January 27, 2008

Owaino Market

I finally made it to Owaino Market during IST. I've been hearing about how great it is since I arrived in Uganda. No exaggeration. It's a huge second-hand clothing market that also sells suitcases, radios, and, umm, not sure what else. But it's big and has tons of stuff for cheap. The only way I know how to really describe it is like the markets in Taiwan, but with much narrower aisles-wide enough to fit only half a person. But I don't think that really helps a lot of people, since they might not have been to Taiwan… People are constantly shouting at you and grabbing you while you pass their stations. For me, it's the usual uchina, Japan, Korea, etc. Fun. And completely overwhelming. The best thing to do if you're headed to Owaino is to have a game plan. Either know exactly what you want to get while you're there, or go in with no plan to buy anything at all. Otherwise, you're screwed. You'll be looking from side to side, front to back with no idea what to do or where to go. And it's always good to go with other people-preferably a really large (white) guy. Luckily for me, my first time going I had two large white guys with me. The drawback being I was either their wife or mistress. Not sure how I feel about that… And despite multiple explanations and protests from my friends, the Ugandans still believed that I was one or the other. Oh well. Better that than being asked if I want a Ugandan husband. It was also "interesting" (for lack of a better word) to walk through a second time with just my friend Zach. Now, it should be said that Zach is a really tall white boy. Over 6 ft. For him, he lives in the village, so everyone knows him and calls him by his name. (Kind of like Cheers.) And while walking around Owaino with me, he was basically invisible. People didn't really harass him, but focused on me, the Asian standing next to him. Fun. When he did get noticed, it was easy for him to explain that he was from the US. They believed him, no arguments made. Me? That was an entirely different story. It took the both of us to try and explain that I'm from NY and not some Asian country. And more often than not, the Ugandans still didn’t believe us. sigh What're you gonna' do? It didn't take Zach very long to catch on to the fact that I was incessantly being harassed (unlike him) and take pity on me (not that he could do anything about it.) As Karine, who often walked around with me during training in L___, put it "Man, it's intense walking around with her. It never stops." Which is all too true, sadly. Sometimes, I wish I could just disappear. Stealth mode. Nice.


The Illnesses Return

During training, Anni and Liz, our amazing PCMOs, once told us that we were "the sickest group they ever had". And they meant this in the nicest way possible, of course. I can only recall 2 people out of our group of 21 who didn't get sick. They told us that we'd get better once we were at site, which turned out to be true, for the most part. (There were, of course, several cases of "stomach problems" among our group. But that was to be expected.) However, for some strange reason, as soon as we all got back together for another training, we started dropping like flies. (I, luckily, did not succumb to whatever curse was put on us.) Out of the 20 of us that were there (Reva, from a previous group, joined us), 13 were either sick and/or had some weird rash on their body. Very odd indeed. There were cases of dysentery (oh, what joy), conjunctivitis, worms (yes, worms!), and god knows what else. Sarah B. managed to lose her voice after only 2 days of being at training. And lord only knows what was causing the rash-like thing that was on Caitlin, Nicole, and Jon's arms. (Neither Anni nor Liz could figure out what caused them.) But, let me tell you… it was nasty looking. Personally, I think it's a sign that we shouldn't be together. Because every time we do, we start dropping like flies. And it ain't a pretty sight. That, or the hotel we stayed at is harboring lots of bacteria, mold, and what-not. And we should never stay there again for trainings, etc. Which would be sad for me, since I didn't get sick. And it has a pool. The latter being the most important. Though, one could argue that the former would be more important, since I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the pool if I did get sick… hmmm


The Perils of Running Water

Now, don't get me wrong…I consider myself blessed that I have running water at my site. I love having a porcelain choo and not having to worry about peeing in a bucket late at night. It's awesome. But, there are some times when having running water is not so much fun. i.e.-When it's 8:30 at night, your toilet starts to overflow like it's Niagara Falls, you have no idea how to make the water stop coming out, there's no plumber around, and you have to leave the next day at the butt-crack of dawn for training for the next two weeks. What did I do, you ask? I did what any sensible girl would do in such a situation. I stood by the toilet for a good 5 minutes, flushing every time the toilet filled up and threatened to overflow again. Yup. That was my quick-fix solution. Until I realized that I couldn't do this all night, let alone while I was in K'la for training. (Although, once I clone myself I might just do that the next time it happens.) Luckily, my neighbors are awesome and came over and helped me devise something a bit better that slowed down the water flow. Still, when I got back from training, the tank was once again full and there was an entire water-basin full of water below the tank. Nice.