Travel The World: First Workaway/One day in Vivian’s life

After my first day and very very nice welcoming in Uganda due to my friend Hanifa...I headed back to Entebbe to meet my first Workaway host.

I did not know what I have to expect or what the work will be like, since I didn’t read anything out of the description other then that John and Josephine are two nice people :)

Soo I find myself riding on the back of the motorcycle the other day heading for a 45 minutes journey wearing my big hiking boots and carrying two backpacks. Two faults I will never repeat in my further journey.

The big boots lifted up my legs too high that I can not get a good grip with the bike. Further more the heavy backpack pulled me even further back 🤣🤣🤣

Welcome to muscle pain the next day. I thought I’m going to save money taking a “BodaBoda” motorcycle but in fact the public taxes would be a car and 3 times cheaper I learned later.

Back to the Workaway place.

Since covid was on, John’s and Josephine daughter Vivian was around. And what it means in Uganda when the daughter is around (or especially the youngest daughter let’s say around 12+) I was about to learn ... there and later in other places.

Let’s ‘quickly’ describe Vivian’s day (correct me if I’m wrong Vivian:) ).

The alarm goes off between 5-5.30am. Then she sets the table, prepared breakfast, some toast some fruits, French toast, eggs, sometimes Casava (root plant)

Half of an Casava

something Matoke (boiled Banana mesh).

Matoke before preparing it to boil

The parents and I will have breakfast between 7-11am. Everything is prepared in different pots and then served in different containers. Every person uses one plastic plate I think for fruit (I was never entirely sure) and an other ceramic plate for the rest. Never get those confused ;)

After breakfast the remaining food gets into new containers into the fridge and all rest containers pots pans and plates have to be cleaned with cold water and normal block soap.

In the mean time it’s important to prepare new matoke for the lunch. Matoke can cook up to 4 h and you have to light a charcoal stove fire

Me starting the charcoal stove

every day for that. But just Matoke would be boring that’s why they are many more things to be prepared plus the table soo that lunch is ready

After lunch (around 4-4.30pm)

Again new pots, new containers for serving and new containers for storing after the meal... plates and so on have to be cleaned.

Just little time to relax for Vivian till tea time (I thought the first day that was the dinner 😅 ) at 6pm. There we had popcorn, cake, pancakes or just nuts and of course the black tea.

...dishes...

And also first day when I was tired and prepared to go to bed at 11pm I got surprised when they called me at 11.15pm for dinner. Which I thought I already had taken at 6pm eating lots of popcorn 🤪

Ok I’m flexible I can brush teeth twice 😎

(Remember Vivian was the one preparing again and then at 12 midnight doing the dishes, sometimes till almost 1am)

Are you ready to go to bed now and get up at 5am and do everything again? Next to your studies???

Ok I exaggerated a bit since Josephine sometimes was preparing a meal or John was doing the dishes. But basically that’s the daughters job in many family... household the whole day... every day... including washing clothes and cleaning the house of course.

But back to me.

From day one I didn’t know what my work will be like. Ok I got the job to do all the dishes after every meal. It takes quite a while with all the preparing, serving and storing pots and no dish liquid and cold water so first I had to learn to clean like that also I was trying to set the table but I never got who had which favourite plate or glass.

Soo doing all the dishes helping setting the table was like 2-3 h of work. Out of 5 h of volunteering I was asking every day what to do or if they need help. But most they said we will tell you.

All right, that means for me ...

Following my favorite exercise, reading in the hammock

Compared to Kampala it was a nice garden and very very green, a color I forget exists.

Huuuge snail in the garden

Little baboon sitting in the entrance

Well shaped tree

Just perfect trees to set up a hammock

The house from below

Find the little chuck

And many many many avocados

Beautiful flowers

And funny birds

Little lizards

Funny chucks

And did I mention avocados 😍😍😍

In the evening John and Josephine someone took me out for a walk around the neighbourhood which I always appreciated!

Had a evening at the lake

Nice colours at that place

Soccer match

If u count you will see 12 vs 12 playing +1 with whistle 😁

Bush full of flowers

Tasty tasty Jackfruit

I just loved that tree 😍

Speed pumper on road to their place

Way to nearby Virus-Institut

Massive tree next to the church

Partly tree

They took me to church on Sunday

Inside the church

Maaaannnyyy maaannnyyy kids where there

Sometimes only John took me for a “walk” which then means going for a drink 😅

1-2 were ok

But more ...

Since I like beer I like those kind of walks a lot 😎... unfortunately I figured out very quickly, still affected from 3 vaccinations and malaria prevention I had to take every day... I was very weirdly drunk after just 2-3 beers. After a very very bad hangover the 3. Time, I decided very sadly, no more beer for Mr. Jan 😢😭😭😱

(Luckily my body slowly got used to the medication over many many weeks and that fact changed)

Well there was something in the end I was able to do apart from dishes. After asking many times and telling about my skills, they asked if I can set up an IKEA drawer cabinet and if I can repair a washing machine.

Does this part of the washing machine looks good???