Dear Leksa and Lauren, I do not live in a crypt and other selected stories.

Hello friends and family! I hope all is well in the old US of A! I am sorry I have been so absent the past few days, I was without internet for a few days but now I will have internet ALL THE TIME so you should probably be emailing me. Please?

So the most notable thing that happened to me since we last spoke was moving in with my host family in Sunday. When I posted my address on facebook (which is the SIT office address, not my homestay address) Leksa and Lauren were kindly concerned that the designation of "Plot 16" meant I was living in a crypt of sorts. Well, I am pleased to say that my home is wonderful and definitely not a grave of any kind!

The process of meeting our families was super intense. We all gathered at a hotel and they brought us into the garden in goups of 2 or 3 to be introduced into our family. I was the last one to be brought in, which was super nervewracking and made me realize that I am not cut out for the bachelor because I would just flip out during the rose ceremony. So, you know, darn. But when I finally met my mom (or mommy as everyone in Kampala calls their mothers), she was incredibly warm and my nerves went away. My mom's name is Esther Lubega. She came to pick me up with her sister (my auntie) Gertrude. Esther's husband passed away in 2008. I am a little confused as to how as the best I have been able to understand is that he passed away from arthritis. My understanding is that it is not a fatal disease, but I am also quickly learning that many things that we understand to be curable are less curable with the limited access to health care that many people have here.

However, Esther seems to be doing fine. She told me that the first year was very hard, as traditionally women whose husbands earn a sufficient living (he was a lawyer) do not work or handle any financial issues, so learning how to earn a living was tough. However, she now runs a small farm in her back yard. Yes, I have piggery (as she calls them) and chikens in my back yard. However, they are largely separate from the house and aside from a tour on Sunday, I really will only see them as much as I want. She also works on "construction projects"... I am still trying to figure out exactly what that means.

Esther has 5 children, however all of them are older and out of the house. The youngest, Diana, is at boarding school and I will go visit her. I believe she is around 16 or 17. The second youngest, Kathy, is typically at law school south of the city (in Entebbe) and comes home only on weekends. However she stayed on sunday to meet me and has been here the last two days because she has felt a bit sick, but will probably be going back to school tomorrow. It has been great having her around to hang with. She is really fun and speaks great english and I enjoy asking her about things, from religion and politics to agreeing that Lady Gaga is awesome and the biggest artist in the world right now. Speaking of religion, my mommy is protestant but all of her daughters have converted to pentecostalism. Pentecostalism is a sect of christianity that incorporates traditional African beliefs with christianity. Everyone here is religious to some extent, and the idea of atheism isn't really understood. However, people are largely very tolerant- I haven't felt wierd at all about wearing my Star of David necklace. Also, I'm lucky in that my family has hosted one SIT student before, who was also Jewish, so they immediately understood what that meant, which was very nice. I'm hoping to do some sort of Rosh Hashana celebration with them, probably just trying to find apples and honey, which should be nice. There are 3 other Jewish kids on my program, and we're trying to plan something for Rosh Hashana, and some other kids on the program who I've mentioned it to have all seemed super interested, so that could be really nice.

Besides Kathy and my mommy, the house is occupied by a very adorable little 2 year old girl called Pinky. She is a bundle of energy and so much fun. She speaks a tiny bit of english, mostly just to ask "how are you" which she likes to do over and over. To try and play with her, I made the mistake of spinning in my long skirt, which now she likes to do over and over, and I haven't exactly figured out how to say "I'm dizzy" in luganda. That being said, I am learning a lot of Luganda! My family is really great about teaching me and are all really amused by my learning. Last night, Pinky and I learned numbers together, and I taught her the numbers song I learned in school. The house help (that's what they call maids here), Ida, told me I had a good singing voice, which I naturally found shocking. Clearly I have picked the right place! There are two house helps in the home, Ida and Aisha, neither of whom speak any English. However, they seem to really enjoy when I speak the little Luganda I know with them, which really motivates me to learn.

The house it self is small but clean and very nice. I have my own room with a bed, shelves, and a mirror. There is a living room with a couple of couches and a TV, where I have watched many shows. Ugandans seem to love theit TV. We watched during dinner last night and a lot of the other SIT folks said the same thing. It's mostly news, music videos, an american idol type show called tusker project five, and various other shows. I watched one yesterday called "Wedding Moments," which showed a traditional Buganda (the kingdom of people that speak Luganda. "Bu" means "people of" and "Lu" means language of- your Luganda lesson for the day!) introduction ceremony, in which the bride's family and the groom's family meet and the groom's family presents the bride's family with gifts. My mommy said that she would take me to one later this month, which I'm really excited about! There is no running water in the house, which means that showers consist of pouring cold water over myself from a bucket, which you just basically get used to. But life here is really very comfortable and I really like my family so all in all I really couldn't ask for better!

I live in Kawempe, a suburb to the north of the city. Kawempe is a rather industrial part of town, and I get the sense that my mommy is one of the wealthier in the neighborhood. I walk up this long hill from my taxi and people often look at me funny, but mostly people are really friendly and they'll just get used to seeing the Muzungu walk by twice a day. This group of adorable kids lives right by the gate to my house, and they're really fun. I told my mommy about my real mommy and the rest of my family visiting and she got really excited and said you'd have to come for dinner. So you will get to see all this for yourselves. I will try to get some pics up as soon as possible.

So... I don't know if you noticed, but I said taxi in the last paragraph. Yes, I have conquered the taxi system! Once you know where to catch your taxis and how much each leg costs (drivers will try to charge you the inflated "Muzungu price" because they assume you don't know, but once it's clear that you do they are fine) , it's really not that hard. I wake up at 6am each morning to leave by 7. Walk down the hill and catch my first taxi which takes me to Wandegeya (the neighborhood right by Makerere University). Then I transfer to another taxi which takes me to Kamwokya (where the SIT office is) and I get there by 8. The commute isn't bad on time (compared to the 2 hours it takes many other students) and costs me 1300 shillings in total, or roughly 60 cents. However, I cannot profess to have done it alone. My first trip, home from school yesterday, a woman I met on the first leg, Susan, when it was clear I didn't know exactly where to catch my second leg in Wandegeya, offered to walk me to the taxi, told me the price, and waited with me until I caught it. That sort of kindness is just how people are here. It's pretty great.

Geeze Louise this post is long! But I have things to say. So, deal. Or stop reading. Your call I suppose. On Friday we went to Jinja to see the source of the Nile river. It was super pretty and I took some pics which I'll put up soon!!! There was a funny moment when we were sitting on the grass and Charlotte, the academic director, was lecturing and three monkeys jumped out of a tree and ran by. We all basically freaked out and stared at the monkeys, as nothing else could hold our attention at this moment. I was laughing with some friends later that we weren't sure whether we wanted to blog about that since it basically legitimizes the stereotyped image of Africa that many of our friends at home have in their heads. However, I suppose all stereotypes have a grain... or furry monkey... of truth. Plus, the monkeys are super cute.

Also, a group of us (including Shelita and Thomas- two Ugandans who work at the hotel) went out on Saturday for my friend Hannah's birthday. We went to a club right near the hotel (where we still were at this point). I was a little nervous going out in a city for the first time after a week of lectures from various people about all the dangers that face us (typical orientation stuff, of course). However, it was so much fun. Not that I have any frame of reference as I've never been to a club in the states, but Ugandans really dance at clubs. The music was a mix of East African (Ugandan Kenyan and Tanzanian) and American. Wavin Flag by K'naan (the official song of the world cup- he's a Somali rapper) came on and everyone got super excited and sang all the words. The boys (or "generals" as Charlotte calls them) were amazing about being very protective and running interference when needed. Over all, I was just overwhelmed by how nice everyone was and how safe I felt with the group.

However, I am going to close on a somber note. I was talking with my friend Greg a few nights ago about how this is my first time travelling in the third world (he worked in El Salvador last summer) and he asked me how I am handling seeing all of the poverty everywhere. I responded that it feel really hard to take it all in, since it is just everywhere. He responded that he felt the same way but he wanted to be sure to never feel ok with the poverty that is everywhere, to never be complacent despite the constant interaction with poverty. As we were driving back from Jinja, we were all having a fun time waving at the adorable kids on the sides of the roads, who would just beam when we waved, sometimes even dancing or jumping up and down, and waving excitedly back at us. It is so easy to stay at the surface level, feeling happy that the cute kids are happy to see you, without digging a little deeper and looking at the ramshackle shacks that the kids live in. Wondering why they aren't in school, and what the future will hold for them. As I feel more comfortable in Kampala, as Greg said, I never want to feel comfortable with the poverty that I see around me. It is a great injustice that such inequality exists, that I walk by kids with so little to go sit on my nice bed and get on the internet.

As I have started classes, it has become immediately clear that the answers to Uganda's poverty aren't easy ones, but that does not mean that we can stop looking for answers and be comfortable with the status quo. I am so excited to keep learning, and to gain a greater understanding. Who knows, maybe this semester, I'll creep a little closer to my own answers.

On that note, I just want to end this excessively long blog post by saying that I love you all so very very much and wish you the best! Siba Bulungi! (have a good day!).