April 23, 2008
Hello All once again,
You will not hear from me so much after this week I think… We just got back from visiting the three organizations we (interns) will each be working for. Mine is in Ssaza, a small village about 3 km from Masaka. My home will be another 2 km from there. My supervisor Edward pointed out the direction towards Namaseenene (the village where my home will be) and he said you see that hill? it’s above that.
It is strange to be out and about and definitely stared at. The small children do indeed yell “hello muzungu” just as we were told — it means hello white/westerner, not derogatory, just observational i guess. it’s strange, seems intimidating to see everyone staring, but then as soon as I go into a store and say “Gyebale” (a greeting that means thank you for the work that you do) the clerk will smile and be very friendly. It’s a great word — such a simple word for the meaning it has in English. So everyone has been so friendly once you greet them. greetings are of utmost importance here.
some photos attached:
The first is of a market in Kampala, the view was from the reception area of the hotel. One of the hotel workers carried Krystal’s 95 lb suitcase up two flights of stairs on his head, very impressive… not to mention that he carried my 39 lb bag just regularly.
Next is me crossing to the southern hemisphere! Ok, pretty cheesy, but you have to!
The third shows the FSD staff eating fried grasshoppers and the interns taking photos. Mmm they were actually really delicious. crunchy and also seasoned with salt. All around Masaka they put up metal sheets into buckets of water and then at night turn on lights to attract the flying grasshoppers, which then fall into the water and drown.
the thing about electricity here is that it shuts off a lot… all the power comes from Jinja 210 km away, a dam, Kira dam, on the Nile. by now I feel accustomed to it. Oh the powers off…. oh it’s back, oh there it goes again. that’s the way it was last night. but it’s not always so bad. You just have to take it into consideration when you plan something. And at home I won’t have it at all… and there’s running water outside, but i’m not sure what that means as far as toilets/showers…. probably not.
I have food pictures of course but no really good ones yet so I will send one later. We eat SO MUCH starch. And i’ve never been to a place where the serving sizes are larger than in the US. You get a big plateful of starch, maybe Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, plaintain, maize porridge, cassava… and then a bowl of “g-nut” sauce and a little meat in that — this is “local food.” G-nut is for groundnut sauce, quite delicious. Unfortunately fruit is generally eaten only at breakfast, though with my host family i think I will try to suggest more vegetables and fruit.
It has been good this week, easy with my friends — the other interns, and the FSD staff are all very fun. but I know there will be another transition when I go to the host family, especially since I will probably have to take a taxi (public transport) into Masaka. But we will continue to have FSD workshops periodically, and Pooja, Krystal and I are all game to do some weekend trips.
All for now! Much love to everyone! Thanks for your responses, I enjoy hearing what you are all up to as well.
Stephanie
