In which the rains stop for a few glorious days!

Well, HELLO, everyone!

I am sitting in the archives right now on a straw mat on the stone floor, listening to the rain pour outside.  It's the end of the rainy season here in Uganda, so we usually have one big downpour each day that lasts for about an hour...and it comes down in buckets.  The racket it's making on the roof sounds like a waterfall--literally--right outside the door.  I don't mind too much, as the rain is what makes this country so wonderfully green, but it also makes the dirt roads muddy and virtually impassable by boda.

This weekend was incredible, people.  Absolutely incredible.  The rain held off for Saturday and Sunday, so Saturday I went to the Semliki National Park with Jonathan and his family.  They have hot springs there, much like those at Yellowstone, although here you're allowed to walk on them.  Quite the contrast to the throngs of tourists packing the boardwalks at the latter...we went with a friend, Maurice, and his little friend Ian (the son of his manager).  (Maurice is a local ex-pat Brit who has been here for 20 years and owns a guesthouse; if you look at the pictures you can sort of see his quintessential British-ness--socks up to the knees, shorts up to the belly button, handkerchief constantly being wiped across the sweaty forehead).

We boiled eggs and sweet potatos in the hot springs, aided by our guide, Theodoro, and had a funny lunch of those two, avacado, and biscuits.  We then set off for a trek through the jungle--and yes, it is the second largest jungle in the world!--which was hot, muggy, beautiful, mysterious, everything you'd expect.  Saw some major bugs, namely a very fat and very gross millipede, as well as a very furry caterpillar.  Also many monkeys.

Ahhh, the monkeys.  We saw several different kinds--baboons, blue monkeys, and grey-cheeked mangabeys.  The latter two were sitting and swinging around in the trees, but the baboons were just chillin'...a whole pack of them.  Their butts are pretty funny; it's like two shiny, hairless cheeks topped by a tail that rises straight in the air when they walk.  Like, "HEY!  Look at my junk!"  Anyway, I got some good pictures, and it was a really lovely day, overall.  Spent that night at Ciaran's bar (it's got a tv) with the rest of the ex-pat mzungus and many locals watching the Football World Championships (Barcelona killed Manchester U.).

Sunday:  Went to the Kyaninga Lodge, the most beautiful place that I've seen in quite a long time, for lunch and a swim in the crater lake. The lodge is built out of olivewood--took six years to build, no machines--and perches atop a hill overlooking the pristine blue crater lake (an old volcano). The view was--no words--and I forgot my camera!  No worries, however, I'm sure I'll be back.  It's the most expensive place to lunch in Fort Portal (about $15 for a rather gourmet, 3-course meal), but it was a really relaxing Sunday.  Went with Felix and two locals and a Danish guy, and saw some other FP mzungus there as well--Jonathan and co., Brede and Brandon (Irish couple).  Went swimming, and as I floated on my back in the middle of the lake surrounded by jungle greenery and hills and banana trees and shrieking monkeys, I felt like I was in the middle of a postcard.

I am so, so lucky.

Off to a staff meeting...check in with y'all later.

<3 N

In which I best Ugandan men in pool and barbecue with the best of them

Halloooooooo!  That's what virtually every stranger I chance upon on the street greets me with, so now I do the same and I sound like my German housemate, Regina.  I'm just starting to learn the local language, Rutooro; Moses, one of the workers in the archive, is giving me five words/phrases per day.  This is a good thing--not only will I feel less silly in the marketplace, but I'll be able to communicate with my 3 year-old neighbor, Nino!  He doesn't speak any English, so the only thing that he understands is tickle monster (although that's because I run after him growling and he knows what to expect!).  He is the son of Doreen, who is a historian here at the University.  She will actually be at UM next year for her PhD in history, so I get to see her and Nino!  So exciting.  You guys can meet him!

I've been a bit frustrated as of late with work.  I finally got the scanner working and showed the employees how to scan/digitize/etc., but now they're the ones doing it, and I have nothing to do!  So, I've been trying to conjure up  ideas and suggestions for the archive, perhaps drawing up some sort of collections policy, etc.  It's rather frustrating, as I'm to be here for a month and my work is essentially finished after one week.  I'll certainly act as an advisor, of course, but that mostly entails sitting in the small room that constitutes the archive and answering any questions that come up, as I make futile attempts to occupy myself.  I inevitably end up trekking over to the marketplace...I don't like feeling useless!

And now to the title of this post:  We had a barbecue at the Lodge last night, in which Ciaran grilled pork and I made my world-famous guacamole with the amazing avacados they have here.  I attempted to make corn tortillas, but to no avail; they were really just fried little pancakes.  Oh well, once you heaped enough guac on them they weren't so bad.  We then went out to one of the local hangouts, where Ciaran and Felix began playing pool with some of the locals.  I asked if I could play--wasn't sure if it was appropriate for a woman--and they let me, although the Ugandans were snickering at me behind their hands.  Ciaran and I teamed up and I SHOWED THEM!  We won two games, and, for not having played pool in a very long while (and not having been good at it in the first place), I did very well.  Rah rah rah gender equality!!!!!!!!!  One point for women.

My first weekend is coming up, and I am going to the local hot springs with Jonathan (UM PhD) and his wife and two children tomorrow.  Maybe I can get Ciaran to drive me up into the mountains on his motorcycle...we'll see.  Always an adventure, my friends!

Love you all.

N

All: photos will be in my Picasa web album.

It's too much of a pain to send them all individually to the blogspot site, especially as the internet here is kind of slow.  So, if you want the link, here it is:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos

I began work yesterday, and it went alright--not spectacular.  I arrived with the new laptop and scanner, along with sundry other office supplies, and Evarist (the head guy) and the other volunteers were MAJORLY excited.  "We were just talking about you!  Oh, welcome, welcome!  You're welcome!  Come in, come in!"  It was a very nice reception, to say the least...Evarist and I met with the Vice Chancellor of MMU (Mountains of the Moon University, the university that is assisting the archive with this project and supporting me), and they were both extremely excited and optimistic about the possibilities that the Kaberole District archives will provide.  They were kind of bummed, however, when I told them I'd only be here for a month; they really want to get workers who are properly trained in archival practices.  I told them I'd do my best to get some UM students out here next year.

I didn't get very far with the work, as I had problems linking the scanner with the laptop.  This obviously prevents me from beginning any digitization work, so I've brought the equipment home and am meeting with a Danish IT guy tomorrow morning to try and correct the problem.  Incredibly frustrating!

In other news:  I ate goat yesterday and had a bite of goat intestine, accidentally--it was very rubbery and--I can't really describe the flavor.  Needless to say, I could tell it was part of the stomach...  Then, I got drenched walking back to the archive (it's the rainy season here), and ended up being rescued by Ciaran, my house mate who thankfully has a car.  Went home and drank tea and watched it rain outside.

I'll describe Fort Portal in my next post--it's a fascinating, beautiful, wonderful, complex place, and I'm really falling in love with it every day (silly, I know, as I've only been here for a few days, but still).

Ciao, y'all!
<3
N

Uganda

Old post--in which I arrive in Uganda and get my sleep back on schedule.

**Disclaimer:  I wrote this two nights ago while sitting in bed, so it is NOT the most up-to-date.  Also, I was a bit delirious.**

May 23, 2011

It is 6:19 a.m. and I am currently sitting in my bedroom in a state of unrest, having slept for 19 hours straight yesterday.  (Went to bed at 11 p.m.; woke up at 6 p.m….)  My jetlag was never this bad when I went to Ireland!  So, I woke up this morning at 3:30 and, unable to fall back asleep, lay bored off my gourd (thanks, Mom, for that euphemism) for an hour whilst constantly tangling myself in the damn mosquito net that is draped, like a tent without poles, over my bed.

I finally got up and made some tea, and thankfully I’ve discovered that there is a substantial quantity of DVD’s in the lodge’s living room.  So, I’ve spent the past hour and a half watching The King’s Speech—quite a good movie!  I suppose you all want to hear about Africa, though, and not my sleeping problems…

I arrived at the Entebbe Airport on Saturday afternoon after 14 long hours of flying.  Oh, and for the curious—Ethiopian Airlines food is nothing outrageous—just a lot of chicken and rice.  Not too bad, actually.  When we landed in Addis Ababa for our layover, I was starving and so went to the small cafeteria and ordered a cheeseburger and fries.  How American, right?  It took forever, as is supposedly the general custom in most African countries, and the hamburger—well, the picture is below.  I’m not quite sure what they put on it, although I did discover green peppers, which I absolutely detest.  I was only able to get a few bites in, however, before the plane began boarding, so perhaps it was for the best…

Anyway.  Journey to Fort Portal.  I was delayed for an hour by customs, as I had to pay a tax on the scanner that I had brought with me.  I didn’t know the exact amount that the scanner was worth, so customs staff took their jolly time in looking it up…I finally got out of the airport with my driver, Moses, after exchanging money/buying a sim card for my phone/etc.  Oddly enough, Ugandans will not accept pre-2003 U.S. bills; apparently there was some counterfeit something-or-other that happened in 2003…thus, two of my $20 bills (both from 1999) must remain in my wallet until I return to the U.S.

It took about six hours to drive from Fort Portal to Entebbe, and it was quite the ride—upon leaving the airport we passed pockets of heavily-armed soldiers patrolling the streets, there to quash any of the Walk-to-Work protestors who apparently pose much “danger” to the populace.  A bunch of BS, but I kept my mouth shut…there were soldiers patrolling the airport, as well, and it was very strange to be around big guns.  I’m a hippie, remember?  Peace, not war?  Rather unsettling.

We made a stop after a few hours at a road-side market place, where Moses proceeded to find the best bunch of bananas that he could find by thumping each one (they’re big, probably the size of half my body), cocking his ear carefully.  I got my first taste of being the minority, as I got out of the car half asleep, wallet in hand, with a tanktop on and my tattoo out for the world to see.  Needless to say, I had lots of stares, children following me, people hectoring me to buy bananas, etc.  I’m quickly learning to a) not flash my wallet and b) COVER UP!

I finally arrived in Fort Portal after dark, and a blonde-haired, blue-eyed German girl named Regina came to my rescue once Moses and I discovered that we had no idea where the hell we were supposed to go.  She met us at the local roundabout, thankfully, and directed us back to the lodge.

I’m staying at a Mountains of the Moon University lodge (MMU) with Regina, a German man named Felix, and a Northern Irishman named Ciaran.  (I know, I know, I’m going to make him crazy jabbering on about NI politics and history, but I forewarned him, at least!)  Regina is lovely; she’s working here teaching law and doing some other lawyer-ly things.  Ciaran heads a land development project, and I’m not quite sure what Felix does—he headed off to a conference in Entebbe this morning and was occupied with an English girl last night, so I haven’t had the chance to chat much with him.

The lodge is lovely, with lots and lots of space and sun.  I’ve got a large room to myself (two beds…the luxury!!), as well as my own bathroom, so I’m pretty well set up.  I share my room with apricot-colored geckos, which I don’t mind, as they eat the mosquitoes and they’re rather funny-looking, besides.  There’s a beautiful little garden in the back that Ciaran and Felix have cultivated, along with two chickens (apparently Felix is trying to start his own little farm).  Our neighbors are Doreen (who, incidentally, works at the archives) and her two children, Mary and Nino.  Nino is the CUTEST little boy ever—if you know me, you know I love babies—he’s about two years old and just runs around laughing and laughing.  Maybe I’ll get to babysit?  Regardless, I plan on playing with him as much as I can in my time here!

Phew.  Sorry this has been so long, folks, but I wanted to fill you in on all the gory details of my arrival in and first impressions of Africa.  I’m sure I’ll go on in later posts about Ugandan politics, but as you’re probably tired of reading my rambling at this point, I’ll stop.  Plus, the chickens are waking up and chattering.

Miss and love you all!!

P.S.  My hair is in a ponytail right now, WITH NO BOBBY PINS!!!  So exciting.

Hello, friends.

I am currently sitting in Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. waiting for my flight to depart in an hour.  Ethiopian Airlines, man...I know I keep telling people this, but I'm really excited to see what kind of food they have on the plane!  I'm drinking my last Starbucks coffee, which is sort of sad, although who knows--Starbucks owns the coffee world, so perhaps there is one (or more) in Uganda.

The madre and padre dropped me off at the airport, and of course, as my sister said, I'm lucky to have the father that I have!  Props to you, Dad, for printing everything out for me/helping pack the scanner/etc.  Also a thank-you is well-deserved to Matthew for helping me out with installing Archivist's Toolkit.  Damn program is still stalled; it won't "initialize".  Hopefully I can figure it out sometime this weekend.

Plastic paper clip news:  No dice.  Stupid me didn't think to order them online and so spent the past few days running around to every single office supply store and craft store, and no one has them.  I am really hoping that Evarist (the MMU professor who will be supervising me) won't be too angry...

Alrighty.  Next time you hear from me, I'll be in FORT PORTAL, UGANDA!!  Woot woot!

t-minus 2 days

HELLO WORLD!  It's Wednesday, and I leave for Uganda on Friday.  Pretty crazy, yeah?  My bedroom and the music room are total messes at the moment; piles of clothes and other odd objects lying around.  Somehow I have to consolidate all of those into two groups: staying at home or coming with me to Africa.  Blergh.

Things are ramping up in terms of prep work for Friday--Dr. Peterson, the African Studies professor at UM who is spearheading this project, has been frantically working last-minute to have a laptop and scanner shipped to my house so that I can take them to Fort Portal.  Looks like my job for the first month will be to instruct the students/volunteers/whoever on digitization, teaching them how to use the equipment and the software (I'm pretty stoked; I convinced Dr. Peterson that we needed Adobe Acrobat X, and I'll also be downloading Archon, an open-source archival software program).  Tonight is going to be spent hanging out with Jason--brother from another mother--setting the laptop up, and hurriedly trying to get clothes washed and things in bags.  I'm a bit nervous, as the scanner hasn't arrived yet, but I'm crossing my fingers for tomorrow...not sure what I'll do if it doesn't.

In other news:  Most of you guys reading this probably already know, but I've been hired as a short-term consultant for the World Bank, and they will be paying me the nice figure of $2000!  That's a pretty bomb amount for an archivist who has had two unpaid internships and other low-paying jobs.  I'll be reporting to the Chief Archivist of the World Bank, and will be giving field reports "from the ground" via video chat to WB people in Washington.  I'm so official.

Alrighty.  Check back in a few days, yo...I'll let you know how it is down south!

Prep work...

Well, I'm finally home and staring down the home stretch of U.S. time before stepping on the plane to Uganda.  Went shopping today for Africa clothes, but didn't really find much--although I did have to replace my entire underwear collection, as I left the entire contents of my undergarments drawer back in Ann Arbor.  Thank god for mothers with endless Macy's coupons.

Also, I forgot how green Maryland is.  SO GREEN.  Ranks second only to Ireland.  Guess I haven't been here much during the spring in the past few years--I forgot how nice it is.

Sorry, people, I'll be pretty boring till I step on that Ethiopian Airlines plane.  Wonder what kind of airplane food they'll have......