Life is good in Uganda

Thursday, March 20 - tomorrow is Riley's BD! Also, the BD of the little girl in our home...she'll be five. We had a practice Language Proficiency Interview this a.m. and I took the 8 a.m. spot - kids don't want it so I'm free till 12:30! They can last from 5 to 30 minutes and I "lasted" 20 which was better than I thought (they stop when you can't go on in Ugandan)...had several scripts memorized, but they ask questions - it's just a Mock test - the real one is April 6....just before we go to Kampala for swearing in. My tester was really nice and VERY patient.

Interesting fact: Uganda has a terrible shortage of medical personnel - they all leave for better paying jobs. The nurse to Patient ratio is 1 to 1,000 and it should be 1 to 5 they say!! Tuesday afternoon we went to meet a traditional healer - sells medicines made from barks and leaves and has a hut where he meets with people who are having evil spirits.....he says it's angry ancestors. Very interesting and I could see where the medicine probably is good for people and his work with the evil spirits probably isn't much different from counseling!

Our PC nurses were here on Tuesday - they come every week - and gave a lecture on parasites, worms, insects, fungal and bacterial infections, TB and other uplifting topic! Good news: I got SEVEN letters on Tuesday - from Feb. 19 to March 3 - two from Corky, two from Gail, one from Jean and letters from Julie and Anne - MUCH THANKS!!

In the health booklet in the section on Mental Health they talk about Accultuation - getting used to being suddenly immersed in a new culture:

1st Stage - the euphoria of "I'M IN AFRICA (UGANDA)"; you see all people as the same and things are interesting and wonderful.

2nd Stage - (and I'm sinking fast into this one along w. almost everyone else).....there is NOTHING similar between Americans and Ugandans and many things here are so irritating you could scream....long lines, things not working, electrical "load shedding" - blackouts to save electricity (but at least my house has electricity sometimes), the dirt, dust/mud, their traditional beliefs and practices and lack of desire to change to "our way" which seems better, washing by hand, and the food - nearly every meal is matoke, potatoes and rice....it's not very interesting, not very nutritious and very bad for the GI track!

Stage 3 - There are bad things and good things but it's O.K. in the long run - I'm trusting that since the lst two stages came as predicted, Stage 3 will come too. Everyone is excited about the site visits next week and getting on site and cleaning your own home (standards generally are not high here, but it's hard w. the dust and mud and no refrigeration, etc.), and cooking our own food. Yes, I will have to cook, tho' the other volunteers at the site both love to cook, so I may get out of it.

Today is a very nice day, tho' it may get hot. Another advantage of my early PSI time was that I got to the bank shortly after opening and got my American $ deposited, finally....we have accounts PC set up. There is only one bank is all of Luweero and Kasana (two towns run together) with two tellers. A lot of locals don't use banks. Maria stood 2 hours to deposit her $$ and my host dad said it can take 4-5!! I got it done early in 20 minutes - doing things early is still the best bet....might even go home and wash clothes - "njoze engoye".....it's sheet time - UGH!

Hope all are well. I'll let you know how the site visit goes and what it looks like. I got a text from the current volunteer there - yes, I have learned to text - it's far cheaper than calling - and she said there are LOTS of opportunities....a new nun is taking over who actually was an orphan there and grew up to go to the University and come back....guess she wants to make some changes.

Would like to send some pictures after the visit....had a problem w. my camera and lost my pictures to this point...not many anyway...don't like to take the camera out for fear of theft.....it's the one crime that is prevalent here. Will see if I can find my cable and have an opportunity on a quicker internet.

I'm sending - no waiting in case something happens.....take care. Miss you all. Can't believe it's almost spring and baseball will be starting soon!