Beans to Bald: revised

Monday nights are alright for shaving.
After a beautiful day yesterday of getting back into classes and entering school post-relaxing weekend, dinner kicked off a most interesting sequence of events. Went to dinner with the girls- always a riotous and adventurous choice. And somehow the topic of shaving heads came up…naturally. Now I have been considering shaving my head since Mona did this summer. And I figured what better way to support her than join her in Paris this August ALSO sporting a buzz with big hats and stylish scarves. I was debating when to do it- thinking sometime before rural homestay when Becky on the other side of me looks over and says "I'll do it if you do it." So we shook hands over our rice & beans dinner and off we danced to the dorm to grab scissors.
Every USP girl on campus last night took turns in taking pictures and snipping chunks of our hair with scissors. Becky and I sat side by side with towels around our shoulders, smiles on our faces, and Paramore blasting into our ears.
There is no bonding experience quite like putting a bunch of girls in a room and subjecting two of them to scissors.
The whole event was masterfully completed with Matt showing up with his razor to buzz the rest of our hair off…and carve a few crazy designs in the process. We swept up all the hair and Becky and I had a blast running up and down the hallway just to feel the wind on our scalps (pretty much the best feeling ever).
Waking up this morning I am happy to say that I wasn't filled with regret, but I was cold. Anyone looking for care-package ideas should send a beanie…cuz now I'm freezin' if the sun isn't out! One of the best parts was going to breakfast with a hooded sweatshirt and pushing the hood off casually and just watching the double take of some of the Florence Hall comrades as they didn't realize until they were mid-tea that my hair was g o n e.
I'm glad that over the past couple months I have grown accustomed to everyone staring at me for being white because now I'm not self conscious at ALL about people staring at me. Also there are not enough mirrors around here for me to have a chance to regret this decision :)

Benefits to having a shaved head:
Big earrings look seven times cooler :)
I don't need a million bobby pins
Washing my hair takes 2 seconds
Shirts don’t get caught with my hair when I change
I feel like Natalie Portman in V for Vendetta all the time

Sad parts of having a shaved head:
Can't keep my glasses stuck in my hair
Can't keep pens stuck in my hair
…basically I just used my hair as an extra place to keep things…

Ah well. Here's to a new style, the second half of the semester, and communal activities :)
Cheers.

jewels

1. Fred
2. White Horse Inn- Kabale, UG
3. Agatha
4. Rwandan cactus
5. Birthday Girl... 87 yr old Efulansi Nkonko

movie nights and market days

Last night was the viewing of Out of Africa up in the common room of my darling Josephine Tucker Hall. So much fun to just sit in with the girls and watch Meryl Streep being amazing at life in a movie taking place in the country next to where we currently reside--- in Kenya. There was chocolate. There was instant freeze-dried Arabica coffee with cinnamon. There were BBQ pringles. There was Robert Redford being a fox. There were tears. Classic movie night combo. After so many weekend trips and adventures all around this beautiful country, it was nice to just relax and have a sense of being "home" for the weekend. You know you have adjusted to a new place when Friday nights bring no desire to hit the town or jump in a bus to travel to some new place, but to just relax from the mundane bits of what is now familiar life and watch a movie. By the end of the film as Meryl precious is saying goodbye to her Kenyan friends and household helps we were all about gushing over at the realization that in just a couple months we too will be setting our compasses in new directions and walking away from all that we have come to love here- people, customs, habits, routines. I will miss peeling dead lizards off my doorframe, washing my laundry by hand (maybe I won't miss that one too much…), walking to the market to bargain for bananas and tangerines, and looking forward to walking up the small hill to Josephine and not being able to reach the top without someone yelling "Spartacus!" to get my attention.
But I still do have these two months :)

Today Lauren & I went into Kampala in desperate search of sweaters. Hannah- you'll be so proud: I refrained from old lady sweaters. It's been so cold here in the mornings and at nights and next week we head north for our rural homestays, where it will only be colder. We stumbled around the streets from the takisi to find Owino market--- a shanty town of bargains. It was a tight maze of dirt floors, vendors yelling "yes! Sister come and look!", and piles of clothes and shoes with paths only wide enough for one person to walk down and canopied completely by tin roofing and newspaper clippings. It was incredible. Previously to venturing into this dark little rat maze market, USP staff had advised us to go with a Ugandan and Ugandans had turned their noses up completely at the thought of going in there. Too crowded. Too much stuff. No organization. Too much haggling. You'll get mugged. So of course we went as just the two brainless Mzungu.
Plenty of people, all very nice.
SO much stuff.
Organized like a thrift store. Aka… you see it- it's there. Don’t see it- move on.
Haggling = cheaper prices :)
Didn't get mugged. DID get a phone number ;) ha ha ha
It was such a cool experience to go into this market and I'm hands down going back. It was an entirely other subculture hidden in this market. It was like the underground club of African market places. I fully intend to become a regular.

loaves in wonderland

Norah Jones, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and ol' blue eyes are the soundtrack of the day in IMME Quarters today.
(IMME= the USP kids living with families for the semester…they have their own headquarters complete with office space on campus…which is consequently where the only internet has been for about 4 days.)
I went running up Monkey Hill (the mountain that we live on here, stretching out and behind campus above my dorm) last night at sunset…just about the most beautiful thing I've seen since coming here. Running up the hill, feeling like my legs were made of lead and my lungs were going to collapse in the African heat- the sun was setting out over the town as I looked out and saw through jungle trees the red clay roofs of Mukono. It was amazing to see the organization of the city from such a massive elevation, when walking around town is like a whole other jungle in and of itself…trying to cross the road, standing between the two unmarked lanes of traffic threatening to run you over should move your toe a bit too far to one side…it was beautiful to get that new mountain perspective on my little town of mazed foot paths and boda drivers rerouting your every step with caution and dodging.
Wednesday was Agape Wednesday- we had a brilliant potluck style breakfast instead of the usual worship service on Wednesday to all start the day with a feast and fellowship. There is nothing that brings people together more than lawnchairs and music outside with tables full of sweet breads, bananas, sour oranges, and milk tea with cinnamon. Such a beautiful time of breakfast, laughing, poetry shouted from the steps, shared insight, and just pure fellowship of friends. There was even a cake, which I dubbed an unbirthday cake to satisfy the confusion of many USP students who just couldn't accept that cake without occasion should be present at breakfast- very Lewis Carroll. With a combination of an unbirthday cake and the way that we made so few loaves of bread spread between the mass of people that we did- we added a second name onto Agape Wednesday- Loaves in Wonderland, as a mixture of the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and Alice in Wonderland… is it alright to put Jesus & Carroll in the same association? Ha ha ha… might be good for ol' Lewis...

the age of hunger

Ronald J. Snider's Rich Christians in an age of Hunger
I can't say any of these things better than he did. And these should be nailed to the doors of every Christian home and every church building. Luther style.

Guidelines for Living:
1. Move toward a personal lifestyle that could be sustained over a long period of time if it were shared by everyone in the world
2. Distinguish between necessities and luxuries; withstand the desire to indulge regularly in luxuries and resist the inclination to blur the distinction
3. Distinguish between legitimate and nonlegitimate reasons for spending/buying
4. Distinguish talents and hobbies from a curious interest in current fads. Allow spending that will develop talents & hobbies, but don't indulge in all the latest recreational equipment simple because it is popular with those who seem "successful". Each person has unique interests and gifts. We should be able to express our creativity in those areas. But if we begin to justify lots of things in many areas, we should become suspicious.
5. Distinguish between occasional celebration and normal day-to-day indulgence.
6. Resist buying things just because we can afford them. The amount we earn has nothing to do with what we need.
7. Seek a balance between supporting emergency relief, development, and broad structural change. Emergency food is important when people are starving. But more money needs to go for long-term community development so folk can feed themselves. It is especially crucial to give to organizations that increase understanding and promote just public policy and structural change.
8. Do not neglect other areas of Christian work. (Holistic programs are the ideal- the incorporation of spiritual and social outreach)


Some Practical Suggestions (for Christians/anyone to get involved in alleviating the issue of poverty)
"The following are hints, not rules, for living more simply. Freedom, joy, and laughter are essential elements for responsible living."
1. Question your own lifestyle, not your neighbour's.
2. Reduce your food budget by…
a. Gardening
b. Substituting vegetable protein for animal protein (cookbooks like Recipes for a Small Planet and More with Less Cookbook = delicious, meatless meals)
c. Joining a food co-op *(if there's none in your area, write to The Cooperative League of the USA for materials on how to start one. Look into your local CSA)
d. Fasting regularly
3. Lower energy consumption by:
a. Keeping your thermostat at 68 degrees F. or lower during winter months (layer up, drink tea, sit close to one another- it's cozy. Enjoy the season.)
b. Supporting public transportation with your feet and your vote
c. Using bicycles, carpools, and your own two feet
d. Making dish washing a family time instead of buying a dish washer
e. Buying a fan instead of an air conditioner
4. Resist consumerism!
5. Reduce your consumption of nonrenewable natural resources by:
a. Resisting obsolescence (buy quality products when you buy)
b. Sharing appliances, tools, lawnmowers, sports equipment, books, even a car (this is easier if you live close to other Christians committed to living more simply)
c. Organizing a "things closet" in your church for items used only occasionally such as edger, clippers, cots for guests, lawnmowers, camping equipment, ladders, etc.
6. Determine how much of what you spend is for status and eliminate such spending
7. Refuse to keep up with clothing fashions
8. Enjoy what is free
9. Live on a welfare budget for a month
10. Examine Shopping for a Better World from the Council on Economic Priorities and Alternatives Celebrations Catalog published by Alternatives. It provides exciting, inexpensive, ecologically sound alternative ideas for celebrating Christmas, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, etc.
11. Give your children more love and time rather than more things.

My last plug is for community living. When I talk about community living a lot of people criticize saying that the whole ideology behind it is just hippie-mindest, weird, inappropriate or immature…what crap. It's not being a "hippie" to want to be ecologically responsible and craving community with those around you in sharing responsibilities, tasks, costs, facilities, appliances, etc. That kind of community life is Biblical, not "weird".
From Snider: "Housing, furniture, appliances, tools, and cars that would normally serve one nuclear family can accommodate ten or twenty people. Communal living releases vast amounts of money and time for alternative activities. Some Christian communes have been initiated as conscious attempts to develop a more ecologically responsible, sharing standard of living. "
(A shout out to members of Community House in Beverly, MA. Well done, guys. You've got the right idea.)

you are welcome

This weekend there was a circumcision ceremony in Mbale that almost all the USP students went to. I said no thank you and went four wheeling instead by the Nile. Joel and I left early Saturday to head to Jinja and go four wheeling through village trails and ripping through banana tree plantations and dirt compounds to the ridge of the Nile overlooking a dam. It was beautiful. About halfway down the first trail I just started giggling to myself behind my bandit mask thinking "what the heck…I'm on a four wheeler…in the jungle of Africa!" For the win.
After biking we headed up to his home he built in the village to be able to celebrate his jaja's (grandma's) 87th birthday with her today. So after church a few people came over and celebrated with us in wishing jaja a happy and treasured birthday with cake and Fanta. Birthday ritual here focuses on the cake- first the cutting of the cake and then the serving. The birthday person cuts the cake with the assistance of an honoured guest or family member much the same as a newly wed couple cuts the cake by both taking hold of the knife. So jaja asked her firstborn daughter and me to help her cut the cake. It was such a huge honour and just such a precious moment I could have cried…but it would have gotten the cake wet, so I tactfully refrained. Second is the serving of the cake, equally as important. The chosen assistant of the cutting of the cake is also expected to cut the cake into small pieces then put them on a plate for the birthday person to serve everyone else a piece of cake before taking one him/herself. So I diced through a hunk of the cake for jaja to serve everyone and then proceeded to crack open everyone's Fanta or Mirinda drinks. It was beautiful. Everyone was happy, everyone loved the cake, and one woman was so joyfully helpful in directing me through my tasks (seriously- so grateful she was there!). After the birthday party as I was leaving the family just so joyously thanked me for being there and for recognizing jaja's birthday with them all and I nearly cried tears of gratitude and satisfaction as I tried to express how grateful and honoured I was to have been there with them all for such a huge event- seeing as how the general life expectancy here is about 45 years old- this was an epic event.
Something to note from my time in the village: hospitality knows no fake smiles here.

Now this is not so typical of my own home- as the camp staff and friends of us kids just pop in unceremoniously on a regular basis- but in general: I feel that in America many people make quite a fuss about company coming over. The house is made sure to be extra clean, food is ready, and people generally know when to expect a visitor. Here that is sooooo not the case. Anytime you enter a home here, expected or otherwise- you are most welcome. While in America there are physical preparations made to make the guest feel welcome, here welcoming is a tone of a voice and a sincere openness of heart. There is a gentle excitement in every home that I have entered by the people who have greeted me that just ushers me into the house, shoes outside on the mat, hand clasped gently, cheek kissed occasionally, presence acknowledged in a kneel on the knees in quite a few cases, and a gentle murmuring of "yes, you are welcome" in every instance. Here people welcome you into their home by simply expressing "you are welcome" or "yes, you are welcome here". That's all. A few words. Standard. Yet the effect of such a simple, genuine gesture is flooring. Every time I enter and receive this salutation my heart melts a bit as I feel so genuinely welcome into the home. It's beautiful.

feminism in East Africa

Whoever thought that I would ever be discussing feminism or body image issues from a cross cultural perspective in Uganda?
Tonight after dinner, Esther and I found ourselves stumbling into a conversation with a few of our male Ugandan friends from Honours College that ranged in topic from female circumcision to Arab country legal perspectives on genital mutilation to breast implants and what exactly is the best approach to sex education. I blame the Reverend whom teaches my African Traditional Religions course. This is all his fault.
This coming weekend USP students have the "opportunity" to go up-country and witness the circumcision ceremony of the Gisu tribe. No thank you. I won't be attending. That was the topic of dinner conversation which transpired over into casual chit chat leading back to the dorms with Esther. A few of the HC guys told us they made a presentation video last year in which they demonstrated what a circumcision ceremony generally looked like (emphasis on the dance). So we went back and watched this hysterical video in which certain actions were mimed and laughed at and then the conversation erupted like so many volcanoes all choosing to explode at the swelling of a symphonic moment- like they had been waiting and were all cued at this precise, epic moment to make themselves seen.
I never thought I would find myself sitting in the heart of East Africa discussing feminist viewpoints on body image portrayal in the media- though it was my academic focus for a concentrated semester in college. Nor did I ever think that sociological theories of cultural norms and legalities would ever be sound ground for a cross cultural debate as to whether or not is in fact ethical to encourage protection rather than (just) abstinence from a Christian point of authority. And I'm quite certain the many people that innocently stumbled into the common room of Florence Hall tonight never imagined as they ate their rice and beans tonight that they would walk into the middle of a conversation about breast implants after their supper. (my apologies)
In any case: I wish my English teachers who taught me to debate throughout the years with a level head, open mind, ready ears and thoughtful tongue to know that you trained me well. And to my many sociology professors and advisors- I wish them to know that I am in love with sociology all the more for coming here, as I truly see all that I'm learning back home playing out in real life even across the ocean. This is what it's all about. This is the real world.

maps, a mountain range & a piggy bank

officially started my application to the Peace Corps today.
shazam.

of charcoals and horn bills

Sunday morning:
Went running- which, after spending most of the past 2 weeks with constant dizzy spells and mostly lying down, felt amazing. Thank you God for borrowed running shoes and a generous roommate :)
Had a horn bill attacking my shower window the entire time I was in there. Stupid thing just kept hurtling himself at the glass pane over and over again, banging his big beak against the window, flapping away, then winding up for another round attempted entrance.

Got to go into Kampala yesterday and successfully did business with taxi drivers completely on my own. No Ugandan friends went with me to help me along navigating business with small shop owners or drivers. I found a secret to not being heckled about the price I suggest to merchants/drivers: big sunglasses. I guess if they can't see my eyes, they can't tell that I'm not 100% confident in what I'm saying. On sheer intimidation I was able to power my way into Kampala, not get ripped off, and get home safely with three other Mzungu ladies tagging along. (and in shorts, no less!)
Yesterday I also thought it would be good to get some charcoal to draw with. You would think that in a country whose cooking rides on the back of charcoal stoves and charcoal fires a person could find some charcoal to draw with…not so. But I'm not giving up the hunt.
In thinking about the past month and all the things I've seen other USP students craving and dreaming of here in remote Uganda- I've been trying to think of "what are things that are essential to living anywhere else?"- what is that I must have in any new place I live that just…can't be replaced by local brands or local customs. It's not peanut butter, not clothing styles, not communication. It's chocolate.
My life has become that simple.
All my comfort and feeling of attachment to home boils down to one simple thing.
Chocolate.

Life in Africa feels normal. It feels the way my life should have always been. We had a movie night Friday and watched Ferris Bueler's Day Off projected onto a yellow wall of the common room of my building. Watching the cityscape on the wall shine and glimmer and rise and fall amidst a crowd of semi-homesick Americans and Ugandans who have never been to America was interesting. I just kept thinking of all the movies I saw that took place in Africa before coming here. Seeing huts and dirt trails and bright coloured dresses on women balancing mounds of laundry on their heads- these were things I'd never seen and that still took me slightly by surprise when I actually arrived here. I just kept thinking what movies like that must look like to Ugandans who have never been to an American city. Kampala and Entebbe certainly have nothing like those sky scrapers with which a Ugandan could identify. How weird it must look to see such an organized, shiny, clean cut city on a big screen and have no concept of what that looks like in real life.


In other notes: Bon Iver is the playlist dominant this week…can't get him out of my skull. And I'm learning to play guitar :) for real, this time.