"Straight to Video"

Shout out to my brother Christopher Koza and his band as I am sitting here writing this and listening to his new CD which I just received here in the mail in Uganda...yes, Chris Koza even has his music as international as Africa....So that means anyone who reads this, go to http://www.chriskoza.com/ and pick up a CD...Anyways, on to Peace Corps now...

<--Myself, greasy as after a long day with my little brother Hassan and Namakula at homestay

Having spent these past few weeks-post training- to get accustomed to life on my own and in a new environment has been grueling and difficult at times, but also a blessing in truly realising how adaptable the human species is...Although individual personality is also a key attribute in determining one's ability to adapt, in essence it amazes me what we as a species are truly capable of. True I still hold many ammenities with me from me that I have taken here as well as photos on my wall to remind me of my life thus far, but to be able to move 7,684 miles away to a truly different (yet clearly livable) world is an incredible and daring feat in itself. I have met many incredible people over these past few months, and while I dearly miss all of you back home, these relationships are truly my lifeline...The stresses that overtake one's mind in being ask for candy dozens of times a day by the same children or being glared at by a local (honestly though most of the time just a simple wave brings the biggest smile!) is often followed by a text or call to another PCV to gain confidence in oneself again. Living in Kaliro has been an experience in itself. The town is rather small, which makes it incredibly easy to walk through in a matter of a few minutes and see every member of town, often sitting in their dooka (store) selling the same exact thing at the same exact price as another 10 metres away. I walk a gorgeous walk everyday and find amazement in the fact that I could easily go hours without speaking English. Although my Lusoga reminds me of my family's Japanese exchange student Ikko trying to speak English when I was young, it invigorates me to have at least a complete greeting and short question and answer in a different language, and the Ugandan people absolutely love this! Some of the greatest smiles come when you surprise a Ugandan in speaking their mother toungue and that also brings out one of the biggest smiles I could have here.

I will leave this at that, and will hopefully post in a week or so again. One other note though, I have a new postal address now, so SEND ME MAIL to:

Daniel Koza
c/o Lisa Balland
PO Box 161
Kaliro, Uganda

Also be sure to write Air Mail and Par Avion on it, and also write RELIGIOUS MATERIALS and draw a cross or something on it! Good chance it will arrive with less trouble faster!

Well until then peace and love from Uganda to yo all, and I miss you all!

Here is a little poem for you all:


For the moment each and every star
Is their for your own unique dream
In 500 years maybe some other truth
Will change what we hold true
But for the time now and even then
As living is so short and often a battle
Take every smile and every fright
To heart as what makes this
World so beautiful and evolutionarily
Tangible to each and every being
Forgetting who you are will not be
The end of it all but just remember
That someone, 7684 miles away from you,
Is thinking about you and loves you...

Urine...Cow Puddles of Mysterious Substances...Cow Dung...Mud

Quote For Zen: "Keep the motion in picture or else there'll be little for you to hold on to."
- Jet's "Hold On"
Quote For Humour: "My bag smells like a fart!"
- Another volunteer, taking notice how is bag smelled bad, and
who knows why it smelled bad?? The mysteries of life...


First a wee little disclaimer: Not having internet on a regualr basis by all means makes it rather difficult to get good announcements out to you all and makes it difficult for me to have a clear mind of thoughts to get out to you all. I intended to load a few pictures on here so you could all see me with my Rastafarian dreads, having lost 50 lbs and cooking in a pit in the ground (which you would not see anyways even if I had pictures because this is not the truth...) but I haplessly left any pictorial resources at my site which is approximately an house taxi ride from my current location. ALSO I do have a new address, but that has been left at site as well...therefore I will get those out early in this week; i.e. I will commute 2 hours roundtrip not including wait time for taxi simply to send you all my address and show you the beautiful me!

Okay, now to some good ol' dirt on myself Ugandan-style.....

Having not written for nearly a month on here and lacking the mental capactiy to remember if I emailed any mass messages out to you all, some information that I spill out to you could be a repeat, but bear with me as the majority of info is new, and for the most part follows chronological order from a month ago...

So yes, life is odd and filled with many moments that I have come to call 'African Moments'(AM). By my own definition an 'African Moment' is: any moment in a day when an event, or series of events, causes one to reflect back momentarily on this situation, and when comparing to the rest of their life, the realisation occurs that the only time this could or has ever occurred is in Africa. So the first AM I wish to mention is one in which I might of already written of, but is of great importance in my growth as a person and in knowing when sh** hits the fan that one just has to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride of life.

**AM1**--Prior to leaving a restaurant in town I went to the latrine to urinate and without power and the ability to see, I proceeded (of course by accident) to urinate on my feet while wearing my Chacos. Half-heartedly disgusted I began to walk home, soon to encounter in the blinding light of head-on traffic a large puddle containing many fluids of unknown origin and the thoughts of these fluids making there way in to any sores and pores on my feet made me stop and take a deep breath. Not more than 5 minutes later I find myself landing my right foot deep in to the nice relatively-fresh cow pie and then not more than 5 minutes after this I find myself slipping, backside down in to a puddle of mud...This has come to be an accepted series of events that hardly takes any ounce of shock but more awe and laughter out of ones mind.

So in summary, the past few weeks I was given an opportunity to visit my future site, which is in a small town and I will be teaching at the school. Visiting the town, and being away from training was definitely a blessing. Training is good, it has given myself and many other volunteers to experience many facets of Ugandan life and culture, but this visit to my future site was an eye-opening experience to view my future home and good just to get away. Living with the homestay and training was good, like I said, but deep back in my mind I knew that it was only temporary, so the pains of working through an 8 week training that was often wrought with stress and confusion and cultural clashes (in the most educative sense of the phrase) made visiting the future site all the more important. The experience of riding in the matatus, or taxis, has become to be an experience (not exactly an AM) that would be more in line with simply living. Each time I take a taxi, I squish in as far as a can to the point where my body will be immobile for however long the ride is (30 minutes to maybe 5 hours) and go to my happy place, my place of Zen and eternal thought, and wait until I have arrived at my destination. So in a nutshell, visiting my future site (and now my home for the next 2 years) was good for the mind body and soul, not to be cheesy, to successfully not flip out during training....even though I and everyother volunteer probably did at least once!

Training wound down quite fast, with each day being filled somehow whether or not one even felt like they were doing anything. It was sad to leave homestay even though it was very stressful at times, it was by all means an incredibly important experience to help in being integrated in to the culture. The last few days with the staff and volunteers was bittersweet though, as we had all grown over the past few months to become the closest of friends and in a matter of a single afternoon we were all whisked away to our new homes, new jobs, and new friends (to be made). Of course we will always have our European Vacation in Brussels and our past 8 weeks in training, life as we all knew it was about to change. It felt like the last day of freshman year of college when everyone was going back home, there parents (our supervisors for our new sites) were there with their cars to pack all of our belongings, and we left waving, saying see you in a few months! Prior to our leaving though, our last weekend had a great event, with all of our host families and us at the training centre, as one big hurrah and thank you for the time and energy spent making us feel at home. This afternoon was spent with dancing (per language group, which I will get pictures on here eventually) and speeches made. I had the great embarassing honour of singing the United States National Anthem at this event, laughing and smiling as I struggled through the words that should be engrained in my mind. Our language class did a local dance, as well as many of the other groups, and we sadly said goodbyes to many of the families we had come to know over the past weeks. The last few days of training were spent doing a last bit of logistical work in Kampala, visiting the Peace Corps office, the US Embassy and shopping for items for our sites...and to be honest, just spending as much time as well could with all of our new friends until we left...Being at the US Embassy was like being blasted back in to the states...Proper flush toilets and sinks and paper towel and coffee and marble floors and other muzungas and the list goes on...Quite strange to say the least. Our swearing in event, where we were all officially sworn in was held at the Ambassadors house, along with all of our supervisors and Peace Corps staff. Of coruse, again I was the one, requested about 30 minutes for the event to sing the National Anthem (along with another volunteer), and then the morning proceeded with the ceremony and we became official!!!! The next 2 years of life was beginning...

Okay...yeah, I would be bored to reading this blog, so I will supply you with one more humouress anecdote before I continue on with my life-story...

**AM2**--So this just happened about 5 days ago. After a day of community integration at my site, i.e. taking my 35 minute walk in to town, buying a few items, struggling with language and walking back home, I was struggling with the concept of being away for 2 years...Mild cases of homesickness tend to work themselves in to the day, but sometimes things are so busy it jsut gets bottled up until one big moment. So this day was a particularily busy day. I had gotten up early to assist the Science students with a computer class. They were writing projects for admission in to University, and many of their computer skills are lacking, so I happily offerred to help. After doing this for a few hours, I trekked across the village about 30 minutes to assist the other volunteer in town with ridding her bed, etc. of bed bugs by spraying the items down with Doom and lying them out in the sun. After spending a bit of time doing this and making another trip in to town to get a few items, it was time to return home to my site. Of course every walk through town, or in this country for that matter a muzunga is a spectacle, especially though in the village children are found running up to grab you as you attempt to speak in local language. Arriving home it was about time to play basketball with the students at the school, which I have begun to do. Now at home, in the States, everyone should know my basketball skills are quite lacking, but here, I felt like a god of basketball...Nonetheless after an our of sweating constantly and having dust kicked up from the dirt court, I returned home, ready for dinner. I boiled some water for tea and for drinking, and scooped a nice heaping spoonful of honey in to my tea. As I licked off the side of the jar I realised there was something chunky in my mouth. Lookin in to the cap of the jar I see dozens of ants crawling around. I proceed then to throw the honey down, squirt hand sanitiser in to my hands and then lick my hands in attempts to santise my mouth. I then proceeded to add a shot to my tea in disgust of the experience and in efforts to cleanse my mouth and stomach...I sat on my outside step, drinking my spiked tea and rubbing my face in hair, covered, in dirt, sweat and grime from an average day in Uganda. No matter how average this experience felt, it was still an 'African Moment' as I never would have or could have imagined occurring in my life prior.

So I just wrote a lot more than I thought, so I will quickly piece the past week together. I have been an officail volunteer since April 10th, 2008 now. So approximately 10 days down and I am feeling pretty good. The majority of these first few months will be community integration and scoping out secondary projects, so at times, even in the past week, the thought of confusion and being lost has been a primary thought. Finally having an opportunity to settle down in what is 'home' has been very good. I now have a place of my own, a community to learn and grow with, and a place to call work. Life, although moving slower than it ever has before, has begun to take on much new meaning. Everyday is filled with a mixture of speaking English and speaking Lusoga. Filled with assessment of possible projects and wondering what to do with ones self. Filled with laughter and crying. Any emotion imagineable is present. It has been odd being away from all the volunteers that I came to know and love, but also it has been refreshing finally coming to a place to live amongst the culture as your own entity. Starting this next school term, so in approximately one month, I will begin to teach Microbiology and Biotechnology. I will also be assisting with computer classes for the students as well as helping the Department of Music. I recently attended an Athletics (Track and Field ) competition at the school, and I expressed and showed knowledge in the throwing of discus, javelin, and shotput, so there are hopes that I could be of assistance with the Department of Athletics as well as potentially coaching students in Basketball. These are only a few of the opportunities, in a matter of the past 10 days that I have sought out...And these are only at the school level...Yes, there will be days of non-activity, or simply sitting at home moping, an doing laundry, but clearly the opportunity is there to be amongst the community, making a difference one by one in the lives of people here in Uganda.

Okay, I fear this post has been too long, so even though my mind is racing to tell you as much as possible, I shall stop.

I know I have expressed before, but if you have any questions at all then ask me, and I will as my best attempts respond on here. Peace and love and go Daniel Koza, yeah me!!!