This is how long blog posts get when you have internet every two weeks

For the past week, Stacey and I have been split between two sites for Immersion Service Training. Since I am a secondary teacher and she is a primary teacher we are staying with different people and at different places, which should lead to some different points of view in our next few posts.

I am in the town of Kidetok, Soroti. I left Wakiso early Sunday morning and was dropped off at the Teso Coach bus stop with fellow trainees Joe and David. At around 6:30 am we pulled out of Kampala and started our travels East. Along the way we picked up many more passengers, our bus started its journey half full, but gained many riders by the time we reached Jinja. Our first major destination was Mbale where we took a 15 min break before we hopped back on the highway cutting back to the West and North. Our ride ended in Soroti where we met up with a PCV named Ted Wells. For these two weeks we are living at Ted’s site and observing and practice teaching at his school. We spent the afternoon in Soroti town before hopping on a matatu for another two hours to his site.

The countryside we passed through to get here was amazing. In the Kampala area and heading east we passed over rolling hills and lush vegetation. The only way we could describe the view was green. Hundreds of different shades of green blended and competed with each other being broken only by fields where the farmers had recently cleared for planting or a string of shops created a trading post. At Jinja we crossed the Nile and saw the great hydro dam. After that town the scenery started to change. The hills became less, but larger and the lush jungle thinned. At Mbale we could tell we were in the foothills of Mt. Elgon. Heading to the northwest from there we started to hit savanna and were graced with the typical, and stereotypical, picture of Africa, mud huts with thatch roof surrounded by waves of grass. I think I might have been able to connect with the scene more if I hadn’t been flying by at 60 mph in a worn down coach bus.

Ted stays at a mission associated with St. Elizabeth’s Girls Secondary School. Ted shares his house with Father Mattias and his nieces who attend the secondary school and do the house work. Ted volunteered his bedroom (he is sleeping in his office) and guest room for the three of us to stay in. St. Elizabeth’s is now a government assisted secondary school that looks a shadow of its former self. It used to be nationally recognized, but now it would need a good coat of paint or more just to distinguish itself from the savanna. The school does have some decent resources and competent teachers, but there is little motivation from either the faculty or the student body to make the changes necessary for recognition once again. The school is also a cluster organization wise. As Ted puts it, there is always something more important than class. Most of the girls there are boarders and have certain chores in the morning. If a girl reports to class and here chore isn’t finished beforehand, she is sent away. Many teachers there do not let students in late to class for any reason so when she comes back she must watch from outside the room. In the day there are also breaks for tea and lunch. Each are routinely late and never finish in the time allowed. The teachers, whose meals are provided by the schools, are also routinely served late, and will not go back to the classrooms until they have taken their half an hour or hour break from the time food is served. As a result it can safely be estimated that students routinely lose a third of their instructional time in a day. I cannot generalize this to all schools in Uganda, but I wouldn’t be surprised to know that loss of instructional time is common.

Since I have been here I have been able to observe a number of classes at the S1 and S2 levels. Next week I am slated to teach S1 math and S2 math and chemistry. The Ugandan system of education structure would take a whole blog post on its own so you will have to stay in the dark on what exactly that means for now. The house Ted lives in and we are staying in is like the Ritz of the Peace Corps world. We have reliable electricity, running water, a (small) refrigerator, indoor flush toilet and a cantina 300 feet away. We are also graced with wonderful hosts who both make great conversation. Ted has some great points of view especially because he is a former volunteer who is back for round two after spending years in Burkina Faso in the 70’s.

The only down part of his site at the sleepy little town of Kidetok is there is horrible cell coverage. This should be something I should have expected in Peace Corps, but Africa is a continent in love with cell phones. This place has literally been the only place I don’t have service. And it has made it hard for Stacey and I to even call each other. We have relied on texting for the past week and it is starting to get old.

There have been limited adventures here but one day Ted tried to scrounge up bikes from the mission so we could all ride to the town of Serere, which is 6 km away. After coming across many half bikes in storage we managed to get two, which could hold air and keep the chains on the gears. Now these aren’t simple mountain bikes, these are the big crappy single speeds that most people just push while moving matoke or jerry cans of water. Ted used his mountain bike while Joe and I each took a single speed. Five minutes into our ride the chain fell off of mine and we spent 20 minutes resetting it. Less than half a km from that Joe’s chain came off and we were fixing his for 20 minutes. A half a km after that Joe’s simply bit the dust and he left just Ted and me to complete the journey. Now both Serere and Kidetok are on little hills so for half the journey (the first part) it is all down hill, and the second half is all up hill. Three km uphill on a single speed bike is brutal! By the time we reached Serere my legs felt like Jell-O. We made our purchases, waited out a brief shower and headed back to home. Thankfully both rider and bike made it back safely which was impressive to all at the site.

There is definitely more to write, but sometimes a single post cannot contain it all. This is already one of the longest we have so far. Thanks for the comments and keep them coming, we love to hear from everyone.

Peace,
~Tony

Amina eong enanasi

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone want to study Ateso language for me? I mean come on, learn a language in 10 weeks, that sounds reasonable right? =) haha

How are you all? I am very well! Right now Tony and I are on our technical immersion training. I am in Iganga, Uganda with Alyssa, Bernadette, and Siong. We are staying with Dylan and job shadowing him as he works at a college. It is great to get experience here and get away from the typical training days. Also Dylan has electricity, Internet, and a waffle iron! You can't complain about that.

Tony is off in Soroti for immersion training. Can you find that on a map? Cause the Soroti area is likely where we will be placed for two years after training. He has running water that lucky dog! Also he has tried the Ateso beer. I have forgotten the name of the beer right now but you drink with a group of people out (whoo power just went out at Dylan's...its a trend) of a clay pot and through long straws. Sounds fun doesn't it? =)

So what comes next for us? We have immersion training until March 27th (my b-day). Then we have 3 more weeks of training before we are sworn in as volunteers. It is crazy that time has gone by so quickly. I need to study for my language test and finish preparing my project. Ahh...so much to do so little time.

But since the power is out I don't know how much I'll be getting done tonight =)

All my best. Love and miss you family and friends!
Stacey

PS Call me +0785751348

Updates! One Month In

Blog post from the Lutaaya household - Stacey’s entry, because I got to last time.


I am sitting at the dining room table of the Lutaaya home in complete happiness. Tony and I have just spent the day doing our laundry, swimming at a pool, eating French Fries (little different – Uganda style) and Jack Fruit (Google it those of you with working electricity!), and enjoying the company of our host family and friends. Not to mention it was 82 degrees and sunny.

It is hard to imagine that we have been in country for 1 month already. I guess it is easier for the time to fly when you are going to be there for 27 months. Overall, the experience has been good. Ups and downs always come with culture shock but I think that we have adjusted pretty well so far.

Here are some highlights:
 A 15 hour plane ride isn’t that bad when the plane is only 50% full – lots of leg room
 Uganda at the peak of dry season is still more lush than any place I know on earth.
 Monkeys learning language with us
 Washing laundry by hand makes you more flexible
 Learning how to survive traffic and taxi’s
 Tony and I have cell phones – Our numbers are… Tony +785.751.349 and Stacey + 785.751.348 – Call us or text us – You know you want to!
 Jack Fruit and Popcorn
 Our Home-Stay family is awesome although the kids are very clingy
 Warm water bucket baths can turn your day around
 We can conduct “DIY Malaria Blood Slides”
 Biking is a necessity and I am getting more endurance everyday
 Beer
 At the end of training we will be going to the Ateso region! Look up Kumi Uganda and you will have an idea of where we are. We won’t know our exact location until early April.
 Getting paid 35,000 Sh a week! Also known as $18
 Cows with horns, huge horns, freely walking down the street
 Getting huge fresh and ripe pineapples for 50 cents.
 Teaching our host family how to make scrambled eggs
 Collecting cool bottle caps
 Learning how to wash shoes “correctly”
 Eatting fried bugs! They are really good with onion mixed in.
 Bartering
 Talking with real people about real problems.
 Cake
 Building a community garden with all local materials
 Getting more comfortable walking around the capital city
 Aloe Vera
 Homemade Sesame-Peanut Butter Sauce
 Fresh squeezed Passion Fruit Juice
 Bubble Gum Flavored Milk
 Most likely having electricity at our future site
 Having a tailor made dress
 Homemade Pizzas
 Meeting my meat – Learning how to butcher chickens
 Remembering why I am here

Here are some lowlights:
 Matoke – Its steamed and mashed plantains and every Ugandan loves it! - But we can get away with not eating it
 Mosquito nets can be too small and are always hot
 One bad day I tried to call home with a grasshopper in my shirt
 Getting Colds on the Equator
 “Yes, it will be a 15 minute walk” although actually driving there is 30 minutes
 The phrase “Hi Musungu” from every child we pass
 Biking and your petal falls off 4 times in 5km
 Cockroaches in the pit latrines
 Not having time to write
 A one hour walk in the rain to get to training
 Rain = Mud = Such a mess!
 Sweating
 Lots and lots of carbohydrates

Some Hopes:
 I actually have lots of hopes but it’s to articulate them now (too hot under the mosquito net)
 Maybe working in a secondary school / primary school teacher college
 Maybe you all will write to us or call =)
 Maybe some of you will even send us a letter =)
 Maybe brownie mix will wander my way =)

I know this probably leaves more questions than answers about what Tony and I are doing…however you can be assured that overall life is very good right now. We are healthy, well fed, and helping each other adjust. It is great to have Tony.

And you know even on the difficult days I consider myself luck to be living in Uganda. It is a beautiful country with beautiful people.

We’ll try to write more when we can =)

Until then – All My Best,
Stacey

OUR FIRST REAL POST!!!!

So we have been hard pressed to get consistent internet do anything, let alone write an email, so finding a way to put in our first blog post has been tricky. Today, however, I find myself tagging along with others from our Training group walking into an internet cafe in Kampala.

So, WE ARE HERE! Training has been flying by and our limited time with technology has prevented communications with the masses. We have been busy since arriving in Entebee. We flew in and stayed for 4 nights at the Lweza Training and Conference Center not too far from the airport. There we received some initial training and adjusted to life in a hot, dusty, yet lush green and humid environment. We started to bond as a group and anxiously awaited getting to our host families.

Stacey and I have been placed together for our homestay. The bulk of our training takes place in the town of Wakiso which is the capital of the district of the same name just west of Kampala. Stacey and I live in a section called Kisimbiri near many other PCTs. Our host family is named Lutaaya and are amazing. Our father is Henry, mother is Imelda, and there are four children; Ruth, 10, Joel, 7, Grace, 5, and Jesse, 3. We have a room to ourselves but share the rest of the house. We are usually busy from the time we leave the house at 7 in the morning until late in the evening. Training ends around 5 pm, but we will have other work or want to practice language with our group members. Our training center is on the other side of town which is a minimum of 20 minutes on bike or an hour walking as well.

About two weeks ago we found out we will be speaking Ateso. Uganda has three major language groups and over 50 regional languages. We are going to be in the East in a region called Teso which includes the districts of Kumi, Soroti, Pallisa, Tororo and a few others. Right now we are learning in a group of 5. Joe, David Chi, and Brennan are the others in our group in case we reference them later in our posts.

I don't want to speak for both of us, but there are some challenges that we have come to face in our first month here. First and foremost: PIT LATRINES. I have gone camping, I have used outhouses, I have simply taken a crap in the woods, but all are more preferential to using a squating pit latrine. First off you have a small target with a steep level of punishment for inaccuracy. I have been fortunate with perfect aim to date, but I know others who haven't been as lucky. Stacey and I have both had colds since we have been here, but others have already gone through bouts of stomache bugs and I do not look forward to a latrine session with one. Second, since we are not used to the position I find my legs becoming numb and sometimes falling asleep which then affects your balance. Between the biking and the squat pots I plan to come back with some killer quads.

Keepping time is another challenge here. Life moves slow, but training sessions move ssssllloooowwwwweeerrr. Couple that with fourty people sweating together in a hall and you are just chipper at the end of the day. Also our only challenge at the homestay is the children. They are awesome and great to play with and can speak English well, but they always want to be on our hip. We try to study or take notes at the dining room table and they always want to be there. It is nice and cute sometimes, but when they are always asking you to help them with there 'homework' which is really code for drawing pictures or playing games we really can't be productive unless we move to our rooms.

I do not want to lingure on the bad because there is so much good. Our training group is awesome and there are a lot of people here from so many backgrounds it will take two years just to get everyone's stories. I think many of us have bonded well and we are ready to get down to the dirty work.

In the middle of March we will be doing immersion training where we will spend two weeks living with a current volunteer in the region in which we will be placed and shadowing them at their job. For me I will be staying with a volunteer who is teaching classes at a secondary school and Stace will be following a primary teacher trainer or center school cooridnator. That will be an awesome training experience and we are very much looking forward to it. I wish I had more time to talk, and I already know this is a rediculously long post and I know I didn't even begin to talk about the country, but I will have to leave it for another time. Stacey will upload pictures soon, I think we will try to get back here on Monday.

Peace.