A day in the life

I am so pleased when I am able to get internet! This is my second attempt of the day and I am thrilled to finally write the blog that I wrote in my head all day. So, the long awaited (at least by me) A Day in the Life:

What is my life like here in Karamoja, you may ask. It is very fine (as the Karamajong may say). Each day is a little different, but here is a basic summary of what I'm doing here:

5:30 - 7:30 am:
I slowly wake up to the sounds of Africa. The birds here really do tweet differently. There are several birds of radiant colors who sleep in the trees outside my window. I also sometimes hear the crowing of the roosters. The least enjoyable morning sound is the horrible whimper of the guard dogs. The compound has guards and dogs who watch over us in the night. They are a useful and important part of life here, but the dogs can be a drag. All throughout the evening and morning the dogs will harmonically and loudly whimper for miles around. This howl can loosely be compared to that of the ROUS' from the Princess Bride as Westley kills them. Imagine this but in six different atonal chords. This is my wake-up call. I try to lay in bed for as long as possible and usually actually get up at 7:30.

7:30 - 8:00 am:
I have breakfast in the main house of the compound sometimes we share breakfast or make bits of things for eachother. There is also a morning devotion led by one of the boys who is stayining here. That has been a nice way to start the day. My mornings are very relaxed.

8:00 - 10:00am:
I go the Wright's house (about 1/8th of a mile walk) and we have a morning prayer time in English and Karamajong. I am learning a few words as we read together from the New Testament in Karamajong. It is kind of similar to Vietnamese in its ng sounds and its tonality.
I then begin teaching math. I usually work with Bobby one on one while the others get their notebooks from the day before and find the homework I graded and the new assignment for the day. I also work with Rachel on her Pre-Calc (she's a smartie). We read through the section together and I show her some key points or tricks and she does her work idependently throughout the day.

9:30 -noon: I know the time doesn't match, but this week we are doing something special. We are teaching at the local public school every day this week. The school is a short walk from our house. We have a class ranging in ages from infants to 16 or so. The infants are watched and cared for by their older sisters so if they want to come to school, the younger ones must come too. They have four grades and you must pass in order to be moved on so that is why some are old and in p4 (the highest grade). We first teach a Bible lesson related to the theme of oceans and then we teach a science lesson. We have packets for each student that are stored in an idividual plastic bag with pens and crayons (colors, as they say). We collect these each day, but on the last day they may keep them. For one girl, this was her first time holding a crayon so we had to teach her how to even trace. She was about 10. I think I scared her at first, but by the end she was tracing and filling in with colors.
Some of the students are very smart. They know some English and can respond to questions in English. I hate to admit it, but some are already my favorites. Most of the students don't understand English even though all school work is in English. It's not the best of immersion techniques I've seen. We have an amazing translator who also translates the sermons. His name is LoKue Paul.
We sing songs and color and talk about the oceans and its creatures. We hope to show a movie about the oceans by the end of the week. That is going to blow their minds. They all scream with joy at my camera so I can't imagine what they'll think of a movie!

noon - 1:30 : Lunch of beans and rice and cabbage. I am not too tired of this meal, but the carb overload is really draining my strength. I'm glad I brought my big bag of snacks (thanks, Julie). Lunch is a really nice part of the day. Everyone comes to the main house and sits and talks and we just relax for so long. African life is my kind of laid back.

the rest of the afternoon: Each day is different. Sometimes I go the Wrights and grade math. Sometimes I go the a Bible study in a village. Sometimes I visit other people in nearby places. Sometimes I meet with kids who live in the compound. When I'm really feeling daring, I'll check to see if I can check my email. Yesterday I visited a woman who had just had a baby. We walked to her village for minutes. When we arrived, we ducked under the main gate which is a doorway made from thorny bushes. We must greet every kid we see with an, "Ejoc!" and shake hands. We walked under several more doorways that get progressively shorter until we entered the right circle of huts that belong to her family unit. We then all (there were 8 of us) entered her hut and looked at her baby. She let us hold him (so precious) and then her sister offered us a special drink that closely resembles beer with boiling water added in. As tastey as that sounds, I had made a promise to my family that I would not eat local food or water. I held the baby during this communal passing of the bowl. The mother really wanted me to try some, but the people in my group were able to make my excuses. I'm a little sad that I missed out on the experience, but I don't want a parasite...
We had to wait out the afternoon rainstorm and then we walked home in the mud. I love my shoes!

Evening: Most evenings the visitors (that includes me) make dinner together. My roommate here (Dr. Gayle) and I have been doing the cooking mostly and with lots of help from the others. Gayle is very good at deciding what to eat and how to cook it. The others are eager helpers with great advice. Together we've been able to make some tasty treats. After dinner I usually take my shower (sometimes I do before dinner).
The showers are soooo cold and when you've had a long day in the mud and huts, it feels divine! I don't feel like I ever really get clean, but that shower is close.
Many of us sit together and each read or write. Some of the high schoolers here play guitar and that makes wonderful background noise. My parents also often call during this time and when that phone rings we all run to see who it is.
Before bed I spray myself down with bug spray and then read in bed with my headlamp (thanks, Uncle Dave!) I try to ignore the scarier sounds and only hear the pleasant ones. By scarier sounds I mean that I imagine all of the metal that's clanking to be dangerous things when they are actually sounds of our people shutting their doors or the guards walking to the gates. By pleasant ones I mean the different frogs, crickets and other tones of insects that really is quite soothing.
I am very happily surprised at how comfortable I am here. I do miss home and all of my loved ones there (and ice cream), but I'm not so sad that I cry every day or even feel a dread about being here. Did that just disappoint some of you? Sorry. I do wish the internet was more reliable. This is a beautiful place with friendly people. There are many things I feel that I can do here and I'm so pleased with the work I've been able to do. Please keep praying for me and for those that are missing me.