Life Update

Friday nights there is a youth service called Urban Nite that meets at PAG Central. Youth is a bit of a loose term, though, because it’s people in University all the way up into their 30s, and some will even bring their young children with them. I recently got roped into joining the praise band there, so this Friday I will be singing for the first time! I’m a bit nervous because, as in any African church service I have been to, it’s not normal to stand still during songs, so I’m expected to be doing some dancing up on stage, and as the only white person who sticks out like a sore thumb anyway, I know I’m going to be having a lot of eyes on me (and how badly I’m moving). We practiced a little bit at our rehearsal Sunday night, but I definitely need to practice A LOT before the next rehearsal on Thursday!

Friends: I’ve slowly been making friends (look at Making Friends for what that’s like in a new culture), mostly through church activities. With them I’ve been able to do a little bit of baking (which is good for my soul), go for a steam bath, eat dinner at various people’s houses (and have people at our house), explore Kabale, go to the gym in town (and get super sore), learn a new card game (which is difficult when the person you’re playing with keeps cheating, but it made it that much more fun), try different restaurants and new foods, and practice my Rukiga.

Giveaway: I attended a giveaway, which is part of the marriage process here. It was awesome to witness a monumental cultural event, especially in my first full week in Kabale! I might even have the opportunity to attend another one before I leave.

Rukiga Lessons: A couple times a week, Peter (my housemate Lianna’s boyfriend, and someone who really took me under his wing my first few weeks here) gives me a Rukiga lesson (pronounced Roo-chee-gah). As someone who finds language super fascinating, I’m loving being able to learn a bit and actually get to use it on a daily basis. My coworkers mostly speak in Rukiga at lunch, so I can’t participate in conversations, but I try to listen and pick out words I know.

Overall, the first few weeks were pretty rough at times from the loneliness, a 7-hour time difference from home that made communication with my support system hard, struggling with feeling like a burden because I needed people to help me with so many things that should be so simple, not knowing the prices of anything, and not being able to go anywhere in peace because there’s always people calling out to me “omujungu!” (white person) or “Hello, my friend!” (when I’ve never seen you in my life), or other strangers approaching me. On one walk home from work (granted it’s a 4km walk) I was approached by 31 strangers (counting groups as one). But slowly I’ve gotten used to things, I’m learning my way around, and when I start speaking Rukiga back to someone the course of the conversation changes for the better. I’m starting to make friends, so the loneliness has subsided and it’s helped increase my mobility and sense of security. And when I walk with a Ugandan, the number of comments I get decreases substantially. When I was in Ghana, once I started making friends I was on the up and up, so I think I’m beginning the upswing of my time here too.