Second Day of School

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It's 10:25pm now and I just had my first day of immersion of bonding with the local MUST students. So the day started off quite normally and the classes throughout the day were quite standard. Lots of repetition, lots of slow talking, and lots of difficulty in understanding or hearing as a result of Ugandan accents. By now, I've made a really strong impression, not only on the professors/facilitators, but also on the students. So yesterday, Mwesigwa asked me to "hang around" or visit his place in our spare time, but today, another guy called Owani asked me to "move around". Apparently, this is their term for walking around and chilling. So since Mwesigwa asked me first, and since our QEScholars group didn't have anything planned tonight, Mwesigwa and I hung out. He actually lives quite far away (20 minutes walk, 5 minute boda-boda ride which is just like a small motorcycle) so what he does is he leaves some stuff he needs throughout the day with his friends in their dorm room and therefore only needs to boda to and from the university once each way each day. So as part of our hanging out, we played football (soccer in canadian terms) at their local soccer park. They actually play 11 on 11 on a full sized field, but a field that is full of bumps and holes. I was surprised (though I should have expected this) that they're actually very serious about their full field 11 on 11 games. They designate positions seriously and pin blame on someone for every goal scored. Interestingly, they use numbers to specify their positions, so 2 is a right back defender apparently? I played in central defense and most of them were, I think, surprised that a muzungu could play football well, so seeing me play well meant that I easily bonded with all the guys once the game was done. Games here end once it's too dark to see, which is usually around a bit past 7. There was a moment I felt bad though. Because there are lots of players and only 1 field, there were subs today. My central defender partner was forced to substitute out because he made a mistake that led to a goal earlier. And the thing about substituting out is that you're probably not getting back in before the game ends. So as he was requested to sub out, he was obviously upset and was expressing that he really hadn't done much wrong. As he was arguing his case, he seemed to try to use and excuse that why don't I go off. However, that excuse wasn't going to work because, as I learned later while eating dinner with Mwesigwa and Cena (another guy who was playing soccer with us), Ugandan culture dictates that they treat foreigners with the greatest respect and hospitality. So after soccer, we went to eat dinner at the school cafeteria and then Mwesigwa walked me back to my place before heading back to the his house. As little as these things and experiences are, I'm definitely beginning to feel the friendliness and hospitality of Ugandans.



Dinner was rice and potatoes with G-nut sauce and beans.



Also, Jamie (my classmate from vet med) who's here doing Vets without Borders just came back to Mbarara city (where we're currently staying) after doing her gorilla trekking experience. I'll be doing the trekking later, but she did say it was an amazing experience which is making me looking forward to it even more. Talking with her has made me feel like the Vets without Borders stuff is really unorganized, but that seems to be the theme here in Uganda. Just gotta go with the flow and learn it and adapt as you go. I'll have to establish contact with them again once I get back from my rural placement. In the meantime, I might have to figure out what/how to arrange my time when I get back because I literally have complete freedom to do what I want. So basically, I can go with Vets without Borders, Dr. Siefert who's the lion specialist here at a nearby national park, or even go to the Ngamba chimpanzee sanctuary and wildlife conservation trust. I'll have to do some brainstorming.



I'll leave it here because it's past 11pm now and I still need to wake up early tomorrow for class.

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