TLDR (Too Long, Didn't Read) Synopsis: I didn't really sleep the first night and there was no no power and water the first day.
The first night in a new place is always weird but I think this one took the cake. We got in super late but much to my surprise, there are only two girls this term so they placed use in the second story apartment with two bedrooms.
Praise God because that was something I had been praying about for months and was very nervous about. I have never shared a room in my life (other than one year in college) and my room is a really important space for me where I process stuff so I was very nervous to not have a place to call my own. But God listens and knows what He is doing.
There were two rooms to chose from and seeing as my roommate would arrive until later on the next day, I definitely had the advantage of picking the better room. Lol. One room was larger with a queen bed and dresser (the logical choice) and the other was smaller one with a twin bed and a few shelves. My conscious was telling me to take the smaller but c'mon the rational choice is the bigger one with the dresser right?! So I chose the larger one. Opps.
That one faces more of the village then the compound.
1am: Saturday night techno beats the village were blasting. Oh well, I'm so tired it doesn't even matter
2:34am: The wind started blowing and the window is too small for the window pane so it was rattling like crazy. I had to get up and find something to stuff between the window and pane to make it stop.
3:15am: I am awakened by the hum of mosquitos (plural- five to be exact) buzzing in my ear and around my face despite having a large mosquito net around the bed. I also accidentally forgot to start my anti-malarial meds until that morning so I knew I wasn't protected against malaria yet which added to the panic. I spent about 15 minutes trying to kill the mosquitos in the net and then trying to tuck the net under the mattress to keep them out.
4:30am: A rooster sitting on the compound wall starts crowing every 15 minutes. This continues until 11:45am that morning.
5:15am: A couple dogs in the neighborhood start fighting until one of them got hurt and cried out for help for about an hour until someone found him.
6:23am: Sunrise: I found out the large room faces east.
6:42am: It seems the clubbing techno beats just transitioned into Sunday morning worship with loud music and proclamations are now blasting over a loud speaker at the crack of dawn.
8:17am: A truck is making the rounds through the village blaring over a loud speaker that a transformer is out and power is not likely for the day. This announcement is of course all in Luganda and I understand none of it so of course I just assume that the end is near and we are all going to die.
8:53am: I am finally so tired I fall asleep despite everything.
I finally woke up about 1pm to no water or power. Thankfully the compound manager had gotten us some good food staples at the store and she cooked for us Sunday evening (gas stove tops :) ). The other two staff from Uganda came and we got the rundown of how to survive and eventually thrive here over dinner. I did end up switching to the smaller room which worked out well, because my roommate is much more of a morning person and I think really enjoys the early light. I was a bit nervous that that first night would be indicative of our entire time here but thankfully it has calmed down a bit since then.
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