Living and working in Uganda isn’t easy. Picture this: you’re working in a country that has totally different customs, languages and cultures (yes, multiple) from your own. So you’re trying to wrap your head around the incredible diversity around you while picking up words in the various languages you hear. You’re trying to learn when people eat, what they eat, how they eat it. You’re searching through every grocery store in your vicinity to try to find some food items that look familiar and trying to figure out how to get that gas tank connected to your two-burner stove-top (kind of feels like camping in your kitchen). You’re struggling with this bucket-laundry thing; you put the soap in and make frantic ‘laundry-machine motions’ with your arms (which makes your neighbors laugh) and haphazardly scrub only the ‘important areas’ because your back starts to hurt from being hunched over. And you’re doing all of this while learning the layout of a new city and discovering how public transportation works (but wait, it’s different in every city so don’t get too comfortable). It’s all very exciting and interesting and sometimes frustrating.

When I stopped to think about it, I realized that I was completely re-learning how to take care of myself. I was undoing years of thinking that I was a self-sufficient, independent young woman capable of caring for myself. Suddenly I was left asking, “How do I pee into that?” while pointing to a hole in the ground in the back corner of a pit-latrine. My amused colleague explained how to pee while standing; something I never imagined possible for women (full disclosure: it was a disaster but I’m determined to figure out how she did it!). Learning how to be an independent person in a foreign country has taught me two things: 1) I have learned what I really need to be happy and stay sane, and 2), turns out I’m not as independent as I thought I was, but there’s something comforting about that.

Staying happy and sane is crucial. How can you lightheartedly laugh at the incomprehensible things people say to you if you’re in a bad mood all the time? [Ex. “I’m going to take a short call.” Ok, sure, I don’t really care how long you’re on the phone for – turns out that means going pee and long call…well you get it.] To me, staying positive and happy means cooking healthy foods for myself, exercising regularly and having a group of close friends around to laugh with. Luckily, I’ve learned where the fruit and veggie market is and have my veggie lady, Alice, who excitedly tells me whenever she has beets because she knows they’re my favorite. And I have James, the street-food vendor who I can call whenever I want my “Chiara Special” which consists of torn-up chapatti, beans, cabbage and tomato (called Kikomondo) and a two-egg omelet on top (that’s the special part).

I also run most mornings before work. At first I was afraid because running is not very common in Kasese. I’m usually the only runner on the roads and get lots of curious stares. I have found that people, especially children, love to call out to me, wave, smile and even chase me from time-to-time. Now it’s a game; sometimes when I’m chased I’ll turn around and make scary faces and scream really loudly while chasing after them. They scream and bolt off the road into the fields, but as soon as they realize it’s a joke we laugh together until tears come to our eyes. I keep going, and they keep chasing me. But I treasure these moments, running into the sunrise over the beautiful valley that I live in. It makes me realize everyday how lucky I am.

So, after learning that I needed healthy food, my morning runs and my amazing friends (friends from home as well as friends who came built-in with this incredible fellowship experience), I slowly began to realize that I’m not as independent as I thought. I rely heavily on my co-fellow to help me navigate Kampala, understand office politics and translate things when people are speaking one of the six-plus languages she speaks.  I rely on my colleagues to help me understand the communities that my organization, ACODEV, reaches. I rely on strangers sitting next to me on the bus to tell me if I’m actually going in the right direction (it’s easy to be coerced onto the wrong bus if you’re not careful!). I rely on my friends who are a Whatsapp message away, willing to listen to me vent my frustrations about work and about the time I got on a bus that was about to leave, but, 2 hours later we had not left the bus-park. I’ve learned that being a hyper-independent individual doesn’t work here because being a part of an interdependent community is what keeps everything going. It’s such an admirable social quality that, in my opinion, we downplay the importance of in the US.

Most importantly, I’ve re-learned how to take care of my basic needs so that I can be a happy, healthy, productive member of my new community and my organization. There were some ups and downs, and there are continual frustrations, but now that the growing pains of settling in have passed, I feel fully equipped to take on the year ahead with my “Happiness Toolkit”!

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