demystification

i am back online for only the second time since arriving in uganda and just wanted to send a quick update. we've been through almost three weeks of language and culture training and i'm currently in the midst of a "site visit," which is a standard part of training where all the newbies hit the road on public transport to visit current volunteers in the field (we'll return on sunday). my day involved about 8 hours
of riding around in packed minibuses, coach buses, and sedans, all designed for about half the number of people who actually ride in them here, and for people who are half the size of ME. haha, so much fun...and a pretty fair introduction to transport in africa. another fun part of travel here is the waiting - a public vehicle will only leave when it is full, which really means "we cannot possibly squeeze another human body inside." so it is advisable to carry a book at all times.

right now, i am in ibanda, which is a bit north of mbarara in the southwest part of the country and is insanely beautiful...much more in line with what i expected of the ugandan countryside than what we've seen so far at the training site. the drive from mbarara to ibanda was gorgeous....lush, green, wide open, mountains all over the place. unfortunately, most of us will be placed in the east, which i hear is flatter, hotter, and drier...we'll see! it's still hard for me to believe that i am living in africa right now...it's pretty cool. i'm feeling well and am just trying to sift through the wave of information we've been smacked with in the first few weeks. mostly, i want to get a bit more comfortable with a couple local languages so that i can function on a basic level with the people here. so far, the best feeling i've had has been from a few simple interactions with people in luganda (one of the main languages here). they love hearing tall mzungus (whiteys) speak their language.

ok, time is almost up. i hope everyone is well and that i hear from you soon. thanks so much to those who have sent me mail...it is pretty excellent to hear from you and i promise a reply to every letter i receive! and i'll try to get used to writing letters again. it's hard to untrain my brain after years of copying, pasting, and ctrl-arrowing around the screen.

ok, sounds like power may be going out!

[edit: the power DID in fact go out, not more than 10 seconds after saving this!]

into the unknown...

i can't believe we take off tomorrow...it's really hard to wrap my head around the fact that i'm moving to africa for 2 years. i'm excited, nervous, and a bit scared. but i know that those are the things i've typically felt before having some of the best experiences of my life. so...here's to trusting that this will be another one of those experiences!

thank you so much for all of your messages and pictures of monkeys...they've been great to read (and look at) tonight. [edit: the green monkey below was actually seen, by ME, during my first week in uganda]


i've got a full plate until we board the bus tomorrow morning so i won't be able to respond individually, though i wish i could. i'll be in touch again as soon as i can, by whatever means necessary! (looks like it will likely be snail-mail, at least for the first 10 weeks).

here we go!