The Coolest Thing Ever... And Other Thoughts

The Coolest Thing Ever

You know that scene in Rocky II where the kids start following Rocky while he is running… yeah… that happened to me the other day. Granted there were not 1000 kids at the end, but I still had a good crowd of 20-30 village children. When I got to the top of a hill and starting pumping both fists in the air and jumping up and down they just stared like I was crazy.

Smells Like Uganda

Back in the states I was horrified of even the slightest ability of others to sense that he clothes I was wearing weren’t fresh. I’d get a max of 2 wears out of pants and generally only one of a shirt. Here I have come to enjoy pushing the limits. I have limited clothing and am currently on a schedule of only having laundry done on Saturdays. I’ve

now worn the same pair of pants the first 4 days of the week and am darn proud of it. Other formerly disgusting practices I’ve employed include multi day use of under shirts, and my most disgusting practice to date, running in gym shorts I’ve already run in. On one level you know there are going to get nasty anyway and you aren’t trying to impress anyone while running, but if you’ve seen me work out, you know how nasty those things get on the first run around.

Settling In

I’m starting to get a better feel for my organization which is nice. The firs t few months at site are all about integration and getting a feel for things so despite things being slow, and not a whole lot being accomplished, I’m on pace. My carpenter is keeping busy and is now working on my 3rd piece, a wardrobe for my bedroom. I’ll have him starting work on a sofa as soon as he is finished. It will be too bad when I have to leave this stuff behind.

I’ve found that in total my organization supports about 200 Orphans an

d Vulnerable Children (OVCs). Fifty are full time students at the vocational school I stay at, and 150 receive supplemental support from my organization. Later today I will be traveling to their schools and helping distribute scholastic materials.

Nicodemus Vs. The Lucky Lion

Every night there is rustling but after a while I came to accept that the bugs here are just really really loud. Every time I would wake up sure I had a mouse or rat and readied myself to run over to the kitchen area and verify, I always found the place calm and tranquil, accept for some mutant bug flying against a wall, making a sound like a mouse running. Regardless I finally stumbled across this one morning. The half eaten banana. I admit by the size missing it is probably just a small mouse, but the rat names I have in my back pocket are so much better, so I will be assuming it to be a rat from now on. I have named him Nicodemus. The first night after finding my half eaten short banana, I set up two rat traps with peeled bananas. The next morning I found he had eaten another half banana straight from the bunch. I replaced the peeled bananas with an unpeeled cut from a banana, ate all my bananas, and left the trap where I used to keep my bananas. Nicodemus did not take the bait. He is a wise one indeed. The battle of wits will continue tonight.

Gynophobia

The women here scare me. Those who know me in America are probably scratching their head and thinking, how is that different from home? The answer is how they scare me. My home is situated right next to the girls dormitory. If I wash clothes outside my door a crowd forms, silently watching me wash. The other day I had two girls knock on my door and ask if they could wash my dishes. Yesterday one asking to mop my floor. In each case the look of heartbreak when I told them no was evident. When they speak they don’t make eye contact, in fact, they look away sharply. If I greet them they kneel (and look away).

And then there is my absolute favorite scary girls story. On evenings when the ‘white ants’ are out they run around collecting them until 3 in the morning and past. The light outside my door attracts them so they are making all the racket right outside my door. The other morning I got up at 3:30 to go to the bathroom and as I walk out the door a young teenage girls is standing right there with a basket of white ants she has pulled the wings off of and asks literally the second I walk out the door, without missing a beat,…”Ryan, do you want some ants?” NO I WANT TO SLEEP

Random Thoughts

Some of the boys here talk in voices so high that an American 12 year old girl would have to strain herself to match. I will never get used to it. I have to restrain myself from laughing at them every time they speak.

The men here are idiots. If I walk past a mile of fields I might find 3 or 4 men working. If I

walk down to the bar I find 15-20 gathered around the pool table, and another 5-10 around the board game table. I’ve been told the board game we constantly see them playing, and gambling over (throughout the country, not just here in my town) is essentially the same game as Sorry. Grown men of Uganda are spending their time gambling over Sorry.

I rode back from Masaka in a Toyota Corolla with 9 other people in it the other day. The only redeeming thought was that I know the driver wanted to put another in the back seat and decided against it.

I love reading by candle light. Finished ‘Mere Christianity’ this week, now reading ‘Hamlet’, and by the end of the week I will be back on “Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.” Hoping to pick up some books I’m interested in reading this weekend when I meet some friends in town.

I have gotten used to every single child that sees me (by the way, Uganda has the second highest birth rate in the world so when I say every child think America x5) saying either “See you” or “How are you.” I mostly reply nicely. I still am not a fan of kids walking up to me and touching me and will walk away from or sternly reprimand any who try. I also do not respond well when they ask me “Muzungu, where are you going” or “Give me money.”

Boda drivers may be the best argument yet against Darwin’s survival of the fittest.

Not really missing football season that much. One or more of TDP, Dabo, & Billy Napier as Offensive Coordinator must go. If Dabo can’t demote Billy, then I say all 3 have to go. TDP for promoting Dabo; Dabo for promoting Billy; and Billy for getting in too deep.

Made chapatti and fried rice for dinner the other night. It was delicious.

My internet does not appear strong enough to upload pictures right now so you get the basic version of the blog. Maybe I will come back and enhance later.