Initial reaction

Hello all!!

So I am all settled in and the wowing has already begun. This whole first week of training has been a ton of information and it has honestly felt like a month. I don’t have great internet where I am at, so I have not been able to update like I would, but I will try to sum it all up for you. First of all, Uganda (what I have seen) is gorgeous. I am staying at a site used for teaching organic farming (!!!), which is surrounded by rolling jungle-like hills that offer tons of great running trails. The weather has been awesome, where it is pretty warm during the day and cool at night with very little rain. The food is pretty cool: a lot of mashed plantains, posho (a starchy grain), matoke (a bland plantain mixture), potatoes, rice, some variety of beans, and a green of sorts. Not a lot of raw veggies since they are likely to contain bacteria that will make me poop a lot. Oh yea, pretty much any virus or bacteria you can think of is found in Uganda. They also mimic the Brits a lot and have morning/afternoon tea..which to my delight also includes instant coffee! There are tons of animals, that usually get eaten. But I am able to stay a vegetarian here cause of all the beans and nuts! However, they also have 2 dogs and a cat that I have become very close with. I was jokingly voted to be the first to get rabies in my group haha.

The people in my group are amazing!!! Everyone is so different but we all get along like we have known eachother forever. I have some really great friends already. I am doing yoga a ton and running a bunch. But most importantly, I am laughing and enjoying myself constantly. I have learned some of the language here too! And I don’t know a ton about what I am doing yet, but I am super excited from what I can tell my projects will be based on. I have also had some interesting attempts at bucket bathing and learned that I am very good at taking a “long call” aka poop in a pit latrine. Celebrating my birthday here was spectacular, they made me a cake and sang and I got to see a monkey in the trees. Overall in the short time I have been here I have become super happy and excited. The local Ugandan staff never stop smiling and laughing and I feel very comfortable...they and the current volunteers even threw us a Thanksgiving dinner that had American food, which some of us contributed to by making apple pie in a clay oven.  I miss everyone at home, not a ton because I am so busy, but I am thinking of you. Give me updates!!! Love ya!