Permanent Address!

I also put it over on the side under "write me!"


Lisa Maticic
PO Box 1470
Jinja, Uganda

It's pretty crazy that that's all you need to send a teeny-tiny letter aaaall the way over to this teeny-tiny country in Africa for only 98 cents!!!

Oh, and Lisa's happiness...priceless.

My house is a zoo

So, beyond the daily tasks of chasing chickens out of my house, dodging the goat to get to the pit latrine, and being charged by the bull while fetching water from the nearby borehole, I had another furry friend visit me last night. Just as I was about to brush my teeth, I heard something scurry (flutter?) behind me. I turned around rather nonchalantly to be faced by a bat. Actually, it was falling down in the corner of my bathroom desperately clinging at the bat-proof tiles. I let out the strangest noise. I could not repeat it if I tried. It was surprisingly low-pitched and elongated. Yeah, weird right?

What did I do? Grabbed the grass broom of course. I see people do it in the movies all the time! Well, except with sturdier brooms. Anyway, I swatted at it several times. It all happened so fast and I immediately started feeling so sad for the little guy. Rabies rabies rabies. Right! Don’t feel bad—get the little sucker out of your house! So, I went to plab B since he was kind of stunned anyway. Snagged my new steel tupperware, trapped him beneath, and slid the lid under. Pretty much caught him like I do bees and wasps that invade my house.

Now what? I can’t just leave him in there. I can’t just let him fly free. Knowing my luck, he’d flock back to me like the moths and enswa since I glow in the dark unlike anyone else around. But, thank goodness for neighbors. I went to Rachel and Ronnie’s (Bwaita was also sleeping in the chair) and showed them my trophy like a cat bringing back a half-dead mouse. They just laughed and laughed, “Ah Nangobi, you fear the bat!” I probably looked so disheveled because I worked up a serious sweat catching that thing and I was already in my PJs, which I completely forgot about. Definitely not culturally appropriate since I don’t wear a long skirt to bed. Oh well, we’re like family anyway. They took the tupperware off my hands and wished me a good night.

And that was that; my first bat escapade in Uganda. I can’t wait to see what other critters come my way over the next two years. Oh yeah, some dude came to cut my grass the other day (hack at it with a machete type thing) to keep the black mambas from encroaching on my house. Equatorial Africa, gotta love it.

My life in a nutshell

Well, since I am on the equator the sun rises at 7:00 and sets at 7:00. My body is on the sun’s schedule so no matter how late I fall asleep I am unable to stay in bed past 7:30. I definitely give myself a slow start since morning is my favorite part of the day!

I crawl out of bed and head straight for the kitchen. I get some water boiling and add coffee grounds and tea masala to my French press. Ah, what a way to start the day. While drinking my coffee I putz around and think about what the day will bring. Like this morning for instance, I thought it’d be a good morning to sweep and mop. Granted, I sweep like 10 times a day because dirt is constantly tracked into the house even though I respectfully take my shoes off before entering. Oh, and brooms here are gathered, dried grass about a meter long. They work wonders! Mopping isn’t my favorite chore; I work up a sweat doing it (like everything else here because it’s so hot). I just put some recycled water in a basin and use a wash cloth to wipe the floors. Yup, no swiffers here! The floors are also cement so they’re easy to clean, dry quickly, and are cool to the barefoot touch…ahhhh.

I also should have washed my sheets this morning but the sun wasn’t shining, so that wasn’t an option. I didn’t want to chance them not drying by a reasonable time because I also iron them. Yes, I iron my sheets. No, I’m not a freak. There are mango flies here. They lay eggs on damp clothes and then you wear those clothes. The eggs get into your skin and then some time later--POOF--out poops a new baby mango fly. Yeah, not for me. So yes, I iron my sheets!

When I’m feeling like my morning is ending, I open up shop (windows and doors) and greet the neighbors. They’re always around, which is great. Once I open up, it is fair game for socialization. This lasts until about 8pm, when I close up shop. During the day I have my neighbors calling to me and kids peeping into my door or windows to say, “jambo” and giggle and wave. It’s cool, I’m never going to be lonely here!

At some point throughout the day, my neighbors bring over some food item. Like, this morning was a really ripe and delicious avocado and tonight some sugarcane. Yesterday it was two mangoes. Two days ago it was a head of cabbage. About a week ago it was “enswa.” That’s Lusoga for flying white ants. ‘Tis the season! They are about an inch and a half long and super annoying at night. They sneak in to repeatedly knock themselves into my light bulbs and pretty much anything else in sight. Including my face, hair, you name it. Since my skin is so light it ever-so-conveniently reflects light well aaaaand they like that. They're annoying like moths, but wayyyy less graceful. They’re also really noisy, like a bumblebee.  So yeah, I have a Tupperware full of enswa in my kitchen. They told me not to go crazy and eat a bunch at once because it will upset my stomach. I guess one can build up an enswa tolerance though? Interesting. I didn’t want to hurt their feelings so I made it seem like I was bummed I couldn’t engorge myself with these massive ants. But surprise, surprise—I like them! They could use some extra salt, but I’ll take it. I’ve also dabbled in some grasshoppers at the market. The dude gave me one to taste and I got hooked! Too bad I didn’t have enough Shillings to buy more. They’re at a pretty steep price in comparison to other market items. Oh well, next time.

So, like I’ve said before, I try to reciprocate my neighbors’ generosity. Over the past few days I’ve given them ndiizi (mini sweet bananas), biringania (eggplant), my mosquito killer (a bug-zapper tennis racket), and guacamole!! They mixed it with some beans and absolutely loved it. Yay! I love improving people’s lives with guacamole. There is no better way! Since they enjoyed it so much, I made more for them yesterday as well.

So how does one wash dishes in Uganda? In a basin of course! I put a little water in, wash the dishes, dump the dirty water, put clean water in and rinse the suds off. That water stays until the next time I need to wash dishes. It’s all about recycling water here! I can do so much with minimal water. There is a pyramid of usage. Drinking is at the top (cleanest water), then comes water for dishes, bathing, and laundry, then all of that water can be used to mop the floor.

It’s necessary to be really clean here because everything grows in Uganda and grows fast! The insects alone are my number one reason for being such a clean freak. I battle with armies of ants every day. When I go to bed, I sense victory. But I wake in the morning to find they’ve made their trail again. Another satisfying reason to eat their cousins, enswa!

Bathing. The outdoor construction is still going on for my bathroom so I still do not have a working shower or toilet. So bucket baths it is. Put some water in a basin. Boil a pot of water and dump it in (who doesn’t like warm water?). I’ve gotten so much better than when I first began to bucket bathe. I’m quicker and way more efficient. And cleaner! Still takes longer than a regular shower though. Everything takes longer here, so I feel like my days are consumed with cooking, cleaning, chatting, chasing the chickens out of my house, and sometimes venturing into the market. I save the morning and night for relaxing, reading, and surfing the web. But, life is slow here in Uganda. There is no such thing as hustle and bustle, so taking my time to do daily chores is no biggy. I’ve always got company lingering outside, which makes everything more pleasant.

I begin teaching at the end of the month. So, until then I will continue to settle into my house and mingle with my community. Once the term begins, I will be much busier. A good busy! The weekends I’ll save for traveling into Buwenge and Jinja for the essentials, including meeting up with other PCVs.

So, that’s my life in a nutshell. Simple and stress-free.