Uganda!!

short on time, but here are a few pictures. Will post muuch much more later when i have a free moment and a fast internet connection (internet cafe's are horribly slow and costly).

3 of 7 of my homestay siblings. I have been living with them in luweero for about a week now. they are trying to fatten me up i think. feeding me lots of matoake (a very bland banana) and rice, beans, cabbage, beef, ground maize, spaghetti, etc etc etc. they are awesome and are teaching me lots of luganda (my local language)

this is the sunrise in kampala at the hotel we stayed at. sorry, wish i could show you more...stay tuned....love you all

tuna laba gana (we will meet again)

last night at home...

...popping the cork for the packing party (no, not andre...they splurged on me ;)



3 hours later...

....and many tough decisions (ie: washing hair and shaving with bar soap for the first 3 months) but i am a half a pound under the 80lbs peace corps limit! (does not include 25lbs carry on bookbag)

Packing...

So if you're wondering what one takes to africa for two years see below (there's another pile of clothes on the other side of the room):

p.s. - jenny: if you look center-top-right in the middle of the picture frame - that's the shamrock ;)

From Big Easy to Big Rumble

I've got a lot of very overdue thank you's to take care of before I take off tomorrow. the many friends and family who have made leaving so much more difficult but have given me many memories to lean on while I'm in africa.

First of all the many goodbye trips and parties....my brother and kevin for an unforgettable trip to new orleans. Just a quick run down of our weekend from a music perspective follows: dirty dozen and rebirth brass bands on night 1, galactic side project night two (with the great souls from florida and the first of two neville's we'd see), russell batiste funk project on night 3, and some kickin swing jazz on night 4...after meeting the rocktometrist and my new pen pal missy :) and that's just the music we saw, we'll leave the unmentionable events to rest.

Going way back to october thank you to terence, melissa (brandon - gl with your new bunk bed partner), the flea band (and company), and the lowboys for an awesome pre-going away going away party....you guys are the best. oh and jerry for kickin it late night and finishing our task at hand, how'd that happen anyway?

The fred crew for a fiasco filled weekend starting in richmond....jesse thanks for not stopping completely at the bus stop, raymond for making it all the way down from pa, and tom for providing that good ol' hetman face in many pictures and the worst planned move ever recorded, and rick for, well being rick....and everyone in fred for a great night, and for going out swinging - stay classy fredericksburg. i'll miss you guys especially and will sport the craziest socks ever in africa. also kelli (also for your great letter [which i packed]), april, and the howards for fattening me up before i leave, don't hog all the goldfish savannah...send some my way.


I can't thank you all enough, and I'm sure i forgot some people but there are just too many great friends to mention. I sincerely hope to keep up with you all while I am gone, and your letters and pictures will make the time away so much easier.

Some other thank you's i need to send out are to those who made leaving (well-prepared) possible: aunty in seattle for the last minute items and St. Philip's for your unbelievable support both before I leave and hopefully during my service. Finally my parents for their consistent support throughout this whole process and for tying up many loose ends this last week and beyond - I can't thank you enough and love you both tons.

love y'all, see you in a couple years.
-eric

Aspiration statement

so i've made my first contact with the PC uganda team. this consisted of my resume and a short aspiration statement. it's by no means the most exciting thing in the world, but i'm trying to keep some consistency on here and well, to be honest im not doing much but waiting till feb. here is the first section of my statement, specifically the "personal attributes I plan to use and what aspirations I hope to fulfill during my service".

A: At this point I am optimistic that the professional attributes I have accumulated through the years will allow me to accomplish the goals I have in mind for my service. I am also optimistic that the aspirations I have now will pale in comparison to those I will develop when I settle into my community. Overall, I am optimistic, which is probably the most important thing I hope to use during my service.

I will also lean heavily on my patience and sense of humor. Having a sense of humor will let me see the lighter side of the cultural difficulties and having patience will help me deal with them when the humor wears off. Both of these attributes will help me maintain a positive attitude, which I’m sure will be desperately relied on often.

Finally, my curiosity and creativity will be something I turn to for inspiration in my professional position. Teaching, as well as learning, requires a great deal of both of these qualities and hopefully my creativity can help to develop ways my co-teacher and I can fuel the curiosity of the students. These attributes will hopefully allow me to fulfill some of the following aspirations:

- make great friendships in the community
- inspire students to strive for goals beyond the normal expectations
- establish a tutoring system driven by the students
- inspire someone to fall in love with math
- achieve many “ah ha!” moments
- set-up organized sports leagues or tournaments
- have a positive impact on the American stereotype
- prove something to myself about my abilities to adapt and persevere
- feel “at home” in my new community

Where I am right now.....

(wilmington, nc)

an introduction of sorts

so after a slight delay in my medical clearance i have been pushed out of the november group and will now be leaving february 10th. no worries though, gives me more time to get ready as november would of been a huge stretch. kinda put a damper on the going away party in oct though, but at least i get to spend the holidays and my bday with the fam before i leave.

I will be (hopefully) maintaining this blog throughout the next few years as I travel to Uganda, East Africa with the Peace Corps. I have been accepted into the Math/Science Education program and will be teaching secondary school in Uganda for the next two years. internet could be a hard thing to come by, so dont expect more than one or two updates a month once i get settled into my village/community (probably around april '08).

i'll use this first post to address this question as i've had a good bit of practice the past year: "eric, why the hell would you do something like this".... well i'll give you a few reasons:

1) when you sit in a cubicle for 2 years in dc churning computer code for the gov't you begin to wonder....isn't there more to life then this, people i could actually be helping?

2) pops was in south america and mali in the late 60's with the peace corps, so i've been hearing stories about how great the experience was since i was a young tike

3) it's africa....who wouldn't?

hopefully those reasons clear it up somewhat, but if not...just know that i'll be safe the next couple years...and please keep up with me here so i'm not just talking to myself.

"Every silver linings got a touch of grey
I will get by, I will get by, I will get by-i-i, I will survive."