Entering Mbale town
Swings at the “trade show,” the Ugandan equivalent to the state fair
Elizabeth & Esther, two of our alumni women working on necklaces for 1000 Shillings’ new line.
The one and only Nile Special
School children at Child of Hope School, our partner organization
Rooftop view of Mount Elgon from our home, Casa del Turista
Since moving into our new digs in Mbale many things have come to light that have made me alter the way I think about things. As Jack mentioned in previous posts, this really is an adjustment to the mental equipment.
It feels so cliche to say that there are so many things we take for granted growing up in the states. Cliche, yes. But also REAL true. Assuming is something that I think happens for many of us more often than we think (or would like to admit). The last 48 hrs has taken my assumptions, spun them around and turned them upside down. Uganda laughs at assumptions. Oh you want to shower with hot water? That’s a charmed life. Power that stays on all night, all the time, without thought or care? Excessive to say the least. Here, there is a switch on every outlet that must be turned on to ensure a charge. Power comes and goes throughout the day and night. You charge your things based on necessity. Phone trumps camera, computer trumps phone, fan that plugs into computer and solves all problems? HAPPINESS.
#fanhappy
Our home in Mbale is by all Ugandan accounts swanky. We have multiple bathrooms with showers with decently warm water that generally, though not always, stay on for the duration of your shower. There are no shower curtains or rugs, though there is soap to wash your hands that comes and goes as frequently as the power. Toilet paper is around about 60% of the time. Oh, there are also lizards in our room, and that’s a good thing. Lizards are your friends; think of them as the natural bug protection squad.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that a single mirror is nowhere to be found. Missing with the mirrors are dressers, lamps, trash cans, night stands, fans and just about any other comfort from home that my unconscious mind decided was an expectation of living quarters. Who needs trash cans when there is no trash service? The missing mirror realization boggled me the most. Why? I wasn’t sure. Maybe because I hadn’t seen my own face in three days time (though that was probably for the best as I hadn’t showered in 2+ days). Though it’s now closer to four days, and I’ve made no progress on locating a mirror, I have showered! It’s the little things.
I’m also happy to report that the “Casa del Turista” our new home away from home now has internet and we’re doing a happy dance. The promise of wi-fi, I’ve learned, in NO way guarantees wi-fi. Not at our house, not at the mzungu friendly cafe, not at the fancy hotel in town and certainly not at mi casa. You may have a signal, you may see those little bars of hope, but for whatever reason it may just not work. When it does work, it’s probably going to be slow and sometimes painful. I’m learning patience. I need to work on my patience. Uganda is my teacher and she’s pretty harsh, but DAMN she’s effective.
Casa del Turista
Uganda also has a name for me, “mzungu.” In REAL TALK terms this means white person. This is a change for me for obvious reasons but it doesn’t bother me. This name follows Jack, Rebecca, the fellows and myself wherever we go whether we travel together or alone. Through the villages, cities, along the dirt roads, in downtown Mbale and in the Namatala slum especially we are mzungu. We are the others, the foreigners, the dollar signs, the white people and we are a novelty. We are the minority and there are always eyes following our every move.
I missed the mirrors and the internet. I’ll get over not seeing my own face and I’ll work on my patience. The adjustment has already begun and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be here. Today we met the women of 1000 Shillings in the Namatala slum (from here on out to be referred to as Namatala). To say Jack and I are feeling blessed would be an understatement.
"It's all happening." 