Soon to be Ugandan

Hello everyone! We all arrived safely Sunday night and spent the night together at a convent. We had tea at about 10pm and basically went straight to bed as we were exhausted!

This first night - wow - so crazy! At least I was used to sleeping under mosquito netting already from last semester, but I wasn't prepared for the noises! Things crawling in the bushes, some kind of bird that sounds like it's laughing (I think it's a bird!), crickets, cows, roosters at 2am, bats, and who knows what else. There's a constant burnt smell everywhere because they burn most of their trash here. The trash bins say "burnable" and "non-burnable".

Anyways, Monday we drove to the capital city of Kampala and exchanged our American dollars for Ugandan Shillings. This is going to be confusing because you get about 1600 shillings for every US dollar. For example, it caught us all off guard when we were told that if we lose our meal card it would cost us about 5000. Of course we were all thinking dollars and started cracking up when we realized they meant 5000 shillings!

Driving through the cities and towns reminded me so much of the jungle towns in Peru, but everything is in English so that is nice. Traffic is crazy of course and we've been riding around on a big UCU bus. Outside of Kampala most of the roads are dirt and VERY bumpy! After changing our money we went to the university and it is so different! It's beautiful and the dining hall and main lecture hall are outside - there's a roof but no walls. There are chickens all over campus - it's so funny to sit in a classroom and hear chickens while the professor is talking! It's very hilly and there are roads and pathways but they are uneven, rocky, and muddy so just walking around campus is a challenge. Quite a far cry from the abundant sidewalks of IWU!

We ate in the dining hall for lunch and had Matoke which is cooked bananas (a staple of Uganda), rice and some kind of square thing that tasted like flour. Oh and don't forget the purple peanut sauce that they spoon over everything to make it not so dry! It was all good but they give you so much! Also, there are no choices at meals - one line, what you see is what you get.

After orientation and registration (we didn't actually have class on Monday) we went to stay with our host families. I dont' think I could ever adequately describe all the feelings and thoughts that came with this experience! Can you imagine arriving in an African country and the next day, loading up in a van with all your luggage and driving through small neighborhoods to meet your new family? I was so excited and nervous, and when we dropped off the first person some of us got emotional and started crying (happy tears of course), because the family looked so happy and welcoming! I have an American roommate, Caroline, so that makes it a little easier to adjust. We were dropped off last and we only have about a 15 minute walk to school.

Ugandans are known for their hospitality and I definitely see why! We are staying with a reverend, henry and his wife Irene. We actually haven't met Irene yet because she works as a nurse out of town so she's only home every few days. They have a 1 and a half year old son! He is so adorable and loves to peek into our room and smile and watch us! I will hopefully be able to post pictures soon. There are also 3 other girls that live in the house - Rita is a family friend, Grace is the young sister of Irene, and Ema is also a friend. Africans have a lot of extended family that live with them, and I think ours is small compared to everyone else's host family.

We do have electricity at the house so that is a blessing, but no running water of course! The bathroom is exactly what it's name says - a room to bathe yourself in. If you have to go, you say "where's the toilet?" but of course it's not a toilet. It's a shed with a whole in the ground, so now I have experienced the squatty potty! And you can't go after midnight because it's too dangerous so you have to plan ahead! Bathing consists of standing in a shallow basin of water and taking a sponge bath. Good times. Let's just say I won't be washing my hair as often as usual this semester!

Wow this is forever long but so many things have happened! I wish I could describe to you the excitement of getting up and brushing my teeth outside in the morning amongst the chickens, banana trees, and red mud. This is going to be a great 4 months!

Prayer requests:

Continued health
Adjusting to new routines and food
Bonding with my family