apparently she thought that I was such a Chelsea soccer supporter that I had taken on the name in fan fever. It took me a while to convince her that my real birth name was in fact Chelsea. So, all the children clapped and clapped when I introduced myself.
Despite the muddy field that had no grass, the students really enjoyed the day of sports and physical activities. We taught them high knees, high kicks, lunges, jumping jacks, stretches and sprints. Considering we had to demonstrate all of these over and over again, I don't feel bad about skipping out on my run today and I'm sure I'll have some sore muscles. Although I know they had fun, I think they enjoyed "high 10s" we gave out at the end of each session. They would madly run around trying to high 5 all of us as many times as they could before they moved onto their next station.
Tonight will finish the celebration with a reception, dinner and dancing. Lots of Peace Corps volunteers have come from all over Uganda to be here, so it's been very exciting to meet the rest of the group. We've even gotten to meet a few of our future neighbors- the term neighbors being relative, meaning up to 2-3 hours away. We're all really looking forward to finding out our specific sites, which happens on Monday. It can't come any sooner!
Although I know we've learned so much during training and at our homestays, I must say I'm pretty tired of training. Mostly because you have no time to yourself. You spend 8am - 5pm at the conference center with all the 43 other trainees and staff, after which many people want to hang out. Then you go home, and while I adore my homestay family and really couldn't be happier, I feel guilty if I'm not spending time with them. Then I just pass out when it's finally time to get to bed. I'm just looking forward to having a little time on my own, being able to cook for myself and having my own space. We swear in as official volunteers in less than three weeks, so the end is in sight. That being said, I know after about a month at site, I'll miss the busyness and social aspect of training.
Off to shower and get ready for our first social event. The dress code is smart classy, whatever that means.
In order to celebrate this very significant event (without it, I wouldn't be all the way over here!), we just completed a service project at a near by primary school. We completed a peace garden, painted classroom and dormitories, conducted a student mural, held teacher workshops, taught life skills to the students and played sports. I was on the sports front, which meant that I've spent the last 6 hours baking in the sun. Despite this fact, I managed to escape with minimal reddness thanks to Peace Corps sunscreen and a very handy hat. We ran a session on stretching and warm up drills for soccer, which is called football here and is by far the most popular sport in Uganda.
I can't tell you how amused not only the students today were, but anyone in general is, when they find out my name is Chelsea. It might not seem so strange to Americans, but any where else in the world, Chelsea is a very well known soccer team. Recently, my host mom asked me what my real name was. I had no idea what she could possibly mean, and apparently she thought that I was such a Chelsea soccer supporter that I had taken on the name in fan fever. It took me a while to convince her that my real birth name was in fact Chelsea. So, all the children clapped and clapped when I introduced myself.
Despite the muddy field that had no grass, the students really enjoyed the day of sports and physical activities. We taught them high knees, high kicks, lunges, jumping jacks, stretches and sprints. Considering we had to demonstrate all of these over and over again, I don't feel bad about skipping out on my run today and I'm sure I'll have some sore muscles. Although I know they had fun, I think they enjoyed "high 10s" we gave out at the end of each session. They would madly run around trying to high 5 all of us as many times as they could before they moved onto their next station.
Tonight will finish the celebration with a reception, dinner and dancing. Lots of Peace Corps volunteers have come from all over Uganda to be here, so it's been very exciting to meet the rest of the group. We've even gotten to meet a few of our future neighbors- the term neighbors being relative, meaning up to 2-3 hours away. We're all really looking forward to finding out our specific sites, which happens on Monday. It can't come any sooner!
Although I know we've learned so much during training and at our homestays, I must say I'm pretty tired of training. Mostly because you have no time to yourself. You spend 8am - 5pm at the conference center with all the 43 other trainees and staff, after which many people want to hang out. Then you go home, and while I adore my homestay family and really couldn't be happier, I feel guilty if I'm not spending time with them. Then I just pass out when it's finally time to get to bed. I'm just looking forward to having a little time on my own, being able to cook for myself and having my own space. We swear in as official volunteers in less than three weeks, so the end is in sight. That being said, I know after about a month at site, I'll miss the busyness and social aspect of training.
Off to shower and get ready for our first social event. The dress code is smart classy, whatever that means.
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