My view

Its so interesting how previous experience colors your view of everything. I sort of thought Africa would be a lot like Haiti... I guess because it is sort of poor and tropical and black? When I am in America, Haiti is usually on my mind so I guess it should be expected that that would not change just because I have left America. Well Uganda is a lot like Haiti. I keep seeing the faces of my Haitian friends in the new people I am meeting here. Twice yesterday I thought I saw Rosleau, once Mirlande, and my friend Susan is exactly like Sinese. There are water and power and internet issues here just like in Haiti. There is animism here like the voodoo in Haiti. But overall Uganda is better off than Haiti. People here are not going hungry, the ground is extremely fertile. I was telling my host mom about the living conditions of my friends in Haiti and she just shook her head sadly. Of course there are slums here, there are poor and orphans. But its not like Haiti. There is a middle class here which is sadly lacking from Haiti.

Family - I think the family I live with is middle class. My host dad teaches mechanical engineering at a trade school in Gulu, which is in northern Uganda. He comes home like once a week right now but he says that sometimes he will be gone for a month at a time. My Toto just works around the house and in the families fields. THe other day my whole fam came back from the fields and told me a story about how Toto had seen a huge snake (supposedly as wide as a dinner plate) and had screamed. Her children proceeded to tease her about this for an hour. If it were me I probably would have screamed and then cried. :) I love that my family is respectful of each other but also very goofy with each other. Like they can tease Toto about being scared of a snake but they will also do WHATEVER she tells them. When my dad is home my siblings will serve him his food and they will kneel down to hand it to him.

My family is starting to get more comfortable teasing me. When I got home from school yesterday my sister Sarah said, welcome home! And my brother Sam loudly mumbeled something about foreignors over running his home. So I dumped my water on him, a precious commodity as I have to carry it from school! Totally worth it.

Food - This weekend while I was in Kampala I also picked up a bag of popping corn so last night my sister Kevin and I cooked a huge pot of it. It was glorious!! We melted some butter over the fire. Sooooo goood. The food here is not bad, it is just a lot of the same. It is also very oily! Everything is fried. So much grease. And we rarely eat meat. Most nights its rice a beans. Which I actually prefer because the meat is chewey overcooked unidentifiable chunks... mmmmm. But even the rice is like FULL of oil. I am craving a cold sandwhich. If only subway could find their way to Kampala. Tonight a bunch of Americans and Ugandans are coming over to my house for smores. SO looking foward to it. Still looking for more recipes I can cook over the fire... I mean I have pots so anything you can cook on a stove that doesnt take too much temp control I can make... maybe.

Stuff I wish I brought - So I was worried about overpacking... which in some ways I did. It seems like I have a TON of clothes compared to everyone else in my family. Also some of the electronics I brought seem stupid and useless... since I dont have electricity at home. Anyway there are some things that I should have brought... So here is my wishlist if you feel like sending me anything. :)

- downey wrinkle release
- Flashlights or batterey powered lanterns or those batterey lights that you like push them and they go on... I miss light... and I can get batteries here.
- pics of you!
- small bottle of hand sanitizer (no one washes their hands...)
- small bottle of fabreeze
- sweets!
- anything from home
- yourselves... i bet you would totally make it through customs

Things take anywhere from one week to two months to get here. So keep that in mind. Dont send a gallon of milk. :)

Thank you for your comments! Its so nice to hear from you guys! I love you lots.