Bus Rides

Last coupla times in Gayaza, town north of kampala where amanda lives. First time was teaching the P7 girls how to make reusable menstrual pads. This time was to get our hair braided so we look smart!
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Mom! you asked if the bus rides were smooth. Even on a "smooth" day the bus and taxi trips are like going on a safari ride, except without the giraffes and the ugandan antelopes. I live off a fairly smooth road called the Queen's Way, since its the road taken when she would visit. Gotta keep the road nice and smooth for the queen. Even so, i'm glad when i'm squished in my seat cause then i just relax and enjoy the ride. I don't have to brace myself for anything. And the taxi makes more money cramming more people into the 14-seater van. Win-Win.

Every once in a while i get a ride in a Peace Corps vehicle and its glorious. I forget that cars have shock absorbers! And air conditioning! I forget that my back isn't always drenched in sweat when i get out of a car.

Yesterday i sat for 7 and a half hours getting my hair braided. At hour 6 i started asking myself if all this was worth looking smart. The girls said that in America, we don't spend so much time fixing our hair. Don't Worry, i set the record straight...told them we most Definitely spend lots and lots of time making sure our hair looks smart! At first they were excited to braid foreign hair, so there were many people working at once. Then a t.v. was brought in and "The Promise", a Filipino soap opera, overshadowed the novelty.

Last week i played guitar with the P7 girls. We sang songs from Oh Brother Where Art Thou and we had a blast. They listened the first time through and the second time they sang along like they were their favorite songs. We usually sit on the steps going down to the soccer pitch and i definitely sing at the top of my lungs, enjoying a wonderful Lake Victoria sunset. The P7 are very polite and don't tell me, like Pauline and Vale do, "you don't know how to sing, do you?"

check out arodabroad.blogspot.com for more snaps of braiding day

Catching Up

The life skills workshop in Gulu was 2 fridays ago friday, i left Kisubi early on a
thursday morning to catch a bus bound for northern Uganda. It was a 5
hour bus ride so i got off the bus in Gulu with enough time to tour
the technical school (Gulu Youth Development Association) where i was
going to teach, talk with some of the students, plan the life skills
session with a staff member there and attend the breakdancing class
taught by one of the Peace Corps Volunteers. I learned how to rest my
body on my elbows and pose my feet up in the air. (Its in the job
description.) I really admire her work there because Ugandan's
love to dance and she had created such a strong cross-cultural
connection that i could see the admiration, pride and confidence they
had in her.

Friday i had the morning free so i sat in on the braiding class. At
first the students were very shy and wouldnt talk with me.
Unfortunately i dont speak more than one greeting in Acholi/Lango (the
northern languages.) I told them i wanted to learn and thankfully one
student understood my english/miming efforts and pointed to a chair.
After 30 minutes of talking and glancing over in my direction they
invited me to try braiding. So one student taught me different ways of
plaiting the weave into the other students hair. They laughed at my
attempts but i was determined to show them SOME skill, i mean years of
braiding my grandma's and cousins hair couldnt be discredited in one
afternoon swoop. So i kept trying and finally some of the laughing
sounds changed to what i considered okay-thats-not-half-bad murmurs.
By the end of the morning i was sweating from the trying to braid
hair, trying to seem like i knew what i was doing, trying to
understand what they were telling me and working under a tin roof. It
was a good morning.

The life skills session went well and i hope they're able to use some of the games and excercises in their lessons. Sometimes i worry that everything i teach goes in one ear and out the other. Though I'm getting better at follow-up and evaluation.

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The Easter holidays were great, i got lots of chances to sit and talk to my neighbors and friends. I helped peel Matooke and the sisters got a kick out of that. They kept bringing people to come and watch me peel these bananas. They would laugh incredulously. Halfway through peeling the enormous pile of bananas, the oldest sister in our community, Sr.Hippolyta, said i was doing a terrible job. She said it in Luganda so i didnt know why everyone had burst out laughing until after they had caught their breaths. I turned bright red and of course, that set off the second round of laughter. =)

I'm playing guitar for the Easter Carols next sunday and i've been really excited to play. We're going to perform "Where You There When They Crucified My Lord?" Today they told me that all the sub-parishes are going to be there and i'm not so excited anymore. ..

I made maranitos for Easter and they came out surprisingly delicious, for the first 15 minutes outside the oven. Then after that they turned, more believable, unedible as they became hard as rock.

Before i press my luck

Im gonna send this short short entry now cause the computer might rebel against me and un-load everything. again.

I'll write about Life Skills in Gulu and a 5K in Lira soon as i find internet. It was a great trip north though I've missed banana trees and the ability to communicate in local language.

-asdf

Snaps

I'm gonna try uploading one at a time. This is Try #3 of "Upload Pictures to My Blog." To get a feel for the internet speed try this 10 Step Test of Patience:

1. Open the internet
2. Wait 20 minutes
3. Open your email
4. Wait 20 minutes
5. Write the email
6. Wait 20 minutes then delete the email that just took you 30 minutes to write
7. Rewrite the email
8. Wait 20 minutes
9. This time send the email
10. But first turn off your computer

=)

I feel better.

This is a long one

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. It was a good day. I taught, had lunch with the brothers and my friend Emma took me out for ice cream. (ugandan style, none of this blue bell business.)In the evening the sisters had cake and pizza for me. They know i love anything American.
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This week's lifeskills sessions were on Gender Roles and HIV Transmission. In the Gender Roles class i was surprised to hear many of the traditional roles being supported.

In Uganda, men "appreciate" the women they are going to marry by giving her family many gifts; Like sugar, salt, cooking oil, cases of drinks, material to make clothes, cows and chickens. The gifts are given at the Introduction Ceremony, which is when the man is formally introduced to the woman's parents and the parents give their permission for him to take their daughter. People were surprised when i told them we don't have these ceremonies in the U.S. I told them the man sometimes asks the women's father/parents for permission and thats about it. They raised their eyebrows and said "banange." (Banange = the everything word. Means all kinds of emotions: surprise, sadness, condolence, irritation, happiness)

It costs lots of money for the men to gather all these items to give to the bride's family and many times they request help from their friends and family. When talking about Gender Roles, it was suggested that this ceremony entitles men to many services later on during the marriage. And since the woman wanted to leave her family to become a part of his, she should be respectful, obedient and in fact subservient to the husband.

I've discussed the role of the Ugandan women with many here and whether male or female we always end up with the idea that the sexes are equal and should be treated with respect in a marriage. But when preferences and real life are discussed, i find out that no one practices that "theory." The women are the ones that cook, clean and raise children. They aren't consulted on family matters. They aren't allowed access to family money. Some aren't allowed to wear trousers. And many aren't given permission to work outside the home. Men are the ones to sit on a chair and at the table for meals. Men work. Men make and spend money. Men discipline their wives by beating them; Beating is also a way to show your wife you care enough to discipline her. Men ride bicycles. Men don't wash their clothes or dishes. Men don't cook. Both men and women go to church. Both work in the gardens. Both like dancing. Both drink tea at tea time. Both eat lots and lots of matooke.

Not all of Uganda falls into this pattern. The cultural climate is changing and their idea of Gender Roles is becoming more relaxed. More Ugandans are embracing the "theory" of equality and sharing marital responsibilities. Thats something.

In our HIV Transmission class we went over the basics. Students around here are over loaded with HIV information. So much information is floating around and i think now many are desensitized to the issue. I enjoy the life skills approach because its focused on dispelling myths and playing games. We talked about ways to keep HIV information clear and concise for kids. We talked about the most common myths around here:

-> traditional healers have cured HIV/AIDS
-> Africa is the only place with an increase in new HIV/AIDS infections
-> Mosquitoes can trasmit HIV
-> HIV can be transmitted by bewitching
-> HIV/AIDS can be cured by eating certain leaves from the forest

At the end of our session we played a game to show kids how HIV is spread and how it can be treated. One person plays the body. One person plays HIV. About 9 people play white blood cells and they surround the body. Then we have people playing the opportunistic infections: Diarrhea, Malaria, TB and the Flu. These o.infections try to pelt the body with paper balls. The white blood cells defend. Then repeat after HIV infects the body. Later in the game, Positive Living comes in. This is a group consisting of Seeking Treatment, Septrin, Good Nutrition, Social Support, and ARVs.

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Watched the beginning of Finding Nemo with Valentino. I tried to translate as best I could.
"Those are fish."
"Those are baby fish."
"That's Nemo and his dad."

Since my translation wasn’t accurate or comprehensible, Vale just kept asking questions with a confused look on his face. So I stopped translating and tried dramatic faces and sounds. Gasp! Shriek! Oh No! Ha Ha Ha!

That worked. He started watching and talking to himself.
"Shats, Bagenda kubalya." (Sharks, they're gonna eat them)
"Nemo ali wa? (Where's Nemo?)
"Ono ye tata we ne oyo ye mama we" (That one's his dad and the other one's his mom.)

Then he started laughing at the funny parts! He thought it was so funny when the sharks were being sarcastic and said that Marlin was "in denial" of having any problems.

Later I heard him telling the ladies about watching the fish in the water.

Winter

Its winter here when i wear socks to bed (or want to wear them during the day with my sandals but don't cause they will get dirty too fast and anyways i wont be smart.)

I took Pauline and Vale with me to guitar class today. We brought along books for them to read while i played. That lasted for about one minute. Then, "Baba Cele, Whats this?" "Baba Cele, look at me." "Baba Cele, he's not sharing." "Baba Cele, what are you doing?" "Baba Cele, who is that?" etc. Except in real life etc. can go on forever. And it did!

I forgot in the last entry to say some overdue thankyous. Thank you Maria, Alex, Gabs n Chesca for sending me candy. yum! Thanks Nate for the harmonicas, its been fun practicing, maybe not for my neighbors though =) Thank you Karina Canales for the musica en espanol. I love the mix of old with new. Thanks Juanita, Matt, Daniel and john john for delicious candies and great books! Just in time too, i was needing something to read. =) Thanks Byron for the great music and mac n cheese! I can't believe it's lasted this long, but i'm saving it for my birthday. Thank you tia, tio vicente and lucas for sending me pictures, i love the one of lucas and i when we were both little. That was quite the purple shirt i was rockin. And tuna! yes!

Thank you for thinking of me and sending me things. I hope to send something your way soon! Lots of love!