The Ups and Downs of Life in Soroti…

I’ve been in Soroti, Uganda, for a little over 2 weeks now, and will be here another month before I head home to spend a couple weeks in the States for Christmas.  As I reflect on my time so far and the weeks to come, it seems that life here does have its perks and its drawbacks. So it’s through that lens that I share some of my day-to-day experiences from the last 2+ weeks that didn’t really fit into posts about disbursements, weddings and birthdays.

Welcome sign as you enter Soroti

The Town

Of the 3 places I’ve lived so far since I came to Uganda and Kenya, I like Soroti town the best.  It’s kind of like an old western town.  It’s situated at the base of a large rock, which is a nice point of reference to direct you when driving back toward town. Though it’s pretty hot here and there are lots of mosquitos, it’s easily walkable and also has a nice big outdoor market. 

View walking into Soroti town with rock in background

Pausing to allow turkeys to cross the street (also a view of trash on the side of the road, which is a common sight all around Uganda and Kenya) 

The house/office is in town, which is nice for convenience; but like living closer to city centers anywhere in the world, it means it’s also noisier.  For instance, we have a school right next door--as in maybe 4 to 5 feet from my bedroom window. So starting by 6:30 or 7 a.m., Monday through Saturday, you can hear the sounds of kids talking, playing, singing, etc., throughout the day.

There’s also a church next door, which is a little less popular with me so far. Church starts on Sunday between 6:30 and 7 a.m. with the booming sounds of music and the pastor’s amplified voice coming over a loudspeaker.  I figure there’s no need to actually walk to go to a church as long as I’m here because essentially I am already there, tuning in and able to hear every syllable, from my bed. Fortunately I’m an early riser, so the early morning wake up call isn’t too much of an inconvenience... But when the church had some sort of revival the other weekend that went until 4 in the morning, I was NOT a happy camper. 

The House/Office

As with the other locations, the fellows live in the offices, which is nice for people like myself who don’t care for commuting. The house has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice big yard (though I’ve heard some snakes have been spotted there) and there’s a small apartment of sorts in the back where we have a Peace Corps volunteer living. 

Area of the office where I usually sit, and eat meals 

Rest of the office

Kitchen

Where we wash dishes, since the sink in the kitchen doesn't usually work too well 

My bed, though I no longer leave the mosquito net down to the floor like that
(the reason may become apparent as you read further) 

Bathroom shower curtain and hole that I have taped up, also for reasons which may become apparent further down 

Back yard

The bathrooms do have shower curtains (which so far seems to be a rarity in East Africa) but it does not have hot water.  So I have been getting used to very fast, cold showers.  To adjust, I’ve tried to do things like work out before the shower in the morning so I can convince myself that it’s actually truly refreshing to have a brisk cold shower to start the day! And since it’s hot during the day, I try to use the same logic when it is necessary to rinse off again at night. I certainly don’t have to worry anymore about keeping my showers to a certain time limit (back in the US, I actually used to set a timer to try to keep my showers to a reasonable length for purposes of water and energy conservation--no longer an issue here!).  

But on the plus side, the water and power are more consistent here than they were in Hoima. We still use the generator regularly, but it doesn’t have to log the same hours as it did in the other location.  Strangely, the internet seems to go out often here though, even when there is power.

The Staff

The Ugandan staff are wonderful, warm people who have welcomed me with open arms and are eager to share things about their culture and way of life. We often cook lunches at the office, so I’ve been learning local recipes for things like pumpkin, and cabbage and eggs.  In addition, one of my coworkers routinely picks guavas from the tree in the backyard and makes amazing fresh-squeezed guava juice that is just delightful.

Cabbage & eggs (tastes better than may be surmised from this photo) 

Guavas from tree in the backyard

Enjoying fresh made guava juice while working 

The Townspeople

So this one is a mixed bag so far. Some people are really friendly, like the market and store proprietors and some women and children I pass on the street. However, on the down side, there is a bit more catcalling than I care for. Not any worse than Kenya and Hoima, but rather it’s perhaps just starting to wear on me a bit more. (I think I also recall that happening after I had lived in Mexico for a few months.) I think over time, the tolerance and patience for the unwanted attention tends to get a bit strained. Typically the men are the worst, and the boda drivers are the main culprits. But some of the kids in town have actually surprised me with their brashness. I was in the market this past week, and a kid walking by me said “Give me 2,000” I was like "What did you say?" not sure if I had heard him correctly, and he repeated “Give me 2,000” which means, give me $2,000 shillings (or about $1). Then as I walked back from the post office another day, a kid yelled at me “Give me money!” To both I said, “Nope. Not going to happen.” But what I really wanted to say was “Do you realize how offensive that is?” or more preferably, some other choice profane words, but that would not be constructive and would probably only draw more unpleasant attention.

The one that takes the cake though, is last week, I was walking back from the market and a kid who appeared to be about 7 or 8 years old yelled at me “Hey mzungu, you want a bite of my frankfurter?!” I was shocked.  And appalled.  And at the same time, I was strangely impressed, thinking, what a command of the English language to use such a colloquialism.  Later it dawned on me that the incident had occurred not far from the German House of Cooperation (whatever that is) so perhaps some German had taught that to him?

By far people are more friendly and warm (and less insulting) in the smaller villages where we work, so that is always nice.

Wild Kingdom, in my Bedroom

There have been far more uninvited guests to my bedroom/bathroom than I care for in the past week and the casualties are piling up -– in one week (so far) I have dispatched of 3 mice and 5 roaches.

Ok, so this is definitely on the drawbacks list. I am squeamish. I don’t like bugs. Especially massive cockroaches. What I don’t like even more is seeing them regularly pass through my bedroom.  And what I like the very least, as I now know from the experience, is the feeling of one of those big cockroaches crawling on my neck while I'm in bed in the middle of the night. I will spare you too many details, but let’s just say the roach did not live to tell the tale and afterwards I baby-wiped my neck, sprayed the perimeter of my mattress and the floor around my bed with Off bug spray (due to the lack of anything stronger) and then went back to bed, with the lights on.  Since then, in the past week, I’ve killed 4 more, though fortunately no more in my bed (though I check it thoroughly now every night before I get in and at any point when I wake up in the night). On the bright side, the ants in the kitchen don’t bother me nearly as much as they did at first. They are small potatoes now, and they usually keep to themselves.

Then, there are the mice. Oh, the mice. It started with the mouse that I blogged about in the ‘Mouse in the House’ post where I lamented its nighttime activities and my not executing it when I had the chance.  Little did I know I would be taking it out, and 2 more of its friends this past week. Unfortunately there are no mousetraps to be found in Soroti so far. There is poison, which clearly does not work, and sticky goo stuff, which seems to have a moderate success rate, and helped me catch two. However, dealing with the mice that get caught in the glue is entirely unpleasant, and I feel it’s best to spare those details as well. For the third mouse, I’m pretty sure I gave it (and also myself) a heart attack.  It ran into the bathroom when I was brushing my teeth the other morning, and I screamed and jumped up and down and slammed the door, and then afterwards saw the mouse laying on its side over by the bathtub. No joke! At first I thought it must be playing dead, but fortunately for the mouse (and me), it never got up again.

Since those experiences, I’ve gotten a little jumpy, and I now start and look twice at every spot on the ground or movement or anytime a fly lands on me. I'm sure it will subside with time though.

Lost in Translation.

To bring things back to a brighter tone, I thought it’d be fun to share some funny experiences I’ve had here lately as well.  To start, the other day, I let one of the office staff know that we were almost out of dish soap, so perhaps when they go to pick up more bottled water for the office, they could get dish soap as well?  When the person came back with the supplies, he handed me something and said, “I believe you requested this?”  I looked down and it was a plastic soap dish.  I had to explain that no, I meant dish soap, not soap dish.

Dish soap (which I should now refer to as Axion, when requesting) 

Soap dish, for the bargain price of 2500 shillings, or about $1 

Fitting in. (Or not.)

Yesterday, as I was working away on an audit, a coworker asked me to step outside for a brief discussion. It turns out, she had pulled me aside to advise me that the skirt I was wearing (which I had purchased when I was visiting Uganda in January) was not necessarily appropriate to wear into town. I was confused. The skirt is quite long, down to mid-calf level, so definitely conservative enough. She then explained to me that what I was wearing, according to their custom, was actually a petticoat that is meant to be worn under a skirt.  And to wear such a garment to town would certainly attract unnecessary unwanted attention!

Comforts from Home

Finally, to bring a nice close to the week, I received two wonderful care packages from my mom and aunt yesterday. I had been recently craving good chocolate and other comforts from home, as the towns we are in here in Uganda have less chocolate options than were available in Kenya, and these treats definitely brightened my day and will sustain me in good times and bad for the next month until I come home.