Things I am thankful for:
- The emails that my six best friends from high school and I still exchange, full of life updates and amusing stories. Receiving an email from one of them seriously makes my week.
- The red and silver tinsel Jessica and I bought to decorate the window of our room, which now looks very home-y and Christmas-y
- The headlamp that my thoughtful friends Ellen and Emma bought for me before I left, because it is by far one of the most helpful things I have here
- Talking to my grandma, grandpa, cousin, and sister yesterday on Thanksgiving
- Nescafe instant coffee
- My ability – due my own work, but mostly because of my generous parents – to complete college and hopefully attend graduate school. We take it for granted in the US, but being here has made me realize how incredibly lucky I am, not only to be able to apply for school, but for the ability to pay for it.
- My nifty water filter!
- This crazy, fun, challenging, educational experience I’m having in Uganda. I often have “Is this really my life?!” moments.
- The amount of reading I’m able to do here (I’m on my 17th book!)
- My health. I don’t want to jinx myself, but I haven’t gotten sick yet here, which is lucky.
- The amazing, welcoming staff here. It sounds cliché, but we really function like a family here, and it makes being here so enjoyable and comfortable. I can’t imagine it being any other way.
- You! If you’re reading this, I’m thankful for YOU!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
TOT training
This is the third and last week of TOT (training of trainers) training, and today I went to the training for the first time because the topic was nutrition. I helped out, although I didn’t actually lead any of the sessions because my grasp of Luganda is limited to basic greetings and a few random, helpful words. Connie, the program coordinator from Mubende, led the sessions , which covered food groups, food safety, food preparation, etc. The trainees had many good questions and comments, and since the discussion was carried out in a mix of Luganda and English, I could follow pretty much everything that was going on, which was surprising but really great. Since one of the jobs of the CCGs (who are trained by the TOTs) is to conduct cooking demonstrations for the clients (people with HIV/AIDS) they visit, the session today concluded with the TOTs breaking into groups and actually preparing meals. Each group was given a scenario – such as a person living with HIV/AIDS who is breastfeeding, or a person living with HIV/AIDS who needs to gain weight – and then they were to prepare a meal to suit that person. While the training is conducted in a conference room of a hotel in town, the cooking part actually took place here at the office.
After everybody’s meals were finished, they set them out on plates and each group explained why they made what they did. I took a lot of pictures of the groups while they were cooking, and soon everybody wanted to pose with a pineapple or have me take a picture of them washing a watermelon or something. People love seeing their pictures on the camera, which is great for me, since I can just snap away. I’ll post pictures when I can.
Anyway, today was rewarding because I was finally able to see how the TOT training works and I got to meet a lot of the TOTs. Most of them seem to enjoy the training – there’s a lot of laughing all the time.
On an unrelated note, I want to give a shout out to my amazing Aunt Nancy who sent me my first care package! Everything in it was great, but specifically, it included two of my favorite things: candy corn and Vanity Fair!
On another unrelated note, yesterday I ate a grasshopper! Apparently it’s grasshopper season here in Uganda, and people are selling them everywhere. While we were waiting on the bus in the taxi park in Kampala yesterday, Jessica bought two and we each ate one. Crunchy and salty… actually kind of good, if you can ignore its beady black eyes and pretend it’s a pretzel or something.
After everybody’s meals were finished, they set them out on plates and each group explained why they made what they did. I took a lot of pictures of the groups while they were cooking, and soon everybody wanted to pose with a pineapple or have me take a picture of them washing a watermelon or something. People love seeing their pictures on the camera, which is great for me, since I can just snap away. I’ll post pictures when I can.
Anyway, today was rewarding because I was finally able to see how the TOT training works and I got to meet a lot of the TOTs. Most of them seem to enjoy the training – there’s a lot of laughing all the time.
On an unrelated note, I want to give a shout out to my amazing Aunt Nancy who sent me my first care package! Everything in it was great, but specifically, it included two of my favorite things: candy corn and Vanity Fair!
On another unrelated note, yesterday I ate a grasshopper! Apparently it’s grasshopper season here in Uganda, and people are selling them everywhere. While we were waiting on the bus in the taxi park in Kampala yesterday, Jessica bought two and we each ate one. Crunchy and salty… actually kind of good, if you can ignore its beady black eyes and pretend it’s a pretzel or something.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
photo update
fried matooke chips... yum
a marching band going through ssembabule as part of someone's campaign effort
sweeping out our room
i take a lot of picture of the food we've made, mostly because i'm proudThursday, November 18, 2010
turning 23 in uganda
Today is the first birthday I have celebrated in a foreign country.. actually, I think it’s the first birthday I’ve celebrated anywhere other than in the Midwest. Being 23 feels the same as being 22, surprise surprise! This morning the staff sang happy birthday and in place of a cake, I had chapatti that Jessica bought me, and mandazis (donut-like things) that the staff bought. Yum! They also gave me this wall-hanging that is made of plastic and fake flowers and says “Happy Birthday” on it… it’s so gaudy and I love it. I plan to bring it home and display it for the rest of my life.
This week has been a nice change of pace. The international program director from headquarters in Minneapolis was here in Ssembabule from Sunday through Tuesday, and it was good to see her and get her perspective and feedback on some of the projects we’re working on. The program manager and her husband are here for the whole week, and it’s been great to have them around. They brought some board games, so we’ve been playing Ticket to Ride and Farkle after work sometimes. In retrospect, it would have been a good idea to bring some games here to play at night and on the weekends, assuming there’s another volunteer to play with. It’s been fun to have some new faces around and for the office to be busier than usual.
Tomorrow morning we’re heading to Kampala for the weekend. My goals are to get a haircut and a pedicure… I’ll let you know how it goes!
This week has been a nice change of pace. The international program director from headquarters in Minneapolis was here in Ssembabule from Sunday through Tuesday, and it was good to see her and get her perspective and feedback on some of the projects we’re working on. The program manager and her husband are here for the whole week, and it’s been great to have them around. They brought some board games, so we’ve been playing Ticket to Ride and Farkle after work sometimes. In retrospect, it would have been a good idea to bring some games here to play at night and on the weekends, assuming there’s another volunteer to play with. It’s been fun to have some new faces around and for the office to be busier than usual.
Tomorrow morning we’re heading to Kampala for the weekend. My goals are to get a haircut and a pedicure… I’ll let you know how it goes!
Friday, November 12, 2010
hail storm & pizza delivery
Yesterday, two strange things happened.
First, in the afternoon the weather suddenly turned stormy and we experienced a hail storm. Yes, I’m sitting on the equator, and hail is pelting down practically sideways and sliding under the door of the office. After the storm, one of the guards scooped up a bunch of the hail stones and ate them (since we have no means of refrigeration and definitely no freezer here, ice is quite a strange site and apparently an exciting snack). I couldn’t help but think that the hail stones were the perfect crushed-ice consistency for a margarita…
Then, at about 9 pm, Jessica and I were about to turn off the lights and go to sleep when Rose (the Operations Officer – she basically stays on top of everything and keeps things running smoothly at the office) knocked on our door bearing a pizza wrapped in tin foil. Indeed, after weeks of joking about how great it would be if we could order pizza for delivery in Ssembabule, we actually had pizza delivered to our door. Rose and Beatrice had been in Masaka, a larger neighboring town where they go to do banking and run errands, and they were sweet enough to bring us back a pizza. Granted, it wasn’t anything close to Domino’s (it was more like focaccia with pizza toppings on it), but it was good, and although I had already brushed and flossed my teeth, I let my hair down and ate it for a bedtime snack (also, we didn’t know if it would taste good the next day; when you have no refrigeration, you have to do crazy things like eat pizza when you’re already full and drink an entire liter of mango juice in one day).
Moral of the story: you never know what’s going to happen here!
First, in the afternoon the weather suddenly turned stormy and we experienced a hail storm. Yes, I’m sitting on the equator, and hail is pelting down practically sideways and sliding under the door of the office. After the storm, one of the guards scooped up a bunch of the hail stones and ate them (since we have no means of refrigeration and definitely no freezer here, ice is quite a strange site and apparently an exciting snack). I couldn’t help but think that the hail stones were the perfect crushed-ice consistency for a margarita…
Then, at about 9 pm, Jessica and I were about to turn off the lights and go to sleep when Rose (the Operations Officer – she basically stays on top of everything and keeps things running smoothly at the office) knocked on our door bearing a pizza wrapped in tin foil. Indeed, after weeks of joking about how great it would be if we could order pizza for delivery in Ssembabule, we actually had pizza delivered to our door. Rose and Beatrice had been in Masaka, a larger neighboring town where they go to do banking and run errands, and they were sweet enough to bring us back a pizza. Granted, it wasn’t anything close to Domino’s (it was more like focaccia with pizza toppings on it), but it was good, and although I had already brushed and flossed my teeth, I let my hair down and ate it for a bedtime snack (also, we didn’t know if it would taste good the next day; when you have no refrigeration, you have to do crazy things like eat pizza when you’re already full and drink an entire liter of mango juice in one day).
Moral of the story: you never know what’s going to happen here!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
my partner in crime
About two months ago, Jessica (the other international intern) and I went from being complete strangers to basically being connected at the hip. If you think about it, it’s kind of insane that two people who have previously never met are suddenly thrown into the same situation, not to mention the same smallish room, and expected to (hopefully) get along and work together. Luckily, things worked out really well for us (I think it also helped that I started off on her good side by bringing her Starburst, Nature Valley granola bars and Pop-tarts from the States). It’s funny looking back on it, because now I feel like I’ve cohabitated with Jessica forever.
Somewhere in these past two months we’ve fallen into a very comfortable, predictable, married-couple routine. In the morning, she showers first, and then I do. When we want to watch a movie, I hook up my computer and set it on the small table in our room, I drag the table over between the chair and the bed, and then I lie on my bed and she sits in the chair (and then we both watch as many episodes of Gilmore Girls as we can until our necks get stiff from being at weird angles). Oftentimes all it takes is a few words and a hand gesture for one of us to know what the other means to say before she says it. Best of all, our candy preferences totally complement one another – my favorite Skittles are purple and red, and hers are green and yellow. My favorite Starburst are pink and red, and hers are yellow and orange. So we swap, and everybody’s happy!
I guess my point is that I’ve gotten really lucky with having her here. She’s leaving at the beginning of December, and I can’t even imagine being here alone, but I’m hoping it won’t be too depressing. It’s just going to be an adjustment, because since the second day I got here, I had a partner in crime who could answer all my stupid questions, e.g.: How do I wash my hair in this basin? What do I wear? Is it going to rain? How do I eat this thing? What is that word they keep saying and how do I respond to it? How does this magic Internet stick work? Do you have strong feelings either way about me playing Taylor Swift? Can I touch this frog with my bare hands?
Somewhere in these past two months we’ve fallen into a very comfortable, predictable, married-couple routine. In the morning, she showers first, and then I do. When we want to watch a movie, I hook up my computer and set it on the small table in our room, I drag the table over between the chair and the bed, and then I lie on my bed and she sits in the chair (and then we both watch as many episodes of Gilmore Girls as we can until our necks get stiff from being at weird angles). Oftentimes all it takes is a few words and a hand gesture for one of us to know what the other means to say before she says it. Best of all, our candy preferences totally complement one another – my favorite Skittles are purple and red, and hers are green and yellow. My favorite Starburst are pink and red, and hers are yellow and orange. So we swap, and everybody’s happy!
I guess my point is that I’ve gotten really lucky with having her here. She’s leaving at the beginning of December, and I can’t even imagine being here alone, but I’m hoping it won’t be too depressing. It’s just going to be an adjustment, because since the second day I got here, I had a partner in crime who could answer all my stupid questions, e.g.: How do I wash my hair in this basin? What do I wear? Is it going to rain? How do I eat this thing? What is that word they keep saying and how do I respond to it? How does this magic Internet stick work? Do you have strong feelings either way about me playing Taylor Swift? Can I touch this frog with my bare hands?
Friday, November 5, 2010
it's november already?
This week has been pretty low-key, as about half the staff are in Mubende this week for TOT training. TOTs (trainers of trainers) are the people we directly train, who then train community caregivers to deliver services in the community. The training is pretty intense – six days in Mubende, one week off, and then two more weeks of training in Ssembabule. The office has been quiet this week, but we’ve been lucky to have power pretty steadily, which always makes life easier.
Wednesday morning as I was taking my bucket shower, I was about to rinse the shampoo out of my hair using a small jerry can when I spied something that I thought was a leaf clinging to the opening of the jerry can I was holding. Not a leaf, it was in fact a frog who had been hanging out inside the jerry can for who knows how long. I’m just glad I didn’t pour the frog onto my head along with the water. Needless to say, that incident woke me up much more effectively than my alarm did.
It’s election year here – elections are February 18th. Yesterday, nominations were being held for positions within Ssembabule (I’m still not clear exactly what the positions were). The campaigning process is quite interesting… as I was sitting in the office, I heard a marching band nearby. A marching band? In rural Uganda? Is it homecoming? Is this just my subconscious reminding me how sad I am to be missing football season? No, it turns out, I am NOT crazy – there was indeed a marching band passing through the town. We soon learned that the spectacle was one way that a candidate sought to gain attention for her campaign. The band proceeded to walk back and forth through town all day. After the musical extravaganza, a procession of trucks displaying campaign posters and full of people waving branches drove through the town as well, campaigning for another candidate. The lead-up to the election is going to be quite interesting, especially as February draws closer. Kampala is plastered with posters of President Museveni (wearing a straw hat that I can’t help but think is a sombrero every time I glance at a poster), but his re-election is guaranteed. He’s been in power since 1986 (along the way he scrapped the two-term presidential limit that he himself had put into place, deciding that he wanted to keep running for re-election), and he has no credible opposition. Members of parliament are also being elected, and from what I hear, election years here can get pretty crazy (they hold elections every 5 years, so I’m just lucky to be experiencing it while I’m here, I guess). You’ll hear a lot more about this as February draws closer, as I assume that’s probably all I’ll write about.
In unrelated news, I am almost totally finished with my grad school application, which is a HUGE relief. I hope to submit it next week (it’s due December 1st). I’m only applying to the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, because the program there is fantastic and I really want to stay in Minneapolis, at least for a while. I’m applying to the Coordinated Masters Program, which is includes both a MPH in Public Health Nutrition and completion of my dietetic internship, so that when I graduate I can take the Registered Dietitian exam and become an RD as well. The program matches my interests exactly, but they only accept 8 students a year (yikes, I know), so cross your fingers for me!
Things I have been enjoying lately: Gilmore Girls Season One, VitaSnacks (delish South African crackers that I stocked up on in Kampala), mystery novels, bug spray, instant coffee, and the Shania Twain remixes that keep blasting from the building across the street.
Wednesday morning as I was taking my bucket shower, I was about to rinse the shampoo out of my hair using a small jerry can when I spied something that I thought was a leaf clinging to the opening of the jerry can I was holding. Not a leaf, it was in fact a frog who had been hanging out inside the jerry can for who knows how long. I’m just glad I didn’t pour the frog onto my head along with the water. Needless to say, that incident woke me up much more effectively than my alarm did.
It’s election year here – elections are February 18th. Yesterday, nominations were being held for positions within Ssembabule (I’m still not clear exactly what the positions were). The campaigning process is quite interesting… as I was sitting in the office, I heard a marching band nearby. A marching band? In rural Uganda? Is it homecoming? Is this just my subconscious reminding me how sad I am to be missing football season? No, it turns out, I am NOT crazy – there was indeed a marching band passing through the town. We soon learned that the spectacle was one way that a candidate sought to gain attention for her campaign. The band proceeded to walk back and forth through town all day. After the musical extravaganza, a procession of trucks displaying campaign posters and full of people waving branches drove through the town as well, campaigning for another candidate. The lead-up to the election is going to be quite interesting, especially as February draws closer. Kampala is plastered with posters of President Museveni (wearing a straw hat that I can’t help but think is a sombrero every time I glance at a poster), but his re-election is guaranteed. He’s been in power since 1986 (along the way he scrapped the two-term presidential limit that he himself had put into place, deciding that he wanted to keep running for re-election), and he has no credible opposition. Members of parliament are also being elected, and from what I hear, election years here can get pretty crazy (they hold elections every 5 years, so I’m just lucky to be experiencing it while I’m here, I guess). You’ll hear a lot more about this as February draws closer, as I assume that’s probably all I’ll write about.
In unrelated news, I am almost totally finished with my grad school application, which is a HUGE relief. I hope to submit it next week (it’s due December 1st). I’m only applying to the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, because the program there is fantastic and I really want to stay in Minneapolis, at least for a while. I’m applying to the Coordinated Masters Program, which is includes both a MPH in Public Health Nutrition and completion of my dietetic internship, so that when I graduate I can take the Registered Dietitian exam and become an RD as well. The program matches my interests exactly, but they only accept 8 students a year (yikes, I know), so cross your fingers for me!
Things I have been enjoying lately: Gilmore Girls Season One, VitaSnacks (delish South African crackers that I stocked up on in Kampala), mystery novels, bug spray, instant coffee, and the Shania Twain remixes that keep blasting from the building across the street.
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