Life in Uganda - Same OR Different

I am working with one of my students on recognizing when symbols are the same or different, and I got an idea for the blog this week. (By the way, if any teachers have ideas for this PLEASE fill me in - it affects her handwriting).

So without further ado (is that how you spell that?) - what is the same and what is different with day to day life in Uganda

Grocery Shopping - SAME
Well Kinda. There are some large super markets similar to home. I buy the bulk of my groceries and any type of western food there. However, the grocery store is VERY expensive and there are quite a few things that they do not carry like at home - Example - canned black beans and most other canned foods. On the other hand, in my neighborhood there is a large outdoor produce market, and the little stores right outside the school sell local produce. Local produce is VERY AFFORDABLE, so I try to eat quite a bit of it. Today I bought 2 bananas, 5 eggs, 2 (small) oranges, and 1 tomato for 77 cents!

Entrance to the supermarket

Washing Fruits/Veggies/Eggs - DIFFERENT
There are few different ways to do it, but basically all fruit/veggies and even eggs need to be soaked in bleach water or vinegar water to kill anything that could be on the outside. Yes I understand you crack the egg.... the purpose of washing them is mainly to get the chicken poop off. 

Bathing - DIFFERENT
well it is relatively the same in that I still bathe every day and I still technically have a shower. The difference is here, I do not have hot water so I opt to heat up water and take a bucket bath. My bathroom is one small closet sized room with a shower, toilet, sink, and no divider between shower and everything else. - I will note that I am VERY thankful for what I have, as I am the only one at the school with indoor plumbing

One thing that I always find funny is when I go to the small shops by the school around 7pm or so. Apparently that is bath time for all of the shop owners kids. The kids are all running around naked as they wait for their turn to hop into the basin and have a bath on the side of the road. I just love it because it is SO different from anything you would see in America. It makes me laugh every time.

I tried hard to keep this picture PG! - The boys at the school bathing.... they have a little assembly line of the older boys scrubbing down the younger ones - this is the view from my porch everyday at 5pm!

Oranges/Lemons - DIFFERENT
I will say they are green and VERY sour! I was sick this week and was encouraged by everyone to eat lots of oranges.... they were SOOO SOUR! Otherwise Bananas, pineapple, mangos are the same, but so much yummier here!

Oranges on the left and lemons on the right

Describing People- DIFFERENT
People here describe you by what you look like - that could be your skin color, your weight, your disability, or even your job title. The best way I can describe it is at the school we have 2 girls named Suzan. At home it would be Suzan A and Susan R. Here it is Fat Suzan or Small Suzan. Or we have Tall Kato or Short Kato

Fat Suzan

Small Suzan

Washing Clothes - DIFFERENT
As many of you have read, I do not have a washer and there are literally NO dryers in Uganda - why would you have one when the sun is so hot? Anyways, I pay some lovely students to do my laundry every week. No matter how much I have it costs me less than $2. The girls are great - I did just learn last week that you have to get a different type of bar soap to get your whites white! Oh, but the downside is I am not suppose to give them any of my underwear... so yeah I end up washing that myself by hand... absolute least favorite part of my week!

The girls doing my wash today

Ok... so as you probably figured.. not much is similar to home. It really is a whole new way of life here. But there is some American music on certain radio stations, you can buy American TV shows at stores, and while fashions are usually African most outfits worn by young women are similar to business professional in America.

Clothes Shopping - DIFFERENT
Simple answer is I have only purchased 2 dressings since I have been here. One I bought fabric for and had my neighbor make it, and the other is second hand. I fee like 95% of the clothes here are bought at little side of the road shops and the clothes are second hand from a western country. There are a few stores that sell new clothing, but the clothes are EXTREMELY overpriced for their quality.

The Mr Price store - where a pair of Old Navy quality sandals costs $7!!!

Just a few kids stories from the week in pictures...

Everyone else came to color after school and Sumaya... well she just wanted to stand!

I had a meeting with a teacher after school today and Shimri sat in with us... didn't take too long and he was sound asleep :) He reminded me of my Grandpa Capp!

My sister-in-law's class prays for me every Wednesday! So I sent my mom home with little wooden animals from them. Collyn said they were thrilled! So cute!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! Even though I have had a bad cold (Ugandan flu) since Saturday, this week has flown by. God has just been so good and faithful. We finally got our Bible study started, and it ended up being a friend that has a store outside the school compound that came! My neighbor stopped in for a few minutes, but didnt stay long due to her busy morning. We are going to be studying James and had such a great discussion on Wednesday morning. Please continue praying for this and that God will really use this time!