This year, I’m not ringing in the new year in any wild, crazy way… no party buses, or champagne, or standing outside in downtown Minneapolis for an hour in below zero weather struggling to find a nonexistent cab and eventually giving up and flagging down a normal person and paying him (and his disgruntled girlfriend) to drive us home (which, yes, happened to us last NYE…). My plans include popcorn and episodes of 24. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but think about 2010, and what a great year it was. Some things that stand out…
My last semester of college. Within the school realm it was lots of work, but within the social realm it was lots of fun. I enjoyed strengthened friendships and new friendships, and my roommates were the BEST. Micah, Sara, and our crazy fun Norwegian roommate Thomas really made 1081 the best place to live. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend the end of my college life than with all the wonderful people in my circle of friends. Of course, 2010 also included my college graduation, which was a milestone, both bittersweet and a relief. Not to mention we threw a pretty epic graduation party in our backyard, which no one who attended will soon forget.
After graduation, I had an incredible summer. I spent most of the summer nannying in Minneapolis, for two good kids with whom I enjoyed many beach and pool days. When I wasn’t working, I took two wonderful trips – to Florida with Sara and Melissa, and to NYC with Megan and Chelsea. My friends and I went on a weekend camping trip to Great River Bluffs State Park in Minnesota, which, despite the torrential thunderstorm, collapsing tarps, and ridiculous amount of mud, was a blast (at least in my opinion… some of those in attendance may not agree with me, but I think deep down they liked it). Two of my most memorable days in Minneapolis were those of the outdoor festivals I attended – Grand Old Day and Soundset... both of which were absurdly fun and made me so grateful to live in such a great city with great local music (and great local beer). August, of course, included Gomollapalooza/Camp Steve 2010, the annual get-together at the Gomoll’s in Oconomowoc in which dozens of old and new friends come together for a weekend of games, food, boating, and floating around in the lake on noodles drinking beer.
The end of the summer was bittersweet. Lots of goodbyes and people moving, which is always difficult. And, obviously, I’ve spend the last three and a half months of 2010 hurling myself outside of my comfort zone in Uganda. I’m incredibly grateful for all of the people who have made 2010 such a memorable year, and for all the experiences I’ve had… sometimes I honestly just stop, take a moment and think “Wow, is this really my life?!” I can only hope that I will be equally blessed in 2011. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
christmas in kla
I’m sorry that it has been SO LONG since I’ve last written… if you’re anything like my dear mom, I know that you’ve all been compulsively checking to see if I’ve written. Just kidding, but just in case you are a bit curious, here are some things I’ve been up to.
The last week and a half of work leading up to Christmas was pretty quiet, as many of the staff took vacation time to lengthen their break. One of the more eventful days was last Tuesday, when we went to a DAC (District AIDS Committee) meeting at the district building in Sembabule. This was the first real DAC meeting that the district has held, and it’s too bad that it’s taken so long to get going, but it’s good that they’re motivated and heading in the right direction. The goal of the committee is to bring together representatives from the NGOs, from other institutions, and from the local government in order to coordinate each group’s efforts towards fighting AIDS in the district. It is a really important goal, because by coordinating efforts and dividing up tasks and responsibilities, things can get done more effectively and hopefully make more of an impact on the community. The committee plans to meet every quarter, so I’m interested to see how things progress from here.
On Wednesday morning, I traveled to Kampala with Beatrice and Emily Sylvia. The trip was long, and for the first time the matatu I was in ran out of gas… it was pretty inevitable that that was going to happen to me at some point. We finally got in to the city and to Beatrice’s house around 2 pm. Staying at Beatrice’s for the holidays was really nice – she has four kids (who aren’t really kids, I guess) who are between the ages of 19 and 27 – Andrew, Viki, Rita, and Baine. We basically just relaxed, ate, and watched TV – I’m not a huge TV person at home, but after not watching TV for over three months, getting to veg on the couch and watch all kinds of cheesy Christmas specials and other miscellaneous American programs was incredible. I went into town with one of Beatrice’s daughters, Rita, one day, but mainly we just hung out at home. Various relatives stopped by, and on Christmas Day evening we went to church at a big Catholic church in Kampala. In general, being away from home on Christmas was odd, and sad at times, but I tried to just block out what I was missing out on at home. It was nice to be with a family during Christmas, even if it wasn’t my own family.
I stayed with Beatrice from Wednesday until Sunday, and then on Sunday evening I went into Kampala to stay in a hotel for a few nights. Staying with her was wonderful, but I also actually enjoy staying in town – even if it is by myself – so that I can eat at my favorite restaurants, and shop, and stuff like that. So now I’m in Kampala, doing my usual Kampala routine. Last night I ate at Haandi, the amazing Indian restaurant that I go to every time I’m here. Today I’m planning on doing some shopping for books, fabric, and possibly a few clothes. My clothes have really taken a beating since being here. I don’t know if it’s because I wear the same pieces of clothing all the time, but I really could use a few new things, so I’m going to try to find a couple of new tops and maybe a dress. I’m either going to head back to Sembabule tomorrow or Thursday… I haven’t decided yet.
I hope everyone had a happy Christmas! I missed you all, but I’m proud to say that I made it through the holiday season here without any sort of freak-out, so I’m doing well.
The last week and a half of work leading up to Christmas was pretty quiet, as many of the staff took vacation time to lengthen their break. One of the more eventful days was last Tuesday, when we went to a DAC (District AIDS Committee) meeting at the district building in Sembabule. This was the first real DAC meeting that the district has held, and it’s too bad that it’s taken so long to get going, but it’s good that they’re motivated and heading in the right direction. The goal of the committee is to bring together representatives from the NGOs, from other institutions, and from the local government in order to coordinate each group’s efforts towards fighting AIDS in the district. It is a really important goal, because by coordinating efforts and dividing up tasks and responsibilities, things can get done more effectively and hopefully make more of an impact on the community. The committee plans to meet every quarter, so I’m interested to see how things progress from here.
On Wednesday morning, I traveled to Kampala with Beatrice and Emily Sylvia. The trip was long, and for the first time the matatu I was in ran out of gas… it was pretty inevitable that that was going to happen to me at some point. We finally got in to the city and to Beatrice’s house around 2 pm. Staying at Beatrice’s for the holidays was really nice – she has four kids (who aren’t really kids, I guess) who are between the ages of 19 and 27 – Andrew, Viki, Rita, and Baine. We basically just relaxed, ate, and watched TV – I’m not a huge TV person at home, but after not watching TV for over three months, getting to veg on the couch and watch all kinds of cheesy Christmas specials and other miscellaneous American programs was incredible. I went into town with one of Beatrice’s daughters, Rita, one day, but mainly we just hung out at home. Various relatives stopped by, and on Christmas Day evening we went to church at a big Catholic church in Kampala. In general, being away from home on Christmas was odd, and sad at times, but I tried to just block out what I was missing out on at home. It was nice to be with a family during Christmas, even if it wasn’t my own family.
I stayed with Beatrice from Wednesday until Sunday, and then on Sunday evening I went into Kampala to stay in a hotel for a few nights. Staying with her was wonderful, but I also actually enjoy staying in town – even if it is by myself – so that I can eat at my favorite restaurants, and shop, and stuff like that. So now I’m in Kampala, doing my usual Kampala routine. Last night I ate at Haandi, the amazing Indian restaurant that I go to every time I’m here. Today I’m planning on doing some shopping for books, fabric, and possibly a few clothes. My clothes have really taken a beating since being here. I don’t know if it’s because I wear the same pieces of clothing all the time, but I really could use a few new things, so I’m going to try to find a couple of new tops and maybe a dress. I’m either going to head back to Sembabule tomorrow or Thursday… I haven’t decided yet.
I hope everyone had a happy Christmas! I missed you all, but I’m proud to say that I made it through the holiday season here without any sort of freak-out, so I’m doing well.
Monday, December 27, 2010
pictures
women singing at sembabule's world AIDS day festivities
campaigning madness going on behind me
the semabule staff in our matching shirts on world AIDS dayMonday, December 13, 2010
it's a small world after all
Thanks to facebook, I can usually keep track of what’s going on at home in Minnesota and Wisconsin (if the internet is working, that is). I don’t want to sound like an old fogey, but I really don’t know what people did before the miraculous internet was invented. I can’t imagine being in rural Uganda for nine months without being able to check in on my friends and family almost daily online. And cell phones! I can talk to my family on my cheap Nokia cell phone with clearer reception than we sometimes have in the US.
WellShare has been in Sembabule for a really long time (something like 17 years), but we’ve only been in our current office for a couple of years. Before we were at this office in the center of town, the office was located just outside of town, and it had no electricity and no internet. Rose (the operations officer who has worked here for 10 years or so) told me about how up until a few years ago, they had to drive to Masaka (about an hour away) to use the internet, and they had to communicate via – gasp! – snail mail. I realize that this is just the way things were until recently (and still are, in some places), but I can’t imagine running an office like this without electricity. It’s hard enough for us when power is out for a day or two (or more, sometimes) but to have to drive an hour away to use the internet and a post office is kind of mindboggling now. It actually makes me feel spoiled, because although there is a great deal of culture shock involved in living here, at least I still have a cell phone (loaned to me by WellShare) and my own modem (which I purchased) to use the internet. The internet is generally slow and unreliable, so I can’t do anything fancy like watch videos or upload pictures, but hey, I can email and usually stalk a few people on facebook. It also seems kind of paradoxical sometimes, because we don’t have a refrigerator, we have to boil our water to drink it, we have no plumbing system, and I take bucket baths, but yet I have internet access and virtually everybody has a mobile phone.
The reason I was thinking about this is because thanks to facebook, I’ve been hearing all about the massive amount of snow in Minneapolis. I have to say, hearing about everybody being snowed in and stuck at home (not to mention the Metrodome – or shall I say Mall of America Field – roof collapse… karma, Favre, karma) made me a tad bit homesick. Minneapolis weather can be brutal, especially around January and February when I’m trudging to class before the sun has even risen, feeling the snot freeze inside my nostrils, but a heavy snowfall in December is wonderful. I can’t believe that I’m going to experience a winter completely free of snow for the first time in my life. I guess I’ll just appreciate it that much more next winter… that is, until I’m late for class because I spent a half an hour scraping the ice off of my windshield with a credit card.
WellShare has been in Sembabule for a really long time (something like 17 years), but we’ve only been in our current office for a couple of years. Before we were at this office in the center of town, the office was located just outside of town, and it had no electricity and no internet. Rose (the operations officer who has worked here for 10 years or so) told me about how up until a few years ago, they had to drive to Masaka (about an hour away) to use the internet, and they had to communicate via – gasp! – snail mail. I realize that this is just the way things were until recently (and still are, in some places), but I can’t imagine running an office like this without electricity. It’s hard enough for us when power is out for a day or two (or more, sometimes) but to have to drive an hour away to use the internet and a post office is kind of mindboggling now. It actually makes me feel spoiled, because although there is a great deal of culture shock involved in living here, at least I still have a cell phone (loaned to me by WellShare) and my own modem (which I purchased) to use the internet. The internet is generally slow and unreliable, so I can’t do anything fancy like watch videos or upload pictures, but hey, I can email and usually stalk a few people on facebook. It also seems kind of paradoxical sometimes, because we don’t have a refrigerator, we have to boil our water to drink it, we have no plumbing system, and I take bucket baths, but yet I have internet access and virtually everybody has a mobile phone.
The reason I was thinking about this is because thanks to facebook, I’ve been hearing all about the massive amount of snow in Minneapolis. I have to say, hearing about everybody being snowed in and stuck at home (not to mention the Metrodome – or shall I say Mall of America Field – roof collapse… karma, Favre, karma) made me a tad bit homesick. Minneapolis weather can be brutal, especially around January and February when I’m trudging to class before the sun has even risen, feeling the snot freeze inside my nostrils, but a heavy snowfall in December is wonderful. I can’t believe that I’m going to experience a winter completely free of snow for the first time in my life. I guess I’ll just appreciate it that much more next winter… that is, until I’m late for class because I spent a half an hour scraping the ice off of my windshield with a credit card.
Friday, December 10, 2010
a plague of locusts
Grasshoppers have taken over Sembabule. I kind of feel like I’m in the middle of a Biblical plague… okay, maybe I’m being dramatic. But grasshoppers (a good thee inches long and bright green) are EVERYWHERE. Falling on my head when I open the door, buzzing around my bed net, flying erratically into my face, and of course, roasted and in heaps outside of the kitchen and in bags for sale on the street.
I’ve been sleeping really deeply lately, and a couple of nights ago I half-woke up in the middle of the night because I heard something that sounded like a flapping of wings on the top of my bed net, where it hangs from the ceiling. The noise was so loud, I seriously thought it had to be a bird. Still in a sleepy stupor, I tried to figure out if I was dreaming or really awake, and when I couldn’t decide, I just fell back to sleep – I really didn’t want to deal with trying to get a bird out of my room in the middle of the night. The next day, when I was awake and coherent, I heard the same buzzing/flapping noise, which turned out to be a grasshopper that was hanging out in my room. I spent a few crazed minutes trying to trap it in a washcloth and throw it out the door, only to have it fly back in my face several times. Apparently it really wanted to hang out in my room (probably because it’s so clean and organized now).
Last week as we were driving through Masaka after dark, I finally got a glimpse of the grasshopper trapping process that happens in every town. It’s kind of hard to explain without a visual, but I’ll try - dozens of metal barrels are arranged in a square, with enormous sheets of corrugated tin shooting vertically out of the top of the barrel into the sky. Blindingly bright lights are used to attract the grasshoppers, who apparently become dazed by the light, hit the metal, and slide down into the barrels, where they are trapped. From, the creatures are roasted, salted, bagged, and sold by people everywhere you go.
I realize they’re not harmful (and a good source of protein) but I just wish they would stop sneaking into my room and making me look like a crazy person as I try to shoo them out.
I’ve been sleeping really deeply lately, and a couple of nights ago I half-woke up in the middle of the night because I heard something that sounded like a flapping of wings on the top of my bed net, where it hangs from the ceiling. The noise was so loud, I seriously thought it had to be a bird. Still in a sleepy stupor, I tried to figure out if I was dreaming or really awake, and when I couldn’t decide, I just fell back to sleep – I really didn’t want to deal with trying to get a bird out of my room in the middle of the night. The next day, when I was awake and coherent, I heard the same buzzing/flapping noise, which turned out to be a grasshopper that was hanging out in my room. I spent a few crazed minutes trying to trap it in a washcloth and throw it out the door, only to have it fly back in my face several times. Apparently it really wanted to hang out in my room (probably because it’s so clean and organized now).
Last week as we were driving through Masaka after dark, I finally got a glimpse of the grasshopper trapping process that happens in every town. It’s kind of hard to explain without a visual, but I’ll try - dozens of metal barrels are arranged in a square, with enormous sheets of corrugated tin shooting vertically out of the top of the barrel into the sky. Blindingly bright lights are used to attract the grasshoppers, who apparently become dazed by the light, hit the metal, and slide down into the barrels, where they are trapped. From, the creatures are roasted, salted, bagged, and sold by people everywhere you go.
I realize they’re not harmful (and a good source of protein) but I just wish they would stop sneaking into my room and making me look like a crazy person as I try to shoo them out.
Monday, December 6, 2010
ridin' solo
The time has come – my other half, Jessica, left last Thursday, so now I’m the only intern holding down the fort in Sembabule. Things have been good so far.. I haven’t started talking to myself or having conversations with frogs or anything, which I take as a good sign.
Last Wednesday, the night before Jessica left, the staff made a huge, delicious dinner (FRIED chicken, potatoes, cabbage, greens, etc) for everyone and we all stayed late and ate together. It was so, so nice of them. We all sat around afterwards, each person saying their goodbyes to Jessica and thanking her for all the work she’s done. The power was out (the battery-powered Coleman lantern I brought has come in VERY handy for situations like this) and the whole thing kind of felt like a slumber party to me – everyone sitting in a circle, with a light in the middle, sharing their deepest darkest secrets (okay, not really). Anyway, it was a really great ending to Jess’s time here.
On Thursday I went along with the car that was taking Jessica in to Kampala. I only stayed for the day, but we got to have lunch at our favorite place – Café Java – and I stocked up on some groceries. The huge advantage to traveling with the WellShare vehicle is that you can buy a lot of stuff and not worry about how to get it back. Public transportation is much more restricting, in that I usually only buy one (large) bag of groceries to lug back here. The day trip to Kampala was nice, but long and tiring (about four hours each way). Not to mention that there was a really bad traffic jam (just known as a “jam” here) that resulted in us sitting for 20 minutes not moving in the parking lot of the grocery store, and then slowly inching out of the parking lot for 15 more minutes. It was incredibly frustrating. I’m not sure why Kampala traffic is prone to such bad jams, but at certain times of the day it is almost impossible to get somewhere without pulling your hair out.
This past weekend, I rearranged and cleaned the room. It had gotten pretty dirty, so I took out the carpet and the guards helped me clean it, and the floor under it. Then I moved a bookshelf from the office into my room to store all the things that I had previously been storing under/around my bed (food, books, toiletries, etc). The room looks MUCH better now. Having a roommate is great, and I would not trade Jessica in exchange for a neater room, but that room really is small for two people. So, my consolation prize is to have a spiffier room. After I finished the cleaning process, I spent the rest of the weekend alternately reading and watching Gossip Girl season two. I never thought I’d get into that show, but I bought season one here, and I have to say I’ve gotten sucked in. One of my coworkers here is letting me borrow season two, further fueling the addiction.
This week is the CCG training, in which the TOTs (who finished up their training by WellShare two weeks ago) in turn train the CCGs, with facilitation by the F/CBOs. We’re using this opportunity to conduct the last of our focus group discussions, both among the CCGs and in the communities in which the trainings are being held. I’m looking forward to finishing up this process and analyzing the results.
A word of warning to anyone who is traveling and needs a long-term visa at any point in the future: try and make sure that you know what type of visa you will need (based on how long you’re staying in the country) and what that visa requires BEFORE you arrive. My visa process has been something close to a nightmare. It turns out that I need a different visa than what I had previously been told I needed, and now I’m scrambling to get all sorts of weird things (a police letter from my hometown, my OFFICIAL transcripts) and have them sent here before my tourist visa expires in a week. Not to mention I've ended up spending a lot more money on the process than I had planned to. The end is in sight now, but it’s been a hassle and it would have been a lot easier to have gathered these things before I left the US. So there’s my travel tip for the day.
Last Wednesday, the night before Jessica left, the staff made a huge, delicious dinner (FRIED chicken, potatoes, cabbage, greens, etc) for everyone and we all stayed late and ate together. It was so, so nice of them. We all sat around afterwards, each person saying their goodbyes to Jessica and thanking her for all the work she’s done. The power was out (the battery-powered Coleman lantern I brought has come in VERY handy for situations like this) and the whole thing kind of felt like a slumber party to me – everyone sitting in a circle, with a light in the middle, sharing their deepest darkest secrets (okay, not really). Anyway, it was a really great ending to Jess’s time here.
On Thursday I went along with the car that was taking Jessica in to Kampala. I only stayed for the day, but we got to have lunch at our favorite place – Café Java – and I stocked up on some groceries. The huge advantage to traveling with the WellShare vehicle is that you can buy a lot of stuff and not worry about how to get it back. Public transportation is much more restricting, in that I usually only buy one (large) bag of groceries to lug back here. The day trip to Kampala was nice, but long and tiring (about four hours each way). Not to mention that there was a really bad traffic jam (just known as a “jam” here) that resulted in us sitting for 20 minutes not moving in the parking lot of the grocery store, and then slowly inching out of the parking lot for 15 more minutes. It was incredibly frustrating. I’m not sure why Kampala traffic is prone to such bad jams, but at certain times of the day it is almost impossible to get somewhere without pulling your hair out.
This past weekend, I rearranged and cleaned the room. It had gotten pretty dirty, so I took out the carpet and the guards helped me clean it, and the floor under it. Then I moved a bookshelf from the office into my room to store all the things that I had previously been storing under/around my bed (food, books, toiletries, etc). The room looks MUCH better now. Having a roommate is great, and I would not trade Jessica in exchange for a neater room, but that room really is small for two people. So, my consolation prize is to have a spiffier room. After I finished the cleaning process, I spent the rest of the weekend alternately reading and watching Gossip Girl season two. I never thought I’d get into that show, but I bought season one here, and I have to say I’ve gotten sucked in. One of my coworkers here is letting me borrow season two, further fueling the addiction.
This week is the CCG training, in which the TOTs (who finished up their training by WellShare two weeks ago) in turn train the CCGs, with facilitation by the F/CBOs. We’re using this opportunity to conduct the last of our focus group discussions, both among the CCGs and in the communities in which the trainings are being held. I’m looking forward to finishing up this process and analyzing the results.
A word of warning to anyone who is traveling and needs a long-term visa at any point in the future: try and make sure that you know what type of visa you will need (based on how long you’re staying in the country) and what that visa requires BEFORE you arrive. My visa process has been something close to a nightmare. It turns out that I need a different visa than what I had previously been told I needed, and now I’m scrambling to get all sorts of weird things (a police letter from my hometown, my OFFICIAL transcripts) and have them sent here before my tourist visa expires in a week. Not to mention I've ended up spending a lot more money on the process than I had planned to. The end is in sight now, but it’s been a hassle and it would have been a lot easier to have gathered these things before I left the US. So there’s my travel tip for the day.
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