Shaving With Toothpaste

This morning I decide to have a shave to go with my new slacks and nice shoes. I’m tired of wearing jeans to church. I wish I would have bought these clothes earlier, or even brought some with me. But I didn’t know what life was going to be like here really. But I’m looking sharp today and feeling more appropriate for where I’m going.

I shave with the peppermint shaving cream my dad bought me before I left. I smells and looks like I’m shaving with toothpaste. And I love it.

I walk by the nurses on the way to church and they run to get their cameras because I’m all dressed up.

None of my friends come to church today.

I get home and watch Salute Your Shorts on my laptop. I snack on Pringles and some weird brand of Fig-Neutons. I want to get all the episodes and watch them with Evan when I get home.

Osama on a Belt

I wake up early and get ready quickly to go to Mukono. I say goodbye to Kate and catch a matatu from Nsumba and go through Ntenjeru and then just as we are about to leave Ntenjeru the driver turns around and we go all the way back to Nsumba.

“Tugende Wa?”

“It’s OK, It’s OK”

At least I’m in the front seat. Kelley told me when I got to Africa not to sit in the front seat but this one has a seat belt so I feel fine. We get to Nsumba and the driver picks up a few people including Kate. I stick my head out the window and wave at her and she is confused because I left about twenty minutes ago.

When we get to Kisoga I get off and go see if I can find Joseph. He’s not at home and I give Kenny a call. I meet him at Mandela (the hostel his company is staying at). We sit around and talk, drinking sodas in the bar area. Kenny opens his drink with his teeth.

After a while we go out back to another sitting/eating area and watch cable TV and eat tomatoes and eggs. I can’t believe they have cable TV. We watch an old black and white movie and some boxing.

Pastor Simon is there and I realize that he’s probably not a pastor. He says for lunch he has a beer and a cigarette. He tries to buy me some drinks but I say no thanks. And teach him about the Word of Wisdom.

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I get to Mukono and go to the market that Meghan told me about. I buy a cool T-shirt and some slacks. The T-shirt smells just like the second hand ones from home. I like it. Living in New York has helped me know how to haggle here. And the little Luganda I know helps too. “Don’t give me the muzungu price, give me the mutugavi price.”

I meet Frank at church and give him another photo lesson. Ema from church is here and he walks around with us. I give Frank the assignment to find lines and circles. I teach him about composition.

After the lesson Frank and I go back to the market and he helps me buy some dress shoes and a tie. Then we walk to the internet café. I show him my website and help him check his gmail. He writes back other volunteers who were here earlier this year.

While we are on the internet a guy walks by wearing a University of Florida Shirt - Go Gators! - with the cartoon gator head on the front. I stop him and tell him that I studied at that University. He looks at me like I’m crazy, but before he leaves the café a little while later he tells me, “I always knew that someday I would meet someone who went to this school!”

Frank and I go across the street to do some shopping before I go back to the village. I always stock up on milk boxes in Mukono and maybe some Pringles. I ask Frank if he would like some ice cream and he shakes his head no. He asks for biscuits (cookies) instead. Before check out I go to the freezers to get myself a cup of ice cream and Frank asks, “What is that?”

“It’s ice cream.”

“Oh! Yes I want that.”

I laugh and tell him to pick one out. As we walk towards the market again to find me a belt for my new slacks, I ask him how the icecream is. He just smiles as he continuously scoops spoonfuls into his mouth.

Then I ask, “Frank, have you ever had ice cream before?”

He hasn’t! I ask him to describe the experience and he tells me it’s like eating a bunch of éclairs (these kind of candies they have here with gooey centers). I tell him that I’m glad to introduce him to something so delicious.

At the market I’m looking at belts and come across a big belt buckle with a hologram of Osama Bin Ladin. I start laughing. “Why in the world do you have this belt buckle? Do you support this man?”

“Do you want it? You like it?”

“No I don’t like it.”

“Yes, but look.” He shows me that it’s a hologram as if the fact that I can have Osama’s face from the front, in three quarters, and in profile views all in one belt justifies my parading around with the terrorist on my waist.

“Why do you have this man on a belt?”

“He’s one of God’s children. God created him just like he created you and me.”

“Yes, he also created Adolf Hitler, do you have any belt buckles of him? Why isn’t your picture on the belt buckle or any other person? There are many of God’s children to choose from.”

As I’m saying this I see that right next to this belt is one of Saddam Hussein. This is hilarious. I’ve seen calendars of Saddam in the villages we visit. I don’t know how they get into the country but they are sold very cheap so the people buy them and hang them in their homes.

I think about buying the belt just to prove people at home that it exists, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

-

At home Kate asks me some questions about my faith. I tell her how I’ve come to know what is true and how everyone can learn truth by asking the Source of all truth. I tell her my faith has matured into knowledge, not just belief. We talk about Alma’s parable of the seed. We talk about trust and its rewards.

My New Favorite Students

Slept in. Felt justified because I have been feeling sick.

I graded more papers.. more poor results.

I’ve seen some of their past tests, and they never seem to get a high score. But I still wonder if I have been doing these kids justice, or whether they should have a teacher with their accent. But then there are the kids that do so well. I can’t wait to hand these back and see who my new favorite students are.

Because Even I Am A Boy

I wake up feeling so happy and think right away about the blessing I got from the missionaries yesterday afternoon.

I go to school and give the English midterm. I’ve been using the same lesson plans for the S1s and the S2s so they are the same test. For the first part I read out loud statements and they are supposed to answer true or false.

They have a hard time understanding everything I say and I have to write every other question
on the board. In on of the questions I said the word, “bird” and they had no idea what I meant.
Then I wrote it and asked them how they say it.

“Barday.”

“You people are ridiculous. Haha.”

I catch a girl looking at her neighbor’s paper and I mark her paper in red pen. After the test is over everyone hands in their tests. One pile for the blank cover sheets I gave them, and one pile for the test.

I notice some writing on a paper in the blank pile and see that the girl I saw cheating had used her other paper to complete the test so there would be no mark. But I know exactly who the girl is, because she was the one who skipped my lunch detention. I got to my list of students in detention and write her name really big in red pen and connect the page to her other paper.

“Everyone thinks I’m just some stupid Muzungu, don’t they?”

One of the boys helping me organize the papers says, “Not you, master. You are very wise.”

HA.

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Erin comes over tonight. She has been feeling ill from the prophylactics she’s been taking because of the blood she got in her eye. She’s feeling OK now though, so her and Kate help me start grading my papers.

On the English exam I gave them and extra credit question worth up to ten points. In our class we have read three simple stories. The Pot of Gold, A Giant in the Forest, and The Wonderful Day.

To fully appreciate what I’m about to share, let me give you a brief summary of each story:

The Pot of Gold: A mean man named Grumble finds and catches an elf in the forest. He demands that the elf take him to his gold or he won’t let the elf go. The elf takes him to a tree and tells him the gold is buried under the tree. Grumble marks the tree with his red scarf and, before going to fetch his shovel, makes the elf promise not to touch the scarf. He promises and when Grumble returns to the forest he finds that the elf kept his promise, but put a red scarf on every single tree in the forest.

A Giant in the Forest: A little boy and his mother live next to a cool green forest. A big ugly giant lives in the forest and only comes out at night, to look for things to eat. Every week the boy’s mother gives him a bar of soap to take a bath in the lake in the forest. She tells him the lake is a safe place because the giant can’t swim and warns him to be home before dark. The boy sees a baby bird on his way to the lake and helps it back into the nest. The mother bird sings a song as thanks to the boy. This causes him to be late to the lake. He quickly takes his bath in the dark and starts home. He sees a giant footprint and then the giant right in front of him. He runs back towards the lake and drops his bar of soap. The giant slips on the soap and falls into the lake and the boy is saved.

The Wonderful Day: Roger Rabbit finds a gigantic cabbage in the middle of the road. He pushes the cabbage home only to find that it won’t fit through his door. He cries and then tells himself that crying doesn’t help, thinking does. So he gets an idea and calls all the rabbits in the forest to come and have a cabbage party so the cabbage won’t be wasted. The rabbits eat and get full. The oldest rabbit tells Roger to remember to call them if he ever needs a meal. When they leave the cabbage is just the right size for Roger, who says this is the most wonderful day he has ever had.

The extra credit question was:

Out of all the stories we have read, who is your favorite character? Give reasons for your answer.

We don’t always understand their reasoning, but here are a few of our favorites – the best and the worst:

An elfe

Because it had apot of Gold.

Because even if we did the exercise I got 10/10

Because an elfe had a lot of Knowledge.

Because an elfe was small and he had big eyes.

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The reason on my answer is abig ugly giant.

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Grumbble was the main character in the story we have ready.
Because Grumbble is unkind man.

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My favourite character was Rodge rabbit.

1^st reason Rodger was small rabbit but he managed to roll a big giant cabbage to home

Rodger at first he stared, stared and stared because of his discovery

Rodger had never had awonderful day like the one he discovered

Rodger cried but it didn’t help

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Grumble was my favorite character from all of the stories we have read. The reasons for my answer are Grumble was sobig.

Grumble had a good red scarf.

Grumble had a good shos.

Grumble had a big hand and head.

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It is Roger Rabit

He was avery care full one

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Who is your favoite character?

The giant

Reasons

He wanted to kill the boy.

He walks at night.

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The boy is my favorite character from all of the stories I have read.
This boy when he found a young bird on the ground, he had to put it back in its nest. This boy when he found a ugly giant, he ran to the lake where the giant can’t swim not only that he splash his soap and the giant steped on it and fel down.

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The rabbit.

It cried when the cabbage failed to fit the door

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Roger cabbage was my favorite character from the stories I have read. Because he mad aparty for the other o’rabbit young and old.

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My favorite character is “Giant”

Giant is my favorite actor because it tells us to fear walking at night when we are alone

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My favorite is to be busyman

Because I have sean the elf

Because “ “ “ the Grumble

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A giant in the forest is our favorite character from all the stories

Because a giant is a big ugly man in the forest.

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It was Grumble’s story.

Because Grumble was amean man.

Because Grumbe marked the tree with his red scarf

Because the boy was so mercy full he help the baby bird

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Out of all the stories we have read the story of the giant in the forest was my favourite character

The story of cabbage was my favorite character

The story of a big cabbage in the road

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Out of all the stories the giant in the forest was the favorite character for me because the giant slept all day and during in the night it started to look for things to eat and the boy’s mother warned him to be home before dark.

The giant was sloghtering getting something to eat and the boy saw it on the ground with the foorprint on the ground and the boy brought his bar of soap on the ground the big ugly giant slipped down in water.

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A little boy.

Because the little boy was living neer the cold green forest. The little boy was given every day a bar of soap to go and have a balth on the lake.

Because the little boy helped the babby bird to put it in the nest. When the little boy saw that it is getting dark he take his bath quickly.

When the boy saw a big anguly giant he slowen his bar of soap and when the anguly giant stepped on it he sceamed in the lake while the giant cann’t swim.

That is the way the boy saved him self from the giant. That is why my favorite character is the little boy.

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Grumble

Grumble was a mean man always he was saying that elf has pot of Gold which make Grumble to get Mr. elf. Grumble asked elf to show where was the pot of Gold. The elf took him on a big tree.

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The elf and a big giant’s character was my favorite character.

The first reason is that the elf was wiser than the giant. The second reason is that the giant was big for nothing with our knowledge in it’s hea to mark the tree with the same scave the elf has. The third was that the giant never know that what ever small anything is, never under mind it.

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The elf.

The elf was great man because he did not breake the promise he just put the red scarf on all the tree. The elf has a point of God

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The giant in the forest.

Becawe some children may sent by their perants and they tell “that you early and they just play and forgotten to go back home. They see when it is dark then they go home hence found wirld animal walking looking for food.

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My favorite character is elf because they following

He excused his mother advices

He found the baby bird on the ground and he returned it inot its next.

He saw a giant and put the soap on the giant’s right and it slippered into lake.

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Roger

He said him self I can sotp crying and I go to calling wood rabbits.

He can’t to push the cabbage alone

The cabbage it was big to fit through his door

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The cabbage was the main character because it was in the road.

And it was too big to pass throught the door.

It was the character because it made some one to cry.

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The story of agiant cabbage is my favorite character.

Because it shows me that there is a wonderful things in the world.

It shows me that there is the biggest cabbage.

It shows that all rabbits eats the cabbage

It shows that there is aful rabbits.

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From my favorite character it was Giant in the forest.

Reasons to my answer. According to my reasons, the little boy Rogger did avery good job of trapping abig giant near the forest.

Another reason was about the big cabbage, the ways of Rabbits making to be small.

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The favorite character of all the stories was mother of boy

Because gave his boy abar of soap every week. It wants his boy to take bath.

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Out of every stories we have read, My favorite character is Crying helps nothing, thinking helps.

Thinking helps because you get ensured of the thing you about.

Thinking helps because it brings about new idea for you.

Thinking helps because what he/she wants.

Thinking helps one to engage in what is right for he or she.

Thinking brings about development.

Thinking brings about happy.

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My favorite character is Grumble. Because Grumble he discovered the part of Gold. Addition no one would need to be poor at all.

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It was the wonderful day.

This is because Roger’s rabbit it was agood rabbit who wants his friends

And the Roger’s rabbit he laughed because the cabbage was too big enough and he didnot Know it is going to do but he called his friend which is oldest and biggest to enjoy cabbage party.

That story tells how to love your friends.

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My favorite character was the little boy.

Because even I am a boy.

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Midterms and Blessings

I wake up with the scratchiest throat. Maybe I slept to close to the mosquito net. I think I might be allergic the chemicals in the nets. I think I’m allergic to everything.

I am saying goodbye to the nurses and Fran gives me some extra strength cold medicine, some garlic pills, and throat lozenges. I’m so lucky they have come to Africa at the same time as me. I know that my grandparents would feel so better to know that Fran and Marilyn are here.

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I give my S2 class their math exam. The class is huge and it’s difficult to make sure no one is cheating. So many of them share things like rulers and calculators. I tell them that they have to clear the calculator before passing it to a friend. I make them show me their calculators before they pass them.

After the test is over, I tell them to fold the corners of their papers so they stay together. Then they tell me that there is thread for that. One of them goes to the office and comes back with a bag of small pieces of thread. The kids poke holes in the corner of their papers with their pins and feed the thread through, tying it in a double knot.

One kid ties his on the right side of the paper and I ask if he’s left-handed. He looks scared. “Which hand do you use to write?” He picks up his right hand. I start to ask him if he takes art class, and realize that I’m just confusing the poor boy, so I let him go.

The S1 class is much harder to monitor. There are 81 kids taking the test today. There are two columns of desks that are singles, but most students are sitting three to a desk. My test is late getting started because Moses was giving them an exam when he caught them all cheating. He erased the board and created an entirely new exam.

My class was about to go to lunch, but I called them back into the room and told them I had and
appointment in Mukono, and I was not going to miss it because they decided to cheat.

I tell them they must cover their papers with their other sheet. I can’t write the entire test on the chalkboard at once, so I split the test into three sections. I catch two boys cheating and dismiss them from the room and give them zeros. I tell the class as the boys leave, how unfortunate it is that there are only two tests to determine the grade for an entire term’s worth of work, and some people are willing to jeopardize that grade by cheating.

I go around and for every wandering eye I mark “-1” in red pen on their papers. That seems to do the trick.

I can tell that many of them are having a hard time with the test and decide that I’m going to grade on a curve.

-

I leave school and hop on a matatu to Kisoga. Joe is meeting with the missionaries today and I’m going with him. I get to town and go to his house just as he’s leaving. I say hi to his wife and realize that she is very pregnant. It was very dark last time I saw her and I didn’t notice. His baby girl is in Kampala with the grandmother.

I am so sleepy on the way to the church and fall asleep on the matatu. I can feel the effect of whatever it is I am coming down with. But I realize that it’s probably the medicine that is making me feel so spacey.

We are a little late meeting the missionaries, but they are out front waiting for us. It is incredibly
hot today. Elder Peterson is wearing sunglasses.

They teach Joseph about the Restoration. They talk about the Sacred Grove and I think about how lucky I am that I had a chance to visit the place this summer. The missionaries ask me to give my testimony of how I know these things are true. I talk about the experience I had this summer with my friend Rachel, to go and visit the places where such miraculous things happened.

They ask Joe who he would like to close the meeting with a prayer and he says himself. In his prayer he asks to be converted to the gospel.

Before the missionaries leave, I ask them if they would please give me a blessing. I tell that I haven’t been feeling well, and on top of that there is a Typhoid outbreak where I am living. It’s such a comfort when I’m sick or in trouble, to be able to rely on and have faith in the Priesthood - to be able to have confidence that because of their authority to act in the name of God, I will get better.

I am given blessings of health, strength and protection against the illnesses that are here. I am promised blessings because of my faith. I’m so lucky the Priesthood is here. I’m glad that Joe could see it in action.

-

The rest of my time in Mukono is wasted trying to use the internet. I go to two different places, and they are both very slow today.

I go home and start grading the papers. I am disappointed with the low scores.

As I’m grading a get a text message from Jeff:

We are camping at 16,000 feet. Crap it’s cold. This is a large mountain.

We summit in the morning. 19,000ft. We got caught in a snow storm… in Africa.

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So crazy.

The Dept. Headmistress and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

Festus, Lydia, Kate and I are eating breakfast in the morning. The kids have already gone to school (which they usually do before I even wake up). Maggie comes into the living room to tell us she has been sent home from school.

Festus tells me to go act as her parent and ask the school why they have sent her home. Maggie says it’s because she didn’t use lotion this morning on her face. I am so furious.

I stop and tell the nurses that I’m leaving and they let me know that Carol did not come in the morning for her Typhoid medication and has gone to school, despite the fact the nurses told her she had to stay at home.

I march down the road to Unique Standard and stop half way. I tell Maggie that if she hasn’t been completely honest about why she has been sent home, that she needs to tell me now. She says the teacher told her she needed to use lotion on her face.

I walk straight to the office and ask the woman there to speak with the deputy headmistress. She tells me, the all Ugandans say it, “First you wait, she’s coming.”

“I don’t want to wait. She has summoned a parent to school. I did not come to wait. I have a class to teach in Ntenjeru in twenty minutes.”

I ask where she is and go to the classroom where she is calling students and sending them home to get their school fees. After she finishes in that classroom, she comes outside and says that she’s finishing up and I can wait for her in the office. I tell her I don’t want to wait.

“I’m coming.”

“Really? It looks like you’re staying. I do not want to wait.”

“I’m coming.”

She goes into the classroom and in the end I wait anyway, but not that long.

I see Carol walking to one of her classes. I tell her to come here and I ask her why in the world she has come to school and why she didn’t take her medicine. She lies and says she took it this morning. She tells me that Festus has told her to come to school.

The headmistress comes and invites me to sit with her in the room. We begin the hour and a half conversation about corporal punishment in Uganda.

According to the Deputy Headmistress, Maggie was with a group of students who were late to school. So she made all the students lay on their stomachs on the grass so she could hit them with a stick. When the headmistress got to Maggie and hit her only once, she jumped up and refused to be caned fully! Can you believe it? Then she supposedly had the disrespect to look at the headmistress in the eyes. And on top of that, she rolled them.

Maggie interrupted to say that the headmistress did not cane her. I told her that we were talking and it wasn’t time for her to have her say. The headmistress added that she shouldn’t be standing in the first place.

Maggie knelt down on the floor and looked down. “You see how disrespectful!” the headmistress thought this lack of kneeling somehow backed her claims.

She goes on to tell me that when Maggie got up, she saw that Maggie had on make up. She told her she is wasting her time in the morning making herself look like this and that she has to go home and get a parent.

“I’m sorry, but I’m confused about why you can’t understand a child wanting to protect themselves physically. Tell me why you are continuing to cane students when it is against Uganda law.”

Same old talk… Apparently the Minister knows that all teachers cane and only passed the law for some unknown reason.

“I agree that when students misbehave there needs to be punishment. I disagree with how you choose to punish.

“You are caning the students because they choose which rules they are going to follow and which they were going to break. How effective do you think caning is to these children when they know it is against Uganda law, and you are choosing to break that law? You are teaching the students they can pick and choose and then punishing them when they do.”

She talks about how hard it has been at the school. She was just summoned to that possession three months ago. She says that the teachers aren’t disciplining in class because they don’t think it is their job. She says that the prefects are not helping, but making things worse. The head boy and girl are a joke. So all the disciplining is falling on her. And she is so overwhelmed with work, that she does not have time to think of other kinds of punishment and to supervise the children to make sure they do what she’s asked.

So, she just swat-swats and goes on her way.

“Is that very effective? Do you find the behavior improving?”

She tells me that she has tried other things. Like making the kids that are late sweep the school before they go to class. But the kids just like sweeping.

“I am very impressed that you are trying other methods of discipline. That makes me feel a lot better than from what I’ve been hearing about the school. But you can’t give up. You should consider changing the punishment time. Obviously, these late students do not care to be on time to class, so by making them sweep you are allowing them to miss even more of the class they did not care to go to.

What would happen if you made the punishment during lunch, or during their free time? Then you will see that the punishment is effective.”

More excuses. The conversation goes on and we agree that the problem is teamwork and accountability. She says that eventually she wants to put the cane down and run the school differently. I tell her she needs to meet with all the teachers and come up with a plan and a program that will be uniformly instituted by each person.

I tell her about taking attendance and also other ways of punishing students. I tell her that we do not want her caning any children from Volset. She is annoyed that I’ve said this in front of Maggie and says if they kids knew she would not hit them, they would never listen.

I tell her that if she sends a note home for us or gives us a call, we will discipline the children at home, and that they would wish for a caning after the work will have them do. I told Maggie that the conversation we’ve had is private and she is not to be telling anyone what was discussed.

The headmistress talks about how much she loves the girls of the school and wants them to be successful and not digging in their gardens in the village for the rest of their life. She explains that when she was in school, her teachers never caned anyone. She said that she loved all her teachers and did not fear them. She said that everyone behaved.

“Don’t you want that for your school here? Don’t you think these kids deserve the same environment?”

-

I though I was almost an hour late for class. But as I get to school I remember we are on mid-term schedule and I haven’t missed my classes. I don’t even have classes. I ask if I can have time to meet with the students to give them a study guide for their math test on Wednesday and they make time for me to talk with the students.

I give them practice questions and actual questions from the exam. They clap and are happy that I’m trying to help them get a good grade.

-

I get home and all the kids from the neighborhood are around. I start a game of duck-duck-goose. After our game we sing a song I learned in Primary at church. “Do As I’m Doing.” I clap and they follow, I stomp and they follow. “I can do it fast or slow, I can do it high or low…”

Next, we sing “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” and then we have a big game or Ring-Around-The-Rosie. We stay on the ground and I decide that I should teach them the ABCs. I start the song and some of them already know it. They sing it to a different tune and rhythm. I am so impressed. Marilyn comes outside and video tapes them singing.

We end in a big “Do As I’m Doing” song, where each of the older kids gets a turn to decide what we do. Their parents shout directions from across the road. Nakato’s mom tells her to put her hands on her hips and sway from side to side. Nakato is full of giggles.

As soon as we got to the part of the song, “I can do it fast…” and we all started shaking our hips at super speeds, Nakato lost it and fell on the ground laughing until she could hardly breath. Haha.

Her and Wasswa are twins. They are both some of my favorites when we play duck-duck-goose, because you can always tell who they are going to pick. As they come closer to them in the circle, they start giggling more, until finally they can barely say, “goose.”

I love these kids.

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After I’m finished I go to leave, but tell the kids to keep playing without me. I want them to still do this when I’m gone. They keep going and stay pretty organized. I run and get my camera and take some pictures of the fun.

I’m doing laundry today and get the water ready. As I’m filling the tubs I start to have another sneeze attack. Maybe it wasn’t the jackfruit, maybe it’s something in the front yard that I’m allergic to. I hope so. I love jackfruit.

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Absolutely enormous planes fly overhead in my dream. We were on a boat or canoe talking. We stopped our conversation and stared as the ominous craft made its way into the distance towards the hotel built on the water of the lake.

Lunch Detention and My Nephew

I’m giving the first ever Lunch Detention today at school. Some of the kids did so poorly on their homework, and some of them did no homework at all. Because there are so many people in class and there is no attendance taken at school, I have to come up with a system to make sure justice is served. Here it goes:

There are three columns of desks in each class that I teach. I call the rows up one at a time to the front of the room to retrieve their notebook. Every single student must get out of their seat, even if their book is not up here.

I stand at the front of the desks and let them pass to sit down, only if they have a book. The remaining students must sign the paper I have sitting on the front desk. I watch as they write to make sure they don’t try to write illegible.

After all the students go through this process, I start the second phase. I have the students give their notebooks to the person behind them. The people in the last row give theirs to the front desk. Then I have everyone open the books and find the two assignments. If any of them say, “SEE ME” they are to raise their hands for me to collect to books.

I go around and grab the books and put them in the front of the classroom. I have to original owners come to retrieve their books, but first they must sign the paper.

After this ridiculous process I explain to them what it means to have their names on this paper. Lunch Detention. They have ten minutes to eat their lunch, then they must meet me back in the classroom to finish or improve their work. They will continue to stay in detention day after day until they are excused by doing what I asked the first time around.

This same process is repeated for my S2 class. Afterwards we split into groups and I give them the posters I made with math questions. They work in groups to solve the problems. For the second half of the class I do what I did in S1 and review the upcoming exam, giving them some of the exact questions on the midterm.

-

I have fish for lunch with everyone at the Volset office. I usually would not eat fish in the States, but I don’t mind it here, because I need some protein in my life. I rush back to school to start detention.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t a hassle to get all the kids into the classroom. There were two students who did not show and I wrote their names down and gave them to a student to give to Richard.

They worked on their homework and I excused two students who had their work finished. One of them did a really great job and I was very happy to cross his name off of the list.

-

In the teachers lounge Harriet and the others kind of laugh about my detention, like everything else I do here. And then the same old caning discussion takes place. Harriet is drilling me about the alternative methods I’ve suggested and defends caning as successful. I end my conversation with a defeated sigh and start packing up. Harriet doesn’t look up from her newspaper but says, “I like your way of disciplining by the way. From now on I’m going to do the same thing with detaining students during lunch.”

“Really?” I’m surprised. She looks up at me from her paper and nods her head yes.

Just then, two kids show up to the room. They have been caught skipping. Richard turns to me and says, “How would you deal with this?”

I look at the girls and get a little upset. I demand, “Who pays your school fees?” They look at the floor, like every other student here that is asked something by a teacher. “Who. Pays. Your. School. Fees?”

Harriet tells them in Luganda that they need to answer me. One girl says that her mother pays, the other tells me it is her father.

“It’s easy, is it? To afford to send you to school?”

They shake their heads.

“What do you think they would say if we let them know you have thrown their money away? How do you think they are going to feel when they found out that they worked really hard for you to purposely miss class? I think maybe we should send a note home to explain what you have done.”

They do not like this idea. The other teachers take my lead and talk to them in Luganda.

Good ‘ol guilt trip. After the girls leave I tell them that sometimes talking to students is enough, but in this case if they did it again, I would send a note home and require that it be returned with a signature.

Richard brings up a good point that the parents will probably just beat them. I suggest that instead, they should be given some work around the school to teach them what it costs to have an education. Maybe they could cut the grass or work in the kitchen serving food during lunch.

-

After school I go the barber that gave me my 80s haircut, and had him cut off my beard. He was being so careful and gentle. He left a mustache on my face and it looked hilarious. Finally I asked if I could just do it myself. I took the electric razor and took off all the hair. Then he shaped up the back of my neck. I’m a new man. Actually I feel more like a boy. And look like one too.

-

Mom calls me tonight to tell me that Bishop at home said it’s ok to put up the letter I wrote to the ward asking them if they’d like to help me get some clothes for the kids here in Nsumba. She said a lot of people want to help. I’m so happy. Then she tells me that Erin is going to call me to tell me some news.

A few minutes after getting of the phone with my mom, Erin calls me to tell me that she is having a boy! Haha. She had an ultra sound and said the baby was waving at her. I told her she was crazy. She said, “I can already tell he’s going to be such a cool kid.. just the way he was moving around in there.. he’s going to be great.”

I laughed and we talked about how crazy it was that something is inside of her growing and moving around.. so weird. I’m going to make him a shirt that says, “Adam is my Uncle.” I got the idea from my cousin Amber who went to my other Cousin Kayla’s basketball game with a homemade shirt that said, “Kayla is my cousin.” Ha.

Erin’s probably going to name the kid Ephraim. But it’s going to be pronounced EFF-FROM instead of EE-FROM. Either way, he’s going to be my buddy. She’s already picking out Halloween costumes. I love Erin.

-

Thunder, Avacados, and a Sand Pit

Last night there was an amazing thunderstorm. Rain always sounds louder on the tin roof, but this sounded like someone was dropping rocks on the house. I wake up but don’t move. I look out past the mosquito net and watch the room light up with each strike of lightning. I like thunderstorms.


I’m glad that I’m inside, then remember that I’m in Uganda and who knows how structurally sound the house is. I fall asleep and have crazy dreams that I no longer remember.
-


I’m sitting in church and Joseph, my first friend from Mukono sits next to me. He sent me a text message a week or two ago to let me know he was still at school. Then I look and see Rachel, the girl who sat too close to me on the taxi a few weeks ago. Frank comes in and sits next to me. Kenny shows up a little after that and sits in the seats behind us.


After church we go to a baptism.
-


Joseph, Rachel, Kenny, and I walk to Joseph’s house. His mom sells food and we are very hungry. I have my basin with all my supplies in it, and three liters of water. Joseph insists on carrying them for me. I say no way and put it on my head. He snatches it from me and won’t take no for an answer.


We say goodbye to Rachel before we get to Joseph’s. That girl is way to friendly to me, touching my arm and telling me goodbye. Ha. I ask Joseph if she has the hots for me. Joseph and Kenny tell me that’s just how Uganda girls are.


When we get to Joseph’s neighborhood and I see his mom and say, “Mama gwange!” (My mom!) Then all of Joseph’s brothers and sisters shout, “Adamoo!” and run to give me a hug. I don’t know if I mentioned it before but it’s common here to add “oo” to the end of a name for some reason. Jeffoo Adamoo .. I’ve never heard Kelleyoo or Erinoo before though.


Anyway, I don’t know what I’ve done to make these kids like me so much. We sit down and get something to eat. I’ve forgotten his name again, but Joseph’s little brother is so great. I can tell he is a big trouble-maker. He wears my sunglasses while I eat.


I insist on giving Joseph money for lunch. We take the short walk to his house because he wants to give me something. In his yard he climbs this tree, really high, and starts picking avocado. These avocados are massive. Kenny waits on the ground and breaks their fall. His hands are getting really red. The avocados are falling from 15 – 20 feet. Joseph gives me three avocados. Kenny takes two for himself.
-


Kenny and I are falling asleep on our ride home. We’re almost to Kisoga, when Kenny gets a phone call. They are taking a Lorry to the sand pits in Katosi and want to know if wants to come. He invites me for the ride and I get off with him in Kisoga.


On our walk to the lorry outside the Mandela, I run into Joseph and Julius. I ask Joseph where he’s been and he says he didn’t feel well today. We sit and talk outside the Mandela, waiting for the guys to leave for Katosi.


I hop into the truck. The cab is so wide. It is so different driving in this then anything else. You can hardly feel any bump in the road. Jeff rode one of these the other week and told me about it. He said half of the guys were high and that in the front seat they had a jerry can full of fuel, because something was wrong with the tank. They had tubes going into the can and back out again to the engine. In the front seat!


The guys I’m with seem much more responsible. They are not driving fast at all. Kenny introduces me again to Simon and calls him Pastor Simon. He has started his own church and they meet in Kisoga on Saturdays.


Instead of getting dropped of in Nsumba, I ride with them to Katosi to get a look at these sand pits. We pick up five guys on the way to Katosi. They have shovel and jump into the back. They get paid 2000 sh for every trip they make to the pit. They fill the entire dump truck, only using shovels. The owner of the pit gets 30,000sh a load and the truck gets 100,000sh. But they have to pay the owner of the dump truck 250,000 a day. The owners are Americans or British who invest in the trucks. They cost about $14,000 USD.


We drive down a small road that hardly seems big enough for a huge dump truck, but we somehow manage. We pass houses and people lying around in their lawns. It is very pretty and clean down here.


Kenny tells me that there is sand under their house and eventually they will have to leave. They company that owns the pit pays them to move and get a new house. “Isn’t there sand somewhere else? Why do they need to dig where people live?” Kenny says this is the only place to get sand.


We drive into a pretty small pit and drive back out. Kenny says there isn’t any good sand. They want only white sand. We drive a little further and make our way into a massive pit. We drive in and back up into one corner. The shovelers jump out and begin working. It’s hard to believe that this entire pit was made using shovels and now heavy machinery.


Kenny and I walk around and take pictures. He points out things to take pictures of and tells me what to ask and say to the workers in Luganda. We climb out of the pit and walk around the perimeter. I have some good pictures.


There are guys who work on the top of the pit with very long sticks with small spades at the end. They slice into just about three inches of earth on the surface at the edge of the pit, and slide their poles down. Because the pit is at least 30 feet deep, the dirt they have loosed collects in large amounts at the bottom, where workers shovel it into the dump trucks.


After not even an hour we are ready for the trip back home. I pass Remy and Enoch from the dorms and wave. I always seem to be riding home in some huge construction vehicle. The guys drop me off in Nsumba. I tell them if they ever see me walking on the road to stop and give me a ride.

-

HIV, Shutterspeed, and WWE

I wake up to rain on the tin roof. I will never be upset about waking up because of rain. It makes me feel so happy and comfortable. Rain on a tin roof is beautiful. I go back to sleep to celebrate.

-

Erin calls me. She is asking if someone can please take her spot at the hospital, there has been a situation and she needs to go to Kampala. Right away I know that somehow she came in contact with Sarah’s blood. Later, I found out I was right. She was helping to take out Sarah’s IV and blood spurted up into her eye.

-

I call Wasswa over to the nurses. They are going to look at his elbow. The last time I saw him it looked terrible. It was the size of two half dollars. It was white and …gross. He comes timidly to the yard, despite Simba being there. All the kids are terrified of that dog.

I think he knows that we are going to help. Fran gets her plastic gloves and some hydrogen peroxide. Marilyn holds his hand as Fran pours the Peroxide over his wound and it foams.

“Bulunge, Wasswa! Bulunge..bulunge..” Bulunge means good in Luganda, and it’s the only way I know how to tell him we are trying to help him.

He is very brave and doesn’t even cry. Fran puts on a special bandage that is designed to not come off for five days. It uses the natural fluids your body produces to heal the sore. We have Gracie tell his mom not to take it off.

I go and get two tootsie rolls and give out my first “sweetie.” He deserves it. I want him to be less hesitant about coming next time we need to look at it. Later his mom sees me and says, “Thank you so much for your treatment.”

-

I’m going to Mukono to give Frank a photography lesson. Meghan got me a place to stay the night so I don’t have to go home and come right back again for church. I catch a matatu at the bottom of the hill. Each matatu has decaled words on the windshield, and I keep forgetting that the one that says, “Ever Smart” is dangerous.

Usually a ride to Kisoga takes about half and hour. We got there in eight minutes. There were three taxis all in a row on the road and they were fighting for passengers. My taxi decided that its best bet would be to reach the next town before they did and just drove straight through Ntenjeru.

I’ve had this feeling a couple times here, and at home. Something is very dangerous, but at the same time it’s thrilling. So half of me is angry at how fast this driver is going and the other half of me is giddy with the adventure.

I was thinking if I wanted to get out and see Joe in Kisoga, and this ride made up my mind. I get out and walk to where Joe told me he lived. I ask for him but neither Joe nor his wife are home.

I get a call from Kenny. He has been in Kampala and is calling to see if I’m in Mukono or Kisoga. I tell him I’m in Kisoga and he tells me to meet him at Mandela. I meet him there a few minutes later. He has things for me.

Last night he called and asked if I wanted him to pick me up anything in Kampala and I was confused and said, “yeah, it’s no problem, sure.”

He pulls out a pair of sandals from his bag and I laugh out loud. They have a strap to go over the foot and one to go over the big toe. They are decorated with hair/fur.. “Do you like them?”

I realize they are not a joke, and say that I love them. Haha. African style is crazy. Then he takes of his bracelet and gives it to me and pulls out a matching necklace. They are tiny beads in African colors. I tell him he can have the necklace and I’ll keep the bracelet. Then he gets out two apples and a chocolate bar.

Kenny is building a house in Kampala for his eventual family. I find out that he doesn’t have a pregnant girlfriend like he said when I first met him. He thinks it’s hilarious that I don’t understand why he told me that. Ha. He buys me a soda and we sit with his roommate and talk about a reggae singer in South Africa who was shot last night.

-

I walk to the Kisoga trading center to get a taxi and there are two. Obviously I want the one that is leaving first. I walked towards the parked one, because the one that was moving looked like it was leaving. Then the conductor called me over, so I started to walk past the first taxi and that conductor grabbed my arm.

I ripped his hands off of me and told him not to touch me. People in the trading center burst out laughing and muzungu this muzungu that. The conductor of the other taxi gave me a seat of honor in the front.

Then we sit for fifteen minutes after the first taxi drives off towards Mukono. Whatever.

-

In Mukono, I’m walking out of the taxi park and I’m just a little late for my 4pm appointment with Frank. So I consider a boda boda. I ask the first driver how much to the Mormon church and he tells me 500. I’ll walk. Then the boda next to him calls me over as if he won’t charge me that much. “How much?” I ask.

“2000.” I can’t even help it, I laugh right in his face so loud and then walk away as I’m still laughing and then with my second breath let out a big, “Wooooooo!” – Ugandan style. The driver laughs sheepishly as everyone else around him laughs. I walk towards church.

-

The young men have an activity today at church. They are playing football (soccer). Frank’s pretty good. They go inside for lunch. They’re having typical Uganda food, along with this “egg roll” that I’ve never had before. It is a boiled egg that has been packed in the middle of mashed potatoes and then wrapped in .. something else. I’ve forgotten what it is. Looks delicious, but there are no more left.

I teach Frank and another kid from church, Martin. (not the same Martin that wanted dance lessons in Kololo..) I teach them about shutter speed and aperture and how the two work together to give a photo the proper exposure.

It’s helpful to have my digital SLR there, so I can show them right away the difference between f/stops.

We are in a classroom at church and I am writing with chalk. After about 20 – 30 minutes Frank says he is going to go pray. “Pray? Where? Now, like as a closing prayer?”

“No outside!”

Then I realize he means he’s going to go play outside. We end the lesson and the two go outside to play more football. I take photos of them outside.

-

I walk with Paul from church into town. I’m going to go use the internet. I ask him about how church members here deal with the cultural view of women in Buganda, and the doctrine of the church that husbands and wives are equal partners. He says that the church definitely has a different culture about woman and I correct him. Women’s place in our church is not cultural but doctrinal. He likes the church’s view of women and says that the rising generation in Uganda aren’t as strict as their grandparents were.

Traditionally woman in the Buganda tribe are never allowed to sit in chairs. They always have to sit on the floor. Every time they see a man they have to kneel as a greeting and sign of respect. Women are not allowed to eat chicken. etc. etc..

-

I’m in the internet café for three hours. I’m not finished, but decide its time to leave just as Meghan shows up with the others to pick me up. We go grocery shopping. I buy a basin and some bleach to wash my own dishes and to bathe. I get my boxes of milk and juice and a thing of Pringles.

I’m going to get home and be perfectly OK with drinking powdered milk. In the mornings I have these boxes of milk, which are warm, and I still think they are delicious. The only flavor that I’ll never get again is bubblegum. I had to try it at least once. Other than that, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla and especially banana are delicious.

-

I’m staying with Mike and Dan. Mike is the first or second counselor in the branch presidency at church. I think he’s about my age. I can’t see much when we get to their house because it’s dark, but it smells so good. They have flowers blooming in their yard and perfectly shaped trees and hedges in their garden.

Mike and Dan’s room has two beds and a refrigerator (only used for storage). A picture of President Hinckley hangs above Mike’s bed. Dan is sleeping in his brother’s room next door. Their family’s house is two building facing each other. Each room’s door leads outside to the little courtyard.

The brothers are next door watching WWE wrestling on a black and white TV. I go inside and watch the snowy picture and laugh out loud. They ask my if it’s real or fake. I laugh some more. I tell them people will still argue about it, but it’s definitely fake. Dan is very satisfied with this answer.

I stay up talking to Mike about his mission. He served in Johannesburg, South Africa. I ask when was the last time he’s been to the Temple. He tells me it has been two years. I can’t believe it and tell him I’m having a hard time being away for three months. He says we are so lucky in the States because we have temples everywhere. I tell him maybe someday there’ll be one in Uganda. I hope so.

Enough

I grade papers all day. On my boda ride home I pass Kate walking in the opposite direction holding hands with a little girl in a purple dress.

-

Walking around the corner to the door of the white house I pass Carol who smiles but does not look happy. I ask her what is the matter. She says she is fine, but with a little more asking, her eyes start to water, “I have been throwing up too much.” She closes her eyes and rests her head on the side of the building.

I was told not to touch any of the kids, but I don’t care and I rub her back and let her know everything is going to work out because she’s on the right medicine and she has the nurses looking after her. Marilyn comes around the corner and I ask her to come talk to Carol. Marilyn puts her arm around Carol to guide her to where the nurses say. She looks over Carol’s shoulder on the way and mouths to me, “Go wash you hands.”

-

It is dark outside. I’m in the living room reading when I hear someone breathing loud and shallow. I get up to see if someone is in trouble. I see the nurses standing outside of the spare room. Festus and Lydia just put Carol on the bed.

She is shivering and breathing really quickly. Her eyes are have closed. She is in pain. Marilyn goes in and wraps her in sheets and blankets and rubs her arms and legs to warm her up. Fran takes her pulse and temperature.

Lydia stands outside. I can see in her face that she is not happy in the least, which is uncommon for her. I stand outside with her and realize there is nothing I can do. Marilyn soothes Carol with calm whispered words.

“Enough! This is too much! These kids have enough to deal with as it is!” I think these things as I go back to the living room and sit with my head in my hands. Festus walks by and tries to sound lighthearted.

When I don’t meet his cheery greeting, he nods his head and says, “You see. This is Africa. We have typhoid…” His sentence is muffled as he goes into his bedroom.

All I can do is pray for Carol. So I go in my room and plead for her health.

-

We are eating dinner. Carol has fallen asleep after throwing up. The nurses gave her some medicine for nausea. They don’t want to give her the Typhoid medicine until they know she is going to keep it down. The nurses say she will be OK. She felt a little better because of the medicine so she went to town last night (at least a mile from the house) and then to school today.

Kate comes home with the little girl I saw her with. Her name is Nabukenya. She is very quiet and sits nicely in Marilyn’s lap as Kate gets her dinner. Nabukenya’s mother is a woman who was tested positive for HIV when they were on the fishing village trip. They tested little Nabukenya as well and she is also positive.

The mother says that the girl is four years old, but she is so small and I would guess she was two. The mother, Sarah, is sick and in the hospital in Ntenjeru. Erin is staying with her all night. They think she might have TB or Malaria.

Lydia fixes Nabukenya some food and sits her on the floor. The more I watch her the cuter she gets. She breaks off a chunk of matoke and dips it in the sauce and puts it in her mouth.

After dinner, Kate takes of Nabukenya’s dress and you can see that her stomach is huge. With her dress on, it just looks like healthy baby stomach, but now I can see it is malnutrition.

I go into the bedroom and get one of the books that were donated. Princess and the Flea, I think it’s about a dog who wants to be princess and a flea helps her somehow. The little girl didn’t know what to do with the book. I showed her how to flip the pages. She acted like she didn’t care, but after I sat back down and started eating, she stated flipping through.

-

I visit her later when Kate is trying to get her to sleep. I talk with her for a few seconds and she starts to cry and swats the air for me to leave. I try not to take it personally and go to my room. Ha.

Do American's Really Visit Bushes?

I rearranged my room today. My table stands under my window and if someone were to pry the window open, they could easily grab things and pull them out. Someone did this to Erin in her kitchen. They took a box of cereal, which is not easy to come by here. A box of cereal here costs almost $10 USD.

Not only is it safer to move my table, I like rearranging rooms. My room is small. It feels like a new place with the bed on the other wall.

-

After doing the work I assigned them in class, I work with the S2 students to “brainstorm” (I have to explain what this term means) on a letter they will write to Inverness Middle School, one of the schools I substitute taught at in Florida. I ask them to raise their hand and I will write a question they have for those students on the board. I have a girl in the first row copy the questions into my notebook.

I don’t tell the kids, but the same questions they ask, they will have to answer about themselves in the letter they write to Florida.

These are the questions that were asked:

Do Americans take tests?

What subjects do you study?

How long does it take to finish school?

Which level is your last?

How many languages do you use at school?

What are your favorite subjects?

Do you study sciences? Which ones?

Do your teachers cane you?

Do you hold debates at school?

Do you play sports or games?

What do you eat for lunch at school?

How many classes do you have?

What is your climate like?

Do you have clans or tribes?

How many hours are you at school everyday?

In America, how many children does the average family have?

How do you get to school?

How much are your school fees?

At what age do you start having boyfriends and girlfriends?

At what age do you get married?

Do you celebrate your birthdays?

Do Americans celebrate Christmas?

Do American teachers get paid?

Do Americans have banks?

Do Americans dance the Calypso?

Do Americans elect their presidents?

What kind of desks do you use at school?

Do Americans have traditional dances?

Do Americans suffer from AIDS or STDs?

Do Americans use condoms?

How do Americans protect themselves from AIDS?

Do you have jackfruit?

Do you have pineapple?

Are there monkeys in America?

Do Americans grow crops or farm?

Do Americans wear flip flops?

What kind of clothes do you wear?

Do you wear school uniforms?

Do Americans have ghosts?

Do Americans really visit bushes? (camping)

-

Everyone is back by dinner. It is nice to have everyone back. Lydia is happy to see me and gives me a hug. I am happy that they are here. I felt like the place was a few seconds from total chaos.. Lord of the Flies and everything. I’m glad Lydia is back and can tell Dora what is happening and that we do not hate her cooking, but did not want her to cook that night because of the Typhoid stuff.

At dinner Kate fills us in on the trip. They stayed with this guy who owns a large banana farm, who with the money he makes, takes care of twenty orphans, paying their school fees and feeding them along with his own wife and family.

It is good to hear things like that.

No Tea and Quiet Knocking

Jeff, Kelley, and Mom leave today for Tanzania. They are going to hike to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. How crazy! It sounds so great. Kelley has a bit of a cold, and they won’t let you go to the top if you’re sick. So we’re all hoping she gets better before they start their climb.

Today I am supposed to go to my S2 class first, and then my S1. I have forgotten and spend someone else’s class time, teaching the kids using the posters I had made. It is really successful. This method gives me the ability to go from group to group and work with only eight children at a time, instead of 77.

I am really frustrated with one group though. Not one person in the group knew how to even begin answering the problem. I called over this really clever guy to come help them out. I don’t think they understand much of my English

I go into the teacher’s lounge and have a piece of bread. They have bread and tea for breakfast at the school. Sometimes they have cassava. I look on the schedule they have posted to make sure what time I’m suppose to be in my S2 class. This is when I realize what I have done. The teachers in the room laugh because they know what I have done. The headmaster says it’s OK and helps to figure out how I can still have my math lesson for the S2s.

After we have everything figured out, Moses says, pointing to Joe, “You’ve turned him into a Mormon, by the way. He has refused to take tea.”

“He’s turning himself into whatever he’s turning into, I haven’t made him do anything.”

Moses laughs and Joe smiles as he eats his bread. “I can have Soya Cup though!” Soya Cup is a coffee substitute made from soy beans.

-

I talk to Marilyn about how things are going at the white house with the kids. She complains that they aren’t taking things seriously enough. She says, “Hopefully no one else gets sick, but at least we’ve all had our vaccinations.”

“… I don’t have mine.”

“What! Oh, Adam.. oh dear.” Marilyn is worried for me and says it’s foolish that I haven’t had the vaccination. She tells me to be so careful, to not touch any of the children and to wash my hands frequently. I tell her that every time I use the latrine I wash my hands with soap and water and then wipe my hands with the anti-bacterial wipes that I have brought.

Later at night, Marilyn comes to me and tells me that her and Fran have been thinking and they suggest that I buy my own basin and start doing my own dishes because Typhoid is transmitted through water, and we’re not sure in what way they clean the dishes. Also, they want me from now on to only use bottled water, instead of the boiled water they provide for us in the living room.

My family is going to flip out when they hear about this.

-

I am alone in the white house tonight. Everyone is still in the fishing villages and Jeff, Kelley and Mom left this afternoon. It’s kind of fun with the place to myself. I’ve been using the Volset office all week by myself. It was nice to spread out and have a place to work and think.

In the middle of the night, as usual, I have to use the bathroom so badly. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but since I’ve been here I will wake up at least once, usually twice, in the night to use the bathroom. And it’s not a simple walk down the hallway either. I have to unlock the solid metal door and walk under the stars to the latrine and try to aim in the dark.

I thought maybe something was wrong with me, but every Westerner I’ve talked to has the same problem. We all have different theories as to why this is happening. I thought maybe it was the doxicycline.. which I blame for most of the problems I have here. Jeff is convinced it is our proximity to the equator. Though, the most plausible idea is that we eat right before we sleep, and with our medications we have to drink a full glass of water. At home, we usually have about three or four hours after dinner before we go to sleep.

Anyway, so it’s about 2:30 AM and I get up to use the bathroom. To unlock the metal door there are two metal bars that slide into holes in the wall. Sliding them into the unlock position is usually pretty loud. I slide the top one and it makes a loud clank. I hear footsteps running quickly by the door right outside. Usually Simba and Vicky, the dogs, are outside running around, but this is clearly the sound of a human.

I freeze and listen. I don’t hear anything and assume that this person must have run to hide. I think of this crazy woman who has been, for the past couple of days, sitting on our porch. I also think of one of the many guys that walk down the path with machetes. I slide the lock back in place and go to my room.

Right as I’m finish peeing in an empty water bottle, I hear a very quiet knocking on the door. They might as well been banging on the door. Quiet knocking on a door at 2:30 in the morning is just as scary. It suggests, “I know that you are inside and that you are awake, so I do not need to knock loudly. I know you can hear me.”

I stand very still and listen for more. There is nothing. I think of the locks on the door and reassure myself that they are strong. I wish there was a way of locking my bedroom door from the inside. I listen for any attempt by the person outside to get in, but hear nothing. I am never going outside to use the bathroom at night again. I am so tired and after two minutes can’t help but to fall back asleep.