Here I go again...

Thanks so much, all of you who’ve emailed me!  It’s been so amazing this week, being able to learn what’s going on in Alta Loma. Kristen and I were talking this week about how even the daily “to-dos” of the people back home are fun to hear about, so thanks.

This week seemed to fly by. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about that… On one side, it’s really good, because it means I’ve adjusted, and the days are going by just a quick as they did back home. On the other hand, I don’t want them to go by too quickly, because I’m really loving all the people here… but it also means I’ll see all of you quicker… sigh. Either way, I can’t really stop the passage of time, so I guess I’ll just live with the pace it sets.

This week Kristen took staff photographs, and I got to be her assistant, which really just consisted of me hanging around while she took pictures. It was a lot of fun, though. I got to learn a few more names of the staff here, and hang out some more with the ones I already knew. Later today the mentors are having a football/soccer game, and I am SO there, I’m uber excited about it!

Something I guess I haven’t talked as much about in this blog are the day to day things in here Gulu, and now is as good as any time to share about it! IC has 3 different houses here in Gulu to house the international staff and all the volunteers that come to work here. Kristen, Jamie and I are currently living at the Intern House, which is the house that everyone else comes to for meals. It’s really neat, being able to start and end the day with all the international staff. We sit around and watch season 3 of The Office (I’m SO happy it came out the week before I left), talk about our days, and generally debrief about life here in Uganda. Its really nice, having this sense of normalcy, talking as quickly as we want, and using all sorts of slang (which can, at times, throw Sarah, who is from England).

I’ve been taking a boda boda to work everyday, which costs 1,000 shillings (around 60 cents), but I am trying to work up the courage to take a bicycle home… I’m a little intimidated, because the boda boda drivers will go so close to them… we’ll see if I can ever work up the gumption! (I’ll keep y’all updated!). We get to the office around 8:30 and I usually leave at 5:30, with an hour for lunch. There are 2 restaurants we frequent most often: Lindon House, where you can get beans, rice, bo (green veggies), chicken, kasava, sweet potatoes… basically all the traditional Ugandan foods. It’s really good and really cheap. Kristen, Jamie and I all had lunch there the other day (we girls had beans, rice and bo, Jamie had beans, chicken and malakwan, and we all had soda), and it came to 9,000 shillings… around 4 US dollars. The other place we go is MAQ (Man About Quality) foods. There you can get veggie pizza (it’s a bit different from pizza back home) or veggie samosas (yum!), and they serve some pretty amazing pastries (the owner spent a year in France!). It’s a little more pricy for Ugandan standards (pizza is 4,000 shillings, around 2 US dollars), but we can usually swing it. :)

At work my days vary. Some days, like yesterday, I’ll spend the whole day traveling and visiting different school sites. Others I attend meetings, do inventory, make copies… normal office work. Today I get to attend a new school, Sir Samuel Baker, with one of our mentors, Okidi, who was a teacher there during the height of rebel activity here in Gulu, it should be really informative.

This weekend, I’m planning on spending some time in the office, getting some work done. Kristen and I may visit St. Jude’s, an orphanage in the region, to hang out with some kiddos. I didn’t end up going to Awer last weekend, I wasn’t feeling to great Sunday morning, but we may end up visiting this Sunday, too… we’ll see!

You’re all in my thoughts and prayers.
Betsy