Do you DIG?

If you happen to visit Uganda¹, you might experience a (mis-)conversation like this one:

Ugandan: Do you know how to dig?
YOU: [with slightly narrowed eyes] Yes[?].
Ugandan: Sure? ... What do you dig?
YOU: Usually just holes.
Ugandan: ...
Ugandan: What do you dig with?
YOU: A shovel.
Ugandan: Sure? Not with a hoe?

Most Ugandans can dig, ya dig? "Digging" is Uganglish for gardening or farming, which most people (something like 80% of the population) use as a primary mode of survival. The hoe² is really central to most people's lives. Now, it's important to understand that digging is hard work; especially consider that people don't plow here. Yes, there are cows, but it is a rare thing to even hear of someone using them to turn up the earth. Every piece of land that is "reclaimed from the bush" had to be fought for: cut down, cleared, and broken up with a hoe in hard hands.

Up until about three weeks ago I was pretty useless with a hoe, but as I was pretty bored while school was out I invited myself to go out and dig with my neighbor Yeko³. Part of this was to match up my current thoughts on exercise⁴ with an attempt to connect more with Ugandans. Before I go on talking too much, here's some pictures:

Sowing Beans

Just today, I learned how to sow beans. Two beans in a hole. Cover it up with your foot.⁵ Move on. Easy and nicely Zen. Juliet, niece to Yeko, is in the background and in the far background you can see a lot of people at the borehole.

Ms. Nakajje in traditional digging attire

Yeko, Smiling, scoops out little holes for beans

A poem to end:

They ask "To dig, do you know?"
sillily I reply "yes,"
and invite myself to join Yeko.
In the garden I do my best,
but somehow manage to hit my toe.
Besides that little mishap,
I enjoy digging, Yeko calls me a pro.
Productive exercise spent with friends,
who knew how far, with digging, I'd go?

Peace Out Bruthas (and Sistas and Muthas, etc.),
Jones

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Footnotes
0 - This is the first of a few little blogs in which I want to focus on Ugandan life and take the opportunity to post more pictures than I usually do. Upcoming topics are likely to be: THE BOREHOLE, MY FAVORITE "RESTAURANT", and others (suggestions welcome).
1 - Which you should. It's beautiful, the people are nice, even if they point out your whiteness a bit too much. And I'm still around for some time...
2 - 10 points to whoever can come up with the best "hoe" joke. GO!
3 - Note that this sentence with a bit of selective editing could easily guarantee that I'll never become president and simultaneously win 10 points.
4 - I had recently rationalized to myself that exercise -- the willful wasting of energy -- is just silly. Why not do something with that energy? Something productive, or at the very least something fun. This comes after my failed attempts to train for a marathon. Running is not fun. For me anyway. (Uncle Ken,if you're reading this, you are totally right.) So, some things I decided to do more of or start doing are 1) digging, 2) pumping at borehole (in next feature blog), 3) playing with kids (frisbee, hacky sack, juggling, handstands & cartwheels), 4) chopping wood (strangely I do find this fun). What's been especially awesome about this is that I've felt a lot better in the last few weeks and have also gotten a lot more contact with Ugandans.
5 - I had to be a bit careful as on my second day of digging I managed to catch myself in the big toe and about half my toenail is hanging on by a flap. Shoe goo came in handy to secure after bending it a bit today -- don't know why it hadn't occured to me before.

Sorry, sorree (1)

As has been pointed out to me, it's been far too long since I updated this blog. Partly because I haven't been to the internet in almost 2 weeks and partly because my computer time is often being eaten by other, more nerdly pursuits (see Christmas below). I'm planning a couple more interesting blog posts, with pictures (if the internet gods allow) and as a lot and a little has transpired in the last month and a half I'm just gonna hit some big bullet points.

Happenings:

• Kenya week-long vacation: Please refer to the blog of Ms. Brett, my travel companion


• Christmas_time = 'non-event' + ' programing in Python to pass time' + ' reading interesting stuff' # On interesting reading, if you thought that my emotional graph was cool, you should check out a guy named Seth Roberts who has been doing serious and insight-lucrative self research for years.²


• P2 Thematic Curriculum Training: A whirlwind 6-day workshop co-facilitated with my new counterpart, Arthur. In a word: harrowing. But, I felt quite accomplished afterward, and learned some things about working with Ugandans and people in general. Here's a picture of our participants packed into one of the school classrooms (sorry, internet's slow, no pictures:

Paranoid Post³ International⁴
(Sent & Received)

• From Ken, Tracy, & Boys: Got the awesome book Black Swan and card you sent. To them, "Thank You So Much! " and a short letter is on the way back. To others, you should read this book if you get a chance - I'll put up a goodreads review in a bit, but as of now I'm planning on giving it *****.


• To Patty: a short letter of thanks and information digging.


• To Grandpa Dick: a photocopy of a photocopy of the letter that seems to have gotten lost.



These Already Mentioned?



• To Nicole: longish mess of rambling resembling a letter.

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Footnotes
1 - At first annoying, this commonly used Ugandanism has become part of my vocabulary along with the incorrect use of "somehow" and the ever-present-and-ever-loved "mmmm." It's usually used to be a showing of empathy about misfortune, about the closest we have is "man, that sucks" or on a lighter occasion, "oops."

2 - By-the-by I am serious, you should check it out, it's really cool. I'll even email you the major article he wrote about it for the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences if you request.

3 - I decided "Letters" was dull and need some jazzing up. It's "paranoid", because I want to know if things I send get there--for example, my mom received only the front of the envelope of a short letter I sent (and unfortunately forgot to photocopy)--and also so you know the wonderful things you send me have been received exuberantly.

4 - I say "International" because I've been sending some letters and Cds back and forth with other volunteers recently. This has been a fun way to trade music and other ideas that often get glazed over with a little too much beer at PCV get-togethers. All of these people are amazing--I just wished they lived closer, same as you all.

* - Actually, that's not exactly true, there is one big piece of news for you diligent footnote readers. Although, I've been thinking about extending my service for a while now, I haven't been talking about it much because it was still a big question-mark on the horizon. Well, now it's more of a period. I'm here an extra three months until about Mid-August, which'll put me back stateside around September if I do a little traveling. There will be more explanation to appear on the computer lab site in a bit.