My African Life

As I sit here waiting for our chicken formerly known as "Kitgum" to cook, I thought I might take a moment to catch you all up on my life.

Here's how its going. I have arrived safely in Uganda. I spent a couple nights in Kampala getting materials together and then I took the 6 hour post-bus ride to Gulu. I spent a night in a very tiny cramped hot "hotel" room in Gulu and then moved into our new apartment the next day.

After a week of traveling it felt SO GOOD to unpack. So good.

There is a very granola young mormon couple here (Jaimie and Jaron) that we have a connection with (they are both American, BYU alums), who met us at the bus stop and then gave us their old apartment-they moved into a new one earlier than they were planning for us which was really nice.

The best way to describe life in our apartment is like really luxe semi-permanent camping. There are two rooms. One is a bedroom with a queen-sized, mosquito-netted bed that we share and two shelves. The other room has a sunken in couch, a desk, some shelves, a weak mini-fridge and a water dispenser. Then outside there is a small patio with a couple chairs and a kitchen. The kitchen has a small sink, and a small stove. Off the patio and to the right a few feet is our shower/bathroom. It is a squat toilet which I broke within 48 hours of being here.

Don't get gross now. I just broke the handle as I tried to run away in the middle of the night from the splashing water.

Anyway, life here is a little exhausting to say the least. I don't feel like we spend all that much time working on our Needs Assessment but we do spend a reasonable amount on it and we only just got here. But, really just living takes up about 90% of our time. One of our favorite phrases that we say in an annoying (but only half joking voice) is "Why is life so haarrrddd?"

It truly is more difficult though. First of all it is always incredibly hot. If this were America or if I was living in a nicer place then I could go inside to the air conditioning and cool off. No such luck here. There is no respite! It gets a bit cooler at night but its still hot. Never have I been so unconcerned about indecent exposure.

Also with limited resources and cooking supplies, every meal is a struggle.

A typical day involves waking up to the sound of a rooster cock-a-doodle-doo-ing at around 8. It's pretty consistent. I don't need an alarm clock. By 8 I won't be able to ignore the sun or the rooster anymore. We get ready, we eat what is usually a meager breakfast, grab our helmets and head out. After leaving the gate to our little compound (there are a few other apartments with other mzungus here - a guy from England, a couple from Germany, a girl from Colorado) we hail a boda.

A boda boda is the cheapest, easiest form of transportation around here. Basically how it works is that there are strange african men on motorcycles located at strategic points all over the city. If you want one you can hail it down much like a taxi, decide on a price, hop on the back and "we go." Often Kristen and I will both ride the same boda but once we realized that it would be the same price if we spilt up and take two, we have tried to do that. If we both ride together, the person in the middle gets really uncomfortably close to the driver. Imagine straddling a small motorcycle in a dress pressed up against someone else's sweaty backside. Now stop.

Anyway, bodas are really fun. They almost always put a smile on my face. We ride down bumpy dirt roads, swerving around pot holes and enjoying the little bit of wind in our faces and waving to kids along the road. Some drivers are more reckless than others but, (don't worry mom!) I have my helmet!

There isn't really such thing as a typical day here yet, but we often meet with the staff of the NGO we are working with. They are very nice and hospitable. We almost always have to make a shopping trip every day too. This necessity is a combination of poor planning, moving into an apartment without many accessories and the fact that our fridge is the size of my nephew.

Today we felt really good about going to the outdoor market because we know our way around a little bit and we now feel comfortable enough to barter a bit and fight the "mzungu" prices that some people try to give us.

Our best friend here in Gulu would probably have to be Bonny our gatekeeper at the apartment complex. He helps us with things that are broken around the apartment and even went into town with us the other day to find a replacement for the broken piece in the toilet. He is great. A very very nice man who has lived away from his family who are in the southwest of Uganda for about ten years getting money for them. We have a sweet friendship with him that consists of him doing favors around the house for us and us sharing our food with him or buying him juice or candy.

Well, is there anything I'm missing? I don't think so. Basically the showers are cold, the internet is spotty and the German's next door are always singing.

Life is good.

p.s. look forward to hearing more about Kitgum the chicken in the next post!