Until Next Year

The students leave in a week and so do I. They are heading back to the States while I am heading to South Africa for Christmas. My desire to head to South Africa has been around since I was in Uganda since 2006. I studied some Black Liberation theology while I was here and developed some adoration for it. Black Liberation theology, developed during the Civil Rights movement and used as encouragement during the Apartheid, drew me to try to understand its origin. This led me to read more about South Africa, the Apartheid, and to read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. It is a long book (750 pages) and a great book. I recommend it. Anyway, I figured that if I am in Uganda the tickets must be cheaper to fly to South Africa—they were. So new friend Zoe and I are heading to South Africa from December 12^th until January 2^nd. I’ve been looking forward to this trip since September. December finally came around!

Part of me wants to write about my reflection on this past semester and living in Uganda. Yet I feel as though I will have a better perspective come May/June. Here is what I’ll say about my time here: it is harder than expected to live in Uganda. I actually think it might be hard to live overseas in general. I am constantly trying to find a balance on developing a new life here, but also trying to maintain relationships I have back in the States. Also, relating to people is not as easy as it is back at home—this also in relations to meeting different expats. I have begun to miss being understood. I feel as though I am always trying to explain myself and where I am coming from. Lastly, working with a study abroad program at the age of 27 is challenging. My main role is student engagement. At times it is very hard for me to relate to them on personal/social issues and various social media things. To add to this, the age gap between them and I make it difficult for me to hang out with them outside of the university grounds. All of these unforeseen challenges have made up my semester here. There is another semester to go for the 2012-2013 year; always room for improvement on my end. Yet I have had a great semester and have loved working with college students. 

So I close this last post for 2012 with this thought that has been resonating with me since December of 2011: sometimes you need to leave home in order to come back. I have 6 months left here in Uganda. I have decided to stay here for only one year. I never thought I could miss a place where I have lived, but it looks like I can. I miss Seattle. I miss the community I’ve made and the friendships I built. The people of Uganda, those who work in local organizations I work with, those who have graduated from university here have shown me what community can do when people stay put and invest their time in one place for a constant period of time. The students I am working with are even learning the purpose of community. Discussions I have sat in on have really convicted me on the importance of investing into a community. Hell, I’ve even taught a class on Community Development. So cheesy to say, but being in Uganda has taught me how to be a better resident of Seattle. I might even change my license plate and driver’s license to Washington State. I moved around so much that I’ve never changed it. I’m pretty sure Seattle will be seeing me again in July 2013, but my official decision won't be until February/March when I have to tell me job my stance.

Well Happy Holidays! I’ll write again in 2013. Here are some last pictures for you. I'll try to take good pictures in South Africa. 

The process of getting my hair done. My eyes look strange

because they pulled my hair so tight. 

The people at the salon 

Me with my new braids! Only 35,000 shillings (12 USD).

Thanksgiving in Uganda

I was kind of anxious for Thanksgiving. Maybe because I would like a change from eating rice and beans everyday. Another reason I was anxious for Thanksgiving was because my mom was sending me a package that contained boxed macaroni and cheese to make for people. The package arrived the day before Thanksgiving. I was surprised to see that my mom put more in the package than I was expecting.

Mac and cheese, Triscuit, Ramen, Tuna salad mix, gum, Tic Tacs, Sunflower seed,

hand sanitizer, deodorant, and 10 Blistex chap stick. 

(well I think I am now set on chapstick. Thanks mom!)

This was my second time celebrating Thanksgiving out here. Which means that in the last 10 years I have spent more Thanksgiving out here in Uganda than I have back at home in California. My goal is to make it home for Thanksgiving next year. Anyway, we celebrated by playing football, which Ugandan students stopped and watched us as we played. We also had a big Thanksgiving meal and desserts. Below are some photos of the day. 

First, I wanted to say what I was thankful for. I am thankful that God sees me and knows where I am at. I am also thankful for great family and friends that I love and miss dearly. 

Setting up teams

Action shot!

I had one touchdown and intercepted a pass for a touchdown... I'm pretty badass 

Look ma! The mac and cheese you sent me with some extra cheese on top!

Dinner time!

So that is about it. The students leave in two and a half weeks. The new set of students arrive January 4th. I'm really gonna miss this group. I'm glad they were all part of my Thanksgiving experience. 

Sipi Falls

I have some catching up to do on pictures. These are from Sipi Falls. Sipi Falls is located on Mt. Elgon, which shares the mountain with Kenya. We went here to hike and relax after rural home stays for the weekend. This is my second time here. I kind of forgot the beauty of this place. Enjoy!

The view from my room

Two students I find myself always gravitating towards

(Heather and Mike)

Myself, Summer, and Suzette

Don't I just look so adventurous? 

Behind one of the waterfalls where we had lunch

Double rainbow!

The rebirth of Tiffen

I have been meaning to write for the past week and a half, but my thoughts and online habits seemed to only focus on the US elections. Let’s just say I’m happy with the outcomes… and so are Ugandans. I have realized that Africans love them some Black leaders. The football stadium here is called Mandela National Stadium. Near Kampala there is Martin Luther King Jr. Technical College. In regards to Obama, there are tons of "Obama" named restaurants in and out of the city.  The past two days I have had Ugandans come up to me and congratulate me for Obama’s second term. I say thank you, but I truly don’t know how to respond. This post is not about Obama, this is writing about where I have been the past couple of weeks.

I don’t know how many people know this, but when I was in Uganda in 2006 as a student I had to spend two weeks doing rural homestays in Serere (Eastern Uganda). All students still participate in this adventure. This consists of living in a rural village for a week. No electricity, no running water, no paved roads, huts for your home, and if you want something to eat you go to the garden/farm to get food (talk about organic). For the most part I enjoyed my rural home stay, yet I did have some complications.

I was the first Black student this program ever had. When it came to rural home stays I was paired with another student who was white. At the time, and still now, many Ugandans were shocked that there are Black Americans. I think there might have been some sort of lost-in-translation moment with my host family because they treated me like I was my roommate’s servant, and also their house help for the week. “Tiffen, Tiffen!” were the words heard the whole week that called me to attention and caused me to shudder. My favorite story I tell people about my time there was my host mother Toto Florence (Toto is like saying mother) talking to my roommate and I. “Tiffen, you take a nap and wake up and make orange juice. Holly, you take a nap and wake up and drink orange juice.” The whole week my roommate sat around and talked with the family about being a Catholic and other things while I did chores. I did have a good experience with funny stories and memories. Once the program found out about me being the house help they decided to tell future families that when a Black student is staying at your house he/she is still a student and not house help for the week.

My rural home stay experience was in 2006. Flash forward 6 years later I am working for the program I work for now and heading to rural home stays with the students. As a program assistant I go with the students to rural home stays, but stay in a guesthouse while they are living with their new families. I went to church that week with co-workers in the rural area. While I was there someone sat next to me, well more implied that I make room for her. I looked over and it was Toto Florence. It was so great to see her until she started to remember that I was once her host daughter. “Tiffen, go take communion.” I got up and went. Hearing “Tiffen” still brings a twitch to me when I hear it and causes me to shudder in fear on what I might be asked to do. After service she was talking to me and wanted me to come visit her house (since she is really close to the guesthouse and her brother does coordination for the program in that area). We were all sitting and eating and she said, “Tiffen, I remember you made good orange juice.” Aaaaahh they still remembered. They actually wanted me to make some that day, but her brother said that I am a guest now. So I guess I’ll always be remembered as Tiffen and that I make good orange juice (they even have a picture of me making orange juice from 2006!).

There was some brightness visiting my past host family. They heard that I was looking for sweet potatoes that are orange on the inside (remember that blog post?). They said they have them! Yes! The whole week I was anxious to get them. I was waiting for them to bring them to me. We were leaving on Friday and on Thursday I still haven’t received the sweet potatoes. My co-worker (who was staying with my past host family) sent me a message from Toto Florence the next time he saw me telling me that if I want them I come to dig them up. The only time I have ever dug anything was sand at the beach to build a sand castle when I was little. I have never used a hoe before or have had any concept on how a farm work. I was excited for the task though.

Do you know how hard it is to use a hoe? One of the girls who lives with Toto Florence told me to put “more energy” when I use the hoe to dig into the ground. I could have sworn that I was using energy, but I don’t have Ugandan energy. Yet I kept at it and found an orange sweet potato. Yes I wrote “an.” There were more orange sweet potatoes, but again, I am a failure at farming and only found one. Well I actually only had energy to dig up one. In the end, I got my sweet potatoes! I made a pie, which still kind of looks like the last one I made. I haven’t tried it yet, but when it did try the steamed sweet potato, it wasn’t as dry as the yellow ones. In conclusion, before I move on, I had a great time in Serere and I am glad I got to see my host family again. My co-workers call me Tiffen now.  I shudder every time I hear it.

Here are some pictures of my time in Serere...

The path to find sweet potatoes

Toto Florence's brother's house (one of the many brothers she has)

Charles (one of the brothers) digging up sweet potatoes

Orange sweet potaotes!!! Different from the States though... as I soon found out again.

Sylvia telling me to put "more energy" in digging for the sweet potato

The only sweet potato I dug up 

Washing the potatoes 

All of these potatoes were mine to take home. A lot more than I needed. 

Posing with Slyvia (on the left) and her older sister Caroline

We go, we go...

"We go, we go. Uganda Cranes, we go!"

This was the song that was played over and over again while I attended my first Uganda Cranes Football (soccer) match. I was invited by a friend from grad school, Shirley, who lives in Jinja (about an hour drive away from me). Shirley has been here since January and we finally got to hang out this past Saturday with her two Ugandan sons at the Uganda versus Zambia match.

The atmosphere was really great. Everyone was wearing their Uganda Cranes jersey (I say about 90 percent of people wore jerseys) in either black, yellow, red, or white. Getting close to the Mandela National Stadium was full of people showing their support of Uganda against Zambia for the qualify match to go to the World Cup. Walking to the stadium was loud. Music was playing, vuvuzelas echoed in my ears as the beat of drummers made everyone dance. Vendors laid their goods on the ground selling flags and anything with the Ugandan colors on it to people walking by. When we finally got the game, I was anxious for the match to commence.

I've been to soccer games before in the States, but nothing compares to going to one in Uganda... and maybe Africa for that fact. There were fans who wore things that made me realize that there are people in Uganda who are not as conservative as I thought. Men wearing tights with mess tops, but still wearing Ugandan colors. Someone dressed in something that looked like an Ewok costume adorned in Ugandan colors. Three guys had their whole body painted and ran along the outside of the field cheering on the crowd. What made this match different from the ones in the States is how long Ugandans celebrated when the scored a goal. 10 minutes of celebration. I'm not lying. Everyone was high-fiving and hugging each other, while others were dancing. In the end, Uganda won the regular time, but because Uganda and Zambia were tied in their points to qualify for the world cup, they had to do a shoot out and Uganda lost. The mood turned very silent once they lost like their was never a game that took place, and people left disappointed. Even though it would have been nice to win, I was happy to be part of the experience.

Here are some pictures below...

Shirley and I before the match

Mandela National Stadium

Shirley's son Nasser after he got his forehead painted with Ugandan colors

Ronny (Shirley's other son), Shirley and Nasser

Walking to the match

Before the match started

The crowd

A fan... a little different eh?

The other side of the stadium

My only instrument of making a loud noise was a whistle... I'm okay with that 

The fight song. 

Uganda @ 50

When I moved back to Seattle in July of 2009 I went to church and heard a sermon on Jeremiah 29. Three years later I still remember what the sermon was about: making your temporary location your home. The first part of the chapter God tells Israelites that they are to make their home in Babylon even though it was to be a temporary place. “And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace” (Jeremiah 29:7).  The sermon and this verse has never ring more true than it has today.

October 9, 2012 is Uganda’s 50^th Independence Day. This day marked a day off for me. My goal was to go into the city, Kampala, to hang out with a friend and see how the city is celebrating “Uganda @ 50” (signs seriously do say this phrase around the country). I’m starting to learn that in Africa things don’t turn out as plan. I’m doing my best to go with the flow.

The day started off with the students hosting a pancake breakfast for the Ugandan students who live with us in the dorms.

Joan (my Kenyan neighbor) and I 

Posing with some of the students 

Mark and I

Mark is a student that I have come to know while being in Uganda. He is energetic and has a great spirit. He wanted to take a picture with me because I was wearing my Ugandan football jersey and, to him, I looked so U.G. (Ugandan). After the breakfast was over I went to my room to grab some money and headed up to meet a girl in the dorm next to me. On the way to the dorm, Mark passed by me and said he has been meaning to give me something. He took off this necklace he was wearing that was adorned in Rwanda’s former country colors with a charm on it that said “Friends.” He said I am his good friend here and he wanted me to have it. It was really kind of him to give me the necklace. To know that our friendship meant a lot to him was great. I don’t think I necessarily feel the same, but I really appreciated the sentiment.  

The reason I grabbed money was to head to Mukono’s Tuesday Market with a Ugandan student named Martha. This market consisted of vendors laying down their individual tarps on the ground and throw piles of clothes on them. Basically Martha and I dug through the clothes to find what we wanted. You don’t ask about a different size or color. You just hope that what you pick up is what you want. I searched the market literally high and low for linen pants. In the end I found what I wanted, plus more. Two pairs of linen pants, one pair of brown dress pants, a gray skirt, and two summertime dresses for 30,000 shillings… roughly around $12. I was happy about my finds, but mostly I was happy to be hanging out with Martha. Martha is really easy to chat with and really down to earth. Also, it is not a stretch to be her friend. It is really natural.

So I head back to my room to try on my clothes since that was not really possible at the market and one of the students hands me a group of letter. All of the letter (7 in all) were from students writing to me saying how much they appreciate me. Talk about making my week. I decided to put them up on my wall.

While I was putting up my letters I realized how I haven’t decorated my room. I generally don’t like to decorate my room since I’m a nomad and constantly moving. Yet Jeremiah 29 popped up in my mind. Uganda is my home; I need to start making this place feel like my home. So I finally put up some pictures. I have a wall of letters from students and from home, a Seattle wall; strangely a couple’s wall which consist of pictures of couple, and right near where I lay down my head is are pictures of my family (Vika don’t worry, you have your spot too!).

I miss Seattle; I miss my various homes in the States. Even though I am enjoying my time here, but I am anxious to leave in June to visit (or move back). I’ve realized that I never enjoy being settled in one place for too long. This time in Uganda is flying by really fast and if I don’t embrace my time here I am going to regret it. Uganda @ 50 means more than just 50 years of independence. In the Bible 50 years signifies the year of Jubilee. Basically it means freedom. All debt is forgiven, slaves are set free and things are returned to people. It is a time of rebirth. I starting to think that today was a Jubilee day for me. The love that I felt from people today was a great way to celebrate Uganda @ 50. It was like God was telling me to have peace in this city and to settle here until it is time to leave. If only I could always be remind of this and have a day like today everyday. Well at least I’m blogging about it. That’s a good marker.

“…for in its peace you will have peace.”