Life in Pece

As promised here are a few pictures of my house. Everything is going well, it is so rewarding to know I can live independently in a new culture. I have become even more fond of Gulu now that I’m living on my own. The house itself is very nice, but it is unfurnished, so we, as low maintenance college students, are making due with what we have. So far it’s going well, there is something humorous about knowing there are five people to fill a house and all we have between us are three and a half beds, one mat, three buckets, and one folding chair (or shelf, or stool, or whatever else we need it to function as).

Here the outside of our house. There are also students renting next door. They are from Holland doing research for a masters program. The porch is my favorite place to sit and enjoy the morning. It is also one of our favorite places to play cards when the bugs aren’t too bad.

This is both my bedroom and the sitting room. There are two people in each bedroom and one out here. We have a close line inside now that the rain has started. In the corner is my bed or the couch depending on what time of day it is and who’s still awake. The mat laying on the ground is my desk, a card table, a second couch, or a lawn chair depending on it’s location. 

These are the Ugandan essentials, and some of my favorite things. From left to right there is our charcoal stove, soap, a broom, a bucket, and a thermos, all of which are sitting on my mat (which is my favorite souvenir for sure). The stove is self explanatory, I don’t use it as much as I expected, but I do know how to (despite what my host brother says). The blue soap is great. It is sold in a long stick and then you cut it into smaller pieces, and it is used for absolutely everything. You wash you hands, clothes, dishes, body, hair, and floors all with the same soap. The broom is made of dried reeeds tied together, and you use a broom until it wears out or gets too dirty. Most homes are swept and mopped daily… ours is swept about every other day and mopped once a week. Most of our host moms would be mortified but it works for us. The bucket was another fun purchase. These buckets are such essentials they put them in hotel rooms. They are used for washing clothes, dishes, yourself if you don’t have running water, and carrying things on your head. The thermos, referred to as a flask, is for keeping hot water so tea is ready whenever a guest comes. The mat is used to sit on, especially when preparing food or working outside. Traditionally women also eat on mats while the men sit on the furniture. Some families practice this and others don’t. Out of my two home stays, one family adhered to this tradition. It is one tradition I still haven’t gotten used to, especially since guests do not sit on a mat, so if the family practices this I am usually the only female in a chair.

If all goes well my research will be done in the next day a half. It has been a really good experience to speak with so many people, but I’m exhausted from running around town and trying to work on “African time.”  I’m looking forward to having a little more free time and getting to spend time at home writing my paper.