Muzardi

Here's where I live right now! Muzardi: Mukono Agricultural Research and Development Institute

Muzardi has these adorable little gutters all around, which helps keep the path dry during the wet season. We're in the wet season right now, we've had quite a few thunderstorms so far, including one last night that caused us all to wake up and wonder if the windows were going to crash in. I loved it :)

This is in the girl's dorm. The blue barrel is always full of extra water for handwashing and such, in case we run out (which has happened a few times already), and that wonderful trough-like sink is where we do laundry!

There's this toilet, which I haven't been brave enough to use yet, since there are also a few western-style toilets.  This style toilet is what we'll most likely be using throughout the rest of the country, though. 

This water barrel is specifically for the toilet. Sometimes the water pressure is too low to flush it, so you just grab a bucket of water, pour it into the toilet, and it'll usually flush.

From what I've seen, Ugandans like to put little signs in random places, to prevent against any potential forgetfulness. 

And finally, where I sleep! Note the adorable turkey that my cousin Lucas gave me at my going away party, AND he has a matching one :)

My Life is a Chip (and that's alright)

Blinking at the daylight first thing in the morning and remembering where I am has been a beautiful experience. I even love hearing the Muslim call to prayer (broadcast over loudspeakers at a nearby Mosque) around 5:30 every morning, because every day has a new feeling about it and I'm enthralled with being awake. Today there was a beautifully powerful thunderstorm–I certainly couldn't have predicted that when I'd opened my eyes! (Maybe my weather app could have, but I'm pretty conservative about using data here, haha!)

I'm nervous and not nervous about site placement. I'm saying it that way because it depends on what frame of mind I'm in–sometimes I'm very worried... afraid of failure, mostly... and other times I'm calm, acknowledging that I trust the process. Some of these humans have been doing this for longer than I've been alive, of course I trust them to put me where I need to be.

Not in the sense that a place will "need" me–I'm sure they'd get along just fine without a 22-year-old Westerner asking them a zillion questions about what will probably be, to them, very mundane things–but rather, the place where my soul needs to be. To learn and try and fail and grow as much as I possibly can from this experience.

Site placement is on my mind (and on everyone's mind here, really) because the interviews for it were this week (I just had mine yesterday). Each interview was conducted by five people. One of those five was the Country Director himself, but most of the others were the teachers who've been guiding us through training. They asked us anything they wanted, all while paging intently through binders of paperwork. The questions they asked me ranged from "Tell me about ASL (American Sign Language, which I've taken a few semesters of)," to more pertinent questions, such as "How would you feel living with a homestay family for the entire two years?" and "Would you mind being a 'starter'?" (starter = the first Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) to ever be placed in that particular village).

I'm open. I applied, at the beginning of this process, to go anywhere and do anything. It's a perspective that's worked for me at least up until now, so I think I'll stick with it. Let  the chips fall where they may.

We get to see the two or three options of sites that the interviewers have chosen for us on December 1st, and then we have until December 5th to put those options in order of preference. Peace Corps' final decisions will be shared with us on December 9th! I'll keep you updated :)

You Are Most Welcome

Kept my memorial bracelet on throughout the flight, to keep my cousin Tony with me. "Be Strong & Of Good Courage." 

Stepping off of the plane in Ethiopia was surreal. 13 hours on a plane was actually pretty fun, the food was great and we all spent a good amount of time wandering around the cabin area, chatting with each other and stretching our legs. The food was surprisingly good, and the airplane had one of my favorite movies—The Prestige! 

We deplaned onto the tarmac, which was a first for me. As soon as we landed, we heard the news... Trump was in the lead. 

The 33 of us split up to gather around two TVs, and I watched in dismay and awe as votes kept coming in for the candidate I had thought would never win. Already in the midst of my transition to living in Africa, I'd thought I might feel distant from the American election; as if it no longer related to me. It turns out that, while I don't feel as alarmed as I'm sure I would if I were still living in the US, I still feel a sense of trepidation because I'm not sure what Trump's opinion on the Peace Corps will be. In spite of the election, I feel proud to be a representative of America in a foreign country, because I don't believe that we'll allow everything we've built together as a country—all of the steps we've made toward equality—to be undone by one man. 

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous when we landed in Uganda. We'd been traveling for a calendar day and a half—there was no turning back now. What if I didn't fit in? What if I was too overwhelmed by the cultural differences to function? Well, I decided I'd just have to make it work regardless. I felt too comfortable in America, physically and emotionally. So, here I am in Africa, waving goodbye to my comfort zone and hello to a myriad of new experiences. 

The drive from Entebbe to Kampala was beautiful. The last time I'd made this trip, as a high school senior (almost five years ago now!) it was around midnight. That time I had been seeing a new country without really seeing it—our bus windows were open, I was experiencing all of the sounds and exotic smells of a new country, while surrounded by darkness. It was much friendlier to be able to view everything illuminated with sunlight and a bright blue sky in the background! 

We arrived at the compound we'll be staying at for the next month, for our initial stage of training. Everyone was waiting to greet us with tea, bananas, and samosas (fried pastries, filled with veggies or meat). They introduced themselves and each added, "You are most welcome." Their love and excitement was palpable, and I knew I would be happy here. 

Leaving for Africa tomorrow!

Hello All!

I've been in Washington, D.C. since Saturday, preparing to leave for Uganda! While I already miss my friends and family, nothing about this decision feels wrong. I'm a bit nervous, but this path that I chose really feels right to me. I wouldn't be doing this if it didn't resonate to the very core (get it?) of my being.

"Staging" (preparation for service) has been fun! The people who are embarking on this journey with me all seem incredible, and I'm excited to get to know them better. I had promised to bring a cat carrier for a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) who is currently serving in Uganda, but it was taking up a lot of space in my bag. So one of my fellow Volunteers here, Randy, offered to take it off my hands (after everyone laughed at me for bringing a cat carrier, of course) so that he could use it as a carry-on! Because of that, I was able to stop by a used bookstore during lunch today and pick up a few more children's books to bring with me!

Adding a few more books to my collection!

I'm especially excited to have found "The Mountain Gorilla," because it mentions Uganda specifically as one of the few places that mountain gorillas can still call home! We were encouraged to bring picture books featuring diverse characters, so I also purchased "Seeds of Change" about Wangari Maathai (the founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya), "Nelson Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom," and "Mama Panya's Pancakes" (about a group of friends getting together in Kenya).

As you can tell, I'm overwhelmingly excited! We leave the hotel at 4:30 tomorrow morning, and from there a bus will take us quite a ways to the airport. Our flight leaves at 10:30, and then we'll get to Ethiopia at 7:15am on Wednesday (Ethiopia is eight hours ahead of Nebraska). We fly out of Ethiopia at 10:10am and get to Entebbe, Uganda at 12:15pm. Please keep your fingers crossed for safe travels for all of us! That's all I have for now, but I'll try to keep this blog updated as much as I can!

My family for the next 27 months!