Two months laterrrrr…

Yo. Its taken me quite a while to write anything on this here blog, but here I am. Finally. I have been out of commission due to lack of internet in this town we are staying in, and with the few times I was able to get online I did not want to waste it with the time it would take to journal to you all…no offense. Instead, I skyped with my family and I got to see my precious little babies who are growing up without me. And it is sad but so wonderful to see their beautiful faces. Anyhoo.

So, let me catch you up on some things ive been doing…

1.     ONE. night buckets. Can any of you guess what that is? I would hope not, cause if you can, you got issues. So, here in Uganda, the majority of people have outside pit latrines for going potty. Some special folks, like some of my lucky peers, have toilets inside the house. I, however, do not, and use my outside latrine to relieve myself. Everytime I stand up from a squat I still turn around to flush the toilet…crazy how some things never change. Anyway, so. Another fun fact about Uganda is that once the sun goes down at 7pm, you cant see shit. Literally. Due to that fact, its not very safe; not being able to see what youre doing, dogs, thieves or better yet, night dancers (ya, ill get to that one later). So, once the family has pad locked you in for the night at around 930/10, youre stuck. So anytime you wake up needing to run to the toilet, you instead run to your night bucket and pop a squat. Mhmm. That’s whats up. At first, I was like, “oh wow. Exciting” but not too afraid. I always have to pee during the night so I expected to use the thing frequently but had confidence in myself and believed I would ONLY use it for number one aka “short calls” here in Uganda. The first night at home stay, however, I was having some stomach issues and something close to what we wazungu (whities) call “pee butt” here in afrika. I still had confidence in myself when I woke up at about 2am in dyer need of my night bucket. So, willingly, I got up, took off the lid and situated my squat supporting myself with the wall. I remember thinking to myself, “ya, im using the night bucket. What up.” And that’s when it hit me. For those of you who have had anything resembling pee butt, you know that its not controllable. And so, needless to say, my “short call” turned very quickly into a “long call” without my consent. Into a bucket. Inside my room. I returned to my bed very heated, cursing the universe for what it had just put me through. And that my friends, is the night bucket. Thankfully, the lid actually works wonders and keeps my room so fresh and so clean. DAY ONE

2.    TWO.  now, just as the pit latrines are outside, so too are the showers. Or bathing area for the bucket bath. Whilte the latrines have doors and are inclosed, the bathing area has three walls, thankfully all high enough so no peeping tom can get a peak, and an open area unsuccessfully covered by a drape that is way to small and blown into my face by the slightest gust of wind. But, that opening faces our high, back wall-only the chickens can peep the mzungu. So bucket baths I am cool with, but the fact of taking them outside…I didn’t really know the schedule. The sun doesn’t start rising until 630am and it goes down by 715pm, and due to our terrific schedule, we are on the road walking by 7am and home by 7pm. So the first couple, or so, days I was confused and not knowing when my turn to bathe was. And as I am shy bear, I was afraid to ask anyone. So, I kinda skipped some days of showering, thankfully coming to homestay on a thursday and having the weekend right around the corner. Then finally, one night after dinner, I got the nerve to ask my host dad when I could bathe. He said, “whenever you want?” turns out, I can shower during dark because my amazing brother ben would stay up and protect me. And from that day forth joey has bathed. Kinda. Lol anyway. The first shower outside: weird. I was constantly looking over my shoulder to see if there was any angle someone could sneak a peak. Then the second shower, I was more relaxed and able to focus on getting the job done. And then by the 3^rd shower, I was able to look up at the night sky and bathe under the stars. And it was pretty freaking awesome. But what was even more awesome was the next night when I was able to bathe at night in the rain. Not the pouring down rain, but the nice rain. It was badass. And so peaceful. Now, I very much enjoy my bathing time outside, minus when I turn around and find the cat’s glowing eye balls piercing at me from the roof. I guess there is an angle to sneak a peak.. other than the pitch black, 6am cold weather plus cold water baths, my showers are amazing. BOOYA

3.    THREE.  walking to and fro school. You know how you always hear old people say crap like, “well back in my day, we had to walk miles to get to class” or “I had to walk thru blizzards” blablabla. Well, here in my day, I have to HIKE an hour to class and an hour home from class. And since I have to leave by 7am, before the sun is bright enough to shine in my room and the power is often out, I sometimes have to get ready by flashlight. Guess who has two thumbs and looks sexy? Not this girl. Anyway. By the time I get to class, I am a sweaty mess. Especially since the last leg of our journey is a steep ass hill leading up to the front gates of school. And, we often get to hike in slippery ass mudd or quick sand due to the crazy storms here. It rains a lot in Uganda. Which brings me to my next point. wait for it...

4.     FOUR. Afrika can be cold. Yup, tis true friends. I can sometimes see my breath. Not often, but it happens. And it rains so hard and so much. The thunder and lightening storms are insane, and my favorite is when I get to fall asleep to the pouring down rain on our tin roof. It is so soothing and drowns out the stupid roosters and chickens right outside my window that start at 4am. We traveled to a site in the south west where there are mountains, and there was fog everywhere, just like home. And I even had to wear a sweater (at times). For two entire days, I did not sweat. It was beautiful. Side note; my future home where I will be living for 2 years is in the north, in a town called kitgum. And Ugandans say kitgum is the hottest place in Uganda…yesssssssssssss. Look out kitgum for two years, here I come! WOOO

5.     AND FIVE. Ugandan belly. I knew coming to afrika I would probably gain weight because here, they appreciate their women a little on the thick side. So, they like to plump the skinny Americans or “keep the shape” of those like myself who are already a little plump. But, here in Uganda, they sure do love their carbs. Although I am eating some delicious food cooked by my brother ben (hes the shit, I love him), I eat HELLA carbs. And the carbs are not just potatoes and rice, although they have the most delicious sweet potatoes ever as well as “irish” or normal potatoes. They also have po sho, what I call ugali, and a little something called “matoke”. Matoke, this wonderful discovery, is a big lump of boiled/smashed plaintains—not flavored. Mhmm. And it is bugandan’s favorite thing, EVER.  Don’t get me wrong, its eatable and with some good g-nut sauce (ground nut sauce {also somehow grubtown}), its good. I even crave it now when I travel and stay away from home for a few days. But hot damn, when you have to eat matoke AND rice AND potatoes AND cassava at one sitting…you can imagine my Ugandan belly growing and growing and growing… that’s when you become thankful for pee butt flushing that ish right out of your system! BOO BAM

Alright my lovelies, I have stayed up late writing this and must hit the hay. I hope I have given you all a little glimpse into the amazing life in Uganda that has become my own. When we were driving thru busheni the other day, I was looking outside the window thinking about the elephants we just saw by the road, and I had an epiphany: this is my life. And it was a very comforting, affirming, and reassuring feeling. I feel at home here, and I am so excited for the next two years. So, as we say in my new Acoli language, dong maber!!

Miss and love you all dearly.