Life Away from Hot Dog Land

Mike here! I've gained the keys to the hot dog blog! October has been a big month for us here as it feels like we're finally settling in to our apartment, neighborhood, and the daily routines of life in Entebbe. Ada and Iris's school, like most international schools around here, runs on a quarter system that looks pretty similar to the school schedule in the US. School opens in August (we missed a few weeks) and they had a week-long break in early October which coincided with Ugandan Independence Day. They were truly ready for a break! One of the fundamental theories in international education is the idea of the "culture shock curve." The basic idea is that most people having an extended stay in another culture experience a familiar transition of emotions,  starting with a "honeymoon" phase of joy and excitement during the first couple of days or week. After that, reality starts to settle in and all of the little differences in a culture start to bother ...

"You are welcome" is our new favorite phrase, said by all Ugandans when you enter a store or visit their home. We're loving the different ways that Ugandans use English. English is the national language here, but many people speak Luganda as a first language and English as second. One of the first days we were touring Entebbe with a Ugandan driver, and he was asking us about our cars back home. Mike told him about our electric car that runs without gas, and he exclaimed "Are you sure??" We were like, "yeah, we're sure!" It made us all laugh, but the expression has stuck with us.  We're also loving our little apartment and the simplicity of living with just 4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 mugs. This morning Iris said "I like not having so much stuff." We've furnished it with borrowed items from our friends Harriet and Dan who are RIGHT next door, and from adventuring around the city trying to figure out where to buy things like couches and ru...

  We've been here now for just over 3 weeks, and have learned so much. Here are a few highlights from Ada:  *They call motorcycles "Boda Bodas", and anything they can put on the back of them they do put on the back of them! Like live chickens or goats, lots of giant crates, and giant pieces of lumber.  *The fruits here are all amazing, and there are lots of different kinds like jackfruit, passionfruit, papaya, mangos, pineapple, and bananas. The bananas are so good I can't stop eating them! *There are monkeys all over the Botanical Gardens, and the flowers and plants there are amazing. They even grow cacao trees there! *The lake (Lake Victoria) is so big and I can see it from almost everywhere I go.  *They have this food called chapatis that are sort of like a tortilla, but it's a dough that's fried in oil and it's sooooo good. You can get them from almost every stand beside the road.  Here are some pictures! This dog's name is Priscilla and her puppie...

Greetings from Entebbe, Uganda! Thanks to the connections provided by Mike's work, and the amazing flexibility of Emma's school district, we have the wonderful opportunity to live abroad for the year. This summer we packed up our house, rented it to a wonderful family, and on August 21 we headed to Uganda where Mike's closest colleague and his wonderful family lives. We are so lucky to have the benefit of close friends here. Harriet and Dan, along with their children and relatives, are currently providing us with a place to stay and showing us the ropes of Entebbe. Mike has laughed that this blog is basically a travel version of my pre-k blog (true true 😂), but I suppose I don't know how to do it any differently! At any rate, we'll all take turns updating this periodically, so feel free to subscribe. We hope that it can help us stay connected with friends at home, and can also teach a bit about life in a small African city. Mike's Uncle Jeff deserves credit for...