Return to training trip

Today we are stopping off in Kampala on our way back to training. As i wrote before, our PCV visit was gorgeous as well as very encouraging. It is a little hard to imagine, while i am in training, what life will be like when i am no longer surrounded by 29 other americans and the handful of very patient and understanding Ugandan trainers. It was great to see two volunteers working hard in their village, both at their peace corps "job" and at community communication and cultural exchange. Both PCVs were very open about their challenges and successes while at site and i found their experiences to be very interesting. I know each volunteer's experience is different, but i hope to keep theirs in mind when i begin my own job in april. I think what has really enriched their PC experience is speaking the local language so well and so confidently. I hope to make it there one day.

While at their site another trainee and i were able to help them paint a bakery. One of the volunteers helped organize the local women to start a bakery. I think it all started when the women found out the volunteer baked such delicious cakes. After some grant writing and mobilizing the community, a bakery was started. The volunteer is just overseeing the process and part of that was painting... just so happened two trainees were on their way to a PCV visit and we were more than happy to help. It felt good to do some work. We painted a small room lavender and hopefully, after we are volunteers, we will be able to go back and visit.

We all (the 2 PCVs and the 2 PCTs) went and had evening tea at their friend's home last night and we had such a fun time talking. The family was interested to hear that i was also from America. We also had a heart-warming conversation about hair. If you wonder how hair can be heart-warming i think it came from their genuine curiosity and interest in our different hair types. They were a very welcoming family, like most that i have met here in Uganda, and invited us back to their home any time we were in the area.

I think one of my favorite parts of the visit was hearing the PCVs speak the local language as well as English. The accent in English changes and it is fun to hear. It is a slower pattern of speech that follows the Ugandan waves of inflection. The English vocabulary is also packed with words or sentence structures i would never have thought to use.
Ex. Roll down the window/ Reduce on the glass.

Fun.
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As far as our visits to Kampala go, they are pretty eye opening. Lots of people trying to get my/our attention, very young children begging on the street, a seeming lack of traffic rules, rows of small shops that sell the very same things, lots of foreigners, neat tall buildings, packed taxi parks (taxis are small buses) and other busy and fun things to see. I wish you could see it with me. I'm pretty sure it is a bit unsafe to pull out my camera in the middle of it all, so hopefully you will either 1. visit or 2. get the picture from the very short and not even close description i gave.

I hope you all are having a happy pre-springtime.
Lots of hugs and kisses