COS? CO-Yes!

Three weeks ago I was sitting around an Olympic sized pool, working out in a gym, and learning all about life post Peace Corps in an air-conditioned conference room with comfortable office chairs.

I was at my Close of Service, COS, Conference. 

COS was a surreal experience, for it seems like yesterday I was boarding the plane at SFO on my way to Staging in Philadelphia.  I vividly remember my first night under a mosquito net and my first, and last, taste of matooke.  I remember the first days of my first, second, and third site.

I remember the beginning.

And now the end.

Peace Corps put us up in one of the swankiest hotels I have ever stayed in. 

Go ahead and Google “Speke at Munyonyo”.

Told ya so!

Our rooms were air-conditioned to the point that I was shivering.  There were not one but two pools, including an infinity pool overlooking Lake Victoria.  There was so much good food, including salad, cheese, cheesecake, various hearty soups, fish of all sorts, broccoli and cauliflower, turkey bacon, and homemade yogurt.  There was a gym with functioning treadmills accompanied with their own personal television.

While these first world comforts were great after 22 months spent in a village in rural Uganda, we were there to learn about the transition home after service.  Sessions included reflecting on our service by mapping out our highs and lows, learning about how to say goodbye at site, closing up projects, remaining vigilant in our final months, what we have to do in order to officially become a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, RPCV, preparing our Description of Service, job hunting post-PC, and having a panel made up of RPCVs to help answer some of our questions.

All in all the conference was a success.

As we took our final group picture it was a moment to remember those who have been with us from the beginning of this journey.  Some are back in the States and some will remain behind in Uganda for a couple extra months.  Some will leave in May and others will leave in August. 

What I realized at that precious moment when we all said “Cheese” was that this would be the last time we would all be in Uganda together.  Reunion’s would hopefully happen back in the States but until then no one knew when we would see each other again. 

Who knew if the next time we saw each other we would be married, working for the government, back in school, on another Peace Corps adventure, or living in a different village occupying a corner of the world we had yet to experience.

It was a moment to cherish.

The evenings of COS Conference brought a very competitive trivia, which I am happy to say the team I was on came in second.  I helped contribute to the pop trivia category thanks to the recent package filled with US Weekly magazines.

On our last night we realized this was it and in the morning some of us would journey back to our sites.  To end on a positive note a fellow Volunteer, Meish, and I put together COS Awards.  We had seventy awards to be given, including most likely cook local food in the States, most likely to hire a house boy/girl back home, most likely to bring back dance moves to America, most likely to fall in a Kampala manhole, and most likely to be found at the local brew circle.  Everyone took away at least one award, which was accompanied by an acceptance speech. 

Yours truly took home two awards for most likely to adopt Ugandan babies and most likely to be barefoot and pregnant in two years.  What can I say?  I like children.

The evening was full of laughs… Then tears.  Another Volunteer, Craig, decided it would be a good idea for us to all share some final words and thoughts with each other. 

Before the first person finished, I was in tears.  People talked about the friendships formed, the bonds that will never be broken, the fact that we are CHED-12-14 and no one can take that away from us, and about the experience not ending here. 

During the four days at The Speke all of the troubles that we had during our service were put aside.  We forgot about the rumors and the differences and focused on the present moment. 

I am so blessed and happy to be apart of CHED-12-14.  There is no other group I would rather have had to come to country with.  We are a classy group of people who not only like to look good but also have supported each other through this whirlwind of an experience.

In the words of Elle Woods, “I have come to find that passion is a key ingredient to the study and practice of law volunteerism and of life.  It is with passion, courage of conviction and strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world remembering that first impressions are not always correct.  You must always have faith in people and most importantly you must always have faith in yourself. Congratulations, Class of 2004 2014.  We did it!”

Oh!  And I am happy and sad to say that as of August 22, 2014, I will be a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.  See you in September America!

3 conferences later and we finally get a pool!

RPCV Panel

Poolside dining

Inside dining

Outside dining

Trivia!

CHED-12-14

Trying to hold Meish like a baby...

Barefoot and pregnant ladies...

Southwest ladies plus Chels

Cheers to two years!

Update About Fred

For those that missed my post about Fred, please read it here: My Friend Fred. 

For those not on my email list, I have some good news to share!

Hi Friends!

A couple of weeks ago you received the above email and to be honest, I do not know who did what.

Maybe you donated $3.

Maybe you donated $300.

Maybe you read it and sent your prayers and thoughts this way.

Well I thought I would give you all an update.

Yesterday (March 11) Peace Corps sent us an email saying that they had just spoken to Fred to wish him well in his transplant surgery, taking place today, March 12.

His first question was, “How are my super Volunteers?” followed by “How is everyone else doing?”

I tell ya… That man is always thinking of others.

Fred communicated that he and his son, the donor, are more than ready for the procedure to take place and to begin this new, and hopefully healthier, chapter.

Thank you so much for all you have done and please share this message with anyone that you shared the above one with.

Sending lots of love from The Pearl,

Tara 

As they say in Uganda, “Well done.”

Bizarre Foods

Fact.  Uganda has some bizarre foods. 

You can watch Andrew Zimmern navigate the Pearl and some of its strange tastes in these episode clips.

Fact.  I have consumed some bizarre foods myself since being here.

The first being grasshoppers, which in my opinion taste like buttered popcorn.  They are seasonal and tend to make an appearance at t

he onset of dry season.  Street vendors carry them live, without their wings, in plastic bags. 

Hundreds of them, squished together, waiting for the inevitable. 

Once you have you plastic bag of grasshoppers, you take them home and fry them over the fire.  No oil needed.  These guys release their own copious amounts, which seals in the flavor.

And these guys are a hot commodity.  People go crazy, saving 7,000 shillings, 2.80USD, for a tasty bagful. 

Then there is anyere, which primarily exist in the North.  Anyere is rat.  A very large rat, like the size of a full-grown, 10-year old cat, rat.

Now I have yet to taste one but a fellow Volunteer in Kitgum was able to pick one up, which we will consume sometime soon.  The one she has has been cleaned, gutted and smoked.  To prepare it you essentially let it soak in a traditional soup for three hours to take in the flavor.

What I did eat the other night was oyoo.

Also known as small rats. 

The locals will typically ask you which oyoo you are eating. 

“Eh!  The ones from the garden?”

“The ones from the creek?”

Truth be told, I have no idea where ours came from.  All I know is I like seeing these guys dead rather than creeping around town.

I was over at Ellen’s house with her boyfriend, Denish (pronounced Denis) and Mark when she said; “I have a surprise dessert for you!”

I thought maybe it was popcorn.

Mark’s prediction was New York style cheesecake topped with strawberries.

We were both wrong. 

Out came Ellen with oyoo.

Despite our far off predictions, we were excited to try the smoked rat.  Ellen and Denish picked off the meat while giving the teeth, bones and kidneys to the cat.

It tasted very much like smoked trout and immediately brought me back to summer days sitting by the campfire at Pinecrest.  As Ellen and Denish picked clean the remaining rats, Mark and I continued to munch on the white meat while her neighbor Fatima looked at us with disgust.  She was not interested in tasting but got a kick out of the fact that the munus were eating oyoo.

Prior to our dessert, we had guineafowl.  What looks like a large chicken, small turkey, this insect and seed-eating, ground-nesting birds was slaughtered for just hours before we ate it.  It tasted very much like chicken except the meat was black. 

Fun fact.  Apparently guineafowls are native to Africa but are now being domesticated around the world. 

Oh and their feathers... Beautiful!

Still on my bucket list of bizarre foods include crocodile, ostrich, impala, springbok and kudu.  To taste these wild game meats I will have to head to Kampala to The Lawns.  The restaurant farm raises its game meat and does not hunt from the parks, which unfortunately is done throughout the country.

I have a sneaking suspicion they will all taste like chicken…

Time Flies

It is crazy how quickly time goes by.

Hopefully this is not a sign of aging because I’m not ready!

If I could rewind my life and start it again, let’s say starting at my freshman year at Chico State, I’d do it.  No questions asked.

I do not regret anything but I want to continually live in the moments that have made up my most memorable years.

I know, I know.  The best has yet to come.

To put things into perspective it has been 644 days since I’ve seen my family, 640 days spent in Uganda, 1,461 days, or 4 years to date, since my Grandpa Dick passed away, 176 days since National GLOW 2013, 67 days until Northern Camp and 22 days until COS conference.

I feel like just yesterday I was sitting in training being told how to greet in the local language.

I remember the outfit I wore, as I had to get up before a crowded church at my Grandpa’s funeral.

Shoot!  I remember that day in second grade when Mrs. Boerio accidently read a letter, which she thought was addressed to her, but was actually written by my secret admirer exclaiming his love for me.  Or the day my lunchbox broke and my friends had to fix it because of my broken arm.  Or the many summer days that my neighbor Cody and I could be found inventing new games in the backyard. 

Then I think about my Peace Corps service.  It is crazy to think of all the times I have had thus far.  All the changes I have seen and all the work I like to think I’ve done that have contributed to a greater Uganda. 

Then there are all of the programs I want to finish before leaving in approximately 185 days.  Malaria murals, the grassroots soccer program with my youth and hopefully getting a grant approved for a youth program focusing on expressing emotions and developing the self through art and photography.

While I am looking forward to the day I get to see my family, friends, familiar and not so familiar surroundings of home, I know I need to soak up every moment in Uganda because the clock’s a clickin’!