La Perle de l'Afrique

Buganda!

This week, I went with my host mom and her church group to visit the Bugandan kingdom. They brought an offering along for their king; my host mom told me that the king does not purchase any food whatsoever.  It is customary for his subjects to bring him all he needs when they come to visit the kingdom.

Here is a picture of my host mom in her gomesi (traditional Ugandan dress) inside the parliamentary building:

She lent me one to wear as well! 

(This is me in a silk gomesi with two of the ladies that came to visit the kingdom)

This is a picture of us with the Prime Minister of Buganda.  (He accepted the gifts on the king’s behalf and gave a speech on the Bugandan people.)

After a month of being here, it is clear to me that I am shamefully horrible at speaking Lugandan.  I am really only confident saying “Good Morning” and “thank you” (thank you is “webale”), so I mostly walk around saying “webale” all day as a means of communicating when English is not an option. “Webale, webale…”- as I awkwardly mime what I am trying to convey with my hands and facial expressions.  I really need to practice more phrases.

…Actually, not to brag, but I also know the word for kidney beans.  It’s ebijaajaalo. And whenever I order food out in the field, I always ask for kidney beans- half because I love them and half because that’s my one for-sure memorized Lugandan food phrase. 

More pictures soon!

One Month in Uganda.

It’s abundantly clear that I am not going to be very faithful to this blog out of laziness and lack of internet access; but the least I can do is post some photos of my host family. So, at my mother’s request (Hi Mom!)- here are the very limited photos I have taken after being here a month.  I need to step up my documentation of this experience.

These are my shoes drying- I wash them everyday to remove the bright orange dust that coats them by the end of the day (so I don’t track dust into my host mom’s living room)

 

This is one of the three pigs on my host parents’ farm! He’s excited here because this picture was taken at his dinner time.  You can’t really tell this from the picture but he was squealing and carrying on with excitement when it was taken.  He thought I had dinner for him.  I didn’t. He quickly lost interest.

This is my host dad- getting ready to feed the pigs! (The pigs like him a lot better than they like me).

 I just tried to upload more photos of the cows and chickens but for some reason the internet has decided I have posted enough photos for the time being.  

I love it here.  Sometimes things can be a little difficult and sad, but for the most part everything has been going very well.  I love my work and I love the people, weather, and food.  I think I will make more of an effort with this blog in the future. And definitely more effort in taking photos. 

Week One in Uganda!

I am the worst at keeping up with this blog.  I am also the worst at taking pictures apparently.  I haven’t taken a single one since I arrived here except for the picture I took of my room in the hotel next to the airport where I spent my first night in Uganda.

Uganda is definitely one of the most incredible places I have ever been.  The people are extremely kind and friendly.  I think the biggest adjustment has been the fact that when I walk anywhere at all, everyone (EVERY.ONE.) calls out “Muzunga”- the Lugandan word for white person.  I imagine it must be what Brad Pitt feels like… if people shouted “Hey Muzunga! Yes Obama!” to Brad Pitt. 

I LOVE where I work and I LOVE my host family.  I live right near the Nile (THE NILE!) and Lake Victoria- it is really, really beautiful here.  One of the things I miss most of all about home is being able to go running every day.  So today, my host mom showed me around the village and where the best paths would be for me to go running.  I’m excited to test it out tomorrow.

I also love the food here SO much.  It’s all tropical fruits and veggies that everyone grows themselves organically right in their backyard! They have meat dishes too but people don’t eat them as often (that works well for me).  When I explain to people that I am a vegetarian they say, “I’m so sorry.  Why do you have to be a vegetarian? Are you sick?”.  When I tell them that its just a choice I made, they very sympathetically tell me that they feel bad for me and hope one day I can learn to eat meat.  I just cannot believe how very genuine and sincere everyone is here.  About everything!  Sometimes I miss being sarcastic and cranky a little, but overall it really is a very nice change.

I just thought of a third thing.

Revised #3 from my previous post’s list of fun facts: The name of my blog is “la perle de l’Afrique”- that’s french for “the pearl of Africa”.  Wikipedia tells me that “the pearl of Africa” is actually a very cool nickname for the country of Uganda.  Why is it in french, you ask? Excellent question. Two reasons.

Reason 1. Because everything sounds worldly and sophisticated in french, and this is one VERY wordly and sophisticated blog. (You’ll see).

Reason 2. “the pearl of Africa” is an excellent blog name but unfortunately someone else had already taken it and I didn’t want my blog to be called “the pearl of Africa 2”.  Stupid.

One Week Left in the US.

I can’t imagine who will be reading this and that concept kind of makes me nervous.  I’m going to try desperately to keep this blog normal, interesting and cool.  But sometimes it will probably be sappy, obscure and/or very much uncool.  (Just a warning).  Mostly, I just want it to be a nice way for my friends and family to hear about my trip. 

In case someone other than my mother ever reads this (love you Mom) here is what you need to know:

1. I am a Health Science/International Affairs double major at Northeastern University.  At NU, we participate in “co-ops” (meaning six-month periods of work in our intended field). This experience working with an NGO in Uganda is my co-op.

2. I love traveling and am extremely excited to spend time in Uganda.  The regional focus of my International Affairs degree is in African studies, and I cannot wait to actually see in person the things I have only read about thus far.

3. I’m trying to think of a third thing.