Soccer/Tuberculosis/Cheeseburger

Good morning, all! It’s a strangely overcast morning in Lugazi, and I’m feeling rather nice. I apologize for my woeful neglect of my blog; life has turned me aside every time I tried to come and update! The power has been out a lot recently, and I’ve been busy from dawn until dusk, literally. I’m not normally this dedicated, it’s a little bizarre.

Much to tell! My Africa experience has thrown me a few curveballs. From attending an international soccer game (FREAK yeah!) to losing my wallet on an untrackable taxi, I’ve spent the last couple weeks alternating between complete happiness to bottomless depression.

The football game was so effing intense! Uganda and Kenya played and we had first row seats, right in the front! Let me tell you, Africans know their way around a soccer field. ‘Twas a magical thing to watch, and not just because of the talent displayed. Uh… hello beautiful African athlete. Can you marry me now? Number five on Kenya… oh boy. I want everyone who reads this to know that my heart forever belongs to a glorious, shirtless, African footballer whose name I do not know.

The wallet debacle was a bit of a rain on my parade. I’m managing though; things will work out. I did a bit of wrathful dancing/swearing/self-loathing, but I’ve mostly recovered and am making the most of my own irresponsibility.

The work we’re doing is progressing rather slowly. Right now I’m attending a lot of meetings and consults and doing much talking. Very little action. But I’m confident the hands-on work with begin soon and I can get my hands dirty! Or dirtier. The water’s been out for a while so I’m highly unwashed. But I’m working on the Marginalized Populations Committee, preparing to partner with a nearby orphanage to rebuild an income generating project that will remain long after we’re gone! I’ve learned soooo much about development and humanitarian work; I never realized how much I didn’t understand. Sustainability is so critical to what we do here, and it’s a challenge to weave that irrevocably into the projects we come up with.

Oh, yes. I’m pretty convinced I have tuberculosis. And for those of you who don’t understand my peculiar brand of hypochondria, that means I have a hefty cough and I’ve persuaded myself I’m dying of it. Realistically, I have a chest cold. Imaginatively, I have a life-threatening illness. I don’t have tuberculosis. But I’m pretty sure I have tuberculosis.

So long story short, I’ve had a thousand adventures since my last update and met dozens of beautiful people. Ugandans are incredible; I love these guys more than I thought I could, in just a few short weeks. I wish I could tell more but there’s no time! I miss the States and my friends and family there, but it’s such a short time, in the long run. I sincerely hope everything is going well for each of you, and I can’t wait to see you again! And to eat a double cheeseburger. Oh how I long for a double cheeseburger.

Happy Friday! Or Saturday or whatever day it is there. BYE!

THE FUNERAL OF HUGENESS!

Today I attended a funeral! The final rites of Brian Bukenya. Thrilling, right? Well you will understand the reason for the exclamation mark momentarily.

Part A: Two volunteers from our group were invited to this funeral by Chairman Zeewa, (a friend of our group and an influential politician) and naturally I jumped at the chance. Who doesn’t want to attend an African final rites service? Not me, that’s who. So off we go, thinking we are attending the funeral of the father of a member of the Lugazi town council. Thus, the adventure begins.

Part B: My partner and I journey via taxi to Mukono, where we meet up with the Chairman. The taxi ride was a wee bit frightening, but otherwise all was well. The Chairman takes us to some other village about an hour’s drive away, and on the way we learn that the dead man was not the father of some little town council guy. He was the son of the Vice President of Uganda. Yes! VP of the country! Holy crap.

Part C: We arrive 45 minutes late, as per Ugandan custom, and sit under a canopy thing in the rain for a few hours listening to people sing and speak in Luganda. Completely unintelligible. This was the boring bit, but Chairman Zeewa explained things as we went along so it wasn’t unbearable. Also, we were the ponly white people there. Super conspicuous. The Chairman dragged us to the front of a crowd of hundreds and made us stand before the widow and say “Mukama Abakuume”, which apparently means “God Bless You”. I wanted to melt into the mud.

Part D: We commence to the gravesite (turns out the guy died last Nov, they’re only just getting around to the final rites portion of the process) and over walks the Vice President and shakes our white little hands. Yep. That happened.

Part E: The funeral comes to a conclusion, we eat our body weight in fatty delicious Ugandan food, and the VP comes to chat with us about our presence in his country. Holy CRAP. I almost peed myself. I thought I was going to be shot. You can be arrested for taking a photo on a bridge here. Saying the wrong thing to a major, powerful political figure… Well I didn’t really speak. I did say that I was from Nevada, so all you Nevadans, I totally represented!

So that is my tale. I spoke with the Vice President of the country, for a solid 15 minutes. There are more tales of adventure but I’m out of time. LOVE!!!

Hello all! I am in an internet café in Lugazi, Uganda! I am sorry I’ve neglected my blog so tragically, but internet access here is super sketchy. I’m already mildly pissed off about this situation, it’s epically slow. But this place is like nothing I’ve ever seen! I am already in love. We wake up to the sounds of our dinner crowing in the back courtyard. We sleep under mosquito nets strung up willy-nilly with duct tape and twine and ‘flying buttresses’. Geckos skitter around our house eating the fattest bugs I have ever even imagined. People drive with reckless, laugh-in-the-face-of-danger abandon on the left side of the road and make white little weenies like me fear for their lives. The water was shut off for a solid two and a half days, and the power is intermittent, at best. So I didn’t shower for a good four days, during which I grew riper and riper… it wasn’t pretty. Everywhere we go, and I mean everywhere, little kids come running up screaming ‘Mzungu! Mzungu!’ (white person) and one latches onto each hand to rub my tragically pale skin or stare at my watch. My watch is quite the item here. I’ve never felt so popular in my life!
My journey here was long and exhausting and infuriating, but we got here and that’s what matters, I guess. I hiked around LAX like the ignorant, lost little Nevadan I am, asking for directions every 3 minutes and struggling with lost luggage and generally making a fool of myself, but I and my baggage found our way to right pace, which is a miracle in itself. I encountered fatty airplane issues in London involving four hours on a stationary plane, 30 minutes on a stationary bus, and two hours wandering dazedly about the airport. So we had to stay an extra day in London, but British Airways paid for food and lodging so it wasn’t too bad. I slept the entire day, so it wasn’t the greatest adventure, but you know. I was there.
I have a thousand and one stories to tell already! I wish I could tell them all right now. But I’m taking a million pictures and keeping a detailed journal (Ashley, I know you are thrilled), so I will just say that I love you all, every one of you, and I miss you more each day. I’m thinking of you!

Salt Lake Update

Here I sit in a Salt Lake City motel, preparing to get on my flight tomorrow! I'm flying from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles for a short-ish layover, then onward to London, followed by a six hour layover. Then its to Entebbe, which apparently is in Uganda, and then (hopefully) someone will pick us up and take us on to Lugazi. It will be an epic journey, taking like two full days, total. I'm pretty excited!
I'm sure no one is reading this. Hopefully someone will soon, because I feel pretty odd writing to no one. Anyway... Later, I suppose.