Instead of writing a blog here, I'm just telling about my past couple days through pictures.  Read all of the captions! Here's Josh, eating some goat at Elizabeth's goat roast--it was so yummy!

Luke, cutting up goat

Erik, rocking a mustache and nail polish,
shufflin.

We PCVs filled a taxi from our mid-service conference in Mityana
to Kampala.  We actually over-filled it (18 people instead of
14) and we were pulled over by traffic police.  At the same time,
an ice-cream vendor was wheeling his bicycle by, so some
passengers took the opportunity to buy ice cream. 

Here we were stopped again, because some had to make a
"short call."

...quick stop....

The taxi

I spent most of the weekend with Kirk, Mark,
Erik and Dave.  This day we were trying to out
run the pending rain, but we had to find a place
to eat.  We happened upon an alley-way food place
that was one of the busiest places we had seen.  Their
food looked and smelled amazing, and was super cheap!

You may not appreciate the size of these pots, but use the door
at the left for a size reference.  HUGE POTS! 

Kamapala has some sweet grocery stores...meaning
that they probably look like any other American grocery store...but it's kind of a big deal after you've been living in the village for a year.  Looking for the frozen foods?  Just go down the human-hair-ice-cream aisle...

Galen and Erik at the movie theatre.  I saw The Avengers!  Good movie.

Another grocery store adventure--we find "maize floor"

"What a great find!"

Capri Sun!

We found Root Beer and made Root Beer floats,
thanks to the ice cream at Nando's.  Yummmm!

Crackers and cheese for lunch!

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, we went to a place called The Little
Donkey.  They also literally had a little donkey.  These animals are not common in Uganda--in fact, they tried introducing these in a district far out west for travel, but the villagers just ended up eating them.  How could you though, aren't they so cute?

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Our food was really late, so I just kept ordering Margaritas...

Ole!

Town Mouse, Country Mouse

Fabulous City Life

 

Chelsea and Caroline with Claudian, interviewing two applicants.

That's a misleading sign if I've
ever seen one...

I had the opportunity to be in Uganda's capital, Kampala, this entire week!  What in the world for, Mary?  Well, three other education PCVs and I were invited to help conduct interviews at the Rwanda High Commission for Diploma or Degree holders in Education for a mentor-ship position in Rwanda.  Rwanda used to use French as their other "academic" language, but in 2008, they switched to English.  The government first had a teacher-training program, where they sent Degree and Diploma holding teachers from Uganda to just teach English.  This time around, they're there for a longer period of time, and are required to do more guidance and monitoring of teachers teaching.

....Why did they ask you to help interview? 

I really had no idea, and I never asked, but as the interviews went on, I realized that the qualities and motivation to take on this position are very similar to those that are required to be a Peace Corps volunteer.  For example, these Ugandans would be living and working in a different country, surrounded by people who speak different languages, and all the while they'll be missing their families at home.  Perhaps that was the reason, or perhaps Rwanda wanted a "natural" speaker of English on the panel. During the interviews, I could differentiate between those who really had the heart and the spirit and those who just responded like they were doing an oral exam.  We had some really fabulous applicants, and for several of them I wanted to say, "Why aren't you working at my PTC!?  We could use you!"  One of my favorite applicants was a sweet old man and a wood-badge holding Scout master who has a ton of experience with teaching.  He even gave the Scout salute and recited the promise.  I wish he could lead my Scouts at the JPTC!   

Nothing says you're 26 like
gold party hats.

     I had a lot of fun with the team, Emmanuel and Emmanuel, Claudian and Peter.  I learned how to greet in Kirwanda (mwara mutse), and some things about the 1994 genocide.  Also, throughout the interviews, Emmanuel (the man with whom I was co-interviewing) was quizzing the applicants on their knowledge of African literature.  Through this, I'm now interested to read several books, including The River Between, Kosiye Kifefe, Things Fall Apart, Fate of the Banished, and two others which are not yet published. 

I could smell the deli meats through the space
in the glass.  It was phenomenal.

Bowling!  Somehow blurry...

    The day-to-day work wasn't too intense, and we had the evenings to ourselves.  It was Alex's (another PCV based in Arua) birthday, so we celebrated at a Mexican-themed restaurant (Lotus).  It was pretty darn exciting...until the bill came.   We also went bowling, and believe it or not, I WON!  (Friends back home, think to yourself, has that EVER happened?!)
     The exercise was good in that we had a lot of fantastic, intelligent, motivated and adventurous applicants; however, we just didn't have ENOUGH.  Rwanda wants something like 1,000 mentor teachers and we only interviewed like 280 or so this week.  So, Ugandan Diploma or Degree holders in Education, if you're reading this, keep your eye out for another mentor-ship announcement in the paper from Rwanda. 

Alex and Peter, interviewing an applicant.  "What are the qualities
of a good mentor?"

Banana ladies!  I didn't get a good picture of the mango selling ladies
but I'm pretty sure I had like 5 mangoes this week. 

Bogoya anyone?

We had a very chill Saturday.  Kelsey and Alex at BROOD, a
bakery and cafe with some of the best bread IN THE WORLD!

We scaled a lot of hills shopping on Saturday. 
Kelsey here, taking a break.

Alex, bargaining with a shopkeeper for guitar strings

"Uganda's like, hereish, right?"

"Look at this giant globe!"  (PCVs, in case you're wondering, this 

giant 

globe DOES spin!)

I made Alex and Kelsey try out the new city bus with me.  I wasn't the
only one taking a picture, those ladies in front of us were too.

The new bus!  It's so clean! And fun to ride.

Dress: Owino market, secondhand, $6.82, or 16,000
Uganda Shillings. 

The Rwanda ambassador to Uganda invited the whole team to
the rotating restaurant at the golf club in Kampala.  It's probably the
snazziest place in the whole country.  That waiter was also the most professional and with-it waiter in Uganda.  Alex and Peter, ordering
dinner.

We passed the pianist two times.  I think this was my first time
seeing a Ugandan pianist.  Not even sure if he was Ugandan...

Roasted lamb with MASHED POTATOES.  I was sadly more
excited about the mashed potatoes.  I would have licked that plate
clean if I wasn't trying so hard to be proper.

Claudian and I, when we were rotating in front of the bar.  He
wanted to take this again because he wasn't ready for the picture. 
Sorry Claudian!

    I’ve had a pretty hectic month, but don’t worry, I have a big blog coming up.  Until then, I want to share an adorable tidbit from my ride into Kampala. 

    I was on the Jinja-Kampala coaster, in the back, with a mother of what seemed like six young children.  I’m also fairly certain that the mother was a teacher, because she seemed patient and educated.  You could tell they were Kampala kids, because they didn’t bat a lash when I sat down, and ignored me the entire trip.  When the kids started singing songs from school, she would chime in and help them with words.  The kids were chatting the whole way, pointing out things and naming them in English.  It was adorable. “A pine tree!  The river!”  When we reached the edge of Kampala city, there were many shops.  Some of the older kids were saying words in English, like shop, sell, buy, and shopkeeper.  The older ones were then trying to get their younger brother to say some of the words, and even quizzing him on the spelling.               
    “Spell the word ‘cow’”
    “C-O-W, the word is ‘cow’”
    “Spell the word ‘car’”
    “C-A-R, the word is ‘car’”
    (Get ready and say the next part out loud to yourself...)
    “Say the word ‘shopkeeper’”
    The boy struggled a bit, tried as hard as he could, and proudly said, “shock peeper!”
    I tried my darndest, but I couldn’t help but laugh.  The kids and the mom were laughing too, and the little boy just smiled and asked his mom in Luganda, “wait, what was it?”
    She said, slowly and clearly, “shoP keePer,” emphasizing the ‘p’ sound.
    “Shock--shock peeper.”
    His brothers were in stitches. 
    Anywho, there’s that for now.  Pictures and stories to come.