Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Leaving Uganda 2/25/09

What a day today has been. We had to go through the same exit process as if we had been here for two years. I think the Peace Corps is the most organized organization I have ever been a participant in, ever. They took such good care of us and all the way have been caring, considerate and understanding. Steve and i have brainstormed so many ideas. What does one do when one thinks about fulfilling a dream and then the dream must change? It is kind of fun to think that everything is taken care of for us and we can go, go, go! We are first going to see our kids and grandkids and moms, maybe rent a place on the Cape for a month and then go to Labrador for a two month car trip, a trip we have always wanted to take. Two seniors silverheads off to who knows where.
If anyone is ever interested in coming to work in Uganda, they could use all of us. Today we went to the B'Hai Temple, a journey on a dirt road that made the Prosper Road in the worst of three combined seasons look grand. This country needs roads, food, balanced diet and so many health and personal welfare issues. Steve and I are thinking about an idea already. Sula Bulungi....Good Night in Lugandan language and yes, we had awesome language training from marvelous teachers in very small groups.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The adventure continues 2/24/09

Steve and I decided to return home. The Peace Corps wants the volunteers to be very certain about their two year commitment to service. Their process for this is streamlined and comprehensive. During the training they meet with the PCTs to be certain of their commitment. It became very clear to me once I got here that I could not commit to two years, that being away from family and our mothers was too much (and even Amanda). After many hours of tears and soul searching and consultation, we both decided to leave. It would not be fair or appropriate to say we would stay and then leave perhaps after one year. So we will be returning to the states on Thursday.
What we do next is part of the adventure. We have not yet figured it out. We think we are going to find an adventure stateside for the next three months after reuniting with moms and kids and grand kids and friends and then go from there.
This adventure nevertheless has been incredible. We went to a wedding and a 50ith wedding anniversary party on Saturday and Sunday. We danced, made speeches, met so many incredible people, made new friends and lived among the Ugandans. What an experience. We will be happy to see you upon our return, to share what we learned, and to regroup.
Hasse and Steve

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Hello from Wakiso/February 22, 2009

Today I gave a sermon at St. Jude's Church. It was impromptu but what I said, said it all. When Jacob fled from his mother's house to his cousin Laban, which was in a different place with different cultural values, his mother told him to learn new ways but not to forget his old ones. That is what it is like for the 32 PCTs and we are all struggling with ease for some things and tears for others. Since we arrived we have changed our language, eaten new foods, learn to do potty in a slit, bathed with a bucket, used a night bucket otherwise known as a chamber pot, washed clothes in a pan and ironed with a charcoal iron. We got our bikes and they came from the Woodstock recycling center I am sure. We live about a forty five minute walk from the center which is up hill one way and down hill another. The soil is red dust and there are no paved roads, Our shoes and clothing is always dusty. The weather is hot but not humid.
Our host family is lovely. They have two children which is good for us. Shafik is five and chatters to me and follows me everywhere. He loves my headlamp. Martha is the baby and she is very tiny for four months. Reste is the mom and she and Simon are together. Men here can have many wives, as does Simon. We have our own room, double bed and huge mosquito netting.
Yesterday we got invited to an African wedding with a tenant of our host family, Diana. She is a teacher and so lovely. We had to have permission from the PC because we went to Kampala. What an experience. The couple were from different Ugandan tribes so the husband's tribe,asar, did tribal dances and drumming. The African women are beautiful and most came in the traditional African dress which is colorful and worn with a huge sash. Ugandans are very welcominng and are thrilled to have us in thir country. They love when we formally greet them in Luganda and help us to say the words correctly. Own the taxi ride home where there were 22 peole in a 12 passenger van, I managed to entertain the passangers by practicing my Luganda, They were in stitches, There is an expression here that when you butcher the language... you have killed many cows which is exactly what they said to me. But we are committed to being here and to learning the language,. We will probablylive near Kampala because Steve and I decided that we wanted to have an impact on the country not on one village or school. Maybe I will be working with the Mynistry of Edcation developing national curriculm and countrywide school management which means I learn Luganada and live in the city. Steve has not yet been offically told what he will do but both the Ugandans and the PC have told us over and over that age and wisom and our incredible backgrounds will make a difference for the entire country becuase of what we do here. Now all we hav to do is deliver and learn the langauge and not get killed on our bicycles and did I mention our diet...matok, beans, rice, chapatti, more matoke, more beans and more startch, even the same food at the wedding. Tomorrow we will have phones and call our kids with the numbers
We are so lonely but surviving, This is a real challenge like nothing either one of us has ever had to face...even ice, snow and no power in Vermont. We were mildly excited that our home has power except that we had a torrential rain while we were out and had no power for two days. It was lucky the PC gave us parafin lamterns. Keep ckecking our blog. Shalom/webela frinds and family

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Real Deal:February 17, 2009

Welcome Uganda! This is a beautiful country just from the Ugandans alone. They are warm and gracious and try to meet all of our needs. We finished staging in Philadelphia and now we are really here for our 9 weeks of training. These first few days are adjustment day, time to get our shots started and learn a littler Luganda survival language before we move to a new place and begin the next 8 weeks with our new homestay families. Steve and I will be together but maybe learning different languages. Our group members will learn survival Luganda plus one of six other languages. The learning curve is steep and scary but so far we are surviving. We are still not sure of our jobs but they are working on placement. We get our bikes and phones on Saturday. It works like this; we stay with a family and bike everyday for 8 weeks to the training site where we learn language, culture and job skills. The training is essential and important simply to be safe and healthy. There are 32 in our group and we will all be placed in different places for jobs but the three married couples will live together.
The biggest thing to learn is imbola imbola: slowly, slowly. The pace is different and the ability to learn is different for each of us. The food is interesting: vegetables, matoke/plantains/fruit/beans/rice/chipta and other foodstuffs. One could easily be on a totally starch diet as for me...I am watching every morsel since like one of the other PCVs said...I plan on a major lifelook, not just life style.The weather is warm and hot but not like SEA.
I am loving watching my husband take to PC Camp, become a dorm member, hangout with kids, wash and hang out his own clothing and generally take to his new life with grace and dignity. One can only imagine when next i will blog, but keep those emails coming and letters, too. Hasse

Friday, February 13, 2009

A Funny Thing Happened On The Escalator

We packed too much!. So we were going up the esclator : me, Steve, a woman, followed at the end by a large man. I fell up and then down and then Steve fell forward sort of on me and then the woman fell to her knees and then the man fell on his but the ecalator was moving up and by now a guy at the top got me up, I helped Steve, we helped the lady and finally we all helped the man. He weighted a lot. Since I felt repsonsible, I asked if he was OK. He said, "Hey, I'm 300 lbs." But are you sure you are OK? "Hey," he replied, "I'm Polish. I'm fine." "Well good I said. I'm Jewish and I'm fine too except for my bum! It was a genuine domino effect. We all when down while we were all going up. That was only the first day.

THIS IS IT!

We are off tonight. There are 33 people in our group working in three areas: education, helth and business. There is another married couple, very young.. Staging or orientaion was a day of long meetings and what not to dos and what to dos. I couldn't help thinking how important boundaries are when health and saftety are serious risks. Our emotions are high as well as the knots in our stomachs. The flight is 17 hours. Everything looks so close on the map.

The weirdest aspect of this new life so far is leaving the old one behind: no papers to grade, no progress reports, no grociers for three months to worry about...everything is so new and different it seems to require a brain shift.

Internet and contacts will be diofficult after toda. We will do our best to keep in touch. So...up, up, and away we go.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

One Week Until We Leave

It is hard to imagine that in a week we will be into a totally new experience....minus creature comforts. We have packed and repacked a dozen times. The most difficult thing to imagine is that we will be gone for 27 months. We have been saying good bye, receiving blessings and duct tape, love and hugs that will have to last for a long time...not the duct tape. I never prepared so much for any trip I have ever taken. Hopefully, once we land, everything will fall into place. I still can't believe I am no longer working, at WUHS.