clarification, uganda-style

i'm relieved as i inspect my bag of millet flour...

...and slightly confused as i check into my hotel

where in the world is poo fly? (vol 2)

today: the ancient walled city of katsina, home to the housa tribe of northern nigeria

lake mburo national park

zebras!

hippos underwater!

hippos on land!

impala!

water buffalo!

symbols of freedom!

warthogs!

hoopin' it up in the bush

not too long after returning to uganda, a small group of volunteers met at joe's site to play basketball. this is a project joe has been working on for a long time, and with some help from the u.s. and the local community, he was able to construct a totally viable basketball court in the middle of nowhere. the goal, net, and ball were carried to uganda from the states, while the backboard and support system were assembled locally. i can't really describe how fun it was to pick up and play that afternoon in such an improbable setting. hope you enjoy the photos...

demonstrating how to shoot with a child on your back

where's the open man?

for three!

where in the world is poo fly? (vol 1)

Today: Johannesburg's Apartheid Museum, South Africa

oh!-vacado

i was recently given an ovacado as big as my face. and today it is ripe!

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