kulukulu!

the noise was strange; unlike any of the noises i have become accustomed to hearing. it sounded like fowl, but was neither clucking nor gobbling. i looked out the window and saw what can only be described as a gang of turkeys (kulukulu) mid-melee. they had traded their gobbles for more urgent, higher-pitched shrieking and were actually attacking each other. every turkey for itself.

of course, i went in for a closer look, with the intention of breaking up the fight to restore momentary peace and quiet to my sick bay veranda. but these brazen turkeys were oblivious to my presence. i walked into their midst and even lightly kicked a few but got no response. they just continued head-butting each other and howling indiscriminately. the brawl soon spilled onto my veranda, after which several of the turkeys angrily shat in front of my door.

a peek inside the studio

my new house at the teacher's college can best be described as a studio apartment with a detached bathroom. much to my shock and pleasure, the place features nearly constant electricity and running water - a tap in the kitchen and a (cold) SHOWER for bathing. the only downside is that running water in uganda is no guarantee. there are water crises (shortages) nearly every week, so it is smart to be prepared with jerrycans full of backup h2o. also, running water by its very nature must travel great distances through many pipes, which are not necessarily clean. after a week of boiling and drinking my tap water, i concluded that i would be better off to find a borehole to supply fresh, clean water for drinking and cooking. so, once or twice a week, i set out with my jerrycans to fetch water. it's definitely worth the effort.

my "apartment" itself is tiny but really quite nice. as far as i know, it's not in line with peace corps policy for volunteer housing (i.e. we're supposed to have at least two rooms) but i am oddly comfortable in my small space here. the college doesn't really have anything else to offer, so i don't see a point in complaining. aside from the ever-present noise (radios, crying babies, loitering students, religious events at ALL HOURS, whistle-blowing cross country practices at 4am, footsteps right outside my windows,...), i feel quite happy with my home here. equipped with my guitar and/or my portable speakers, i'm not shy about returning the racket. nature will achieve a balance :)

here is the building where i live. the two right-most windows are mine.

a closer inspection reveals that...yes, i really do live in the sick bay. and yes, i think it is more than amusing that i got reinstated after medical separation only to get placed in a freaking sick bay upon my return.
wtf, peace corps, wtf.

let's have a look inside...

here is my bed, ethereally draped in mosquito netting. note that there is only about six inches of clearance at the foot of the bed - installation was a close call!

this window looks out onto tororo rock and, occasionally, a gang of turkeys. the giant cabinet was an amazing addition and greatly facilitates much-needed vertical storage.

on the left is my all-purpose table and on the right is a handy stackable plastic shelf in which i keep almost all of my clothes.

this is a peek inside my kitchen from the aforementioned all-purpose table. notice the sink and incredible full-length (and tall-person-friendly) counter, complete with many avocados (in uganda, they are called ovacados). i have been eating them daily in an effort to get fat. so far, it's not working.

here is a better view of my kitchen setup, which is simply awesome. i am able to easily cook pretty much anything i want (which i do 2-3 times a day). to fill in the cracks between meals, i snack on many bananas slathered in odi paste (which is an alarmingly tasty ugandan blend of sesame seeds and peanuts).

Back in Uganda!

a view mt. wanali from the road between my new and old site

it's been a pretty busy month and i feel like the smoke is just now beginning to clear a bit. somewhere around the middle of june, peace corps called me to say that i was finally all set to return to uganda and my old house in the village. after receiving this very exciting news, i immediately arranged my flight, giving myself about a week to prepare and pack.

i arrived in kampala on june 22nd with every expectation of being re-settled in my old house by the end of the week. i guess i'd been away long enough to forget that one really should not assume or make serious expectations about anything happening in peace corps. i suppose i felt a little untrusting of the promise that i'd be returning to my old home and knew i wouldn't really believe it until i was back. in one brief phone conversation on the day before i was supposed to move in, i learned that my housing situation at the school would be impossible to work out. i can't really blame anyone, but it is really disappointing and i wish i hadn't been promised my old house without having any assurances. an alternate plan was quickly made and i am in the process of making a fresh start. it is unexpected and challenging, but i suppose that is why i am here. i promise to post more about my new home once i have time to process it more completely.

anyway, i thought i would share some of my thoughts from "moving day":

"um, where did the taxi go?"

[upon arrival in tororo, i hired a car to help me move my many things to my new home. before leaving town, i needed to stop by a friend's place to collect some belongings i had left here in october. the car brought us there and parked outside the gate. as we brought the last of my stuff out of the house and through the gate, i noticed the car (containing everything i own in this country) was gone. apparently, another vehicle had come down the road and the driver needed to move. at any rate, it was kinda scary.]

"ok, just eat everything except the head."

[that's all you get, haha!]

"man, i wish i was living here"

[this was all that went through my head as i picked up my old bed from the house where i used to live. peace corps told me prior to my return that i would be able to move back into the very same house i had before, which ended up being just a tiny bit false. i am now about an hour away and missing my old village - one of the reasons i came back to uganda. but it is a fresh start and quite honestly may offer more opportunities in the way of meaningful work. so. moving onward...]

"did we just hit a cow...AGAIN?"

[you may recall a previous post in which i was in a college vehicle, moving to site after training, when we t-boned a cow. well, this time, i was in a college vehicle, moving to site after reinstatement, and BAM, we plowed right into another cow. wtf??? if there are any cows reading this, STAY OUT OF THE ROAD! THEY WON'T STOP FOR YOU!]

"so when exactly is the shouting and conversation outside my window going to stop?"

[it's 11pm and i am sitting inside my new home (essentially a studio apartment). it is small, clean, and has a plenty of potential. however, there is an unreasonable amount of commotion coming from a group of students outside. in fact, because of the acoustics of the veranda, it sounds as if they are all inside. i am hoping it will not be a regular occurrence. this muzungu is gonna need some sleep...]

big ideas (don't get any)

this past weekend has been alarmingly productive on many digital fronts (ones and zeroes everywhere!). i completed a remix of radiohead's "nude" this afternoon and am very pleased with the result. have a listen on myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/johnnyawesomeoats

(you'll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking...)

funniest batch of frozen spinach ever

in the pot

listen to my album!

as some of you already know, i was recently blessed with enough free time to dust off my audio gear and do some good, old-fashioned bedroom recording (sorry, no video). i am thrilled to finally cross this project off my to-do list and my newly finished, eleven song acoustic album is now available for download at the following convenient location:

JAMENDO:
http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/25013

separation makes it easy is a creative commons release. it is free to you as a special unlimited time courtesy and you are encouraged to take it, listen to it, enjoy it, hate it, cook with it, run from it, love it, forget about it, and/or pass it around. so go for it. you've got a friend in johnny awesome.

MYSPACE:
http://www.myspace.com/johnnyawesomeoats

FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Johnny-Awesome/21938209952
 

jimmy vanderslice

turning a corner on my way back from the bathroom at chronic town hookah lounge in state college, pa, i overheard a trio of young females discussing the evening's entertainment. "so i think the main guy is on next. his name is james vanderslice - he's pretty famous." oh my. i had to laugh to myself at the way she not only incorrectly referred to the "famous" john vanderslice as james, but that she also went out of her way to emphasize the james. brilliant! a dawson's creek fan, perhaps?

having missed jv's lancaster show last night, i decided to make the two hour drive northwest to state college and catch him up there with my brother. simply put, that turned out to be a very wise and fortunate move. had i attended the lancaster show, i can guarantee i would not have been able to see such a high caliber performance in such an intimate setting, while leaning on a pillow on the floor right in front of the stage. it was seriously as if john vanderslice were playing in my living room.

the live manifestation of his songs was fascinating. stripped down and re-arranged to suit the palette of sounds available on stage, each one took on a whole new color and feel - much more so than most bands i've seen perform. nearing the end of an extremely tight and energetic set, vanderslice shared his thoughts about the pretension of encores. so, instead of pretending to say goodnight, he and his band grabbed one acoustic instrument apiece and moved to the floor, where they continued their set with four completely unplugged songs as we all circled around.

i've witnessed countless performances in my life, but i would have to say this, my first john vanderslice show, was one of the coolest. and while i was watching him play and sing, i felt a stab of recognition threatening the tip of my brain. about halfway through the show, i was able to squeeze it out. i might be crazy, but john vanderslice reminds me of jim adkins from jimmy eat world! not at all in the music he writes or the way he looks, but in the way he carries himself on stage. the two have very similar mannerisms, hair-management maneuvers, head-tilts, and guitar stances. i'm not sure what this means, exactly, but i now feel compelled to be a tad more forgiving of any james slip-ups.

It's Jimmy (L) Vanderslice (R)!

aruba? dushi yiu!

how we roll...

whenever i tell people i'm from lancaster, i'm almost always asked if that means i'm amish. of course, i am not. but i guess the question makes a certain amount of sense, given that i come from an area boasting the second-highest amish population in the country (ohio is first). what bothers me about the question is in the wording. the correct way to ask is this:

"so...have you ever ridden in an amish buggy?"

because now my answer is yes!

last week, i paid a few dollars for a wet, chilly, bumpy ride along the shoulder of several roads buried deep in lancaster county (bird in hand, to be exact). and quite honestly, it was fantastic. our driver was very friendly and talkative, and i could smell the horse (authentic). we got passed not only by horseless carriages, but also by a speed-buggy which may have broken 10 mph. it felt like we were standing still!

snow plug!

behold! the mighty snow plug!
behold! the real thing!

in peace corps, we learn all about coping mechanisms. you've gotta know how to creatively handle difficult situations and any accompanying stress. for example, if you are a volunteer who has been abruptly sent home to a cold, unforgiving winter in the northeastern united states, you might choose to make a snow-replica of your favorite geological feature from uganda.

death valley, ca

vast.

diverse.

weird.

wild.

spectacular.

san diego, ca

on a beautiful (and a bit chilly) harbor cruise with extended family