I know a lot of people back home have been frustrated with the lack of communication from my end this summer. I find it hard to maintain communication from here for a few reasons. First and foremost, I am here to work. This week I put in 60 hours, but I usually average 50. Honestly, that's just the hours that I clock as "work" because there are about 10-15 more hours a week that I spend doing what I consider housework.
Secondly, it takes a long time to do anything here. I went into Mukono [the closest "big city" from my village] to do some errands on Thursday and it was an 8 hour round-trip. When I bathe it takes me a minimum of 25 minutes just because splashing yourself clean takes longer than using high powered water pressure. Cooking mashed potatoes, matoke, rice, and beans takes about two and a half hours, because we use fire and coal and cook in the dark. Traveling to the homes of only three children who live in the same part of the village can take five hours. Sending an email from my village internet connection usually takes me about an hour. Just for one email. [Granted, part of that is because my computer hates Uganda and it takes an average of two reboots before it starts running, then the internet takes two or three tries before it starts running, so it isn't all because of Uganda...] I try to get on Facebook to check on my family and friends every so often, but usually that takes about 45 minutes to load any page and at least 15-30 minutes to post a status update or wall comment. Even this blog post took an hour to compose because I first write everything on paper, then when I have a window of power availability, I type it into a Word document, and later when I have a solid internet connection, I post it to the blog site. Things take a long time, and my priority here is my internship, so my social relationships have taken the back seat for when I have more time. [I really do love you guys though!]
This weekend I am in Kampala and I don't have any plans other than to catch up on my work. Lucky for those of you who read my blog regularly, I have decided to make this part of my work. I will be posting an update about my Gorilla trek (which naturally includes a description of the rainforest and me being sick), my trip to the island, and a few blogs I have written but have not had the connection to post until now. If you look at the rafting blog, you will find new pictures from that adventure as well!
Just because I haven't posted in a long time, here is a picture treat for you!
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| A bit of the sunset from the island |
With love,
Kristen
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