Back in Gulu!

After two weeks of traveling the globe (literally) I’ve finally made it to Gulu. And the best part is that my luggage never once got lost on any of the 8 flights I’ve been on in the past two weeks. Needless to say, I’m definitely glad to be in Gulu and to not see an airplane for a long time. Sitting in those seats gets kind of old.
So I’ve only been here for a few hours, but I can already tell that Gulu is a very different place from two years ago. There are some things that are the same, but what I’ve seen so far is that it is a much busier place. There are lots of high rise buildings that were not there before, and lots of people out and about. Since we got here last night, and I haven’t had a chance to go out on the town, you’ll just have to wait to hear about more changes.
Also, I will write more about my travels in Australia shortly. Stay tuned for more stories.

Brushing up on my Lwo!

I'm returning to Gulu for the third time in four years, and it still feels a little unreal as I'm not really ready to leave. I think once I go to the store to buy my bug spray-maybe I'll only bring one gallon with me this time j/k- then I'll feel ready to go.

I should probably be working on my Lwo (the tribal language spoken by the people in Gulu), and because I haven't done much practicing this spring/early summer, I thought we could do some together.

Let's start with Hello- Apwoyo (Ah-foy-yo)
Good bye- Apwoyo
Thank you- Apwoyo
Good morning- Apwoyo
Good night- Apwoyo
Well, that was hard, but I think I'm ready! Ok, so honestly the language is a lot harder than that, but they do use the word Apwoyo for many of their greetings. On a more serious note, here's one of my favorite phrases;

De dong maber (day dong [like gong] ma-bay)

When someone is leaving, for either a short time or a long trip, they use the greeting De dong maber. The person traveling then responds with De wot maber [day watt ma-bay]. Those people staying say, "Go well" to the person traveling. The person traveling then responds by saying "Stay well." I love this interchange between the two parties. I love how it acknowledges both the traveler and those staying, in essence validating the health and wellness of both sides as they are apart.

Hopefully this blog can be a place for you to check up on what I will be doing, the school I'll be teaching at, and as always, some crazy stories about Africa. But more importantly, I hope that you will also comment and share about your summer. Without your comments, this one sided blog is not very exciting. Plus I can find out how you are 'staying well' and you can learn how I'm 'going well.'

So from now till August- De wot maber
-Lagum Trisha