The More You Give

I still have 3 photo essays to finish up and I need to pack, but I just wanted to say a few words quickly.

I'm not sure if people know this or not, but I'm pretty bad at getting rid of clothes.  I don't buy new clothes so often, but even when I do, I struggle to give away old ones, because "what if they come back in style? then it's a waste to give them away." Or I just become attached and have too many memories with an article of clothing, or any other number of reasons.  Basically, I'm just not good with change.

This morning we did laundry to wash the clothes we wanted to give to the women, as well as do our final wash of our own clothes that we'll need for the next week.  When I started packing up the clothes to bring with me to Namatala, I decided to take some of the ones I'd been planning to keep.

After giving the women some snacks (including some treats like ice cream) and photos which they really appreciated and loved, we set all of our clothes on the table to let them pick.  I have never been so happy to give clothes away.  I'm so glad I decided to add to the pile.  Seeing the smiles on the women's faces, even if the clothes don't fit them, most of them are tailors, and will find use for the fabrics.  I have more clothes at home, and these women will find more use for them than I will.

Marjani then added her shoes to the pile, as did Kaliya and Jessica.  Toward the end, I realized that the only other time I'll want my shoes is when I come back here, and by then I'm sure I can get another pair.  I gave them to Peace, who I don't think would be able to afford the sturdy sandals I had.  When I walked out of the school room, all of the kids commented on how I was barefoot, and you know what? I was proud.  I gave my shoes to a good friend who needs them more than I do.  I have 3 other pairs of shoes with me here, and who knows how many at home.  If Ugandans can walk around barefoot every day, I think I can make it one afternoon.

Susan, Mary, Lofisa, Peace, Sarah, and Hadijjah sifting through our clothes

I Learn Something New Every Day

I just read an article about breastfeeding in public in the States.  It's kind of funny reading it here, since here it's no issue.  If a baby is fussy, the mom picks him up and feeds him, no matter where she is.  She doesn't use a blanket to cover or anything.  Whether in prayer services, at work, during a conversation, during a meeting, if the baby is hungry, it eats, and the mother has no shame.  It's just a part of life and no one thinks twice.

Anyway I've been pretty busy these past few days.  Thursday and Friday we gave both groups of women the receipts for how much money we paid them (we put it in the bank for them).  It was awesome seeing their reactions, the new group apparently wasn't expecting as much as we gave them (they expected less than half of what we paid).  Along with the receipts we gave them business plans that Stephanie wrote up based on the information they've been telling us during the classes.  Mary was so appreciative and said how having the business plan will help her remember to keep at it, even if it seems hard, as it will help her keep an eye on her goals.  It was great hearing that.

From top L: Jovia (the baby), Susan, Beatrice (a social worker intern), Hadijjah, Jack, Mary, Peace, Chanel, Sarah, Betty (another social worker), Hope (the baby), Lofia

Bottom L: Pelin, Marjani, Stephane, Jessica, Kelsey

(The photographers are missing in this photo, we plan to take one Tuesday with everyone)

Pelin brought her laptop to work Thursday, and she was editing videos.  She showed Hadijjah some of the videos of her family, and Hadijjah and Susan thought it was great! Hadijjah didn't even want to walk away for an interview, even though she sees her family every day, but seeing them on screen is better.  She asked if it was like a small tv, and we said yes.  Even for their interviews, we mic them, which is fun, as they all laugh and don't really understand what's going on but just trust us and do what Kaliya or Pelin tells them.

Hadijjah and Pelin

A few language things: Thursday afternoon some of the kids at Child of Hope asked me what "What's up?" means... and I learned how difficult it is to describe what "slang" or "cool" are.  I did manage to tell them that it's like asking how are you, but I couldn't describe the rest.  They also asked my tribe, and I didn't know how to say I have no tribe without them being confused, and they wouldn't believe me that my language is English.

A photo one of the kids took

Veronica also taught me the word "mukwano".  She kept calling me that so I finally asked what it meant, and apparently it's friend (in Luganda).  She also told me she wanted to bring me a chicken to bring home, but I told her we're not allowed to bring them... so she said she'll make me a necklace instead.

Friday morning we went to Mary's, hoping for pictures of what she does around the house, since she doesn't have a business yet, so I wanted to photograph her every day life.  Instead, we got there and her husband, Max, decided to show us around, which turned into a 3 hour walk (thank goodness I'd thought to put on sunscreen just in case, as it was HOT).  None of us were quite in the mood for a 3 hour walk, but I will admit what we did was pretty cool.  (All we did see was Mary cleaning the house with cow dung, which apparently is the world's best natural cement)

We stopped by a place where they grind cassava to make cassava flour, which is what Mary plans to sell, so it was actually pretty useful.  Towards the end of our trip we also stopped by the actual place she plans to grind it and sell it from and store it, and we met her boss.

Jessica and Max

We also went to the sewage, where all the sewage collects in one "pond" and then it filters into the next and next, four total until it is almost clean and then goes through streams to get to Lake Victoria in Jinja.  It was a bit weird to see, but they keep it pretty clean.  And all around are grown lots of crops since it's such fertile land.  Child of Hope even grows its own rice, though they plan to make the plot of land into a pond for fish after they harvest the rice so they can feed the kids fish instead of always giving them beans.

Jessica and Max walking between the sewage- on the left is when the sewage first comes in, the right is after one round of filtering

The man who proposed to me (right next to the sewage, how romantic) but said he was a Christian but wasn't saved and asked if that was an issue.... He proposed by asking "can I marry a mzungu?" and pointing straight at me, I thought to say "Sure, just not this one' but thought that'd be rude, so instead said I was too young

Max then brought us to a government school (public school), where two of his kids go.  They didn't end up being in at the time, but it was interesting seeing the school.  Apparently a normal class can have 100 students to 1 teacher, since they've grown so much.  Just like us, though, all of the classes are mixed girls and boys, and they teach basically the same subjects we do, including art, phys. ed., and music.  They also had pretty inspirational signs around (as do most schools we walk by).

We went by police stations (which you'd never guess until you read "Police" on the motorcycle), a prison, a slaughterhouse, people making local brew, people drinking local brew in bars (we sat at one for a while but refused offers to drink-- also remember it was like 10 am).

We learned that they make local brew from different sources, with maize being less strong than from millet.  On another note, we learned that the government plans to build new roads, which will end up knocking down numerous houses and businesses, and the people will just have to find other homes and land.

I'm not sure if I've explained before, but Namatala has multiple cells/zones within it (maybe 3? I'm not positive).  Each has its own councilmen/peacemakers, and leaders.  I'm not sure I understand the borders and all that, but they exist.

We also went to the train station.  The train apparently runs to South Sudan, and has started up again, so far only carrying goods.  It comes by Mbale Wednesday mornings (though we've never seen it).  They're hoping to start a passenger train eventually as well, but even the goods train is good since it helps business.

I am currently reading a book about Haiti, and realize that much of what she describes is what I've tried saying about Uganda and the people here, only the author says it much more eloquently.  Maybe I'll throw in a few quotes sometime.

Overall, it was an exhausting but very educational trip, and we finally said we needed to leave because we had to get to work (all true).

After work Marjani and Jack took us out and gave us popsicles.  Talk about an amazing treat! We've all been craving ice cream for who knows how long so it was perfect.  Pelin, Jessica, Avery and I also played a game of pool (on a small table with the balls just 2 colors) and Avery and I won! (after a very long game that by the end we all just wanted SOMEONE to win).  It was a great day for an outing after work though, we all deserved it.

The only issue ended up being that it started storming, and after a while of trying to wait it out, we finally decided to brave it and head home.  It was AWFUL.  Marjani gave us all scarves to try to protect ourselves.  Chanel and I hopped on a boda, me squished between her and the driver.  I had the scarf mostly covering my arms and then also over my head, but thankfully it was thin so I could see out to be sure to tell the driver where to turn.  I was huddled against the driver, and Chanel was huddled against me, trying to block our faces and just giving in to the fact that our clothes would soak through.  Thankfully Chanel had the idea to pay the driver before we left, so we wouldn't have to stand in the rain searching for money (it was also getting dark).  When we got to our turn, the driver said he was out of gas... aka we had to walk the rest.  We hopped off and started running, with people under overhangs watching and laughing.  I gave up on keeping my head covered, more worried about my arms which were freezing.  We arrived back in the casa dripping, and Aisha provided us with towels to dry off.  It was quite the evening.

Unfortunately, after all that, dinner was not enough that evening, and we all were still hungry, but most of us had no interest in braving the rain to get more food.  Some ended up heading out, but I just stuck to the biscuits that Max had bought for us that morning.  We also discovered that the donuts that aren't so great actually taste heavenly when you dip them in nutella, almost like real chocolate iced donuts.

Today was pretty uneventful, lots of reading and we went to the pool at Mbale Resort (a good price and a much better pool than Mount Elgon Hotel).  I actually swam which I haven't done since arriving.
Annette, one of the women, came for dinner, which was nice.  I think she was slightly overwhelmed, but I bought her a soda and she seemed to like the food.  She left quickly, but we think she had to be home in time to feed her kids.

Tomorrow I'm finally heading to Nabugoye with Avaran to go visit one of the conservative Jewish communities.



7/21

Sunday morning we finally headed out to Nabugoye Hill, probably about the same distance as Putti but a different direction.  On the way we passed Hadassah Primary school.  When we got there we saw a group gathered, turns out they study Talmud every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday morning.  They wrapped up just as we arrived, and I met Rabbi Gershom, the rabbi of the community.

This community seems more established than Putti, with an already functioning clinic and lots of buildings.  A guy named Samson showed me around.  Turns out he's from Kenya but came here to help connect the communities.  He said next time I come maybe he can bring me to Kenya to see the community there.

First he showed me the synagogue, which generally gets around 200 for a typical Shabbat morning.  The building isn't big enough, so some have to sit outside.  Apparently they hope to build a bigger synagogue to accommodate everyone.  They mostly use the Sim Shalom siddur, but I don't think they have quite enough (they also pass on some books to some of the other conservative synagogues in Uganda-- he named them all for me but I don't remember).  They also have the Torah translated into Luganda so that people can understand even if they don't speak English, which was really cool to see (I'm not sure if it was translated by missionaries though... I also learned from it that Eseza, a name we've heard, is the same as Esther).

In addition to the synagogue, they have a computer room, where they teach people to use computers, and it also doubles as a library for Jewish books.  There is also a clinic, the Rabbi's house, and a secondary school, where Samson goes.  He explained to me that you can do 4 years, like high school, but if you do 2 extra, advanced, years, you can go to college for less time, and decrease the tuition you need to pay.  Also, I'm pretty sure here the secondary school is separated by gender.  There's also a beautiful guest house, with a little gift shop.

On our way back, we stopped by a place where we'd heard music coming from (Samson knew what it was but I didn't).  It turns out there are a lot of orphans who live on Nabugoye Hill.  For now they are placed with families, but they are planning to build an orphanage. In the meantime, to distract them, they have taught the kids traditional music and dance.  It was fun watching them, as they practiced for a graduation ceremony later that day.  Overall it was a really nice visit and I hope next time I come I can spend a Shabbat there (maybe I'll switch back and forth between there and Putti).

When we left we went to Miryam's house in Namatala.  I hadn't been there before so it was nice seeing where she stays, and eating her cooking (I also had porridge which was really good).  We also stopped by Tarphon and Ruth's to say hi.  I think their baby is starting to get used to me, she even let me hold her for 5 seconds without crying.  One of the neighbors tried to run away though, scared off by the mzungu (that's me).  I tried asking Avaran why they call us all mzungu, and he said it's because we say "blacks", only the difference he doesn't seem to understand is that's not a term I'd use to address him.

We took Miryam and continued on.  I thought we were heading to Putti, but as usual, we made plenty of stops along the way.  First, we stopped by Miryam and Shira's parent's house, where they grew up (and Miryam sometimes still stays there).  It was nice meeting her family, and we stopped by a few of her sisters' houses too.  We also stopped by the Nasinye? synagogue, another synagogue that I didn't even know existed, where apparently their parents go.  This one apparently gets around 100 people every Shabbat.  Unfortunately it was padlocked, so we couldn't go inside, but I got to peek in which was neat.

I'm not sure why I decided it was ok, but I let Avaran drive me for a bit.  It wasn't too terrifying, except at parts, and he decided to test how fast I'd be ok going, but on the dirt roads we were on I quickly made his stop.  This was the one time I decided I'd use his calling me "government property that I must protect" to my advantage.

When we finally got to Putti, Shira and Enosh were out, but it was nice saying goodbye to the kids.  Avaran decided to leave and told me to stop by on the way out, though I never ended up having a chance.  It was cool while we were there they were dropping off dirt to help with some sort of building for the clinic (which JJ and some other kids were using as a hill to play on and get dirty in).  It's nice seeing progress each time I stop by.

While we were waiting, Miryam finally dished that she has a boyfriend (Moshe, one of the two who was sponsored to go study at Yeshiva in Israel)! She was surprised I didn't know, and told me they've been dating for 9 years I think? And they'll get married after they both finish in school, aka I've got a Ugandan wedding to prepare for!

She found out Shira was actually by his house, so we headed out there so I could say goodbye.  Oh, I forgot to mention, basically everyone I met this day asked if I would sleep at their houses, so I think next time I come I might be house hopping to fulfill all my promises that I'll stay with them all next time...)

I finally learned the greeting they use (I don't remember the name of this language):
Person 1: "Kwaizeyo"
Person 2: "Tuliyo, Kwaizeyo"
Person 1: "Tuliyo"
Then there's more but I don't know how it goes.

So that was most of Sunday, a very nice day.

Monday 7/22

This week is going to be pretty crazy.  Saturday we're leaving Mbale, so all our work is due Friday (hence why it's taken me so long to get this post up).  Monday morning I spent doing lots of work.  We all bought fabric so the women could make us scarves that we'll pay them extra for.  After splitting it up between them, we sat around chatting (since there are only 2 sewing machines).  We learned a LOT.

We discussed death, and they think it's weird how the Indian population burns their dead.  They also told us that they burn old people alive, but we wonder if that might be a rumor that one group starts about a group they don't like so much...

Beatrice, one of the social workers, is very forward and aggressive in her opinions.  She was saying something about Islam, and Hadijjah just sat there and stared.  I kind of wonder what was going through her head, and if Beatrice was right or not, but Hadijjah didn't speak up.  Someone female circumcision was also brought up, with all of the women being strongly against it.  It's interesting since there was actually also an article in the NY Times about it yesterday: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/23/health/report-finds-gradual-fall-in-female-genital-cutting-in-africa.html?hp&_r=0
I'm kind of curious what it would have been like to talk to someone who is actually part of one of the tribes who practices female circumcision.

We also learned that polygamy is not uncommon.  Even one of the women we work with is her husband's second wife.  They're apparently neighbors to each other.  Also marrying outside of your religion is not uncommon, and there seem to be less issues between religions overall.


And finally for today: I'm not gonna say much.  It's been a lot of work today, tons of photos and all.  Also, I bought an ornament and gave it to Veronica, since she loves Christmas.

Alright well we have tons of product shots and edits to do, so I'm gonna go be busy.  I'll try to update again when I can, but I'm not sure when that'll be.

Another Day and a Few Answers

This morning Pelin and I went to Hadijjah's, which was fun as usual.

Then at work Sarah, from Help International, taught us how to make the purses. If only I knew how to use a sewing machine... That'll be the next step.

After work Jessica, Pelin and I went to Betty (the social worker who helps translate for us)'s house.  She lives in Namatala, so we were expecting her house to be similar to that of the women, but it wasn't.  She lives in a house with a walled/gated in yard in which she is able to cultivate crops (mostly maize).  She has a hot plate (though she also cooks on charcoal), a tv and DVD player, and even a FAN.  We had gone in hoping to only stay for a short time, but between the tv and fan (and obviously great company) we decided to stay.  Also, we finally realized that her niece whose name we couldn't understand, hearing "maacee" was actually Mercy.  Glad we got that one covered now.  We taught them some hand games and they showed us one of theirs, and we taught them tic-tac-toe and dots, and we all drew some.  As usual, a nice evening.

On our boda ride back we passed a market that was still open despite the darkness, and each stand had a candle to light it.  It was a beautiful scene and something I've never seen before.

To answer a few questions I've gotten: Just because the women are pretty much done with the products, doesn't mean we're done with our jobs, I still have some photo essays I need to finish up over this next week and a half (everything is due next Friday and that's also our last day with the ladies).  While we continue our work, we will be continuing business classes with the ladies, as well as having them make extra products that we can buy straight from them for ourselves, giving them a bit extra money and giving us some nice gifts to bring home.

And about the Jewish community: Putti is a village of around 400 people, of all religions.  It is about a 20 minute boda ride from Mbale town.  Putti synagogue has around 100 members (not including children), though not all of the members are actually from Putti Village, and they cannot all afford to come every weekend.  Putti synagogue is the only orthodox synagogue in Uganda, though they're trying to start one in Kampala.  They get a minyan basically every Shabbat, and sometimes during the week but not always.  I believe there are 5 conservative synagogues in Uganda, one nearby in Nabugoye (a hill nearby) that I have been trying to visit but have not made it out to.  The Putti community is supported by many, but in particular by Rabbi Riskin, the chief rabbi of Efrat, who donates tfillin, tzitzit, siddurim and chumashim, and lots of Jewish books.  He's visited I'm not sure how many times but it sounds like many.  Others have helped donate the buildings, but I'm not sure their names.

As usual, feel free to ask any questions and I'll try to answer.

Elizabeth's House

This morning most people left early, so it was just me and Stephanie (and Jack but he did his own thing).  We decided we were bored of sitting around, so we headed to some fabric stores (since most of the women are finished with their products, they will be making extra scarves that we can buy from them if we bring them the fabric).  It was incredibly overwhelming, fishing through all of the fabrics, most of which I had no interest in, though there were some great ones mixed in.  Lots of loud colors and some crazy patterns, but some very nice.  I didn't end up buying, since I was feeling indecisive, but it was a good experience.

Medina (who is our chef and works at the Casa) and Stephanie trying on the fabric, wrapping the scarves in African and American style

Around the Casa we talked with Daniel, the artist, who might be making us paintings, which will be fun.  He also asked if I'd visit his village, but I told him I'm not sure I'll have time at this point...

Two paintings by Daniel, done in the hallway

Then we headed to lunch at Kapkwata, where they recognize us by now, and I've become friends with one of the waitresses, Annette.  The guy at the cash register also knows us and always asks how we're doing.

Work was pretty normal.  I finally had a real chat with Annette, one of the women from last year who is much quieter.  It was nice talking with her a bit more and learning more about each other.  Peace was also horribly sick, but refused to go home early despite our telling her she could, and Lofisa was exhausted from having brought people around her village, but similarly wouldn't go (she has Polio and so one of her legs is a bit messed up and walking is tiresome for her).  I had a nice time with Aidah, joking around a bit despite not really speaking the same language.  They've been talking a lot lately about us leaving, and we told Elizabeth we'll be sure to write, and Aidah chimed in "even me" aka "to me too".  They keep talking like we'll forget them, but I have no idea how they could think that.

After work we finally managed to go to Elizabeth's (I was supposed to go Sunday but between not feeling well and crazy time problems I never made it).  Pelin and I went with her to her stall at the market for a while.  It was nice going and just hanging out there, instead of just going to buy food or take photos (I already have PLENTY of market photos, though clearly I took more, but it was nice not having photography be the sole purpose of visiting).  By just hanging around for a while, we had the opportunity to really see Elizabeth in action (and the market as a whole, since it was evening so more people were around buying).  One guy even bought us bananas, the first time someone has bought me food in the market instead of begging me to buy for them, and Hellen, Elizabeth's friend who has a stall nearby, gave us each an orange.  It turns out these oranges are hybrids between orange and lemon, which is the perfect mix of sweet and tart.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth used corn husks to tie together onions to sell, cut cabbage (and let me help, too) and helped customers, measuring rice and selling other crops.  It was fun to watch her really working, and I even gave it a try for a second.  Hellen also had us watch her cook a bit, and Elizabeth described how to make g-nut paste.  It was a lot more fun just hanging around than we'd expected it to be, a nice break after work.

When two of her daughters, Resty and Fiona, showed up, we walked back to her house to meet the rest of the family.  On the way, Pelin asked Elizabeth what this thing that looked sort of like bamboo was.  Turns out it's sugar cane, so we bought some to try.  Back at the house we met the rest of Elizabeth's kids (except for the eldest who lives in the village), and we all shared the sugar cane and took pictures (as usual) and played around.  Sugar cane is AMAZING! Why in the world do we use sugar? There must be some better way, cuz this stuff was great.  It was sort of refreshing, while still being sweet.  We got to take some home but left the rest with the family.

Elizabeth's family is quite interesting.  They have a pretty small house for all of them, 5 kids living with her.  The youngest is a little girl, 1 and a half years old, who someone (Elizabeth says her sister, but again, I'm not sure if it's a sister from her mother or not) left with her 4 months ago, and Elizabeth hasn't heard from her since.  Elizabeth then rents a second house so that her son, who is 18, can live there on his own, so he doesn't have to stay in such close quarters with the rest of the family.

This visit was the perfect end to the day, and tomorrow we're headed back to Hadijjah's house.

Looking out of Elizabeth's house: from L: Elizabeth, Pelin, Fiona, Resty, A neighbor, A friend, Elijah in the doorway partially blocking his brother, Silas, and the friend's son

Dance Party and Back to Putti Village

I forgot to write, Thursday morning Pelin and I went to Namatala early to wander through the market for some footage.  Elizabeth was there (she told us the reason we usually miss her is she leaves around 3 to make lunch for her family and comes back around 5), and apparently she bought herself a scale! That's what she's been hoping her next step would be, to be sure she wasn't accidentally undercharging for rice, and now she has one!  It was so exciting to see!

We then continued walking, and I've known Veronica is building some shops on land she owns so she can rent them out, but today when we walked by we actually saw them building which was pretty cool.  It's crazy how we've just been here for fewer than 2 months and have seen so much progress with our own eyes.

These guys also called us over to photograph them playing a game, they called chess-o which was cool.  It's on a board that looks like a double mancala board, minus the ends.  It is also played with little marble like pieces, but I could not, for the life of me, figure out what was going on.  I photographed for a bit and Pelin recorded, but next time I want to ask them to teach me.

Also, it's crazy how common malaria is. I'm pretty sure Mary has it right now, and Saleh had it, and I think this guy Ibrahim, a Peace Corps worker who usually only stays here on weekends, is around now because he has it too.  I guess good to know it's not as serious as we all make it out to be (as long as you can afford to treat it).

We've been struggling with power and water- Friday morning we awoke to find we had neither.  After Pelin and Kelsey went on an adventure for Pelin to get a haircut and Kelsey to get a dreadlock (which turned out to be 2 in the end), we headed to lunch then Namatala.  The ladies were late, but this time it was kind of a good thing.  It was game day at Child of Hope, with the grades competing against each other.  For those with nothing to do, they had music playing, and all the kids starting dancing.  After watching for a bit, Jessica, who loves to dance, decided to join in, and then Marjani and Jack and I joined the fun.  Avery and Kelsey came in, too.  I can't describe how nice it was to just relax with the kids and have a good time.  While they did laugh at us a bit, they would pull us over to dance with them (and to have me take their photos).  We taught them some of our dances, and they tried teaching us theirs, though how they can isolate different parts of their bodies so well I will never understand.  (Unfortunately, the one day I was in the sun for an extended period of time was the one day I forgot to put on sunscreen and was wearing a tanktop...)

Marjani and Jessica dancing

A photo one boy took of me (but then the kids started fighting for the camera so I took it back)

Kelsey and Avery joining in

I didn't mention, but I wasn't feeling my best either (and I'm sure all that time in the sun didn't help much).  I had scheduled to go back to Putti Village (where the Orthodox Jewish community is) and would have cancelled if I didn't know this was the last weekend I'd be able to go.

Avaran (my friend from the Jewish community who has visited a few times at the Casa), came to tell me he was going to change then would come back.  Sometimes we have miscommunications, though, as he seemed to think I'd call him to come back, whereas I thought he'd just come back for me.  Everyone left and I was left hanging out with Max (Mary's husband/ the security guard) and some of the teachers and kids who hung around... Betty let me borrow her phone and after a while through a roundabout way (calling Shira, the rabbi's wife, to call him) he finally showed to pick me up.

When we arrived Miram, Shira, and JJ (the 3 year old) were there to greet me warmly.  Unfortunately, only a small group showed up Friday night, so we had to skip some prayers since there were not 10 men present.  It was a nice service though, with great singing.  Afterwards, we went and had dinner in Shira and Enosh's house.  Unlike last time, when it was all men inside, Shira sat inside this time, so I felt like I was in the right place.  Most of the conversation took place in their language this time, too, I think because they are more comfortable having me around. It's funny listening and hearing a few English words and a few Hebrew words thrown into the conversation, so I could often get an idea of what they were discussing, but didn't really understand.  Then other times there was nothing I could understand, except maybe a few hand motions, and they would ask me if I could guess what they were talking about. (This happened throughout the weekend)

At some point I figured out that they were talking about the raid on the Entebbe airport by the Israelis after a plane was hijacked and the passengers kept there.  I managed to chime into the conversation and asked if they ever saw the movie.  They said that they've read about it but have never had a copy of the movie, so I'm hoping to send them one when I get home.

Since I wasn't feeling great I tried to get to bed pretty early.  Then, I woke up in what I thought was the middle of the night, and needed to pee (figures since I'd had so much water on Friday).  I didn't want to bother anyone, so I tried staying in bed.  I also heard howling outside, which I thought was their dogs but was nervous was something else.  Finally I couldn't take it (good thing, as when I looked at the clock it was only 11;15 and there's no way I would've made it till morning) and went to leave, but the door was locked and I was scared it would wake everyone when I tried to open it.  I heard Miram coughing so I got her and she opened the door (turns out there was no way to do it quietly so I may as well have just done it myself).  Anyway it was kind of a restless night with not feeling well, and at some point it poured, meaning pounding on the roof.  (Sorry if this story was too much info...)

Saturday morning more people showed, I think around 15 men, 15 women, and around 30 children (I'm still impressed with how the children manage to stay relatively quiet).  There was a little girl sitting in front of me (maybe 6 years old?) and I was showing her where we were, following along in the siddur (prayer book) with my finger, pointing to the words, and she was loving watching, though I don't think she knows any Hebrew yet.  Yay I made a friend! (Though I don't know her name...)

Since it was Avaran's bar mitzvah, he read the first aliyah (section of the Torah), and gave the dvar Torah (talk about the Torah portion).  This one he did in English, which was nice.  Like we do at home, we threw candy at him when he was done, and the men danced around with him as the women sang "Siman tov u'mazal tov", a song of congratulations and job well done.  I'm glad I got to be a part of it and see how they celebrate here, which is not different from how we celebrate at home.  Just like at home, all of the kids ran around collecting the candy we'd thrown and eating it and sharing it.

When services were over and we went for lunch, I knew my place this time, and sat with the women.  I was holding one of the babies, Akiva, and then his mom left and left me with him, so I sat and fed him some sweet potato, until I needed to eat so they just put him on the ground.  It was weird watching him look for food on the ground.  I think he ate a lot of dirt...

The synagogue has more seats now that they got benches (this is an improvement from when I was there 3 weeks ago)

Some of the men played draft, their version of checkers, and then Moses and Yosef (two guys in their 20s I think) decided I had been sitting too long and needed to walk around, so we wandered a bit and chatted about family and hobbies.  Yosef told me in a year he'll come to the states and we'll get married since that's when I finish University.  It's funny how they just say these things.  He also wants me to sing for a recording he's making (he records some music) but I'm not sure that'll happen.

After a while the men had left, so I went over and played some draft with Avaran, finally getting pretty good and winning a few times.  It's interesting how the men and women generally sit separately and talk separately.  It was a nice afternoon, with lots of just listening, and a few walks, escorting people to go to their homes.

I learned that the woman who died was a woman who was part of Avaran's mother's clan, but not actually his grandmother.  Apparently, also the same day, a young boy died suddenly, they are unsure why.  This is the third child of that mother's to die of unknown cause, and it was her last living child.  It's terrifying and incredibly sad that that can happen.  Apparently the custom here is to give some money to the family who is affected, as many visitors come to mourn with them, but they become a burden because the family must then feed them but cannot always afford to.  The money also helps to pay for the coffin, which is another burden on the family.  For some reason Shira thought that westerners are scared of death, which I guess we are, but not in the way she thought.  She seemed to think I wouldn't attend a funeral or visit the family, but I told her I have done all of that at home.  It's often interesting what we are told of one another.  (Another misconception that Yosef told me was that no one in the states lives on farms, they all live in cities and just go to the farms to work).

Sorry to suddenly switch topics, but they also spent quite a while discussing my hair and their hair.  They told me the only way for them to have long hair is with a weave, which is nice since they can change it easily, but they wished they could grow long hair like I do.  With how dry my hair has become out here, I think I see why theirs doesn't grow long.

As evening hit, Enosh and Shira were out, so I spent time with Miram and the kids.  One of the boys was putting together a folder for his school work.  It was interesting to see how he had bought the individual pieces to make a binder, instead of buying the expensive completed one.  We then brought out the draft set again, and I beat Miram at her own game, as she said, the student beat her teacher.  It was a nice evening, they brought out the radio and we listened to music as we sat around chatting and watching people play.  The kids also took my camera and tried using it (it's easier in smaller groups like this).

Miram, me and Avaran

A bunch of the kids (Mose, Moses, Avaran, Raquel, JJ, Aharon, and I forget the last one's name...)

Sunday morning Shira talked to me about how I am like her sister and she must take care of me while I visit her, so if she ever comes to visit I will take care of her.  She kept telling me how I should feel at home and my parents should be comforted that I have another home out here.  She also sent a gift for me to give to my parents.  She took a picture frame off her wall, took out the picture, cleaned it off, and told me I have to give it to my mom. (sorry to ruin the surprise)  Maybe we'll send a picture frame back for her to put that picture in.

On our way back into town, Avaran and I stopped by Tarphon's house (another member of the community who was unable to make it out this Shabbat), and I got to meet his wife, Ruth, and daughter.  They were recently married and gave me a bencher from their wedding.  Ruth is from Nairobe, where they apparently have a much bigger Jewish community.  I had no idea and would be curious to go sometime.  When I asked her how she likes it out here, she said she's getting used to it (but didn't sound so enthused, it must be hard to leave home).  Tarphon is in the process of translating a movie someone made about their community, which I hope to get a copy of when it's finished.

Thankfully Avaran had said we'd leave at 8, since we ended up leaving at 10, and then finally at 12:15 I said I really needed to leave Tarphon's and get home.  (I also really wasn't feeling so well).

Back home we went to the pool, where it turns out they're having troubles keeping it clean so they raised the price from 6,000 to 35,000... aka we won't go there again.  Thankfully we didn't have to pay and could just sit and order food and drinks instead.

Then Jessica and I had to do a quick turn around back to Namatala to visit Veronica.  She was expecting more of us, but unfortunately everyone else was busy.  Betty (a worker at Child of Hope) was there, which we hadn't expected, and another teacher, Ronald, came.  While we waited for Veronica to prepare food (we'd hoped to just come take photos of her family and leave but that's never what happens), we went with her daughter, Shakira, who showed us their land and the kids, and we saw how they make bricks and she taught us to use a hoe.  Then we played some hand games and marbles, and Shakira taught us this thing kind of like a handshake but with your feet.  It was fun but confusing, Jessica got the hang a lot better than I did.

Digging

Playing marbles

Foot game with Shakira

When we went back, Veronica had made us spaghetti with butter and salt (yum!) and a delicious mix of irish (potatoes), matooke (starchy banana things), tomatoes, onions, and herbs.  We had a nice time but were anxious to get back to do our work that was due Monday.

We were still having trouble with power and water, so we worked a while at Mount Elgon Hotel (despite the annoying pool prices).  It's like at the beginning again, when power went on and off pretty often.

Yesterday I really wasn't feeling well most of the day, and it was a pretty normal work day.  We did decide that for our last half week we're going to a group of Islands in Lake Victoria to relax and have a vacation (we'd tried to find cheap safaris but they were all booked and this seemed simplest and like a nice ending).
Then since I wasn't feeling great I tried to get to bed early.

I know it's a fast day, but since I haven't been feeling well I've decided I probably should keep drinking water, just stay away from snacks.  I'm feeling much better today but don't want to risk getting sick again.
 צוֹם קַל to everyone fasting.

It's crazy how quickly everything is wrapping up and we're getting to the end.

Married with Children?

I know I usually write about what I've done, but today I just have some thoughts/questions:

It seems as though it's not so uncommon to have children but not be married... I'm not sure if maybe some of the people we ask have been married before, and that is why they are single mothers, or not.

I've noticed there are many questions, like this, to which I may never get an answer.  Like why we are often greeted with "Well done", despite having done nothing, or why people apologize if you hurt yourself, when they clearly have nothing to do with it (that one makes a bit more sense to me...)

There are also many discrepancies between years and ages/number of years.  For example, we'll be told people are a certain age and born in a certain year, and the two do not always match up.  I wonder if part of that is a cultural thing, if they possibly count age differently, or if they just don't bother keeping track as carefully as we do... it's unclear.

Another cultural difference is in personal space.  It's not much of a thing.  As Beatrice (a social work student who is our translator this week) said, once you are friends you can be free with each other.  Though on the bus apparently you can be as well, as you squeeze way too many people in and practically end up on top of strangers.

This makes dating interesting, as you can be touchy with any friend, so if you like someone, you apparently visit each other's houses a lot, and meet one another's friends.  Then the boy needs to tell the girl he is interested, and then they are dating.  (Christine told us that boys and girls who like each other will also go on lots of walks together).

It is also illegal to have a homosexual relationship, though we learned that sometimes in single sex boarding schools people end up in a relationship, and get in trouble if they are caught.  When Beatrice asked me what I think about same sex relationships, and I responded that people should be able to do what they want, she was a bit shocked, explaining that God does not want it that way.  I think maybe that is the main factor they think about, and can't get past it.

On the other hand, men here will walk around holding hands with each other, and women the same, without it being an issue.  The only issue is if a married man or married woman holds hands with someone of the opposite sex.  I wonder if that is because it is just assumed that they aren't gay, and so why would it matter if they hold hands, it's clearly just a sign of friendship here.  (I remember once I was in Spain and my sister and I were holding hands and someone told us to stop or people would think we were lesbians... clearly we just didn't care).


I think that's about it for today.  Avaran's grandmother died so I'm trying to figure out a bit about what they do here when it comes to death so I can behave appropriately.

My Birthday in Uganda

Work was as usual yesterday.  The rest of the girls made it back from Martha's and joined us, but left a bit early since they wanted to shower and relax, after an exhausting weekend and crazy travels.

Pelin stayed around a bit to go to Veronica's with us, so we headed over (me, Chanel, Jessica, Pelin and Kaliya) (Betty, one of the translators and social workers from the school and Marjani and Jack joined us).  She had made us fish and meat and matooke (I obviously skipped out on the meat), and then milk tea which was delicious and cake (though I didn't have the cake).  We met more of her kids and nieces and nephews, and her sister, who brought me over to their fathers which is apparently a few houses over.  He owns quite a lot of land and buildings, and a lot of the family lives around there, which is nice.  Veronica is one of the few who actually grew up in Namatala, and not in a village elsewhere.

After everyone left, Veronica took me, Jessica, and Betty to her plot of land where she grows produce to sell.  It was awesome to see and she taught Jessica how to pull up the maize (which she also gave us some of).  It was fun being out with her, and impressive how she walked barefoot through her fields.

Jessica trying to pull out a corn stalk and Veronica helping

When we got back to her house it was getting dark, and she asked us in for sodas but we told her we needed to get back... next time.



Today is my birthday!  I'm not really a huge fan of having all the attention on me, I'm generally more into just getting all my friends together, so it's working out nicely here.  We went out to lunch at the place we first tried yesterday, Chat N Chino.  Turns out it's similar to the Internet cafe but BETTER.  They have so many foods from back home and they all taste great! Yesterday I had a mocha milk shake that tastes exactly like hagen daaz coffee ice cream (reminded me of my Grandma Anne, it used to be her favorite).  Today I treated myself to mushroom soup, praying that it would actually be good, since most other soups we've gotten in Mbale have been disasters.  This one was SO GREAT and it even came with a croissant/roll and butter... yum!!

Then work was pretty normal, though I bought myself a necklace I've been eyeing from Aidha as my birthday gift :)

Chanel and I had a nice walk home, and then Avaran stopped by.  He was mad at me for not telling him it was my birthday or inviting him to dinner... I can't really give much excuse except I hate advertising my birthday, and I felt bad about not inviting him to dinner, but I didn't think he'd go to a restaurant (turns out he would've gotten a drink) and he also hasn't spent time with our group much... I feel badly about it though.  I probably should've invited him.

Once he left we all went out to dinner at Delicious Dishes (the Indian place).  Good thing we went when we did since a bunch of westerners showed up after us, and as is it took at least 45 minutes to get our food.  We discovered they have great veggie pasta, a wonderful birthday meal (that I split with Avery).  It was really nice being out for dinner, which we never do.  Everyone chipped in to pay for my meal, too, which was unexpected and really nice of them (I know back home it's more expected, but here...? I dunno)  They also picked me up a brownie which was really nice.

When we got back to the casa Becca gave me a painting that he and Saleh bought for me in town (it also has a photograph of me attached...) It was so nice and really unexpected and kind.

Overall I'd say it was a successful birthday :)  Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and shoutout to Anna (my cousin), Lainie, and Razie who I share a birthday with!! Love you birthday buddies!

An Evening At Mary's and Climbing Sisiyi Falls

Friday all of the ladies were on African time, aka late and at some point we all doubted if they were even coming.  Mary actually showed up before the ladies who were supposed to come, hoping to make me and Jessica, but we told her we couldn't come until after work.

I played with Kodo Elijah a bit while waiting.  He's the little boy (like 3?) who hangs around.  He's in baby school there, which is only in the morning, and then chills for the rest of the day.   Apparently he was left at baby school one day and so one of the staff adopted him. We became friends because of my camera... but I think deep down he likes me for more ha.  Anyway this time I taught him how to use the camera.  He wasn't so good at it, didn't get to look where he was taking a photo, but he figured out at least which button to press, so that's progress.  And for once he said a few words to me which was fun.  I love that kid.

Kodo Elijah

A picture he shot.... he really needs to learn to look through the viewfinder

The ladies finally showed.  They are starting to bring extra products they make for us to buy, which is fun, and they take some requests, too.  Speaking with Martha, I learned that she apparently was a politician, doing education stuff for 10 years! Apparently, though, they only get an allowance and no salary, so she quit to put her kids through school.  It's amazing hearing all about the women and learning more about them every day.

After work, Jessica, Pelin, and I went to Mary's.  Sadly, Jessica and I hadn't learned from the day before, and still forgot raincoats, so we covered up with some of the scarves, which need to be washed and ironed anyway.  Hopefully I won't forget a raincoat again, because unlike in the beginning when we didn't believe Rebecca that it rained all the time, it has become consistent now.

Max, Mary's husband, was thankfully guarding at the school (have I mentioned he is one of the school security guards?) so he found a girl to take us back to his house so we wouldn't get lost.

Mary wasn't home yet, but her daughters from Child of Hope, who we know well and say hi to at school every day were.  It was fun seeing them out of uniform (Merab even wore pants! I was surprised but I guess she's young enough).  Their eldest sister, Christine, was also there, in from the village, which was fun getting to know her.  A bunch of neighbors also came over to say hi.  Slowly more family members trickled in, getting home from school and work.  We met six of Mary's seven kids, the seventh living in the village.  It was great meeting them all,  and we really got to know 4 of them, while one girl was very shy, and the eldest boy disappeared (we met him briefly, left, and then he was gone when we returned).

Jessica and Mary's youngest, Esazalay

Family and neighbors

Mary was later than we expected, we heard two stories, that she had gone to find us, or that her friend was sick (and possibly died?).  We're not positive what happened...

When she finally showed we went with her, and Esazalay (the youngest daughter who goes to Child of Hope), Merab (the daughter I have come to know best, at Child of Hope), and Christine (and some neighbors) to the market to buy food for dinner.  As we know that it is a strain, dinner was on us for the night, so we let them get some treats they would not usually buy, as well as more quantity than usual.  Whenever Mary asked, we just said it was on us.  It was our fault they had to do such a big dinner, so we would pay.  We got matooke (the green starchy banana things), two kinds of fish (dried that you cook), g-nut paste (to cook the fish in), charcoal to cook with, and pre-made chapati (I think that was a bit weird to them... I'm pretty sure they're used to just buying the ingredients and making it themselves, but since it was already so late we figured we'd prefer not to have one more thing to cook).  On our walk we met Mary's best friend, Anna, and also her oldest sister, coincidentally also called Anna, I believe.

Haggling for matooke (we ended up not buying from this lady cuz she was overcharging)

Sidenote, I have noticed that relation terms are hard here.... kids call many adults "aunt" and "uncle", and friends call one another "brother" and "sister", so it's possible we sometimes are mislead on who the family is... usually we can figure it out and eventually sort things out, but there are many times we can be totally wrong.  I think this was a real sister though, as Mary asked if we think they resemble each other.

Back at the house, Max, Mary's husband, and Justin and Raquel, Mary's other two children, along with many neighbors, were waiting for us, and we began cooking (by that I mean Mary and Christine began cooking... Pelin helped a bit peeling matooke while I joked with Max, and Jessica helped a bit to keep the fire going, but I just watched and documented).

Pelin peeling matooke

Jessica watching Mary salt the fish

The camera was probably the star of the night.  Justin watched me and figured out how to take photos, and asked if he could use my camera and then went around taking and showing photos for all the neighbors, family, and us.  With all the flash needed and reviewing each photo, the battery quickly died, so thank goodness for spares.

Christine (Mary's oldest daughter), Aaron (a neighbor), Justin (Mary's youngest son) and me

A neighbor, Jessica, Merab (Mary's daughter), Christine, and Pelin

Dinner smelled AMAZING and Mary served the three of us, saying the rest of them would eat when we were done (no pressure or anything...).  Literally the entire family and all of their neighbors sat and watched us eat.  We had Mary and her daughters sing a bit for us, too, which was cool.  They sang in English, one religious song, and then a song to welcome visitors which was sweet.  Esazaloy (the youngest girl) knew the words best and sort of lead.  It was the perfect evening, full of great conversation, tons of laughs, and delicious food.

Eating dinner (Jessica holding up her almost finished fish)

Successfully finished

Our feast (probably the worst photo of the evening... taken by me... oops): Fish in g-nut paste, chapati, and millet bread

When we finished, Mary, Christine, and Max escorted us back to the main road (which is only about two minutes from their house).  Because it was so dark, they held our hands to be sure we wouldn't fall (they of course could easily see).  When we got back to the Casa it turns out the British netball coaches had left! Great day :)

On Saturday, we knew there was an arts festival a few blocks away.  We went over around noon to check it out, only to see that they, too, were on Africa time (really puts things into perspective... I thought my family tends to be late to things but by Africa time we're BEYOND early).  After that fail we headed back to the casa and I sat in the hall reading and watching the painter paint murals onto the wall.  It is beautiful now, really adds character to the place.

Painting the wall (straight on, no canvas)

The whole room downstairs (Pelin, Kelsey, Avery and Stephanie) plus Meredith left for Martha's village.  (We were all supposed to go, but realized that even though Martha said it would be nice, it might actually be a real burden, so the rest of us stayed behind, back to the group we had at the beginning before the other girls arrived).  We found out last night that the 2 hour ride Martha had promised was in fact 5 hours (essentially the same as going back to the airport), and by the time they planned to leave last night Martha was worried they wouldn't find a car, so they stayed an extra night.  Knowing Martha, who is not the type to miss things like this, we've got a feeling she'd planned for them to stay two nights and just didn't tell.

Once they left, Freddy, a Ugandan guy we'd met toward the beginning of our trip who is friends with Rebecca (and all of Mbale) and who works for the radio station (he's the guy who tried to set us up with the newspaper) showed up at the casa and told me we should come to the festival around 4, since there would be cultural music and dancing.  I'm not sure why we still haven't learned, but Jessica and I went right at 4.

First of all, the street was now blocked off, and you needed to pay 1000 shillings to get in (about 40 cents so still not bad).  We also couldn't tell if there was a line, and waited for a bit, before we noticed that people seemed to be standing in line but lots of others were just going around them, so we finally went around, too.  It also was maybe a block long, which we'd expected some huge art event, a bit more like the trade show we went to...  We were wrong.

We ended up wandering into the few shops within the area blocked off, and then finally decided to take spots so we'd be able to see once it finally began.  This singer, Sydney I think was her name, was doing a sound check.  She apparently was one of the main events for later in the night.  It was fun being able to see her since we wouldn't be there long.  She was great, though I really didn't like her male backup singer.  We then saw a rap group which was awesome, also doing their sound check.  Finally, around 6, the show began.  Now, we'd been standing in the same spot for at least an hour, and had even sat down on the ground, with people seated in chairs behind us.  Some girls decided we were their friends, and were explaining to us what was going on.  Then, when it was just starting, people came and stood in front of us, so we stood up and the people in chairs behind us got mad, but what do you want? We couldn't see anymore!  Despite the frustration of losing our perfect spots, it was a cool performance.  Cool singing and dancing, awesome instruments and costumes... it was fun to watch (at least the bits I could see between people's heads).  The girls by us explained some of the lyrics (which I now don't remember).  It was pretty short though, and we ended up leaving around 6:30.

Despite the frustrations, it was fun going and worth it.  It's cool seeing the cultural dances and hearing the singing in person.

Sunday morning we got up and after a slow start (we were supposed to leave but then the car was in use so we had to wait...), Marjani, Jack, Kaliya (Marjani's sister), Jessica and I got in the car with Becca and headed out to Sisiyi Falls.  There's a famous waterfall called Sipi, and this is the one on the way, a bit of an easier hike, but still beautiful so we figured we'd try this one first.

Where we started...

Our guide, named Ronald, and his friend Isaac, showed us the way.  First we stopped at a place below the falls, where we could look up at it.  

Jessica, Me, and Becca

There were these awesome trees growing on rocks, with the roots hugging the boulders.  There are also guest houses there which is cool.  We thought we'd begun our hike, but it turns out you can't get to the top that way, so we had to backtrack down and then go back up a different route.  

Not actually the hike... next to the cool trees

There were lots of rocks along the way, but it was an easier hike than Mount Wanale (did I mention that what we thought was Mount Elgon was in fact Mount Wanale, and locals think of all these as just foothills of Mount Elgon, which you apparently have to camp out on since it takes so long getting to the top.  Also it costs money to climb Mount Elgon...)

Once we got to the top, they were making big vats of local brew up there.  The view was beautiful and we could see where the water was falling from.  (This one was not the kind of place where you could swim though).

Jack and Marjani crossing sticks to start the real hike

Local brew

That's where we came from!

Jessica and me

The sky was getting darker and it was clearly prepared to rain.  Ronald told us we should be on the move again, and this time the pace was quick.  There was no way we'd beat the rain.  It started drizzling, sometimes raining, definitely wet, and the way became slippery.  Isaac went in front of me to help me and show me where to step.  There was one part where we had to climb down a vertical rock... that was a fun one.  A few parts I just slid down, and Isaac taught me that the grass was strong, so you could hold a few pieces as you moved to steady yourself if there weren't trees around.  If he held on, I knew I'd have to.  A few parts I even sat down (I didn't fall, I chose to sit, and no, I'm not lying) despite the mud that ended up on the seat of my pants... Didn't think about that at the time.  By the time we reached the bottom, we were all covered in mud, except for Jack.  It looked like he didn't even come with us... not sure how he managed that.  It was well worth the hike, and I didn't come out with any major injuries this time! (Just a small cut on my finger like a papercut from some of the grass)

My new friend Isaac and me (yes, that's mud on my head... oops)

Finger painting or hiking?

Muddyyyyyyyy

I'm glad Marjani and Jack made this plan, since we've been discussing it since the beginning of our trip and nothing had happened yet.  Maybe when some of the other girls do Sisiyi Falls we'll try out Sipi... we'll see.

When we got back the other girls informed us they would have to stay an extra night... now despite their early start, it sounds like they only just got on the bus... not sure what's happening there.

I know I keep talking about potholes, so here's finally a picture:  

 And just a sign: