Village time=Good times!

I know I just wrote a blog not that long ago, but I wanted to share some of the great experiences I’ve enjoyed these past few days…

Starting with what I just got done with!

The sisters I live with told me that today was their annunciation day where they renew their vows and that they were gonna celebrate in the evening time. Celebrations for them always mean good food so I was excited the whole day! Dinner consisted of matooke and millet of course, but also rice, mixed vegetables, chips (fries), sauce, chicken, and fish with cake for dessert! We had some visitors as well. Some other sisters and two fathers so the wine and beer was busted out. After we finished eating, they cranked up the music and pushed the furniture aside in the living room and we started dancing!

They made sure that my glass was topped off and one of the priests said he’d buy me for 7 cows so I should inform Obama. Also, they thought it was so funny to see me dance and were surprised. Us white people get a bad rep even here I guess :P Anyways, it was so much fun! Even now, I’m back in my room, but they are still going strong. I can hear all the laughs from here. Nuns keeping me up on a Tuesday night..... can you believe it? XD

Yesterday when I came home from school, two of them were watching 90's love song music videos. I got so excited and we sang and danced a bit to those as well! Then some other visitors were coming to visit and they joked exclaiming that I was going to be meeting their boyfriends ;) Our regular Mexican soap opera that we watch wasn’t on, but instead a Ugandan drama and they kept laughing about what terrible actors they were and how boring it was haha! Later, the two girls who are hired to help cook and clean here braided my hair. I’m really glad I live with all of them. They make these evenings at site exciting (which I hear doesn’t happen much in the Peace Corps life) and it reminds me of my housemates from back home :)

On Sunday, I meet up with my shop keeper friend. He closed up and we went for a hike up the hill behind my place. It was sooooo beautiful! Finally was able to look over my village in its entirety. See picture below! After heading down, he introduced me to his adorable 97 year old grandmother and then we went back to his shop where we shared some akotogo for lunch.

My village!
Beautifully labeled if I do say so myself
Ok, maybe not, but it's good reference!

My friend outside his shop
and some others

Part of my bustling trading center!
(shops to buy some things)
That's the hill we climbed in the background

In other school related news: This week is midterm exams so I’ve sat in to proctor some and have some English ones to mark, but it’s allowed me to get some serious reading in! Or some really good/funny conversations with the other teachers when we’re not busy. They’ve started serving posho and beans for lunch instead of matooke :/ but my best teacher friend always hooks me up with an avocado. I’m going to meet him in town tomorrow morning for the final district level athletics competition! One of my P4 pupils qualified to compete in it :’) So proud. They've been surrounding me when class is over and talking to me in Runyankore. They're super cute even if they are hoodlums sometimes.

Also it's rainy season which means the temperatures have been very favorable to me, but last night I was actually cold enough to sleep with fuzzy socks! It was wonderful!

So there ya go. Some inside stories to some of the great times I have here. Hope you enjoyed! I know I sure have ;D

Mawidge (and cows) is what bwings us together today

I attended my first Ugandan wedding today and like most things here, it was long, but fun! The groom was one of the sisters I live with’s nephew. I didn't know the bride, but one of her bridesmaids was a younger girl I also live with. The wedding party came to the compound to take pictures then we all headed to the house the ceremony/reception was taking place. They had already gone to the church before pictures. We got there and ate and drank then we were seated and waited for the wedding party to show up. There were SO many people there! I don’t usually feel like an out of place minority here, but let me tell ya, I could definitely feel my whiteness showing. The sisters laughed and translated a part of the speech from the groom for me when he said he was lucky to have a white at his wedding :P Everyone looked so smart! (What they say when someone dresses nice). The seating was set up in a square kind of shape instead of two rows with a walk way down the middle. One side was for the wedding party and the other three were full of guests. The gifts, speeches, and cake were done in the middle of the square. And dancing. So much dancing. The party danced down the walkway. Anytime anyone moved anywhere, the music played and they danced to their destination. Even if it was just three feet away. And the music was jumpin’ thanks to the very energetic MC. Gifts were given (goats and such) and entertainment was provided (a cross dressing man singing with girls dancing around). We went down the line to say hi to everyone and then we headed out so we could arrive home before it got dark. It’s not good to travel at night. I was a little sad to leave before the real dance party started though, but it’s ok. I still had a good time. Did I tell ya'll that a co-teacher of mine asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding?? I'll be dancing late into the night for that one I'm sure :D

Speaking of weddings and love type things… Funny story time!

Here in Uganda, if a man wants to marry a woman he gives cows to her family as payment for her. The more cows, the higher the value of the woman. I’ve heard that a really good cow can cost 1,000,000 UGX (Ugandan Shillings) which is about $400. They tell me that an average woman can go anywhere between 5-10 cows. So anyway, a few weeks ago I was in a small village with some other Peace Corps friends. A Ugandan man approaches the guys I was with, points at me, and says, “How much for that one? I like her.” WHAT! Luckily my friends were nice and made outrageous offers to him, but he still followed us asking until we go in a taxi and drove off XD This week, I was talking with a shop owner friend of mine and my head teacher saw us so I went over to talk to him and he said, “How many cows should I ask from him for you?” hahahaha! So mom, if you’re reading this, be ready for some cows to come off the plane instead of me ;)

Speaking of head teachers and school related things… Update!

School practice has started! “What does that mean, Hannah?” Glad you asked! It means that the students from the college who are studying to become teachers have to come to the primary schools to practice teaching for the next four weeks! So I have some “time off” if you will. Then the term is basically over and we have break until term two begins! :O

Also there was an athletics competition yesterday in town. I think 28 schools from the district were there. I got half way there on my bike and then felt a little sick so I went back home and chilled in my room reading and watching some tv shows on my computer. I felt much better by evening time, but by then it was too late. I’m sad to have missed it. At least I got to see some of my pupils practicing on our pitch at school! And they let me throw a discus! Which went terribly :P hahaha

Speaking of bikes… I bought a bike! Yay! Now I can get to town much easier! 25 minute ride instead of 1 hour walk. I've already made friends with the local bike shop owner guy who gave me some bananas and his super cute son who told me funny stories about his stubborn brother :)

Now here's something you'll really enjoy: Pictures!

Amigas <3

 I realized I don't think I have pix of my room... So even though it has nothing to do with the blog topic, here's some! :D

Taken from my doorway
I like pictures
Maybe too much?
Nahhhhh

And the other side!
Legit huh?

Thanks for visiting this post! It was great having you! Hope you enjoyed your stay. Please come again soon <3

P.S. I went over to my VSO friend's house for dinner the other day and she gave me a big jar of unopened Nutella cuz she doesn't like it. And I splurged and bought some muesli. Best day ever! Ok, now you can go :)

Home/Site Life

It’s going on almost a month since I swore in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer… Crazy! Since then I’ve been hanging mostly at site which I’ve said some about, but I thought maybe I’d dedicate this blog to specifics of it. Sorry it’s so long :P

Firstly, site is the village I am living and working in for the remainder of my service (two years).

Secondly, in case you weren’t aware, I am a Literacy Specialist meaning I will be working with Primary school pupils on their reading and writing in English. Now I am teaching English in the P4 class. They are super cute and it’s only the 3^rd week of school, but I’m already in love! Even though sometimes they can be very talkative, but kids will be kids ;) P4 is the same as 4^th grade. This is the first year of school for them where they are taught in only English. Before this, they learn English in class, but they are taught in the local language. So they have a difficult time picking my accent and I have to talk very slow and clearly and repeat myself a lot. One of my pupils drew me a picture of me teaching and gave it to me :) On Valentine ’s Day, my lesson was teaching them how to make Valentine’s day cards. Some of them gave them to me when they had finished :D

Has for my actual home, I have a room located in a nun convent. Maybe that doesn’t sound like too much fun, but in all actuality, it’s really been a blast so far! The sisters I live with are SO funny! They have a great sense of humor and we are always laughing together. It’s nice to have them here because I quickly felt welcomed into a family and they are willing to answer any question I have and help me out in so many ways! They are so nice and I love them!

My room is big enough for my twin size bed, a nightstand, desk, wardrobe, and even a sink in the corner! I have enough space for all my things to fit nicely and a big window to look outside. I have my walls totally filled with pictures, cards, notes, quotes, maps, and postcards so it feels homey :) I have a “pet” gecko as well who shows up every couple of days. I’ll see him hanging out on a wall. Geckos are everywhere in this country! I don’t try to remove him cuz I know he’ll just come back :P but also because he eats other bugs who enter.

But of course I’m not confined to my room only. The convent has a big kitchen, a dining area, a living room, a sitting room next to my room, storage rooms, and a nice grassy area in the center. The convent itself is set somewhat far away from the road, is gated, has a fence on one side, and a banana plantation on the other so I feel very safe and have privacy! Which is something very hard to come by in this country so I’m very grateful haha!

A typical day for me goes something like this during a week day:
I wake up between 7-8am. I’ve resorted to only washing my hair twice a week (unless it really needs it) so I’ll do this in the morning so it can air dry throughout the day. I eat some breakfast and head to school. It’s a 5 minute walk down the road. I greet my friend who owns a small shop along the way and anyone else I pass (pupils going to school, boda (motorcycle) guys, or other random villagers). I get to school at 8:30 when the morning assembly is ending. I spend the first part of the day talking to other teachers/lesson planning, then we have break where we eat maize porridge. I usually teach my lesson after that then it’s time for lunch. I sometimes go home to eat with the sisters and other times I’ll stay and eat with the other staff members. We eat matooke (like plantains) and then after that I pull individual pupils to do a quick reading assessment with them to see where their reading level is. That or talk to the teachers some more :P haha! Then I head home. I’m starting to get a routine for how I spend my evenings. I arrive home, get on the computer for a bit, do a small exercise session, shower, cook/eat, watch a terribly awful Spanish soap opera with the sisters, call some other PCVs to chat, read or mess with my guitar, listen to some music, write in my journal, and go to sleep.

Not all days are like this though, just most. On the weekends I go visit some other nearby PCVs to hang out and maybe eat some Mzungu (white/foreigner) food. I don’t have a site mate (another PCV who is living in the same village as me), but there are TWO other Mzungus here! One is a British VSO and the other is a French girl. They are both super cool and we’ll hang out sometimes. We had dinner last week. The electricity randomly goes out, so we cooked/ate by candle light. We went to the nearby town to buy the food. There’s a big outdoors produce market and some small “super”markets where we can buy other food stuffs and even some refrigerated “cold” things! The town also has shops where you can buy clothing and other things you may need. Nothing too exotic though. If you need something like that, you have to travel to another district that has a bigger town (this is usually where I go on the weekends).

Speaking of travel: Bodas (motorcycles) are prominent in my village, but PC does not allow us to take them. I don’t really want to anyway though cuz they are so dangerous! So I’ve been walking everywhere unless there happens to be a car passing, then I hitch hike a ride. It’s an hour walk to town vs a 5 minute car ride. I think I’m going to get a bike though so that’ll help shorten the journey. If I need to leave my district though, I first need to get to town then get a “taxi”. There are cars that go back and forth between the different major towns every day so I walk along the road going the direction I need to go until a driver stops and says he’s going to where I need to go. When the car is full (and I mean OVERLY FULL) of passengers, then we go.

I am really liking my village and district. It’s very beautiful and has a lot of nice looking hills everywhere. The climate is also very nice. I am just south of the equator so the sun can be very intense during midday, but if you stay inside or the shade, it’s really not that bad. And it gets pretty cool at night! When I wake up early to do laundry (by hand outside) I’m sometimes cold! There also aren’t that many mosquitoes here! I think I’ve only seen like 2 this whole time so far! Unlike most other districts, the electricity doesn’t go off on the weekends. But it still does go off sometimes randomly and you’ll never know when it’ll come back on, but it’s usually not off for very long. The people are also very nice and easy to talk to!

So yeah, that basically sums up how the last month has been for me. I’m settling in, making friends, and getting a routine developed! All is going very well so far :) but internet is still somewhat of an issue so sadly I don’t know if skype will happen (definitely won’t be often), but I still want to keep in touch with all of you! Please send me a letter or message via facebook. I’d love to hear from you and all about your life too :D

<3 Hannah

Looking out the window of my school
at our pitch during break time

My P4 class working on an assignment