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Monday, October 17, 2016

What's the Weather Like?

One of the things I frequently get asked about is the weather here. I wrote a post around this time last year based on what I had read at the time, but now I would like to share about Fort Portal’s weather in all its glory!

The basics: As with much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda’s climate includes two seasons, rainy and dry. Ugandans talk all the time about how predictable these seasons used to be. You don’t have to convince Ugandans of climate change. They see it every time the season changes.
Please know that the geography here varies widely, and so the weather here in Fort Portal is much different than that of the north in Gulu or the east in Jinja. Even Masindi, which is still part of Western Uganda, north of here, gets much less rain than Fort Portal does, and Kabale, south of here near the border with Rwanda, is colder than Fort.
In general, temperatures range between 55F and 85F throughout the year and throughout the country. The west is colder, the north and far east are hotter and drier, and the central is just that – central.

In Fort, the first rainy season used to run from February 15 to April 15 exactly, then dry season from April 15 to August 15, second rainy season from August 15 to November 15, and second dry season from November 15 to February 15. Nowadays, those dates are definitely different. Our first rainy season didn’t begin until the end of March and ended in the end of May, and second rainy season just finally began in the middle of September. Even during dry season, though, it tends to rain once or twice a week in Fort Portal.
Although there are only two seasons, each iteration of the two seasons is different. What I mean is this: The first rainy season is not as rainy as this one (so I’m told), and the second dry season is MUCH HOTTER than the first. In fact, this past dry season has been pleasant during the day and cold at night. January is the hottest time of the year in Uganda, and it gets up to about 25 or 30C, 78 to 86F, which is nothing compared to a St. Louis summer, but it is hot enough to make you sweat. So far I have not noticed much difference between the two rainy seasons, although maybe it is downpouring more often this time around…? I don’t know. The worst thing about dry season is that equatorial sun is so much stronger than temperate sun, and so if I forget sunscreen for like 20 minutes I’m burnt.
When we get rain, it can come from three different directions. I have learned that each different direction means a different type of rain (somehow). Rain that comes from town is very easy to spot because you can watch the development of the rain through the morning. It’s actually really cool, and I really want to get a time lapse if I can borrow my friend’s DSLR. It tends to be heavy at first and then continue for an hour or longer. It’s the warmest of the rain we get. This is usually where our storms come from. Many times, rain will surprise me when it comes from the mountains. You can’t see it developing because of the mountains, and it’s always such cold rain. The mountains are the main reason we get rain during dry season. Lastly, rain comes from the forest behind my house. When I don’t have my back door open, this also surprises me. This rain almost never comes in the morning but always in the afternoon. Morning rain usually comes from the mountains. It’s cold and heavy usually, but it always starts with smaller rain drops and gets progressively heavier. This can last for quite a while or it can be over quickly. This is the rain I outran to come to town today!
For a while, I had a lovely thermometer in my house so I would know what temperature it was. Unfortunately, between me, Freckles, the kids, and the babies, it broke a couple of months ago. While I had it, it showed me that inside of my house it ranged from 60F in the morning to 80F on hot days in the afternoon. Before going to bed, it had cooled to 70F, meaning that the temperature dropped 10F while I was asleep every day.
The worst thing about having lived here for almost a year now (WHAT) is that I’ve gotten used to the weather. So whereas during the first rainy season I was laughing at Ugandans for wearing winter coats, now I’m seriously looking into buying a winter coat to wear during rainy season (Yes, really.). Even during this past dry season I was wearing two or three layers every night, sleeping under two blankets throughout the year. I actually had my thyroid tested because I am so cold all the time. Since that came back normal, I’ve just accepted my fate.
I have learned to carry not only my rain jacket with me nearly every day but to also carry a sweater in case it rains. When it rains, it’s cold. When it doesn’t, it’s nice. When it rains at night it’s FREEZING. This is when I post on Facebook about the need for electric socks because my body, especially my extremities, just doesn’t produce its own heat. Even now, sitting in our local American bakery, my nose is cold from the rain earlier today. (Except I would seriously appreciate electric socks. They’re just so EXPENSIVE!)
Explaining the differences in weather here and in the US to Ugandans is honestly pretty funny. They all know that the US has winter, but they often don’t realize that summers in the US are hotter than dry season here. When I tell them that it regularly gets to 35 or 40C (95 or 104F) during the late summer in the US, they absolutely balk. They can’t imagine that people, especially white people, can endure that heat. I explain to them that is why we have air conditioning in the US. One of the things that Ugandans really believe they cannot endure is the winter. They call rainy season winter here. I have to admit, I am fearing going home during December because of this. (OH YEAH I’M GOING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS WHOOOOOOOOO!) The forecast says snow, though, and I have to say, I am SO EXCITED for that!
Similarly, explaining the differences in weather to Americans is hilarious. We as Americans are taught (VERY incorrectly) that Africa is hot, end of story. (I’ll discuss this another time. I don’t have the energy for this rant right now.) As you’ve read, though, it’s really not. In reality, it’s very comfortable here throughout the year. Things on the equator are the same most of the time. The sun rises at about 7:00 am and sets at about 7:00 pm (No “need” for daylight savings time). Sure, it gets cold when it rains, but that’s simple science. It happens everywhere. The nice thing about living in this kind of environment is you don’t really need meteorology. It’s like being a weatherman in St. Louis during the summer. The forecast is always high of 85F with 100% humidity and a 70% chance of storms in the afternoon and evening. Or like living in Florida where you can set your watch by the time it rains. The only difference is that you can walk outside in the morning and forecast the day for yourself. I do it all the time now. By about 9:00 or 10:00 am, I can tell you pretty reliably whether it’s going to rain or not at my house. I’m significantly worse once I leave Fort Portal, but hey, I haven’t even lived in Uganda for a year yet!
So there it is! The mysteries of Fort Portal weather unraveled for you. As always, if you have questions, feel free to comment or email me!

Sunday, October 9, 2016

No Place is Exotic

If I am honest with myself and with others, I will tell them that I don’t really feel like I live in Uganda. Now, let me put this into context by saying that I also don’t feel like an adult. But it really rang true one day when I was talking with my sister. She reminded me that I am living in Uganda for some reason, and I told her, “No, Uganda is too exotic.” It also rings true every morning when I think my sister is going to be next to me and my parents in the other room – or that I’m going to head out to go to school to study rather than teach.
I have written previously about the harassment I receive whenever I leave my school, about how in this country I am exotic. I know that I will never entirely fit in due to the difference between my culture and this one, but seeing as I’m only one month shy of having spent an entire year in Uganda, I try my best to fit in every day. There has become a distinction between “American Bethany” and “Ugandan Bethany” in my mind. When, on many Saturdays, I don pants (called “trousers” here) and a t-shirt and head to town, I feel very American. I am choosing not to blend in as such. This is not to say that Ugandan women don’t wear trousers and t-shirts, but they tend to like to look “smart,” or well dressed, especially when they are in town.
In Kampala, this is especially true. I choose to do things like eat and walk at the same time even though I know it is a little rude because in Kampala I’m “just another muzungu.” (And because these things are more accepted since the culture of Kampala has become fairly westernized.) Sometimes it is nice to escape the pressure of fitting in with a culture that is not yours. Sometimes it is nice not to wear a skirt and to worry if it’s going to ride up while walking or to worry if something I’m doing is inadvertently rude. I find this distinction strange in my mind, though.
I have never been one to act differently in different spaces, at least as much as possible. Growing up in church, it is easy to have “Church Bethany” and “Home Bethany” and “School Bethany,” etc. I never bought that, though. I am simply “Bethany.” When you ask my friends, my church family, and my home family who I am, they will all probably tell you that I am loud, excitable, a loving mom to many, and so much more, but the point is that they will tell you many of the same things. Sure, I don’t talk as much when I’m with my extended family as I do when I’m with my friends, but that is because with my extended family, I am in the second to bottom generation in age. I respect my elders. (Plus they talk a lot about things I’m not necessarily as interested in like politics and people I don’t know.)
In Uganda, though, I constantly have the feeling that I am a different person because I am trying to fit in with the culture. I am trying not to be exotic. I am quieter both in conversation and in volume, more of an introvert, read a lot more, and I am not quite as excitable. “Ugandan Bethany” is very different from American Bethany except in one sense: I will always be a loving mom to many. I have gotten used to blending in, and it sometimes keeps me from expressing my true feelings, although not as often as one might thing. I have come to like Ugandan Bethany more over the time I’ve been here. I am realizing that I don’t have to be loud in order to be heard, that waiting to speak helps me not to say such rash things. Just because I am quiet doesn’t mean I am not listening or absorbing. I am so much more observant here. I have grown to appreciate the small things, especially those that aren’t so different between Ugandans and Americans.
Because, really, that’s it. Ugandans and Americans aren’t that different. Uganda is not some exotic country. Ugandans live a fairly similar life to Americans even without all the electronics and busyness. Yes, absolutely, this culture is different than ours, but different doesn’t mean wrong or bad or exotic. Different means different, perhaps unfamiliar. There is so much more we can learn from Ugandans than the media tells us. According to the media, Uganda is some helpless African country with poor, dying children. It’s true. But it’s also true of the US to some extent.
Uganda is even more “advanced” than the US in some areas. Take religious tolerance. Ugandans are so kind to everyone of any religion. They respect the Muslim minority so much that even Christian Ugandans know about Islam. It is very well understood that Muslims pray five times per day, and when a Muslim steps out to do so, no one bats and eyelash. Everyone knows when Muslim holidays are, and everyone takes off from school and work during those days. The same is true of men and women who wear traditional Muslim dress. Going to church, or “praying,” is such a pillar of Ugandan culture that they don’t care which church you go to. They only care about the fact that you go. Sure, they could learn from the US about tolerance of those without religion, but no place is perfect. (And people in the US who do not practice religion also have a difficult time.) This is just the one example I can come up with off the top of my head. I could discuss gardening, friendliness, trusting others, and so much more.
I honestly believe that I will see more differences between Uganda and America when I go back during Christmas. It’s like when you’re at the eye doctor and s/he asks you if 2 or 3 is clearer. You have to go back to 2 to realize that 3 is clearer. (Or you’re like me and really just can’t see any difference between 2 and 3.) But please be careful of how you speak about African countries and peoples, though. No place is exotic once you have immersed yourself in its culture for long enough. No place. Remember that just because a country doesn’t own a proportionate number of cars or computers or whatever to the US doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from them. Remember that even in the US we don’t all have access to clean drinking water. There’s a certain political candidate who I would love to bring here to learn religious tolerance from Ugandans, but I won’t speak about that any further.
I have really come to believe, like many of my peers in developmental aid, that Uganda doesn’t need our help as Americans. (The same can be, and probably has been, said about many of the countries in Africa, but I can only speak personally to Uganda.) There is absolutely something to be said about the collaboration and learning opportunities that Americans bring to Uganda, but they don’t need us like a child needs its mother by any means. They’re not going to break into all out civil war without us. I truly believe that if no foreign aid remained in Uganda, they would do just fine. Maybe their “just fine” looks different from the American “just fine,” but again, different doesn’t mean bad; it just means different. I’m not one to judge whether Uganda is truly benefitting from Americans and other countries’ aid, Ugandans are, but I will be glad to stay as long as I am welcome. This is not just because I feel like I am doing good things here, but rather because I am learning so much. I am really beginning to understand what RPCVs mean when they say they learned more than they ever taught, were given more than they could have given. The same is true with teachers. My students are my teachers in so many ways, and my neighbors too. This country will leave me so different than when I came. Different for the better.

Happy Independence!

Uganda gained its independence from Great Britain on October 9, 1962. Today is the 54th anniversary of that day! Some Ugandans are surprised to realize that independence from Great Britain is something they and Americans have in common. In America, we celebrate our Independence Day by shooting off fireworks with friends, family, and food. We sing songs and remember those who died for our freedom. Although Uganda does not typically shoot of fireworks, they have the three big factors of any big celebration: friends, family, and FOOD!
Unfortunately for chickens, chicken is one of the main meats during this meal. Meat in general is something that many Ugandan families tend to splurge for when they are celebrating. Other foods tend to be kalo (millet bread), matooke (mashed plantains), sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, dodo (a local green vegetable), gnut sauce, etc. Different foods are found in different amounts across the country, so that is the norm here. Some things are also cultural, like kalo, and are only really eaten in the west.
Like most holidays, Ugandans use their Independence Day to spend time with friends and family. When it is not on a Sunday, everyone takes off from work or school and spends the day relaxing. Some will go home to see family whom they have not seen in a long time, and others will eat with their friends around where they live if they are not near family. Unlike Christmas, Ugandan Independence Day is not a day where people are expected to go to church, except when it’s on a Sunday like this year.
There are big celebrations in Kampala where many, many people join together to sing and dance to celebrate. Some of the other big towns have these types of celebrations as well. Although I have not been able to attend one of these, I have still enjoyed the day. I even got to have two celebrations meals, one last night and one just now at lunch! It has been so good to enjoy another country’s independence.