Today is Monday and I did school, wash, clean pit latrine. I know why
Africans are scantly clad, washing clothes is a all day affair. Lug
water in 2 buckets plus extra, hand scrub each piece, wring, rinse,
wring, put in rinsing bucket rinse soap out wring and hang on line
with no basket to throw them into to await hanging all at once. So,
you go put your shoes on hang and take shoes off and start over. We
are going to quite wearing sox and start buying only dark brown red.
The color of the mud or we may help employ someone else as I am
exhused and nothing stays clean. The wind blows the red dust all
over, you sweat from the 4 mile walk up hill both ways and you have
the red dust on you, soo the standard of what is dirty is going to
change here real soon. The wash is done with rain water from
catchment off the tin roof of the house
The church experience was surprisingly good. The music lasted way
too long and way too loud for me. 1 hour straight with the generator
working to keep the mics on and it was held in a tin pole barn. Then
the preaching. He did it in Lugandan with another pastor speaking
English right next to him. The message was really good and held
attention. The church is very pentecostal and wants to know if you
are Christian and then if you are saved. Can't remember the last time
I was asked that in the states.
The rainy season has started and today we walked to school in the rain
and home in he drizzle. Did I mention that we live on top of a hill
the size of Hermann. When you get to the bottom you walk through the
town and then you get to the road to the school and it is twice as
long as Herman and up hill again with a large lake (clay mud puddle)
you need to traverse just before the road up hill starts to school.
So out get there and you are again covered in red mud now with the
rainy season and smell of sweat. This all by 8am. Tom and I practice
our language on the walk and remind ourselves that we signed up for
this and we are only 3 weeks into he 2 ½ years. We are continually
surprised by the challenges of the day.
Naoko you asked about food. Lost of fresh veggies but they tend to
cook them too long and add the salt when cooking so they can be salty.
They eat Irish potatoes and sweet, green beans and dried, ground red
nuts they put over white rice and potatoes, cooked cabbage, carrots,
matookee(mashed steamed plantens bananas) poushu white corn ground to
paste and cut and served, cassava root, yams
pineapple, mango, watermelon, papaya. Passion fruit, avocado right off
the tree. Gotta study again so will drop another line soon. Love
from Uganda.
