Pictures!!

Hello Everyone,

So, I have made the progress of getting one picture uploaded to Picasa Web Albums and you can find the link to it below. I will try to keep adding more, slowly by slowly, and you can check back periodically for updates... Hopefully this is only the beginning... :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/JustinStruik/JinjaTrip?authkey=qvuXUJE73V4

Let me know if it doesn't work...

Justin

Shaking hands and holding on...

Hello Everyone,

So, another interesting story of something I have experienced here. Here in Uganda guys holding hands is OK. In fact it is quite common and no more than a sign of those two being very good friends.... It has none of the connotations it would in the U.S. It is as common as girls walking down the hall or sidewalk in high school and college and linking arms with one another. In fact, here, it seems to be more common that men hold hands than women, and I can't really remember the last time I saw girls holding hands here, or anything of the sort.

I think most of the guys on USP try to avoid it as it is just awkward, but shaking hands is quite common here in greeting and almost inevitably in the handshake the Ugandan you are shaking hands with just won't let go... So, you end up holding hands with them for as long as your conversation lasts... It was awkward the first time it happened to me, but after a few times I have gotten used to it, because in reality, the only people here who might stare are the students on USP and there aren't nearly as many of them as there are Ugandans. Strangely, this difference has been one of the easier ones for me to get used to...

Justin

Lines...

Probably one of the more difficult things to get used to since being here is how waiting in lines(or queues as they call them here).

Waiting in a line here is nothing like it is in the U.S. Pretty much it is a free for all for who can push themselves to the front... which seems completely baffling because in every other area of life Africans tend to be more friendly and courteous than Americans.... However whether it is waiting inline at customs to enter a country or in line for food at the Dining hall, manners don't seem to matter.... A few stories to illustrate my point...

When we were on our Rwanda trip all of us were waiting in line at customs to get our passports stamped... I was almost to the window, in fact, I was the next person in line.... out of nowhere this couple comes up and jumps right in front of me as if it didn't even matter that I was there.... thankfully, they had the wrong papers, so the immigration official made them go fill out the right ones...

The other day at the Dining hall during morning Tea Time, I was in line, kind of, more like in the mob of people, to try to get some donuts to eat with tea. I stood there for probably ten minutes watching people crowd around the canteen window holding money out trying to be the next person to get food, and I trying to bring myself to do it. I was already holding my cup of tea and was in no mood to get bumped into and have tea spilled all over me.... so I was trying to be patient. I was getting closer and there was one guy in front of, after he received his snack, I, trying to be polite, backed out of the way to let him get out and subsequently 4 people stepped in front of me.... yes 4.... needless to say, I had had enough at that point and just walked away.... Thankfully there was another person from USP who had successfully gotten a doughnut before and he graciously went up and fought the crowds and came back victorious...

I don't want you to get the picture that Africans are all rude snobs, because they are not, but this is just one thing that has completely baffled me since being here, and from what others who have been here for longer periods from the U.S. it baffles them too.

So, the next time you're in line somewhere and you're frustrated that it's long, just be thankful that you at least get to keep your spot in line and people don't come out of nowhere to take the spot(s) in front of you with no seeming shame at all....

Strange Connections

Hello Once again,

I wasn't sure if Two posts in one day was quite enough, so I thought I would go for one more ;)

Anyways, I thought I would share with you a strange connection that I found out about recently that will maybe help make the world a bit larger and smaller all at the same time...

Anyways, last semester I came to find out that there was a girl who stayed at host-home I am staying at who was from Iowa. I asked my family the name and they said Nicole. That was really no one I could think of that I knew from home, but I asked them last name, and they got out of a piece of paper that they had that said her name was "Nicole Craig" ..... still no connection in my mind.

However, last week, Phil, one of the interns here at USP gave me a letter for my family that Nicole had sent for them and asked me to deliver it. In a passing glance at the envelope I noticed that her address was Blue Grass, IA and a light-bulb went on in my head. Last semester, for spring break I went on a serve project with a girl from Dordt named Leah Wolthuizen who had a fiance' Joe Van Walbeek. Joe, I recalled, she had said, was from Blue Grass, IA. So, in my furious effort to make this connection, I emailed Joe and asked him if he knew who Nicole Craig was.... Quite awesomely, not only did he know who she was, Nicole's brother, had actually been part of Joe and Leah's wedding, as they have recently gotten married. I thought this was the coolest thing and told my host family about it, and they thought it was pretty neat too.

I just never thought that I would go to Uganda and end up making such an interesting connection back to Iowa, and even Dordt College.... go figure ;)

Justin

My Family

Hello Again,

I know I am getting aggressive having two posts in one day, but this one has been waiting a while.... hopefully I don't get burned for it in the homework department on this ;)

Anyways, for all of you who are interested, here are the names and ages of the people in my host family:

Dad: Bernard Etukoit: 55
Mom(Toto=Ateso name for mom): Betty Etukoit-52

Children from oldest to youngest:
Ariko Josephine Etukoit-32
Iribot Justine Etukoit-30
Kedi Stephen Etukoit-25
Atino Catherine Etukoit-25 (I'm assuming these last two must be twins, but I'm not sure, I haven't actually met them...
Aborilem Samuel Etukoit-19
Arwang Sarah Etukoit-17
Abarimo Joshua Etukoit-15
Iribot Kevin Etukoit-13

I asked Sarah to right this up for me before she left for school and when she gave it to me I was surprised and honored to find that she had added on more to the list:
Justin Struik Etukoit-21

So, now I am officially part of the family I guess...

A little explanation about the names. The first name given is their African name and the second is what they call their "Christian" name. From what I can tell so far, and what they have told me is that most go by their Christian name as it is easier to say, so I don't have to try to say their given name which would be very difficult :)

Also, one thing that is confusing to me is their last name, or, more properly, their family name. In this case it is Etukoit, but it does not work like our last names do. Basically when a man gets married he chooses a new last name for himself and his family, what that is based on I'm not exactly sure, but if I find out I will let you know... So, family names don't really carry on, it's new every generation. Plus the way they figure out their family trees is very different as the number of people involved is much more broad than what it is in our tradition. I asked them how it was that lineage was tracked, but I don't remember what they told me...

Anyways, that is my family and a little more, enjoy...

Justin

Birthdays in Uganda

Hello Everyone,

I think most of you probably knew that it was my birthday yesterday, so after experiencing a birthday in Uganda, I thought I would write a little about what it was like....

I didn't know if it is a thing to do, to go around and proclaim that it was my birthday to everyone, so I didn't say a lot, but it didn't take long for the word to get around once I did mention it. Somewhere along the line people here picked up the "Happy Birthday" song from some "mzungus"(white people) and they love to sing it. Also, the other people on the program love to sing it as well. So, in the course of the day I think I had Happy Birthday sung to me at least 5 times, twice in one class even. I think that is a personal record, which I guess is good considering it was my 21st birthday. No alcohol, but much singing ;)

Chicken is a sort of special treat around here, so when my host-family found out that it was my birthday they told me we were having chicken. Along with the chicken my host-mom made a very large meal of rice, matoke', fried potatoes, ground nut sauce(like peanuts), pineapple, and a few other dishes I am forgetting. It was quite a feast :)

One thing that came as a surprise to me however was the chicken gizzard. Apparently the gizzard is an honored part of the chicken here, and is reserved for either the head of the house, or the honored guest....and...that would be me ;) So, for the first time in my life I at chicken gizzard....the whole thing. To my surprise, it actually wasn't too bad, actually tasted like chicken, which was a surprise to me. That being said, I'm not sure I'll find the gumption to eat it again, but we'll see.

Another bonus was that my host-mom warmed some water for my bathing last night, which was glorious, and a great present within itself. She had meant to do it for me the night before, which I didn't know, and shivered through cool temps and cool water. The warm shower was only the 3rd one I have had since being here, I won't expect it too much, and rarely need it because it is usually warmer, but it was really awesome last night!

That was pretty much my experience, it was pretty cool, a little different than the U.S. but nice all-the-same.

Later,
Justin

First week of class

Well, a small update

My first week of classes is done, and I'm pretty glad about that. I am starting to get a better feel of how things run here, but I am still quite fuzzy and somewhat stressed, but really no more than I am any other semester. They say coming here is like starting college over as a freshmen again and I think they are right, just never thought I would do that again ;)

There has just been such a vast array of emotions since being here. I think it is true of all the students who are here. Sometimes it feels like home, sometimes it doesn't feel like anywhere, sometimes life seems calm and other times you feel so rushed you just want to run away. Overall I would rate my first two weeks here as a solid good. Not great and earth shattering and marvelous, but good, and I think that is OK.

Yesterday, we got to talk to the wife of the director for USP, who doesn't really do a lot with the program, but lives here and has been here for 5 years. One thing she reminded us of, in her words, was that we shouldn't try to be "cross-cultural super genies" sounds kind of corny, but she definitely has a point. I think whether we admit it or not, many of us came here to try to do many things such as, figure out a career path, help a bunch of orphans, hit it off with our families and the culture so great that we never want to leave... and the list could go on. But, as she noted, this isn't really reality, and she reminded us that it's OK to come here and just be. If none of the above things, or things that we thought would happen don't, we haven't failed. Whether we want to or not, being in this culture will change us, perhaps not always as we hoped, but it will. I think that is true for much of life, it is just more accentuated here.

I think this is kind of an important time of the semester right now, and we'll see if I am right. We're kind of at the point where we are getting past the 2-week serve project honeymoon period where everything is great and wonderful, and reality is setting in that we are part of this culture for 4 months. I think it will be a bit challenging for me and for most of us on the trip, but I think we will come through and will survive just fine. There is just so much to learn, sometimes I feel like a sponge that is already full of water but is trying to soak more up...

on another note, posting pictures seems to be quite close to an impossibility here, so perhaps I will email them to a few people and see how that goes. The rest of you will just have to wait ;)

well, it's 5:40 here, so I guess I should head back to my host family, bathe and see if I can help out with supper ;)

I guess a few prayer requests I might have: that we will be able to stay focused on our studies, but find a good balance between engaging the culture and engaging our studies. The rest of the students who aren't staying with families the whole semester just started their 2-week homestays and I get the feeling they are all quite nervous about it, so prayer there would be appreciated. Right now, I feel I am in a transition with my host-family of getting past the "get-to-Know-ya" conversations and into more things of daily living and it has been a bit of a struggle thus far, so any prayer there would be appreciated.

Hope all is well with all of you at home or wherever you are!

Justin

Huge Blog!

Hello Everyone,

This entry has the potential to be huge, but a lot of people have been emailing me, so I guess this is the best time to update... Stay strong, I know you'll have the endurance to get through it all ;)

Plane Ride: The trip here was good. Amazingly everyone showed up, and no one's luggage was misplaced. It was a long trip, but good, and I was glad to be here. I had never flown internationally before, and never on a plane bigger than a business commuter jet, so it was quite a nice ride. The seats were bigger, the food pretty good, and the hospitality of the KLM flight attendants was amazing. We got here at like 8PM Uganda time... it was dark here already(it gets dark at like 6:45) so it was hard to see much of the landscape and houses. They gave us some food on the bus to campus. We had these things that were called "chipotes"(I have no idea how to spell that) which are like tortillas except way better, and some bananas. They have many different kinds of banana's here, some like we have at home, and some really small ones that are like half as long as what we have.

One kind that we eat often is called "matoke" (pronounced: matokay) and this is often boiled or fried and either served as solid banana yet, or mashed and served inside the leaves of the plant(this is tradition). It seems like it might not taste very good, and some do not like it, but I find it quite edible and filling. Depending on how it is made, it really doesn't have a lot of taste, but often something is added to give it a little spice. We also often eat, potatoes(which are very buttered and tasty), beans, rice, cabbage, and a dish called "posho" which is white and made from corn-flour. It does not have a lot of taste, but if mixed with beans it provides a good amount of filling. For breakfast we usually just have bread, butter and eggs. The eggs are often mixed with onions and peppers, which is very good. Basically all are meals are just really big and you eat a lot, which is great, and necessary, since meal times are a long way apart.

Typical day and meal times(for Ugandans): up at 4-5AM, maybe eat breakfast and then head off to work somewhere. Come back around 11-noon and prepare lunch. Eat lunch at 1-2PM depending on how long it takes to cook. Then go back to work and work until 6-7. Then prepare supper and eat anywhere from 9-11. My host-family regularly eats at 9PM, but many others I have heard eat at 11PM. Tea times are mixed in between meal times to serve as a "snack" and they often make their tea with warm milk, which is very, very good. You should all try it sometime.

A little about my family and home: My home is just outside of campus, so it is a very short walk, 15 minutes at most. In fact I can see the campus from my home as it is just across the road from the south side of campus. My home is a brick home, and it has a separate kitchen house, and bathroom/shower area. Also, there is electrical wiring run inside the house, but no electricity running to the house, so that is a bit of an adjustment as well, but I am getting used to it. Another big adjustment is bathing out of a basin. I am definitely getting better at it, but the combination of cold water and trying to splash water on myself with my hands makes it difficult, but I am getting better. They gave us washcloths now, which makes everything immensely easier. The dorms on campus do have running water showers, but it is cold water only... really once you get used ot it, though, it's not that bad.

My family has 8 children in it of very differing ages. The youngest is about 10 I believe, and the oldest is 32, so, yeah, quite a disparity. I'll try to give you the ages and names of the ones I know, as the oldest are not at home anymore. The youngest is a boy named Joshua and I think he is like 10. The next is a girl named Kevin, and she is 13 I believe, getting ready for high school, and is somewhat nervous about that :) The next oldest is a girl named Sara who si 15 or 16 I believe. Then there is Sam, who is the boy I am sharing a bedroom with, and I think he is 19 maybe. The other older ones I do not know as well, but I know that 2 are married and one is not, but works as an engineer in Kampala as he is finishing his studies there as well.

The mother of my family, I believe is named Betty, but I'm not sure, as she has only told me to call her "Toto" which means "mom" or "aunt" in Ateso, which is their mother tongue, I'm not sure which one it actually is, but it's one of the two. There are 32 different languages spoken in Uganda, so every time you meet someone they probably know a different language, most people I have met know 5-6 different languages so it is difficult to get a grasp on any one. But, my whole family knows English, which is good; sometimes accents make it difficult to understand, but we work through it. My host-mom used to be a teacher in grade school, but now she works in their gardens and at home. Her husband is a teacher as well, and he is away at another tech school closer to where they are originally from. If you're interested in checking it out, I am in the Mukono region, and they are originally from Soroti, which is just to the north. They speak Luganda in Mukono, and Ateso in Soroti. Apparently before Uganda Christian University came into existence the campus that they are on used to be another University where my host-dad used to teach at. Then it closed down, and my family had live on campus, but then they built their house off-campus, and he found a job in Soroti, where he teaches now. Kind of interesting I thought.

I think that is a pretty good overview of my family.

The campus is quite beautiful here, as well as the countryside. It is very hilly here, with many trees, which wasn't what I was expecting but it is great. It is usually quite nice here temperature-wise. It gets a little warm sometimes in dress pants and long-sleeves, but there is always a nice breeze and it usually rains for a short time each day which cools it down nicely. The University has a pretty strict dress-code, so I am usually in dress clothes, which I am sure is a surprise to some of you who know me well ;)

They have a beautiful red dirt here that composes much of the roads and landscapes, much like the southern U.S. The roads are very bumpy, so I'm glad I don't have to ride down them much. They also drive on the left-hand side, which is the first time I have ever experienced that, and it was quite strange to say the least.

I think that's all I'll say for now.... Feel free to post questions if I forgot something you wanted to know. I have a huge Rwanda trip to blog about sometime, but I must try to do some homework now.... I will try to post more pictures later, but I'll add a few now to reward those who made it all the way to the end ;) Well, anyways, the electricity and Internet connection is not cooperating with my uploading, so I'll put pictures up later...

Peace,
Justin

I'm here

Hello everyone,

just a quick note before I go to class. I think I alot of you have been wondering if I am alive.... I am, it has been very busy, so I'll post longer later. Hope all is well....

Later...

Justin