a jumble of thoughts & news

this has been the picture on my desktop for the last little bit... i really like it, it makes me smile... something about the simple joy and carefree-ness of it. i took it from inside the car, on the ferry on the way back from the beach in tanzania... the boys were diving off the end of ferry into the water and climbing back up again and again, having a blast...and showing off for me a little when they saw my camera =) ...

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i won’t lie... i didn’t actually write this up for my blog, but for some friends from UMB that have since left our little home in As, and have spread out across the globe, everywhere from Nepal to Malawi to Mexico to Pakistan... and it’s been really neat sharing all our thoughts and experiences via mass-email. but yah, just a few thoughts

It’s been interesting... it’s been 3 years since I’ve been in Africa, and I’ve only started studying development since then... so there’s always a million and three thoughts running through my head when I see everything – none of which seems to surprise me this time around, but at the same time makes my eyebrows scrunch together as I try to take it in and make sense of it... but I’ve also had time to process some of those thoughts a bit, so it’s been good. There’s 21 of us here in the course, a great group that I’m enjoying a lot & getting along well with... living in a hostel close to the university... and we’ve got packed schedules with all sorts of lectures and field excursions to demonstration farms and all sorts of NGOs... very well planned and exciting things, so I’m quite enjoying this “just taking in” even if some of our first few classes seemed like age-old unresolved discourses on “So... what’s wrong with Africa? Please discuss.”

We’ve been getting more familiar with the city here and getting around. It’s a strange sense of both busy-ness and idleness in the city. Everything is bustling and crowded and traffic-jammed and honking as if everything’s in a rush... then you look around, and at the same time it seems everyone’s sitting on their motorcycles, in front of shops, on the streets... waiting for something to happen. Maybe it’s still better than our North American self-proclaimed busy-ness though, and REALLY always just running ourselves into a frenzy (and helawi tells me i walk too fast!).

We’ve been moving mostly as a pack, and our schedules and just-getting-to-know-each-other have left me with little time and energy to invest much in relationships outside our class, so I haven’t made any personal friends with local Ugandans here... and those that know us just know us collectively as “the Norwegians”... so sometimes I still feel like I’m experiencing Uganda through a bit of a glass cage, but that might be a bit of how the nature of this course is. With that, I’m definitely still looking to find/feel comfortable with what my role is here, or ever could be, here in Africa. Last time in Tanzania, I remember finding it amusing but here, I haven’t quite become immune to the constant Mzungu (“White person!”) calls yet, especially with always being singled out even in a group as “CHINA!!”. I think my biggest thing about that is not knowing how to respond so I (a) don’t just ignore and carry on like the black man is not worth the white girl’s precious time, and (b) don’t respond too friendly-ly and get myself into rather sticky situations. But I did get the chance to travel to Tanzania last week, where I spent about 6 weeks 3 years ago with a Christian student ministry and really felt more at home there again... spent a few days there with some people that were a big part of a very significant time in my life, so that was really great! =)

Inspired by all the masters students working on their proposals and our continual discussions about thesis topics and research, I’ve set out to do a little research of my own, sort of for a course I was taking online, but sort of for myself – still in the planning stages, but something along the lines of education here as it relates to peace – in terms of content, and how it is presented/taught/received... and maybe something about how teachers in Canada can better understand and teach African immigrant students in a way that is more relevant to them, and to peace and development in Uganda. I’ve gotten in touch with a Ugandan organization in Vancouver that works with African immigrants that have responded very positively to my proposed research, so that was encouraging. I don’t know what I’ll find.. and actually, I don’t have much time in between our course work to do it, and also, I’ve been told I’m a little (or rather, maybe much too) hopeful and idealistic... (comments on my paper on Peace Education in the Conflict & Dev. class)... but I guess if not actually helpful or realistic, it might be interesting at least.

On a very unexpected and exciting note though – I had always thought (and said!) that I really enjoyed the classes at UMB, but it was a bit of a waste of time in terms of my degree since I already had more than enough transfer credits from having changed universities halfway through my degree. So I thought had a little bit more than 1 semester left in Canada to finish my degree... but I just found out that I actually get UBC (my university in Canada) credits for UMB courses, so I’ve actually already done more than enough classes to graduate!! (except for one more mandatory course). The plan before had been to work at Gymboree (an early childhood development-through-play-and-music centre in Canada) for three months while doing an online course & my directed studies research and then finish off my degree and see what next... so it’s still a shock to me that I might not have to go back to school in January (at least full-time)... or ever actually, until I do my masters! so I’m not sure what I’ll do with myself now when I go home in October... time to get a “real” job maybe? I don’t know, we’ll see! It’s also an option not to go home just yet and maybe travel here a bit while I’m already in Africa. But I really don’t know... too many options to think about!

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but yah, for now, a few more pictures

our outdoor classroom =)

did you know this is how a pineapple grows?

babe! =)

lunch on the shores of Lake Victoria

fresh tilipia from the Nile... mmmm =)

the Matatu (mini-bus) park in town... and i actually know which one to take to get home! =)

big giant birds all over campus and town... definitely me-sized if i were standing next to them!

alritee, til next time!
rainbow =)