close of service conference

i am reclined on the veranda of a luxury bungalow watching the sun set behind a canopy of trees along the eastern bank of the nile river in jinja, while monkeys meander casually across a closely-cropped lawn in the low evening light to collect leaves from the landscaped foliage surrounding the buildings and pathways of this resort compound. it is a moment both uncommonly peaceful and frustrating, unfolding and ending of its own accord whether i'm ready or not.

this is my close of service conference for peace corps. the fifteen or so incredible and inspiring volunteers in attendance are being generously (and deservedly) put up for a few days in a luxury resort which would otherwise be well beyond the reach of our modest budget. the food has been outstanding, the atmosphere relaxed, and the mood optimistic if not a little apprehensive. two years in a developing country sounds like a long time, but it is not forever; our service here is winding down and it is now time to look forward to whatever may come next.

of course, this is not at all how i expected to reach this point and there are still numerous challenges to face before i say goodbye to our beautiful host country. if all had gone according to plan, i would have been in this position six months ago, alongside the stellar volunteers who went through every day of training with me way back in march of 2007. but things do not always go according to plan. i got sick and was sent home to the usa early in my service as a volunteer. i questioned the wisdom of fighting to come back to a place where i had encountered such misfortune and worried that something bad might happen to me again should i return. i grew weary of the reinstatement process, which took months longer than expected; i was literally two days from giving up entirely and moving on when i was finally cleared to be a peace corps volunteer in uganda once again. exhausted, anxious, and uncertain, i was thankfully (in hindsight) willing enough to take advantage of the second chance i had been given.

the purpose of this close of service conference is to help peace corps volunteers reflect on their service to date and make a work plan for their few remaining months in country. yes, there are projects to wrap up and administrative loose ends to tie, but there is also an intimidating set of cultural concerns to manage as we begin the process of easing out of our communities, both materially and socially. this will not be anything like moving out of my apartment in baltimore and i am thankful for the guidance we've been given and the time i now have to make a responsible plan.

the perspective i have gained in the last several months has been invaluable. i witnessed dozens of my colleagues go through the process of saying goodbye to their friends and communities as they close their service and move on to exciting travel adventures and, in some cases, uncertain futures. i am acutely aware of the fact i am present here and now...but will not be forever. in fewer than six months, i'll likely be packing my bags to leave uganda indefinitely. this time will pass on its own, completely independent of my will; all i can do is stay true to the promises i have made to myself and my community and consciously appreciate how lucky, blessed, and extremely proud i feel to be in the position i'm in. none of this has been particularly easy, but the rewards have been satisfying and rich beyond expectation.

as the glow fades to gloaming, i stroll down the walkway on my way to one last delicious dinner before packing my bags and mentally preparing for all of the work waiting for me at site. tomorrow will be an adjustment, as i say goodbye to these several days in a luxurious fantasy land and re-enter the real world of work and struggle, all the while respecting the uncertainty of what comes after all this...which will undoubtedly be a much bigger and jarring transition.

a new friend!

i almost stepped on this fella right outside my house.
about an inch in diameter and covered in spikes, this caterpillar is punk rock.

("real" posts are coming soon, i promise.)

where in the world is poo fly? (vol 6)

currently seeking oil (hopelessly?) in saudi arabia's empty quarter
* today's poo fly is dedicated to the porters - thanks for the support :)

surrounded by monkeys!

not long after pitching our tent at lake nkuruba...

...we looked up to find a tree full of colobus monkeys!

they resemble jumping tree skunks and have very long tails!

i thought they had a rather villainous appearance and was amused
at the furious pace with which they devoured leaves.

i think there were just as many vervet monkeys as well,
who occasionally wrestled with their colobus friends.

my favorite colobus monkey skill is jumping between trees.
as they grew tired of the leaves on one tree, they leaped one by one
to the branches of another. awesome!

bwindi impenetrable forest

almost every day in bwindi impenetrable forest, a group of white people who have parted with silly amounts of money are led through dense jungle forest by seriously skilled guides and trackers to locate the incredibly rare and amazing mountain gorillas!

we were tracking habinyanja group, the largest of the habituated gorilla families at bwindi.

this was our first poop sighting - exciting and very well-formed!
we were on the right track...

after three hours of hiking, we finally came upon the habinyanja family lazing about in a small clearing. space was limited, but we were able to see some funny and just plain excellent things in our brief hour together.
intersting note: gorillas, much like humans, release gas.
i think our fellow tourist randy said it best:
"oh, they're a bunch of fartypants!"

here is an elder female intently eating tasty leaves.

kicked back with a foot in the air, this gorilla is stripping a branch of its outer layer so that he/she can enjoy the spongy, white marrow inside.

this one's for you, lisa! a baby gorilla, 8 months old!
(there's also hilarious video of a baby climbing/swinging...)

we were apparently very lucky to find a silverback out in the open. normally, they stay rather hidden to supervise and keep watch for the family. in our case, he sat up right in front of us for a good 5-10 minutes. sweet!

walking in and out of the forest on an exposed ridge, you can easily see where the protected forest begins and cultivated land ends. agricultural/logging encroachment has been a problem and the goverment has only recently put a stop to it. some programs are now in place to keep the national park and the public happily co-existing; hopefully they are adequate and sustainable.

hell's gate national park

there is a national park near naivasha, kenya, called hell's gate. it is pretty unique in that visitors are allowed to rent bicycles and guide themselves around the entire park (which even contains a few predators!). the day after climbing mt. longenot, we decided to check it out. pictured above is hell's rather gorgeous entrance!

i actually meant to capture some zebras with this photo and missed entirely.

we saw ostriches and lamented eating their meatballs a few days earlier.

animals were everywhere in and around the road...

...so it was pretty easy to get up close and personal with things
i'd previously seen only in cartoons or on crackers!

i think my favorite were the giraffes...

...who were pretty scared of us...

...but were kind enough to pose for a few nice photos.

climbing mt. longenot

near naivasha, kenya lies an old volcano called "longenot" which is covered in zebras.

inside longenot is a massive crater, around which you can walk to reach the summit.

we walked around all 360 degrees, which was windy, sandy, long, and beautiful.

behold the crater in approximately half its majesty, as seen from longenot's peak!

sorry, lisa :(

there is a restaurant in nairobi called carnivore which became famous for cooking almost any animal (even the ones you see on safari!) and serving the meat to guests...crazy! you only live once, so we decided to check it out for lunch. nowadays carnivore has stopped serving the very "exotic" meats, but we did get to try ostrich meatballs and crocodile meat (along with excellent grilled beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and turkey). not surprisingly, i had no room for dinner that night. it was, by far, the most expensive single meal i have paid for in africa - about $30.

every table has a revolving sauce and salad bar, on top of which is a white flag.
the meaning of the flag is quite simple - as long as it is still up...

...carvers will keep on bringing the meat!

until your plate becomes too crowded...

... and you have no choice but to surrender!
(note: i was fairly pleased with my meat-management skills throughout the meal -
my plate was almost clean at the end!)

lamu!

these are the rooftops of lamu town on the kenyan coast. there are no cars here, only donkeys.

here is our isolated patch of sand, where we hid from the blazing sun before enjoying a fresh fish barbecue on the beach!

kenyan coconuts!

this was my first encounter with real coconuts. friendly.

i was given no instructions and challenged to open a coconut. to everyone's surprise, i succeeded.

apparently, the furry insides are used as toilet paper. surprisingly soft!

baby steps

the text of the billboard reads: "family planning is the way forward: have a small family that fits in a [14 passenger] taxi." really? believe it or not, a "less than fourteen people" guideline may be a step in the right direction as far as family planning in uganda is concerned. this country, which i love, has one of the highest birth rates in the world. i have met people who tell me they have eight, twelve, twenty, sometimes even thirty children. culturally speaking, i can understand these numbers. polygamy is common and there is a belief that having many children signifies power, wealth, and success. in fact, family planning campaigns are occasionally received with hostility among locals who think it's an outside attempt to reduce their power and influence, or even a racially motivated tactic to slowly eliminate africans. keeping in mind cultural differences, these feelings are easy to understand. it is a very delicate matter to offer advice to people on the number of children they should have, and when this advice comes from outside one's community, or even continent, skepticism should be expected.

looking around, however, one can easily see the strain this country is already under: jobs are scarce; trees and forests are disappearing; many unfortunate children go uneducated because their parents cannot afford to send them to school or cannot afford supplies for them; arable land is largely saturated with crops. if population growth estimates hold true, the number of people living in uganda could quadruple in the next two generations. that number is not just surprising, it's scary. i hear about peoples' struggles here every day, struggles that exist because of the current scarcity of jobs and resources. i don't even want to imagine how difficult life could be here in forty years if four times the number of people are competing for essentially the same resources. sadly, this rich and beautiful piece of land in east africa cannot get any bigger to accommodate a rapidly growing population. for the good of all ugandans, i hope the idea of responsible family planning gains widespread acceptance...and soon.

face down, ass up...

...that's the way you have to mop!

sometimes it's best not to challenge methods of doing something that have been developed and tested over many years. mopping a floor in uganda is a perfect example. as you settle into your new place here and go out to purchase household items, you may be tempted to bring home what seems like a perfectly reasonable thing: a mop. you've perhaps seen many ugandans bent over at the waist mopping their floors and decided that you'd rather stand up, relax, and mop the way we all do back in the good old usa. but take heed! you'll wish you could have those 5000 shillings back. ass-up mopping is simply the only way to get your polished concrete floor fresh and clean! just follow these easy instructions:

1. pour some water in your plastic basin
2. mix in some lemon-fresh vim (complete with "clorex bleach")
3. grab an old t-shirt, dunk it in your vim-water, and wring it out
4. bend at the waist, making sure your ass remains high
5. slap your wet t-shirt on the floor and begin mopping up the filth (this process involves side-to-side sweeping motions with your hands as you shimmy backwards, one cheek at a time)
6. when your shirt has become intolerably soiled, rinse, wring and resume the position!

i can assure you, there's nothing quite like the feeling of bare feet on a cool, freshly ass-up mopped floor. happy cleaning!