Hello everyone! I hope you are all happy and well! I cannot believe September is already here and that summer is almost over for all of you, but not for me! : ) I am sorry I have not written in awhile. I spent almost eleven days in Kampala and Mityana with inservice training. It was long, but part of it was spent on language training and it was good to find out what I had been saying wrong and find out how to say things I have been needing to say.


I was invited by my village chairman to an introduction ceremony a couple of weeks back. An introduction ceremony is an event where, once a couple wants to get married, the woman introduces her fiance to her family. We, I dragged my friend Rachelle along, arrived at the chairman’s house around one, escorted by one of my students and sat around with other guests of honor eating food. The chairman then brought us all beers, giving me the warmest Guinness I have ever had. We then move to the ceremony which consisted of the wedding party sitting in front. The woman and the man both had their own MCs. The man’s side was what you expect out of a MC, but the woman’s side had two and they enjoyed drinking quite a bit. The ceremony was in Luganda so I did not understand most of what was happening, but it seemed to consist of a bunch of different groups of people dancing out and greeting the wedding party while the MCs from each side talked with one another through the microphones. During this, a large gourd of sorts that is made to hold the local brew is brought out. Local brew is one of the most potent things I have ever tasted in my life. I would never trust myself to drink a whole glass of it. There was a woman sitting next to me who loved it and she would interrupt the ceremony poring herself more local brew and spilling it all over the place. Throughout the ceremony she would get up and sit by the bride or dance around the stage. It was outrageous. The couple was given many gifts that included a rooster and a cow. I only knew about the cow because I was dragged out into a field to take a picture with it. Around nine o’clock all the greeting was finally over and it was finally time to dance. I am obsessed with dancing in this country and I am in love with Ugandan music. We danced with the LC and eighty year old woman who were chugging beers. The chairman kept handing us beers and tots (horrible vodka in a bag), but there was no way we could or wanted to drink it all so we kept shoving them in the pockets of Rachelle’s dress. More people started getting incredibly intoxicated. One man wondered aimlessly around until he fell into a group of people relaxing. Another sat next to Rachelle and fell asleep on her shoulder. I was taking tots away from ten year old kids on the dance floor. It was out of control and by eleven we decided that we needed to get out of there. Overall though, I had a really great time; it was great to have fun with my village.

Over the years I have heard stories about spiders and such laying eggs under a human’s skin and then hatching. I never knew whether or not I could actually believe these stories or not. Some say this is a urban myth, but I now know better. For about a month I had what I thought was a blister between my big and second toe. I showed Lisandro and he proceeded to inform me that I had jigger. Meaning, that a jigger, whatever that is, had laid eggs under my skin. He gets a needle and opens my skin and squeezes the egg sack out. I should be grossed out, but I am not. I think it is kind of awesome.

Dad I have bad news; I was wrong. You cannot drink water from the pond using the ceramic filter. When I first came to Kiyumba I was using a solution to purify my water that I was collecting from the rain tanks. However, once I started getting my water from the open well I started to use a ceramic filter because there was lots of sediment. I was telling a Amanda this and she informed me that the filter only removes sediment, not the parasites. I went home and read the instructions and sure enough she was right. May I remind my readers that my open well is partially supplied by a swamp; I have been drinking water from a swamp without it first being treated. The part that really gets me is that I have yet to be sick. On top of that, I have been giving that water to all of my visitors as well. Jackie, you were smart to buy bottled water. Sam, if you ended up sick you now know why. I apologize.

My Ugandan friend Carol has always told me that she does not want to become small. However, the other day she was over and Lisandro was teaching her how to cook a pizza. She was amazed that we do not cook with oil and said that she too is no longer going to cook with oil. I told her that if she did not cook with oil she would become small. She replied by saying that she now wants to be American size. I could not believe what I was hearing and asked her why she wanted to be small. She said, “Because you people are very portable.” I laughed for awhile and asked her what that means, but she couldn’t tell me. I love Carol; she is always making me laugh.

A few of you already know, but for those of you who don’t, I will be returning to the states at the end of September for a couple of weeks for my best friend’s wedding. I am so excited to see friends and family; it has been too long! I will write again when I return the to Uganda the first week in October!


Peace and love,

Autumn

p.s. I wrote the previous a week ago, but have not been able to get to town due to riots across the Buganda region (the region in which I live) to post. On Thursday Riots started in Kampala and by Friday they had made their way to Nyendo and Masaka (maybe 9K from my home). My friend Lisandro and a visitor had to have a police escort out of his home in Nyendo. There were fires, gunshots, and total chaos. I do not have time to explain the situation in full, but it seems as though the next two years leading up to the next presidential election will be intense. I am posting a link explaining the situation, but in my next post I will explain more and what it could potentially mean for me and Peace Corps Uganda.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8249812.stm

http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php/uganda-talks-/for-the-international-audience-the-kampala-riots-explained.html