Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Lion Around


Following my Mid-Service Conference, I was anxious for Saturday night to finally come- Nathan was flying into Entebbe at 10:15 pm.  I made my way to our lovely, decadent hotel in the Entebbe area that afternoon so I could take two showers, a nap and maybe a run at the hotel gym.  When I arrived, I realized immediately that I looked practically homeless: dirty clothes, an overstuffed backpack, a beach back, two on-the-verge-of-breaking plastic bags of groceries and windblown hair (not in the good way).  The Serena is nothing like the hostels I usually stay in.  Even though I looked quite out of place, the receptionist brought me a glass of chilled passion juice as I attempted to check in.  Much to my surprise and their guess, I had no reservation!  Yes, there was a reservation for my father, who would arrive on Monday, but nothing for Chelsea Roberts.  Regardless, they gave me a room and told me to get settled in.  I finally was able to relax, stripped down immediately for my first shower, threw on a robe and turned on some TV while I ate my sandwich.  When I picked up the ringing phone, I could not have been more shocked when they informed me that I had no reservation and demanded a deposit.  I don’t have any money… was my first thought.  Thankfully my second thought was NATHAN!  “Uh, sir, is it possible it is under the name Nathan Quilling?”  I felt like a 50’s wife who couldn’t possibly have made her own reservations.  “Why, yes, of course.  The room is paid in full.  Do you need anything else Madam?  Are you comfortable?”  Although they were now convinced I did indeed belong at their hotel, I’m sure they were not pleased that I hand washed all my clothes in the sink and hung them outside.

When the evening finally rolled around, I spoiled myself by ordering room service and taking another shower.  Despite my excitement to pick up Nathan, I am still a very cheap Peace Corps Volunteer.  On our way to the airport, I had the driver stop at a supermarket to pick up 15 liters of water for the next few days, even though we were staying at one of the nicest hotels in the Entebbe area.  My water stop made me a little late getting to the airport.  As the driver was trying to find the best parking spot, I assured the driver I could walk the short distance and practically jumped out of the moving car.  All kinds of foreigners were trying to navigate the little sidewalk leading away from the arrivals terminal.  I was rushing through rolling suitcases and confused tourists, until I saw him.  Nathan was not wearing a suit this time, but the same disbelieving emotions sweep over me as I hugged him for the first time in months.  Well, the hot, humid, Ugandan night sweep over Nathan.  Nathan has never lived in a humid climate before.  Needless to say, he sweat non-stop for the next three weeks.  Even his shins would sweat!  He claims he had never smelt that bad in his life.  As we left the airport, Nathan looked out the window watching flashes of Ugandan nightlife fly by as he wondered at his first glimpses of Uganda and my life here.

Due to Nathan’s jetlag and my laziness, we spent the next two days sleeping in, taking advantage of the amazing breakfast buffet, and laying by the pool.  On Monday, my dad arrived with his girlfriend Shiera.  It was the first time I’ve seen my dad since I left last February.  One of the things I love most about seeing my dad is his all encompassing, borderline suffocating, bear hugs, which I received right away.

We spent five days traveling around Uganda.  For the first time in the history of my dad’s travels, I was in charge.  I carried all the cash, arranged all the drivers and made the decisions.  It was quite the role reversal, but I’m happy my dad got to witness how well I’ve managed to take care of myself in Uganda.  We first made the 6-hour trek to Sipi Falls, where we hiked with our guide George.  George was a hilarious guide, with lots of fun stories and information, who is currently trying to start his own guiding business.  After our hike, Nathan and I sat down with George to edit his business description and try to help him plan a website on paper.  The lodge had a resident dog and cat; unfortunately, the cat was not a quick learner.  He never quite figured out that Nathan and I were not cat people.  Every once in a while, we would feel some commotion under the table when Nathan or I freaked out because cat rubbed against our legs.

From there, the gang got to experience “A Day in the Life of Chelsea.”  We took a terrifying ride down the mountain in a tiny sedan that took several pit stops to be refilled with gas from glass coke bottles sold on the side of the road.  Once we reached Mbale, I repeated several times that we wanted to be dropped near the taxi park.  Quickly, I realized he did not know where the taxi park was!  When he pulled into the bus park, I started yelling at him to just stop so we could all jump out, which is exactly what my dad, Shiera and I did.  Nathan stayed in the car, as he clarified later, because all of our luggage was still in the trunk.  Immediately, we are accosted by a man, “KAMPALA JINJA KAMPALA!”  The driver tells the man we’re going to Tororo.  He grabs my arm and says “TORORO!”  “No, we’re not going to Tororo,” I try to explain as I follow the car to where it finally stops.  We collect all of our luggage and Nathan, and this man again grabs me and says “TORORO!  We go!”  I just snap, “NO, you are not LISTENING to me!  We’re not going to Tororo!”  And off we went to the taxi park, where everyone got the sardine can experience of public transport to the village. 

In the village, we were treated to white ants, a huge lunch and sodas from my Ugandan family, who could not have been more excited to have so many American visitors.  We took a short walk to my school, which was empty and quiet during holiday time.  Two teachers were still living at school, and were thrilled to show my visitors around.  I got to finally unpack the infamous “blue bag”- a bag only packed of goodies for me: beef jerkey, dried mangoes, new clothes, a new bag, 3 lbs of almonds, etc.  The dried mangoes are now all eaten!  That night, we stayed at a nearby guesthouse where there was no power all night!

After experiencing village life, we recuperated by taking a private hire to Jinja, drinking Oreo milkshakes and laying by the pool.  That night, we walked down to watch the sunset over the Nile.  As we stood admiring the orange, yellows and red spill over the water, we realized we were not alone.  Troops of little monkeys were playing on the grass, in the trees and on top of the roofs.  Of course, my dad wandered off trying to snap photos.  A few minutes later, we see my dad, who is 6’5”, running away from a monkey that stood no more than 2 feet tall!  Apparently, the monkey thought my dad was a threat to the plastic bag he was playing with!  It was the first of many hilarious animal stories we would experience on this trip.

The following morning, as we made our way to the Entebbe airport to embark on our Tanzanian adventure, I finally relinquished my travel responsibilities to my father.  In Tanzania, we went on a five-day safari through Ngororo Crater and the Serengeti with an addition to our party, Jim, a family friend.  Unlike everyone else, I never received paperwork detailing what to expect.  I was completely unprepared: we spent most of our time in the car, we saw tons of animals very close, we were “camping” in the bush, and I was freezing most of the time.  I put camping in quotes because it was luxury camping!  We had several helpers including a cook, showers, huge tents and hot water bottles at night in our beds; however, we also were not allowed out of our tents at night because buffalo or leopards could attack us!  For two nights, a man with a spear kept watch by a fire.  One night, the cook’s leather shoes went missing because hyenas snatched them.  I spent most of the day expected to spot a fashionable hyena in dress shoes.  Our last morning, as we filled out evaluations of the services, my dad came running to tell us that a monkey had just run out of the tent.  None of us believed him, until five minutes later when a monkey jumped on the breakfast table, took two handfuls of cornflakes and dashed off!  Apparently, the safari company has a history with monkeys disturbing the tents by jumping on the beds- I’m being completely serious.  You can’t make this stuff up!

As for the animals we saw on the safari, not in our camp, here’s brief list, but I’m sure I’m missing some: zebras, giraffes, lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, impalas, antelope, wildebeests, ostriches, rhinos, monkeys, baboons, hippos, crocodiles, hyenas, jackets, dik-diks, buffalos and lots of birds.  My favorite animals were the elephants and giraffes, especially the babies.  We learned about how zebras communicate danger- it looks like they are nodding along to a really good song.  I do a pretty good impression, don’t worry.  We witnessed the migration of thousands of wildebeests and zebras across the Serengeti.  We saw so many things all the while hearing the click-click-click of my dad’s camera.  He scored a grand total of 1,544 photos over five days!  Sorry, I can’t post all of those.  Actually, I’m in the village right now, so I can’t post any right now.

The highlight of the safari was the kill.  One morning as we’re driving around, our guide spotted one lion, two lion, three!  Suddenly, we realize that entire pride of lions is hanging out to the left of our Landcruiser.  Then, our guide points out a lone male buffalo to the right in the tall, dry grasses.  Before we know it, lions are crossing directly in front of our car with swift determination.  The hunt was on!  But, our guide had cut the engine as we admired the lions.  Now, we wanted to see the fight in full action, which was a little ways ahead.  The car had been experiencing some technical difficulties: it needed a push start.  With hungry lions close by, Nathan and my dad jumped out of the car and started pushing!  Thankfully the car started, no one was mauled and we had front row seats to a show-down.  The lions worked together and took down the buffalo, but it put up quite a fight.  When the buffalo had turned into brunch, more lions started to pour out of the fields, all headed to the feast.  We guess there were about 20-30 lions total.  The guide said that most girls don’t like watching kills because they feel bad for the buffalo.  Looks like I’ve been in Africa for too long because I was rooting for the lions!

After our safari, we headed to Zanzibar, a beautiful, resort island off the coast of Tanzania.  For four days, we soaked up the sun while lying on white beaches with dazzling teal water.  We got massages, gorged buffet food, sailed on a catamaran, read books, kayaked and most importantly, machine washed all of my filthy clothes.  Zanzibar was exactly what the doctor ordered: relaxation time before getting back to Peace Corps life.  Now that vacation’s over, the doctor has ordered lots of exercise to reverse the buffet effect.

Blog Guilt and Feminism


For the last month, I’ve felt a pang of guilt every time I jumped on the internet to check on my email: how have a managed to neglect my blog for so long?  Unfortunately, it’s not a desperately necessary chore, like fetching water.  It’s been so long since my last post, can’t it wait for another day?  Sort of like a diet gone bad for a weekend- I already stuffed my face with an entire cake, what’s the harm of eating a tub of ice cream?  The last two months have flown by, and I doubt I’ll be able to accurately account for my absence, but I’ll do my best over the next few posts.

Even after our Mid-Service Conference at the beginning of May, I could barely believe we’ve survived over one year of service as Peace Corps Volunteers.  Our COS (Close of Service) dates will not be determined until January, but most volunteers are expected to COS in March and April of 2013.  Some days, I can’t believe I only have about nine months left in Uganda.  Other days, I can’t believe I have nine months left in Uganda.  Some days, I want to avoid “real life” for as long as possible- I’ll be homeless, jobless, carless, phoneless and directionless back in the good ol’ US of A.  At least in Peace Corps, I finally figured out my role, I have amazing friends, I can make my own schedule and hey, I’ve got two phones!  But other days, I’m incredibly anxious to get back to the states to start figuring out what my next step will be, all the while gorging myself on In-N-Out and Mexican food, going to a gym again, hanging out with my family and being completely anonymous in a crowd.

Most feelings in Peace Corps are conflicting, intense and ever changing.  I have never experienced such a rollercoaster of emotions as I do every day here.  One moment, I can feel so accomplished for holding a successful presentation.   The next moment, I may be screaming explicatives in a taxi park because a man slapped my ass through a window.  And then, I cannot be more grateful to meet my friends at the pool for some well-needed down time.  I have never felt more lonely, adventurous, frustrated, confused or determined in my life.  Ironically, in this patriarchal society, I have also never felt more proud to be a woman.

Recently, I’ve had many self-doubting moments wondering what I’ve really achieved in Peace Corps.  All of my projects have the potential to fail now or collapse once I’ve left. In those moments, I am only comforted in knowing that I have demonstrated time and again the strength and power of women.  The longer I serve in Uganda, the more I convinced I become that development will only move forward for this country when women are safe, can make healthy decisions, are educated and enjoy the same rights as men.  Although I can’t foresee the future, I am confident that the remainder of my service will be working solely to empower the girls and women of Uganda.

A few months ago, I tried an innovative lesson plan of examining song lyrics for my P7 class.  Yes, I rapped “Miss Independent” by Ne-Yo for my P7 pupils, who thought I was completely insane.  Insane because I have difficulty keeping a tune and because I was singing the praises of a woman who “is her own boss.”  By the end of class, I doubt I had convinced any of the boys.  I can only hope that one day, one of the girls will grow up to be a “Miss Independent” and teaches those boys a thing or two about girl power.