Still Alive and Kickin

So its around the 5 month mark since arriving in Uganda (2 ½ months at site) and I figured I better get a second blog post started. Now I am unsure how to approach this blog since its my first and I never really read them back stateside, so unless I get directional feedback from you the reader(s), I will continue to ramble along aimlessly. Here it goes:

Blog Post #2

Hello friends and foes, yes I’m still alive and kickin (despite the recent Kampala bombings). There is no need to worry about my safety as I am a good 300km from the capital in a small village, and no body cares about bombing the bush! While on the topic of my site, here’s a little update. The pad is coming along slowly, and will be host-worthy in about a month or so; that means now is the time to start looking for tickets! New additions are made monthly, and its beginning to look like a permanent residence, FINALLY. What to look forward to: dresser/armoire, floor cabinets, bigger & badder bed, chicken coop, patio (with mosquito netted "lounge" area), botanical gardens, and possibly thatch roof hut. And all constructed by yours truly; lets hope this goes better than the simple latrine door latch where my hammer introduced itself to my thumb, and quite rudely I might add. I’m hoping to be able to upload pics of the place around the middle of august, so keep your eyes peeled!

So, house done, moving on to job. This is also moving along very slowly (after being in Ug for some time, one discovers that time actually moves slower here; I think it has to do with being on the equator…) It doesn’t help that my counterpart is often MIA, and he is solely in charge of training me. Really cool guy, but also really busy (supposedly). Thus far we have mostly been doing “support supervision” of P1-P4 teachers (roughly kindergarten-third grade) who recently attended a teacher proficiency workshop. We are checking to see if these teachers are putting into practice the skills they were taught; basically teach like developed countries’ teachers (ie thematic curriculum, pupil interaction/participation, use of
instructional/teaching aids, attendance & performance registers, scheming & lesson planning, etc). Unfortunately, the ministry of education is demanding this of all teachers without considering individual circumstances. Example: most of the schools in my jurisdiction (rural village) have at least one class outside under a mango tree, with hacked up tree trunks for the students to sit on and a sorry excuse of a “chalkboard” being the only teacher’s aid. Sure the teachers could put more effort into teaching (to be honest, much much more), but with such overwhelming obstacles, I don’t blame them for getting so easily discouraged. Alright, enough ranting about crappy school system, what next…

FOOD! Always a popular topic here, although a touchy one since it inevitably turns into lamenting over delicacies lost. Now that I’m on my own, I can finally cook and eat what I want, and its great! I'm still doing the whole vegetarian thing, but its actually quite simple here. A typical day might start off with a breakfast of oatmeal with bananas, plus some passion fruit and oranges on the side. Lunch tends to be a more intricate dish of beans/lentils/peas, often served in a sauce comprised of a tomato base and any other veggies lying around (greens, carrots, onions, bell peppers, etc). This is almost always served with rice for two reasons: I love rice, and rice helps keep you solid, a very real and daily concern here. Lunch is also supplemented with passion fruit and oranges. Dinner, if eaten, is either leftovers from lunch or what the Ugandans would call a simple “tea”: milk tea with bread and bananas. However, due to irregular schedules and unforeseen events (along with pure laziness), the ordering of these meals is always variable; oatmeal tastes just as good at night, and those leftovers are screaming to be eaten in the morning before they go bad. Now, back to this milk; this isn’t your run-of-the-mill dairy! Its fresh whole milk, still warm from the cow’s tit and delivered nightly by a neighbor. Sure I have to boil it to kill all those nasty bacteria looking to wreak havoc on my digestive tract, but damn is it delicious (especially with a little honey)! Now you're asking why such a small dinner? Reason being, I go to bed so early here. The sun sets at 7pm, and since there is no electricity, the world around you slowly starts to shut down and your bed looks more and more intriguing (plus the mosquito net provides a safe haven from all those nasty mosquitoes).

Lastly, I have some updated contact info for those interested.
Address: Brennan Fay
PO Box 176
Soroti
Uganda

Cell Phone: +256703651398

If for some strange reason you miss the melodious sound of my voice, you can always hit me up via Skype or with a calling card. However, I'd recommend texts as they are fairly cheap and I’m usually pretty good about responding (just remember the time zone difference: I’m 10hrs ahead until daylight savings, then back to 11hrs).

This has far exceeded my promise of short posts, so I'll end here. Again, feel free to comment or ask questions, as this will actually help me with future blog posts.

Over and out peeps. Miss you all!