The Settling-In Period

I have now been in Uganda for almost one month. It has been a wonderful and intense experience. However, now that the novelty of 'living' in Africa has worn off, I am starting to get homesick for Dustin, family, and living in Seattle. When you are bustling around, learning the language, how to get from point A to B, where is 'safe' to eat, and that sunscreen really is important when you spend your day outside so close to the equator, missing the familiar crosses my brain right before I fall to sleep at night. Now that I have figured out some of this country and have some sort of rhythm to my life, I think about familiar things more frequently.

But struggling with the distance is also part of traveling - and another part that I actually relish. Something about distance making the heart grow fonder. the grass is always greener. or maybe it is just mostly about gaining a new perspective on those things treasured (and taken for granted). Traveling is definitely for me - I hope to do it for the remainder of my life. These types of long trips really help to remind me of the important things, learn new things about others (but mostly about myself), and reinforce how alike we all are (rather than dissimilar, granted there are differences, but they are usually not so great that they cannot be overcome with a bit of grace and good humor).

For those of you wondering what I have been up to the past few weeks...

My days start when the sun rises (around 6:30 - it sets at 6:30 as well, due to the proximity to the equator). I am trying to be consistent with a running plan, so I head out for 30 - 60 minutes for a run through the three local villages: Bujagali, Kyabirwa, and Buwenda. I have a few different routes that I take - all of which are through "neighborhoods." During the course of my run, I am constantly accompanied by two to fifteen children, between the ages of 4 and 10. They all think that it is quite funny that a Mzungu is RUNNING in SHORTS for FUN. Many of the neighborhoods have started to learn my name, so I am starting to get "Jambo Julianna." The kids love it when I stop to walk or stretch. The runs are full of lots of children giggling - it is a great way to wake-up. The roads are entirely uneven, so my ankles get a good workout. I am always balancing. While the kids run along side me until their turnoffs come for school (of which there are many!), the adults are all hard at work - and have been since around 5:30am. I run by people making maize flour, hoeing gardens, weeding, riding bikes with water jugs strapped all around, and men on their way to work - usually manual labor of some sort. I often pass the men that are working at the site as they walk to work. I am starting to feel like I am part of the community here - I always know at least three people on my runs (which requires a stop and chat) and many people know me and greet me. So, that is good!

Then it is to home for a quick change, splashing some water on my face, and off to the building site. On the way, I stop at a local chapatti (wheat flour mixed with some water and salt and then made like a pancake of sorts) and eggs, which I eat on the way. My walk to work is about five minutes - and I am also accompanied by children, all trying to hold my hand (many end up holding my wrist and arm). (FYI: Many of the children in the area have distended bellies, caused by a protein deficiency. They get enough calories - but not the right kind.)

Once I get to work (you can check it out at the Soft Power blog and website) I have some tea and FRESH pineapple and watermelon. Then it is to work - digging trenches, pick-axing, laying bricks, wheel barrowing rubbish, bricks, dirt, cement, laying cement, moving wet cement, unloading the truck. Lots of manual labor. The work day is from 9 - 4. We get a break for lunch - usually something local like posho (beat bananas), rice, ground nuts, cassava, potatoes, beans, and veggies. It is quite hot - there is little shade where I am usually working and from 10 - 2, everything slows quite a bit.

I have gotten to know quite a few of the local builders (Soft Power employs 80 locals builders in total - it is a great program!! I would love to talk with any of you who are interested - and especially if you are looking for a quality charity to support), and they are all very impressed that a mzungo (let alone a mzungo woman!) can work so hard and lift so much. I have to say that I am surprising myself!! I guess it is all pretty exciting to be working on such a big, cool project with locals. The work seems not as hard, somehow. The men have decided that I was born in the wrong country - I am really an African (Ugandan) woman (given how hard I work compared to other mzungu women, they say). They are all pretty sweet and have really been welcoming. In fact, today they all had their pictures taken individually with me. What a treat! And I have been invited to almost all of their homes, so I have a busy social schedule over the next two weeks. Lots of visits and meeting their families. I am excited!

Going to their homes, see where and how they live puts things in perspective. The most notable thing that I am realizing is that when I visit their homes - the first thing I think is how similar we are. They are proud of their homes, offer the guest a place to sit, want me to know where they are from, and share their food/drink with me. This really interesting because I thought I would first notice the "poverty" or "lacking" that these folks had - but I don't (at least not until later). I don't think that this is function of me but of them - they think of themselves as poor only relative to those outside their community. But, within their community, being poor does not seem to be as important - the wealth disparity is not as striking in the villages which makes it less important, somehow.

There have been many interesting conversations had with the builders - women's rights, children, religion and the nature of God, Iraq, Bush, America - in general, about salaries, cost of living, etc, health care and insurance, marriage and various gender roles (and why those are they way they are), and the nature of working/retirement. It has been riveting - always something new that one of us brings up, and we compare the cultural understandings of these things. Granted, I was the one who started this line of conversation, but they have all contributed (more and more as they have gotten to know me).

As a result of one conversation, two of the Muslim builders invited me to Mosque with them. How neat! I wore a long skirt, long-sleeved shirt, and a scarf over my head. The men sit in the front and women behind a wall - so I was isolated from my friends!! The mosque is a small mud hut with a mud floor and linoleum covering the floor. The men left me as I entered the women's area. Trying to stay kneeling for one hour on a bumpy floor is tough - my knees were sore for the entire following day! And, to top it off, a RAT ran through the women's area while the prayers were being said. All of us had the same reaction (again the commonalities across cultures!) - moving all around the room, trying to get out of the way. How funny! As a result of my visit, the builders named me Aisa (pronounced Aish-a) - my new Muslim/Ugandan name that they all call me now.

Aside from fun conversations with the locals, I am also getting to know many new and interesting mzungus. Lots of people come and volunteer for one day or two - and some stay for two - four weeks. There is quite a community, but I think that I may be more involved with the locals than the other volunteers. My nights are usually consumed with the World Cup, reading, eating and drinking with the other volunteers, and preparing for the next day.

All in all, it has been a GREAT experience here in Uganda. It is my favorite African country by far (although I have only visited four.). I have really enjoyed spending time with Ayuen (I see her at least every Saturday), the locals, and the travelers here. I am getting ready for Dut to join me here in a couple of weeks and then move on, hopefully to Sudan but maybe early to Togo, depending on the security situation in Sudan.

Until later.