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