Life Of Rylee

Catch up

2008-08-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

Sorry this last entry has taken so long to get entered. Life has been absolutely insane since I've been home and I haven't hardly had time to even breath. I wrote down all the important details of the last week so I'll try to fill you in on the details at the end of my Uganda experience.
On Thursday I went to a women's group in Nmango. We had a business meeting with them and then those of us leaving said our goodbyes. On my way home I picked up some dresses that Sara had tailored for me. When I got home the two new volunteers (James Brown and Mallory) had arrived. The house was sooo full of people and it was ridiculously chaotic. After dinner a few of us went outside to play Phase 10. My parents were supposed to be calling me that night. It had been a rough day with all the goodbyes and I really needed to talk to them. Everytime I'd grab that phone someone else would steal it away. I knew my parents were trying to call and I was going crazy. Finally at 11 I threw I got too frustrated. I went into my room, turned my iPod on full blast (Coldplay of course) and layed there in silence. It's so frustrating when you need some alone time and you live with 8 million people.
On Friday morning I was making some breakfast. I was feeling a little bit better, but I was still bummed that I didn't get to talk to my family. Then I got the best surprise ever. The phone rang and it was for me. My sweet family never gave up. They said they were so worried and had been trying to get ahold of me all night. They were very happy that everything was okay and that we finally got to talk. It was awesome because they had about 1 hour left on the card and so we got to chat for a long time since it would be our last call. After breakfast Leslie, Lauren and I went to Iganga. As always I loved the bus ride with my iPod (as close to alone time as you can get). We made some pinwheels with the kids and they loved it. We played with them and it was so sad to know this would be the last time. I couldn't put Pricilla down the entire day. I wanted to grab her and just run away. I love that girl to pieces. She totally knows my name and we are best friends. Richard and Ruth made us lunch which was surprisingly pretty tasty. After lunch it was time for us to go home. Ruth gave a really nice speech thanking us for all we'd done. Richard got super emotional and couldn't hardly say goodbye. We hugged all the kids and I held Pricilla forever. Finally it was time to put her down. I will never forget walking away as she stood in the doorway waving goodbye (and she for sure had no concept that we'd never see each other again). I miss her so much. The ride home was pretty long. When we got home we had to get the house ready for Honorable Fred (like a Ugandan congressman, basically he's a big deal in Uganda) and Hamas (his assistant). They came to have dinner with us. Irene went all out on dinner for the special occassion and we all got absolutely stuffed! We got a bit hyper after they left and Lindsi and Tori B were making some hilarious music videos for us. Lauren and I went outside and talked to David (our gaurd) and Ivan (our local friend). They are hilarious and it was so fun. Everyone went clubbing at African Paradise that night but Lauren and I were so pooped so we hit the hay early (and enjoyed the emptiness of the house....which NEVER happens). It was so quiet and I read all night in my bed.
On Saturday morning we got to sleep in. I had a nice bowl of oatmeal and read my book. It started pouring rain and I love that sound so much! After the rain died down a bit Ashley Rogers and I decided to go to The Jinja Nile Resort. We took a taxi to Jinja. When we got there the storm was still pouring down. We sat under a roof for a while because we needed to take a boda-boda to the resort. The rain was really dying so we decided we may as well just head to the resort and wait out the storm there. We doubled up on a boda-boda and the ride was for sure one of the most hilarious yet. You could not see at all because the rain was coming down so hard and the rain hurt our legs so bad when it hit, we were laughing so hard. We went to the back (by the pool) and looked out on the Nile, it was gorgeous. We sat at a table under a little hut and watched some African hula dancers. They were amazing and it was way fun to watch. We got lunch while we watched, I had some yummy pizza. After we finished eating the sun finally decided to come out, perfect timing! We got to enjoy the rest of the day layed out in our suits by the pool. We overheard rumors of cheap massages so we inquired. It was true, full body massages for 5 dollars per half an hour. Of course we didn't have choice with an offer like that. We both got half an hour massages and they were to die for. The girl that did mine was named Tina and wow she was wonderful. I was laughing because she poured some nice Olive Oil all over me haha. I was in heaven! It was dark when we left so Tina walked us to a boda-boda and then we grabbed a taxi. We weren't too hungry when we got home, but Irene had made dinner and of course I couldn't pass it up. I spent the rest of the night reading my book.
On Sunday morning we had to get up early. A group of us went to Patrick's wedding at Victory Church at Seeta. They forgot to mention that although the wedding started at 11, there was a 4 hour praise session before. It was ridiculous and totally annoying (plus it was in Luganda so we couldn't understand a single word). We were right in the front by the speakers and it was so loud that I thought I was going to blow out my ear drums. Finally four LONG hours later the wedding started. Both the bride and groom were so serious and no one would even crack a smile. The pastor kept talking about how the wife needs to become submissive and do whatever her husband tells her (ah I'd be the worst African bride ever). We left as soon as it was over so we could hurry up and grab a taxi before all the crowd came (you have seriously never seen so many people, I have no clue how they even know that many people). When I got home I ate, took some Ibuprofen (for my massive headache caused by a mixture of speakers blasting in my ears and being totally annoyed) and went to bed. I felt much better when I finally woke up. Of course I woke right up for dinner. I read the rest of the night away. In the middle of the night we heard a loud gunshot and we weren't sure what was going on.
Monday morning we found out that the gunshot was from David's gun. Apparently three masked men tried to break into our house. One of them got over the fence and the other two were on the fence when David saw them and fired. Nothing happened but it was still kinda scary. Leslie, Lauren, Emily, Trent, Krissy and I decided to go to Seya and say our goodbye. We figured we'd end the way we started. Since that was the first place we went to work at it kinda felt like our home and we all felt extra close to the kids. We brought a sheet and made a mural with them to hang in the house. They were so excited to see us and loved painting. Joseph couldn't stop hugging us and didn't want to be put down. Tom ran up to me and remembered my name. I feel like all those sweet kids are my own kids and I love them all to pieces. We sang songs while we painted (my favorite, We Are One Family). They were only there for lunch break from school and so after an hour they had to go back to school. It was really hard to say goodbye! Me and Lauren shared a boda-boda on the way home and it was kinda scary. The driver totally smelled like weed and was for sure high as a kite. After a while we realized that we were going the opposite direction of town and I got scurred. Then as we went through some sugar cane fields some people shook the the sugar cane and yelled weird stuff at us. I was super nervous and realized how easy it would be for the driver to take us and rob us or do whatever he wanted. I tapped him and asked him if he was still taking us to town. He shook his head yes. Finally after going all around the sugar cane fields we ended up back in Lugazi. I was so ridiculously grateful to be home safe and sound. I took my last shower at the house and lucky for me it was even semi-warm! Ivan was hanging out at the house. He's been such a good friend and so helpful. I gave him a little thank you note (with my e-mail so we could stay in touch) and gave him a tie I had gotten at Martyr's Day. He put it right on to model it for me. You could tell he loved it so much and I was so happy! Edith came by and gave me a note to give my parents. it was the sweetest note thanking them for sending me to Uganda and all sorts of sweet compliments. While Irene was cooking I gave her a little basket full of cooking tools. She loved them all and was so excited. We had one last meeting together. We ended telling each other our favorite memories and things we had learned. Everyone kept talking about experiences with PWDs and I got pretty teary eyed. We all got so close over the summer and I love all of them to death.
We spent most all of Tuesday morning packing up and cleaning. It felt so weird to pack everything away. I couldn't believe the end had finally arrived. I got a phone call from home and my mom told me that Whit was at the hospital going into labor. I was so bummed because I really wanted to be there for the baby being born. I was praying that somehow I'd make it in time. Sweet Irene came to make us one last meal, but since we were leaving earlier it was lunch. I came to say hello and she gave me a big hug and slipped a gorgeous paper bead necklace onto me. Of course we have awesome luck and huge storm came and we lost all power. Somehow Irene performed another one of her miracles and made the most amazing meal. She made every single thing we've ever had. It was like Thanksgiving times ten. I knew it would be my last Irene meal and made myself totally sick trying to fit it all in! Next thing we knew our bus was there and it was time to load up. When we came out all the neighborhood kids were lining the fence wanting to say goodbye, it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. All our friends were there to say goodbye. Edith, Irene and Grandma Selma were all super emotional. The volunteers that were staying were also pretty teary eyed. It felt so weird driving away and knowing that I'd never walked down that street again. I was quite most of the drive and tried to soak in everything so I'd never forget it. The bus ride took about 2 1/2 hours. We got to the airport and got all checked in. We had to wait about 2 hours to board and so we just read books and chatted. Our first flight was 8 hours, which sucked, but at least it was a really nice plance with unlimited movies. Of course the airplane food was disgusting. We had a bit of a layover in Amsterdam. We took naps and then Leslie and I headed to McDonalds. We were SOOO excited for American food. We were so stoked to get some delicious egg mcmuffin breakfasts....that is until we realized that they costed 8 bucks for freakin' one mcmuffin. It was outrageous, but we couldn't cancel the order so we just had to go along with it. Pathetically enough it was totally worth it. Our next flight was 10 hours and the airplane sucked, it was pretty miserable and the food definitely didn't help anything. When we finally got to Texas I couldn't get off the plane fast enough. I almost started crying when I saw the American flag. I love America so much and I will never ever take it for granted again. David's phone finally worked since we were in America again and so I called my fam to see how Whit was doing. I was pretty bummed when I found she had already had sweet little Sadie Jane and I was super nervous because they said that the baby wasn't doing super good and in the NICU. I was freaking out and just wanted to get home. Our flight was the death of me. 30 hours of traveling...I for sure don't recommend it. We got off the plane and all rushed to find our families. I was so bummed because mine was no where in sight. I used Leslie's phone and called the fam. They were runing late (of course they were haha). I told them I'd grab my bags and meet them out front. Words cannot express how amazing it felt to finally see them and hug them all. My parents were there and Nick and Kesh brought Boston. He had grown a lot and it was so fun to play with him. We got in the car and headed to Parrothead to grab a quick lunch. After lunch we went to the hospital to see Whit and the baby. Sadie Jane Wooley is just about the cutest thing you could possibly imagine. Whit looked so good. You could tell she and Eddie were in total heaven. Sadie was doing much better and got to spend the night with Whit and Eddie. She even got to go home right on time. We spent most of the night there enjoying our cute new little bundle of joy. I gave Whit a dress I had made for Sadie and a little mobile I had gotten her in Africa. She loved them! When I finally got home I tried to unpack some stuff and man it reeked! I showed the parentals all my souveneirs and gave them their presents. They loved it all! Finally not sleeping for so long hit me like a brick wall and I crashed in bed.
It has been crazy jumping back into the real world. I've been spending as much time as possible with the fam. Tending Boston and visiting Whit and Sadie. I've also been trying to catch up with all my friends. This summer was the most amazing adventure of my life. Thanks for all that read the blog. It has been so fun writing about all the crazy things I've been up to. I learned so much this summer and I will never be the same.

Saying Goodbyes

2008-07-17T02:01:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday afternoon I spent the day preparing my secondary school lesson with Katie. Our lesson was about health and not using drugs. We were in the house all day and we were totally going stir crazy. We had to make a banner on a sheet and it took forever. I got so sick of coloring and needed to get out of the house. Around 5 Kelsi, DJ, and I went to town. We went to visit Sarah and she did some more measuring for some dresses that she is tailoring for me. We walked around for a bit enjoying the fresh air. When we got home dinner was ready and it was ridiculously amazing. Irene didn’t know that like half the group was gone, so she made the same amount of food as normal…..even chipattis. I ate 3 chipatti and 2 bowls of food. I was ready to vomit, I ate WAY too much, but it was totally worth it! The power went out after dinner, but there wasn’t much going on so it didn’t totally matter. I pulled out my head lamp and read my book forever. I decided to take a shower and that was rather interesting to do by the light of a tiny headlamp haha. I got all warm in my bed after and read by headlamp until the wee hours of the morning.
On Wednesday morning I did my panty washing party. I am SO excited to use a washing machine when I get home, hooray my cloths will finally be clean again and my knuckles won’t be raw. After laundry I got ready and then Tori G. and I headed for our home visit. We met Susan at Intercession Church and then headed to Sam’s house. Before we left I gave Susan a thank you card with my e-mail address and a gift (a flamingo beanie baby for her daughter Jemima Cynthia and a bracelet for her). She loved it. Sam was very excited to see us. I was so sad that it was my last home visit, I will miss him so much! I gave Sam a thank you card (for speaking at the PWD caretaker presentation) that I made special for him. Since he is blind I spelled out thank you Sam with pipe cleaners (he could feel the letters with his fingers). He loved it so much. We talked with Sam’s mom about hygiene and all of our goals. I love Sam’s mom so much. At the end I gave Sam a little goodbye present. Since he can’t see or move around I got him a radio to listen to. I had Tori video me giving it to him. It was adorable! I told him that I had gotten him something special because he is my special friend. I thanked him for always being such a good friend to me. I told him he was so special and that I would never forget him for the rest of my life. He was all smiles and kept saying my name. Then I gave him the radio. He could not believe what was happening. To say he was ecstatic was an understatement. He couldn’t even talk to me, he just held his radio and smiled ear to ear. I showed him how to change the station and to turn the volume up and down. We got to a song he knew and he was singing for us. Words can’t even sum up how excited Sam was and how much it just melted my heart! Sam’s mom kept holding my hands and thanking me again and again. I love that family so much and I will never forget them. They will always have a special place in my heart. The next house we went to was Sheilla’s. When we got to their street we saw Sheilla running up the street to come meet us, it was SO cute. She grabbed my hand and led my to her house, she was so excited. We did our visit and Sheilla sang all sorts of songs for us. Sheilla’s mom told us all about how good she has been about all of our exercises. At the end we gave Sheilla a slinky to get her to move her bad hand. That is another family that I will always hold dear to my heart. I got so lucky to have such fun families to home visit. The last home we went to was Fiona’s. We brought some cloths that people had donated from America and they fit her perfectly. She was crazy as always but it was great fun. On the way home Tori and I stopped by Crane’s school to catch the end of Katie’s music lesson. At the end the children sang to us and it was so cute. They are amazing singers. We went home, I ate lunch, and then Katie and I finished getting our lesson together. At 2:30 we all caught boda-bodas and rode to Lugazi Hill View. I was so sad because it was my last secondary school meeting. Kelsi and DJ did the first half of the lesson on health and dental hygiene. The kids were asking really good questions and the part was great. Katie and I did the next part about drugs. We talked all about the problems that drugs cause, what to do if someone you know is into drugs, and everything else you’d need to know. At the end I made them pledge to not do drugs and told them how they have to make the decision now. We wrote “I Pledge To Stay Drug Free” on a sheet and then each student signed it and stamped their handprint with paint. They loved it and it turned out so cute! I had notes and treats prepared for the kids I mentor to say goodbye and give them my e-mail address. I was really bummed because Joe, Joshua and Betty are in Senior 4 and they were preparing for final exams so they couldn’t come to our lesson. I had to give my treats to their teacher John (one of my very good friends) to give to them. I was way sad I couldn’t say goodbye the way I wanted to, but at least I tried. We headed to St. Edwards next. It is such a great project but sometimes I really dread going because there are so many kids and it gets so hectic. We played some little games like duck duck goose and some other African games we’ve learned. At the end we gave them all stickers. The kids were way cute and we had fun with them, but after an hour we were all ready to go. We stopped by market on the way home. When I finally got home dinner was ready and it was delish! Everyone got home from Gulu and the house was total chaos. Its fun to have everyone back, but it is also way too many people for one little house. It will be really nice to have alone time when I get back to America.
This morning I got up extra early to eat breakfast and get last minute things ready for my PWD lesson. Tori and I were teaching a lesson on encouragement. When we got there there was very few people there and I was nervous that I wasn't going to get to say goodbye to all my friends. Like always everyone came, just on African time (aka always late). When Sam came he brought his radio and he was all smiles. All the mothers kept coming up to me and thanking me for making him so happy. All during my lesson I could hear Sam singing along to his radio and then he yell out my name, o my gosh I'm seriously in love with that boy! Our lesson went really well and the mothers loved it. At the end we helped them make pinwheels for their children. On one side they wrote things they love about their children (one compliment on each section of the pinwheel). They colored the other side to make it look beautiful. After they finished they gave them to their children and showed them how to use them (blow wind with your mouth). I'm not sure if the mothers or kids liked them more haha, it was adorable! At the end I said goodbye to all of them and thanked them for everything. I told them they had taught me so much in the time I spent with them and that I would never forget them. They were sad but said some very sweet goodbyes. After it was over Faith (the program director) took me aside and gave me her table cloth from home. She said she was so sorry she didn't have more, but she wanted to give me something to show her gratitude for what I had done this summer. She told me each time she looked at her table and it was bare she'd remember her friend Rylee and the things I'd done for her. It was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me. I love her so much and I'm so grateful I met her and we were able to develop our program into the beautiful thing that it was!

Sweet Safariness

2008-07-15T01:19:00.000-07:00

Just a heads up: I can no longer put pictures on my blog due to virusness city. After I get home I’ll try really really hard to go back and throw some pictures onto these last few entries. The pictures for this entry are way too amazing to not share.

On Thursday afternoon Lindsi, DJ and I went and had lunch at the Milan House. Lunch was alright, but the company was for sure much better. After we got home we learned that there had been quite a scare in town. Some guys tried to steal some motorcycles and the town went nuts. The towns people tried to get thieves before the police do because thieves can pay off the cops and go back to commit more crimes. The only way for the police to calm the crowd and get the thieves before they were killed was by shooting a machine gun in the air. There were some volunteers near by and they heard the shots and said it was pretty intense. All of them kept saying how glad they were that I wasn’t there because I am by far the biggest wuss of anyone here. We were informed later that night that one of the thieves was not so lucky and he was burned alive in town, the other three were beaten severely and taken to hospital by police escort. It was funny because talking to people about it, they were sad that three got away. Around about 3 a little group of us headed to Jinja to go do some more bungee (I had already paid for two and so I had to cash in my free one). On the way we passed over a bridge on the Nile and we for sure saw a crocodile, so rad! When we got there I got so excited. I think half the fun of going there is that all the men that work there are super attractive and they have ridiculously attractive accents (they’re from South Africa, Australia, and Ireland). I got nervous up at the top again, but the hot men definitely helped calm me down haha. I decided to go solo again for my last jump. I was very proud of myself because I was being so brave. I went right to the platform and dove straight off. I was able to concentrate on the fall that time since I knew what to expect, it was amazing. I love that jump so much, the feeling is freakin’ phenomenal!!! After my jump I chilled in the bar area (the place where you can sit and watch people jump) while the other people in our group jumped. I ordered a BBQ chicken pizza and it was delicious. We stayed pretty late and then a taxi came to pick us up. When we got home the house was super chaotic. We were all trying to pack things up for our vacations in the morning plus we had 3 new volunteers, seriously who knows how on Earth we’ll fit more people in here!

Friday morning we got up nice and early. Our lovely country directors had prepared an amazing breakfast for all of us (like seriously the works). We stuffed our faces and then we were out the door by 7:15. There was 12 of us that went on the safari (Kelsi, DJ, Katie, Tori, Natalie, Chrissy, Brent, James, Dan, Kira, Ashley and I). We headed to the taxi park and our safari cars met us. One car was a little van and the other was a humongous truck lifted like crazy (the drivers sat in a cab that was like a semi truck and then the seats were in the back, way high and the rows faced each other, totally set up for the safari). Our crew was amazing. The head guide was Becky (a classy man whose pot belly looked so hot in his wife beater tanks), the co-guide was Ivan (he was hilarious and asked us every second how we were doing percentage wise everyday and then he’d do anything in his power to change it to 100%), and the last one was our chef named Kirunda (K is pronounced with a ch sound in case you were wondering. His food was the best food I’ve had in Africa and actually it rivals most food from USA. He for sure caused me to gain at least 5 pounds this weekend. He also brought out my jungle fever like crazy, he was the hottest man alive. It was definitely love at first sight!) We had some people not part of HELP that joined us in our safari adventure. There were two English girls my age named Sara and Holly, a middle aged lady named Seletta and a guy my age named Ben. We had quite the drive ahead of us…..5 hours of death! Unfortunately I got car sick, but thank heavens its only the second time I’ve actually gotten car sick. Lucky for us we were able to stop part way through and have some lunch. They just pulled off to the side of the road and whipped out some fresh, amazing pasta salad. Lunch made me feel way better but I was still dreading the rest of the drive. The rain started to pour down and made the dirt roads awful slick. We finally got to a rhino park. We got to go on a rhino walk and it was super fun. After walking for a few minutes we found 6 rhinos and we got so close. It was crazy to be so close, they’re such cool looking animals. We climbed back in the car and headed on the road again. We finally reached our camp ground at dark. We set up camp. When I opened my bag I saw quite the unpleasant surprise. My entire bottle of mosquito repellent opened up and everything was drenched. It was rather annoying, but hey look at the bright side, at least I had extra protection against the bugs. Katie was my tent partner and I felt like we did a pretty good job setting up our tent. We’re for sure hard core mountain women. After camp was set up we got to eat dinner at the hotel. I had some delicious stir fry and chapatti. We got ready for bed and then chatted for a while. Other than being a little cold, I slept pretty well.

Saturday morning Becky woke us up nice and early by banging on our tent and yelling funny stuff at us. We packed up camp nice and quick and then we got to enjoy a gourmet breakfast Kirunda style. The group of us that had been in the van got switched to the truck because it was pretty awful. We quickly learned that the car had absolutely NO shocks. I was for sure launched out of my chair…like onto the floor…more than once….awesome. After a ride that was quite like the Indiana Jones Ride at Disney Land. We finally arrived at Bedunga to go Chimp trekking. Our guide was John T. They laughed at us for wearing Chacos and they gave us some real hot rain boots to wear instead. We quickly figured out why we needed rain boots. We were almost never on trails (our guide was literally cutting back branches with a Swiss Army Knife so we could actually keep walking) and the ground was always covered in safari ants that bite hard. After hiking for about 4 hours we found some chimp poo and heard them calling each other, unfortunately we were unsuccessful in finding chimps. Even though we didn’t find any chimps, we still had a lot of fun! We got back in the car and drove to Red Chili campsite. They had a lovely little restaurant that served us lunch. It was beef and rice and was not very good, but of course I still stuffed my face. After lunch we headed to a dock on the Nile and waited to board a ferry. While we waited we saw an elephant drinking at the bank on the other side of the river, it was awesome. We road on the ferry with our cars and then got ready to go on our first game drive. Our ranger guide for the game drive was Henry. He was so crazy and you had to respect the man….he had a huge gun and he said it was to protect the animals from us, not the other way around. Dan, DJ and I opted for the crazy ride. We stood on the cab of huge truck and held onto the bars around the back of the truck. I have no idea why on Earth they let us do it. We were about 15 feet of the ground and there was almost nothing to hold onto. Becky didn’t really care that anyone was up there, he drove SO fast and there was some huge speed bumps. There was one point where I was almost certain we were gonna fly off and another point where a huge tree branch flew at us and were had no way to dodge it, we got some wicked scratches. At first we kept seeing animals from a distance and we thought it was so cool. Then we saw my favorite animals up super close, giraffes. They are my favorite because me and my madre have long necks and so we kinda relate. They are so gorgeous and we were sooo close, it was amazing! There was three and one was really dark. I could have watched them all night. We saw all sorts of antelope, water buffalo, birds, and other awesome things. I felt like I was in Lion King, I want to watch that movie so bad when I get home. After almost flying off a few more times the DJ, Dan and I decided we wanted to live through the weekend and so we got back into the car. I had quite the massive bruise on back from the bar on the truck hitting my back repeatedly. Right after we got in of course we got super super close to elephants. They were walking on the road right in front of us. They were HUGE and there was five of them. We all leaned outside of the truck snapping pictures and taking videos. I definitely could have stuck out my hand and freaking touched the elephant. It was AMAZING to be so close, ah these animals are so incredible. I don’t know what on Earth I have done that is allowing me to be so lucky, I seriously don’t even feel worthy to be seeing all this goodness!!! It’s great when things are that gorgeous because even if you suck at photography, your pictures turn out spectacular. I took animal and sunset pictures that are for sure National Geographic worthy. The other car radioed us and told us that they were looking at lions and told us where to come. They said there was a mom and some cubs. What I saw was most certainly not cubs and it nearly stopped my heart. There was a huge female and the cubs were only 9 months old, but apparently lions are full grown by that point. We sat and watched them for a while. They weren’t very active but they were gorgeous. We drove for a good 15 yards and then pulled over. I couldn’t see anything and was so confused. That is when they started whipping out the tents. I started to freak out. Camp was right near the water and we were on some flattened grasslands (which we were informed was trimmed by hippos….the animal that kills more humans than any other animal). I couldn’t believe we were actually sleeping there. They built a huge bonfire and we built our tents in a circle around it because most animals hate fire. All the guides got such a kick out of how terrified I was. They started cooking a big steak dinner which made me feel way better…..big slabs of raw meat….awesome what better way to attract lions! Dinner was amazing (no joke the steak was even better than steaks from Ruby River!) I ate myself silly! After dinner I sat and chatted with Henry. He told me all sorts of crazy stories from his days guiding. He told me he has never used his gun on an animal before, but he has had to use it on poachers. He also told us that the reason they carry guns is because in the days of the war. Much of the battle happened there. Rebels would frequently come and shoot animals and kill all the tourists to try and kill Ugandans main economy (tourisms from safaris). We chatted forever and he had some amazing stories. Finally I decided to hit the hay. I have been scared in my life (bungee jumping, rafting the Nile, etc.), but NOTHING compares to the fear I felt that night. Knowing there was lions 15 yards away, hippos right across from us, elephants, buffalo and other dangerous animals all around made it basically impossible to sleep. It was also quite like a sauna inside our lovely little tent. Of course I had to pee about ½ after getting in bed but I refused. I sat in my tent staring at the ceiling for a good 3 hours. You could hear heavy footsteps and flapping noises all night right outside our tents, I tried to ignore and did not want to know what it was. My mind always plays tricks on me (I have a crazy imagination), but the scariest part is that I knew the noises really were dangerous animals. I finally decided it would be best to put iPod and pretend I was warm in my bed in America. Of course I couldn’t fall asleep, but at least I was a little distracted. Finally around about 5 I was about to pee out my ears and I was ready to die. I woke up Katie and made her help me out. I shined my flashlight out the front flapped for a good 2 minutes to make sure I couldn’t see a single animal. I squatted literally right in front of the tent and made Katie watch me the entire time I peed so that an animal wouldn’t come and grab me, she agreed and found it quite hysterical. I got back in the tent and laid awake until Becky came by at 6.

I have never been so grateful to have someone “wake me up” in the morning. Seeing all the animal poop outside our tent that morning confirmed all my fears about being surrounded having been surrounded by animals all night long. We didn’t get ready, they just loaded us right into the cars and we headed on another game drive. The African sunrise on the grasslands was breathtaking. The first animal we found was a giraffe. We were way close and Ivan let us get out of the car and try to get closer to the giraffe. We got WAY close and I got some rad pictures standing in front of it with the sun still rising. We saw a hippo off in the distance and wanted to get closer. Sweet Ivan took us on a nice off-roading adventure and we got some great up close pictures. After seeing some more awesome animals we headed back to camp for a delicious gourmet Kirunda breakfast. We took down camp and then piled into the cars. We had another long drive and saw some great animals, but I fell asleep for a lot of it due to lack of sleep the night before. After another ferry ride we got back to Red Chili for some lunch. After being spoiled by Kirunda’s cooking we were all very disappointed with the spaghetti the restaurant served us. After lunch we got to chill for about an hour, which felt amazing, then it was off to the dock to load on a boat for a water safari. The boats were pretty small which made me kinda nervous. Right as we got in we went to the other side of the river because there was 5 elephants getting a drink. They were so cute. One looked like it was just barely born and he held his mama’s tail and followed her everywhere she went. Mmmm baby animals are just way to cute, I wanted to take him home with me! We cruised along the water and saw about 8 million hippos. The whole way you’d see herds of these little heads just barely above water with their little ears wiggling all around. I seriously couldn’t believe how many hippos were in the water, it was madness. Whenever they swim towards us at all I’d get way scared, but thankfully they never got to close. Further down the river we saw three huge alligators on the riverbank. One was chillin with his mouth wide open and you could see all his nice sharp choppers. Finally after riding for about 1 ½ hours we reached the Murichison Falls. I can’t even begin to describe the majesty of these amazing falls. There is SO much water squeezing through this little narrow opening. They are so loud and powerful. There is water spraying everywhere and we got some amazing pictures. After getting our pictures they dropped us on the banks and we went for a nice little hike. We walked up to the top of the falls. From the top you could see another, equally breathtaking waterfall. We got to walk right up close to the falls and get a nice shower from the spray. It felt nice because it was for sure the closest any of us got to a shower that weekend (you can only begin to imagine how lovely I smelled!) We hiked a little way up from the falls and set up camp. They said hippos sometimes come into the camp at night, but that if you left them alone they’d be totally harmless. I really felt so much more safe sleeping at that campsite and falling asleep was cake that night. Kirunda got started on dinner right when he got there. We sat and chatted with the crew and smelled our amazing dinner getting ready. They told us all sorts of crazy African traditions and cultures. When dinner was finally ready it was to die for. He made a beef stew that was served over rice. His meat literally melted in your mouth, he had all sorts of fresh vegetable and the sauce on it was mmmmmmm phenomenal. We sat on a bench looking out on the water enjoying our amazing din-din. After dinner I was totally pooped from not sleeping the night before and I went right to bed. You could hear the falls really loud from our tent and it was so soothing to fall asleep to.

Like every other morning Becky came bright and early, even before the sun (6 am). While we packed up camp Kirunda cooked up our last gourmet breakfast. We couldn’t believe how fast the trip flew by and that it was already time to go home. Lucky me I got to ride in the sucky safari truck. I held onto my seat for dear life and prayed that the ride would go by quickly (of course those of us stuck in the truck made the people in the van promise to switch halfway through). On the way Brent let me use his iPod. I just about freaked…he had a song, Viva La Vida, from the new Coldplay CD. It was super amazing and I can’t wait to hear the rest of that CD!!!!! After driving about 5 hours we got to stop alongside the side of the road to whip up a quick lunch and take a bathroom break. We had tuna and sweet corn sandwiches and fresh fruit. After lunch getting into the van was amazing and I actually got to sleep the rest of the way. After about 4 more hours we were in Kampala and we got to stop and take a potty break/shopping break. I grabbed some snacks at the market (I’m going to bring home some of the favorite Ugandan snacks for you guys to try. I love them, but at times I wonder if it is only because there isn’t much else good to eat.) We finally got back to good old Lugazi around 5 or 6. I was glad that I survived the weekend. Somehow I definitely managed to get WAY more bug bites than anyone else (and in the most akward places, who gets 14 on their butt…what the heck I swear I didn’t ever run around naked!) It was so fun because everyone was welcoming us home and seemed SO excited to see us. We got back to the house and I ran straight to the shower. The water coming off my body was disgusting, like seriously you have never seen such dirty water in your life. It felt amazing to be so clean! I had a nice little dinner and then we all watched the movie Batman Begins. I forgot how much that movie makes you want to see the second one. I think it comes out pretty soon, so I really want to see it once I get home. I got into bed and chatted with some people and then finally fell asleep.

This morning I naturally woke up at the crack of dawn. I made a little breakfast, unpacked some stuff in my bags, and then did some laundry. At 9:45 Kelsi, Tori G. and I headed to Intercession Church to meet Susan for our PWD home visit. When we got there we found that Grace (one of our favorite women, she is the pastor's wife and also one of our caretakers) had her baby the day before. We got to come into her house and hold the new little guy, his name was Enoch. We sat and chatted with Grace and her husband for a while and played with their other two kids. They are awesome and it was so fun visiting with them. I will miss that family so much, they are the best! Susan didn't end up showing up so we're gonna go back to the house and call her to see if everything is okay. We would go on our own, but the mothers don't speak English, so it would be extremely difficult. Hopefully we can go later today!

Tulabirira, One Of The Days I'll Never Forget

2008-07-10T01:39:00.000-07:00

Let me start this by saying I am very sorry. I know most people’s favorite part of blogs is looking at the pictures. We have a really bad virus on our computers and they no longer read cameras, so for the rest of my pictures you’ll just have to wait til I get home. On Tuesday afternoon I spent the much of the day preparing stuff for the PWD meeting on Thursday. After spending a while on that I needed a break so I helped Lauren and Lindsi with some of their teacher training projects. We made a hanging alphabet with for a class (the letter on one side and a picture with a word starting with that letter on the other side). Everyone laughed really really hard at mine because apparently I’m not the greatest artist. At 4 Ashley, Heidi, Kelsi, Stephanie, Natalie and I went to the Nakasedde women’s group. It was so much fun. We taught them English words about cooking. As we taught English we also taught them how to make banana pancakes. I wish you could have seen it, it was so cute. There was just us and a big group of Ugandan women gathered in an alleyway making banana pancakes in a saucepan over a little charcoal stove. They loved the pancakes and we had so much fun with them. We had lots of batter so we got to share some with the little group of kids that gathered around to watch us. The women now have all sorts of cooking words to practice and at the very end we gave each one a spatula so they can make their own pancakes. I worked on more alphabet letter (because I’m so gifted at making them) until dinner time. After dinner, which was delicious, Ashley and I had a meeting about PWD on Thursday. I was excited, but also kinda nervous. She gave me the program to type up and told me to print about 50 or so copies. She also told me about some of the people that will be there (district leaders from other villages are coming, the mayor and all sorts of prominent people). I found out I was speaking near the beginning about our program and then Sam (the boy I home visit and am TOTALLY in love with) was talking after. I got so excited to hear him, he’d do such a great job. A few others like Mike (HELP exec. Director), the mayor, etc. were speaking and then we’d present each caretaker will a certificate. The program turned into way more than I’d ever hoped for and I was way happy. I went to bed pretty early but I didn’t sleep very well because some of the girls in my room were SOOO noisy…while they were sleeping. Yeah so many people here talk and moan in their sleep, it is ridiculous. Usually hilarious, but when it gets too noisy and you’re way tired, you feel the need to smoother them in a pillow.

On Tuesday morning I found that an idea I thought was so brilliant ended up blowing up in my face. Sunday night I though it would be great to let my underwear soak in a bucket with soap overnight. I didn’t get to washing them til Tuesday morning and let me tell you what. When I moved the water the stench of mildew was so strong that Lauren started dry heaving in the toilet. I had to wash my underwear about 8,000 times and then I sprayed it with body spray as it was drying. Thankfully most of the smell was washed away, but wow that was miserable. After my washing I met up with Tori B. and we headed off for our home visits. Susan was a bit late but then we were on our way. Sam was our first house. I get the biggest smile on my face whenever I see that boy. We brought a poloroid photo that we took at our last PWD meeting. We framed it nicely for them to hang up in their house. We reviewed the lesson about socialization with Mama Sam. We also asked Sam if he’d speak at our Thursday PWD meeting where we’d present the caretaker certificates. He seemed very excited about it. At the end we gave him a beanie baby bird. We showed him all the body parts on it (eye, mouth, wings, feet, etc.) He also loved to shake it so the beans would make noises. He loved the bird so much. I asked him what he wanted to name his bird. He sat there for a long time as this was a very importance decision. Finally he decided to name it after one of his favorite people that has a radio talk show, the bird is officially named Trevor. We left and headed to our next visit, to Sheilla. Sheilla was so excited to see us. She now calls me Auntie Rylee and I love that. We gave a framed Poloroid to Mama Sheilla and she was very happy to have it. We talked to her about socialization, although she is already very good about taking Sheilla around to do everyday things. Mama Sheilla showed us that she has been doing the play-doh hand exercises and we encouraged her to continue. Sheilla kept waving her hand around and saying something to her mom and her mom would laugh. I asked Susan what they were saying and she started laughing and told me that Sheilla wants to be like me and talk with her hands (apparently I do it super bad). I think she was also kinda making fun of my hand gestures haha. Sheilla performed some songs for us and then we gave her a bracelet with bells on it. We put it on her bad wrist to encourage her to use it, she was way excited and shook her wrist like crazy. When we left for our last visit, to Fiona, Sheilla wanted to come. What a better way to show socialization? She was SOOO well behaved at the visit, I was in total awe. She sat quietly the whole time, she was like a whole new kid. Our visit was fine with Fiona, but she is the most difficult to handle. Mama Fiona wasn’t at our last PWD meeting and so we gave her a brief overview of the lesson. We gave Fiona her bracelet but she wasn’t really interested. As we left Mama Fiona gave us a jackfruit (hooray) and some bananas. It sucked to carry home, but I was still very grateful to her. I gave the jackfruit to the family we live with. They wanted to cut it up and share with us. I told them they weren’t allowed to share with any of us. They had to eat as much as they could and then save whatever they couldn’t finish. I made myself some yummy American chicken noodle soup and then worked on PWD stuff (homevisit updates and prep for the meeting on Thursday). I wrote up the program for the PWD ceremony and then I wrote a letter inviting/asking the mayor to speak. I went to town right before it was going to get dark and picked up a dress and then took it to a tailors to have in taken in (I looked like a circus tent haha). I came back to the house and goofed off with some friends at the house and then enjoyed a yummy dinner (and we actually had meat which I don’t even remember the time I did). We had our weekly team meeting. We discuss the week and different issues affecting the team. We have team bag that is in the house and throughout the week you can leave anonymous comments that are read every Tuesday night. It is often full of many hilarious inside jokes. We also had some sentimental moments talking about experiences that week with locals. We were looking back at the summer, realizing it was our last night with everyone together as a team (3 people were leaving for Kenya/South Africa the next day and then that weekend ½ the team was heading to Gulu and the other half to Murchison Falls; when we come back from the weekend 2^nd wave people start going home). It is so weird to think how fast the summer has flown. I’ve made so many amazing friends that I will never ever ever forget! A few of us stayed up late talking and enjoying the night.

On Wednesday morning I woke up early, but stayed in my bed listening to my iPod for a bit. After breakfast I read the book my mom sent and then worked on more PWD stuff. At 11:00 I went with Stephanie and Katie to the Crane’s School for choir. Steph taught the lesson about rhythm and we started teaching them Take Me Out To The Ballgame. They don’t totally how the song goes just yet, but we’ll get it and it will be SO cute! After the meeting I came straight home. I hadn’t eaten enough breakfast and so I was super light headed. I cooked up some of my mama’s rice and it made me feel much much better. Our guard David came by to visit while I was eating. His contract with us ran out a few days ago and so we’ve had random guards each night. We love him soooo much and have missed him like crazy. He told us he’d hopefully be back within the next few nights. He’s been coming with us to make stoves the past few times. He’s such a hard worker and amazing. It was so fun visiting with him while I ate. I told him that the next day I’d take him to the internet and set up an e-mail account so we can stay in touch with him and send him pictures to remember us. We gave him a few snacks and then he was off to work at another job. At three we went to Hill View Secondary School. I always try to walk there but man that walk is straight up a huge hill (hence the name hill view) and it gets my leg a burnin'. Corbin and Heidi gave a lesson on HIV/AIDS. The lesson was awesome and the kids were asking some really great questions. I got to see my beloved Joe (the one that wrote me the intense love note haha). He's a great kid and always makes me smile. After that I went back to the house. On my way I stopped by Sara's shop and got myself another purse (ah they're SO cute!) I went back to the house and finished writing my speech for the PWD meeting the next day. After dinner the family called and it was wonderous as always. Gosh dang it I love talking to them so much, it just sucks because the time always flies by WAYWAYWAY too quickly! As we were on the phone the power went out. I spent the rest of the night cozied up on a chair reading my book by the light of my classy headlamp.

Thursday morning I got up nice and early so I'd have time to get myself all ready for the meeting. My speech was ready but I was SOOOOOO nervous. Right before we left it started raining. I was bummed and nervous that people wouldn't show. When I arrived at the church (the place where we have our meetings) I was overwhelmed. Everyone came plus tons of visitors, the place was packed. While the mothers sat together, the HELP volunteers occupied the children. I really can hardly even type about the meeting with out getting emotional. I'll have many more details for you when I get home, but it was a beautiful day that I will never forget for the rest of my life. We started with a prayer and then sang the Ugandan national anthem. A few people of those with disabilities in Lugazi spoke. The spoke so highly of us and I was so honored. Faith spoke about how I was sent from God because of my love for those with disabilities and I didn't know quite how to react. My speech went really well. I was very prepared and I said everything I was wanting to say. I tried to express my love to all the children and their families, and I thanked the caregivers for all their hand work. I spoke of many of the wonderful relationships I have personally built with the people I visit. I explained how at the end of the summer the program will continue and the families will never be forgotten. After I spoke it was Sam's turn (the boy I homevisit). There was not a dry eye in the house. He was so happy and adorable. He said that he looks so forward to Thursdays because it is the only day he moves from his house. He sang a song for us and told us how happy he is with his life. he is such a special boy and will ALWAYS have a very special place in my heart. These people are amazing and their joy for life is so contagious. After I spoke the mayor and Mike went around and met with all the children, followed by the mayor addressing everyone. He spoke about how much he loves our program and how much the government needs to step in and help. He made a lot of big promises that I hope he lives up to, it would make a world of difference in the lives of these people. At the end he gave the group 200,000 shilling and a few kilos of sugar. The mothers went mad, yelling out all sorts of praises and hilarious cat callish noises. After he spoke we presented each caregiver with a certificate signed by the mayor, Mike, me and a few others. The certificates were thanking them for their outstanding leadership as caretakers. A few other (Mike, Ashley and some members of town council) spoke after. Everyone did such a phenominal job! The last person to speak was the pastor of the church we meet in. It was beautiful and touched me so deeply. I am finally starting to see the impact we have had here in Uganda. This program has become WAY more than I could have ever hoped for thanks to the hard work of all the volunteers and amazing country directors. I feel so blessed that I was able to be a part of this. After this meeting I know that none of us (HELP volunteers and people of Uganda) will never ever be the same. Something very amazing has happened this summer and I am forever changed. Today was such a major payoff for all the hard work we have put into this program. Ah I just wished I could put into words all the things that I am feeling right now. I tried to take some video so maybe when I get home you can get a small look into the wonderful day I had today.

Yeah I'm Free, Free Fallin'

2008-07-07T00:53:00.000-07:00

On Thursday afternoon I came home from the internet I stopped by Simple Market. The man that works there is named Bosco and we have become great friends. Whenever they run out of something and I want more I just give him a shout out and by the next day bam it’s on the shelf. For the past week he’s been out of these green plastic sacks that I love (instead if you get a lot of stuff he puts it in a bunch of small black bags), each time I ask for them he doesn’t have them and he feels bad, so I stopped asking. When I bought some bananas he got a big smile on his face and said, “Hey Rylee you’re getting a lot of stuff, I think you deserve one of these.” And then he pulled out a nice green bag. It sounds like something so small, but it totally made my day. I love all my random friendship I have made with people here. When I finally got home my spirits were crushed. The power was out, which means no enjoying the delicious rice my momma sent (and you have no idea how much I had been looking forward to it). We all huddled in the living room chatting in the dark. In about 5 seconds the rain started to absolutely pour. I really love the rain, it makes me feel and warm and cozy. Africa basically shuts down in the rain, so most all projects get put on hold until it stops. We all just got to hang-out and listen to the rain (and each other haha). Around 9 Jackie and Ashley came home with a fun surprise for us…..Mike. Mike is the executive director for HELP and he came to spend two weeks with us. We all got way too excited about the idea of a new friend and we swarmed him like crazy. Mike is a smart man and new the best way to make new friend…buy their love. He whipped out a huge bag of chocolate candy and everyone went crazy. Even though I don’t eat sugar I still got oober excited to see American goodies! We all stayed up way later than normal chatting with Mike and enjoying the evening.

On Friday morning I woke up very early due to a lovely crying baby. I can normally tune out all the morning noises but I was struggling big time that day. I finally gave up and went to make breakfast. I read for a bit until everyone else woke up. After I got ready I headed to the mayor’s house to meet up with Leslie and Lauren. Leslie invited me to come on her PWD home visit. Volunteers like Leslie make me so happy I could cry. She has taken the idea of home visits and magnified it times ten hundred. She not only goes to do her visits once a week, she also visits randomly throughout the week to help out. Shafi is a young boy about 14 years old. He is the size of a two of three year old child (he folds up and can be kept in a Bunsen bucket). He is totally unresponsive to any stimulation. Leslie goes and brings bananas to feed him. He is left in bed all day and usually fed only once a day. He often sits in urine or feces all day and so he has massive bed sores. On our visit we mashed up a banana and fed him. He seemed to really enjoy it and he drank water like there was no tomorrow. Although he was unresponsive I felt that he could feel our love for him and I am so glad to know that Leslie is going so far out of the way to make our program actually make a difference here. I am amazed by the response I have gotten from the volunteers towards the Tulabirira program. Everyone is going above and beyond what I had ever imagined and I really feel like we are making a difference. I love working with these amazing people (both my Mzungu and African friends). After our visit we stopped by to see Shem. He makes these amazing oil paintings and I ended up buying one. It may be slightly hard to get home, but it is TOTALLY worth it! We went home and I finally got to enjoy the lovely soup my Momma sent and it was delish (along with a pack of my favorite glucose biscuits for dessert)! After that a few of us girls spent some time taping books (to help them be more durable) for a library we’re constructing at a secondary school. While we were taping Seren busted out a watermelon cause it’s the 4^th of July baby. Each bite was tasted just like an American summer. After some taping I worked on last minute details with Lindsi for teacher training. Our teacher training was at Rimage Primary School. On the way there Jackie and Ashley gave me a wonderous love note from my sweet friend Joe (he’s in my group for secondary schools). It was so sweet (in an obsessive crush kinda way) and for sure made my day! He wrote it on some real romantic paper with roses on it and gave me a heart bracelet. He told me that he is sick with love, he cannot sleep at night, he wants me to “produce his children” haha, and he want to show me three songs he has written for me. He is such a doll and I’m so totally flattered. Love notes could be one of the greatest highlights Africa has to offer. Teaching training went really well. I was super nervous to teach my part, but thanks to some MAJOR help from Lindsi it went pretty well. I had to sneak out a bit early because I had to pee like you couldn’t believe. I ran home soooo fast and barely made it in time. Dinner was just great but the house was super chaotic with so many people. I decided to take a shower to get some alone time. After I got out of the shower some of the people had left for the other house and things had quieted back down. I relaxed the rest of the night away.

On Saturday morning we slept in until about 8:30. After eating breakfast Emily and I headed to Simple Market to meet up with Edith and her Brother Myango. We all boarded a taxi and headed to Mukono. Edith and Myango are brother and sister, she’s 18 and he’s 13. They live in Lugazi with us and help us out SO much everyday. They help us get around and Edith often helps us with laundry. They’re amazing and we’re so lucky to have such great friends. Emily and I decided we’d treat them to a day of fun. We went to Mukono to see their mother (their parents are separated right now). They had been there since January. Their mom was so excited to see us and she made some goodies for us, even though she had almost nothing she couldn’t let us leave empty handed (chapatti, pineapple and pineapple soda). In Uganda when you know a kid you always call their mother mama then the child’s name, so we called her Mama Edith. I think from now on I’m calling my madre Mama Rylee. She told us some stories about Edith and Myango when they were younger and showed us some pictures. Then we went around with town to meet some other relatives (which the kids hadn’t seen since 2000). Her uncle was seriously in the middle of no where and we got laughing so hard because he was wearing a Utah Jazz shirt, ya gotta love it! The sun was unusually hot and I was sweating like a mad woman. We chatted for a bit and then it was time to leave. Hiking back up the hill in such intense heat didn’t help the sweat situation. When we finally got to the taxi park (which was really really far) I got smashed in the middle as far from a window as possible. By this point I literally looked like I’d been swimming (my cloths were absolutely drenched!!!) The Ugandans could tell how miserable I was and had a nice laugh, funny now, but at the time I wanted to scream! After a freakin’ long ride we finally got to Entebbe. I have never been so grateful to get out of a taxi. We sat on the sidewalk for a bit to get back to normal and then we started walking towards Lake Victoria. It is SO beautiful, I wanna go to a lake the minute I get home! On the way we saw some missionaries and stopped to talk to them for a bit. One had gone to BYU and knew some of my friend, what a small world! We were walking down the street and I really needed to go to the bathroom and so we stopped at the LDS church. There was a ton of people there and so we chatted for a bit. There was a missionary couple there from Rexburg and they know uncle Dan and aunt Sandy. Ask them if they know the Stegelmeiers (I don’t know exactly how to spell it). It was so fun to chat with everyone there. I finally got some relief in the bathroom, but it didn’t have a lock, so I for sure got walked in on twice…mmmm that was awesome! After leaving there we headed to the zoo. It was the most ridiculously amazing zoo ever! The animals were all so close to us (like the lion was way close and the only thing between us was a freakin’ chain link fence!) There was so much to see and it was huge. While we were looking at some sort of cat we saw some monkeys. I think they pretty much cage they things they have to and then let the rest run wild. We got surrounded by a ton of monkeys it was awesome. We pulled out a granola bar and started feeding them. They’d come and take the food right out of your hand. I for sure got to hold hands with some monkeys, it was so cool. I have always wanted to touch a monkey, so check there’s another lifelong goal met. We stayed with them for a while because it was so fun. The zoo is right on the beach and they have their own little private section you can go walk around. It smelled like the ocean and it was gorgeous. I can’t get over the scenary at the zoo it was to die for. As always, time flies when you’re having fun. Next thing we knew it was 6:30 and we were starving. We walked around for a bit and found a posh hotel and decided to go grab some grub. I ordered a lovely pizza and the kids went and got so much food. It was so fun treating them to a day of fun. Our food was amazing and I was in heaven! When we finished it was really dark and I was oober nervous. We walked to the town trying to find a taxi. After walking for a bit we finally found one. They took us to Kampala and then dropped us off at the taxi park, which was even more scary. It was HUGE and totally chaotic. After walking around for a bit (holding the kids hand soo tightly) we were able to locate the part heading to Lugazi. We boarded a taxi and I was so glad to be safe in a car. We had another long ride back and Edith ended up getting really car sick and threw up (thankfully after we pulled over). The rest of the way she laid on my lap and I tickled her back. When we got back to Lugazi we walked the kids to their house and apologized for getting them home so late (it was 11:00). He didn’t mind at all. I made Emily hold my hand the entire way to the house (cause I’m a major wuss). I love going one on one with volunteers, it’s so fun to bond. I just love Em so much. When we got home it felt so good to finally be there. I crashed the minute I got back, I was totally beat.

On Sunday morning we all woke up headed to the taxi park to go to church in Jinja. Church was great as always. It was fast and testimony meeting. Our friend Richard (an investigator, he is the headmaster at the orphanage in Iganga). He was so excited and wanted to bear his testimony. He said how much he likes coming to church and how much they need to start a branch in Iganga so he can go. It was so sweet and he was so excited. After church we went to our favorite restaurant, Ginger on Jinja. Of course I got the classic Fandango smoothie and breakfast bagel, which was delicious as always. After eating we headed grabbed some boda-bodas and went on our way to the Bungee tower on the Nile. Tori G. and I were on a boda and nearly died by hitting a goat that ran in front of us. I do quite enjoy a good boda ride. Originally the game plan was to watch every else jump…..oops momma, please don’t hate me :) . After watching a couple people go I knew I couldn’t pass up this amazing opportunity. The tower went right into the Nile and it was so gorgeous! It was 150 feet…ahhhh so HUGE! I paid my money and headed to the tower. I started to get little butterflies as I went up. When I finally got up there I freaked. They put on my ankle harness and walked me to the edge. I stood there shaking and freaking out (like tears started coming) and refused to let go. I bounced back (since my legs were harnessed together) and sat back down. I sat and talked to the jump guy, his name was Greg and he was beautiful. I started flirting to try and get my mind off it. He told me if I’d jump he’d give me a nice butt slap….which was oober tempting! Sweet Trent and Corbin ran all the way up the tower to comfort me and cheer me on. Finally I stood back up and went to the edge. I made sure to NOT look down. I took my hand off and Greg held me. I leaned forward then on the count of three he let go, after a nice butt grab of course (which was for sure caught on film baby haha). I let out the most blood curdling scream and had a total sensory overload. I was flailing around like a dying fish which everyone found quite comical. After the first drop I bounced back up and grabbed the rope…which is pretty much the only rule not to do. After a minute I realized my mistake and let go, thankfully before I got rope burn on my hand. I couldn’t stop screaming. My basketball shorts were way high up and you could see my lovely panties and my shirt was up as well….what a classy gal! The adrenaline was like nothing you could ever imagine and lasted forever, I couldn’t stop shaking. They finally lowered me down after I stopped bouncing. As you lower down there is a raft below you. They hand you an oar, pull you into the raft and then unhook you. I was laughing and shaking in the raft. The Ugandans in the raft couldn’t stop laughing, they said they’d never heard such a loud scream. I had to hike up quite a hill after the jump but with all the adrenaline pumping through me it was like no big deal. I got inside and was met with quite the applause, everyone was SO proud of me!!! No one could believe I did it, not even me! The second jump was half price and the third is free. I couldn’t pass it up…seriously what the heck, who am I….heights are my worst fears ever! Lindsi Sullivan and I decided to go tandem style. Walking up the tower was so scary because I knew what was coming that time. We got up there and got buckled right in, no messing around this time. We walked to the edge, they made us hug (I was hugging so tight that my knuckles were white). We faced each other and then fell off sideways. We hugged so tight, I buried my face right in her chest and we screamed like mad women. Don’t ask me why, but I found it necessary to let go of Lindsi and flail my arms, which scared her even more. It was way more scary and hilarious to go tandem, I freaking love Lindsi more than life itself. Near death experiences have a way a bonding you like none other. When they put us in the raft we couldn’t stop laughing. Some people that wanted to go but didn’t have time and so we’re gonna go another day. Hopefully I’ll get to use my third jump sometime before I leave. The jump totally took it out of me and I was absolutely. When I got home I stuffed my face, you would have thought I hadn’t eaten in days. After a nice shower I went to bed. I slept like crap that night. I kept hearing scary voices outside and I was so terrified, then our power went out. Like always my mind played tricks on me and I was certain someone cut our power and they were going to break in and kill me. I kept saying little prayers and I listened to church hymns for the next 4 or 5 hours, which helped me SO much. Around about 4 a huge storm hit, like one of the biggest yet. Lightening kept lighting up the room every 15 or so seconds, it was amazing. The thunder and rain on the roof was so loud. Usually I’m so scared of storms, but this one actually calmed me down.

I woke up this morning really worn out from the crazy day before followed by a crappy nights sleep. I did some planning for PWDs because we have a huge presentation this Thursday. We are awarding all the caretakers certificates signed by me, Mike (HELP's executive director), the mayor of Lugazi and a few other big people. They will all be staying after to watch my lesson. I am way nervous and so I have a lot of planning to do before then. On my way to the internet I stopped by Shem's to pick up my last art piece from him. It is an oil painting on animal hyde. There is a hut with the sun set behind it, the roof of the hut has actual twigs on it, it is seriously amazing, you'll die when you see it. Well now I'm off to finish my planning, wish me luck!

Mr. Postman Look and See...Is There A Letter, A Letter For Me?

2008-07-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday afternoon could have quite possibly been one of the most exciting days EVER ahhhhhh!!!!! We got a phone call from the post office….you better believe it baby, madre hooked me up BIG TIME! I ran as fast as a Kentucky Derby Horse straight to the post office. I have never been so excited to get something in the mail in my entire life. I’m finally starting to understand why missionaries love packages so much. My sweet mom gave me the most amazing package in the world and I will be forever grateful. We had a little opening ceremony because Lauren, Heidi, Ashley and I all got packages. I got some rice packet (all you have to do is add hot water), some dry soup mixes, a book from my favorite author (Stephanie Meyer), a fatty stack of my favorite granola bars and then a million crystal lights (like we’re talking I can have 3 everyday til I leave….and I hate the water here so I’ll actually be able to drink now HOORAY!!!!) Ah I’m the luckiest girl, I still get all jittery thinking about it! When I came home I was in quite the giving mood so I took a granola bar out to Irene and she loved it. Our dinner was amazing that night, spaghetti Africa style. It wasn’t like normal spaghetti but I actually really enjoyed it. We had lots of new things and they were all just wonderful! We had a bunch of team meetings to get things set for the week and figure out the game plan for Mike (HELP International’s new executive director that is coming to visit us). After the team meeting I typed up a few things for PWDs and then we each had personal meeting with the country directors to set our weekly SMART goals. We were all a bit high strung after all the meeting and so we were going slightly crazy. My girl Emily knows me all to well and so she turned on some Coldplay for me to jam to, what a pal. Of course I couldn’t help but stand up and dance for everyone. I was going crazy and everyone was laughing so hard and then yep my flip flop twisted and I fell right on my face, kinda hard. A mixture between being loopy and watching me fall caused everyone to laugh so hard that most all were in tears. It was awesome!

On Wednesday morning we had to get up super early (like 5:45 early…ugh!) 11 of us headed to the taxi park and we were off to Kampala. We had been asked to go to a school to assist in some medical things with 200 children (most of which were orphaned). We got to Kampala and then switched taxis. We thought we were almost there but no, oh no we were horribly wrong. The next hour and a half was spent on the bumpiest dirt road and it was rather miserable. When we finally got there I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough. There were so many kids and they were SO cute! They organized all of us volunteers into stations. One group was giving vaccinations, one was distributing vitamins and de-worming pills, one was administering HIV tests and the last was recording the children’s stories and taking photos (to try and get some sponsers for the children). I was assigned to the recording group. Some of the volunteers played games to occupy the kids that weren’t at a station. They had a brilliant idea to play duck duck goose. After a while the headmaster told them they should stop because most all the kids have a head fungus that is very contagious, haha all the funny things you don’t think of. I sat in the same spot for 5 hours straight writing like a madwoman. I asked questions through a translator to the child’s guardian and heard some of the saddest stories you could imagine. I was totally overwhelmed with emotions. We were right next to the vaccination room and it was so hard hearing all the kids screaming (especially because I am the biggest wuss ever when it comes to shots). We had a bit of a scare during the day. Corbin is a CNA and so he was assisting in drawing blood for the HIV tests. After drawing blood he got bumped and the needle pricked his finger. He tried to squeeze out the blood and sanitize it. They grabbed the vile of blood from the woman and immediately and tested it three times for AIDS. After a few nail-biting minutes all the tests came up negative. They rushed Corbin away to the hospital near Entebbe to test for other blood borne diseases and to give him some anti-viral pills just to be safe. We took all the right precautions and everything turned out okay thank goodness. The rest of the day was chaotic but very productive. It was quite an emotional day and very exhausting. We were too busy to even stop to eat so finally at 4:30 we got to eat lunch. Unfortuantely it was cassava…and I don’t do cassava. Instead I enjoyed a nice granola bar care of Kathy Scott :) We had to wait about 45 minutes for our taxi to come back for us and then it was back in the taxi for another wonderous ride. We stopped at a grocery store on the way to get snacks. I grabbed a water and a delicious apple. We finally got home around 8:15 and we were all absolutely pooped. Irene had a yummy dinner waiting for us and I couldn’t wait to dish up. Then something equally as awesome happened. The fam called…hooray. I got to eat and chat with the family, for sure the best of two worlds. I had so much to tell them and the time went by way too fast. I can’t believe we only have two more phone calls left, nuts! I can’t wait to see the fam. After my lovely call we cleaned up the house for a bit since Mike was coming the next day. Then a few of us stayed outside chatting outside the rest of the night away.

This morning we had our weekly PWD meeting. Tori B. and Emily taught a lesson on socialization. They did great. At the end each mother took a Poloroid with their child. We’re going to frame them this week and then give them to them at our next meeting. The mothers were so excited, many of them have no photos at all. The children were a bit crazy but it went well. I love those kids so much. It is also so fun for me to watch the volunteers having fun with the kids, especially the boys. It seriously melts my heart. I love that group to death. One the mentally handicapped girls named Sheilla had quite the encounter with me. She is SOO strong, like way strong. I was in front of the mothers getting something out of my bag and she came up behind me and latched onto my chach….yeah sorry for those of you that aren’t family, I don’t really know a better way to phrase it. She kept squeezing and wouldn’t let go. All the mothers were laughing and I felt so akward and didn’t know quite what to do. Finally she let go and ran off, o man I had quite a good laugh about it with our volunteers afterwards haha! After I finish here I get to go home and have a delicious bowl of Lipton Rice care of guess who...only my dear sweet mother!

I Wanna Be A Cowboy Baby

2008-07-01T02:37:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had a yummy lunch at Nando’s. It was basically like a food court you’d find at a mall. I had a great chicken pita with rice. As I was walking along the street I found a little bakery and I decided to get myself a croissant (as many of you know I’m a carb addict and good bread is almost impossible to come by in Africa). It was quite was I was expecting, but it was still delicious. It was basically a normal roll folded up like a croissant haha. It definitely put a smile right on my face. After a long taxi ride home we found all our Tanzania friends. They had all gotten home safely. While it was nice having a little more space at home, we really missed our friends and it feels great having them back. They told us all sorts of fun stories. I’m sad I wasn’t able to go!
On Sunday morning we all got ready to go to church and headed to Mukono. We normally go to the church in Jinja, but we were spending the day in Kampala and Mukono is on the way. We went to church and it was great as ever. After church we got back in the taxi, stopped to grab some snacks (some yummy glucose biscuits and an apple) and then headed to Kampala. We were heading to the U.S. embassy 4th of July party (on the 29th of June….we’re still not sure about the decision for the date). It was supposed to be at some resort called the ARA. Too bad we absolutely couldn’t find it and we drove around for about an hour trying to locate it. Our taxi drivers had no clue where we were going, and neither did we, or any of the locals we asked for directions. Finally we found it and we were SO excited. It was seriously like heaven…not even joking! I basically spent a night back in the USA. When we first got there we sat by the pool with our feet in the pool sipping some Diet Cokes. They had some tennis courts and I wished the fam had been there so we could play tennis and then go jump in the pool, shoot we gotta go on a vacation when I get back! After chillin’ by the pool we found a legite sand volleyball court and had SO much fun. After playing for a while we got wind that food was ready and then before you could even blink your eyes the court was cleared out. It was a real true blue BBQ and SOOOO amazing. I had a hamburger, potato salad, coleslaw and oooh my gosh it was beyond my wildest dreams. After dinner we got some classy tats, I got a lovely butterfly and a picture of good old Washington. We all laid out some blankets on the grass and then played the dancing game. After a bit an acrobatic team came and did some entertainment for us. They were ridiculously awesome. After the acrobats we cut a birthday cake for America. I was all about the dessert table because they had all you can eat watermelon (the classic summer American fruit) and pineapple. After desserts we all went back to our blankets and watched a wonderful fireworks show (it wasn’t quite up to par with Silver King’s fireworks show, but it still made me feel at home). We stayed and danced out on the grass for a bit after the fireworks. Our group is freaking amazing and we were totally the life of the party, I love us SO much!!
On Monday morning a big group of us that didn’t go to Tanzania decided we should use one of our vacation days. I love that HELP International makes this such a well balanced summer. When we work, we work hard and when we play we play like crazy. I love that they allow us a few vacation days to bond as a team and rejuvenate ourselves. We all got to sleep in and then our taxi came to pick us up to go to Jinja for a nice horseback riding sesh on The Nile. We were getting kinda nervous on the way there. The road was so long, bumpy and overgrown with plants. We were nervous about what kind of horses we’d be riding (if they were anything like the rest of the livestock in Uganda they’d be skinny, mangy, and smelly). Finally out of nowhere we arrive at this little jungle oasis with about 25 stables and the most gorgeous, huge horses you’ve ever seen. I was in total awe. The couple that got us ready was the cutest couple from New Zealand (TJ and Natalie). They have the coolest lives and it was so fun talking to them while we got things ready. We got all done up with the dorkiest riding helmets and then they assigned us to our horses. They asked who knew how to ride and of course I’m all talk and so I was like, “oh hey I ride all the time”. They had two advanced horses and so they gave one of those to me. He was one of the biggest horses that loves to be in the front, so I knew we’d get along just great. His name was Ghost and I loved him so much, we totally bonded. They had some locals hop on horses and they were our guides. Our guide in the front that I talked with most of the time was named David. The entire ride I couldn’t get over the fact that I was actually doing this. It was out of this world. We rode through the jungle, went through a village (and the locals were going absolutely nuts when they saw us), we went up a huge hill and at the top there was the most amazing view of the Nile, and then when we got to the bottom of the hill we were right close by Bujagali Falls. The weather was absolutely perfect. We did get a little hot at times which made for some real nice butt crack sweat….mmm so hot! Every few minutes they kept moving the horses to a trot to keep it exciting (although my butt bones are hating me now. However, I must admit I’ve got quite the form when it comes to trotting and after Cabo I think the fam would most certainly agree with me!) Who would have ever thought I’d be horseback riding in Africa, what the heck…I love my life. After our stop they asked if there was anyone that felt comfortable enough to go fast on the horses. I was all for that and so me, Kelsi, David, DJ, and Seren went. Here are the directions they gave us: Wrap your ankles around the belly, keep your weight down, hold the mane if necessary, and most importantly keep you’re a** in the saddle. I’ll be honest this made me quite nervous, but also extremely stoked. Then next thing I knew we took off. The horses were running like crazy and it was the biggest rush. I was holding Ghost’s mane and hugging him so tight, I could totally feel all his muscles while he ran. I can’t even explain how amazing it was. We slowed down on the way back to the stables to get the horses heart rates down. When we got back we talked to the couple again and they told us about an amazing safari that we may try to go on in the next couple of weekends. They were awesome and hopefully they’re gonna hook us up for a rad safari! We loaded back in our taxi and we were all dead and sitting on our butts was rather painful. Since we were in Jinja, of course we went straight to our favorite restaurant (Ginger on Jinja). I’m now to the point where I don’t even need a menu, I always get a breakfast bagel and a large Fandango (basically a pina colada but all fruit). I love that place but when you’re starving it can be quite frustrating, as it took well over an hour to get our food. As always however, it was worth the wait. After lunch we went shopping again and I got some fun stuff that I cannot wait to show you guys! We left Jinja around 6:30 and all of us were absolutely and completely DEAD…ah who knew horseback riding took so much out of you! We came home and ate a little and then crashed for the rest of the night (after I took a much needed shower, gosh I’m such a dirtball!).

This morning after doing a nice load of laundry, Tori and I headed off for our home visits. Our first visit was to Sam and it was amazing and so fun. We made a bracelet for him with bells on it (he loves things that make noise since he can't see). We also gave him some play-doh and he kept telling us how he's going to have his friends come over so he can show them and they'd all be jealous haha. We played patty-cake which sounded awesome with his new bracelet. Our meeting with his mother went well and I just love her so much! She offered us jackfruit (mmmm you know I love that) but I told her to keep it and give it to Sam. She felt bad giving us nothing, but I would have felt worse taking anything from the little she has. It was such a fun and uplifting way to start that day...ahh I love that boy way too much! Next we went to visit Sheilla. Her mother is by far my favorite of all the mothers we've met. When I came in I went to shake her hand and she started laughing and pushed it away and gave me a big old hug. She gets so excited to see us, ah I just love it. Sheilla was doing really well. We gave her mom some play-doh to use in working with Sheilla. Sheilla has one hand that she doesn't use and the muscles are atrophying. We gave her the play-doh and she has to use it with Sheilla twice a day, but Sheilla can only use her right hand (the bad one). We're hoping this will motivate her to strengthen her hand. The last house we went to was Fiona. We kept saying how much we wished it would rain (it hasn't in over 2 weeks and it get SOOOO dusty, when a car drives by you literally cannot breathe). Just as we get close to the house a downpour starts and so we ran in as fast as we could. Man it was coming down like you wouldn't believe and we had leaky tin roof over our head. You seriously couldn't even hear the person sitting next to you in was SOOOO loud!! We ended up sitting in silence til the rain let up. She offered us some tea and we felt really bad, but we had to refuse (yeah member that whole word of wisdom thing, it can make some situations very akward. thank goodness the mother was pretty cool about it) Finally about 1/2 hour later we were able to start the home visit. It went really well until the end. Fiona had a massive scab on her arm and she ripped it off. Blood is something I don't do in America, let alone here in Africa. O gosh I freaked. She tried to start climbing on me and it was making me super nervous. I held her away with her good arm and then Tori and I grabbed our stuff, said goodbye to the mother and then got out of there as fast as we could. I felt awful leaving so abruptly, but blood is something I refuse to mess around with here. Minus a few glitches in the day, I felt very successful and productive. Now I'm back to the house for a little lunch.

I Love The Internet In Kampala

2008-06-28T03:28:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd start with some random pictures I haven't had time to upload (I'm in Kampala and the internet is fast here)

This is one of the adobe stoves we make. We teach people to make them and then they teach others and on and on, it's great and these stoves are awesome. They save lots of firewood and move smoke away from where the people cook. This one is the grandmother from PWDs on Thursday that kept giving me passion fruit and necklaces.On Thursday late afternoon a group of us went to Nmango. We always walk to get our exercise and wow it gets me every time! We taught an English class to a women’s group. This week we taught basic business words like buy, sell, how much, etc. It was fun and my favorite part was that we were in the shade and there was a slight breeze which felt absolutely amazing! On our way home our favorite little girl was waiting for us. Her name is Patricia and she is about two an she’s is the cutest little buggar you could ever imagine. We call her grandma gorilla because that’s kinda what she looks like but I tell you she’s the cutest grandma gorilla I’ve ever seen. For the past few days our sink had been leaking like crazy. I know shock of the century, something not working in Africa. This wouldn’t be such a huge deal, except that we have to conserve water like crazy so we don’t run out. We had the plumber come and he fiddled for a bit and then said he’d go to Kampala and buy a new part we needed and come back the next day. About ½ hour after he left we discovered that his fiddling caused a major leak and the whole bathroom was flooded. We tried to mop it up the best we could and put a bucket under the sink to catch the rest. We called him and he came back to fix that. He said he’d finish the rest when he got the part the next day. We all had dinner together and attempted planning our weekend (which can be difficult with 16 opinions and so many great options). We all went to bed pretty early because we had an early morning the next day.
On Friday morning I got up bright and early at 6:00 am. After eating some breakfast, 6 of us headed to the taxi park to go to Iganga. We had a nice long ride (made so much easier thanks to my iPod). We had planned on helping plant some tomatoes when we got there, but since it hasn’t rained in so long there, the heat would kill off anything we’d try to grow. Instead we just spent the day with the kids. This is a picture of a mural we made with the kids a while back (it's now dry and hanging up on the wall)We made some puppets with brown paper bags. They went to town and as always they loved the craft. I spent most of the time holding Precilla. She is my favorite and right now she is very sick with malaria. All she wants is to be held and to cuddle up to you, which I am always all about. After our puppets dried we did a show for the kids. We tried to do The Three Little Pigs, but our interpreters had gone to market so the kids didn’t get much of the story (they know almost no English). They still thought it was funny and had fun watching it. After the show we played some games and with the parachute (which got out of hand pretty quick, I’m starting to become slightly against using parachutes, kids go nuts and someone always gets hurt). After spending most of the morning and afternoon there it was time to head home. On the way we stopped at a small restaurant (I guess that’s what you’d call it, it was more like a cement room with two table and 10 plastic chairs). We all got a little lunch. I ordered rice, beans and a bottled water. The plate of rice was hilarious. It was a huge dinner plate absolutely heaping with rice (like enough for at least 2 or 3 people) and then a big old soup bowl full of beans. I was way thirsty so I chugged my water the minute I got it, only to find out after it was finished that yep it was definitely another wax bottle…awesome I really hope I don’t get sick this time. We had a great time sitting and relaxing at lunch and in the end it put me out a whole .90 cents (I don’t think I’ll ever get over how cheap things are here). We got back on the taxi for another joyful two hour ride. We got back to the house, got things ready for a women’s group and then we were off again. Amber, the girl normally in charge of women’s groups, is in Tanzania right now. We walked around FOREVER trying to remember where the women’s group was. Only one of us had been to this group before and it was two weeks before. We thought we’d be able to find it easily, but then we remember all of Africa looks the same: dirty, dusty windy roads, lined with run down shacks. After almost an hour we found the group, but most of the women (including our translator) had forgotten we even had a meeting. It was useless and so we did our best to communicate that we’d just come back the next week. We talk to the translator later and he told us that he’d get all the women together on time for next week. Hopefully we’ll have better luck next time, what can ya do, ya win some, ya loose some. We came home and our plumber was finishing up the sink so we have a working sink again, yahoo. We had dinner and then relaxed around the house. I finished a real great book called Digital Fortress (Mom, remember when you and I got hooked on Dan Brown books (Da Vinci Code and Angels And Demons). This is another of his books and was a total page turner.) There is nothing better than a good book.

This morning we got to sleep in...heavenly. Well I actually couldn't really sleep in but I still just laid in my bed and listened to my iPod. We ate breakfast and planned our day. We've headed here to Kampala and we're gonna do internet stuff for a bit and then go to a restaurant called Nandos (it's Americanish and supposed to be super good, I hope so!) After that we may try to go to Lake Victoria or to see some waterfalls, who knows? Let's be honest it doesn't totally matter what we do...we're in Africa, everything here is cool!

Hey one last bonus. So these computers are really being so cooperative today and so I tried to upload a video and guess what....it worked!!!!! Ah I'm so happy right now! This video is kinda old but still it's for sure one of my favorites. This is Sam, the boy I home visit. He is twelve and in this video we're practicing English and Luganda. Love you guys, enjoy!

Merry 1/2 Christmas To All And To All A Good Night

2008-06-26T01:32:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night I found quite the unpleasant surprise. My water bottle that I bought a few days ago was one of the dreaded wax bottles, which is probably why my stomach has been killing me. A wax bottle means that someone pierced a hole in the bottom of the bottle, drained out the water, refilled it with tap water (aka not clean water), and then covered the hole with wax. I got it from a pretty legit store so now I’m super nervous and will check every bottle I buy from now on! We had a yummy dinner but poor Irene is very sick with Malaria right now. We told her she didn’t need to come the next night, but she wouldn’t hear of it. When everyone left to Deo’s (the other house) for the night those of us still in the original house had a fun little girls night because the boys that live in our house are all in Tazania. Some of the girls made some pretty intense sugar cookies that smelled delicious. We stayed up til about one talking and laughing our heads off, it was so fun!
On Wednesday morning during breakfast we drew names for our Christmas party. I’m not sure if you knew but Wednesday, June 25th is the exact half-way mark to Christmas baby! We decided it would be super fun to celebrate our own little Christmas (decorate the house, exchange gifts and all that good stuff). After eating, 6 of us went to the Crane’s school to do our choir/drama class. On the way there we witnessed something that is some normal here, but it makes me sick to see. A girl about ten years old was in front of her house, her parents were both up in her face screaming and her father was caning her SO hard. We could hear the cane way before we got there and for way too long after we passed. She was absolutely sobbing and her father was hitting her so hard that the stick kept breaking so he’d find bigger ones. I hate that abuse is such a huge part of these children’s lives. I’m so grateful I was able to grow up in a loving home with such an amazing family. When we got to Crane’s Katie was the lead teacher and she did wonderfully. The kids love listening to her sing (and so do I, she’s amazing!) When we got home we decided to have some fun with the neighborhood kids. We cut out all sorts of letters and made signs to send to people at home. They were so cute and it was so fun. This sign is special for Grandpa D (I know it’s kinda late, but please make sure he’s sees this somehow and know how much I love him!) This sign is a special shout out to everyone at home. I love you guys so much, you are the best and I miss all of you like crazy!!! At 2:30 we headed to Hill View High School. That walk is such a killer…o man I’ll be in shape in no time…except not really cause I’m gaining weight…awesome! Our activity was so much fun. I love those kids so much. We played some fun bonding games like the human knot, a rope game and all that fun stuff. They loved it and we had so much fun. After that we headed to St. Edwards for our orphan day. On the way my favorite little girl (we call her Oprah because she looks JUST like her) grabbed my hand and walked with me. We played some games with the kids and then played with parachute. They love that parachute so much but shoot it creates so much dust…grosso! We came home and had some yummy dinner (sweet Irene never lets us down, even when she’s sick!) After dinner the parentals called and it made my night so wonderful! We had such a great connection which makes phone calls about eight hundred times better. It is always so good to hear from home, such great a way to lift your spirits. I love my parent so much! When I came back inside it was time for the Christmas celebrations. We played Christmas music and played some nice Christmas tunes. I had Emily’s name. I made her a nice stocking fill with Éclairs (chocolate rolled in caramel), a bag of corn nuts and a nice little back massager. I’d like to share this lovely poem I wrote for her:
Twas the night before the half-way mark of Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a cockroach (on your face!) All the HELP volunteers were tucked snug in their beds (with princess style mosquito nets) while thoughts of American sweets danced in their heads. The gate shook with such a clatter and Emily awoke to see what was the matter (because she was a Country Director for the week). To her surprise what did appear, but Abdul in a red taxi with 8 tiny reindeer. He laughed and his gut shook like a bowl full of jelly. Dear Emily wondered why Uganda was so smelly. Abdul’s cheeks went as red as a cherry and he grabbed her hand and wished her a ½ Christmas so Merry! Love- Ryari
Dan had my name and hands down wins for the greatest gift on the planet. I haven’t laughed that hard in forever. He for sure gave me a real nice bong. As I was posing for some pictures with the pipe in my mouth he informed me that the black man that sold it to him had his mouth all over it as well…sweet! Mandy you should probably tell Dusty to look at this blog entry, I feel like he’d be very proud of me haha! I’m so stoked that I’ll have a classy African pipe on my dresser forever! Everyone loved their gifts and it was so much fun. Our team was in need of something fun like this to boost up the mood. After presents we baked banana bread and sugar cookies. I have no clue how they are able to make such great treats with such a crappy selection of ingredients but mmmm it makes the house smell delicious! I really think that we should make this whole ½ Christmas thing official, it was freaking amazing!

This morning we had our PWD meeting. Kelsi and DJ taught a lesson on physical care and hygiene, the mothers loved the lesson. Whitski, I finally gave away all those whale toothbrushes that were at our house forever. We gave them to the mothers for their children, along with some toothpaste. They were so excited. The cutest woman who is crippled comes to our meeting. She is about 24 and soooo sweet. She made me a paper bead necklace, earrings and a bracelet. She gave them to me as a gift, but I couldn't just accept so I tried to give her the little money I had on me. She was very excited. We had a new mother come today (well she was actually the grandmother, but she cares for the baby). The baby is about 2 and very handicapped. She has hydroencephaly so her head is very big and she is very mentally unaware of most everything, but she loves to laugh. I sat and talked to her grandmother forever. She actually spoke a little English. She kept saying how god blessed her to bring us into her life and how special we are. I kept hugging her and telling her how grateful we are that the little girl has such a special person to care for her. Throughout the meeting the grandmother kept giggling and coming to give me a hug and she'd slip things into my hand. By the end I had two passion fruits and a beautiful paper bead necklace. These people are amazing and want to give you everything they have. I tried to find a little more money to give her but I didn't have much on me. I will never get over the generosity of these wonderful people. We also had a new guy attend the meeting that wants to join our team of caretakers. After the meeting I went with Faith to her house. I picked up my wall hangings from Shem. They turned out beautiful and I can't wait to show all of you at home. I chatted with them for a while and then Shem walked me to the internet cafe. As we were walking he wanted to talk to me about my mom. (I told him you liked to paint mom) He wanted me to have you come here and lecture at his school and then he'd teach you African art. I told him that you would love to come to Africa but that it is very expensive and you work all the time and you care for you grandson all the time. I tried explained how hard it would be. He was sad that you can't come, but I told him to keep up his painting and to never give up because he is so talented. Now I'm here at the internet for a bit and then I'll be back to the house to work on some PWD stuff.

FHE Jinja Style

2008-06-24T03:34:00.001-07:00

On Monday I was slightly nauseous most all day. At 4 David, Ashley Ward, Lauren and I went to Jinja. We met with the Young Single Adults at the church for family home evening. I love them so much and this is one of my favorite things to do here in Africa (I know I have many favorites, but any work with young adults is my favorite!) I have so many new friends at church and I love it. I love how open and loving all the people are here. The minute you meet the young girls they become your new best friend and always hold your hand, hug you, and they are so touchy. These are my kind of people. I also have crushes on all the young boys (too bad they’re all about 15 years old). We started with some hymns, a nice spiritual thought and then we played some fun games. We played a fun cup game and then musical chairs. (This is Pheobe, me and Fatuma playing musical chairs) They got so into musical chairs, that game is way underrated. They were dancing like crazy when the music was playin’ and it was every man for himself when it stopped. At the end once again they tried to give us all the refreshments, they are too sweet. We had a nice ride home and I sat next to the cutest girl named Shakira. We played for a bit and then I fell asleep. I awoke to something tickling my bumcheek and I freaked. I jumped right out of my chair and swatted at the chair (I thought for certain there was a mouse or creepy bug)….nope it was just Shakira. She was breastfeeding on her mom who I was squished into and she was playing with my bum while she ate haha. When we got home I was still not feeling the best and I had no appetite (wow I know that NEVER happens). I was sitting on the couch feeling kinda sick when our guard David came to the door and said someone was at the gate for me. I was kinda confused so I went out to see who it was. It was my good friend Ivan (that 15 year old boy that hangs out with us a lot). He had bought me some maize again and came by to give it to me. I talked to him for a bit, what a sweet boy! I took it inside and I was so sad. For the first time in my African history I passed up maize because the thought of eating made me wanna hurl. Everyone else was pretty happy I couldn’t eat it though haha. I went to bed fairly early that night but I didn’t sleep very well. At about 4:30 I woke and couldn’t go back to sleep. I sat in my bed until 8 listening to my iPod and contemplating my life.

When I got out of bed I had a little bit of an appetite so I was able to eat a small breakfast. At 10 Kelsi and I went to do some PWD homevisits. The first house we went to was Sam. AHHHH I’m so in love with that boy and he has the greatest mother in the world! We talked for a bit, set some goals and played with Sam. He is so stinking cute! He is so lucky because his mom loves him so much and she is so good him. Then right as we were about to leave Sam had a really bad seizure. This was one of the hardest things I’ve ever witnessed. We were totally helpless and just had to sit and watch him suffer. Both Kelsi and I could not hold back our tears. After he finished Sam was exhausted and very embarrassed. I wish he could go to America and get the right treatments to make his life more comfortable. Seriously this boy is so smart and could really be something huge at home, but here his situation seems so hopeless and it kills me. Our next visit was to Sheilla. She is quite a handful. She is severly mentally handicapped and has so much energy. She loves when we come over and so does her mother. It is fun to visit all these cute families. Next we went to Fiona’s house. This was our first time visiting her house. Her mother was so grateful to have us there. After our little visit she gave us a jackfruit to take home. (This is Susan (my caretaker), me and Fiona's mother. Jackfruits are seriously the weirdest looking things and they taste like butt) Jackfruit makes me so totally sick, even just the smell of it. It was so much for her to offer us and I felt kinda bad taking it, but she would have been more offended if I hadn’t. These people are so amazing and want to give you everything they have. We took the fruit home and gave it to the family we live with. They were so excited (Africans LOVE jackfruit!) I'm just about to head home now and work on my lesson that I have to give in PWDs in two weeks and also work on stuff to do at my homevisits next weeks.

The Best Part of Wakin' Up...Cockroach Surprise

2008-06-23T03:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday afternoon we enjoyed ourselves very much in Kampala. We saw some super creepy movie with Mark Wahlberg. They only had two movies to choose from so we voted for the scary one. I’m such a wuss and so I was freakin’ out the entire movie. The poor people next to me may have permanent claw marks in their arms from me. After the movie we walked around some of the shops and I bought myself a real nice crisp apple (haven’t had one of those in forever). We left Kampala around 4:30. The ride was long and when we got home our driver tried so hard to rip us off. He was giving us a different price than we had agreed on when we got in the taxi. Usually they are pretty fair but every now and again they try to give you the Mzungu price. Thank goodness we’ve been here so long that we now how things are supposed to go and so we don’t let them take advantage of us. We were totally haggling over about 60 cents, kinda pathetic but that’s kinda what Uganda does to you. At the house I helped Irene with some last minute dinner stuff, mmm I love Auntie Irene. I decided to take a video of our house that night to show you guys when I get home. I love our sweet little home sweet home and can’t wait to show it to you! We all got ready for bed and then watched John Q on our projector. We’ve been on a bit of a movie kick the past few days and I’m definitely diggin’ it.

On Sunday morning we all got up nice and early and headed to the taxi park. We all went to church in Jinja. (This is me and Kelsi walking into Sacrement meeting) I love it there so much, it feels like home. (this is our cute little church, they take SUCH good care of it, it is beautiful!) People recognize me and remember my name so it’s kinda like a mini family. I went to young women’s instead of relief society and I love those girls so much. My friend Fatuma was there and I promised her I’d go to the YSA family home evening on Monday. She’s a doll and I just love her so much. After church we walked to town and to our favorite restaurant Ginger on Jinja (the place with the amazing pina coladas). It was delicious and made me smile real big! We walked around town and I got a few random things for people at home. I wish I was a millionaire because I seriously want to buy like everything I see! We absolutely wore ourselves out and then headed home (after I got some maize of course). My taxi ride home was amazing. The taxi was full and so the door-guy asked me to sit up front. I was kinda nervous but it was the best thing that has happened to me. There was SO much leg room, an open window right by me, and no one squishing me…total heaven. I’m gonna call shot gun no battle EVERYTIME from now on! We got home and all showed each other all the fun stuff we got in Jinja. Dinner was just about ready when we came home and I seriously made myself sick eating. I wasn't even hungry because of my huge lunch, but I still shoved my face full of food. Ugh I was sick the rest of the night. Auntie Irene stayed with us for much of the night chit-chatting and then we tried to watch a movie with her, but we couldn't get it to work. Leslie, Tori and I spent the rest of the night in a back room not attached to the house (where Irene does much of the cooking) catching up on each others lives. Since we don't live in the same house anymore we don't get to chat as much. I miss those girls, they are the best. I'm so lucky, I have made some of the greatest friends ever!

Around about 4:30 am Monday morning we woke up to two screaming girls (Emily and Seren). Both had cockroaches crawling on them in bed (Emily's had been on her face....GROSS). You can't even begin to imagine how hilarious it was, all of us girls freakin' out, half asleep, trying to catch two cockroaches. We only caught Emily's and so Seren slept the rest of the night in Emily's bed. The rest of the night was basically shot and no one got much sleep because we couldn't stop thinking what might be in the rest of our beds. At about 9 we went to the Crane school to start observing teachers for our teacher training. I was in a P3 class. My teacher was a black clone of Sean Philipoom (looks and actions) it was so trippy! I had a great time but also found many useful tips for more effective teaching. Schools are so different here. To sharpen their pencils the students share straight edged razors (kids should not be using these huge sharp razors), there is very little excitement like visual aids etc., all they do is lecture and copy from the blackboard. I was kinda intimidated because they assume that since I'm white that I am all knowing. While the students were working on exercises the teacher came back and showed me his lessons plans and asked me what to do differently. He kept telling the students how lucky they were to have me there and I was very honored but also a little embarrassed. We'll be going there a few more times this week and then at the end of the week we'll be presenting a teacher training based off what we see. Now I'm headed back home to get some lunch.

Fun In Kampala

2008-06-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd throw in a picture of Shem (Faith's son that is making the wall hanging) so you could see my new eye candy :)
We lost water Friday night and didn’t have it basically all day on Thursday. In the afternoon we went to our women’s group and finished their stove (which involves making the chimney and cementing the top). I got nice and dirty mixing cement and stacking bricks. I love manual labor because it is so fun to get your hands dirty and at the end you can actually see that you’ve accomplished something that will really help the people. We came home and there was still no water which made us feel kinda grosso, but it’s all good. We were all absolutely starving from a hard day’s work and so seeing Irene’s beautiful face made our day complete. Dinner was great except that we lost power when we were in the middle of eating, but hey water came back so pick your battle. I ran right to the tub, rolled my shorts right up and washed my feet mmmm nice and clean. (Please note the sexy tan line I’m acquiring, ah what a hot momma!) After cleaning up dinner we all packed into the living room and watched Juno projected on a screen, such good times! I love that movie! Randomly during the night there was a lovely dogfight that woke me up around 3 am and I couldn’t fall back asleep for the life of me. Thank heavens for my iPod to drown out lovely African noises (I’m getting to the point where normally I can sleep through mot everything, but wow this place is SO noisy 24/7).

This morning I woke up, ate breakfast and then we went to the Cranes School to teach a music class. There was about 50 kids packed into the little room for our lesson. Katie played some fun games to teach them about drama. Stephanie taught about music appreciation. She played all sorts of different music to them to show the different emotions that music can give you. We played them some Dixie Chicks, Disney theme songs, and tons of others. It was so fun to watch their faces during the music, they were lovin’ it and many couldn’t keep from dancing. After Steph finished her lesson they stood up and did a little performance for us. They were absolutely amazing! They sang a ton of songs for us and it was so fun to watch. I think we are going to start going there every Wednesday morning for the rest of the summer. On our way home it started pouring (rainy season was supposed to end the last week of May…yep not true, the only thing that has happened it that it has gotten SO much hotter this past week). When we came back to the house to eat lunch we found there was no water again, hooray! I was sent on an errand to go to market and print some papers for our teacher training later that day. We went to a teacher training at Pastor Francis’s house (the headmaster). We had 6 teachers there and they loved it. We taught them about how vital their role is and that they’re teaching tomorrow’s leaders of Uganda and the world. It was so empowering and went amazingly. We came home and I seriously get so ridiculously excited for dinner. I can’t focus on anything at the end of the day all I want is food! Once I get fed I instantly get tired…I’m so pathetic I for sure live meal to meal to meal to bed! We had a little meeting to prep us for the week, 10 people (including both country directors) are going to Tazania for an entire week. There’s only going to be 14 of us left is the house which will actually be kinda nice, but also we’ll have SO much to do to keep things running smoothly. They also informed us that town counsel has been getting complaints about us walking and eating. Apparently it’s super super impolite to walk while you eat and we do it ALL the time (we love to eat at the street vendors and the food is best while its still hot, also we’re like always in a hurry). I’m becoming a local these days. I eat at street vendor, brush my teeth with sink water (we’re not supposed to but I figure I don’t swallow any so I’m just fine), and so much more. Surprisingly my body is handling this madness well and I’m becoming Ugandan more and more each day! We watched Mean Girls that night on the sheet, I love having a projector SO much!

This morning a huge chunk of the team left for Tanzania. We'll miss them, but I'm kinda excited to have less people in the house. We didn't have electricity this morning so we couldn't get out of the house fast enough. 11 of us decided to go to Kampala for the day. Of course the first thing we did was go straight to our favorite restaurant (The Butcher Shop). I got the best chicken salad sandwich and salad bar and TWO coca-cola lights yum yum yum! I was kinda sad when it was all gone, but man did it taste good! Now we're just chillin' on the internet here (which is so much faster than at home). I think in a little bit we're gonna go to the theater and see some new scary movie that just came out. I love Kampala it's just like a little slice of American heaven!

Feet, ugh!

2008-06-19T01:38:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday afternoon we went to Lugazi Hillview High. Leslie and Lauren taught a lesson on Goal Setting. The kids were pretty interactive and their lesson went really well. Steven (one of the instructors we know really well) was so helpful and loved our lesson. After the lesson we walked to St. Edwards for our weekly orphans group. It’s a great group, but sometimes it is SO exhausting. I know that the kids really love it so it makes us feel good. We got absolutely covered in dirt and were all feeling disgusting. I took a little shower before dinner (I actually have been getting better about showering more frequently so I hopefully I won’t smell too bad when I get home). I’m starting to get a real nice Chaco line and I’m SO proud of it, heck ya I’m becoming a total granola baby! Speaking of other crazy foot things....Corbin and Stephanie both definitely got eggs in their feet like Jackie did. Seriously that is so nasty and I swear I will die if I start hatching eggs under my skin!!!!After enjoying a yummy dinner care of Irene we busted out our new toy. Stephanie’s family donated money to buy a keyboard for a choir she is going to start up. Since the choir hasn’t started up quite yet the keyboard is just hanging out at the house. I busted out all my music and had so much fun. The keyboard is not quite as amazing as mine at home but it was still very fun. I’ve missed the piano so much so it felt amazing! My sweet friend Katie was smart and she brought a million Crystal Light packets. My madre sent me a package with some goodies, but it hasn’t gotten here yet :( I’m dying for some flavor in my water, so Katie hooked a sister up! We made a nice trade….4 crystal light packets for me buying her an Orange Fanta soda.. Drinking my first packet was life changing! We all stayed up talking for a bit and then hit the hay.

This morning at 9 we had a PWD meeting with the mother's. Emily and Natalie taught the first half of the lesson about communicating with children that cannot speak and Lindsi and David taught the second half on communication in general (including some basic sign language). The lesson went really well. The kids got kinda crazy, but thank goodness for people like David who seem to have some sort of magical touch with the kids. After the meeting Lindsi and I went to Faith's house to visit her son Shem. He is an amazing artist struggling to get by. He is about 21 and SOOO handsome, yep there I said it...I have a fatty crush on him, but hey so does Linds! Anyways we came by to look at his artwork. He does every kind of artwork you can imagine and they are out of this world. I have no idea where he became so talented, but wow! Both Linds and I bought some little cloth wall hangings (mine aren't quite finished so I'll pick them up next Thursday). You should have seen his face light up when we paid him. They cost so very little but to him it is like a fortune and it so nice to seem him finally get some of the acknowledgement he deserves! Now we're just chillin' at the internet and then I will go back to the house and work on my lesson plan for secondary schools.

Pepto, Man's Best Friend

2008-06-18T01:27:00.000-07:00

On Monday afternoon Lindsi and I talked about the PWD project (she and Ashley Ward are now leads with me). I’m so stoked to have them leading with me, they’re such amazing girls and I know this will help this project SO much. Lindsi’s bags finally got here (they were stuck in London), poor girl! In her bags she had all our shirts for the caregivers. I’m so excited because they turned out so dang cute! They are green with HELP International on the front and Tulabirira Est. 2008 on the back. P.s. tulabirira means we care and this is the name of our PWD group that we are establishing. We are giving each caregiver and HELP volunteer a shirt so that we look like a unified team. I did a little bit of laundry and then at four we went to a local women’s group here in Nakassede. It was our first time meeting with this group and not one could speak a lick of English so it was rather interesting. We tried our best to teach them some basic English. They responded really well and enjoyed the lesson, I really hope that everything sunk in. On my way home I stopped by my friend Sarah’s shop and got some nice little goodies for my nephew and niece to be, they’re amazing and I’m SO stoked! We came back home and tried to plan our weekend. We had a lovely meal as usual. I received a lovely midnight snack care of my sweet friend Ivan (a local guy about 14 yrs. old that lives nearby and helps us all around the town). He knows that I have a slight maize obsession and so he brought me some maize with my name (Lailey (sweety), I totally felt like Kesha haha). What a sweet boy! Most of the night owls have moved to Deo’s house and so our house has sort of become the grandma house. We all love our sleep way too much and we go to bed super early.

On Tuesday morning most people went to the bakery. I stayed at the house and prepared things for my home visit later that morning. My stomach was feeling kinda uneasy so I took some Pepto hoping that would help. Tori, Lindsi, and I went for our home visits. We met with our caretaker Susan at the Intercession Church. We gave her the caretaker shirt and she was SO excited. We went to our first house (Sam). We met at his house and got a feel for his situation. I am seriously in love with that boy! After that we went to visit Sheilla and her mother. I talked to Susan the entire way, she is one of the most loving and amazing people I’ve ever met in my life. Sheilla’s mom was very happy to have us and we got a feel for their situation as well. Sheilla was born normal but after an infection with Malaria at 3 months old she went downhill rapidly. She now is totally mentally handicapped and cannot use her right arm. She is one of the happiest and friendliest girls ever. She wanted to come to our next visit and she held my hand the entire way. When we got to Fiona’s house she was there, but her mother was away. We talked to Fiona for a bit but then left. My stomach was still killing me and I didn’t know how much longer I was gonna last. Susan wanted us to come by her house and meet her daughter. On the way we stopped by to see if Shem (Faith’s son) was home. He makes these amazing cloth wall hangings and I really want to take one home. He is hands down one of the most amazing artists you could ever imagine and he freakin’ taught himself, what the heck why can’t I be that talented? I was sad because he wasn’t there but we got to look at his wall hanging and they were beautiful, I can’t wait to get one. We got to Susan’s and met her daughter, Jemima Cynthia. She was a doll! The house was very nice. She showed us some photo albums from her introduction and wedding. While we were looking at the photos Susan brought us some Jackfruit (which makes me sick even when I feel good). I couldn’t offend her so I took one for the team and tried to eat it as quickly as possible. After chatting for a little longer we thanked her and headed on our way. I was feeling super sick by this point and just wanted to get home ASAP. We got back to the house and I ran straight for my bed. I took a nap for a few hours and felt pretty weak the rest of the night. At about 7:30 we had a yummy dinner but my stomach was still kinda uneasy so I didn’t eat as much as usual. After dinner we went to Deo’s house (the other HELP house) to have our meeting. We try to split meetings between the houses so one group isn’t always having to be the ones walking to the meetings. It was a gorgeous night and we all sat out on a huge balcony for the meeting. After the meeting we sang and had cake for DJ’s birthday. We had fun sitting around and chatting and enjoying the nice evening temperatures. After most people left a small group of us played a dancing games that is absolutely hilarious. Deo came home while we were playing and his dance move was the bend and snap. I never thought I’d see the mayor of Lugazi doing a nice little bend and snap.

This morning I was feeling a little better but still had to chug a bit of Pepto (I have almost downed half the bottle….) I found a new delicious breakfast at Simple Market, oatmeal with fresh cut bananas mmmm such a great find! At 8:30 a few of us went to Ssanyu Primary School to observe teachers (on Friday we’re doing a teacher’s training). Lindsi and I watched lower primary. There was 50 four-year old kids for one teacher. Bless her heart, I can’t imagine trying to manage that class. She did the best she could but really not much was accomplished in the day.

Man Of The Year Award Goes To...DJ Sullivan!!!

2008-06-16T00:57:00.000-07:00

On Thursday afternoon Heidi got home and the stitches in the rear went well and she wasn’t hurting too bad. Heidi, Amber, Natalie, Ashley and I went to a women’s group where we teach them English. I was still pretty achy, but it’s always nicee to get out of the house and walk around, it makes me feel way better. It was in Nmango and we decided to walk. I try to walk to our sites as often as possible so I don’t become a total fatty (if you haven’t noticed all I talk about is food and Irene may turn me into a fatty if I don’t start working out). The walk was long and pretty hot, but I love to feel the burn baby! The women are so cute and fun to work with. They get so excited to learn and it is so much fun. I love working with children SO much but the more and more I’m here the more I learn how much I also enjoy working with older people (high school and women’s groups). We taught them basic business words and question words like how, when, where, etc. They are so eager to learn and so fun to joke around with (often through the interpreter as many know absolutely no English. After the womens’ group we went to Deo’s house (the mayor of Lugazi where some of our volunteers will be living). The new volunteers all arrived safe and sound so we met them there to take them on tours of the village. Me and Jackie were with Lindsi. I love that girl so much, she is hilarious and I’m so stoked she is here. We took her all around but I’m sure not much sunk in, there is so much to remember and the only real way to learn it is going around day by day. We got to go on boda-boda ride which is always a great time and saw all the important stuff (like the market and wannabe grocery store). We finished around 6:30 and we were all super exhausted. At 7 Auntie Irene had a yummy dinner ready for us. How on Earth she makes a meal that delicious for that many people, I will never understand. All I know is that I’m so grateful each and everyday for that amazing woman! Man, we thought we were squished before, but now we have to fit 24 people in our tiny living room for dinner. It is ridiculous but somehow I’m sure we’ll get used to it. Thank goodness they’re all totally awesome and so it will be a blast (I just sure hope no one is claustrophobic)! We had a little team meeting after dinner to try and figure everything out with the new people for the coming day. I’m really excited to have some more hands to help with my PWD project. The new people unpacked and we got things figured out and arranged. It always sucks to change things around and reconfigure once you get into your routine. Our sink finally got all fixed and it looks great (of course the plumbers bag had a rainbow on it and said Colon as if it was his name…awesome). I was in desperate need of a shower, but cold water didn’t sound too great when I feeling feverish and achy. I took one for the team and got in. I was literally screaming out loud because the water was so cold and miserable. Surprisingly after I got out I felt SO much better! I came out and chilled the rest of the night away with some of my fellow volunteers.

On Friday morning we woke up nice and early and had a lovely meeting to get the new volunteers up to speed. We didn’t have power so I had a real boring breakfast and as soon as I finished the power came back on…boo no eggs dang it! After their meeting Leslie, Tori, Katie, Kelsi, Kira, and I went to Iganga. We had to switch from a taxi to a bus halfway there and we had to sit and wait for ½ hour til the bus filled. Ah it was such a hot and long ride! I was slightly bugged when we got there until a man came up to me selling chapatti. It was the largest, fluffiest chapatti I’ve had since I’ve been here. Of course food always puts me in just the greatest mood ever. It’s always so fun to see the kids light up when they see us come. We made masks with them. I seriously think I get even more excited than the kids for the crafts. I love playing around with the crafts and my mask turned out super rad! The kids now know me and Leslie by name because we’ve been going there so consistently. It’s so fun and I love them so much (I seriously wanna throw a few of them in my suitcase and bring them home). We played some games and had a great day with them. When we left I was starting to get a super bad headache because all I had eaten all day was that chapatti. On the way home a got an egg roll and it was to die for (Not what you’re thinking, egg rolls are a hard boiled egg wrapped in potato and fried. They taste just like hashbrowns with an egg in the middle, as amazing.) We came home and Lauren and I helped Irene with dinner. I gave her one of my granola bars and she was in heaven, she totally loved it. Of course dinner was extra good because I helped make it! We all went to bed pretty early because we were getting up early to head to Mt. Elgon in the morning.

On Saturday morning we all got up at 5:30 (Katie, Lindsi, Kelsi, DJ, Tori B., Leslie, Lauren, Tori G., Trent, Corbin, Kira, Ashley W., Heidi, Amber, Jeff, Dan and I). we left the house by 6 to head to the taxi yard. Our trip guide’s name was joseph and he was SO awesome. He was telling us all sorts of cultural stuff and all sorts of fun jokes! We had quite a long drive and we were all ready to get off the bus when we finally got there. You know you are pathetic when you get to the point where you get excited about one latrine over another. Let me fill you in on the goods…the ideal latrine consists of a porcelain bowl with foot blocks (those have a nice large hole and your feet are up high so you don’t splash yourself). We started our hike and it was quite a good little hike. After hiking for about 45 minutes we separated into 2 groups. One for those wanting a tough hike that was fast paced and one for those wanting a nice hike at a normal pace. Of course I will never admit I can’t do something and so I went for the hard one. I tried to be a tough guy and keep up with the Canadians (they’re crazy and super fast). I had no idea what I was in for. It was straight uphill and super intense, I really think we need to teach Africans the concept of traversing, it was straight up a hill. I love hiking, but this was probably the hardest hike I’ve ever done…total stairmaster! Just imagine hiking Mount Olympus without any traversing and then add in humidity so you can breathe and the hot African sun! I tried to pretend I wasn’t breathing too hard, but I was really I was dying. Sweet DJ stayed in the back helping along some girls in the back that were struggling. He was keeping up everyone’s spirits and even carried some of the girls’ backpacks. I really wondered at times how I’d make it, but somehow I did. Near the top there was the coolest makeshift ladder. It was kinda sketchy, but super cool. The whole way up African kids kept flying past us carrying all sorts of bundles (matooke, beans, bananas, etc.). It was pretty embarrassing for us. I haven’t sweat like that in a good long time! At the top of this mountain was a village, so ridiculous. The people that live there do that hike at least once, if not 2 or 3 times a day to get things from down below. I can’t even imagine living like that! When we got to the top it was totally worth it. We sat at the top and ate lunch (picnics on a hike….quite possibly one of my favorite activities on the planet). Our guide told us all sorts of customs and local traditions, so interesting. There was an amazing waterfall that washed over this cliff (it looks small in this picture but it was huge and breathtaking).

This is above the falls.After we hung-out at the top for a bit our guide wanted us to hurry because it looked like it was gonna rain. We didn’t understand how important this really was so we sorta still took our time. Out of no where it started pouring, like African sized raindrops…that means trouble. Now remember how steep it was…yeah so rain, mud, steepness, and slick rocks are NOT a good combo. I kept slipping and was terrified. Of course DJ stepped in again to save the day. He was so patient with me and Tori B. Basically holding my hand the entire way down. At one point he was helping me and he slipped and started rolling down the mountain. I have never been so terrified. I started screaming his name with all my might because I couldn’t see him anymore. I literally thought I was responsible for the death of him and I was freaking out. Somehow he caught a root and kept himself from falling to his death. I haven’t ever been so happy to see someones face! We kept hiking out little baby steps. We found a little hut and they let us in. 5 of us crammed into a room hooked to the side where the mother was cooking (we didn’t want to dirty her house). She insisted we go inside and wait for the rain to slow up. It was a tin roof and sounded like the sky was falling. None of us could communicate (different languages all over the place) so it was rather silent but still hilarious and fun. It didn’t seem to slow up much, but we headed out anyways. They took us to a local’s home to meet with a women’s group. We felt awful going in their house, but they insisted. They had us (absolutely covered in mud) sitting on all their furniture and tracking mud all over. They fed us steamed milk and bananas, mmm so yummy and warmed us all right up. They showed us some crafts they’d made and sang songs for us. We loaded back on the bus and they took us to our hotel…can you say amazing! It was beyond all your wildest dreams! (This is me and my roomies Lindsi and Lauren) Ya know all those wannabe tropical resorts that try to look like paradise, that’s what this place is like naturally. It was a bunch of bungalow huts with a view off a cliff of an amazing lush green ravine, there was a giant waterfall spilling over the cliff, all sorts of tropical flowers, tiki torches, warm showers, and the most helpful staff ever. After we got all showered off and clean we went to the club house for dinner. They had the most amazing table set for us looking out on paradise. It was the best meal thus far (4 courses and each one was mmmmm I can’t even describe it). After dinner we had a big bonfire looking over the edge. A ton of the team got tried super early from our hike and but a small group of us were die hard at the fire. It was so fun getting all cozy and telling all sorts of fun stories. It is so nice because it is too cold for mosquitos, so you can stay outside and enjoy the evenings. Our African guide Joseph was telling us some great local stories as well. A few of us went back to Leslie and Tori B.’s and got all comfy and had more chats til we fell asleep.

On Sunday morning we got to sleep in and then they fed us a wonderful 3 course breakfast (wow I’m such a fatty). After eating we headed off to our next hike (and all of us were SO sore). We went and saw 3 different waterfalls. The hike was pretty steep, but nothing like the day before. We had so much fun and each time I kept wondering what on Earth I ever did to be so lucky to be in such a beautiful place! It’s so fun seeing all the locals living among this amazing place and they seriously have no idea how out of this world their backyard is. We got to wade in a little pool and a bunch of the boys jumped off a little cliff. I can’t get over the beauty of this amazing continent! We got back to the hotel and had another amazing meal. A fat spaghetti lunch that ugh, gosh I get way too excited about food! We laid out on the deck and soaked in the beauty and then got back on the bus. The ride home seemed even longer and man I hate buses sometimes! We finally got home around 8 and somehow I was hungry and rushed in to enjoy Auntie Irene’s deliciousness! We had a bunch of team meetings to plan the week. I experienced a Father's Day miracle that night. Somehow my fam got a few texts to call me (I never sent one though). They called and I was totally surprised. It was amazing and SO fun!!! I even got to talk to Whit. I'm so excited to give the whole fam a HUGE hug when I get home. I love all of you sososso much!!!

This morning we got up early and headed so SSanyu Primary school (like elementary school). We go and observe classes for several days and then based on what we see we conduct teacher trainings to better the effectiveness of teachers here. Me and Lauren sat in Primary 1. The class was so fun and the teacher was amazing. The kids were having a ball. These teachers do amazing things with the limited resources they have been given! The students were SO smart and knew as much if not more than first graders in the US, I was astounded. They had all sorts of fun songs to help them memorize. It was such a blast to watch and I cannot wait to go back tommorrow! Now I'm off to market to restock my food supply.

Broken Sink, Broken Rear

2008-06-12T02:19:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night we finally got the group together around 10 pm. It had been such a long day and we were so glad that we finally we all together and safe and sound. The taxi ride to Lugazi was about an hour and we had so many funny stories for each other. The three that were left at the border had quite the evening and we will have funny stories for weeks. That night I started feeling super sick. The flu has been going around the house and with so many people crammed in such a little place it is impossible to avoid catching it. My whole body was super achy, I was freezing cold, and my stomach was really uneasy.

On Wednesday morning I was feeling even worse. It really sucks to be sick in Africa and all you want is your momma. You just have to suck it up and keep working, even though all you want to do is stay in bed all day or crawl into the tub with a big bowl of sugar-free frozen yogurt. I was walking around Africa in a sweatshirt all day because I was so cold (not normal because I usually sweat my guts out here)! We did preparations all day and ran various errands. At 2:30 we headed to to my favorite activity that we have going on right now. We work at Hill View High doing a little club with the students (high school aged kids). The walk is pretty long and I for sure feel that I got in my workout for the day! Tori and I are partners and we have 4 students (Annette, Betty, Joshua, and Joe). Our group is so amazing and so fun to work with. Our students are so outgoing and talkative with us. I laugh so much with them and we have such a good time. Working with them makes me think that someday I’d really to work with this age group, it really just fits me so well! We did a ropes course-like day with our groups. We did the game where you blindfold one person and another leads them along, another where you pass a paper around with each persons name on it and everyone writes something that they like about that person, the last activity was one where everyone stands on a skinny log and they have to switch places (they have to hold each other on and use teamwork). All these games taught different lessons about empowerment and they all had so much fun. Me and Tori have so much fun with our group and have both decided this is our favorite project we are a part of. After that activity we went to St. Edwards for our orphan group and of course I got maize on the way. ( I finally took a picture to show you what it looks like mom, not too exciting. It really looks just like corn, but it tastes like cornuts and deliciousness!) We did relay races with the kids and they loved it! We came home and Irene had our yummy dinner ready. After dinner we had a team meeting about time management and ways to better focus our energy. We’re very proud of how far we’ve come, but we also know there is a lot of room for improvement. After the meeting the fam called and Kesh and Nick came over to talk as well. It was so fun to hear everyone’s voices, I love my phone calls more than you could ever even understand. When I came back in there was quite the fiasco. Heidi said something funny and Amber started laughing so hard that she started to pee her pants. Then Tori and Heidi started laughing and ran to the bathroom as they were peeing their pants as well. Amber was on the toilet, Tori was in the tub and Heidi had no where to go. She rested her arms on the sink and then it happen…….the sink totally fell right off the wall and shattered into a million pieces and steaming hot water was spraying everywhere. ( This is where once upon a time we used to have a sink) We started trying to fill buckets with the water and dumping them in the tub. Heidi was in total shock and we finally realized that she cut up her butt way bad (like massive gashes that needed stitches). Tori grabbed Heidi and started caring for the wounds and the rest of us tried to stop the water and pick up the shards of glass. The family showed us how to turn the water off and then we started cleaning the bathroom, they seriously must hate us so much and think we are total nutcases. After all our cleaning it was kind of nice to finally have clean bathroom. Until we get a new sink though we cannot turn the water back on. So another few days without water, ugh I hate when this happens! I started feeling super sick that night but I couldn’t go to sleep because all the chaos was happening on my bed. I started to get the runners from the flu and so lucky me I was in and out of the latrine all night (another joy of being sick in Africa). I got my new bed (I took Leslie’s since she moved to the other house), I actually fit on the bed now and it is amazing!

On Thursday morning I woke up feeling a little better, but my stomach was uneasy still. I woke up early and worked on some PWD stuff. At 8 They took Heidi to Jinja to get stitches in her booty. We had our PWD meeting at nine and it went really well. Seren and I taught a lesson on empowerment. These mothers are amazing and have such great stories to tell. One woman (Vincent’s mother) absolutely amazed me. We had the woman share stories about how they have been empowered or how thye have empowered their children. She talked about Vincent (he is severely mentally handicapped but the happiest boy I have ever met). She said he is what empowers her and she couldn’t say enough how lucky she is to have him. She says that of all her children he gets the most excited to see her and is always trying to help her. She is the sweetest little woman and I look up to her more than she will ever understand. Talk about the ultimate optimist. All these women are so cute and I love them to death.

Rwanda: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

2008-06-10T09:15:00.001-07:00

On Friday night I learned why Jack Johnson wrote a whole song about banana pancakes....cause they're amazing!!!! My friend Dan made some from scratch (who knows how to make stuff in Africa, what the heck?) He couldn't finish so I got to enjoy the leftovers, mmm!
The next morning was we woke up at 4:30 am to catch a taxi to Kampala which took us to the bus stop for Rwanda. Auntie Peggy (speaker of the Lugazi town counsel, she's a big deal here) hooked us up with everything we'd need for this trip. She had someone waiting for us in Rwanda (Richard and Nadeen, both on town counsel in Rwanda) to take us around and show us all the things we'd need to see. She kept calling and texting us the whole trip to see how we were, she is totally like our little African momma. What would we do without her? Our bus ride was ridiculous, like seriously! It was supposed to be nine hours, but we weren't so lucky. It was so uncomfortable and we were dying. They popped in a movie, cool the latin very dirty version of MTV. We kept asking them to turn it off, but they weren't having it so we just put in our iPods and tried to sleep. After a few hours it was time for a potty break. They definitely just pulled over to the side and let people get off (and this bus was packed with people). Thanks heavens I didn't need to go but it was hilarious to watch those that did. They had to go right next to the bus and basically everyone could see. Before people were all back on they started up the bus, they literally wait for NO ONE. Thank goodness everyone made it back on. After a few more hours we stopped again but this time no one was going to the bathroom. A few of the guys stood around staring at the bus and we eventually figured out that the bus was broken...sweet. We were stranded for 2 and a half hours. We sat outside and played scategories and watched them fix the engine with what else but tree branches. O man I couldn't believe they got the bus going again, the Africans are certainly resourcesful! When we reached the Rwandan border I really needed a bathroom the only one I could find cost 200 shillings but I had to go so it didn't really matter. (sorry for those of you reading this that don't really know me, this story was just too priceless to leave out) It was a latrine that smelled awful and was pitch black. I went in and tried to be in and out as fast as possible. I came out and Leslie went in she came out gagging. I told her to suck it up and get it over with. She opened the door to show me what she'd found.....a nice pile of deer poops on the floor. It was so dark that I totally missed the hole and went on the floor. Thank goodness I had just gone to the bathroom or I would have for sure peed my pants, I haven't laughed that hard in a good long time! After going through all the annnoying customs stuff we were back on the bus and on our way again. Richard met us at the taxi yard and those of us that had Uganda money exchanged for Rwandan Francs. I have no clue if I got ripped off or what, the money is just like monopoly money to me now with all this confusion! Rwanda is amazing and SO beautiful. I can't even begin to describe it. It was quite the step up from Uganda. People drive on the right side (left in Uganda), they have trash cans (Uganda is lined with litter and it reeks), and the landscape is to die for. Even people in our group who have been all over Europe agree that Rwanda is the most beautiful country on the planet, ahhhh I wish you could see the rolling green hill and lushness everywhere, it is unreal! As we were driving down the street it was so haunting to imagine what occurred on those very street only 14 years earlier. None of us had eaten all day so we decided to get food before we did anything else. Richard took us to a fun restaurant called Chez Lando. We were all so stoked and it smelled delicious. Then we remembered we're in Africa and service SUCKS, we waited for over 2 hours before our dinner even came and we were all SO grumpy. Dinner was okay but totally not worth the three hours we spent there. We got back and checked into our hotel, Chez Rose Hotel. There was 2 to a room and I was with Tori. Back at home I would have hated the rooms, they were pretty rank, but here I felt like I was in a palace. I had a toilet seat (yep we for sure don't have on of those in Lugazi), hot water (amazing!) and my feet didn't hang off the end of the bed. We all slept like logs.
On Sunday morning the hotel gave us a wonderful omelette and banana breakfast, great way to start the day. The took us to the Kigale Memorial Center. I seriously could write for weeks and weeks about this place, it was amazing. I have so much to tell you when I get home but I'll sum it up as best as I can. This place told us all about the genocide in 1994 there in Rwanda. As many of you know I have been so interested in learning/reading about the Jewish Holocaust since I was a young child, so this was the most amazing experience for me. We spent about 4 hours there and I will never be the same. Visiting that place was one of the moments that changes your life forever. I will never be the same again. We took some flower to one of the 14 mass graves they have (which altogether hold over 258,000 bodies). It was so awful to see. No one was spared, Tutsi men, women and children were referred to as cockroaches and all were to be exterminated. They had so much information for us inside the center. Rooms and room dedicated to the genocide. One room was full wall to wall with photos of the victims, another had bones, another clothing, one devoted solely to the innocent children, some rooms had information, others played videos clips of survivors speaking. I'm so embarrassed how little I knew about this tragedy. I want to tell everyone at home about this. We must all become educated on the things that happen in this crazy world. It is important to never forget what happened and learn from the past so it never happens again. After that site our day was basically shot and we were all hungry so we got some dinner. We went to a buffet called Karibu. It was really inexpensive, fast and amazingly delicious (great combo!). After dinner they took us to see the Hotel Des Mille (Hotel Rwanda). It is such a beautiful hotel and amazing story. One of the survivors, Abias, took us around and told us his story. It was unbelievable and I'll have to give more details at home. He and his family lived there for two months along with 1,000 other refugees. his son was born in room 216. It was such a frightening time and they couldn't ever leave their room (in two months he only went out of the room 3 times). They even got so desperate that they had to boil the pool water to use for cooking. Ah his story was amazing. On the way back Lauren, Jackie and I rode with 2 Rwandans (Jovis and Jonathan). Their music was hilarious, we were for sure all singing Sexual Healing full blast, such good times! We were all running low on funds so we tried to find an ATM but none of them were international. I hate not having money.
Monday morning we had some more breakfast and hit the road. We went to the ATM first thing and took out a bit of cash for the day. We stopped at a Rwandan craft shop and got some awesome souvenirs. Then it was off to a Rwanda history museum. That museum was a little boring, but still cool to see. We got back in the car and then it was off to one last memorial site called Murambi Memorial Site. The story of that place it SO sad. They gathered a community of 50,000 Tutsis and told them to come to this school for protection. After starving them to make them weak the Hutu rebels came to attack. The Tutsis had no protection and were so weak. In two hours all but 4 were killed (with weapons provided by the French army). They dug a mass grave and buried all of them in it, covered the grave and the following day the French army came by and played volleyball on top of the mass grave. One year later (post genocide) the bodies were excavated and preserved. They put all the bodies in the rooms where they were slaugheted and they now stand as a memorial. We were able to go in room after room and see the bodies. It was so unbelievably hard to see. Some were still dressed, you could see their final expression, you could see how they were killed (some by machetes, others gunshot, other beaten to death, and other awful forms of torture). We were fortunate enough to have two survivors give us tell us their stories. The man was shot in the head played dead, he moved in the night until he reached Rwanda. The woman was Hutu, but married to a Tutsi. She and her child were saved because of her ID card and a soldier sick of killing. There are so many more details, but no time to share right now. Both of them lost their entire family, community and everything they have ever known. They're stories touched my heart so deeply. Family is everything in this life and I am so grateful for mine. Life is so precious, NEVER EVER take on moment for graned! That experience definitely left me tearful all day. The ride home was pretty quiet and we all tried to take in all that we had seen that day. When we got home we went to the Karibu buffet again, delicious yet again. Richard came to dinner and thanked us for coming and presented us with a movie and book about that genocide, he is so amazing and we were so lucky to have him showing us around. He made this trip unforgettable. We all were out of funds and so things got crazy trying to pay the taxi, we never found another international ATM so nobody had money. It took forever, but we finally got everything squared away and people were all indebted to each other and now we were really absolutely bone dry on funds. Everyone went to bed pretty early that night except me, Jackie and Tori. We stayed up with the night guard at our hotel and we all watched the movie we were given about the genocide. It was so sad, but very good to watch. We slept for about 3 hours and then got us at 4:30 am to get our taxi to the bus yard. The hotel people got up early just so we could eat before we left (such amazing people here in Africa).
This morning our taxi was super later and so things got very hectic. We got there and our bus was driving away (and remember they wait for no one). We barely made it on (like they were on the road). After a while a man in front us had to go to the bathroom and he for sure just whipped it out and peed on the floor and that happened to go right on Ashley's foot, poor girl! I had to keep my bag on my lap that entire nine hour ride, ugh! We got to the Uganda border and found another lovely surprise. Our visas were single entry, which means we needed $50 US dollars to get into the country and remember that none of us had ANY money. I then remembered that my OCD comes in handy, I'd put away some shillings and US cash in case of an emergency. I decided that getting across the border definitely qualified as an emergency so I whipped it out. I had no clue what money was how much or anything, I just threw it all on the countered and begged him to let me across. He was so annoyed that I gave him all different types of money but we finally figured it out. Some other people had emergency money as well and so all but 3 of us made it across. the bus was driving away and we barely got on. David, Corbin and Ashley were left and the plan was for them to take a taxi to the nearest international ATM get money and get on the next bus. I felt awful driving away and watching them fade off in the distance. It was so stressful and hectic and the ride was terrible. This time I was lucky enough to experience peeing on the side of the road for the world to see, awesome! Jackie was next to me and totally sat on a poison oaklike bush (her butt was on fire the rest of the ride). We finally got to Kampala at 5 pm. We waited an hour for our taxi and we were all starving and in the worst mood. Once it came it took us to Garden City Mall. We got some dinner and then came here to the internet. The three that got left are about 3 hours behind us so were just chillin here til they come. I can't wait to get back to my home in Lugazi, it has been the most insane day ever. We were certainly never forget our adventures in Rwanda. I'm so grateful I was able to go on the trip, I am forever changed!

Missing Irene

2008-06-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night we came home to a delicious meal from Irene and Christine. I look SO forward to dinner every night, it is seriously pathetic! It usually is just about the same meal every night, but I love it so it is okay. Irene threw in a curve ball that was to die for. She made these roll like things filled with slightly spicy cabbage. In the words of Ashley, “it’s like hot pockets went to Africa and got good!” MMMM I am so grateful for these amazing women, they rock my socks! After dinner we all gathered in the living room and watched the movie Hotel Rwanda projected on a screen. We watched it to prepare for Rwanda that weekend. The movie is so sad, but it’s so weird watching it after having lived in Africa for a month. My whole perspective on everything in Africa has changed SO much. I love this place and watching something like that happen to people I have grown to love so much is very hard. I will never look at the world the same after the end of this summer. As I was brushing my teeth to get ready for bed I felt something tickling my leg. I lifted up my shorts to see what it was (thinking it was a hair). To my lovely surprise it was a freakin’ cockroach! I flipped out and started screaming and kicking my legs like a mad woman. I finally got it off and it started running back towards me, and they are super fast little suckers. I grabbed the first thing I saw (which happened to be someone’s bowl from breakfast) and smashed the dickens out of it. Everyone was laughing really hard when I came out of the bathroom.

This morning I got up at 6 am so we could head to the orphanage in Iganga. Leslie, Heidi, Natalie and I went. The ride was just fine and I was lovin’ my iPod. You definitely know you have a classy car when your car is found all around Africa. There are Toyota celicas all around this place and it makes me laugh so hard. Although they are real nice cars, they will never compare to my dear sweet red racer! The kids always get so excited to see us (this is all of us making silly faces). We taught them about friendship and how important friends are. We each made a bead friendship bracelets and exchanged them with our friends. My sweet friend Precilla made one for me. They loved the bracelets so much! After making the bracelets we played with a parachute, played duck duck goose and sang do as I’m doing, follow follow me. On the way to the taxi of course I got some maize. Our taxi ride home was not all too joyful. We were super squished and I had four chickens, on my feet! They were clucking like crazy and all the Africans were laughing because I couldn’t set my feet on the ground. Every once in a while the chickens would get all excited and flap their wings and I’d scream and they’d laugh….awesome! I seriously hate chickens more and more each day. We came home and had some lunch and got some crappy new, Irene is not gonna be cooking for us tonight because she is going to Lake Victoria. That bites and I hate being on my own for dinner, guess I’ll get some real good granola bar a la mode!

Pineapple Completes Me

2008-06-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday there was a huge holiday called Martyrs Day. It is a day remembering 23 Christians who were martyred because they refused to work on Sundays. People make a pilgrimage to this memorial from all over the world (like we’re talking other African countries, Asia, etc.) For days we kept seeing people trekking along the road trying to make it for the celebrations. Everyone celebrates this day and so all of Uganda basically shuts down, so there wasn’t much work for us to do. We decided to join in the pilgrimage and visit the memorial sites. Our driver (Abdul) came bright and early at 7 and we headed to Namugongo. Our taxi was such a piece of crap, it was hilarious. The sliding door didn’t really shut unless you locked it (and even then it wasn’t really shut). When we went over a speed bump our muffler fell off (and it sounded like the entire bottom of the car fell off). Nothing could stop Abdul, he hopped right out and shoved it back on then we were back on our way. We had to park kinda far and walk to the first memorial site. There was so many people and I was loving it. A huge band came down the road and they were going to town. They had all sorts of booths and choirs and fun such things. I totally felt like I was at Liberty Park for the 24th of July celebration and it was way too fun! One booth was selling marriage licenses and wedding bands. We got so excited and all bought ourselves some real nice wedding bands (mine is the thumb with the two black bracelets on it and that purple striped purse on the side is my new purse, isn't is SO cute!). We saw where the martyrs were buried and then we went on to the second memorial site (the catholic one). Walking there was so ridiculous, it was pretty far and real hot. I have NEVER seen so many people in my life, as I walked with along that road. I felt like the entire planet was gathered on that street with us. There was all sorts of people selling fun crafts and goodies along the street as we walked by. Of course I bought some maize. Then much to my excitement some of us found a man selling pineapples for 300 shillings (they usually cost 1,000) and he even peeled and cut them for you. We all each bought one and went to town chowing down like piggies. We each ate an entire pineapple like an apple. A huge crowd of Africans crowded around us to watch us eat, they thought it was hilarious, and it really was! It was so delicious and totally worth the mouth full of cancor sores I ended up with. On our walk back home we had a bit of a scare. Two boda-bodas tried to swerve around each other and collided big time. Natalie was right in the middle of the accident but somehow wasn’t even scratched, totally miraculous! We got back in our lovely taxi and headed to Kampala. I have fallen in love with that city. It’s totally like a piece of America. There are sky scrapers and the most amazing mall called Garden City. We spent a few hours at Garden City and I had a blast. It reminded me of those fun outdoor malls in California. It was half indoor and half outdoor with all sorts of shops and an amazing food court. I got myself some real good pizza and sat at the food court, which was open in the back looking out at a gorgeous garden complete with palm trees and amazing flowers. We found a bookstore, mmm the scent of a bookstore could quite possibly my favorite smell ever. I can’t wait to go to Borders when I get home, I love bookstores oh so much! We came home and worked on project stuff the rest of the night. We were all talking about our plans and I had already gotten ready for bed, which means I had on both retainers. Everyone kept making fun of me whenever I’d talk because I had a major lisp, yep I sounded like I was in seventh grade! I got some amazing news…..my project was passed!!! This is such amazing news. This means that all the funding for my project has been approved and they really liked my idea. I’m so stoked, my persons with disabilities project is rolling right along and I love where it is going!
On Wednesday morning Ashley and I met with Faith to set dates and times for our home visits. The meeting went really well and almost all the home visits have been planned. We tried to stop by the internet café but of course they were down. I stopped by the market and grabbed some cookies for my PWD meeting on Thursday morning. When I got home I had to do laundry because I had no cloths at all. I still really suck at laundry and it took me an hour and a half to do one load. The ladies living behind us were laughing at how I wash, yep my cloths are gonna smell so good when I get home. Once I got everything all hung to dry of course it started raining, man I have the best luck ever! After laundry I ate some dinner and then Trent and I decided to go try the computers again because we needed to print some stuff for his project later that afternoon. Trent and I shared a boda-boda and rode to Hillview High School. The view was amazing, it is literally a huge high school on a big old hill that looks out on the entire village (so gorgeous!) We are setting up a club with this secondary school (high school). It is so strange to listen to their classes. They are so smart and learning such hard things like chemistry, math, etc. It’s so weird to think that even in such hard conditions, knowledge pushes on. We will go there every Wednesday at 3 and teach different life lessons (self-esteem, drug abuse, sex ed, goal setting, etc.) and form friendships with them. We can up with a name for our group: Team Ekitangala (Team Light). We are forming small groups with 2 mzungus and 4 kids. My partner was Tori and our kids were Bets, Annette, Joe and Joshua. The more and more I’m learning that I REALLY REALLY enjoy working with the youth. As passionate as I am about children, I really love to hang with these kids and have normal conversations and have them understand and talk back to me. These kids are amazing and I had so much fun, I seriously am in love with this project! I love my group and I can already tell that I will be getting very close to these kids this summer. After Hillview we headed to St. Edwards for the weekly orphan meeting. We finished the second half of Shrek. Of course I searched for Sedia (except I learned that I’ve been calling her the wrong name, yep her name is Fateema, gosh I’m a moron). Once I picked her up she wouldn’t put me down and I love her SO much, she’s my little angel that always makes me feel needed and loved! We came home and the power was out so we ate by the romantic lighting care of headlamps. The rest of the night I felt like I was at a rave party. The lights would come on for a minute and then strobe on and on and then stay off. My parents called around 9:30 and we got to talk for a bit. Thank goodness for parents, they are the best and help you think clearly. The connection was pretty bad so I went outside to hear them better. I had forgotten to put on my mosquito repellent and I got totally eaten alive! I love you guys, thanks for all the chats, they mean the world to me. We did not have power for the rest of the night.
This morning we didn't have power so I had a full and nutritious granola bar for breakfast. At nine we went to our mother's with disabled children meeting. Natalie and Ashley taught about living with a child with disabilities and how the child is a miracle. The lesson went really well and we were able to keep the children relatively calm during the meeting. I love these children so much. After the meeting we finalized home care visits and they will start on Monday. After that meeting I came home and there was still no power. I was getting a bit of a headache (lack of sleep/crappy breakfast, so I ate lunch and took a power nap). When I woke up Heidi, Natalie, Amber, Ashley and I went to a women's group to teach English. The women are very excited abiout learning English and it was a lot of fun. Now I'm just chillin' at the internet and when I leave I'm gonna go find me some maize, I'm craving it (it's so weird because you never know when or where you'll find it, some days certain people have it and others days you don't) It's all about how lucky you are so wish me the best!

Paging Nurse Rylee

2008-06-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

On Monday afternoon the rain wouldn’t stop. Walking around was such a joke, the mud stuck to our shoes making us at least 2 inches taller and it felt like I was walking on slippery ice. I came home, made a little lunch and then Tori, Jeff, Seren, Trent and I decided to go to the clinics. The rains gave us a late start on the day and they didn’t need us any longer (I guess most of the patients come early in the day) so we were sent back home. I took a shower when I got home (mmmm I love when I get to do that). David, Seren, Lauren and headed to Jinja for a Young Single Adults (so they were all our age) activity at the LDS ward. As always it took forever to fill the taxi we found and so we were thirty minutes late. There was about 7 guys and 2 girls. They were so excited to have us and we had a blast. After singing and spiritual thoughts they pretty much handed the night over to us, asking what games we were gonna play. We racked our brains trying to come up with something quickly, thanks to a very wise young man at home I was able to come through. Tim Bradshaw (the fun game king), I owe you one. One of the favorites was this hand slapping game and we all got laughing so hard. I loved interacting with these kids. I’m starting to get really close to the members in this ward, they’re amazing and SO fun to be with. It’s amazing what the church does for its members. It seems that these people are so far above their situation. They were all so intelligent and easy to talk to. The members seem to be years ahead of others in Africa. This was the first group of people we’ve interacted with that I felt like we were on the same page. Even though we have very different backgrounds, we were all in the same place in life trying to figure our lives out. During the games we all let loose and had a wonderful time. Before we knew it, it was starting to get dark, which means we definitely gotta get home. They had refreshments at the end. We were going to leave them for them to eat, but they wouldn’t allow it. I think that they gave us all of them and so I don’t even think they got any. I’m so glad I was able to go, it was one of my favorite nights here. As we walked to the taxi yard I saw some grilled maize so of course I had to buy some. Ah I could eat a cob of the stuff every night for the rest of my life! The ride home was interesting and I think it may go on record as one of the fastest taxi drivers I’ve ridden with so far (but hey his hat was made of Styrofoam, of course he was gonna be a little crazy). We came home and had some yummy dinner and then a bunch of people presented their project proposals to get approved by the group. When I got into bed that night I discovered a sweet note and some treats from “the team”. I’m so lucky to be here in Africa with so many amazing friends. After living together for almost a month now we hold NOTHING back, no secrets, no privacy, no space, and best of all only one bathroom! With such tight quarters you get ridiculously close super fast. I feel like I’ve instantly gained a second family and that I now have gained 5 brothers and 10 sisters. I love this place and all the wonderful people I get to spend my time here with!

We Are The Champions My Friend

2008-06-02T02:21:00.001-07:00

On Saturday afternoon our driver picked us up and we headed to a national football (soccer) game. It was Uganda versus Niger and it was a FIFA World Cup Qualifier. We got to the Mandela Stadium and it was total MADNESS. Football is as essential here as food and water! We were about 2 ½ hours early, but we learned that it was a very wise decision. The place was packed for blocks and everyone was going crazy. We walked around and they had so much fun paraphernalia to buy and it’s great because everything here is dirt cheap. I got my self a real good lookin’ tank and tee-shirt. The fans outside were going nuts and it was so fun. There were so many people painted from head to toe, people blowing whistles SO loud, honking horns, chants all over the place and all that good stuff. Getting in the stadium it got super hectic and we were literally squished like sardines, which we quickly learned was prime pick-pocket central. Every single one of us had at least one attempted pick-pocket. One guy actually had his hands around Leslie’s camera. When she noticed she hit him super hard and then he just kept standing next to her playing dumb. Another person was able to get Jeff’s wallet, which was in a zipper in his lower pocket. They have no shame and they’ll do whatever they can to get your stuff. One got into the front pocket in my purse and that the lucky thief made off with a whole tampon…man he should feel great about that one. The game was a blast and the fans were crazy. Uganda’s team played amazing and we won 1-0. Ah I love football games so much, someone needs to go to a REAL game with me when I get home! People were lining the streets celebrating our victory, so awesome! We got to Mukono around 6:30 and decided to stop by a nice hotel and grab some dinner. We were the only people there, but there was sixteen of us. We were all super hungry and couldn’t wait to eat. Good thing it only took 1 ½ hours from the time we ordered til the time we ate. Welcome to Uganda, where they have never heard such thing as customer service. Good thing it was so beautiful (we got to eat outdoor). I got spaghetti, but it just wasn’t the same as American pasta. Lisa, I wish I could have Fed-exed it home to you, the sauce was probably one part tomato to two parts salt….mmmm salty. I was thirsty all night, but my coca-cola lite certainly helped me out! We finally got home around 10:30 and we were all beat. Randomly I caught my second wind and I was wide awake. I stayed up with Corbin, Jeff, Leslie, and Tori. We were all loopy and having a grand old time. I didn’t end up going to bed until 2:30, wow I’m such a trooper.
Sunday morning a group of us went with Deo (the mayor) to visit his parents and see where he grew up. This picture is me and Tori by a tree at the mayor's house in Lugazi. Our driver came 15 minutes early (6:45 am) and most of us were still in bed. We got ready in a very hectic manner (just imagine 10 people trying to get ready in one bathroom in under 5 minutes!) We were off and it was quite the ride. We had a lovely 3 hours bouncing around in a taxi van (it might have even been worse then the road to Hidden Lake in Oakley). I put in my iPod and tried real hard to sleep, but those taxis are impossible to get comfortable in. I’m a total cuddlebug and so I for sure nuzzled my way onto whoever was sitting next to me (lucky Leslie and Jeffrey) so I could try to get semi comfortable. We stopped halfway and grabbed breakfast, some lovely bread and hardboiled eggs. After another lovely car ride we went to Deo’s parent’s house and then went all around the village. It was the rural side of Africa full of farmers. The country was beautiful and lush and so peaceful. We stopped at a church and they did a performance for us and they spoke to us. When I walked in the church the cutest boy clung to me and wouldn’t let go. I fell in love with him. Even when I wasn’t holding his hand, he’d wrap his arms around my leg and not let go for anything. His dad was so excited that I was playing with his son and asked one of his friends that had a camera if he could have a picture of me and his son. One the way to the church we definitely saw a black cobra cross the road. I’m way scared of snakes and it doesn’t help to know that the Africans are terrified as well (they’re not scared of anything). We went to visit an orphanage and then toured one more church. At the church they gave us 4 chickens, awesome more friends for the car ride. I flipped out again of course and refused to sit in the back. The chickens pooped everywhere and I just really really hate chickens. We stopped by the mayor’s house parents once more and they had lunch for us. It was totally a family reunion African style. They gave us SO much food and I gave up on trying to be nice. I just ate as much as I could and then left the rest on my plate (I couldn’t get myself to even touch the chicken or pork). I swear if I even hear the word matooke (an African diet staple) when I get home I’ll hit someone. The mayor really enjoyed the meal and in order to show that, he kept letting out the biggest burps (like we’re talking his burps totally put mine to shame), we couldn’t stop laughing everytime it happened. The mayor presented one of his childhood teachers a bike in a little ceremony. The family talked to us and were so excited that we came. The ride back was just as fun as the ride there….. My butt may not ever recover, pothole city WOW! They decided to take a detour and totally got lost so the ride ended up being 4 hours on the way home. I woke everyone up and freaked out because I kept seeing these orange flashes of light in the middle of the night sky. I seriously thought we were under attack by bombs. They all were laughing and told me it was lightening….okay so maybe I overact a bit, my bad! We stopped to stretch our legs and I found some grilled maize for myself (I’m gonna crave that stuff like crazy when I get home, it could be hand down the greatest snack on the planet). We finally got back and we were starving. Thank goodness for sweet Irene and her delicious cooking. Those that didn’t come had been cleaning the house all day and it looked amazing. We received quite the scolding for our dirty habits, but it is understandable because cleaning this place is very frustrating. Our house was so nasty and so it was much appreciated. I didn’t sleep very well because there was thunder and lightening all night long. I thought storms were scary at home but wow they are so much louder and scary here. I’m totally like a five year old, cool!
It rained all day this morning and we finally tried venturing to the internet because I had some things I really needed to have sent. The Africans were all laughing so hard at us because no one goes out when it rains. We were sliding all over the place in the mud and finally we got there only to learn that the internet was SO slow so this took me forever to do today!

Coca Cola De-Lite!

2008-05-31T00:13:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night we went and worked with the Mamatoto choir. Tori and Seren are the leads on this project and they do a great job. We were kinda sad because many of the kids are in school now and so they were either late or could not come. It is always fun to work with them. They have such beautiful voices and it is way fun to sing with them. On the way home I found some branches randomly on the ground in this pattern. I have no clue who did this, how they did it, or if someone did even did it, but I do know that it is freakin’ awesome! Dinner was great and I finally get to use the unclogged shower…..it has a shower hose so I don’t have to use a bucket yahoo! A few of the volunteers had some Redbull drinks, bad idea. Jackie, Tori and Jeff pulled an all nighter (they were lookin pretty tired the next day). I give them mad props because I need my sleep like nobodies business!

Friday morning we were supposed to wake up and make breakfast in bed for Amber for her birthday. Of course the power was out so they decorated the house and we had no breakfast for her. I struggle waking up so I slept in and didn’t help with anything, oops! I woke out to quite the pleasant surprise. My sweet little Trevor friend decided to call me and I had no idea. We only talked for a few minutes because it was very late in Utah but he said he’d call back in the morning. It was great fun to hear a familiar voice! Me, Leslie, Heidi and Lauren headed to the orphanage in Iganga. I love long taxi rides. I just sit back and listen to my iPod (the ride is 1 ½ hours long, pure heaven). At first the people squished all around me drove me nuts, but I’m getting used to it. We had a bit of a scare on our ride. While we were on the side of the road letting people out of the taxi another taxi totally side swiped us. It wasn’t to bad but it definitely got my heart racing. The only fear I really ever have is associated with travel, they SUCK at driving. We finally got dropped off in Iganga and then walked to the orphanage. On the way we stopped for a little lunch. I had a street chipati (just like the café rio tortillas) and a granola bar. At the orphanage we talked to the children about heros. We then passed out papers and had them draw a picture of themselves and their heros. We had all sorts of craft items to glue on and make them fancy. They loved it and were having so much fun. Some of the older children could even write their own names. We’re going to do crafts with them each week and at the end we’ll compile all their crafts and make each child a book of their projects. These children are adorable and I’m already starting to get attached. The children and some of the heads of the orphanage make these amazing bead necklaces (they are huge here and I swear everyone makes them, but they are beautiful and I’ll be bringing home some to show you). I bought a few from them and then we headed on our way. We’ll be going to work with these children every Friday. On the way home we stopped by a gas station to get some yummy treats. I found my first Coca Cola Lite (just like the ones in we get in Cabo mmmmm) I also bought some grilled corn on the side of the street. I was quite surprised when I bit in a discovered that it was maize (which looks identical to corn). Maize is really hard and not juicy. The grilled corn tasted kinda like popcorn with the texture of corn nuts, so weird but also very delicious! We got squashed into another fun taxi. I felt something at my feet and it was really creepin me out. When I looked down….no big deal, just a frickin’ CHICKEN peckin’ at my feet!!!! I hate wild animals, especially when they are peckin’ at my feet, ugh. The guys sitting on either side of me were laughing so hard. Lauren let out quite the squeal when she discovered my feathery friend. I never ceased to be amazed in this crazy country. I made friends with the guy sitting next to me (George). He was teaching me some Luganda and wanted to hear all about America. We came home and there was no water or power so no washing of the hands before dinner and we all know there is nothing more appetizing than dirt under the nails. Right after I finished eating I got another joyous phone call. Trev called again and we actually got to talk for a good little while. Even though occassionally the connection isn't the best and there is a slight delay it always is fun to hear a voice from home! We celebrated Ambers birthday and then chilled around the house.

This morning I made a delicious egg sandwich and then came here to use the internet. When I go home we're totally going to a national football (soccer) game. Here, football is just as essential as food and water. This game is against Nigeria and its gonna be freaking awesome!!!!!

My Little Angels

2008-05-29T04:07:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we spent most of the day “laminating” (using clear tape to cover them) posters and preparing lessons. Prep days seem SO long! The plumber FINALLY came, hooray. I can finally take a shower standing up again. We’ve all been stuck in the other bathroom where there is no shower head. We squat on the ground trying to get under the faucet or else we fill a bucket and dump it on our heads…mmmm gotta love those ice cold buckets of water! At five we got to go to St. Edwards for our orphan group. We took a projector and watched Shrek 2 with them. They were laughing so hard and loved every minute of it. I found my sweet little Sedia again (she was the little cutie in a previous blog post about St. Edwards orphan group wearing a pink head wrap). She is always so shy at the beginning. She kept smiling at me and then getting all shy. Finally about halfway through the movie she got the courage to come over and sit on my lap. She is the biggest cuddle bug and I love her to pieces!!!!!! We came home and had yummy din din. I got to chat with the parentals later that night and it renewed me once again. I love to talk to my family SO much, thanks for all you guys do for me. You are the best! We woke up to a rainstorm and then when we looked outside there was thousands and thousands of grasshoppers. Apparently Ugandans love to eat grasshoppers….ew. Our guard David was running around and catching grasshoppers and poppin them in his mouth and throwing them into bags. He told us he could sell them in market the next day for 1,000 shillings a bag. They kept flying in the house and the cat was chowing down all night. It was the craziest thing you could ever imagine.
This morning I woke up and got the last minute things ready for my first mothers and children with disabilities meeting. It was pouring rain on the way over there so we figured most everyone would be way late. We didn’t even get started until 10:00 (one hour late) but then they kept flowing in. We had bananas for the mothers and their children and they loved it. Leslie and Lauren taught a lesson on goal setting and the rest of the volunteers worked with the children. They did such a great job and the mothers were participating really well and I was SO impressed. Thanks for doing such a great job girls! It was so much fun working with all the children, they were absolutely adorable. So many people showed up and we were all having so much fun, the kids were having so much fun with us. I fell in love with a little boy named Sam. He was six, blind, and paralyzed (he's the one holding my hand on the floor). He was so smart and was teaching me all sorts of things in Luganda. He was the happiest little guy. I took the sweetest video of him and I learning body parts. I tried to upload it here but there is no way these computers can handle that but I can’t wait to show you when I come home! There were so many amazing children. This is Viola. She is totally unresponsive. Her muscles have totally atrophied, she doesn't make eye contact or smile. It's so sad to imagine how different her life could have been with the proper medical treatment as a child. I loved holding her and feeling her sweet spirit.We had a meeting with the caretakers after this meeting. We’ll be doing 11 home visits every week. Some days are rough but days like today remind me why I am here. I really truly feel that I have something special to share with these children and their mothers. I really hope I can make a difference with these unbelievably amazing people! On Monday we’ll plan the final details and determine who will be visiting who. We stopped by the market and I got another skirt hemmed. At the shop they had the CUTEST dresses and they were dirt cheap so I got a real cute sun dress for myself :).

Wrap Wrap Wrappin In Africa

2008-05-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the world's greatest pina coladas (they're actually called Fandangos) but they taste just like a pina colada.

My favorite new African invention.....the head wrap. It covers all your greasy hairness and even looks cute. I live for these things and thought I'd pass along my favorite beauty secret!

Monday was just like any other day. When I came home from the internet I was met with quite the surprise. One of our HELP volunteers, Dan, is extremely allergic to nuts of any kind. While working at a site he was fed and didn’t know that the matooke had a peanut sauce mixed into it that you couldn’t see. He frantically loaded a boda boda and flew back to the house. The country directors rushed him to the Lugazi hospital. He was given steroids, but they couldn’t do much else. He came back to the house and still wasn’t doing well. He was still super swollen and not breathing very well. He didn’t want to use his epi pen because his heart rate was super high. They called for a car to come get him and take him to the hospital in Jinja (about 30 mintues away, but they have European doctors). He was given a priesthood blessing and then when the car came he was rushed away. We were all very shaken up and so worried about him. We said a group prayer for him and tried to pass away the time until we heard how he was doing. We had dinner and then they called and said Dan was doing fine but he’d be spending the night in Jinja with Trent. We all love that boy so much and we’re so glad he’s okay!!! This situation made me start thinking about how difficult life would really be living here in Lugazi. If you were poor and couldn’t afford transportation or only had access to the Lugazi hospital you’d be in serious trouble. If you had a child that was allergic to nuts, an allergic reaction could be the end of their life. You would just helplessly watch as your child stopped breathing and then died. I can’t even imagine living that way. I’m so grateful to be in the USA with the amazing medical care that we have.
Tuesday morning I spent time perfecting my lesson for the caretakers. I was so nervous. I had to plan a training lesson for the caregivers so they are fully prepared to do home visits with us. Everyone was laughing because the cheesy relief society woman came out in me. I decorated little notebooks for them and gave them gelly pens (you have no idea how much these little things mean to them). They were so excited. I also got them all smarties and attached little notes to them that said, “Be A Smartie, Be A Caregiver!” Yep I’m a cheeseball, whatever I’m cool with it. The meeting went amazingly well and they were all so excited. We’ll have 8 caregivers and some of them are retired nurses, some young girls aspiring to be nurses and then a young man. My lesson went over way better than I could have hoped for. They were all intently taking notes and clinging to every word I said. My country director Ashley helped me out tons, she’s awesome. Each day I’m learning more and more that you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to. No matter how inadequate you may feel, you truly can do whatever you set your mind to. When I got back to the house it was laundry day, hooray. This is such a ridiculously long are crappy process. I will never ever complain about doing laundry in the states ever again! It takes for ever because we have to scrub every single thing and let’s be honest I my cloths don’t ever really get clean because I have no clue what I’m doing. We use this real classy bar of blue soap for everything and then some…..like we’re talking we wash dishes with it, then take it into the shower and then I scrub my panties with it, awesome! We went to Mukono for some training from a school called George Wythe College. They were training us on how to teach teachers. It was a really great training and very uplifting. By training the teachers we can change many, many lives as they will teach the future generations. They were also talking about how we may not know our purpose in being here, but somehow we will make a change. It may be one person you would never expect but by being here we can be the seed of change for something great. We left Mukono pretty late at night and that drive was real scary. Walking back to the house from the road was rather interesting, but we made it safe and sound. We had yummy dinner and spent the rest of the night chatting away. At about 3 in the morning we woke up to poor Natalie sicker than a dog. She had stuff coming out of every end and was totally miserable. It was a long night for the poor girl but by morning she was feeling a little better, although her stomach was still uneasy. I pray to all that is holy that I will not get sick during my time here. I’ve been super lucky so far and hope my lucky streak continues!
This morning we all slept in because it had been long night. Today is slow because we don't have all project going full throttle so we'll be spending most of the day preparing lesson plans and making poster, etc. I'm off to market now to buy myself some lunch......mmmmm says little miss piggy :)

Me Tarzan

2008-05-26T04:08:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from Iganga that I couldn't post last time. This is some of the girls (Jackie, Tori, Ashley, Lauren, me and Leslie) waiting to catch a taxi to Iganga.
Mama...remember when? When I arrived at Iganga the sweetest girl named Sam came up to me and grabbed my hand like this and I totally had a sentimental flashback of when I was little and always used to hold your hand like this! This is me and Sam, she stayed by my side ALL day. In this picture I'm teaching her how to be a cheeseball :)

Me and my new friends (Sam and her sister) all tuckered out after a long day of play.

So me and another volunteer may have stayed at the internet café slightly later than we should have on Friday night (don’t worry mom I won’t do it again J). The walk home was slightly scary. I felt totally safe and all, I just could NOT see a thing! You don’t realize how much electricity helps you get around at night. Everything was so ridiculously dark and I could hardly see my own two feet (let alone all the Africans standing in the road haha). The roads here are not paved and so that was pretty interesting trying to find our way along the bumpy dirt road. After stumbling on many rocks and only falling in a few minor pot holes we made it back safely! Dinner was amazing and then we spent the rest of the night having chats on our beds with everyone. We get so hyper and have the funniest conversations. One hilarious volunteer, who shall remain nameless, was doing dishes and didn’t know that we were supposed the dump the water we wash dishes in outside in a little water filling tub. Instead they dumped that water in the bath tub. Currently our tub is completely clogged and there are beans and rice all over the bottom of the tub, haha another chapter in the book of funny Africa moments!

On Saturday we got to go on another crazy mini vacation adventure. Seriously when else in your life can you just go off for the weekend and enjoy the most beautiful lands you have ever laid your eyes on. All of us, except the country directors, went to Mabira Forest. It was just like every jungle cartoon or discovery channel rainforest you have ever seen. There was so much green lush plant life growing as far as the eye could see. We chose a nice little three hour jungle walk to go on. It totally turned into a Scott “walk”, ya know the kind where Nick and Dad say it’s just gonna be a little walk and then it turns into a rather long and pretty tiring (especially with the humidity) hike. It was so beautiful, pictures don’t do it justice. For any of you that don’t know this I am actually the daughter of Bradley “Me Tarzan” Scott, so I felt right at home! We saw monkeys, huge centipedes, armies of ants and gorgeous lush flowers. I kept thinking the whole time how much the fam would have loved that hike. Our group got separated into three mini clumps and it turned into quite an adventure. My group went off to who knows where (trails are rather hard to follow in the rain forest). We ended up trekking up some huge hill and then ended in a little village. We got laughing so hard and were so grateful when we finally found the sign for Mabira forest. Somehow we magically all found our way back safely. We stopped by Jinja for a bit and I enjoyed a breakfast bagel and pina colada (this meal gets me through the week). We did a little shopping and messed around Jinja. When we got home the neighborhood kids were all outside the gate playing little whistles. We were all curious what they were made of because we’d never seen them before. We were absolutely horrified when we looked closer and discovered they’d been in our garbage….they were all using our tampon applicators as whistles! There was not a whole lot we could do because everyones garbage just goes in a big neighborhood pile and then they burn it ever couple of weeks (which is one of the fowlest smells ever). Even though it was totally nasty, it was pretty funny and their whistles were pretty creative. We went inside and found out that lucky us, no electricity. Ugh, so annoying, but I will admit I’d loose power over running water any day. We all grabbed our headlamps just in time to enjoy dinner. We decided to take advantage of the darkness and play murder in the dark (the kind where you all run around the house and the murder runs their finger across your chest to “kill you”). We scared ourselves to death (Tori even peed her pants haha) and had a blast, behold the creativity that comes out in Africa, so much fun!

Sunday we split in two groups and some went to Jinja and the rest to Mukono. I went to Jinja. We left our house on time but getting a taxi going can be such a joke! We loaded on but they wouldn’t leave til the taxi was packed like sardines. We ended up being ½ hour late to chruch, welcome to Africa. I’m starting to recognized faces at church and I love it. Every time I go there my testimony is strengthened and renewed. I love that no matter where on Earth you are, the church is always the same and makes you feel right at home. I raised my hand once in relief society and then they kept calling on me for everything, it was hilarious. They invited us to stay for two baptisms after church, a boy and a girl both about 14 years old. It was such a special occasion and I’m so honored that we were able to be there for it. The members here are amazing and I really look up to them. After church Leslie, Lauren and I stayed in Jinja and had a fun little girls day. Leaving Jinja was interesting. I have become the ultimate tightwade. I found myself arguing with a taxi driver over 500 shillings (about 35 cents). I refused to pay his price and so he wouldn’t take us. Finally I gave in to a different driver and paid the extra 500 shillings. I got to the point that I just didn’t care anymore, I just wanted to be home! We came finally got home and the power was back on, but then guess what….no water! I swear you can never win haha!

Today we had a meeting with the caregivers. Everyone was super late and the meeting was pretty unproductive, but hey at least we tried. We’ll be meeting again tomorrow morning. We went by to tour the hospital, SO sad. I can’t imagine having that hospital as my hospital. It smelled awful and was so depressing. Whitney I kept thinking of you and how much you’d hate this place, it makes USA hospitals look like paradise. There was NO privacy and we went right into peoples rooms. So much sadness and sickness here. I went to town and got one of my skirts hemmed because I get way too hot sometimes! I only did one to make sure if it did not go well I’d only be down one skirt. We stopped by the two internet cafés but neither one was working. As you all know I hate having a game plan for the day and then not having it go down. Third world countries can really test your patience. We found our friend Ivan (a boy about 14 years ) and he helped us around town. I’m starting to get more comfortable in town (although I still have zero sense of direction, you thought I was bad at home….o man I struggle hardcore here!) We went to market and I got some pineapple and eggs to eat for lunch. I really need to start buying food at the market because I’m not getting very good nutrition and I’m sleepy all the time. Earlier today I was getting kinda down and such and then I decided I should eat something. Of course I'm ridiculously dependent on food and now I feel like a whole new person, my energized, happy and cheesy self again, gosh I'm such a pig! I'm back at the internet for round two and so far things are working beautifully!

Bug Spray: The Key To Stealing A Man's Heart

2008-05-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday evening we went for our weekly St. Edwards orphan group. Our entire group gets together and we meet with a huge group of orphan and other children in the village (about 80-100 kids). We bring games, parachutes, balls, jump ropes and all sorts of goodness. Their faces absolutely lit up, it was awesome. We’ll be doing this every Wednesday evening for an hour. It is such a fun way to lift your spirits, these kids are amazing. I was playing tag with some kids and this little girl, about two years old, was in the middle of the ground sobbing. I picked her up and she clung to me like a little monkey. She wrapped her arms so tightly around me and wouldn’t let me go for anything. Her name was Sedia, I had so much fun playing with her and o my goodness I want to bring her home, wow these kids are adorable. We came home and had some yummy dinner and then awesome….we ran out of water! I wanted to shower but couldn’t, no washing hands and the best part…..I had to go to the bathroom so bad (like the kind you CANNOT hold) and I got to use a latrine in the dark! That is one thing that I will not miss about this place, latrines are so nasty (a lovely hole in the ground swarming with flies), needless to say it was quite the unpleasant experience. Wednesday nights are always my favorite nights, I get chats with the parental (and Boston) at home. I always look so forward to chatting with them and I even got to talk to Nick this time. Us volunteers the rest of the night chillin in our beds listening to music and talking about life (of course I sat on Leslie’s bed b/c mine is ridiculously small and annoying).
On Thursday morning we still had no water and it had been quite some time since my last shower. I have truely become a jungle woman, I now use bug spray as perfume to cover my stench haha! Thankfully the neighborhood kids don't seem to mind too much and still wanted to be held and played with. We went to St. Edwards again and made posters with the teachers. Mom you would have been real proud, my drawing skills are superb. I still love this activity SO much. When they brought out lunch (a HUGE bowl of matooke) I told them I’d been sick all morning and couldn’t eat. They were totally fine and I was so happy about it. I know I’m a total baby, but I just couldn’t do it! We came back to the house and did lesson planning and worked on other things to get projects moving along. I got to relax and finally finish my book (Eclipse) it was SO good but apparently there is a fourth book coming out a few days before I get back so madre we’ll definitely be hitting up Borders (mmmm that sounds delightful) when I get back because I have to know what happens!

This morning we went to an orphanage in Iganga (about a two hour taxi ride). The ride was amazing and the best alone time I've had so far. I turned on my iPod and listened to music and daydreamed...so wonderful. The scenary was amazing the whole way, huge lush jungles on everyside of you. The children at Iganga were so excited to see us and it was such a blast. I don't have these pics on my USB yet, so I'll put them on my next blog. I was nervous when they told us they were feeding us lunch, but when they brought out just rice and beans I was SO relieved, that is one meal I love. We're going to be going there every Friday, yeah! The ride home was great as well, I love my music SO much! O and just for your info. here's how crazy taxi rides are. We had 25 people and a huge live turkey in a 12 seater van...mmm I hope you love gettin' nice and cozy. We just got back to Lugazi and we're tryin' to get some computer stuff done before it gets dark. Darkness in no good here, everything is SO dark and no one has lights and people are so dark you cannot even see them in front of you! I best get home and get some good home cookin from Irene...HOORAY!

Les-a-li this ones for you girl!

2008-05-21T04:05:00.000-07:00

This blog is devoted to my dear sweet, most favorite girl in the world, Leslie. I wrote my last blog too fast and missed out on a key detail to my Nile experience. My partner in crime and best mate Leslie was on my raft and I forgot to mention her as being on our boat. She is my everthing and I love her oh so much!
On Monday afternoon I had my first mother’s and children with disabilities meeting. I was conducting the meeting and doing most of the speaking, I was terrified! I said a little prayer before I left and wished for the best. I was amazed when I walked into the room. The children were so adorable and about 20 mother/child pairs came. They have an extremely wide variety of disabilities. Many are deaf, some only paralyzed, some down syndrome, and that is just to name a few. This little girl named Bridgette stole my heart. She was about 3 and she was severely mentally handicapped. She was SO tiny and loved to be held. Every time I’d hold her she’d grab my braids and laugh and laugh and laugh. We mingled with the people for a little bit and then started the meeting. None of the mothers speak English so we had a translator. My speech went really well, I felt very confident! Faith (the woman in charge of the group) finished the rest of the meeting, she has one of the most genuine and loving hearts. The mothers are very excited about this group. We will be meeting every Thursday morning for two hours. Two volunteers will teach a lesson to the mothers (lessons like goal setting with your child, empowerment, parent/child bonding, how to communicate with a child who cannot verbally speak, everyone can, etc.) The other volunteers will do stimulating activities and crafts with the children. Many of these children are very smart and with the right type of stimulation, they could make major steps of progress. We will also be training a group of young women in the village to be care takers. They will conduct home visits with us to check the children’s progress and show love to these children. We will train them so that the home visits can continue after we leave here at the end of the summer. I am very excited and have very high hopes for the success of this project. After the meeting we came home and it was time for family home evening. We went to a nearby park and played games. We played Frisbee, soccer and then the boys joined in a basketball game with the locals. It was so fun to watch! We came home to a delicious dinner and I even helped make the passion fruit juice (much more of a process than you’d think). Heck yeah I’m gonna come home an expert African chef! We cleaned out the house major after, it is totally disgusting. As I was transferring garbage to a bag I got a lovely surprise, AH a gecko climbed up my arm. It scarred the heck out of me! Poor Dan was feeling very sick, flu-like symptoms with a fever. We hope it will pass soon, this is not the best place to be when you’re not feeling well!
Tuesday morning was pretty laid back. I spend most of the morning working on my project proposal (we have to write a country report to give to the HELP office before we can begin our projects). I had so much research about disabilities to do on the internet and I was so excited to spend a good long while there. I was planning on sending some e-mails, updating the blog, and doing some research. I started my blog and was in the middle of an e-mail when….HOORAY a storm hit. You know what that means…no power. Awesome! I kept trying to redo them when power came back but it kept going out again and again. I got one e-mail off and then gave up. My poncho saved me again while we went to tour another orphanage. At four we took boda bodas to the town counsel to meet with the mayor. Boda Bodas could be one of the greatest things Africa has to offer. They are way too much fun and make getting around town so much easier. I really think I should invest in one of these babies when I get home! We each presented our projects to him. My project proposal went over really well and they seemed really excited about it. That we had some fun third world country style. Water ran out which means no flushing toilets, no washing of the hands or dishes and all that fun stuff. Once we all dished up dinner and started eating, the power went out. Eating is already an adventure b/c we have no table. All 16 of us crowd around a sheet on the floor that has all the food, it is ridiculous. Without power it was pitch black and you couldn’t see a thing. I ran and grabbed my headlamp to finish my meal. We had meetings about projects the rest of the night. I had my first sick night and it was miserable. I was up all night long and could not fall asleep for the life of me. I was shivering and rolling back and forth. I was super nauseous and thought I was gonna crap my pants…..ah it sucked so bad. I felt way better when I woke up thank goodness, hopefully that will be the extend of my sickness Africa style.
This morning we went to St. Edwards Primary school. Schools are on holiday right now, but they will resume on Monday. We worked with the teachers all day drawing and coloring posters for the classrooms, it was so fun. I really suck at drawing and some of my pictures made me laugh so hard I was crying. Even though I am no good, I really love to draw. It is so relaxing and you always have real good chats. They served us a snack of fried cassava (like French fries) and a drink that tasted just like a steamer…mmm mom it was seriously almost as good at a Starbucks steamer. When we finished at one they gave us lunch, this is when I usually struggle. You have to eat everything, ugh. I’m not sure what lunch was, but I can tell you it was disgusting. I kept breathing through my mouth and shoving it down my throat. Once I put too much and totally gagged myself, ah I really need to learn how to just suck it up and take it like a man! We get to go back again tomorrow and I’m super excited. It has been a wonderful day so far!

Meet Poncho...My New Best Friend

2008-05-19T01:49:00.000-07:00

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning so stoked for a day of adventure. Much to our enjoyment we were met with a total downpour. I love the rain here, it is unlike any rain at home. The rain drops are GIGANTIC and it only takes like 5 raindrops to drench you completely. We had to walk about 10 minutes. Some people were not too happy about it, but I thought it was hilarious. When the packing list suggested to bring a poncho, they weren’t lying. I have never been more grateful for a piece of plastic. We finally boarded our bus and headed to the Nile. The drive took forever, but the weather got super nice. They fed us a delicious breakfast and then suited us up with sumo wrestler lifejackets and helmets….yeah we needed helmets, that makes ya kinda nervous for what’s in store. There was a bunch of other Mzungus on our truck (we all packed into the back of an open truck) and I knew a few from Provo. These are the fine HELP fellas getting ready for the adventure of a lifetime (Trent, David, Dan, Corbin and Jeff)Our group spilt in two and I was with Tori, Jeff, Dan, Seren and David. There was about 8 rafts and 16 kayaks. Our guide was Peter and he was hilarious (this picture is all of our group with Peter after surviving The Nile). Rafting The Nile is hands down one of the coolest things I have ever done in my entire. Dad I told everyone about your glory days rafting, I was totally reliving the dream. I was such a champ, you would have been proud! The rapids were so gigantic and I honestly was fearing for my life on many of them (like we're talking class 5 rapid). Watching some of the wipeouts was hilarious, but also made it way more scary. Another hilarious part was the naked man randomly sitting on a rock in the middle of The Nile, waving to us. We saw lots of crazy animals, a monkey in a tree by us, some otters in the water, a black cobra swam next to one of the raft and the guides were freaking out (thank goodness my raft didn't see it!), lots of crazy birds, and we went through croc territory but thank heavens we didn't have to see any! Our raft tipped on the second rapid and that was quite the rush. Halfway through the days we had snack time during a long stretch of calm water. Talk about heaven. We layed out on the raft and ate fresh pineapple and biscuits…mmmm that is the life! It was an entire day of death-defying adventure. I will never forget that day for the rest of my entire life, AMAZING!! Second adventure, yet just as scary, was riding back to our campsite. One hour standing Mexican style in a truck with the river guides. Our truck was seriously at a 45 degree angle at least half the time. We sang song and had so much fun, man that ride would have never flied in the states. When we got back I had bugs in between all my teeth and they totally looked like poppyseeds, grosso! They had a delicious BBQ dinner waiting for us and some women selling jewelry, I didn’t have much cash but I got some cool stuff. We sat in the bar all night (which definitely looked out onto The Nile) chillin’ on a couch, sippin some sodas, playing cards and listening to music, I feel totally rejuvenated (and got super tan)! I took my first hot shower, HOORAY! Our sleeping quarters were rather sketchy and extremely squished. I had top bunk and there were all sorts of dead things on top of my mosquito net and it made me sick to my stomach. The bunk below me (Corbin) left a wrapper out and for sure had rats joining him for the evening. Thank goodness I wore myself out rafting so I was able to sleep.
Sunday morning we rushed out in about 3 minutes flat. We got back to Jinja and went to an LDS ward. I felt so at home. I love our church so much and it is so fun to attend a small, developing ward. The members are amazing and I felt the spirit so strong. I know my Heavenly Father knows I’m here, he is watching over me and I know with his help I can do anything. After church we stayed in Jinja. It is an actual city (haven’t been in a legit city in a while) and it was so fun looking around. We had our first American meal and smoothies. They have some of fun, touristy, traditional African stuff that I for sure wanna go back and buy. We had a long taxi ride home squished in with about 20 other Africans, it smelled so delicious. We got back and a local group of kids in our village did a presentation for us. It was an AIDS awareness presentation and it was amazing. They sang, danced, and recited poetry about AIDS. It was so fun and they were awesome. There was the cutest little girl that kept coming and dancing with me. You cannot see her very well is this picture, but she is the one holding my hands, man that girl had quite the dance moves....SO CUTE! When they were finished I joined the kids and started dancing. They got such a kick out of it and swarmed me dancing, it was a blast. Our cook had a yummy dinner waiting for us at home. We spend the rest of the night planning out project stuff, so much to do!
We slept a little rough last night. At about 3 AM there was a massive dog fight around our gate. We were seriously all really scared. The cry of the losing dog was so loud and we were all freaking out under our bed nets. Finally our guard David came to the rescue (we were all peeking out the window trying to see what all the madness was about) and he stopped the dogs and shewed them away. This doesn't sound all too scary, but it was rather traumatic for all of us. This morning I had a meeting with Faith to plan out our project for children with disabilites and their children. I'm still getting the feel for being in charge and getting things done Ugandan style. Thanks to the help of my amazing country director, Ashley, the meeting went better than we'd hoped and I feel very confident about this project. Today at two we are having our first meeting with the mothers and their children. I have to give a speech at the beginning...ah I'm kinda nervous so wish me luck. We're going to introduce our program and who we are, then motivate/inspire the mothers. I'll give more details of the program after our meeting today with the mothers, after that I should have a basic idea of the exact program we'll be implementing and the sustainability of it (Faith had some really great ideas about that part). I really hope I do as well as I want to speaking at the meeting today. One step at a time we're starting to make progress.

Jambo! (Hello)

2008-05-16T05:05:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning was SO long! We had a children’s rights meeting we were running late so we had to run the entire way…..yep in skirts, it was brutal. As soon as we got there they told us the meeting had been delayed an hour, it was slightly annoying, but welcome to Africa. We went back to the house and relaxed for an hour. The meeting finally got going at 10 and it was SO ridiculously long. It was strange how much they had to discuss and how differently they view the rights of children, it was kinda sad. The meeting lasted well over 3 hours and I thought I was gonna die. After the meeting they provided lunch….mmmm I love when locals feed us….psych! Ah it is the worst feeling because you have to eat everything and they fill your plate right up with real sketchy stuff. I tried not to breathe through my nose to prevent myself from tasting. Thank heavens I was sitting next to Dan and so he helped me out and finished some of the stuff I couldn’t handle. After the meeting a group of about six girls got together to go meet with some orphans. On the way I was talking to one of my friends. Both of us are struggling some of the time. There is so much to do and I feel so helpless. At times I just wanna sit and cry, I don’t feel like I will be able to make any difference here. Development is so complicated and so frustrating. This place is so corrupt and so full of need….ahhh I wanna scream sometimes. I feel so inadequate. Once we got to the school we were met by a room chuck full of brown little smiling faces. I couldn’t believe how many turned up to meet us, well over 60. Everyone wanted to touch us and meet us. This little guy wanted me to hold him the whole time....poor guy, I was sweating bucket and smelled awful!We started teaching them games. Everyone always loves the Macarana so much, it is hilarious. They taught us some of their games. They loved interacting with the Mzungus. We went crazy dancing and singing, it was a blast. We had so much fun and they loved it, their smiles really lifted my spirits. I was totally drenched in sweat at the end (we were playing so hard in the brutal African sun). I stopped by the market to buy bread and bananas for breakfast and then headed to the house. My cold shower has never felt so wonderful! I called my contact Faith to set up a meeting for Monday to get things rolling with my children with disabilities project. That night it was Ashley's, our country director, birthday. We had a nice surprise party for her. The people that live behind us baked her a cake and we decorated that back. We had cake, pineapple and all sorts of goodies. Corbin ended the night beautifully by serenading her with some nice Backstreet Boys, it was awesome. After that, the night was carrried away dance party style. We had a regrouping meeting before bed to reset priorities and focus ourselves so that we actually accomplish our goals. I'm feeling better and better each day, but development is rough.

This morning we woke up and I went to town working on my project proposal. I spent at least two hours on it and this is just the rough draft. After my meeting with Faith things will become more set in stone, but I'm really happy with where I'm at right now. Around 10:30 I was able to go to my favorite place on the planet, HOPE. Our ride with Fred was lovely, I made a video on my camera but this computer cannot load it so I'll show you when I get home. We were greeted with lots of hugs. They totally know and love us so much, it feels like all these kids are my own little African family. Joseph is the youngest and when I was holding him today he talked to me....this is HUGE, it was the first time he has ever talked for us....ahh I recorded it on my camera and you'll die when you see it, SO stinkin' cute. I'm so sad that we won't be there much longer because we have finished most of our projects there. We did more manual labor and sweat our guts out. Had another yummy African lunch, the fruit and juices here are to die for. I really hope I can go there at least one more time this summer, I already miss my little kiddies. We decided to stop by here, the internet cafe, on the way home because we'll be gone all weekend. Tommorrow we're gonna go raft the nile baby.....hopefully we survive :)

I Want An African Baby

2008-05-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

Monday night was rather interesting. Our country director, Jackie, found a rather nice surprise. She had a nice little blister on her toe. When she popped it she found a nice little surprise……a sac full of some sort of eggs. Ahh creepy, needless to say I didn’t not sleep well. Even our guard David cannot keep out the creepy crawlies!!!
Tuesday was amazing, but also extremely exhausting. It was by far the most emotionally exhausting day I’ve had here so far. We were able to sleep in today and then I met with a lady named Faith today. She’s is very amazing. She works with the disabled people here in Uganda (mainly children). She took us to the slums and had us meet some of the children she works with. I’ve never seen such poverty in my entire life. As we ran we were absolutely SWARMED by the children. When we visited the first house I lost it. I was biting my cheek so hard to keep my self from sobbing hysterically. There were two children, Rita and Joel, both were severely handicapped. They can understand but cannot speak or move their bodies. I was so impressed by their mother. There are so many healthy children that are abandoned here and even with all that comes with handicapped children, she stays by their side. They cannot leave that house and they are shunned from the village. We went to four other houses and each one touched me so much, I was totally overwhelmed with every emotion possible. When we’d meet the mothers they’d fall to their knees to greet us, not many people will greet them because of the stigma attached to those with disabilities. We knelt to back to shake their hands and they didn’t know quite what to do. These children were so adorable and it breaks my hard because if they were in the USA they could receive so much help and make big steps of progress. The other children in the town followed us like a parade, each dying to hold our hands or touch us. Seeing where they lived broke my heart. There is so much need here and I hope I am able to make some sort of impact. After that we had meetings all day, trying to set things in motion. There is so much planning and meetings that go into development, it is a lot to take in. One meeting was at St. Edwards primary school, I’d really love to work there, especially with the orphan group. On our way back home we were hit by another sudden downpour of rain. The rainstorms hit out of nowhere and come down so ridiculously hard. Tori and I hiked up our skirts to our knees and starting sprinting home. All the people sat in their houses and pointed and laughed at the crazy Mazungus running through the rain. We got home totally drenched and laughing so hard. We played outside with the street kids and it was so fun. They have learned my name and they will chant for me to come outside now, I love it. They wait outside for us all day long. We had a delicious dinner and hung around the house. We shared pictures from home with each other and then watched Boy Meets World. At 11 we had 3 new volunteers come, Heidi, Amber and Seren. They are all super cute.
This morning we went to HOPE again. My favorite part of Africa could very possibly be riding the motorcycle cart to HOPE. It’s so fun and the drive is hands down the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Ah I can’t even begin to describe it! They kids all know us by name and have favorites. I am very close to Tom and Issac, they are awesome and I have huge crushes on them (ya they’re like 12 it’s awesome). There wasn’t much manual work so we spent time playing with the kids. I was absolutely stoked….they have a piano. Many of them can play so well. I played for them and they loved it and then they taught me a song we sang at church. One of the head people, Dennis, played for us. He was amazing, such a gifted musician. It was such a ghetto little keyboard and he went to town! Such good times, I was in total heaven. We played with a parachute and other random games. We had a yummy lunch and then a few people headed to Kampala. The rest of us stayed and played with the kids and had some team bonding time. We got back and the street kids went crazy. They love us so much and get so exited to see us. They climb our fence to try and get a glimpse of us. Maguel is about 6 and he is so cute, he always grabs my hand and kisses it (he is the little head directly left of mine in the picture). Today one of them gave me a love note, what a little sweetheart. They are such dolls and I feel so special everyday here...mmmmm life is good!

I Still Cannot Believe I'm In Africa..I'm In De-NILE!

2008-05-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

Okay so I have decided that I for sure don’t have time to keep both a journal and this blog. Lucky you, the blog won out. Unlucky you, you’re gonna get EVERY detail, even the ones you may not want. I’m gonna try to somehow print this out after this summer and make it into a book.
So speaking of things you won’t wanna hear can I just tell you that once a month, living in Africa kinda bites! Latrines and that time mix extremely akwardly, and it is SO difficult when you are not at the house!!! On Saturday we got to sleep in (which was like 7:30). I was so ridiculously sore when I woke up mmmmm I’m gonna be so buff when I get home baby! I hung around the house for a bit and then Natalie, Jackie and I went to the internet cafe. I’m still quite impressed with the computers, it’s quite a ghetto little place but I’ve had awesome luck with the internet there. After that we went back to the house and got ready for the day. Our friend Edith comes to our house everyday. She is 18 and lives in our village. She always wants to come and help us with things like washing the floors and our shoes. She loves to do it but will never take money for it. Since she won’t take money we buy her cloths or take her with us on adventures. We went to Bujagali Falls and brought her with us. We all piled into a taxi and it was so bloody hot! We got to the falls and they were so beautiful. We sat on the shores and watched the gorgeous Nile flow by. The plants around the water were amazing and seriously didn’t even look real. Edith loved the Nile and had never been there before. We sat in a little cabana and had drinks. There was a crazy man named the Bujagali Acrobat. He was paralyzed from the waist down and did the craziest tricks for everyone, it was awesome. We went on a little river cruise and it was super fun. The water was so warm. They took us to a little island and we went on a walk. There was an old man that was a witch doctor that lived on the island and it was kinda creepy. We got to see where they are going to build the dam. In 6 years there are gonna dam the Nile for power. It will be so great for Africa, but sad for the people that live off the river and depend on the tourism (like rafting and such). We piled back in the taxi and went on our way. We wanted to go swimming in the Nile but unfortunately our driver didn’t totally understand. We ended up at some posh resort and he was telling us to get in their swimming pool. They weren’t so stoked about that idea. Instead we just walked around the grounds. It totally reminded of Cabo, some day when I’m making my millions I’m gonna come back and stay here. After that we headed to a little forest to wander around. We found some American that were camping. They were so awesome and so fun to talk to. They permanently moved to Africa to do humanitarian work. They started an orphanage for HIV positive children. They were amazing and I seriously thank the heavens that there such good people in the world. Uganda seriously brings out the best in people. When we got home we finally had our chef, Irene. She will be making us dinner every night and that puts the largest smile on my face! Her dinner……..AMAZING, I’m officially in love with Ugandan food, she for sure converted me. (Maybe it was the fact that all I had eaten all day was a granola bar for breakfast, but wow it was unreal….like Cafe Rio good!!!!) Chipati (one of their staples) is just like the homemade tortillas and I love it. Also the pineapple dessert was life-changing. The food was gone in about 5 seconds and no one spoke the entire meal, we were all in heaven.
On Saturday night we all gathered in our tiny living room and projected a movie on a sheet on a wall. We watched a Beautiful Mind. I was squished on a couch with 5 other people and man I was dying. I was so tired and uncomfortable that eventually my bed won out. I layed down, so excited to sleep. Just as I tucked in the last corner of my mosquito net the whole thing came down on me. I started screaming for help and my girl Tori came to save the day. All sorts of gross stuff fell on my sheets but I was way too tired to care. About 5 minutes later it happened again, man those things get rather annoying. This morning I woke up and decided to take a shower (which rarely happens here, twice in one week is the norm). The cold water is quite the way to wake up, but once you are used to it, it feels real nice. Shaving is ridiculous in cold water, I totally butchered my legs. We have all gotten way too close. With only one shower you lose all fears. We are to the point where we can have one person in the shower, one on the pot, and one brushing their teeth, it is hilarious. We have found little snacks at the Simple Market that are super good. I’m really like African food now. They have some really tasty corn and soy nuts. Whit you would totally love the corn nuts, unfortunately they don’t have BBQ but I’ll have to bring some home for you. It’s so fun using their money, you seriously feel like a millionaire. 1 US dollar is 1,650 shillings. The lowest coin we use 500 shillings. I feel like a high roller when I buy a bag of corn nuts for 500 shillings. Everything is super inexpensive here, but I find myself being quite a tightwade because things sounds expensive with such high numbers. We were assigned to projects. We each lead one project and then follow on others. I am SOOO stoked. Jeff and I are the lead on the project for those with disabilities. Disabilities are a huge problem here and they are totally shunned from society, it breaks my heart. We are gonna teach self-empowerment and teach those in the village that disabilities are normal. I love all the other projects (childrens choir, orphanage, schools, etc.) as well. Tori and I have been asked to be the team moral leaders. It’s such good times. We get to do random fun things to keep everyone’s spirits up, man this place is way too much fun and we are loopy like 24/7.
On Sunday we went to a local praise session and it was the most amazing experience ever! On the walk I seriously felt like a celebrity, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this. Everyone runs from their houses to see us and runs behind us shouting Mazungu. At church everyone was going crazy and it was a blast. We sang and danced at the beginning and I was sweating like a mad woman. We danced, sang and shouted prayers. They were so excited to have us there and kept talking about the white angels the Lord had sent to them (most of them have never seen a white person in their entire life, only on TV). The kids cannot get enough of us and the cutest little girl named Treva sat on my lap. She couldn’t get enough of my pasty white skin and kept playing with my hands and holding them next to hers. She wouldn’t let go of me the entire time. After the session was over everyone came up and wanted to hug us and thank us, they are so loving here. Treva stayed with me the whole time and looked so proud to be with her Mazungu friend. After church we came back home and had our own sacrament. It was amazing and I love being surrounded by so many worthy priesthood holders. Our group is amazing. We even had a wonderful talk by Jeff. It was a really cool experience and I’m glad I was able to both see their church, but still take the sacrament.

Today we went back to the HOPE orphanage and it's was amazing as always. They are starting to learn our names and it is so fun. They get so excited to see us. The weather didn't exactly want to cooperate and it was a TOTAL downpour. Seriously so gorgeous and unlike anything I have ever seen. It made everything super muddy and put a bit of a damper on our project as they were all outdoor construction. Instead a few of us went inside played with the kids. We sang songs, played games and told one another stories. It was a blast. We did some more work projects and then it rain again. Me and some children sat under this overhang and drew pictures in the dirt forever. They are all so smart and most can spell extremely well. They were all obsessed with my name and wrote it on every square inch of the dirt....as well as Kathy, Brad, Nick and Whitney...they always want to hear about our families. There are some older boy (about 13) that love to be involved but get nervous and blush when I speak to them, it is one of the cutest things on the planet. We had a delicious lunch with them again and then if was off to town counsil. That was quite the experience. We were there for hours and it was pretty intimidating. The lady next to me was telling me that I have African skin, not Mazungu (meaning I am tan), which made me feel great because I feel so pasty here! I was the persons with disabilities specialist and so I spoke to two disabled people (Francis and Anthony). They were two of the nicest people I have ever met. We're trying t oset up some project but I feel kinda lost right now. We're really trying to push to help at a school for disabled children.....I would LOVE that. I'm also helping some of my friends with their orphanage projects. We'll see what happens. I seriously love my group so much. After I finish this I get to go home and eat Irene's cooking.....mmmm life is wonderful. I wish I could fed-ex some home to you, you'd seriously die!!!!!! Life is well and you know you'll be hearing from me soon. Again sorry these are so long, but this is now my journal, so yep I'm not leaving out one little detail.

Mazungu you are so strong!

2008-05-10T00:19:00.000-07:00

Wow. Each day gets more and more interesting. Two nights ago our country directors and some locals had some fun with us and decided to have a team initiation. We each reciting what our tribe was and a little saying...then came the grosso part. They put two chickens in front of us and told us that was dinner....and this was not a joke. We had to cut off their heads, and yes they keep moving after you do this. We took out the feathers, cleaned them and then cooked them over a fire. I couldn't get myself to eat any, it was slighty traumatic for me. I don't think I'll ever eat chicken in the same way again. Yesterday was extremely long. We do some much in on day and I honestly feel like I have been here well over two weeks now. Yesterday wore me out and I have neer been so tired in my life. I never knew anyone could sweat as much as I did. We went to a children's home yesterday early in the morning. We rode in a 6 man cart pulled behind a motorcycle, it was hilarious. We drove through the most beautiful land I have ever seen in my life, lush sugar cane fields, tropical flowers, and gorgeous green hills an trees as far as the eye can see, I wish all of you could see it. When we got there I got the warmest welcome I have ever receive. I was swarmed by the children and each one wanted a hug and to tell you their name. Rylee is super hard for them to say so my name has become Irene haha! The little girl in this picture's name is Vanessa she is the same age as Boston. She is really sick with Malaria and so she is always very very tired, great little cuddler. They don't have diapers, so I get kinda nervous holding her sometimes, but I stayed dry thank goodness.They are so cute and I wanna take them all home with me. We spent a few hours in the morning building a chicken coop. We made an assembly line with the kids to get the bricks to the site. They were so heavy and I couldn't believe how strong these kids were. We sang if you're happy and you know it while we passed bricks and they loved it. After that we had to get clay to build our adobe stove. We had to walk very far, man these kids are troopers. We walked down a huge hill and finally got to a huge mound of clay. We filled very large buckets and carried them up the huge hill to the road so a truck could come pick it up. We had to go up and down about 6 times, which took almost 2 hours. These buckets were seriously SO heavy. The kids kept trying to take my bucket because they didn't want me to carry it, but I'll held tight. They walk behind me and say Mazungu you are so strong. My arms got so tried so they showed me how to carry it on my head which actually was way easier, except that my head is definitely not flat. My friend Gertrude (an orphan) helped me out and folded a banana leaf into a little pillow for me to wear on my head under the bucket. I was shocked and how much it helped, man they are so smart! It was really hot where

were and my sweat made it look like I had been swimming. We got back and it was time to start building. We mix the clay with sand and fibers and water. I was all about the mixing process....with our feet baby. The mixture was really cold and felt so good between my toes. The kids were all laughing at the crazy mazungus dancing in the mix. It was a major thigh burner and wiped me. At about 3 we finally ate. Working so hard and being so hot, you actually forget you are hungry (how weird for me to forget something like that haha). I finally had my first good meal and man I love it. Rice, beans, cabbage and posho (flour and water). It was so delicious but my appetite is shrinking. I couldn't finish it all so my friend Susan (an orphan) was more then happy to finish it off. Hope (the school for children) is such a wonderful place. The children have so many workers that care about them so much, there is so much love here. All the children look after one another and it is so cute. They have huge lush gardens to grow food for the children, many chickens, cows, and they are totally self-sufficient. They feed the children SO well. They all can put down so much food, way more then me, I was super impressed. One of the directors, Kennedy, wanted to show me the gardens. It is totally a culture thing to hold hands. He grabbed my hand and took me down to the gardens. It was hilarious, I totally got all nervous. My voice got all high and I felt like I had to make small talk, come on we were holding hands going on a walk. All the volunteers made fun of me so bad! There are two albino girls and we brought them some 50 SPF sunscreen, they were so grateful. Ah I wish you could see and these kids and their big brown eyes. We got to play games with the children and get to know them. It was a total blast. They invited us to come one night and spend the night, I want to so bad, that would be such a blast. We got home around 8 and I was spent. I wrote in my journal for a bit and I totally kept dozing off midsentence. I went to bed pretty early. This morning I was super duper sore from the day before. I think today we may go check out some waterfalls. I love it here and love all of you even more.

Hey Guess What....I'm In Africa

2008-05-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

Okay wow, I’m still in a total daze! The airplane ride was absolutely ridiculous. I may consider staying in Uganda forever just so I don’t have to get on another airplane. Thank goodness I have a friend with an extremely kind heart who stayed up with me the entire night before I left. Due to his kindness I was totally exhausted and was able to sleep through much of our 27 hour journey, some naps on the plane and others right on the airport floor. My body is still recovering from the whole gaining 9 hours thing, I don’t even know what’s going on right now. We got to Uganda pretty late and so we couldn’t see much. We had a one and a half car ride to our town called Lugazi. Our house is absolutely amazing. There is a family that is renting their house to us and they are living a back room. They are so kind to us. We have a huge gate surrounding our house and there is an armed guard from 7 pm to 7 am, his name is David and he speak pretty good English. The night was quite an adventure. We saw 5 cockroaches and they creeped me out big time. Our power went out right after we got there so it totally reminded me of that power outage mom and I experienced at home and joked about how Africa would be like that. I got news for you mom, it totally is, except we only had two candles. I’m so grateful for the headlamp Nick and Kesh got me, it seriously saved my life. It is SOOO dark without power here. Trying to figure out the mosquito nets was hilarious and my bed is so short that my feet hang off the end. We have 13 volunteers here right now and I love all of them so much. 6 of us girls share a room and the only bathroom in the house is in there. Pro-first dibs on the toilet, cons- everyone is always in and out of our room and things don’t always flush like they’re supposed to. When we went to bed all of us just laughed and laughed ourselves silly. None of us can believe we are actually here and things get pretty funny around here. We went to bed around 1 am and I basically didn’t sleep at all. There was a dog barking, baby crying, geckos squealing, and roosters at 3am…..man this is a noisy place. We got up around 6 and checked out things in daylight. There honestly aren’t words sufficient to describe the beauty here. Everything is so lush and green, it is seriously a tropical paradise. Pictures do not even begin to do it justice. It is little dirtroad with cute little houses and thick, thick green plants with gorgeous blossoms. The little children wait for us by the gate. Everyone wants to see us and they all come outside when we walk by and yells Mazungu Mazungu. I’m trying to pick up some little Lugandan phrases, I’m sure it will come along eventually. Us volunteers had a delicious breakfast together with some amazing fruit. After breakfast we took a big tour of the village. Everyone is so helpful and friendly. Other than the humidity, the weather is surprising pleasant. We met some interesting people and got a feel for the village. I took my first boda-boda ride and it was awesome. They’re kinda like vespas that they taxi us around on. We were in skirts so we had to side saddle it. We had lunch at the nicest hotel in Lugazi and I’ve learned that I’m gonna loose a bit of weight this summer. I’m definitely not huge on the native food. I really hope it grows on me because I had to choke it down. On our way back home a massive downpour hit out of nowhere and it even started hailing, it was insane. Now I’m just chillin’ at the house and little kids are climbing up our fence trying to get a peek at us, it is hilarious. I absolutely love it here and I feel so very blessed that I’m able to experience this. Thanks for everyone who helped me get here. I will try to give updates as often as possible. I love you all!

Coming Up So Quickly

2008-04-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I'm really sorry I'm not so good at keeping this updated. I promise once I get to Uganda I'll be better, but right now there wouldn't be much to post except school, school and more school (oh yeah I did get accepted to UVSC's dental hygiene though, so that's exciting). When I'm not doing stuff for school I trying to get myself ready for this crazy adventure I'll be undertaking this summer. I cannot believe it's actually happening....in like two weeks!!! I've been going to trainings like crazy and we've had lots of team uniting parties. I absolutely love my team to death and I cannot wait to spend the summer with them. I recently finished getting my shots. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a TOTAL wuss. These shots were a definite test of my desire to go to Africa. I really think Africa is the only things that could motivate me enough to go through that many shots.....so not fun, but I know it will totally be worth it. Here's a lovely picture for you to enjoy of me receiving my lovely yellow fever vaccine!

2008-03-08T12:03:00.000-08:00

HELP UGANDA 2007

2008-02-25T13:22:00.001-08:00

Here's another video, this one is from the volunteers last summer. These videos get me so excited, I cannot wait to get to Uganda. This summer will change the rest of my life!!!!

HELP International Uganda 2006

2008-02-07T20:59:00.001-08:00

I finally figured out how to post the video HOORAY....please watch this it is amazing, it gets me so excited for this summer!

Overwhelmed with gratitude

2007-12-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

I cannot thank everyone enough! The support I have received from the letters I sent out has been completely overwhelming and I'm am truly grateful for each and every donation. I am so excited with my progress and I absolutely cannot wait for this summer!