Banana Village

As I had mentioned before, the first week here the PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) spent at a place called Banana Village. It is a resort in terms of Uganda (don't think club med, but it was very quaint and cute). I think it was a great transition week to start getting used to not having the American amenities we are used to. When I say amenities I do not mean terry cloth robes, mints on pillows, etc. I mean we got used to being cautious with water and not drinking unless boiled, electricity only every few days for a couple hours, having a quick and cold shower and things like that. The rooms we stayed in were pretty fun, it was almost like summer camp. The
'living huts' were concrete circles with concrete floor and a thatch roof that was split into two by a concrete wall, so two rooms per hut and there were 3 PCTs to a room. We got our first taste of Ugandan food, which I will make a whole posting about the food here, haha. So the week was fun, we got short but intense language, culture, and medical sessions from 8 am to 5pm. I know I know, I had to get up at 7am, it was rough for me, but I have actually risen before 7 or 8 am every day here. I also self appointed myself athletic director and organized sports after our sessions, like soccer, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and 4 square (yes, 4 square, haha). There aren't really fields here in the sense that we are used to, if there is a relatively flat area of grass that is cut it's not exactly smooth, but we made do with this area with no trees inside Banana Village. So overall, by the time we left banana village the PCTs have gotten much closer and we spent the last day at the Entebbe Botanical Gardens for a picnic with the PC staff. The picnic was awesome, I had such a great time. The garden was beautiful, I got to swing on a vine and feed these little monkeys peanuts (I have pictures). I also juggled a soccer ball with some people and had a great meal that probably be the closest resemblance to a BBQ I will get. The day after the picnic we left for Luweero to officially start our training.