Being flexible is the name of the game... (Chelsea)

Well to start off I'm going to quickly address the change in the blog design. I'm not really sure what happened but it seems as if Afican internet doesn't always agree with our custom set up (and randomly changed things on us) so I have set it to a default template so that even if some of the more interesting design elements fail all our posts and links will remain legible.  Also my computer is lacking a spell check program, which means that this post (and future ones) could very well be full of spelling/typing errors.  But as our supervisors have been reminding us from day one.... in Africa you need to be flexible.

So now on to the reason you are all visiting our lovely site. An African experience....

Truly, I do not know where to begin. We been in have been in Maska (our home base) for a week now and so much has happened. It feels like months have gone by because so much has happened and I have so many stories I want to share.

I will start with my first impressions of Africa and see where it goes from there.

I remember the heat and the humidity stepping of the plane after that last long 8+ hour flight. I remember being shocked by the red dirt,  so reminiscent of the clay I used in high school art class.   I remember being in awe of all of the green and how lush everything was.  I avoided looking at pictures and video of Uganda before I left to avoid setting up expectations. But this first sight of Uganda made me realise that I did have tonnes of expectations and unfortunately they were largely based on those world vision commericals and (those similar) that show Africa to be a  sad barron place. But Uganda is a rich, lush and beautiful country and not only in terms of its landscapes.  It's people are amazing.  I feel so blessed and grateful to have been given this opportunity as well as all of the opportunities I (we) get back at homie.

We have also been incredibly lucky insofar that the timing of our trip has happend to coincide with that of  Leigh Fox, who is the son of John Fox (a Douglas college faculity member, one of the orginal Uganda Project supervisors and all around great guy). Leigh (who owns a tree planting business out here that partners with local farmers and is also an all around great guy)  has been taking us out 4x4ing on the country roads in his truck to see some of the surrounding villages,  trading posts, one of this partner's plantations, a century old church, an impressive village library and even invited us out to an good old fashioned BBQ.  He introduced us to a part of Africa and African life that I do not know we would have been able to see without him. I only hope he understand how grateful we are for his time and all that he has offered us. Again I feel as if I could write forever just to include some of the stories that have been a result of his amazing side trips,  so I will do my best to say a few words about each and you will just have to ask us when you get back. 

It was quite an experience going through the villages and those back roads. The back roads do not resemble anything like north american roads and the vehicles drive on the other side of the road. Everytime children saw us, you could hear a chorus of "Muzungo! Muzungo!" "How are you!" great big smiles, hands waving (sometimes even if they weren't free and things were balanced on their heads) and sometimes even packs of them run behind the truck (I believe that there are videos).

On the plantation, we where introduced to the eating of "white ants" (these meduim sized ants with wings), saw matokee plants (a green bannana that is a staple starch of Uganda,  which according to Bob has little to no nutritional value), pineapple plants, coffee, eucalyptus, pine, and papyrus (in the boardering wetlands. I learned the Lugandan terms for Cow (Entte), goat (bouzzie... I'm not going to lie. I kind of want one for a pet) and chicken (cockco). I apologise to the Ugandian people for any misspelling of their words (I have enought trouble with English some days). And we met some amazing people. We also learned that generally only boys play football (soccer) and girls play a game called net ball.

On the way to the century old church,  we stopped and Leigh treated us to an spectacular view of the mountains, surrounding lakes and the general breathtaking Ugandian landscape. The church was impressive and  sky was ....well there are not enough words. First the sunset and then the stars from the truckbed (yes, mom I have been riding around in the back of a truck and I am still safe and whole) with no other light in the surrounding area. Again... there are no words. We did stuck the truck stuck in a great big hole and a bunch of Ugandians had to help push/lift the truck out (which they did successfully) and then Kayla promplty walked into the hole getting back into the truck (she is also safe and whole- she only scratched her leg a little).

So we have had  some amazing experiences in and outside our first week of practicum (more on that in later posts I'm sure) and are attempting to start to settle into life here. We are learning how to negoiate living together,  cooking in a true Ugandian style kitchen, handing a new currency and avoiding Muzungo prices, washing our clothes by hand, avoiding drinking the tap water, trying to remember to take our malaria medication, cold showers, learning and stumbling through Lugandan, dealing with being away from our loved ones and lives back home as well as being confronted and blessed by a world that is so different from our own in many ways. It will be a challenge and we will have to be flexible. Inspite of all this, I am very excited to see what Uganda has in store for us all.

Until next time....