Term 2: Electric Boogaloo

School is back in session. Sort of.  Students started arriving Thursday, but classes won’t actually start until sometime next week. Most deadlines in Uganda are soft deadlines. For Americans, it’s hard to adjust to, but a lot of people here just take it in stride. They say things like “Americans love to keep time” as in, “Americans start things on time”, but don’t really make any in roads to change their attitude on time. So far I’ve been spending my time lesson planning, both for maths and ICT, and attempting to get electricity back in the ICT building so I can test computers and computer accessories.

Currently the electricity is wired to the administration building so the secretaries can type memos and other official documents. I don’t have a problem with this except that, as previously mentioned, there’s no power in the ICT building.

When I got home after traveling for a few weeks, it felt different. It felt good and like I was coming back to a place where I was home. I started baking using a dutch oven (stop laughing you know who you are). Dutch ovens are basically the Russian nesting dolls of baking. You place what you’re baking in one pot and place it inside another larger pot which has rocks/sand in it. Then you cover the whole thing. The rocks/sand act to hold the heat like a real oven would. I still need to get a giant pot to use specifically for baking; otherwise I end up baking cookies like 3 at a time. But the bread I’ve made so far has been awesome and wonderful and did I mention I love baking?

I’m feeling more at home here and the community feels more like home. The children of my fellow tutors come by to play, though some days I have to turn them away because I need to do some work or if I just don’t have the energy to play. My fellow tutors come by to discuss American culture, Ugandan culture, and things going on at the college.

I’m feeling more and more comfortable in Uganda, and with a new group of Business/Health volunteers coming in June, my group won’t be the newbies in country anymore. Looking forward to this term and the challenges it brings.