June 1-9th 2011

It’s been a crazy week or so and I finally feel as though I’m getting my bearings.

June 1st I had my first observation of a SAS mentor in a school. Usually the mentors teach small classes but there is a new push to teach in larger schools, where the classes are 300+. Imagine trying to keep the attention of 300+ 6 year old students for 30-45 minutes. It’s not an easy task but Mary, one of SAS’ best mentors and the woman Ginger and Meagan call their African mother, makes it look easy.

We went to Buganda Rd Primary School and there are pictures up under Ginger’s Picasa account. It is a public government school even though they students wear uniforms and the parents must pay fees. When we arrived the kids flocked Mary’s car and then us as we got out. The kids would walk up to us and then just silently stare while others would play peek-a-boo, shyly running up only to squeal and run back if I looked their way. Many would say hello and ask how I was and yell Mzungu! The ones who had already said hello would come and touch my arm to see what white skin felt like. Mary said it was probably the first time they had spoken to a white person or even seen one. In the classroom the kids got extremely excited about having their pictures taken and they loved seeming themselves in the Polaroid we left with them. By the second class word must have gotten around because when I forgot about the picture, the students loudly said picture! picture!

The next day we went to the SAS office and then another school where the curriculum will move into. It’s really the only program of its kind, focusing on HIV education among primary school students with mentors who are in their classrooms once a week for the whole term. It’s a good thing that it’s so worthwhile because it makes the stacks and stacks of tests we have to grade and then enter into a computer worth it. If you see the pictures of papers on our kitchen table you can get a sense of how much work we’ve been doing. Its taken about 36 working hours to hand grade them and who knows how long to finish the database, but it will be great to know what the students know and don’t know. In one case a teacher was trying to help and graded them herself, but she got one wrong when she made her won key, which shows how important the information is for students and teachers alike.

Enough about our work…the bush crickets here are a delicacy. They are called grasshoppers here but are way bigger than the grasshoppers back home. We asked Grace to try them and ants, which were recommended by a guy we talked to at 1000 cups who was leading a student service/learning program with U of Michigan. Before Grace fried the grasshoppers she called me over to se how fresh they were. So fresh, that one was still moving. “Yup, they’re fresh” I said. I tried one of the ants then and they weren’t bad, especially since they weren’t alive! They tasted like a smoky earthy bacon-y spice. When we had the grasshoppers they tasted alright, but were really crunchy and I didn’t appreciate them as much as Ginger, who was dipping them in ketchup like French fries saying they tasted like soft shell crab.

After we had eaten we went to Rose’s house to say hello. Immediately we were given photo album after photo album of the wedding. It was funny to see ourselves in an Eritrean’s wedding album. Before we knew it a huge meal was brought out even though we said we had just eaten eventually we were offered coffee. Ginger and Meagan had raved about Rose’s coffee, but I didn’t understand what I was in for.

The coffee ceremony: Out came a box with an orange and white checkered straw woven mat folded on top. The mat was removed and put on the floor and a small almost cabinet looking thing was underneath it. It was placed on the mat and a tray with cups and saucers was placed atop it. The cups were the size of demi-task cups but without handles and more bowl shaped in that they flared out at the top. Then a small foot by foot square thing was brought out and the room started getting hot. I realized the box was an oven and there were hot coals being fanned through an opening on the side.

A small sauce pan was used to roast the coffee beans and after they were roasted the pan was brought in front of us to smell and appreciate. Then an electric coffee grinder was used and the beans went into a clay pot that was the shape and size of a rounded Bunsen burner with a rounded handle. The top was narrow and maybe an inch in diameter, but after the coffee warmed she would pour back and forth between it and a small pan like those used to froth milk at coffee shops. Ouw (like ouch)-a is the first round of the coffee after the roasting and milk and sugar were added first and then the coffee was poured in the small cups until it almost overflowed. There were what looked like small green reeds sticking out the top of the pot which kept the grinds in. We stirred the sugar in and the cup was so full it did spill over. It was unlike any coffee I have ever had. It was strong but had almost a cinnamon taste and a hot chocolate consistency. Then the second and finally the third and last round, ba-rah-ka (emphasis on ka), were served. For each round the same roasted coffee beans are used and new water is added and it is re-heated over the coals.

This whole process took over an hour and the investment in hospitality here is hard to describe. I thought people were hospitable where I come from, but Ugandans and Eritreans have us beat hands down. Since we have been trying to rack our brains for some equivalent American tradition to reciprocate with but it’s hard. We are making them some banana bread soon, but it’s not really the same social exchange.

The next day I stayed home as Ginger and Meagan went to watch Moses’ soccer team kick butt. I wasn’t feeling well from the previous night when the mixture of grasshoppers, ants, fish soup, and three rounds of Eritrean coffee eventually made me york. I probably get less cool points for not keeping the bugs down, but at least I tried. By the evening I was feeling better so the four of us went to watch the Ugandan Cranes play against Guinnea Bissau. As we arrived and bought our beers at the bar a group of guys blew their air horns to get our attention and then again when we walked away. It was actually hilarious and I’m slowly getting used to most people trying to talk to us because we are such the novelty. It’s annoying when everyone yells to get your attention in markets, but today we heard a new one. A guy yelled at us, “Hello African women! Hello African Americans!” All you can do is shake your head and smile.

I love trash talk here. While watching the game we overheard one guys say “You’re team is insecure.” What a sophisticated smack down! The Cranes won to boot. Earlier that day I had been washing my feet in the tub while in my pjs when the soap made my feet slippery and I slid in the tub when I tried to stand up. Relaying this story made the guys next to us who were covertly eavesdropping spit out their drinks laughing. We got to talking with them and eventually we discussed whether a guy should leave work when he knows his wife/girlfriend is in labor and culturally differences in telling people they are fat and ugly. One guy said in his tribe there is nothing you don’t joke about. When you meet a child you tell them “At least you’re not as ugly as your mother” and earlier Mary told Meagan and I to share a chair because we “Weren’t THAT fat.” She wasn’t joking though 

Sunday we went to church with Mary (there should be pics and a video of dancing) and then went to her home where a huge meal was made for us. We convinced Mary we could share two plates between the three of us, but everyone thinks we eat too little because they have one big meal a day. We had to tell them we eat more meals and so less food per meal. We spent the whole day with Mary, her fiancé Henry, her children Julius, Judith, and Judith’s 3 month old baby Shem. He was a great baby and we just fussed on him all day. Judith told me that when women are 30 and unmarried here they are taken to church and prayed for. When they found out I was 28 Julius joked he was waiting to play with my babies like I was playing with Shem. I said I would invite him to play with my babies but that he would have to wait a long time, which everyone laughed at. American and Ugandan humor seems to mesh and unsurprisingly there are many US-Ugandan marriages.

Monday Meagan was sick with a sinus infection. It was sad for her but great for me because I finally ventured out on my own back to Buganda Rd Primary to meet Mary for an observation and to exchange supplies. When I got on the matatu there were two Arabic speaking men who had a friend pay for them and tell the conductor when they were getting off. It was nice not to be the most clueless person on the van. Mary did a great job and when the room she taught in earlier wasn’t available, she taught outside managing about 160 standing students and then managing a change of location when the room became available ten minutes into her lesson. You really have to think on your feet and be confident and encouraging with so many kids. I have a lot of respect for these mentors who are volunteers only compensated for their expenses.

Yesterday I met with a contact at Makerere University and it was a lovely campus and a great visit. Dr. Haroon Sseguya went to school with a professor of mine and we talked all about his work on rural agricultural development, politics, and friends and family. He even showed me lots of pictures on his computer from his fieldwork, graduation, and some of my professor and Meagan laughed that he really was Ugandan because it was the techno version of sharing photo albums which happens a lot here. He gave me some great insights and offered to help me with anything and again I was reminded of how amazing Ugandan hospitality is. I also felt good finding a new place all by myself and I haven’t had anyone grab me to get my attention yet. I don’t know if it’s because I’m taller than most people here (even the men) or if I’ve just been lucky so far. Either way, G&M have done a great job of preparing me for anything.

Today Meagan felt much better after a visit to the SAS clinic so we walked a lot, going to the open air mall called Garden City. I got my own maps and we pow-wowed our research plans over coffee. All the tests are almost graded and we are entering them into a database. We are planning our trips outside of Kampala so we can visit schools in other districts. I’m really excited to see the rural areas of Uganda and this coming week I will just cold call at lots of humanitarian organizations to make connections. It’s not easy to just show up, but that kind of friendly boldness is what I have been trained for so here I go….