Happy Birthday Katie!
In the home stay we are at the woman owns 14 2 room units that house family's. Of those 14 units many little ones live here. 2 of the women were pregnant and delivered today. So there are 2 new babies in the complex now a boy and girl. We haven't heard if they named them after us or not.
The means of transportation is the TAXI which is a 14 passenger Toyota van, like we use to drive, with jump seats. The van is licensed to hold 14 but if you have a person on your lap that doesn't count as an extra person so you can have 28 in reality and if they are thin you can “squish” more in, and they do. To get the taxi you have to walk down the red clay washed out hill (Herman size) to catch the taxi on the tarmac which is what they call the paved road. Or, another form of transport is the Boda Boda. As peace corp trainee's we are forbidden to ride them as they have one speed, fast, and weave around the taxi's, cars, and lorry's (big trucks). They are cheap but dangerous. Also in Uganda if you hit a pedestrian there isn't a lot of sympathy for the pedestrian and they are left laying where they fell with the attitude that “the pedestrian should have gotten out of the way”. Get the picture? I don't think no fault insurance is a reality here. Just the no fault part if you drive away fast enough and most drivers do... With that said back to the story. The 2 women here in the complex called the Boda Boda drivers to take them to the hospital to deliver and then brought them home later in the day. Even the house mother laughs about this. So much different then America...
The other thing about your birthday here Kate was the long distance wishes. Two of the volunteers have had birthdays this week. One on Monday an one Tuesday with a 37th Anniversary on Wednesday.
When the first volunteers had his birthday I gave him a hug from his mother and was surprised how long he wanted to just be hugged. Next day same thing she was just so happy to be held. So, I guess I am not the only one missing home. I have been asking the questions of the people I am with, how is it going and what do you miss the most. All of us are saying the food... The diet leaves much to be desired. Breakfast is egg and white bread with instant coffee or tea. I bought oats for a change and taught our sister how to make french toast so I have a variety. Tom likes the eggs. Lunch is eaten at the training site and is matooke (steamed mashed bananas) poush, white corn flour paste cut in squares, rice, Irish potatoes boiled, ground nuts pureed into a sauce (tastes nothing like peanut butter)
very bland, cooked beans in a thin tomato sauce, a meat with gravy, a cooked veggie, avocado slice, and a banana or pineapple piece. This is every day and the Ugandan staff heaps there plate, the students are really tired of it and don't eat much. Supper is the same everyday too. Irish potatoes, rice or spaghetti noodles, cooked cabbage, cooked green beans with too much salt, avocado and melon and pineapple. Sometimes we have chapati too. That is Tom's favorite night. The menu doesn't change and I only have 9 weeks left. Can't say I have gotten thin yet, just wish I could cook a night or two. The Ugandans eat this much food all the time and are surprised I don't too. Tom is loving the food and isn't tired of it yet. The veggies can't be eaten raw I am told because of the fertilizing practices so I have been washing fresh tomato with soap and water and cutting them up to eat with the avocado and I found some mayo to put on the cabbage so I can have a salad. So much for the food, Kraft mac and cheese sounds good to me. I will close but before I do I thought of something funny. All the ears I went without immunizations and now I am getting the hepatitis, rabies, typhoid, yellow fever, and the flu shot. The pots and pans used here are aluminum and the fry pan is Teflon. No one has Alzheimer because the life expectancy is 52 years max so I wonder how I will do here in Africa, where everything I thought I was doing to improve my life expectancy, has gone out the door.
