An “Introduction” to Uganda: Families, Flora, and Fauna

It’s a late night tonight, as I try to fully maximize my time with the modem I borrowed for the evening from a friend.  Sorry if this post feels a little more rushed/scattered than normal…

Anyway, training is continuing along…we’ve been in Uganda for almost a month now, and we’re almost halfway through training.  Honestly, it feels like I’ve been here for a significantly longer amount of time, and I feel like I’ve known the people in my training class for a while longer, too.  Even the current volunteers who come in to help train us seem to be part of this big extended family type of thing.  Last week, two guys came for a few days to talk about water and sanitation issues (which I obviously loved), and, as we hung out in town in the evenings, it was like hanging out with some old friends.  Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that the one guy was an engineering MI (master’s international) student from USF, and the other was an MI student at Michigan Tech.  Or, they were basically me, two years down the road (I mean, the name of the guy from USF is Jon, he wears glasses, is tall, and has a beard…holy crap).  At any rate, it was a great opportunity to talk to them as they’re getting ready to finish up their service.

Some exciting things are also coming up in the next couple of weeks.  We’ll all find out our specific site placements on Wednesday of next week, and we’ll have a few days to visit these places shortly after that.  So, I’ll get to see the community where I’ll be living for the next two years, I’ll meet people from the organization I’ll be working with, and I’ll just get to know the area in general a bit.

But, I think that my favorite experiences so far have come during the last two weekends.  Two Sundays ago, my host family had an “Introduction” at their house.  In the USA, we might call this an engagement party, although it’s definitely different than anything we might do.  Basically, one of the daughters in our family was getting engaged to a man from town.  It’s called an introduction because the man comes to the woman’s house with some members of his family, and they introduce themselves to the woman’s entire family (there were at least 30 to 40 people inside and outside of our house that day).  The actual ceremony lasts for about one and a half to two hours, during which all of these introductions happen, and the groom’s family negotiates with the bride’s family – some money changes hands, they agree on a dowry (which will be given at the wedding), and they set a date for the wedding ceremony.  Then comes the meal (yes, here comes another long section on food…you can see where my passions lie).  Oh my…My family was working on this meal all morning…they had at least 3 charcoal stoves and 2 wood fires going, cooking all sorts of stuff.  We had matooke, rice, beans, potatoes (Irish and sweet), cabbage, eggplant, pumpkin, greens, and so on and so forth.  Oh, and I’m pretty sure they slaughtered a chicken and a cow for this thing…I got to eat some of the cow’s intestines the day before…apparently they’re considered to be quite yummy.  I wouldn’t go that far, but they did make it completely through my own digestive system without a hitch.  That was all topped off with a cake, which was really tasty, and then came the gifts.  I guess this guy really likes my family’s daughter, because he brought in like half a grocery store – a huge (over 100 pounds) bag of rice, a huge (same size) bag of sugar, about 6 crates of soda, several loaves of bread, a big basket of tea packets, a bunch of fruit, and two huge bunches of green bananas (we’ll have plenty of matooke), just to name some of the things.  Oh, and a crate of about 30 bottles of Guinness, which our extended family may have gone through that night (don’t worry, I had one).  Oh, and I almost forgot about the coolest part…my host dad had me wear the traditional Bagandan dress, which consists of this long, white robe/tunic thing that goes down to your ankles, with a sport jacket on top of that.  I hadn’t brought any sport jackets, so I borrowed one of my host dad’s coats.  The sleeves were a little short, considering he’s at least 6 to 9 inches shorter than me, but it was definitely interesting and a lot of fun to be included in that ceremony.  They had me sitting right next to the father of the bride (my host dad), so I was right in the middle of it, even though I could pick out maybe 10% of the words (it was all in Luganda).  Luckily, my host dad leaned over every now and then to give me a little synopsis of what was happening…then he would ask, “So how do you do it in America?”, and I would try to explain that it’s a bit different.  Usually not quite so many family members around when the engagement takes place, for one thing.

Sadly, I didn’t have my camera with me this weekend, so you don’t get to see me in my traditional outfit…sorry.

Incredibly cute otters

The next Saturday, our training group took a trip to Entebbe, where we visited a zoo in the morning and some botanical gardens in the afternoon.  And yes, I had my camera going full blast this time.  The zoo was really cool, even though it seems kind of ironic to go to Africa, and then to go see lions, giraffes, and rhinos in a zoo.  Anyway, the animals were pretty awesome.  Huge pythons, really cute otters, lazy lions, zebras, ostriches, etc.  And the rhinos were massive.  One of them came right up to the fence and grazed for a bit.  I actually reached out and touched its back…literally hard as a rock.  And I’m pretty sure it didn’t even notice.  These are some of the better pictures…And remember, I never take pictures, so these are not all that artistic.  Just be happy that I actually brought a camera and am using it.

Zebras look pretty cool in person

Lazy lions...the females were bigger than I expected (The Lion King being my only real point of reference)

This picture does not do justice to the girth of this animal

A very inquisitive ostrich

 

Aditi heading in...

The Botanical Gardens were really beautiful, too.  As everyone says, Uganda is so fertile that just about anything can grow, and there was an awesome variety of plants at this place.  A group of us found these paths, and, well, it’s kind of hard to describe.  Just look at the pictures.

Left to right - Laura, Erin, Liz, Russ, Jake, Stephanie, Howard, Mikael

Okay, well, I need to finish up and get to bed so I’m not falling asleep in language class tomorrow morning.  As always, thanks for all of your support.  I’m still doing well…enjoying spending time with the other trainees, living in a completely different place, and eating the food (a lot…I’m pretty sure I’ve gained at least five pounds since arriving.  For some reason, other trainees don’t like 10 varieties of starch in one meal.  As usual, I’m developing a reputation as the one who will eat anything and everything).

Who knows when the next post will be…probably not for a few weeks, because we’ll be traveling some with the site visits and such.  So, until then, know that I’m thinking about all of you and appreciating your love and support from afar!