Tuesday June 26, 2007

If it wasn’t so hot outside and I wasn’t so tired-this situation would be hilarious. I got up early this morning so I could make it to the village (I left the house about 8 am). I knew I had to walk to the taxi park, and generally where I might find a ride to Ntenjeru, but I’ve only been there once before so I wasn’t really sure.

I made it there fine, but there are about 50 taxis in the park and all of them look the same. And all the driver’s want you to ride their taxi (whether you are going where they are going or not).

So I get to where I think my ride should be and the only taxi in that whole area was this broken down taxi with its hood up and only 3 tires. As I approached it I’m thinking to myself, “Please don’t let this thing be the taxi to Ntenjeru. Please. Please! PLEASE.” But sure enough, as I got closer the driver says, “Eh! Muzungu! You go to Ntenjeru?”

Dammit. “Yes I go to Ntenjeru.”

“Good! Good! You sit here.”

So they put me in the front seat with the window rolled down and ever since, about every 5 minutes or so some one will come up and try to either: get me to buy something, or try to get something from me. This one guy who sells newspapers has been really persistent, he has come by about 4 times, but I don’t know how to tell him that I don’t speak Lugandan-much less read it.

I have been here about an hour so far, and things aren’t really looking up. I thought they were for a minute, because they got the tire back on. But I got my hopes up too soon, because as soon as they did, the other back tire came off. There are five guys tinkering around the engine, and periodically they go look back at the tire situation.

I hope I make it back by nightfall.

7 pm

I finally made it to the office around 11 am. It was just Festus and me for a while (because Erin and Lydia are at a conference thing all week). We discussed plans for the rest of the month, and tried to come up with dates to reschedule the trip we missed going on this week (because of me being sick).

I also found out that for the Kenya trip, we have to pay our own transportation - 8,000 shs both ways (which is $10 total) but it isn’t that bad because Festus says we are going to get to see the Indian Ocean! I am so excited to go to an African beach-it sounds great!

Festus wants me to teach a seminar when we go to the islands and so I started looking through all the different resources and books (which are completely unorganized by the way) for information on ‘Positive Living’ which is how to live a healthy life if you are HIV+ and how to stay healthy. One of the big things I am stressing is proper nutrition and a balanced diet, because there is a huge lack of both here.

Speaking of which, I need to get some good ol’ fashion fiber - give me a bottle of prune juice or something because I am really blocked up right now and it is not comfortable. A lot of the other volunteers were complaining about the same thing too. It is because the food is so heavy; it just sits and won’t go anywhere. (Once again I apologize for the fact my main topics always seem to circulate around latrine-related topics, but it can’t be helped).

Festus also had me enter data from HIV testing they did a while back. I had to enter all the personal information and their status and where they were recommended to. There were 500 of them (apparently Festus isn’t keen on entering data so he lets it stack up until he can stick it on someone else). It wasn’t too bad though, it brought me back to the good ol’ days at the Chamber of Commerce, where I spent an entire summer mindlessly putting data onto computers for no pay. Ah, those were the days. Now I have to pay someone else for the chance to do it!

After lunch Julie and I went to the Secondary school because they sent a letter asking if there was anyone at VOLSET who could teach English -and apparently I was volunteered for the job. So we went to find the headmaster, but they said he was taking “a break” at home. But Julie was not to be deterred, she said she knew where he lived and so we trekked back into town to find him.

He was really excited about me “wanting” to teach and wanted to introduce me to the English teach. So. We trekked back to the high school (it is about a mile each way) to meet the teacher. Right now he teaches S1-S4 and so I will take over his S1 and S2 classes (which is equivalent to freshmen and sophomore level). He is only a part time teacher, but also manages to teach history and science as well.

I sat in on his S2 class which has approximately 40 kids in it (S1 was 80!!). They were all really curious and kept looking back at me (I sat in the back). I think I was more of a distraction than anything.

I am going again to observe Thursday, and then I will begin teaching next week. I have no idea if I can do this or not, but I guess I am going to do it regardless. It should be fun though, I wanted a kid fix, and I am certainly getting one. Not only do I live with 24 of them, but the greetings and processions that follow me wherever I go are constant.

One the way home from work, we turn off the main road and take this windy little path to our home. There are a ton of kids that live along the path and they always walk me up to the house. There are about 10 little boys especially who always try to hold my hands all at once, so each one gets about a finger, or holds onto someone else that is holding on to me. It is funny because they only know “Hello,” “How are you?” “I am fine,” and “Byeee!” and I only know about the equivalent in Lugandan. And it is a long walk. So either we keep repeating our greetings in each language, or walk and smile at each other in silence. It is usually a mixture of both.

Tomorrow will be more office work, but I really don’t mine. I’m still not feeling 100% right now, so it is nice to have some down time (no two hour hikes).

I am surprised how relieved and happy I am to be back in the village. I was only gone 4 days, but it seems much longer. It is a much faster pace and really loud in the “city” (if you can call Mokono that, it is really just one strip of road that has supermarkets, shops, and an internet café).

I am glad to be “home.” I was really homesick over the weekend (I think it comes with being sick), and I still am, but I have come to realize that this is my home for the next 2 months and then it will never be again, so I am going to try to enjoy it as much as I can while it lasts.