Culinary Catastrophes!

Hey Everybody! I’ve finally gotten myself to the internet café so you all will know I am still alive and kicking! It has been a very important and busy last few weeks, so I will do my best to fill you in on what has been happening.
On Sunday, April 19th, I said goodbye to my homestay family, who had been taking care of me and teaching me the ways of the Ugandan for the past two months. I was very sad to leave them all, but at the same time, I was ready to go and work at my site. The other PSTs and I went to Kampala, where we stayed for a couple of days, touring the PC Headquarters, meeting our counterparts or supervisors and relaxing a bit before being sent off to site. The Swearing in Ceremony was on Wednesday (4/22). There, I officially became a volunteer of the United States Peace Corps!(!!) It was a small ceremony, but very well put together. Afterwards, I said goodbye to the people I had been sharing my life with since arriving in Philly for the staging event. These goodbyes were harder and I found myself a little hesitant to leave them. They have all been my support network in every possible way and leaving them was like leaving a piece of me.
I traveled using public transportation to my site, which was a bit stressful and uncomfortable, but nothing unmanageable. I’m not sure I can tell you exactly where I am (PC is a liiiitle paranoid), but I will tell you that I’m in a small town, somewhere between Mbale and Tororo.
After being here for almost two weeks, I think I’m beginning to get the swing of things. My town looks like it belongs as the set of a John Wayne movie. Seriously, it looks like an old Western town and has a very small roundabout in the center. I don’t live on school grounds like most education volunteers do, but in the town itself. There is a Japanese volunteer who is also working at the school, and she is living on the grounds. I am very excited that I will be working with her, and she will also be here for two years. I live in a very small compound (I think there are 6 residencies all together) and we are locked in. my place has two rooms with a small bathroom. The first room you are in upon entering is the living room/kitchen/dinning room and the next room is my bedroom. The bathroom has a toilet, sink and shower, however, the shower is so close to the toilet, that I need to put a shower curtain in order to keep it from getting sprayed (another volunteer suggested I take a shower while doing my business on the pot in order to kill two birds with one stone, but I think there are some logistical problems…) It may be a little smaller than people are used, but it is quite adequate. Since arriving at site, I have been doing my best to transform my place to a home. I have bought the cooking necessities, put down a floor, washed the walls in the living room and done other little nick nacks. You are probably wondering about the title of this particular post. Well, let me tell you, cooking here is no easy feat! First of all, you should know that I have to cook over a kerosene stove, which is an open flame, single burner that is somewhat difficult to master when one first attempts to use. The first night I used it, I tried to cook pasta with tomatoes. I know what you’re thinking. Pasta should be the easiest thing in the world to cook, since all you have to do is boil water. Well, after an hour of waiting for the stupid water to boil (which it still had not done at this point), I added the pasta anyway. Needless to say, the past became a goopy mess. I tried to save it by adding water after I had drained it to try and wash away the nastiness, but to no avail. That really just made it worse. Then, I thought I deserved some ice tea (from the packets) for my efforts and took a swig of what I thought was water from my water bottle. Yeah… did I mention that I had bought some kerosene earlier and put it in a water bottle? Did I also forget to mention that kerosene is somewhat similar in appearance to water? So, after chugging kerosene, which I spit out as soon as I realized what I was doing, I decided I was not in the food eating mood. The next day, I tried to make cabbage and potatoes. The cabbage tasted like vegetable oil and salt (I couldn’t even swallow it) and the potatoes tasted like plain salt. I was very distraught at this but my neighbor, Noel, took pity on me when I showed her my salty mess and made me fried eggs and chipati. However, the next night, I did successfully make spaghetti. Third time is always the charm ( ; I absolutely love my neighbors! They are fun to talk to and make sure that I am eating. They know that I am somewhat incapable of feeding myself, since I always bring over what I have attempted to cook that night and make them taste it. Instant ramen has been a good friend of mine lately… I also purchased a bike, which I have been riding around a lot in order to get the community used to seeing me and I think it has been working. I have met a few people in town who have told me they see me riding my bike.
I am very sorry to say that I haven’t gotten myself a new address yet! (head bowed down in shame). I got the form in order to get myself a box at the post office, but I need to come back later with passport pictures before I can get it. I’m hoping to have an address within the next couple of week. Alas, I have still not gotten any mail from PC, except for the CD from Erin. I have a sneaking suspicion that they are keeping our mail hostage, or are refusing to pick it up from the post office. I have checked recently, but there is still nothing. But, do not fear, I will not give up! I’m going to be sending my second round of letter to everyone, so if you haven’t gotten one yet, it is either a.) still in transit or b.) waiting to be written. In either case, please be patient with me and I will try to get them to you as soon as possible. Aunt Pam, I love you for understanding my unnatural need for trashy magazines!! My favorite are US Weekly and People, but I will read anything. I’m glad you guys got the letter and I’m excited for your responses ( : Chibi, my love, you are number one on my list for getting a letter! Thank you for thinking of me and I’ll let you know when the care package arrives (no worries on how long it takes).
Sorry for how long this was, but I wanted to make sure you know what was happening. I miss you all and think about you everyday! Hope all is well, TTFN!!
~Rachael