1 and 8 October 2009
Posted by laurabell84 on October 8, 2009
1 October 2009
It has been a long time since I have managed to update. Mainly because I have been unable to stay late after work on Thursdays for the past several weeks, which is when I usually make my post. Right now, I am sitting in the local Irish pub, Bubbles O’Leary’s which could be in Boston or London or Kampala…It is definitely one of the big muzungu (foreigner) hangouts. For us we only come for pub trivia, preferring places that are not primarily foreigners most of the time…But pub trivia, it’s fun. Tonight is the first time we have been since we hosted the quiz a month ago. And there is a new strategy: Don’t win. Win a round? Yes. You get a free round of drinks. But to write and deliver the quiz is quite a burden. I loved writing the questions personally. But people were angry when they heard them…But whatever, it’s TRIVIA folks, not called Common Knowledge Night…
I have managed to travel around Uganda a bit. A few weeks ago I went on a trip with my organization to visit two other centers in the West in Mbarara and Rukungiri. Let me tell you, the hills were BEAUTIFUL! I have some pictures that I will try to post. It looked like a postcard. And everything was so lush and green…Plus it was cooler, which I always like. I sleep better at night when it is cool rather than warm, definitely my dad in me. Kampala overall has a very nice temperature. Even though it is quite close to the Equator (which I drove over by the way just outside of Masaka!), the elevation is high enough that it is reasonably temperate all year round. I find it slightly too warm for me, but my mom and Sarah could easily be here wearing a sweatshirt and never be cold…
Tomorrow I am taking a day off from everything. I am ready to sleep in a bit (even though I will be woken up by the multiple calls to prayer from the mosques around our house), and have a bit of a lazy day. I still have some things I want to get done, but I might not get out of bed until 10 or so, which is a complete luxury! It has been a long week for some reason, for all of us I think. Part of it is that we had a school assignment due, so our evenings were mostly devoted to catching up on that instead of decompressing and hanging out. But some of it is just the wear and tear of working life. My boss and I had a hard time earlier this week. I have never had a working relationship like this one, so hot and cold…Normally I feel pretty good about my direct supervisor. And I like her, I really do. But I wish she could be a bit more direct in communication so I knew what she wanted before she was angry with me for not completing it…Oh well, I am learning a lot about organizational culture and the importance of good communication!
8 October 2009
MH and Rachel are doing well. MH has moved her focus at work and is now contributing to the project for reparations to torture victims. Rach spent most of last month in Apac in the North and has found good rapport there with partner organizations. She helped lead a training for local leaders on land laws and tenure rights in Uganda. Impressive! My public speaking training is going great with the drama group. This week we “workshopped” five people’s testimonies, so the entire group listened and gave them feedback on content, presentation, tone of voice, etc. I think they are picking up some useful skills, and can continue workshopping even after I am gone, which is great. I am also making a public speaking manual/guide for them to keep when I leave. Just so that I leave them something tangible.
This weekend is Uganda’s Independence Day, so no work on Friday! Yipee!!! MH and I are going to Jinja (the source of the Nile), and Rachel is meeting some friends on the Ssese Islands (the archipelago of 62 islands in the NW of Lake Victoria, the most famous of which is Kalangala). I am excited to see the source of the Nile, I missed it the last time I was in Jinja. We will also hopefully be going to Bujagali Falls, which are supposed to be absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Then Sunday, while MH stays in Entebbe, I am going to have one of my friends from the drama group over for dinner. We have been trying to plan it for weeks. We will make some yummy food, chat for a while, maybe watch a movie and probably make some jewelry. She calls beading her ‘business.’ So she teases me about having big business with all my beads. I am very very much looking forward to it.
I guess that is it from here. Hope all is well state side. Here are some more recent photos! Hugs and love, Laura
