Questions

Ok, so I don't really have that much to say, but I felt like updating, and Laura emailed me a bunch of general questions about my experience here, so I'm going to copy my answers into here:

1. Can I skype? The internet connection here isn’t fast enough for any sort of chatting, but the cheapest way to call me is through skype. My phone number here is 077-953-9368 and the Uganda country code is 256. There might be some other 0s or 1s that you have to type in or something, but I don’t really know how it works…

2. What are the paper topics like? The paper topics are pretty non-academic, since this program isn’t very strong on academics (mostly because we really can’t do any readings for our classes because we have to spend time with the homestay and it gets dark early). I just finished an assignment where I made a family tree and then wrote a paper about how I got the information, how this family is different from my family at home, what that says about Acholi culture, and the implications for post-conflict development. It was really cool to learn more about the family, but my paper is probably the lamest thing I’ve written since about 7th grade…

3. Do I have any ideas for the longer project? Yeah, I’d really like to write about refugees and whether international ngos take their needs/desires/opinions into consideration when giving them aid and formulating policy on their repatriation/resettlement. If so, how do the voices of the refugees influence ngo policy, and if not, what is the impact on the refugees? I also think it would be really cool to do a comparative study of the treatment of refugees and IDPs (internally displaced persons) by governments, ngos and local population, but that’s way too big a topic for now.

4. Am I stressing about the logistics of doing the project? Yes. The problem is that the areas that the program is taking us to don’t really have active refugee camps, and I think I’d rather do recent refugees than ones that have been living in Uganda since 1960 – though that could be interesting too. So I have to figure out a way to get to and live near a camp. The other option would be to focus on IDP camps, which are closer to Gulu, where I am now, but they are being phased out, so most people have left the camps (and NGOs are clearly shaping their policy towards that goal, so I’m not sure my topic makes sense in that context)

5. What is the local language, and how much have I picked up? Here in Northern Uganda, the local language is Acholi, but almost everyone speaks English. We had some lessons at the beginning, and my homestay family is teaching me more and more. Of course, it’s a lot easier to recognize words and understand more or less what people are saying than it is to formulate my own sentences, but I’m learning key phrases and vocabulary. Unfortunately, I’ll have to start all over again in Rwanda, where the main languages are Kinyarwanda, French, and English.

6. Do they have good English? It varies. For the most part, yes, but we still have some challenges communicating because of accents and different ways of phrasing (for instance: “somehow” means “sort of” and “stubborn” is a term of endearment meaning silly, talkative, active, etc). My homestay dad has very good English, my "mom" has good English, my "sister" has decent English, and the rest of the kids are learning, so their pronunciation isn't so great, but they still know a lot of English.

7. What’s the food like? Bland! Granted, I’ve had beans and posho (this completely flavorless food object made from, I think, cornstarch and water) or beans and rice for the past three nights, so I’m in a bad food-mood. Usually meals consist of posho or rice and a warm dish – beans, chicken soup, spinach (over-cooked and mushed) in peanut sauce (actually a lot better than it sounds), fish (buried somewhere under all of those bones!), or vegetables. It’s certainly decent food, and it’s filling, but I’m definitely missing American food!!!

8. How was the ice cream at the muzungu café bad? It was kind of grainy, instead of being smooth and creamy – i.e. it was bad by American standards, but here it was great simply because it was ice cream

9. Am I collecting any recipes? Not really… Most of the food they make here you can get the basic ingredients in the grocery store and then throw them together – which I guess is really good for people like me. But regardless, I’m not sure I’m going to want any more of the local food for a while after I leave…

10. What are the other people on the program like? Great! Everyone’s really friendly and outgoing! It’s a pretty big group (28), which I think is kind of unfortunate, but there’s no one that I wouldn’t want to be here…

11. Do any of them stay nearby? Yes, Emma lives down the path from me, and her family is really good friends with my family, so we pretty much do everything together. It’s been really really nice, especially because we can walk home together if we’re ever out past dark.

Cool, that's all for now. Promise I'll have something more interesting to say later in the week, or next week. If you have other burning questions related or unrelated to what I'm doing here, post them in a comment!