PCT to PCV...finally! : )

Greetings everyone! As always, I hope this message finds you all happy and well! Here is Uganda things are more fabulous than I could have ever dreamed! Because I have not been able to write for awhile I will try to fill you in on the past few weeks! Training has been exhausting to say the least and a couple of weeks before the end we had a talent show in which trainees and trainers preformed. While many of my fellow collegues are incredibly talented musicians, dancers, and performers in general, I have yet to find my talent. Therefore, along with the rest of my language group we decided to make complete idiots of ourselves doing a Spartan Cheerleader skit which ended with our Ugandan teacher wearing a dress and topping off the top of our all female human pyramid. Overall it was a great day and couldn't have come at a better time, we were all in need of a relaxing and fun day. The following week was again a bit stressful because we were all preparing for the presentations of proposed secondary projects. Once those were finished we had our language test which must be past in order to be a volunteer. If one did not pass then they would be retested again in three months and if at that point they still did not pass the country director would decided whether they could stay on as a volunteer or not. Despite my many awkward laughs throughout my test, I passed! It is incredible the amount of Luganda I can actually speak and understand in such a small amount of time! After our language test we had a ceremony to thank our home stay families for accomidating us for the past nine weeks. It was requested that each language group perform something demonstrating both Ugandan and American cultures. We decided that we would demonstrate Ugandan culture by singing an Ugandan fable in Luganda. For our American culture segment we decided to showcase American dance through three different dances. We first started off with Soulja Boy's "Superman," then line danced to Alabama's "Lousisiana Saturday Night," and finished with "Land of a Thousand Dances." For those of you who know me, you know that choreographed dancing is not my thing and I was probablly a step behind the whole time, but it was a great time regardless! After the homestay welcome we left Wakiso for the country's capital, Kampala, where we met the people we would be working with for the next couple of years. We had a very long and tiresome lecture, dinner at the country directors house, and finally our swear in ceremony! Immediately following we left for our homes for the next two years!

My new home is in the Masaka district and I could not be more happy about this placement! My good friend Amber is also posted in this district and is working at the college my center is connected with. Because students are on holiday I have been staying with her for the past few days. She has a very nice house complete with a toliet (this is very rare), elecricity, and running water. Over the past few days we have been getting to know Masaka and the people we will be working with over the next couple of years and after meeting everyone I am super excited to begin my work! While I won't move into my house until Monday, I was able to visit my house the other day and I am so excited to move in! My house is located on the grounds of a primary school in the middle of no where, has no electricty, no running water, and no toliet. While I'm sure I'll regret saying this later, I am happy for my lack of water and electricity! In general, my home is beautiful and much larger than I had expected complete with a back porch overlooking some of the most beautiful land I have ever seen! I cannot wait to sit on my back porch every evening and just take in the beauty of Uganda! Everyday I find it more and more beautiful. Oh, and did I mention that I can see Lake Victoria (the second largest lake in the world) from my village? Oh, and it's in a swamp of sorts! I am in love!

While we're on the subject of being in love, everyday I love the people of Ugandan a little bit more! I have met very few people in my life that I have met and fell completely in love with them at that moment. In the short time that I have been here I have made many great friends amongst Peace Corps Volunteers, but I have also made some fabulous Ugandan friends. The people here are so loving, caring, and genuine. They are the kind of people that you miss when you don't see them for a day. My language teachers is one of the most kind and patient people I have ever met. For the past nine weeks he put up with five girls who sometimes cried or were just plain moody and he always came to class with a smile on his face. He would do just about anything for us, including putting on a dress doing some ridiculous dances in front of his peers. He always treated as one of his own children, regardless of how much we probably frustrated him. The same could be said for almost all of the trainers. Now that I am site I have met even more amazing people. The driver for the college had drove us around a lot helping us get things for our houses and meet people and I could not be more thankful for him. He is probably the happiest man I have ever met in my life and he actually gets our jokes! The other night I rode with him to town and I was being my normal self asking a bazillion questions and we both began to reailze that we have a lot in common. After awhile he looked at me and said, "You know, a week ago I didn't know I was going to meet you and you didn't know you were going to meet me, but here we are sitting as friends and we're from different sides of the world." It was so good for me to hear him say those words because it reminds me of one of my reasons that I am here. We are all one people and despite our many differences, we have more in common.

Anyway, I could go on forever, but I want to go explore and get a few more things for my new house! I'll warn you now that I am also too lazy to proofread this; please don't judge me. : ) I hope it is finally begining to warm up where you are!

Peace and Love,

Autumn, Nalubega, Toomie, Toom, Button', or Awtoom...or any other crazy name I get called here