My Summer
Only days after returning home from my Spring semester studying in Ireland, I boarded a flight at JFK to back across the pond to London, before taking a hard turn to Entebbe, Uganda. My first thoughts upon getting off the plane in Entebbe were “wooooow, this definitely isn’t anything like Heathrow.” It was extremely humid, and after paying 50 dollars for my visa I found my Notre Dame classmates Dan and Kristin, and we boarded a car that took us to our hotel.
The first few days we spent in a very fancy hotel by Ugandan standards. We went to the beach along Lake Victoria, and it was pretty much like an all-expenses paid vacation. I looked forward to starting my research project and meeting “real Ugandans,” so I at least wouldn’t feel like a lame tourist.
Throughout the summer I had opportunities to do some fantastic traveling, but the bulk of my days were spent walking the dusty roads of Nnindye, the village where Notre Dame coordinates the development projects I was researching, and going door to door to interview residents.
Here’s a typical daily schedule.
Here's a journal entry where I talk a bit about my immersion into Ugandan culture
"I'll reflect here on how my immersion in Uganda feels different from what I expected. In truth, the most remarkable thing is how truly comfortable I am. Like today, I was sitting conducting an interview with an illiterate woman and her two children. I was sitting on a stool of theirs, outside their stone hut house and small structures, and I barely even felt like an outsider! I'll attribute my comfort to two things. Firstly, the people here are legitimately very welcoming. They pull out chairs for total strangers and sit for what I consider to be fairly long interviews without complaining or trying to cut it short. They even seem pleased to have the company. Secondly, I think it's remarkable how easy it is to have an open mind in Uganda when I'm essentially removed from American culture. Seeing people lug piglets across the dirt roads, or tend matoke gardens in their back yards just seems entirely reasonable and normal here. There is NO comparison to America, so it's easy to not be surprised by anything, even vendors coming up to taxi windows, pressuring me to buy who knows what kind of trinkets. Everything just seems natural here. I don't feel any desire to inject any of my "American judgments into life. I'm going with the flow dude."
The first few days we spent in a very fancy hotel by Ugandan standards. We went to the beach along Lake Victoria, and it was pretty much like an all-expenses paid vacation. I looked forward to starting my research project and meeting “real Ugandans,” so I at least wouldn’t feel like a lame tourist.
Throughout the summer I had opportunities to do some fantastic traveling, but the bulk of my days were spent walking the dusty roads of Nnindye, the village where Notre Dame coordinates the development projects I was researching, and going door to door to interview residents.
Here’s a typical daily schedule.
- Wake up around 7 am to the sounds of crying babies (no seriously, there were many mothers with young children living in our dorm, and these kids started howling very early)
- Go take a breakfast of hot milk and bread at the meal hall
- Ride with my Notre Dame classmates and our research partners to the villages in Nnindye, where we branched out to conduct interviews
- Find people involved with SILC savings groups by walking door to door, and interview them for about 45 minutes (interviews usually consisted of a conversation sitting on woven mats or small, rickety, handmade benches
- Hopefully get some fruit from local mango trees or watermelon groves
- Meet back up with my Notre Dame classmates at a central building near the main road and either take boda-bodas (motorcycles) back to the University or get a ride in a car
- Type up my research notes from the day when back on campus
- Eat dinner with my ND friends and research partners
- Gaze at stars, play cards, or play catch with the campus dog before laying down in may small, 5x10 room
Here's a journal entry where I talk a bit about my immersion into Ugandan culture
"I'll reflect here on how my immersion in Uganda feels different from what I expected. In truth, the most remarkable thing is how truly comfortable I am. Like today, I was sitting conducting an interview with an illiterate woman and her two children. I was sitting on a stool of theirs, outside their stone hut house and small structures, and I barely even felt like an outsider! I'll attribute my comfort to two things. Firstly, the people here are legitimately very welcoming. They pull out chairs for total strangers and sit for what I consider to be fairly long interviews without complaining or trying to cut it short. They even seem pleased to have the company. Secondly, I think it's remarkable how easy it is to have an open mind in Uganda when I'm essentially removed from American culture. Seeing people lug piglets across the dirt roads, or tend matoke gardens in their back yards just seems entirely reasonable and normal here. There is NO comparison to America, so it's easy to not be surprised by anything, even vendors coming up to taxi windows, pressuring me to buy who knows what kind of trinkets. Everything just seems natural here. I don't feel any desire to inject any of my "American judgments into life. I'm going with the flow dude."