Life seems to be getting pretty monotonous...sometimes I feel like I'm back at home with all the teaching, marking and tutoring that goes on. I really do love it, but sometimes I get envious of Daniel who gets to get his hands dirty doing all sorts of odd jobs! I try to do as many different things as possible in my free time so I don't feel too left out.
The biggest happening of the week was when I had to watch a handful of kids get caned for uniform violation at last Monday's morning assembly. I was really worried about this before coming to Uganda (many people mentioned that caning still happens) but after being here a month, I had never witnessed it and couldn't imagine it happening. I had pretty much forgotten it existed...until Monday. It wasn't a light caning either...it looked like it hurt!! Part of me wanted to grab the stick out of their hand but I knew that wasn't the best way to deal with it so I just walked out of the class. That evening, I had a good talk/argument with Fred and although we agreed on many things, the verdict was that we agreed to disagree. I have told them that I'm going to try it my way (escalating punishments which do not include caning) and if it works they have to stop caning! We'll see how that goes.
Last weekend we went to dig at Deo and Zaitun's as planned. It was really fun to spend time with them and "help" them out (don't know how much of a help we really were). Today Deo was doing impressions of us digging and everyone thought it was pretty funny. We dug for about 2 hours (which felt more like 5) and I got to plant some 'lumonde' (sweet potato) since there weren't enough hoes for everyone. After digging/planting, we went back to their house where we cooked lunch together. They insisted that we eat with them, even though they hardly have enough food for themselves. We got to carry water from the well, make a fire and cut and peel cassava. As fun as it was, I can't imagine having to do all those things everyday!!! We were all SO pooped by the time we got home after lunch.
Sunday, we went to visit Regan who is one of the boys that was here the first few weeks but is now away at boarding school a couple villages over. It was really nice to see him and even greater was seeing his face when Nicole (one of the volunteers from San Fransisco) gave him an inhaler for his asthma. He has really bad asthma brought on by allergies and often has to miss school because of it. We sent an email to the incoming volunteers asking if any of them have access to an inhaler and we were in luck! I hope that the inhaler works for him because I think it can be very frustrating for him.That night, we went to a "sports bar" to watch a soccer game. What I was expecting and what I got were definitely two very different things. There were 2 15inch TVs with no sound and a bunch of wooden benches. You could buy your own beers and bring them in (which we did), but other than the TV and benches, nothing else was provided. It was still really fun - the Ugandans get really into the game. One of the boys from Hope Academy, Silver, works there and is in charge of keeping them all under control. Not a job I would want.
We also bought 7 bicycles this week for the school so that they can lend them to the students who come from really far away. They give one bicycle to 2 students and they have to "bike-pool" to school. They will be having a ceremony tomorrow (parents are even invited) where they will announce the kids who will be getting bikes. The kids are really excited and I'm excited for them! Some of them walk over an hour to get here in the mornings and then another hour and some to get home. A bike would definitely give them more time to sleep and study after school!
Let's see what else has happened this week...oh yea! The white ants!! On Sunday morning it there was a torrential rainstorm. That night, out of the blue, Fred just said "the white ants are coming". Obviously that made NO sense to me and mostly just creeped me out, but what happens is that once it starts raining in the morning they know its time for the white ants. These bugs with big white wings come in the middle of the night(from where I don't know) and there are thousands of them...Jjajja leaves the lights on outside because they are attracted to the light and then they die on the front steps and their wings fall off. She wakes up in the middle of the night and collects them and then they get fried up and eaten! I haven't tried one yet, but I'll definitely let you know when I do. When you come out of the house in the morning the ground is covered in white wings. I will take a picture next time.Since it has started raining, there have been nillions of ants EVERYWHERE. Yesterday night, the new volunteer from Omaha (Caroline) found a big trail of them in our sitting room. She bug sprayed the place and they scattered...they better not be back tonight. I'm pretty sure that if ants got their shit together they could take over the world.
Anyways, the volunteers are having a night out in Masaka tonight...dinner at 10 tables - the best restaurant in Masaka!! I have been thinking about what I'm going to order all day...and obviously cheese is on the list.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!
Missy
xoxo
