The LONG Story of My Three Priest Friends

I was recently made fun of because many of my friends here are turning out to be priests. For the record, I have more non-priest than priest-friends, but the story of how I met them all is good so I will share it. 

“Fr. Venancio" 

On Thursdays we go to Mass at a convent by Virika hospital (less than a 5 minute drive). There, we partake in a 30 minute mass before socializing outside for a while. After this, we share dinner with the sisters and Father Venancio. Fr. Venancio is a kind man. He has a knee problem and must walk with a cane. From him, I learned that all priests must complete a degree in philosophy before continuing their education (needless to say we had much to talk about). Dinner with the sisters has become the best meal that I have all week! We have a hearty meal followed by fruit and dessert (recently I had yellow cake with frosting and it was delicious and actually kind of moist!). I’m not sure what most nuns are like, but these are very quiet. They eat in near silence and many of them eat slowly, too, giving the impression that they are praying with each bite. The two times that I have gone, though, we have had good conversation and I look forward to returning.

Another interesting point about my time with the sisters and Fr. Venancio, is that, as my first Ugandan friend, Father gave me my empako. An empako is a “pet name,” a unique practice here among the Toro people. There are 13 emapkos that can be given and a few of them are only for men. Father named me Atwooki (ah-twOH-kee) and we had a naming ceremony in the convent’s kitchen while everyone was washing dishes. Atwooki means good, organized, straightforward and one other word that I cannot remember at the moment.

“Fr. Robert" 

My first weekend in Fort Portal, we went to Mass at a nearby village. We went there to see a group of kids that pledges to be abstinent to fight HIV/AIDS. The group also does other things like performing song, dance, and drama and also learns skills like beekeeping. Since CRS funds them, we were sent as the representatives. Though it may sound like we were a pretty big deal that day, the true guest of honor was Fr. Robert. Recently their regular priest (who only visits the parish maybe once a month because there are too many churches and too little priests) died and this Mass happened to be his memorial.

Though I expected the Mass to be long I was not prepared to be there from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.! Mass itself only took the first several hours. I enjoyed the beautiful and lively music (much better than what I’m used to!) and the dress of the people there, but I can’t say that I wasn’t restless most of the time. After Mass was over, the kids performed some songs. Traditional music performances seem to involve a semi-circle of singers who sing a common chorus and when it comes time for verses, one singer will step into the middle of the semi-circle and sing and dance. I was completely thrilled by the experience, but was more than happy when it ended because I hadn’t eaten since early that morning (it must have been about 4:45 at that time.

After the performance, we shared traditional foods. I had the usual (described earlier, so if you’re confused then you haven’t done your reading!) but was able to try millet for the first time. Millet is a grain that is often grown during the dry season because it can grow and survive just on the water from dew. When it is ready to eat, it looks like a dark brown ball of dough. It doesn’t have a distinct (well, describable, really) flavor but is very good when combined with soup (the word for broth) or other sauces like g-nut sauce (groundnut, which is peanut). During the meal I sat next to Fr. Robert and Mary and I cannot remember anymore what we talked about, but this is how I made my second priest-friend.

After the meal, the kids performed the traditional “goodbye” song and dance, this time wearing traditional items for the occasion. The girls wear a skirt made out of banana leaves and the boys wear some kind of dried gourd-type-thing that sounds like maracas. 

Even Fr. Robert got in on the action!

“Fr. Tom and God”

Blessed were Mary and myself recently when we had two of Mary’s friends over to stay. Literally, we were blessed. The first guest was Fr. Tom and the second was his brother, Godfrey, who is currently in seminary and is called “God” for short (“the little God”). While God is in school and learning, Fr. Tom teaches and both were enjoying their time off (school breaks for the month of January here) by visiting western Uganda.

We decided to take a weekend trip to Queen Elizabeth National Park (south of FP).

The drive down took around two hours, but drives here always pass quickly for me because I’m so interested in the scenery that is flying by at 80-100 km/hr. It was a longer drive than it would have been because we took the “scenic route” so that we could look at some of the many crater lakes in the area. The legend is that an ancient king carved them out after he retired and left his son in control (or something along those lines) … others argue that they are the result of volcano activity, but who’s to say?!

At the end of the crater lake tour was a lodge (Ndali Lodge – which means eyes that look in other directions … as in the physical disorder, not as in having a “wandering eye”). Here, I saw many interesting things, but was very happy to meet my first canine friend.

…And also to see the beautiful view!

Halfway through the driving, in Kasese, we stopped for lunch at a hotel. I can’t remember which one I had, but the amount of soda that is consumed here on a daily basis is absolutely astounding! It seems like everyone drinks at least one per day. Though I’m not usually a regular soda drinker, I’ve assimilated into the culture in this regard. What most surprises me is my newfound love for orange soda (Fanta Orange). I’ve always liked orange soda, but ever since I arrived here, I just can’t get enough of it!

Back on the road, we drove only a short distance before I experienced a life-changing event, and, really, a milestone in my world-traveling life: I crossed into the southern hemisphere for the first time! The equator runs through Uganda and along the road, on either side, are two enormous markers. To me, they look as though they are trying to contain an invisible tube that circles the Earth. 

Traveling further into the southern half of the world, we entered the park. It would still be light for several hours, so we did a game drive. The first animals that I saw were kob … lots and lots of kob! 

But these cute little antelop-ie things were not the only animal around. Other common sightings were:

 

Waterbuck:

Warthog:

And some others like water buffalo, birds, and even two elephants that were far in the distance.

 

We stayed the night at the Abby Rest House, which was not much to talk about but served its purpose well. Actually, I guess there was one thing to talk about because I had about 20-30 bites on my right leg that were red with a white ring around them. I was convinced that I had gotten bitten by the tsetse fly and was going to catch African Sleeping Sickness and die in 3 weeks. Well, that wasn’t the case (the case was probably just ants from the game drive) and I was perfectly fine … just a little too worked up for my own good!

 

Early in the morning we left for Chambura Gorge to go on a chimpanzee walk. We arrived and parked next to a huge tour bus. The bus was full of about 20 mzungus (white people). I should take this time to note an important difference in Ugandan culture from what many of you and myself are used to. Here, descriptive words generally carry no positive or negative connotations. For example, if you were to refer to someone who was fat, you would call them “the fat one,” someone short would be “the short one,” and someone who is lame would be called “the lame one.” Also, being called old is a compliment because the old are wise. Some words, though, do carry a charge. For example, being fat is not only an okay way to describe someone, but it is a compliment because it means that you are not sick. It’s been hard to get used to being called a mzungu because I’m used to it being rude to refer to someone by their skin color. I handle it pretty well though … except when I’m very hungry or tired.

Anyway, here is the gorge:

Here is our guide who was everything a person could hope for in a chimpanzee-gorge-guide: enthusiastic (well, kind of), knowledgeable, and came complete with a gun. 

We saw the chimps right away.

They were quite exciting, but I was also interested in the gorge itself. The trees were amazing! I was one of the few people interested in them, though.

After the walk we drove around the park an stopped at a lodge to use the restroom. Here’s the best photo of an elephant so far:

After that, we tried our luck by the water. Since it’s now the dry season, most of them stay close to water. Most of what we saw were water buffalo through binoculars. I was a bit disappointed, but then the most amazing thing happened! I saw a hippo! AND it was the closest we were to an animal the entire trip! Apparently the hippo wasn’t as excited as we were because it got up into the shallow water, turned away from us and did a huge number two! I’m not sure if any of you have ever witnessed this, but it uses its tail in a similar way to a windshield wiper to fling it everywhere! It was disgusting! …But very memorable! Here is a more appropriate photo:

But I probably should put this one here, instead, because most of our attempts at getting a photo of us with the hippo failed because they (there were two) only surfaced for moments at a time.

This concludes the Great Queen Elizabethan Adventure, as we had to return to Fort so that Fr. Tom could get to the town where he had to say Mass early the next morning. One last interesting thing from this trip that I learned about Ugandans is that they have a different way of describing family. A man that came up to us asked if I was Mary’s daughter. We both thought he meant what he said and Mary asked him if she looked that old. As we found out, what he was really asking was if we were related. Here different words can be used for certain people that we would not use. For example, a younger female relative can be called your daughter even if she is not literally your daughter. Similarly, an older male relative can be called father or uncle. I’m so interested in difference like this one but I must admit that it is getting increasingly difficult to keep track of them all as my time here passes!

Quick Notes

For the non-texting-inclined, quick notes are messages that can be selected as pre-saved messages to send to someone. Most phones have a list of them to choose from. For example, you can choose something like "How are you?" and this will be inserted into a text message to be sent to whomever the sender wishes. I wondered if the quick notes selection would be different in Africa, so I checked my phone (I have been given a cell phone by CRS). Here is the list that I found:

1. Call you later.

2. Urgent! Please call me!

3. I'll be -- minutes late.

4. I wait for you at --.

5. Meet you in --.

6. Be happy for --.

7. I'll wait for you at subway --.

8. Don't worry, be happy.

9. Have a nice day!

10. Love you forever.

#6 and #8 are my favorite. I think that those most accurately describe the people here. However, #3 made me laugh, too, because time is so relaxed here that I can see how that would be a good quick  note to have on hand. Actually, the relaxed attitude towards time is one of my favorite aspects of living here. When I'm home in the States, I find that I am often worrying or stressed. Even when I'm doing something completely for myself, I am thinking of what I should be doing instead to be more productive. Here, what seems to be most important is interacting with people and being happy. I never fully realized it when I was in the States, but living with the attitude, or in the style (whatever way you choose to describe it) that I was, makes it easy to forget about the importance of other people; of the happiness that fills you when greeting someone with a sincere, full, and open heart; of the joy in asking someone about their day and truly caring what they say about it; of making silly jokes about nothing important just to have an excuse to laugh. I hope that these are some of the things that I can bring back with me from Africa.

Living in the Fort and Interacting with the People

Living and working in FP is a beautiful, challenging, fun, exciting, nerve-touching, saddening, joyful, and a many other adjective experience. I’ll take you through it how I saw it: first my house, then the surroundings, then the people.

Here is my house:

(The view from my house)

It is very posh! We have a self-contained house, which means that the kitchen and bathroom are inside. We have western-style toilets, a shower, a hot water heater (ooh fancy shmancy!) and basically what we need (more than, really).  The only thing we don’t have is a clothes washer and dryer, so I’ve started learning how to do this by hand. So far, I’m not very good. Half of my load ended up smelly from not drying fast enough and a quarter was still dirty when I was done so I have to do another load soon! Also, the house is two doors down from my office. Here is the road I take to work:

Here is my housemate, Mary Oldham:

(I'll explain everyone else at another time, this picture was from a trip that I'll get to later)

Mary is the only other person around from the States. She’s from Iowa and her father is a farmer (those extra details were for you, dad! I hope they made you smile). Long story short, she’s great and I’m so lucky to have her! With every day that passes, she reminds me more and more of Sonya (she’s a chemical engineer, by the way), which makes me miss Sonya very much at times, but also brings me a sense of ease and a lot of laughter!

In terms of land, FP is unlike any place I have ever been in many ways. First, the earth is red:

The terrain is hilly and lush with plants and trees and the town is tucked into some tall mountains (the Mountains of the Moon). The best way that I have described the look of it so far is that everything is in layers. Layers of trees sit on layers of hills and valleys. The hills themselves create layers before they are stopped by the hazy blue/purple mountains. The clouds also seem to come in layers. I hope these can convey what I mean:

Oh, before I forget, here is a photo of Sir Gerald Portal:

Funnily enough, the rumor is that he never actually carried a gun, and possibly never even made it to where Fort Portal is today!

Now that I’ve decently covered the area, I’ll try to give an idea of the people who live here. My qualifier is that I have not been here for a long time and will probably have different ideas about many things by the time I leave. I’ll keep you posted.

The people that I have met in Uganda are wonderful. I’ve heard that they are a reserved people in comparison with other African countries (this, I think, provides their calmness that I really appreciate). So far, I agree with this, but it seems to be in conflict with another large aspect of their personality, which is a love of laughing and a unique ability to laugh at almost anything. Also, the Ugandans I have met are sincere, kind, and polite. They are also highly religious. It has been interesting coming from Seattle (the PC capital of the world … hah, I meant political correctness, but I suppose the computer type would work as well) to a country where statements (both written and verbal) about the Christian God are common and accepted. 

I've been very impressed with the amount of weight women can carry on their heads (something men do not do). I have seen many men walking bicycles loaded with a lot of weight, though. Everything from enormous crates, to huge poles or pieces of wood, to other things... like this:

(In case you can't tell, this is a cow's head. Cows have huge horns and any that don't are called "exotic")

In case you are interested, here is what the money looks like here. I wish I would have placed a US dollar next to them to give you an idea, but they are much larger (wider and just as long). 

(Why can't our money be this pretty?!)

The Journey to the Fort and Food in Uganda

Fort Portal, Uganda, and the surrounding area is probably one of the most beautiful places I have had the pleasure to see. I made the 4-hr journey on Jan. 15^th with three other CRS workers, including my new housemate, Mary. Being consumed with looking at the beautiful Ugandan terrain, the trip seemed very short (the only thing that made it seem long at times was the strange music taste of the driver, who very much likes artists like Tina Turner and Paula Abdul). One of my favorite parts was when I commented on the enormous birds (literally the size of a small child) that I had been admiring, only to find out that they are some sort of stork that is a dumpster-diving bird, and, really, the pigeon of cities here.

As we neared Fort Portal, the landscape became filled with tea fields. This agricultural scene warmed my heart and eased my eyes, but was tainted when a conversation started about working conditions in the fields. Even though I saw the fields differently when I looked back towards them, I felt even more at home, thinking about how similar the challenges workers face here are to those that workers in the orchards back home (and in many other places) face daily, as well. Similarly, being in my company and conversation brought me comfort, too, because I knew that in each place (either Western Uganda, or Eastern Washington), there were people I could find that cared for those in need of care and consideration.

On the night I arrived, we walked a few blocks into town (well, I actually live in town, and I’m not sure exactly where the center is) to get “alley meat.” In an alley between a few restaurants you can find a few grills cooking mean and chips (fries). You choose between chicken or goat (which is not, too bad, actually) and they bring you a plate of it. I know my mom is cringing right now, but not to worry! I’ve only been sick once (from an unknown cause) and I’ve eaten many things.

Local food would usually look like a full plate of a combination of these foods: meat (beef, chicken), beans, or peas with matooke (“mashed potatoes” made out of green banana), posho (cornmeal mixture), sweet potato, Irish potato, cabbage, or rice. Prices vary, but the place we usually take our lunch charges 1,500 Ugandan Shillings (USH) for beans and “all food” (combination of my list) and about 3,000 USH for meat and “all food.” The exchange rate is 1,700 USH to $1. I will probably say this again, perhaps using different words, but Africa has been my most quick-witted teacher. One of my first lessons was that, if I try, I can get (almost) whatever I am used to. This is especially easy in Kampala, but even here in FP I can visit grocery stores that have foods that I can cook with to make dishes that I know, for example. But, again, not to worry! I have been eating more than my fair share of local food. My favorite new introduction (which I’m sure is an import, but is new to me!) is Stoney, a delicious ginger soda (caution: very strong!).

That is all for now. I'll sign off from my office, listening to the one noise that strikes fear into my heart - the sound of generators turning on! Since I've been here, power has been fairly reliable. I've heard that it was out for nearly a week a short time before I arrived. The longest stretch without power that I have had to endure lasted only a day. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Welcome To My Blog!

Hey There Everyone!

Welcome to my blog, so named for the excellent Ugandan radio station found at www.connectuganda.com. My dad got me into it before I left and I found it an appropriate name for what I’m doing over here in my new home.

So as to avoid rewriting what took so much time and mental effort, I’m going to copy and paste my first email as my first post (which was very long, I just realized!). So, if you haven’t read it, now would be a good time. If you have, feel free to reread. Hopefully I’ll be able to post regularly but I have several challenges such as: (1) the slow internet that I have already complained about, (2) it is incredibly difficult to absorb, process, reflect, and communicate everything that has happened in such a short time-frame, and (3) balancing time – hey, I’ve got a job to do after all! I didn’t come here on vacation! Anyway, here is my first email:

Dear Fam & Friends,

How are you all? Wonderful, I hope! Though difficult to compose, I hope you all enjoy my first mass email in which I hope to share a piece of my life here in Uganda with you. My difficulties in sending this mainly involve the internet here, which is amazingly slow. It’s pretty shocking, actually. What’s more, Chantal (my housemate here in Kampala, the capitol) says that the office recently upgraded. I can’t imagine what it used to be like! Anyway, I’m going to write a bit about my trip so far. So much has happened that it feels a bit overwhelming to try and wrap my head around it all, but Uganda is truly an amazing space so I hope I succeed in giving you a window into life here.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my trip, I will give a short background of why I am here and what I am doing. I am participating in a program through my school called the International Development Internship Program. It is a one-year program where students take an international development course in the fall, participate in a field practicum in the winter, and take another course in the spring. For the practicum, students are paired with NGOs (mostly Catholic Relief Services, but some are with others like CARE) in developing countries and intern with them for 8-10 weeks. Students are sent to Africa, Asia, and South America. I am interning for CRS here in Uganda. My job is to get to know the majority of the programs that the office runs (things like microfinance, water sanitization, AIDS care, and others) and write up “project briefs,” which are one-page summaries similar to brochures. Currently I am in Kampala, but will soon travel to Fort Portal (in the west) where I will be stationed. After three weeks I will come back to Kampala to meet with program directors who are stationed here. Then, I will travel to Gulu to learn about the agricultural programs before I head back to Fort Portal for the remainder of my stay. Now, let me tell you about my time here so far…

I arrived in Entebbe at night and had no problems finding my driver (who was holding a little CRS sign, which didn’t have my name on it, but I was excited to have a person with a sign nonetheless). I’m a bit surprised at how easily I found him considering how many people where at the airport. This, actually, was one of my first observations here: there are so many people! Though I didn’t have a problem finding my driver, I did have a problem with was the driving! They drive so fast here! There are tons of cars, people, and boda bodas (motorcycle taxis). It makes me nervous because you almost hit people all the time. Pedestrians have no rights (which I think is something you have to experience to believe because I knew that but didn’t understand until I was walking on the side of the road the other day). The cars assume that pedestrians will move out of the way… Very different from Seattle! Also, the roads are too narrow for the amount of traffic. Cars will drive straight at each other because they know to swerve at the last minute.

The roads are narrow and bumpy in places with many structures all along the road that are very close to it. No matter what time of day or night, it seems, people will be in and around the structures, which are adorned with lights of many different colors. When we finally got to Chantal’s house (which took about 30 min.), I was relived to say the least.

Chantal is a fellow here at CRS and is an Iranian-American from California. She’s calm and considerate and has an amazing energy. I’m incredibly fortunate to have her to introduce me to my new home. The house is very nice, too. I have my own bedroom and bathroom. The shower has no water pressure…. It’s kind of like standing under a weak hose. But at least I have a shower (and, as Mary says, it's nice to be reminded that I'm living in Africa ... there are probably far better examples, though)! I’ve taken lots of pictures so I can send them out or post them somehow later. Around the house there is a big wall that stretches around the entire “compound.” We have a guard that watches the gate, Edirissa, but it is safer than that makes it sound. On the note of beauty and security, the compound has beautiful gardens and trees and the walls have some sort of ivy growing all over them. My first morning, I was appreciating the beauty of the walls when my eyes found the top and saw razor wire all along it! Talk about a contrast between the beautiful and ugly! But that is very common here and I would rather have it than not!

I spent my first day in the house napping, unpacking and reading. 

Even though I was very tired, I could only sleep for about 6 hours the first two nights! The next day (Friday) I went in to the office.

The office in Kampala is relatively nice and bigger than I expected. I toured the (three) buildings and met more people than I can remember. There will only be about 8 in the office in Fort Portal. A lady (whose name I cannot remember) helped me through some orientation materials. She had a beautiful gold ring that formed two cheetah heads over the top of her finger, which faced each other and were each biting opposite sides of a small ring. She spoke very softly. Actually, most people speak more softly than I am used to in the States so I have to consciously turn my voice down a few notches. They also have a very beautiful accent that I love listening to, but have a hard time following. Between being at the office and with the Italians, I’m constantly asking people to repeat themselves!

I was set up on one of the computers in a room with two other people. All of the computers here are large and mismatched and have a layer of red dust on them (well, everything has a layer of red dust on it). The room where I sat has a balcony where we all drink tea around 10 a.m. It has a view of part of Kampala, which is much more beautiful than I imagined. There are many hills covered in all sorts of trees and red tile roofs everywhere. It was a nice view to sit by and do my work. After I finished my orientation materials, I met with my boss, Hilary O’Connor, who is originally from Ireland, went to lunch with the country representative, Jack, then went home because I was feeling sick.

Staying in Kampala has been many things, entertaining being a primary one of them. On Saturday I tagged along on Chantal’s weekly shopping expedition with her landlords: Lella and Kiko (actually spelled Chico, but Kiko is how it sounds and I'm too lazy to change all of them right now), who are Italian. Lella is warm and laughs a lot in between complaining about her color shampoo and seeking out pretty necklaces (which Kiko says she has about 100 of). She also has a habit of yelling at Kiko while he is driving, sometimes in English, sometimes in Italian, sometimes in Swahili. Kiko is more quiet but has a heavy accent (like Lella) and all I can do is laugh lightly and nod. We went to a few stores (grocery and target-esque), then the mall (four stories! Can you believe it? Apparently you won’t find one like that except in Nairobi or South Africa), then an Italian market. Every Saturday, around the time between the mall and market (about 5 o’clock) Kiko starts to sing. I didn’t know the songs but they were very nice. Kiko is also fond of calling everything “taka taka” or “taca taca,” which means junk. He and Lella went to a dinner party the other night at a big fancy house. Lella showed us the pictures of the dinner and people on the porch and the pretty piano. Kiko said that it was too big and was just filled with a bunch of taca taca (which he emphasized by throwing his hands up in the air….while driving…in Uganda)!

One of the more interesting aspects of going out with the Italians was driving through Kampala. Never have I seen such a drastic difference between the rich and poor areas. We drove past the area where diplomats live, with large houses surrounded by tall walls and streets with trees arching over them from both sides. We passed a beautiful golf course and the president’s landing strip. I couldn’t help but think back to walking through the area near my office with my boss, where we passed tiny shacks built on a sloping dirt hill where children played in a ditch or a vacant lot next to goats eating trash. The children were happy, smiling and waving and practicing their English on us. Seeing them made me feel pride in the work of organizations like CRS that work to change bad situations. I can’t wait to begin my work and see more wonderful changes taking place. Perhaps next time I write I will have some interesting stories from the field! Until then, take care and write to me if you have a chance.

-KC

PS Let me know if there is anyone who would like to be added to my email list. I’m sure I haven’t included everyone! And feel free to forward this to any friends or family that would like to read it.

Also, here is a link to Chantal’s pictures. You will be able to see my house, the office in Kampala, and our guard. Enjoy!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=ldz4dpt.apgkn30x&x=0&y=p2nt24

Finally, I met with Nuwa (an artist here that I know through my Aunt Martha). He travels to Wisconsin to teach some classes each year. His studio was amazing! It's in what I can only describe as a village of artists and studios. Unfortunately, most of his work wasn't there because it is at an exposition at the university. Anyway, he is wonderful and I'm excited to see him again and maybe buy some gifts for people back home! (Here, he's showing me the picture that he just took of me!)