MY HOMESTAY IS AWESOME! I could not be happier with my family and accommodations. In all honesty though, I was expecting the worst. I’m living with a mom, Pauline, and her two nephews who are 14 and 12 – Joseph and Dennis. There is also house help, Sophie, who has an adorable three-year-old son. Dan, a 24 year old, is staying with us as well, but I’m not sure what his relation to the family is. He keeps asking why I would come to Uganda because America is way better, so I keep having to explain that it’s just different and that they are good and bad to both places. He also said that he is going to take me clubbing and teach me how to dance. He clearly doesn’t know what he is getting himself into. Basically, a lot of people come and go in Ugandan households, and I’m already starting to lose track as to who is staying here and who is just visiting. The house is extremely clean and I have a decently sized room with a full bed. There is an actual toilet inside the house, so there will be no night buckets for me these next 8 weeks! It could be a different story when I move to site. Unfortunately, I do not have a shower, so it’s all about the bucket bath. It’s a little bit harder than I remember, but I am sure I will get the hang of it, again. It also didn’t help that the electricity went out mid-bath. I’m going to remember to bring my flashlight next time I bathe at night because the electricity seems to be going out a lot here. The house does have a pit latrine and a place to take a bucket bath outside, which I assume was the original layout of the house. My host mom told me that she is going to make me practice for when I move to the village and make me go one day only using the pit latrine as well as carry a jerry can of water to the outside bathing area. She said she is going to teach me how “most Africans live” so that I am well prepared. Ha!
My host mom’s daughter came by this afternoon, and she was great. She also speaks English very well, so it was nice to be able to talk to her. The rest of the family is okay at English, but they mostly stick to speaking Lugandan – so I’m out of the loop a lot. My host mom is insistent that I learn Lugandan, which will hopefully motivate me to practice. My family has also been laughing at me because apparently I eat “too little” and I need to get an African body and be fat. For those who don’t know, being fat is seen as beautiful here as it means that you are well fed. I can eat a lot, but not nearly as much as the Ugandans can eat! Especially since all the food is pretty starchy, so I fill up quickly. My host mom also told me that all the host families were warned by Peace Corps not to tell the volunteers they were fat because Americans take it as an insult. She said it was a good thing she got a “normal sized” girl because she wasn’t sure she could go without calling someone fat.
My host mom is really great, she has done a lot for me already. She took me to the Quality Market today, which is basically like a Target and it felt like I was back in America. She has a modem for Internet through her cell phone, which is pay as you go, so she refilled it today so I could have Internet (so sweet!). Then, she took me to “Good African Coffee” (yup, that was the name of the coffee shop) and bought me a latte – no instant coffee, whoo! Basically, I am being spoiled. She keeps reminding me that I will not be living like this when I move to the eastern part in 8 weeks…shucks! I guess I will look at it like I’m easing my way in…
It’s nice to finally be out of the training center and have freedom to roam around. I finally feel like I’m actually in Uganda, minus Quality Market. I have already been swarmed by tons of kids shouting “mzungu!” (white foreigner), and they all run up to me to shake my hand. It’s pretty cute. I was also proposed to by a boda boda driver, he told me to marry him so I could take him to America. It was a hard decision, but I had to turn him down. For those who don’t know, boda bodas are motorcycle taxis, which Peace Corps prohibits us from taking. I’m actually more scared of my mom’s wrath; she was less than pleased with my motorcycle riding in Kenya.
Well, that’s all I have for now. I’m going to spend the rest of the day lounging around because I worked up quite a sweat doing my laundry today. Dennis and Joseph do a way better job and they made fun of me because I was struggling and doing it wrong. You know you must be bad when 12 and 14-year-old boys can do laundry better than you.
Dang you are living the good life.. when will you know the conditions of your home stay after this 8 weeks??
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