Day 5: I Ate Meat Today!

That’s right folks- the girl who only ate chicken back in the States gobbled up a hefty portion of beef today! But we’ll get back to that momentarily.

Today’s been a pretty easy and stress-free day. I was under the mistaken impression that I had an early morning class, so I got up and was ready to go by about 8:15 am. Oh yeah, so apparently Uganda is some sort of alternate universe where I get up by about 7:00 am every morning…and I’m human!

Anyway, since breakfast ends at 8:00 am, Katie (my roomie) and I made our way to a canteen on campus and had a huge muffin (I believe it was a relative of corn muffins) and a Fanta (Passion flavor. Ooh la la!) By the way, all the soda they have here in Uganda is in those old school glass bottles, and the refrigerators have bottle openers on the doors, so you just pop ‘em off and you’re good to go. I think it’s the one thing food-wise that the U.S. is really missing out on. After our delectable breakfast, we came back to the dorms where I proceeded to get online for about the 2 seconds time my battery allowed, and then took a nap. If you read my previous entry, I’m guessing you understand why I didn’t get much sleep last night.

Class was at 11:00 am, and it was ATR- which basically discusses African Traditional Religions, Islam and Christianity and how they’re connected. Unfortunately, I took a class almost identical to it last spring, so I’m hoping to drop it and take a History class instead. Lunch was amazing. Nice, tender, juicy beef and mtoke, which is mashed plantains (a relative of the banana, but definitely not as sweet). I think it’s probably Uganda’s equivalent of mashed potatoes, and it’s served quite often. Notice: no rice and beans for this chick today!

After lunch, I thought maybe I’d take a stab at being productive and start doing some homework. My first assignment for Creative Writing is to read three concentrated sessions of my favorite writer, then try to write a childhood memory, imitating that writer. I wanted to do Donald Miller, so I took my first solo expedition en route to the library. Let’s just say, I’m really hoping I won’t have to spend much time in there. There’s no electronic system for keeping track of all the books and such, and it’s such a mess! I literally had no idea how it was organized. Or if it even was organized. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, and after a couple failed attempts at communicating with the librarian, my last shred of hope for good ol’ Don was in the USP library (a couple bookshelves specifically devoted to us USPers). Guess what? They had him!

Now, I’m sitting here writing this in my room on Word, so I can just copy and paste it for all my followers to see! Prior to today, the outlet in our room wasn’t working, and there’s no outlets anywhere where the wireless internet is, so I was charging my computer in the bathroom, then making my way down to the dorm with internet access using the little battery power I had. It’s been quite a pain. As of now, I’ll probably go online once more, do some more reading/homework, and then we have a meeting at 5:00 pm, dinner at 7:00 pm and another meeting at 8:00 pm to discuss our homestays (which will start on Saturday and will continue for the next 2 weeks).

After last night, I won’t be using the internet after dark since I have to be outside, and I’d rather not have a repeat of that little incident. If you received my e-mail, giving you my cell phone number, that’s your best and most convenient way to get in touch if you’re desperate to hear my lovely voice. Otherwise, keep e-mailing/Facebooking/blog commenting! Trust me, I read everything you guys write. I just don’t have all the time in the world to respond, so I apologize. But I really appreciate all the prayers, support and words of kindness! You’re making this transition a whole lot easier!

I guess to end Day 5’s entry, I’ll leave you with some more African observations:

1. They have pineapple jam here. Enough said. You can bet your bottom dollar, I’ll be trying some of that!
2. Soccer is HUGE. I’m pretty sure as far as Ugandans are concerned, there is no other sport. Whenever there’s a game on, the Dining Hall is PACKED with guys squinting at the big screen TV on the far wall.
3. I have absolutely no problem with the fact that there are little ants crawling over my possessions 24/7. It’s just a fact of life, and they even provide some entertainment!
4. I’m going to officially confirm the stereotype that all Africans can sing.
5. Ugandans are 10 times more graceful than white people. That’s my only explanation for the fact that they never, EVER stumble, while us USPers trip, slip and wipe out all the time on the roads.