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

First week of school/Party time!

Monday February 3^rd was the first day of the term for the primary schools. In case you didn’t know, I am working as a Literacy Specialist for Peace Corps to promote/help improve their pupil’s reading and writing skills. Since I studied biology, they are having me teach science in the P4 (like 4^th grade) class. I have a counterpart who is one of the P4 teachers who I work with the most. He is awesome and has been very nice and super helpful in so many ways.

Anyway, Monday came but let me first explain a bit of how school works here in Uganda: Just because it’s the first day of the term doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the first day of classes. Sometimes the exam results from the previous year that determine what pupils can be promoted into the next highest grade haven’t been recorded. Sometimes the pupils just haven’t registered to attend that school. Otherwise, the pupils and teachers don’t really show up the first day. A few more trickle in each day until finally you have a full class/staff and you can actually start teaching lessons. But even then, things are still not anywhere near perfect. There is a time table that depicts the schedule for each day Monday-Friday; what class will be taught at what time and when the breaks, assembly, game time, etc. are. But because so much pressure is put on the end of term/year exams for students to ‘pass’ them in order to move onto the next grade, only the four core subjects are really taught (Science, English, Math, and Social Studies) and the other subjects (Library, Creative Arts, Religious Edu, and Local Language) get snubbed. There’s a lot of information that is needed to go over, the classes are very large, and the lack of resources make it impossible to have each subject only take 40 minutes to teach. It takes almost that long to have them all copy down the notes let alone explain what it all means and then have them answer assessment questions. It’s a very difficult situation.

Here’s how my first week went: I showed up at 10am on Monday. The day usually starts at 8 and ends at 5, but when I arrived, there were only a few students who were cleaning up the compound/school. There was a very brief staff meeting just to do some introductions of who I am and to assign which teachers to teach which class/subject. Primary schools are classes P1-P7 and teach the subjects I mentioned above. They learn in their local language until P4 which is when they switch to learning in English. That’s why I’m working with the P4 class. But yeah, that was essentially the first day. They second day, there were 10 pupils who showed up for P4 so the other two P4 teachers did some review lessons with them after they finished cleaning in the morning. Wednesday was almost the same: assembly, cleaning, then review sessions. The students attend morning assembly and clean the compound every morning. (This is also another reason classes get snubbed) But I ended up teaching my first lesson this day when the teachers were late coming back from break! I taught on Thursday and Friday as well. It went ok I think for not being very well prepared. I had to speak super slow so they could understand, but hopefully we’ll get used to each other very soon. I really like the ones who have showed up so far (32 as of Friday). I also get along with most of my other teachers very well! Along with teaching, I am gathering information about the school to submit to Peace Corps to have a better understanding of what the school really needs and doing a reading assessment of 100 pupils to see who really needs help with one-on-one reading interventions and track their improvement throughout the year.

My school!

It was a good week overall, but I was happy to have a break from all the excitement/stress when it came time to leave on Friday. I went to meet up with a bunch of other PCVs who live in my area. We went to a friend’s site to spend the weekend. We had a lot of fun hanging out. On Saturday, our friend had a Chinese New Year’s party and made a TON of super good Chinese food (dumplings, lion head meatballs, bok choy). Oh how I had missed that! Mmmmmm! It was also my birthday so I ate a lot of sweet things they gave me :P haha! I woke up that day to them bringing me zucchini bread on a plate with a candle and getting sung to :) Some other PCVs, my host family, and the nuns I live with called to wish me a happy birthday too! It was seriously a great day spent with some awesome people :D I'm so thankful to have them 'close' by :)

I came back to my site Sunday evening and today (Monday) when I came home for my lunch break at school, the sisters had prepared a VERY nice feast of fish, chips (fries), rice, salad, matooke (can't have a meal in Uganda without it), and wine to drink. They had invited some friends over to join us and after eating, they brought out a big cake and bowl of fruit and sang to me! I love them!

Birthday lunch celebration!

It's official! :D

It feels like SO much has happened since my last blog post!

As I mentioned last time, after Christmas I was living with a host family. I stayed with them until Jan 19th. I really enjoyed my time there! They are very nice people who cook super good food! My daily routine basically went like this the last month: Wake up at 7, have breakfast (milk tea, fruit, bread, eggs), go to school for language training, hang around with the other eight in my language group, head home around 5 or 6, sit in the outside cooking area with my family, fetched water/helped out if they let me, took a bucket bath when it got dark around 7, ate dinner around 8-8:30, then went to my room, maybe talked to some friends on the phone, and usually asleep by 10. A few times we hiked up the hill behind my house. So pretty! My mom took my to her garden and showed me different food growing, I went to the neighbor kids house a couple of times and took pictures of them, and sometimes we watched Game of Thrones or played a game. One of my last days there, I cooked for my family. I made chapati (which is this really yummy flat bread kind of thing that they eat all the time here) but I put Nutella on it so it was kind of like a crepe! I also buttered some bread and fried it in a pan. Then I scrambled eggs and mixed in some caramelized onions. All of this I cooked outside over a charcoal stove.  I also gave them some soy sauce to put on their rice. They loved it all! Our last day with them, we had a "thank you/farewell" party for all the families. There were speeches, performances, and food! My family gave me a Runyankore name: Kobusingye which means Peace. They said so many very nice things about me and how they were sad to see me go. I miss them!

With my family at the farewell party!
They gave me a hat, photo album, and sign :D

 We also had our language proficiency test. I scored Intermediate Mid!! We needed to get Intermediate Low. (It goes Novice, Intermediate, Advance) YAY! After we left home stay, we all met in a conference center near Kampala for Supervisors workshop. It was SOOOOO good to see everyone again! After everyone arrived and tons of hugs, we all hung our and caught up. There was a bar near by so we went there and danced/watched a football game. We went shopping for things we might need for our sites the next two days and our supervisors showed up. The workshop consisted on everyone getting on the same page as to what our jobs will be here. Very informative! 

But then the day came... SWEARING IN!!!!! On the 22nd, we all got dressed up and went to the US Ambassador's house where we were sworn in as OFFICIAL Peace Corps Volunteers!!!! I can't believe it! Training is over!

The SouthWest group in our snazzy custom made katengye
outfits with the Ambassador and Country Director. 

Yesterday we sad goodbye to each other once more and left for our sites. It'll be three months this time until we're all together again. It was very sad to separate, but I was happy to arrive in Ibanda once more. The sisters at the convent I'm living at came out to welcome me back. They had made a cake and lots of good food for my return! We had a very fun dinner full of laughter then I went to my room and kind of looked through all my luggage. Today I came to town to use the internet and pick up a few more things. 

Next week, I will be getting settled in to my place. Figuring everything out and organizing my room. I'll also be going to a Ugandan reading working shop with other teachers at my school. The week after is when the school term is supposed to start! Whoa. 

It feels like forever ago that I was boarding a plane out of Springfield, but it was only a little over two months ago! Crazy to think about where I'll be 25 months from now. Just know that I miss all of you everyday! I wish you could be here with me :) Wish me luck with the beginning of school! I'm so nervous! O_O haha!

<3 Hannah

PS. I got a guitar! :D I plan to learn it during the next two years. We'll see how it goes ;) hahaha!

FSV, Christmas, & Homestay

So much has happened since my last blog, but again, I don't have much time to write so sorry if this is chalk full or errors/typos :P

We left the place we were staying at for Teacher Boot Camp on Dec. 17th to head off to FSV (Future Site Visit). It was really sad to say goodbye to everyone, but we were all very excited to see our site. The place we will be living at for the next two years after swear in at the end of Jan. I was in a car with four other volunteers who live kind of the same area as me in the Southwest part of the Country. We stopped at the equator and got a nice pic. So cool to be living below it :D I was the first stop along the way. I am living in the Ibanda district.

My site: Very not what I would ever have expected for Peace Corps! I have a room located in the Daughters of Mary and Joseph nun convent, which sounds kind of crazy, but it's actually really legit! They are very chill and funny and the compound is super nice! Everything is already provided for me. A bed, mosquito net set up, desk, chair, wardrobe, and nightstand is all in my room. They also have a full kitchen with stove and dishes etc. There are even flushable toilets and showers which sometimes have hot water :O not pit latrine or bucket bath?? WHAT WHAT!

I met my supervisors (Head Teacher and Dept. Head Teacher of the Primary school I'll be working at) as well as my counter part (the P4 teacher I'll be working with). They are all very nice! The school itself needs a lot of work. The buildings/classrooms are in very poor condition, but it's located very close to my place.

My village is pretty nice. There are two trading centers where I can do some shopping. The hospital is located next door to the compound. Also, there are BEAUTIFUL hills all around! Soooo pretty there! The village is located only 5km away from Ibanda Town which is a pretty decent size so I can buy things that I can't find in my village. It doesn't take very long to get to Mbarara town either (about an hour drive) which is even bigger. 

We stayed at our site until Dec. 20th, then we headed to a village very close to Mbarara town for language training/homestay. There are nine of us who will be living in the Southwest region of Uganda and we are all here together learning to speak Runyankore/Rukiga. We each have been assigned to a family to stay with. We will stay here until swearing in at the end of Jan. 

My family is super great! There is the dad, mom, daughter in law, her baby, a niece, and a grandson. They are very nice and not too overbearing. They make GREAT Uganda food, but they feed me WAY too much. They told me they want me to get so fat that no one recognizes me when I go back home :S I'm afraid this is going to happen! 

We got a holiday for Christmas so we all went to stay at two other volunteer's site. IT WAS SUCH A GREAT TIME! We made lots of great food, decorated sugar cookies, climbed a hill, star gazed, and had lots and lots of laughs :D I also got to talk to some people back home so that was nice to hear their voices :)

Right now, we have all made a trip to Mbarara Town to get some fabric to make dresses/shirts for swearing in so I had better get going! 

Merry Christmas from the SW! :D

Teacher Boot Camp

The last two weeks, use trainees have been practice teaching. Some of us have been assigned to work as teacher trainers at PTCs (Primary Teacher Colleges) which is where older ‘kids’ are studying to become teachers. The rest of us have been assigned to work as literary specialists at Primary schools (like elementary). That’s me! :D

The first week I was teaching in a P2 class (like 2^nd grade) and the second week I was teaching P6 (6^th grade). The P2s were super cute and tiny and lots of fun! They had a lot of energy though. The P6s were really fun too though. And pretty well behaved!

My first lesson I taught didn’t go too well. You could really tell I had no idea what I was doing. But as the week progressed and I got feedback from other trainees as well as trainers, I improved quite a bit! So much that the trainers honored me with the title of “Trainee of the Day”! I got to wear a crown and everything ;)

We left for school at 7:30 every morning and were done at 1:00pm when we came back for lunch. Then we had a session going over some more Peace Corps information (medical, home stay stuff, etc). Then we had the rest of the day to ourselves. There was usually a game of sorts being played (ultimate, volleyball), people on the computer or lesson planning, or just hanging out. We played guitar, did some swing dancing, or just laid on the ground and had Ugandans look at us funny :) I had lots of fun talking and joking with friends during these times.

At the schools, we had a system put into place to reward students who were showing good qualities. The last day (Friday the 13^th), we had a big celebration where the kids got to play games and listen to the students from the PTC read books to them. Last night, we trainees had a C.H.A.K.P.E. celebration complete with white elephant gifts and performances done by none other than us. I got a bundle of Smarties out of it! ;D

This morning was the first day of language training. Since I'll be living in the southwest region, I'll be learning to speak Runyankore! New language tutors showed up and our trainers who have been with us from the beginning said goodbye. It was very sad :( We will stay here until Tuesday. Then we will go visit our site we will be living at after swear in at the end of January and hang out there for a few days. Then we go to home stay where we will each live with a Uganda family while doing language training. I’m excited to see my place!

Teaching was fun, but a lot of work! Props to every teacher ever! I’m very thankful for you!

Playing Hangman with the P6 class
on the last day

Oh, I almost forgot! We went to the zoo in Entebbe last Saturday! That was a lot of fun. Saw cool animals and ate some good food! :D

Also also, there's a very bright lunar halo around the moon right now! Just got done laying in the road looking at it. So pretty here all the time <3