buzzards and dreadful crows, a necessary evil I suppose

This what it looks like outside my front door these days. Perhaps you can compare with the photo taken a couple months ago. Same mango tree, different season.

We're in the heart of the dry season right now. It began in November and will continue until the end of February. I would previously gripe about the mud and general sogginess of the wet season but I have been reformed! The rain keeps down the dust and provides merciful coolness to the hot grasslands of northern Uganda.

The dry grass is also regularly set ablaze by the villagers for reasons not entirely understood by me. I have been told by it's done for aesthetics, replenishing soil nutrients needed for agriculture, or assisting hunters in their quest for game meat (the Ugandan Cob is a regional favorite).

I find the whole endeavor to be madness. The constant grass fires kick up waves and waves of wispy ash that coat nearly every interior part of my house. The fires quickly spread beyond the purview of the originator across vast stretches of plains. Grass thatched huts in their path can be set ablaze like dry Christmas trees. The whole territory now looks somewhat post apocalyptic.

But, hey, it is what it is.

I'm praying for rain.

Happy New Years

Mt. Muhavura

4137 m

yabba dabba do

Pony tail ahoy!

It may come as some surprise to those back home but until two days ago I hadn't updated my journal since August. My track record with letter writing is even worse and you can see how poorly I've been updating my blog. The first months at site have been a struggle. Though hardly the black death of loneliness and isolation I expected, it has taken all of my available faculties to tread water. Apparently those water treading faculties are also requisite for my journaling and letter writing. Something like winning the war but losing the battle.

I recently (and smugly) underlined the passage: "A neck tie is a noose inverted and if you're not careful it will hang you just the same" from the "The Life of Pi" as if it were a reaffirmation of my beard, pony tail, and flip flop life style. Occasionally I have these moments of (mostly imagined) bohemianism. But it got me thinking about why I'm here rather than over there.

One of the things that enticed me, and I imagine others like me, to the Peace Corps was the idea of living on the edge of the known world. Going farther, deeper, better, faster, harder, stronger than would otherwise be available via the more traditional school-to-more-school-to-cubicle-to-office-railway. In private pre-departure moments I imagined myself a yogi of the African grassland, personally growing through rich cultural experiences followed by careful meditation and quiet reflection.

As I roll up on a year and half of skipping around the the world, my experience has been more "square peg pounded through round hole" than "Buddah of the Serengeti." I run, but sometimes walk, face first into brick walls nearly every day. That is to say, rewarding though it has been, the experience has not been without it's discomfort and contortions. Some of the very basic ideas about myself and society at large have been re-opened for debate and debate can be uncomfortable because it is uncertain. I won't be quite sure until I return home to my friends and family but I feel as if squared edges are being rounded.

this is my cat, i am not a cat person

Just recently I inherited a cat, actually kitten, from another PCV. Initially I named her J-Woww though after careful reflection she is now known as LeFleur the Cat. Her interests include sleeping, being insufferably noisy in the early morning and leaving disembowled rats and lizards on my living room floor. LeFleur the Cat is named in homage to a good friend of mine who has a predilection for yoga and terrible movies.

I talk too much. Here are some pictures.

The view right out my front door.

Teaching in Lira during training.

My students dug up a giant termite mound and proudly brought me the queen termite.

These guys are our friends. They eat mosquitoes.

Three months of running on dusty roads caught up to me and my lungs to the point where I could barely breathe. For the past week I've been taking an extensive battery of drugs for breakfast lunch and dinner. Six pills, a shot of cough syrup, and a beer.

I am a blogging derelict

Between a severe shortage of internet, a busy schedule, and just honest lethargy I haven't put a post up in months. I just wrapped up my first term as a math teacher and I'll be spending my holiday attending seminars for language and technical training before starting up with school again in late August.

Morale is a few degrees over luke warm at the moment, the bad days are ceding territory to the good, though I am happy with my progress as a teacher. My frustrations are not uncommon to any teacher or parent where the 'good' isn't seen until deep into the future and the bad is a nagging daily reminder. I'm generally happy with my students as they are improving, however slowly, though there is still so much work for us to do.

In any case here's an email I sent to my Peace Corpsing colleagues that hopefully you'll find amusing...it's the Peace Corps experience in a nutshell as you often find yourself in strange positions doing unexpected things. I'll get something better up soon, I promise!

Hey you people!

For the past two months I've been attending "wedding planning
meetings" for some lawyer in Gulu who is the OB of my head teacher.
This entails mostly sitting around and nominating each other to
various offices of power which is to say we do next to nothing for
about three hours every Sunday.

Now it has thus far been a breeze...I show up, throw down some cash,
sip my VIP Coca Cola, and carefully weigh the pros and cons of whether
Mr. Ojok or Mr. Odong would make a better Deputy Secretary of Litrugy
(Mr. Odong by a landslide by the way). Things have been humming along

nicely for the past month or so but my obsolescence has been disturbed.

I have been nominated as the Wedding Photographer.

You see I have photographed a couple of the events at the school and
church with my snap shooter and apparently the Head Teacher has taken
notice. He nominated me for the post (naturally neglecting to inform
me of his intentions prior to the meeting) telling the assembly of the
Gulu business set that "Mr. Jacob is a photographer at the MASTER
LEVEL. He will take wonderful pictures I am CERTAIN."

That's actually how he talks...he always puts tons of emphasis on the
last word of any sentence.

Anyways at first I was mildly (majorly) alarmed. I've never
photographed any event seriously and certainly nothing like a wedding! The guys throwing
down this wedding have the scrilla to hire a professional so I'm
assuming they're expecting professional quality. My nomination was
immediately called into question by the chairman of the planning

commission as he questioned my experience and ability. My Head

Teacher immediately launched into an impassioned defense of my

unparalleled abilities as a photographer.

And sweet baby Jesus can my Head Teacher talk, he once gave a rousing
hour long speech to the morning assembly that touched on brochial
pnuemonia, poverty in Bolivia (of all places) and the importance of
sweeping the dirt outside your compound. Now I'm no fan of hour long
speeches but this one was down right majestic. When he gets some
momentum he can just roll like a freight train.

Anyways he's going on and on about how I should be the photographer
and eventually my mild (major) alarm gives way to righteous
indignation. How dare they! Goddamnit, I am a photographer at the
MASTER LEVEL! Who are they to question my nomination!

Naturally he convinced them (and me) that I was the only one for the
job so that is how I now find myself as the wedding photographer for
an event planned for the 24th of August. Guys, all of this has been a
very long and indirect way to get to my direct point:

If I don't have a decent camera for this thing I'm boned.

So, please, please, please with extra matoke on top does anyone have a
dSLR that I can borrow for this wedding? I will guard it with my life
and guarantee payment if it is returned to you in a condition in any
way less than it was lent. Hopefully I can get it at IST or after we
go rafting and return it to you in a most expedited manner.

My life is in your hands dudes. Look at me I want to repeat that. My
life is in your hands dudes. Dudes....My. Life. Is. In. Your.
Hands.

Love,

Jacob

Things I humbly request via care package

Thank you Mom, Dad, Becky, Landon, and Grandma and Grandpa! I was really having a rough period and I got three packages on one day and it was a real turning point, thank you so much!

MEDIA

*Recent issues of the Economist or the New Yorker are always appreciated!

*Anything you've read recently and enjoyed.
*Music. Best to put it on a flash disk. Send anything you want although I'd really like Panda Bear "Tomboy" and whatever Top 40 music is out there these days. Shut up AJ.

CLOTHES

I'm pretty well covered as far as clothes go, the second hand markets here are a treasure trove for the intrepid, but if you'd like to send something it would be appreciated all the same. Here are my measurements:

*Shirts M or a 15-34 I've heard merino wool T-shirts are the bees knees and I wouldn't mind trying it out.

*Pants 32 x 32 although I'm probably closer to a 30x 32 on the Peace Corps diet.

*Shoes 10. Some Merino wool socks would probably be a good thing here also.

FOOD

*Cliff bars are a wonderful treat.
*Protein powder is also good stuff.

*Country Time Lemonade for Arnold Palmers.
*Gatorade powder is great too, while I'm at it.
*Home baked cookies! Chocolate chip, Kringla, snickerdoodles in that order.

*Raisins, craisins, apricots

*Blueberry pancake mix

*Velveeta Mac and Cheese

MISC

*Hair ties. Nice, good, thick hair ties. My pony tail is in full effect.

14 Piece Knife Set RECIEVED!

Whoa! This came out of the blue and these knifes are awesome! Another killer care package, Dad!

Single serving french press RECIEVED!

Dad, I use this thing every day! Thank you a thousand times!
ExOfficio boxer briefs RECIEVED!
My buddy AJ sent me an email asking if there was anything on my list that hadn't been sent. "Let me know and I'll send it...i'm not sending you underwear though. That's just weird." Duly noted AJ, that's what mothers are for. Thanks mom!

Posters RECIEVED!

I have a big giant American flag and a huge poster of Adrian Peterson doing that thing I like.