A day in the life

It has been awhile since I updated everyone so I thought it would be nice to just post what a typical day is like here and what my area is like. Keep in mind, school term has not started yet so this will be different once I start working.

I wake up anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 and either go for a nice run or begin to make breakfast. I go running early now because it is cooler and there are not tons of people. My runs consist of small village dirt roads and amazing views of trees and the tallest mountain in Uganda! If I did not boil water the night before and put it in a thermos, I boil up some water and add it to quick oats and into my French press. Yes I can find peanut butter to add in, yes I have cinnamon, yes there is fresh coffee right from Uganda, and yes sometimes I get milk but I am also learning to drink it black…woah! After a long and exaggerated meal, I wash my dishes (either in a bucket or in my all-purpose bathroom sink), I take a cold shower, and do what I need to do. If it is a clothes washing day, I soak the clothes with some powder detergent and then handwash everything and line dry it. It is actually pretty cool! During the day I either meet people in the village, walk to the closest trading center to buy produce and such, lay around and do nothing, or go to town.

So traveling is the most interesting part of my days. I live off of the major road that connects Kenya-Uganda-Sudan; that means it is really busy with huge trucks and probably the worst road I have ever seen in my life. There are monster pot holes I can lay in everywhere! But, there is also a lot of opportunity to meet people. I am about a 15 minute ride to my town, Tororo, and an hour ride to Mbale, which is a much larger town where I can find lattes!. Also, I am only an hour and a half from Jinja, the source of the Nile and “mini-America.” Ok so boda boda—motorcycles—are everywhere here and most peoples’ source of travel. However, they are dangerous so we are not allowed to use them. Instead we use taxi vans called Matatus. They comfortably seat 15, but since personal space does not exist, they usually have 20+. They are always an adventure and you never know what is going to happen while on the road.

At night I exercise a little, usually yoga (I might unintentionally be becoming a yoga instructor because I get tons of watchers who join in), and then begin the process of making dinner. Until I can get a gas tank for my stove, we use either a charcoal stove (sigiri) or a wood-burning stove. With the help of some kerosene, you light it up and play this dance of trying to keep it lit/hot while also preparing your meal. Depending on what I am making, it can take hours haha. Luckily, I brought a lot of spices and you can find almost any kind of food, so the meals are really tasty. I am saddest about there being no broccoli, but I intend on planting some! It is more dishes time, another shower, I boil up some drinking water to cool overnight, and then some reading or movie watching before going to bed. I am usually asleep by 9:30 or 10, crazy!

Every day is usually a little different and there is a ton of downtime that I spend reading, making my house a home, or watching the farm animals in my front yard do their thing (no I am not crazy, but it surprisingly replaces TV.) We have a really feisty female cow that does whatever she wants. The house is really coming along and I am quite excited for it. There is room for visitors! And my host dad is a carpenter so he built me a gorgeous full sized bed that needs extra bodies =). I am still loving life here; it is so relaxed and so green, no mad crazy rush. But I do get a little homesick each day. Mostly, I can’t wait to start working with the kiddies!