Kampala and meeting my homestay family

On Sunday (September 22) we went to a mall in Kampala and got SIM cards and looked around, visited a local market, and had our first taste of the rainy season before beginning the 3 hour car trip to Masaka. Joining us was Anita’s five year old granddaughter Rorya. She was quite shy at first but soon warmed to Renate and I and enjoyed sitting with us in the back counting goats, chatting, taking photos, and sleeping on me. We made a stop at the Equator and took the obligatory touristy photos. It was quite funny because I had been telling Renate about my time in China and how Chinese people would often ask for photos of/with me. She hadn’t really believed me but when we were taking our own photos, a Chinese man came up and asked for one with me! It was quite funny.

We finally arrived in Masaka around 5 and went to meet my host family. There are two children, Feli (11) and Tendo (6) who live at home while they attend school and my host mother is Margaret who works for a local microfinance organization as an administrator. There is also a house helper and myself now living in the three bedroom house. Margaret has two other dependents who are both away at boarding school so we will likely go visit them at a later time. The house is quite nice and bigger than I was expecting. It is located midway up one of the hills that surround this area and has a small backyard and front garden where the family grows beans and maize. There is a pet cat and also a two month old puppy! They’re training him to be an outside dog now and he’s very unhappy about not being allowed in the house anymore. My room is small but functional and my bed is pretty comfortable. I’m a bit jet-lagged so I have been sleeping well. There is a flushable toilet, but it’s a squat toilet (thank god China prepared me so well).

I gave the children their presents: notebooks, pens, pencils, Canadian pins, modeling clay, glow sticks, a soccer ball, and glitter glue. They loved the latter four and have been playing with them and using them non-stop! That made me feel pretty great. I would consider my first night a success!