My First Week at UCU

Sorry it has taken so long for me to update this! Life has been busy and wifi has been scarce! I arrived at Uganda Christian University (UCU) on Saturday August 22nd. Lisa and Courtney (Uganda Studies  Program staff) picked Molly and I up from the hostel that morning. Then we went back to the airport to pick up another Uganda Studies Program (USP) student. On our way to UCU we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was right on the beach of Lake Victoria. It was so pretty! We had pizza and at that point in time we didn't realize how much of a treat that was. Now we know.
My first temporary roommate here at UCU was Kat, another USP student. The UCU students were not on campus yet so us USP students enjoyed getting to know one another as well as the campus. On Sunday (23rd) we hiked up Monkey Hill. It was beautiful at the top! It was a wonderful view of Mukono. Wow! I just got super distracted while writing this because there was a monkey on my window! That's so cool! Back to the story though... The hike was good time for conversation and getting to know each other better. Our feet were so dirty when we were done though. It looked like we all got awful spray tans!
Our first week was basically all orientation. From getting to know campus to safety and health tips to follow while being in Uganda. Later in the week we began orientation for Rwanda. We learned a brief history about the genocide as well as a rough overview of what we would be doing there.
As a part of our UCU orientation we did a Mukono scavenger hunt and we didn't even get lost! After that a group of us went to the Tuesday Market. It is a second-hand market that happens every other Tuesday. It was crazy and packed full of people. I wasn't a huge fan, however, I did get a nice shirt for around 80 cents. I also moved dorm rooms again that first week. Some of the Ugandan students had come because they were going to Rwanda with us. I moved in with Eva, a Ugandan student. She is a senior nursing student. She was very sweet and very creative with how to hang my mosquito net.
On Thursday (27th) we had our first social work meeting. I found out that I will be working with Chains Foundation! That's the organization that I believe I discribed in my first post. It is a school/orphanage that works with both sighted and visually impaired children! I'm not sure what exactly I will be doing there but I will keep you informed! I'm so excited though! This is the reason I came to Africa!
Friday (28th) we left for Rwanda at 5am! It was a beautiful place and the trip was filled with a variety of emotions. I hope to post a couple blogs about my time in Rwanda. Some of it may feel a bit dark and depressing, but it's real. Learning about a genocide isn't exactly the most joyous occasion.
I hope to post again soon!
Much love,
Jessica