Wednesday, November 26, 2014

It's only been two weeks....

and I could fill a book with the story of my new life in Uganda, a beautiful country I am falling in love with. Ugandans are warm and welcoming people.

I sleep under a mosquito net, take cold showers or bucket baths, eat matooke and chapati, drink tea twice a day, hand wash my clothes and successfully mastered the pit latrine!! I've run on the red dirt roads, been soaked by the heavy rains, felt the warmth of the Ugandan sun and marveled at the generosity of my new friends on the other side of the world.  I've been greeted with, "You are most welcome" over and over again.

I am so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by the most dedicated, intelligent, kind and supportive group of volunteers who have become my new family.  Thirty-eight strong, we just spent our first two weeks at Kulika Education Center to begin our intensive training. Two days ago we packed up and moved to Shimoni PTC (Primary Teacher College) for three weeks of Teacher Boot Camp. We'll spend Thanksgiving at the Peace Corps Office in Kampala eating turkey with all the fixings.

The food cravings are getting intense...and it's only been two weeks!


Kulika entrance
My dorm room
Our training center at Kulika

We were welcomed by students at Kamurasi Primary School with a traditional dance.
Kampala Taxi Park.  Wish me luck!

This map is in the Peace Corps Office in Kampala and shows where all the current volunteers in Uganda are living.  I'll be in the southwest corner of the country near the town of Mbarara teaching at Kabingo Demonstration Primary School.  I can't wait to have my own pushpin and yarn on this map!


 


My first African sunset...

...at 30,000 feet

Monday, November 10, 2014

How to carry 150 lbs of luggage

If you just read my poem about what I'll miss...thank you for letting me get that out.  
Now...adventure awaits, but first I have to pack a lot of stuff.  And if I pack it, I have to carry it.

I spy a...

Almost everything fit...almost!   
150 lbs of luggage...I got this!

I have four long days of travel ahead of me starting with a staging event in Philadelphia where I'm excited to meet the other 37 Peace Corps volunteers in my Uganda education group.  A bus will take us to JFK and together we fly to Brussels on Tuesday, change plans and make the final trip to Entebbe, Uganda arriving late Wednesday.  Not done yet!  Last is a three hour bus ride to our training site. All this with a smile on my face. I hope :-)

 
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you've imagined."  Thoreau 





Sunday, November 9, 2014

Starting with a poem


As my departure for the Peace Corps came closer, people started asking me what I'd miss most.  So I thought my first post should be a reflective poem (yes, I like to write poetry) from my American perspective listing thoughts as they came to mind.  Twenty-seven months from now I'll be calling Uganda my home.  Maybe my final post will be another reflection poem too... what I'll miss about Uganda.
  
What I'll miss

My family
My friends
My three grand babies
Her wide-eyed smile
Her joyful laugh
His "Happy" dance moves 
And how he takes my hand to lead

My backyard view
Prairie grasses taking root
Might oaks standing guard
Deer, hawks, owls
Changing seasons

Morning kisses
Welcome home hugs
Pizza and Scandal nights
And the peaceful easy silence
He creates for me

Long hot showers
 Long hot showers
Long hot showers
And a washing machine

My tabby cat
My comfy bed
My tabby cat sleeping with me 
IN my comfy bed

Running buddies
Destination races
Beer flights in Philly
Homemade lasagna
Apple picking in the fall

Making a phone call

Fast internet service
Slow internet service
ANY i-n-t-e-r-n-e-t service
 
Cooking in the kitchen 
With my girls
Homemade macaroni and cheese
Laughter and "cheers" 
around the dinner table 

Two years in the Peace Corps
is a crazy long time
Living so far away
On African time

But a good friend reassured me
And helped ease my nerves
All these things will be waiting for me
Right here when I return.

My guiding quote


"It is only with the heart that one sees rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye." 

                                                                                                 The Little Prince
                                                                                                 Antoine de Saint Exupery