Akatare Days

We have officially been in Uganda for over a month. In the grand scheme of things a month is not a long time, but so much has happened this month. I don’t mean so much in terms of, like, things actually happening. Honestly, I spend a significant amount of time here just sitting and waiting. Rachel wrote about waiting last week so I’m not going to do that all over again, instead I just want to write a little about what life is like for us here. This week I’ll focus on shopping, maybe next week on our living situation, transportation, or relationships.

The best thing about being in a different culture is that, at least at first, literally everything is new and exciting.

The equivalent of a trip to Safeway is a trip to the fruit/veggie market (akatare in Lukiga). I have never had such an exciting trip to Safeway or Save-on-Foods as every trip to the market is here. Kabale is a pretty small town- we’re talking one main street and a few side streets- but it happens to be the center for all the villages in a two hours radius so it can get pretty busy. The veggie/fruit market is pretty huge and, unfortunately, surrounded by butcher shops. There’s nothing quite like smelling fresh(ish) meat while you’re on your way to purchase veggies.

At the market we can purchase tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, beans, dodo (like bitter spinach), pumpkins, onions, garlic, ground nuts, watermelons, mangoes, apples, green oranges, pili-pili (hot peppers) and passion fruit (my personal fav). You never quite know what you’ll find at the akatare but these are the basics. It’s a vegetarian’s dream and if you love farmer’s markets or you’re a fan of ‘buying local’ you can be pretty sure that everything you can find was grown nearby.

 For those of you who have trouble making decisions this is probably not the place for you because there are 30+ people selling the same things. Good luck deciding which tomato is the perfect tomato. Not only that, most items are sold by the kilo so you better choose carefully because a kilo of green beans happens to be quite a few green beans. Rach and I have started making shopping lists just to avoid the fresh off the boat look of not realizing that a whole kilo of peppers is waaay too many peppers for just the two of us until they're packaged and we're trying to fit them into our bags. (Not that that has ever happened ;).

Photo: Just found this artwork at a market in Kampala. We are here for the weekend to get Rach drugs (it's a pretty unfortunate story) and I figured I might as well do a little shopping while we're here.... and eat some mexican food and take a hot shower. City life yo. Gotta love it.

Making a Home

Bushara Island is home to 80+ species of birds. One of these species is the weaver bird. I’m not a huge birder but these guys are awesome. On the occasional morning when I wake up early to catch a little extra quiet time I like to go and sit on one of the docks and watch them build their nests. They build their nests to be fully covered with a tunnel-like entry. There’s one nest I’ve been watching for almost the entire two weeks I’ve been here and they’re still working on it.

Building a house takes time, and we expect it to take time, but building a home also takes time. I’ve been working on making this house and island into a home since the day we arrived and there is still a long way to go. I’ve hung photos on the walls (most of which have fallen down), placed notes and cards from friends on my windowsills and swept the spiders out of the corners of my room but this isn’t home yet.

This island will be home when I stop second-guessing every other word that comes out of my mouth, wondering if I’ve said something culturally unacceptable. It will be home when I can speak enough Rukiga to confidently greet my co-workers who don’t speak English. It will be home when I feel comfortable enough to let loose.

The hugs I received from the kids at church yesterday, the greetings I’ve already learned, the already familiar laughs and smiles, the battery-powered Christmas lights hanging over my bug net, the constant sound of birds, and the bag of guava a co-worker gave us. These are the things that are already making this island into my home.

I’ve learned this lesson before. No matter when or where you move it’s going to be hard. Community takes time to form and every place is different. I think I’m finally starting to learn to embrace the process. It’s messy and often unpleasant but the end result is fully and completely worthwhile. It’s worth fighting through the discomfort of moving and meeting new people because it always ends with another place and group of people to call home. It always ends with a heart that has been stretched and, as a result, has grown.

Photo: This is the one of five docks on Bushara Island and by far the best for swimming. The Island you can see across the water is Bwama Island. It's owned by the Anglican church and houses two schools, a church, the agroforesty plot where Rachel works and a medical clinic that you can see on the far right of this photo. Bwama Island is one of the biggest islands on Lake Bunyonyi and used to be a leper colony. My goal is to be able to swim there and back by the time we leave... it's further than it looks.

Comfortable (UB#5)

I struggle with is patience. I am constantly waiting for the next step in my life. Whether that is a semester abroad, a trip to Europe, graduation from Uni, or some other life event. The very fact that I am looking forward to these things is not bad in itself, however, the fact that this waiting comes out of a lack joy in the present. "Impatience is experiencing the moment as empty, useless, meaningless. It is wanting to escape from the here and now as soon as possible.” When I am constantly thinking about the future it reflects a lack of ability to appreciate the present.

This is the part of my ‘Uganda experience’ where my daily life is becoming routine.

I woke up this morning and thought to myself, 'wow, this feels normal.'

The roosters crowing outside my window. The soft noise of 70 girls in one hall waking up and preparing for the day. The cold shower that takes my breath away every morning. The fact that I walked into class just barely on time.

I've been here over seven weeks and this was probably the first day that I woke up just feeling comfortable. Since arriving here there has been marked progression towards feeling at home. I almost don’t want to be comfortable here because I don’t want to start focusing on the future. No matter where I am, I want to be patient in the way I view my time.

Below are a few photos that probably wont make it to fb... sorry for the poor quality. My camera battery died so my nikon is out of order right now :(

Salad Sunday (aka. What we do when we feel like we need veggies or we might die)

This is Johanna, my practicum supervisor's beautiful baby girl who I get to see every Tuesday and Thursday!

This is what happens when you try to use technology in a village that doesn't even have electricity. Part of my practicum involves engaging in community workshops on various topics including child sacrifice and health.

Sometimes we go to schools and while my supervisor has meetings about starting anti-child sacrifice clubs I 'teach' the kids... still not sure exactly what I'm supposed to be teaching. But whatevs... its fun :)

This is what community workshops usually look like... there were supposed to be 60+ people here. But it rained so... you know.

This is Rose. She helps with pretty much everything at EACO (Empower and Care Organization... the organization I'm interning with). She is super great.

Student led trip to Kampala... this is pretty much the only photo I took... but we went to an international festival, ate Indian food, and went to the American grocery store. It was a pretty great day.

This is Emmy (my practicum supervisor) and Johanna. I'll have spent over 100 hours with these beautiful ladies by the end of the semester.