Many thoughts jumbled together

I have been cut off from the world for far to many days- damn power and "The Rains" knocking out the internet!


An Average Day in for Michelle in Uganda:

5:50 am:
Turn on headlamp
Search floor for frogs, lizards, mice, rants, and other creatures
6:00 am:
Scale fence at Pece Stadium
Run 2-3 miles (FYI- I only do this if I have a buddy- I’m to much of a chicken to
both break into a building and run in the dark alone)
7:00 am:
Shower, i.e., wipe body down with baby wipes
7:30 am:
Leave for work via boda
Pay for my life as I race down bumpy, congested dirt roads.
8:20 am:
Arrive at work
Wipe entire body down in baby wipes… again
8:40 am:
Begin “teaching” a class that started at 8:20
8:40-5:00 pm:
Continue to “teach,” play solitaire, sit under trees, read, etc.
*1:20: Eat a spoonful of white rice for lunch
Attempt to focus through my starvation
Hide behind a tree and shove a power bar in my mouth
5:30 pm:
Arrive at St. Jude’s Orphanage to play with babies ☺
5:35 pm:
Covered in baby pee, pooh, snot, slobber etc.- but don’t care since the babies are so freaking awesome!
Plot how I am going to smuggle a whole orphanage of babies home!
7:00 pm:
Finally get home.
Eat dinner (fruit, rice, maybe a power bar or beef jerky- yum)
8:00 pm:
Get ready for the next day
9:00 pm:
Fall into bed
Put in earplugs since I don’t actually have a bedroom and I sleep in a partitioned off section of the living room.

Wowza… I’m working my ass off and loving every minute of it, well maybe not every minute but at least ¾ of every minute.


Miscellaneous….

Teaching my teacher (Angeline)

I “attempted” to teach my partner teacher how to format some basic documents in MS Word. She hasn’t EVER used a computer. It was difficult. I tried to give oral directions and also show her step-by-step directions on another computer but inevitably I just ended up pushing her out the way and “doing” the work for her… We eventually just played computer solitaire.

Power and Football

The power has been out here a lot this year…rumor has it that the “city” shuts it off to store it up for the world cup gamers. It sounds ridiculous but the power seems to miraculously turn back on just before a game starts. Priorities… football over daily electricity.

I found my Boda

I found “my” boda driver! We get each other. He kind of speaks English and wears a sports coat, which gives him mad credibility. He drives at a pace that I’m comfortable with and I don’t fear my life for the entire ride (just a portion). I fancy our relationship to that of the creepy flying creature and the Na’vi from Aviator. Once you find one another you are bonded for life… or at least 6 weeks.

Thank you universe

Sometimes the universe answers! After almost two weeks of going without a break… and no break in sight the sky opened up and dumped monsoon like rains from the sky. When it rains in Gulu town life stops. So I stopped. Thank you Universe- it was a much needed break.
****On a side note: The rains ruined “the network” so I can’t actually post the blogs that I have been writing.


Who am I?

I don’t what it is about this place that makes me cheap. I argue and haggle with everyone in town over literally 25 or 50 cents. I walked home at midnight the other night because all the boda drivers in town were trying to charge me 1000 (50 cents) shillings to get home and I KNOW it should only be 500 shillings (25 cents). How dare they try to charge me munu prices, I want Acholi prices. I spend a ridiculous amount of money on ridiculous things in the States but for some reason here I can’t justify spending for than two or three dollars on anything!

I also don’t fear the creatures here as much as I do at home. There are toads, mice, and maybe a rat living in my house. I see them scurry, run, and hop by and I don’t even flinch. In the morning- flocks of bats circle over head- I don’t mind. Creepy dogs scamper past me and I don’t scream or run to the other side of the road. Spiders in the latrine… whatever, if they don’t mind my pee then I don’t mind them!

D-Bags in G-Town

The power is out, the Internet is down, and the rain is coming down with a vengeance so I have been forced to take shelter in a local café while I wait out the storm. Other Americans are also taking cover… “Other” Americans in Gulu are…interesting, mostly full of ego and bravado believing that whatever they are doing in Gulu is better than what you are doing. They are more self-sacrificing, more giving, their organization is more reputable, or they are here to spread the word of Jesus- barf! Well, as I type I am forced by sweet Mother Nature to spend an undefined amount of time with a super d-bag. He lived here for over a year- ummm… I’m so impressed with his level of sacrifice. I also love his awesome use of Acholi terms and expressions. It impressed me on so many levels when he asked me what my program (agenda) was, and used the popular Acholi terms “it’s okay” and “you’re welcome” (these terms have a different connotation here), and I almost bowed down to his profound connection to the culture when he used his eyebrows to positively respond to a question rather than using words like the rest of us lowly westerners. It was almost like a quiz. Will this summer only mumu know what it means when I raise my eyebrows? He also had just spent time in another African community; helped build Invisible Children, and did so many other radical things (read with heavy sarcasm)! I hope he stumbles across my blog because he needs to know that he is a D-bag, braggart, ego monster who is super lame! And he is a ginger so…