Halloween...Ugandan Style!

Halloween is one of my favourite holidays back home, and I was sad that that I was going to miss all the excitement this year while here in Uganda. But to my excitement, we decided to have our own version of Halloween over here. It was definitely different than what it would have been at home, but I still loved every minute of it.

We started off the celebration by carving our pumpkins. The difference between the pumpkins In Masaka and those at home is that the ones here aren’t orange; instead they tend to be different shades of green and white. As we began to carve the pumpkins we discovered that the carving process might be more of a struggle than we originally had thought. Especially in the pumpkin that I had gotten, the pumpkins were full of very orange goop that dyed my nails and fingers orange, and even washing them several times my hands still remain orange. The outside of the pumpkins were also covered in this sticky sap that stuck to my hands, and I still can’t get that off either. The pumpkins also had super thick flesh, and this meant that instead of carving the pumpkins we had to stab them in order to get any type of puncture into them. Sitting there carving my pumpkin, I felt like I was in a ‘Slasher’ movie. We finally finished the pumpkins and ended up with a great variety of designs. There were scary pumpkins and happy pumpkins. Some of the pumpkins even had ears. It’s amazing how to the creativity of kids comes out when they are given projects like this to work on.

Everyone got into the Halloween spirit, including Kristen and myself. After some influence from the kids, we decided that we would dress up as well. But with very limited supplies we had to get creative. So with a headband and some construction paper ears, we transformed into cats. The kids were just as creative and they all looked amazing. We had a pirate, a butterfly, a flower and some princesses to top it off. Everyone was really excited that we got the chance to dress up (including myself).

Because we live in a compound, there isn’t much opportunity for ‘trick or treating’ to happen. So we decided to make our own opportunity. Ahead of time, Carina and Sue had talked to the girls up at the TGC and made a deal with them that if they would hand out candy to the kids they would also get some for themselves. So we headed up to the college for some very successful ‘trick or treating’. It was a lot of fun to see how excited both the kids and the girls were to participate. The kids got lots of candy and were showered with attention. All in all, the night was a very successful rendition of Halloween, Ugandan style.

Happy Halloween everyone!

A New Found Appreciation

It’s amazing how an experience can make you appreciate things that one wouldn’t usually think about. Coming here I didn’t realize all of the things that I would be leaving behind. Sure, I am still living in a place where I get most of the same amenities that I would have back home in Canada that make life so much easier. Even so, there’s so many little things that one wouldn’t even think about when you have it at your disposal on a daily basis.

The biggest thing that I’m missing is many of the conveniences that are available at home. There’s no such thing as ‘fast food’ here, and to make matters worse microwaves are basically non-existent because the ones that they do have are useless. There have been so many nights where the day has left me exhausted, and then I realize that I can’t just order a pizza or even reheat leftovers with ease. Meals are always a stretch, especially to someone like me who has never spent much time in the kitchen. Though my skills have slowly been improving, they still lack and I have now grown to greatly appreciate the dinners that are made for me at home. Even simple meals like a box of Kraft Dinner are also a stretch as most places don’t even carry products like this. Since we have been here, we have found an American version of Kraft Dinner in the grocery store once. And usually products like that tend to be more expensive than other foods. So typically its more or less meals made from scratch, no matter how hectic the day has been.

Another every day convenience that I really miss is my washer, and even more so my dryer. We do have a washing machine here, but it can take up to 3 hours to wash one load and it hardly holds anything. And then once your laundry has slowly gone through the wash, you have to hang your clothes outside on the line, which is a process in itself. Because it’s the rainy season, the days are often so spuratic with its weather; it can be sunny and in a matter of half an hour a major rainstorm can come and go leaving the sun once again in its place. This means that if you have laundry out on the line it doesn’t take much for it all to get soaked and the process of drying it all has to start again. Even if the sun stays out and your clothes dry, you always have to wait a full 24 hours before you can wear them. The reason for this is that the mango flies that live in this type of climate seek moisture and lay their eggs in this moist place, and without a host they die off within the 24 hours. But if you don’t wait and decide to chance it, there’s a good chance that the eggs will bury themselves in your skin and then grow under your skin, then proceed to hatch. And when this happens you have to squish the live worms from under your skin before they decide to come out on their own, both processes which are very painful. So needless to say, doing laundry can be a bit of a process.

Our solution to attempting to dry our clothes during a rain storm.

The biggest thing that I miss about home is the access we have to EVERYTHING at almost all hours of the day. If you need any type of food, you can go to any local Safeway or Superstore. If you need anything else you could image, you go to a local mall and it’s almost inevitable that they will have what you are you looking for. Here, it’s a lot harder to get many things that are so easy to find back home. Lots of the essentials are hard to find in Masaka, and often aren’t even available here. So that means that when people go to Kampala (two and a half hours away) for shopping trips, there are a lot of things to stock up on to ensure that you aren’t stuck without what you need. And there’s no such thing as a simple shopping trip either. Certain stores only carry certain groceries, which means going to a couple stores just to get your list done. And the grocery stores don’t sell produce, which require one to make an extra trip into the market. And doing anything after dark is highly recommended against, so that means you have to fit it into the day time hours which can be hard considering the fact that its pitch black out here by seven each night. Simple shopping trips often turn into something much more complicated.

I’m convinced that there is no such thing as ‘convenience’ in this country. Everything here has to be well planned and meticulously carried out if it’s to go smoothly. And even if this is done, nothing is ever guaranteed. A big part of this is the difference in culture between Uganda and Canada; in Canada we are a culture that’s been built around convenience and everything is available to us at any time. But that is why I think that even the basics have been an adventure. Nothing is ever guaranteed, and everyday turns into the unexpected.

Lake Mburo

A while back we were talking about how we got to Uganda just over a month ago, and we still hadn’t experience an African safari yet. So on Saturday we went on a day trip to a local wildlife park. Lake Mburo National Park is in the western part of Uganda and only just an hour away from us here in Masksa. When we first got to the game part it was raining pretty hard. Considering the fact that our window shield wipers didn’t work and the rain was heavy, we still saw quite a few animals out and about. As we were driving into the park we saw packs of zebra, gazelle, water buck and even a lone monkey in a tree. I was super excited to finally get into the part if this was only the introduction to what the day held for us.

As the morning wore on, we observed the wildlife through the windows of the cab because of the never ending rain. Even just going to the bathroom had becoming an orchestrated production as everything and everyone was soaked from the rain. As we moved further into the park we saw more zebras and gazelle, and also saw some warthogs and even more monkeys. The best part was that within every pack of animals that we saw there were babies, including the baby monkey that we witnesses attempting to climb up the tree only to fall from his perch.

Finally the rain let off and we were able to venture out of the cab and see the park from the back of the truck. We had an amazing set up; we sat on foamies on top of the box in the back of the truck. From here you could see everything around you. It was an amazing experience just to be able to see the park from this point of view. If felt like we were a part of the Lion King movie.

After a few sketchy parts of the road (many of the roads were very muddy and partially washed out because of the heavy rain earlier in the day), we arrived at our lunch destination. The place was absolutely amazing. The lodge was carved into the side of the mountain, and you could see over the entire park. The view was breathtaking. You could see the entire savannah, including a watering hole that we could see animals such as zebra and warthogs grazing at. The food was amazing (a three course meal), but the best part was that we got the use of the lodge’s pool. The edge of the pool hung over the edge of the side of the mountain and it looked as if it dropped off the side and from here you could enjoy every part of the view.

On the way out of the park we ran into another couple whose driver had gotten their vehicle stuck in the mud. So after a failed attempt to pull them out of the mud, we ended up taking them to the main gate where they had to call a tractor to pull their van out. The day was full of so many different things. All in all, this was an amazing way to be introduced into the world of Ugandan Safaris. I can’t wait until we can more of these trips and see the amazing landscapes and animals.

LAKE MBURU NATIONAL PARK - October 22

Learning through Experience

Even though I have once before gotten the opportunity to visit the Kibaale School, I have never gotten the chance to actually be in a classroom and see what it’s like to be in the school. So today, we got the opportunity to sit in on a P5 (grade 5) English class. It was really interesting to see how much different the classroom there is from the classrooms in Canada. The biggest difference that I noticed is how the classroom is conducted as a whole. The students over here have a different kind of respect and response to the teacher than I have observed back in Canada. Of course we (well most of us) still have respect for the teacher, the way you show respect here is different. When the teacher comes in and walks up to the front of the classroom all the students stand and welcome the teacher to the classroom. When they answer questions, they stand and properly address the teacher. And when the class is over, all the students again stand and thank the teacher for her lesson. The lesson wasn’t much different than what you would experience in Canada; the difference is in the classroom environment. The classroom was a place where the children were to be proper. With this being said I still did see some of the kids goofing off, and even saw a few pieces of rocks flying across the classroom at each other behind the teachers back. No matter where in the world you are, kids will always be kids.   

We also got the amazing opportunity to go into the special needs class. It was here that Kristen got to meet her sponsor child, which was an experience in itself. In this class, all of kids are deaf (I believe) which often comes along with other difficulties. We learned some basic sign language so that we could communicate with the kids, and by doing this we were able to in a way connect with them just by having simple communications with them. As we were talking to the teachers about this special group of kids, we learned a little bit about them. Though so many of the kids at this school have come from unfortunate situations, the children in this class have come from situations where many of them were essentially rejected out of society. Within this culture, handicaps are viewed entirely different than they are in Canada; often times the differences are not understood and these kids are abandoned and left to either die or fend for themselves. This is not always the case, but in many situations this is what happens to the children. Hearing this made me almost break down and cry in the classroom. These kids have all been given a second chance and are becoming productive people within society, overcoming the stigma that surrounds them. They are learning and growing, but most importantly they are being treated with love and respect. We only were able to spend a short period of time in the classroom, but it was a really touching experience.

 

Much of the reason why these kids have been so successful has to do with the teachers who have taught them, and essentially taken them in. The teachers work so closely with these kids, taking the time to make sure that their special needs are met. The school also recently hired a teacher who herself is deaf. She works in the classroom alongside the other two special needs teachers. It’s amazing how well the kids respond to her and her presence in the classroom. One of the teachers was telling us how every day the children bring to school gifts for her. This just shows the love and relationships that these teachers have with these kids. It is apparently the way that the teachers care for each one of the students; they love each one despite their differences. As I continue my way to becoming a teacher, this is an example of someone that I want to be lie. It’s an example to aspire towards.

While we were in Kibaale we also experienced a torrential rainstorm. We got stuck huddling under the eaves of a classroom while everything around us flooded with water. Everything, including us, was soaked to the bone.

An ant that decided to land on the windowshield.

morning after....all the wings that we find on our porch

And on a completely random side note, lately Kristen and I have observed a sudden influx in what we originally thought were dead flower petals that were making their way into our house. What we later found out that these weren’t flower petals, but instead the wings of the giant flying ants that mate, die and then the smaller ants eat the bodies and leave the wings. Apparently at this time of year, there are lots and lots of them around. In Kibaale they have huge ant hills, and as these ants fly out the kids grab them and eat the bodies, leaving the wings. And if you don’t like the idea of eating a live bug, you can also fry them up; apparently they taste like popcorn.

Cookies and Connections

As my time here as progressed, slowly I have acquired some new skills in the kitchen. I have always been somewhat familiar with the kitchen and how it works, but I have never really attempted to do much other than baking. But since I have moved here, I have been forced into the domestic world. Since Kristen and I have moved into our own place, most nights we have to fend for ourselves and thankfully our cooking skills have progressively gotten better and better.

On Saturday afternoon Sue, Kristen and I headed up to the Timothy Centre to spend a day baking with the girls at the college. As we move through the school year, Kristen and I have been slowly getting to know the girls through teaching them computer class and having study nights with them. It’s been a lot of fun getting to know them through working with them on the academic level, but it’s not a very good setting to get to know them on a more personal level. So when Sue asked us if we would have to join her on that Saturday to spend some time with the girls we quickly agreed. Every Wednesday when Sue goes down to tutor the girls she always brings them study snacks that she has made for them. Being as most of these girls had never baked anything in their lives, they all were very eager to trying making something for themselves. So this is what Saturday afternoon was for.

The girls at the Timothy Centre are very dedicated students and spend most of their time in class and studying. They are awake by three thirty in the morning to start their studying, and don’t get to bed until ten thirty at night. During the week their schedules are academically focused, but every Saturday and Sunday they get the most part of the afternoon to have some free time. So after some discussion with Sue, they decided that they wanted to spend this past Saturday learning how to bake. Sue, Kristen and myself went up the school each with different recipes, and we taught the girls the fundamentals baking. We made banana muffins, sugar cookies and a chocolate cake with them. It was a lot of fun just spending time with the girls, but also teaching them how to do something new at the same time. And the girls definitely enjoyed the end results.

And as a side note: the other evening Kristen and I also made our first and quite successful attempt at making dinner for all of us living on the compound here at the Timothy Centre.

Cobras and Crocs

Though we were ready for the crocodiles, we got a lot more than we expected this last week at the Timothy Centre. On Thursday night after dinner, Kristen and I were sitting in our place and heard through our open window, rumours that there had been a spitting cobra that was found within our compound. It perked my interest, but it wasn’t enough of an interest to pull me out of my comfy blanket and jammies. But then a few minutes later we got a knock at our front door, and that was a definite reason to get dressed and go outside.

Apparently a few minutes before the knock on our front door, one of our visitors Ken was walking down to his own place, which is located by the guard station at the front gate. When the guard was coming out of the guard house a spitting cobra emerged from the bushes beside the stairs and lunged at the guard. For obvious reasons (as spitting cobras are deadly), the two men killed the snake and then left it on the ground for us to come and see it. When we got do the gate, the snake was dead and lying on the ground. Ken was picking up the dead snake and showing us how it was still moving because of muscle spasms, and somehow coaxed me into holding it. The first time I picked it up, the body of the snake where I had grabbed it started spasming and naturally, I freaked out and dropped it. Even though it was dead, it was still really gross that it was still moving between my fingers. All I could see in my head was the horror movie vision, where the dead snakes somehow comes alive and bites the unsuspecting victims. And because of my fear for snakes, it scared me even more. After a couple more minutes of coxing, and a lot of freaking out, I was actually able to pick it up. And naturally, I had to get a picture of this momentous occasion.

The next day we were treated to even more reptiles; we took the kids on a fieldtrip to the Crocodile Camp and Farm just a few minutes past the equator, and located on the shore of Lake Victoria. Despite the never-ending rain, the place was absolutely beautiful.

The first thing that greeted us when we arrived at the camp was a sign on the entrance gate that read “Uganda Crocs Limited; Trespassers will be Eaten”. The scary thing was I’m sure that they weren’t joking around. There were tons of crocodiles of all sizes and all ages at the camp. There were cages upon cages of giant smelly crocodiles. It was definitely not something that you would see at home; at home we have liability issues that probably wouldn’t allow anyone to have a place like this. It was in a way nerving because the crocodiles weren’t held in over secure cages. Each portion where the crocodiles were held were simply stone walls with barbed wire that was supposed to be along the top of the stone fences, but had fallen off and didn’t seem very useful. The most nerving part of this park is the portion that had the man eating crocodiles. These crocodiles were MASSIVE, and were also just kept within stone walls. To add to this, along these stone walls there were also raised platforms so that you could see into the cages. It was kind of scary knowing that it wouldn’t take much for someone to fall into the cage where the man eating crocodiles were slumbering. The guide told us all about the man eating crocodiles, and the records that they held. One of the crocodiles boasted a record of had eaten at least 83 people within his lifetime. Once I was able to get over the initial nerves it was actually interesting to see all the crocodiles, but I felt much better when we got away from these enclosures.



And next came the adventurous part of the day. The tour guide at one point jumped into one of the pits and took out a crocodile that was a couple years old. He was still a baby, but was probably about three or four feet long. He offered out the opportunity for us to hold the baby crocodile, and I figured that I had held the dead cobra the night before, why not hold the very alive baby crocodile today. It actually wasn’t that bad, and when held correctly the crocodile wasn’t able to move in your hands. Even though it had just been taken out of the water, the crocodile’s skin felt dry and coarse. It’s hard to explain what it felt like because I was too petrified to really remember the details. But I do remember that it was really amazing to be able to hold something like this. It’s definitely not something that one would be able to do back home in Canada so why not take every opportunity to do something a little crazy while I’m here in Uganda.

And if Camp Crocs wasn’t enough for one day, the Danish café now has a new addition to its backyard pond: Speedy the turtle. It wasn’t a baby crocodile, but I still got to hold the little turtle.  

I am proud to say that I have now done two more things that I don’t know if I would have ever done before. Only in Africa.