My First Days!!

May 20

This is the first time that I have had a chance to blog, sorry everyone! The flight over was normal, nothing too crazy happened. Some minor mistakes include standing in line for a terminal in Heathrow for an hour to realize that I was in the wrong terminal line, I left my passport at the security check point in Doha, and I sat in the Entebbe airport for 7 hours waiting for everyone else to arrive. At the airport I became very good friends with the taxi drivers and little children running around (mainly because they loved my Phillies pillow pet). The first night in Uganda we stayed in Hotel Zebra. I was alone in my own room and had to take a sleeping pill to fall asleep because of a football match between two Ugandan districts was on and everyone was out celebrating the Masaka district winning. The next day we we were going to meet our host families. So there is another Maggie intern in the group and we knew having the same name would cause some sort of problem. So when we arrived at the first house they told me that it was my family. I got out of the van, met my family, sat down and talked, gave them my thank you gifts, and even unpacked when the FSD workers came back with the van. They told me that they had mixed up the Maggies and I was with the wrong family. It was a very stressful moment when they gave me 2 minutes to pack everything back up, say goodbye to the woman I already loved, and had to meet my new family. When I finally met my family, I was tired but still excited. My host family has a chicken coop bigger than most houses back in the United States! It holds over 8,000 chickens and is three stories high and I can’t even see where it ends. They were very shy and barely spoke to me, it was extremely awkward. I do have two little kids that are fsacinated with everything I have and what I do. The little boy insisted that he tried everything (so he had to eat a tum, some gum, use deodorant, put on sunscreen and hydrocortisone, look at my earrings, and drink some Vitamin C). They LOVE my pillow pet and want to play with it all the time but I had to explain that it cannot go outside because I sleep on it. They are adorable! My host father immediately asked me questions about my studies at the University in America and told me I probably had a lot of money. I then tried to explain to him how the government and universities help students to pay for tuition if they are smart and showed that they needed assistance. He still insisted that I needed to change studies to be an engineer or an economist and that because I was rich, I could get all of those degrees. My parents then wanted to take me to town so shop at the market for food. They own a car so they decided to drive but said they had to get something fixed on the car real quick. We left at 4 and I sat in the car at this repair place until 10. It was interesting and exhausting. I was not only tired and on the verge of falling asleep but I was sweating to death in that car! When we got home I could not even think about eating dinner but they insisted I watch tv and drink coffee until food was ready. They turned the tv on to an African version of American Idol where one of the contestants sang Thriller but instead of singing the line ‘Thriller’ he sang ‘Save Life’. Right when I thought I could not keep my eyes open any longer, dinner was ready. We sat down and the Ugandan’s LOVE their carbs! They have Matoke (mashed banana like plants), Irish Potatoes, pasta (which they call something else but I can never remember), beans, maize, chopped cabbage, avocado (which they do all the time because I told them how much I love them). For breakfast though, there is fresh Mango, Pineapple, and bananas because they are all in season! When I told my host family that I was a vegetarian they looked at me like I was crazy and said ‘well, at least you eat chicken.’ When I told a family that owns 8,000 chickens that I still don’t eat chicken, they insisted that I MUST try their chicken eventually because it is the best without any ‘bad things’ in them. I have been thinking about it, but its a tough decision to eat meat after not eating it for so long. 

Monday, the 21st, was just an orientation day into Ugandan culture and language. We also had to purchase cell phones and Wi-Fi (which is kinda expensive so I still will not be on the internet a lot unless I buy more minutes). I also experienced my first Boda Boda ride! They way that People in Masaka travel is through a Boda Boda which means motorcycle. You sit on the back and have to balance yourself to not fall off and you must never grab the driver. I was terrified, especially because it was raining very hard, but it was actually very easy because they drivers are sooo good at balancing and driving. I did, however, walk home because one Boda Boda ride a day is enough haha. Today I played Soccer, or Football, with a bunch of guys and they just laughed at me the whole time. We were playing chicken but the Muzungu (white person) was never allowed to be the chicken because it wouldn’t be fun because I was so bad. I thought I could keep up and when I did something well they would all make fun of the kid that I was playing against. Dinner is always the same and my host mother insists that I eat everything. She tries to stuff me full of carbs all day! I REALLY need to figure out a running route. 

So far everything has been a little stressful and awkward moving in and meeting my family for the next 2 months. Everyday it is getting better and I am sure by the end of the trip I will feel totally comfortable. I will blog more when I can. I hope everyone at home is safe and having a nice summer. I miss you all and love you more!