Since my last post, the culture shock has definitely been wearing down, and this place is feeling more and more familiar. I visited Kampala again a few days after that first visit, and was able to actually enjoy the city. I wasn't as shocked by the congestion, was used to the different smells, and I'm learning slowly how to walk around without intense fear of being hit by a car or boda boda (motorcycle taxi). There is SO much going on - in Kampala and outside the city as well - tons of people on the street, signs everywhere, various stands on the side of the road selling food, phones, "airtime" (calling credit), soccer balls, etc etc. I found the taxi park (parking lot where taxis leave from) to be particularly fascinating - it is absolutely insane how many taxis can fit so close together in one space, and nothing short of miraculous that they are all able to somehow weave through the rest to leave. Without killing people on the way. (Though I wouldn't doubt that that's happened.) Here's a picture:

We've spent some time now outside the city, suburbs, and congestion as well - in Namayumba, where the secondary school, Extreme College, is. The town is far enough from Kampala that it's not too crowded, and pretty rural. Everything is incredibly GREEN there (like much of the landscape in Uganda), including the land around the school, which is really gorgeous:

The day that we moved into Namayumba we went on a little trip to buy a cow for the school. Mel's raised a lot of money through the Ugandan Education Project she set up, and we were able to use that money to buy the cow. They're apparently pretty expensive, but worth it in the long run - one cow (and the one we bought was pregnant) can provide enough milk so that all the kids at the school- around 100 - can have porridge every day. Getting the cow was a small adventure. We rode on the back of a pickup truck to go look at it, with two random little girls from the village who were thrown in there with us. The ride was bumpy to say the least, and I feared for those little girls' lives while they bounced around, but they were completely unfazed. Literally showed no expressions while their heads nearly jammed into the walls several times. It seems like all kids here are incredibly calm and easygoing. Very different than American kids. Later, while we were checking out our potential future cow, it started to pour. We got completely soaked and rode home in the back of the truck through the monsoon. It felt incredibly refreshing, and it was an amazing opportunity take in the Ugandan landscape.
Here's a picture of a Ugandan raincoat:

She looks thrilled to be wearing it.

We'll start teaching on Monday. The other day, we had a meeting with the school staff, and they're really excited to incorporate us into the schedule. It's nice to know that they really appreciate what we're doing, and it seems we'll be able to actually help out a bit.

Running out of internet time now, so one last thought: I don't think I'll ever get over how much people stare at me here because I'm white. Whenever I walk around, anywhere, people shout "Hi mzungu [white person]!" approximately every three seconds. James (a volunteer with us) pointed out how strange it would be if in America, we shouted out "China!" every time we saw an Asian person. Here are some children who could not stop peeking at me from behind a door:

Yes, I am quite a site to see. That's it for now. Miss everyone!

Culture Shock

Currently sitting at an internet cafe in Kampala, in what I'm told is a very "muzungo" mall. Muzungu = white person and everything associated with white people (aka wealth, mostly). That this shopping center is "muzungu" indicates that the cafes are really nice and have logos that imitate Starbucks's, that the stores are particularly clean and well organized, and that generally the walls are not falling off. This is the first muzungu place I've been to so far in Uganda - the first time that I feel like I could be back in the U.S. Everything else, as the title of this post indicates, has seemed completely foreign.

I'll back up a bit: I landed in Entebbe airport on Friday night. I was most nervous about arriving (being alone in a new country, etc.), but definitely should not have been. Immediately, I was treated as a VIP at the airport - an airport employee greeted me, had me cut the entire line, helped me find my luggage, and was super friendly and excited to meet me. Apparently, my grandfather's Ugandan caretaker, Allen, who is in Uganda now visiting family, had contacted her friend and set up that whole greeting. Then I was greeted by about ten more people - by Allen and half her family, and by Segawa - the head of the school I'll work at - and some of his students. It was a RELIEF, to say the least, to feel welcome.

I stayed at Allen's family's house in Seena, a town outside Kampala, for the weekend. Despite the no water or electricity there, it was really comfortable and also really gorgeous: 

(This is farrrr from typical-looking, as most homes I've seen are made from sticks strung loosely together or dilapidated slabs of cement, 3 Little Pigs style.)
I took my first bucket shower, and learned how to flush a toilet by just pouring water in. I also learned how to spend a weekend without internet. I emerged a new person.

At Allen's house, I was quite the spectacle. Ugandans don't often see muzungus (white people), and when they do they basically treat them like celebrities. The dozens of kids running around Allen's house stared at me (completely dumbfounded) while I ate, and cracked up hysterically whenever I walked by. They were ADORABLE, and I had many pleasant conversations with them which consisted primarily of "howaarr you," and "goood morrrniing."

My first real encounter with Kampala, the capital city, came when Allen, her husband, and sister-in-law took me there for a day trip. It was interesting to see the city, but in all honesty, I was glad to leave. The city is incredibly congested (imagine the crowded-ness of New York x5) - or at least the parts that we saw. People and cars are EVERYWHERE, and neither pays any attention to the other. Oh, and boda-bodas, which are motorcycle taxis that seem to follow no traffic laws. Actually, I'm pretty sure there are no traffic laws. I think I've seen one traffic light this entire trip. And I don't think it worked. Here's a picture (imagine tons of dust in the air if you can't see it):

Here's another one (note the building made of sticks):

I was sad to leave Allen's house. We took lots of pictures before I left. Here's one - It's a mix of Allen's family, neighbors, friends - I honestly couldn't begin to keep track of all the people running around. (There's Allen to my left. And I'm the muzungu, for those who don't know me.):

On Monday, I met up with Mel and Mac (two other volunteers) and Segawa, the head of the school where I'll be teaching. We visited the primary school in Nansana, and the secondary school connected to it in Namayumba. For these few days we're staying at Segawa's house in Nansana, but in a few days we'll move to Namayumba where we (the 6 volunteers) will teach, play soccer, and generally get to know the kids. After seeing the two villages, I'm really happy we'll be staying in Namayumba -  it's much more rural than Nansana, and less crowded, very green, and generally gorgeous. I'll post pictures once we move in there.


Finally, I'll leave you with a couple of today's exciting moments:
-My first boda-boda ride (motorcycle-taxi)!!!! They drive super fast--zoom through cars/people/random huge pits in the roads. I was way too scared to ride alone, so rode on one with Mac. Still, I'm proud.

-Met my first African gorilla! And by African gorilla I mean a man in this mall that's dressed in a gorilla costume, who came and tapped me on the back and scared me half to death. And then he did it again.

And that's all for now. I can't wait to move to Namayumba, start teaching, and meet the kids. I'll update this again once my routine begins.

I don't know how to say goodbye in Luganda (the local language of Central Uganda), so instead I'll just say "Oliotio" which means "How are you." It's all I know - It'll have to do.

Well. This should be interesting.

Tonight I probably won't sleep. Or I'll most certainly have a lot of trouble sleeping. And now I'm regretting telling my dad that we can say goodbye tomorrow when he leaves for work at the ungodly hour of 7 AM (in some circles, ahem, not too many hours post-bedtime...), because in truth it will most likely be one of the few moments in my life that I will not be able to fall immediately back to sleep at such an early hour. Knowing myself, instead of sleeping, I'll probably end up rolling around in forever uncomfortable positions, and driving my mind absolutely sick with how scary and crazy and new tomorrow and the next six weeks will be. If I do manage to drift into sleep, I'll most definitely dream of either losing all my luggage somewhere along the way (and therefore being left with a lone pair of jean shorts and a small baggie of trail mix to last me a month and a half in a developing country (is that the PC term??)), or of some foreign Ugandan man who I don't understand tricking me at the airport and kidnapping me and then injecting me with ebola and then me bleeding through my eyelids and... etc.

So. As the title of my blog suggests, tomorrow I'll set off on what will surely be the strangest and newest experience I've ever encountered. I'll be flying through Amsterdam and then to Entebbe, Uganda, and from there traveling to Namayumba, Uganda--a village some 50 km away from Kampala, the capital. I'm not going with any sort of program (mistake? we're yet to find out...), but instead am simply following my friend from school, Mel, who's worked in Namayumba and in a nearby village, Nansana, for the past few summers. She helped the villagers build a secondary school in Namayumba, and I'll be spending most of my time in this school teaching English. I believe that a lot of the students are actually orphans, and many are sadly living with AIDs. I'll be volunteering there with Mel and about 4 other volunteers our age. Other than that, I literally have no idea what to expect. Oh. And I also know, as I alluded to earlier, that a couple cases of ebola, a highly contagious and deadly virus, have recently emerged in Uganda and Sudan. Perfect timing!

In order to prepare myself mentally for the unknown, and medically for this super scary virus and for malaria, etc., I've stuffed my suitcase with hand wipes, face wipes, (other wipes...), dozens of bottles of hand sanitizer, extremely strong bug spray, and even my own plasticware--just to be safe. But in reality, among all my medicines and cleaning devices and things that I can use for toilet paper (just in case there's an emergency!!) I know somewhere that I'll be just fine. And more than that, I'll probably even grow and learn a few things along the way. And there is about 1 millionth of a chance--if I've calculated correctly--that I'll get ebola and start bleeding through my eyelids (which really happens!!! scary stuff), so THERE, ebola! There.

Anywho, I'll try to update this blog as often as I can. My track record, i.e. my blog from my year in Israel, indicates that I may sometimes lag behind a bit, or neglect to write for weeks at a time...but since I'm only going for six weeks, and since I know Pam Slifer will be sitting at her computer anxiously awaiting my next post ( ;-) ), I will try my very best to keep this up. Also, I really don't know what the internet situation will be like (another unknown! among the state of electricity? running water? who knows! err... thrilling.), so I don't know how often I'll be able to update.

And that's about all for now. All in all, as nervous as I am, I'm happy I'm doing this, and happy I'm doing it on my own. It will be important for me to go somewhere strange, to experience true independence on a completely separate continent, to take a break from the internet and those who I'm most comfortable with and my bed and general quarter-life crisis stress--to just take a break from everything and step back and see how other people live, and try something absolutely different. And more than learning about other peoples' lives, I think that by stepping away like this I'll importantly gain perspective on my own. Or at least that's my hope. First, I have to somehow catch some sleep, then endure 20 hours of traveling and more hours of dirt-road driving.... So for now, signing off, and next time - in Uganda!

P.S. Thank you so so so so much to my amazing parents for helping me prepare for this trip, and also for enduring my spontaneous bouts of very high stress along the way. :)