A Scattered Update

Yo Yo, Jones is back on the air!


A short Luganda lesson (generally pronounced like Spanish)

Zondo – slang for crazy
Mulalu – Actual term for crazy (not to be used lightly)
Kitufu (chih-too-foo) – Truly? / Truly (question or statement)
Osaga! – You’re joking
Omubbi! – Thief!

I found out that it costs about 13 cents to send a text message back to America and sent a few.
Here’s a list of people that I sent one, but I’m not sure if you got it:

* Arya

* James

* Amy G.

* Larry – Dad (I sent one on Father’s day, but I know you didn’t get it because it was the 7009 number, which no longer exists : )

* Biff – Dad (I sent one on Father’s day, but I wasn’t sure if you got it)

I could only send a few because I don’t have very many phone numbers, and if I heard back from you I didn’t put you up there.

So, what’s new?

- I’m currently attempting to take over teaching 4 physics classes at the local secondary school, because their teacher has not showed up this term and it’s unlikely that he will show up. My first real day as teacher was yesterday, and even though I prepared some pre-tests it went a bit rocky. I tried to write up the pre-test on the chalk board (which is a challenge with these high-quality boards) and only got halfway done after going through 3 pieces of chalk and then switched to a different method which left most of the students idle, and they still didn’t finish just copying the thing. I think I was a little over-ambitious. So, I toned it down a bit for the next few classes putting up 3 fast questions and then talking about the answers at the end. It wasn’t a complete waste though because I did learn a lot about what they already know, which was my original intention.

- I got a sweet, large bookshelf, but I don’t have many books to put on it (about 4), because I had to dump weight when I was packing. If you’re bored and want to send me a book, here’s a quick list of ones I would like:

--Siddhartha (Herman Hesse): I’ve been talking a lot with my neighbor Yeko, who is about the nicest guy you could meet, about religion. He’s a Born Again Christian and I’m a …. I guess “agnostic.” Anyway, we promised to trade “scriptures” and so the best book I could think to give him would be this one.

--The Illustrated World’s Religions: Although I’ve already started reading this one, it seemed really neat, and since Ugandan’s are very into religion I think it’d be cool to share.

--Guns, Germs, and Steal (Jared Diamond): Ugandans are very focused on development and also on “how things got to be this way” kind of questions and this book would be a perfect reference.

--The Protestant Ethic (Max Weber): A classic of political economy to counterpoint an interesting article I read called “The Problem of Africa” (Donahue) that attempts to do the same thing in African terms (you might want to check that one out Jay – I’d like to see what you think).

--Ender’s Game: I’m sure I would enjoy reading this one again, but I’d really like to share it with some Ugandans too – I think it would have universal appeal.

--A book of logic puzzles – because sometimes I’m bored and need some brain teasing to while away the time.

Well that’s about all I have time for (gotta love how half of this post is requests for stuff : ), I should figure out a method for making more though-provoking posts.

Loves ya’ll,

Ryan