A blessing and a curse.

As a result of not knowing what to write about today, I'm going to vent about IPODS.

Everybody has them. They're probably the one motivation I have in going to the gym. They're great for walking to classes, even better for road trips. However, they SUCK!

My first Ipod was a present given to me for Christmas my senior(?) year in high school. It broke when I was a freshmen in College. I don't know what happened to it, one day it just stopped working.

I bought one from my brother a few months after that incident. Then one day it disappeared. I searched everywhere for it. After accusing my cleaning ladies (in my head) of stealing it I moved on to the next Ipod-the 80 gig.

I bought it mostly for Africa, so that I could have something to keep me sane on the crazy days. I started loading my pictures onto my Ipod once I was there, so I could free up my memory card and keep taking more pictures. BAD IDEA. The Ipod got a virus, and I lost every single one of my pictures. Once I got to America, I went to two different Apple stores, sat on the phone for over 2 hours and 65 dollars later I finally had an Ipod that was "fixed". Well guess what? A month after getting it back it doesn't work again. I can't load any songs onto it and when I try to connect it to Itunes it freezes up. I've tried it on a few computers and it does the same thing to all of them. I've called them again and after sitting on the phone for an hour with them they came up with the bright idea of restoring my Ipod, and downloading Itunes again. Wow, like I hadn't thought of that before?? Seriously???

Luckily one day after I got back from Africa I randomly found the Ipod and got my brother to admit he took it. So, I have that to get me through, now I'm just mad that I spent 250$ on an Ipod that doesn't work. BOO!

If I don't get this Ipod fixed I'm giving up on Ipods forever!

Motivation

This semester has been hard, to say the least. It seems like there's a test every single day, and the homework just keeps piling up on my desk. Weekends no longer belong to myself, and when they do that only means that it's because i'm not doing something I should be. I wake up every morning at 7 to study and do homework, something I've NEVER done before. I can't count how many times I've said to myself, "Just drop out. This is SO not worth it."

But, homework is handed in, tests are being taken and I find myself still in school. There must be something that keeps me going.

All week I've been thinking about what could be so great that it would keep me motivated enough to just keep going. I've decided that this is it:

These are some of the pictures and notes from the kids I've taught.

Right now I work with four second grade students who are really struggling in reading. I force them to work hard and some days leave feeling like they are going hate me! But today when I was giving the test and the girl who has had the hardest time with reading passed with only 2 errors (that's an excellent score) I left feeling like the hard work really does pay off. Seeing her improve her scores really makes the work I put in totally worth it! And, somehow these kids always find a way to give me the motivation to keep working hard and put in my best effort.

What gives you the motivation to keep going?

The Worth of a Soul

I wanted to do a blog on this painting, because I think it's absolutely amazing! I don't know if any of you watch the thing in between and right after general conference, but this year they did one on the lady who painted this painting. She was asked by some people from the Mothers without Borders program to go over with them and paint something. She brought the Jesus model and she said she really just didn't know what to paint, until one day she saw the model pick up this boy and she knew it's what she needed to paint. From the minute I saw it I totally loved it!

There are many reasons why I love this painting, but I think the main reason for it is because it reminds me of how much Jesus cares. Why else would he have suffered in Gethsemane and on the cross just for us? He did it to prepare a way for me to return to Heavenly Father, and he did it for the boy in this picture. He did it for all of us because he loves us that much.

The title of this picture is perfect-The Worth of a Soul. I can't think of a better name for it.

I love how the boy is laying in his arms. This totally reminds me of how the children are when you hold them over there. They love to be held! Oh how I miss Africa!

Sorry this is random, but hopefully you'll love the picture just as much as I do!

Ps. Thanks for the picture Brock!

Logan is a happening place. You should come and visit too!

Brock came up yesterday to hang out with me! We had lots of fun. We went to the mall, took photo booth pictures (Somehow, everyone else who takes those can do cute ones but these are our second ones and both times we have left thinking, ok, those suck lets not do it again), went for a drive up the canyon, I made dinner for him, Michelle and Doug, went to coldstone and then watched casino Royal-and I didn't even fall asleep. Thanks for coming up Brock!





These pictures are a few weeks old, but I still wanted to post them anyway. Aubs, Jeana and Car drove all the way up to Logan to come hang out with me! It was awesome. They are great friends. We went to the mall, Olive Garden, and to see Highschool Musical 3. Thanks guys!



Brock came up the night before and I'd put pictures up of that except we didn't take any.

I'm really lucky to have such great friends!

Lindsi Sullivan has been blogging every day and it made me want to try it. Even if it only lasts for like a week, I'm going to see if I can do it! I can't promise mine will be funny like hers are though.

Multi-tasking

Ok, so first of all, Lindsi tagged me on her blog so I'm supposed to put up my fourth picture in my fourth photo album folder.


I now tag WHITNEY, MARLENA, and EMILY. Have fun....and you BETTER do it!

This is a picture of three of my roommates freshman year, Katie, Michelle and Kailey. I still live with Michelle. In fact, yesterday was her birthday.

Which brings me to my second point: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISHELL-MITCHEL-MEECHELL! Hope it was a good one.

Third, Does anyone want Carrie Underwood tickets? My awesome friends bought me a ticket for my birthday, but I can't go now. I'm way bummed out about it! Now she has two tickets up for grabs if anyone wants them!

I'm going to write another post soon, but just wanted to do a quick one now. Hope you are all having a great day!

Party over here!!

This weekend was a fun one! Brock drove up to Logan with his friends Nate and Landon on Friday afternoon. Party over here!!!

Friday night Meech, Brock and I went to Olive Garden. After eating 1000 breadsticks we drove to Snow Hall for some fun. We made our first stop to Snow 105-in honor of DJ Hesterman. Good thing everyone cool was at the football game, or else we would've looked like serious creepers! But, we took a picture to send to Deej. Meech and I met Deej our freshman year and became best friends. Not only that but we founded the Creep Squad "CS" before he left on his mission. I was writing to Brock when Deej got his mission call to Burmingham England-right where Brock was! I sent Deej out after he promised to spy on Brock for me. I'm joking....kind of. It just so happened that once Deej got out of the MTC he was trained by none other than THE Elder Barrus. Crazy how that happened. So, this picture is in front of DJ's room with all three of his favorite people.

Our next stop was to Snow 406- the coolest apartment at Snow. They always had happening parties there. Not really. That was my old apartment freshman year. We couldn't go to Snow without stopping at 406. Good memories!

After our flashback to the past, Meech, Doug, Brock and I went to a corn maze. I promised Brock it wasn't haunted.....but found out once we got there that it was. FUNNY! Doug acted like he was 3 (nothing new). We found our way to the tower and climbed up it to see where it was when Doug started shaking it and screamed "AH! It's going to break!" A bunch of the kids on it started booking it off the tower cause Doug scared them so bad. After about an hour we finally found our way out. Corn mazes are weird things. You pay money to go in one, just to be super annoyed that you can't find your way out. Something's not right there...

Saturday morning during conference I talked Brock into letting me straighten his hair before I gave him a haircut. This is the result:

Later Saturday night we went to see the new Rugby movie Forever Strong. It was pretty good, but mostly just funny to see people we both knew in it.

Sunday morning we made sticky buns....and ate the whole pan. We both started out with one piece. Once that was gone we got up and just divided it in half and put the rest on our plates.

The jacket I have on is the one that Meech, Les and I bought and wore to the Halloween USU basketball game last year. While Brock was on his mission I told him about that story. While shopping at Walmart a couple weeks ago I saw one his size and decided that he needed one to be able to fit in with Brentwood 30. What do you think?

Happy Birthday to a "good woman"

Yesterday was the day that my freaking cool mom was born, some time ago. Because she loves birthdays so much (not) and I love her so much, I thought of a great idea-dedicate this post to my mom.

For those of you who don't know her, you're missing out. She's the funniest mom I've ever been around. She can make anybody around her feel important. She is a perfectionist, and the most creative person I've ever met. She cuts hair, makes awesome house decorations, does drive-bys to boys houses with me, listens when you need it, cooks really well, does bakery runs with me and doesn't judge when I devour the whole place, has a strong testimony, sews, and all sorts of other things. She is one of the few people to laugh at my really stupid/immature jokes. She really is the best mom I could ever ask for, and is such a great example to me. If you ask any of my friends they'll tell you how much they love my mom. Often times I've wondered if they like her more than they like me!

So anyway, because she's so great I want to wish her a (late) Happy Birthday! I love you mom! You really are, as Ashlee calls you, "A good woman." haha.

Highs and Lows and the end of September.

(Les and I made salsa today. The onions made us get super teary eyed)

(On our way to Trev and Brooke's wedding. This was our first reception all together)

This is me starting to scrapbook Africa. With over 1000 pictures I figured I should probably get started.

This week was a great one! Here’s what went down:



HIGHS
· Sunday was spent with Brock. I ate dinner over at his mom’s house with the family. She is an amazing cook and I love going over there. I finally got cute Emrie to talk to me when we played after dinner!
· I FINALLY found the perfect lamp shade for my Eiffel Tower lamp! It’s been sitting there since the middle of last semester without one. Not only did I get the lamp sitch taken care of but I was able to get new red, black and cream colored towels for my bathroom and I got the Paris poster and shelf all hung up.
· I was given a hug by both Helen and Nick who are in my reading group that I work with everyday. Reading is a challenge for these little kids and I expect a lot from them, so it’s nice to know that they still like me after all that. I love that kids love you no matter what!
· Thursday I gave the “wedding haircut” to my awesome friend Trevor. I met him freshmen year and we’ve been great friends since then. I can’t believe he’s married! I wish him much luck.



LOWS
· Wednesday I realized that I had this MASSIVE assignment due the next day that we had had weeks to work on. I totally forgot about it! So guess what that means? Wednesday night was spent at the computer lab. Seriously, I was there from 8:45-1:30 in the morning. One of these days I’ll get on top of things and not have to pull all nighters-but I’m guessing I won’t learn my lesson until AFTER school is over for me.
· The next day in class we peer edited our assignments. The girl editing mine and I both had questions so we asked for help from the teacher. I told him what I did on my assignment and asked if I did it correct. He proceeded to tell me to stop trying to impress him and make him think that I’m all creative. I walked away feeling like an idiot with a realization that it’s teacher’s like him who make me want to be a GOOD teacher who actually helps students and makes them feel good.
· I missed the Africa benefit concert. I heard it was great and that the slideshow is amazing. Whitney, I still want to show you all the pictures and one of the girls from the trip made a slideshow that she’s mailing to me this week, so I’ll have to show you soon!
· All week long I’ve been missing Africa like crazy. I’m looking into different things I could do there next summer. Anyone want to go with?





So all in all it's been a good one. Next weekend Brock is coming up to Logan to visit and i'm super excited for that so i'm looking forward to this week! I can't believe it's almost October. Where does time go?

Hotel Rwanda

Rwanda- There was once genocide there. That may be all the information that others know about this country.

What do I know about Rwanda? I know that of the ten different countries I’ve traveled to, it’s on my list of most beautiful countries in the world. I know that it was once a country filled with hate and anguish. I know that as I left that country I felt like there was a part of me that changed.

Last night I watched the Movie Hotel Rwanda with some friends for the first time. Having seen and experienced firsthand made the movie even more meaningful. As I lay watching it, sobbing my eyes out, I felt many of the same feelings I felt as I visited the country to learn of their past. I thought about how sad it is that I can watch this movie and then when it’s over turn it off, walk away, and I don’t have to think about it anymore- how easy it is for me, but not so easy for the people whose reality this was/is. I don’t have to worry about being hurt or even picked on for the color of my skin or the tribe that I’m from. Thinking all this made me realize that Rwanda was what I wanted to write about for this week’s Africa post.

As I was spending my time in Rwanda I couldn’t help but look at the people surrounding me and wonder, “What was their part in the genocide? Did they lose family members? Friends? Did they do their best to help others, or were they some that kept that hate going? Were they almost killed, or did they participate in the killing?”

First, we visited the Kigali memorial centre. It's purpose is to pay recognition to those who lost their lives, but also to educate others so that they are aware of what a genocide is, where they have taken place, and how to prevent them from happening in the future. While there I learned more about a genocide then I have ever learned about them in my life. There was a section dedicated to the children in Rwanda who died. It had a few facts about their lives: what they liked to do, how old they were, where they were from. Then it showed a picture of them and had how they died and what their last words were. It was devastating to see.

Then we went to the Mill Colline Hotel. We were able to hear the story of a man who lived in the Hotel the entire time. His wife had their first son in the hotel.

While we were in Rwanda we drove about four hours to see a school where a major event happened. It went a little like this: In 1994 when the Tutsi’s needed help, they called upon their government. The government promised them help if they could just gather themselves together at this school. What they really had in mind, however, was to starve the people for two weeks so that they were so weak they couldn’t fight back, and then come in and kill all of them. That’s exactly what they did too. Of the many many people that were there, only three survived. I was able to meet two of them.

As I walked from room to room in the school where so many lives had been taken, just looking at the remains, I had a million thoughts running through my head. No longer was Rwanda that one place where the movie Hotel Rwanda was filmed. All of a sudden it was a place where many INNOCENT lives had been taken. It was a place where anger once ruled the hearts of many.

As I looked at the preserved bodies with the pearl necklace or ring, or t-shirt still on them I wondered what that person felt like as he/she was kept in the room to starve. I wondered what their life was like before the genocide, what happened to their family, what kinds of things did they like to do? I felt a deep sadness in me, one that is impossible to describe. I felt a mixture of shock, fear, sadness, confusion, anger, love, patriotism, gratefulness, and hope. Shock: that something so terrible could happen. That so many people could be so consumed with hatred that they would do something like that. Fear: that something like that can/may happen again. Sadness: for all the lives torn apart and destroyed. Confusion: as to where all that hatred came from. Anger: for the amount of devastation these people caused. For the lack of help that the people of Rwanda received from the rest of the world. Love: for the people of Rwanda who gave their lives to save others. For the people in my life whom I know will not betray my trust. Patriotism: for my country. For the place that I am fortunate enough to be able to live in. For the presidents who care for our country. For the people who fight for our country. For the protection we receive. Gratefulness: for the life I am able to lead. Hope: for the future.

As I heard the personal testimonies from two of the survivors, I felt a small amount of their sadness and pain. I looked at the dent in the man’s head from the bullet wound and wondered what his life was like right now. I wondered if he thought of the genocide every single day of his life. I wondered if he still had nightmares about it. I wondered if he could or had ever learned to forgive the people that hurt him. I wondered if I would be able to forgive those people, had the same thing happened to me.

Like so many other times in Africa I was humbled. I learned another one of those, “your life is not so bad” lessons.

The BEST surprise ever! (and the new blog idea)

I have a feeling that this particular blog will embarrass Brock a little, but I have to do it! Last

Thursday I was busy just going about my day as usual. I had just gotten home from my practicum in Smithfield and was busy making lunch before class. Michelle came in and we were talking for a little bit. I told her how excited I was that I was going to see Brock the next day (Friday). She kinda acted a little weird for a second. Then, Les came in and we all talked for a second. Out of nowhere they both got up and went back to their rooms and closed their doors. Then, the doorbell rang. I called from the kitchen for the person to come in, but nobody came. Then I went to answer it. I opened the door and was shocked when I saw Brock standing at the door with my favorite flowers! I ran out and gave him a giant hug and then told him at least 100 times that I couldn't believe he was there! It was awesome and really just made my whole week! Les, Michelle and Brock did a great job keeping it a secret because I honestly had NO idea anything like that would happen. For those of you who were wondering, Brock works for his dad's piano moving company and had to do a move up in Logan so he was already planning on coming anyway, but I absolutely LOVED the surprise! Isn't he so cute?

* I feel really bad turning my Africa blog into a blog about life....I don't know why, so I decided that I'm going to try and post one regular blog a week and then maybe one blog about something from Africa that I didn't write about when I was there. If you think that's a lame idea and you don't care about Africa then let me know, but at least I won't feel so bad if I do that AND maybe it will help me remember some things about it that I have already forgotten.

Africa remains......

David and Lindsi being their crazy selves!

This is some of the girls at the party at the Sullivan's. It was so exciting seeing everyone. Seriously, I couldn't take the huge smile off my face! Everyone looked so nice with make-up, their hair done, and clothes that weren't completely covered in dirt. We were the party poopers of the group because we didn't want to swim.

A few weekends ago Emily decided to come up to visit her brother. We were so glad she came so we made her come hang out with us too! Then, DJ decided to come up and it just turned into a freakin awesome africa party at the good ol' Logan demolition derby. It was so good to see all of the friends, and it was a great preview for the Sullivan party this last weekend!

The Most Important Lesson Of All

I’ve wanted to write a final blog entry to sum up my “summer in Africa experience” for a long time, but have just been putting it off for so long! I’ve started it a few times even, but just never finished (obviously). I guess the reason for this is because once I finally sit down and write about the ending, it will be just that….the end. I have now been home for 35(?) days. It’s really weird to sit back and think that so much time has gone by since I’ve been back and some days it even seems like I never left, yet somehow my whole experience sneaks into my mind every day. Honestly, there hasn’t been one day since I’ve been back where I haven’t thought about it. I hate to be dramatic, but this experience was 1-the best thing I’ve ever done in my life and 2-The thing that changed my life the most. I learned SO much. There are so many things there that I wish all my friends and family here could see, and so many people I truly wish they could meet. Although that is impossible, I also know that it would be impossible for ME to forget it. What an experience! I love that when people ask what I did for the summer I can say, “Oh you know, just went to Africa.” What I hate though, is that nobody ever understands what it was like, and couldn’t ever understand unless they went and experienced it for themselves. Some days I get really sad thinking about it, and how the chances are much greater that I will never see those people again. Other days I’m just happy that I was fortunate enough to get to go there, and meet those amazing people. STILL when Les and I talk about the day we left, or some of the cool things that happened, I shed a few tears. I look back at the pictures of my friends that I met over there, and wish so much that they were as fortunate as me, and could be blessed with the many things that I have. I wonder, “why me? Why I am so lucky. What did I do right?” Yet, thinking that makes me remember the most important lessons I learned while over there which is that God truly loves all of his children, and knows what is best for each of them. Many of the people over there had sad lives, and yet found ways to find true happiness through faith and love for God. They don’t wear nice clothes, live in nice houses, or even have a car-yet they still believe that God is mindful of them. I have a nice house and car and yet still struggle remembering that God IS there, that He DOES love me, and that He knows what’s best for me. I have a lot to learn from these African people, and am convinced that this is the reason I was able to have this experience. God IS mindful of all of his children-I am sure of this now. It took me 3 months in Africa to gain a much greater understanding of this, and I hope that I will always keep this lesson in mind. I used to think I understood what that meant, but I really didn’t until I lived in Africa.
The people in Africa are hardworking, friendly, happy and love God. The village/town that we lived in had not yet heard of the LDS church. The closest LDS church to them was about 35-45 minutes away. That means a good 2000 shillings (or $1.15). Many of those people could not even afford that taxi ride. Yet I am sure that when the church is finally able to come around to them, there will be many who will accept-and I can’t wait for that day.
I learned many things from the people and about the people, but may have even learned much more about myself, and who I am as a person. I am a child of God, just like each of those people I met over in Africa. And though it’s hard to admit, I probably won’t see those people again….at least not here. Which makes me even more grateful for our church, because I know that one day I will have the opportunity to see them again. One of my most favorite little boys from over there is named Mathius. He used to sing this song that said, "Tuliba nyumbemu mu yesu- In Jesus we are one family". So, I'll leave that as a parting thought and just add once again that I’m thankful for all that I experienced this summer, and I wouldn’t trade a thing-not even for peanut butter granola bars and personal space!

we need more kaleidescopes!

hey everybody, how ya'll doing? well, here i am in kenya sitting at the internet cafe. i never would've though that sometime in my life i would be here.

anyway, les em and i had a great time on our safari. we saw many zebras, ostrichs, warthogs, buffalo, elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, monkeys and lions. we were fortunate enough to even get to watch the lions mating. ah! we got to see a black rhino which was AWESOME. there are only 30 in the massai mara so there is a 1 percent chance you will get to see one, and well, we did. i can't believe my life. it was awesome. we even got to see the massai people. i traded my umbrella for some cool bracelets and stuff. it was sad becasue i felt really sick the whole time though. who gets sick on a safari? i had an incredibly high fever and it sucked hardcore. i fell asleep in the jeep for a while. bummer.

i'm sure you are all wondering why i named this blog the way i did, and, it's quite a funny story actually. you see, the place we stayed at our first night in kenya was the sketchiest place i've ever been. there was a creep guy here who freaked us all out. since we brought a whole bunch of junk from our supply closet in uganda to trade the massai people with, we had 3 kaleidescopes with us. we decided to set up a booby trap so that all of them would fall if the creepy man came into our room in the middle of the night and we would wake up. well, em was in the bathroom and les had her pants off and i had my shirt off when all of a sudden we heard a knocking on the door. les kept saying "hold on a sec. hold on a sec." he just kept on knocking and peeking through the shutters at us. as soon as he walked away les turned to me and said, "we're gonna need some more kaleidescopes." turns out he didn't come back the rest of the night, thankfully, but i was so creeped out that les and i slept in the same bed. this place was absolutely disgusting. it smelled like pee, the toilet wouldn't flush, there was no TP the sheets weren't washed and you could tell that the beds had been slept on and not fixed. there was the creepy mans clothes in the closet and the window in the bathroom was broken out. the lock on the door wasn't working and it was in the back office of the safari company. we sure picked a good one. hhaha. well, i'm still alive so no need to worry. i'll be leaving for south africa tomorrow.

this is all very random and undetailed so when i get home i'll write more about it so you can get the whole idea, but i just wanted to say hello from kenya!

I'm alive

Ok so up until now I have been typing my blog on the help laptop at our house and then saving it to my usb to upload onto the internet. The internet is so slow here that it is almost impossible to do anything, so I felt like it was necessary to do that. Well, the help computer and my usb now have so many viruses that they can no longer function correctly. So, I can't post my blog with so much detail anymore. And, since I haven't written for quite some time I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive, even though I haven't been writing. I am leaving tomorrow night for Kenya for the safari and will be there until Sunday afternoon. From Kenya we will be flying straight to South Africa. We will leave there next Wednesday and get home late at night. Then, I only have 6 days left until I leave. I can't believe it! The time has gone by so fast and I get more sad everyday when I think about how little time I have left. Well, I will update more later when I get more time. Hope all of you are doing fantastic!

Gain Bums Quickly

That's right-the bum place really helped me.

Sleepovers and cuddling.

The first is Diana from the PWD's. She's got a lot more energy than me, but we still have fun. The next is a picture of the place we stayed at when we went to Mt. Elgon and visited Sipi Falls. Then there's one of Les and I being Asian friends. I'm not sure why we did that really. Then there's us cuddling in my bed. She had a sleepover and everyone in our room was pissed because we laughed like the entire night.

Megs, Happy Birthday girlfriend!

Megs, you are 20! I hope you have such a great day!! I miss you tons. Seriously, I can't wait to see ya.

These are purple chickens just strolling the streets in Iganga

Good times

This is Katie and DJ Sullivan, and Tori B. and I with the nerdy rose thing we got. haha.

The next picture is of my two really good friends from the Jinja Branch-Macklyn and Fatuma.

Happy Half Christmas!!

June 18, 2008

Today we went to the secondary schools meeting. Les and I taught the lesson on goal setting. Since we had already taught a goal setting lesson to the PWD mothers, we already had typed out what we wanted to say. We changed a few things, made a billion posters, and called it good. It turned out really really well and I was happy about that. We made goal setting books again to hand out, and we gave them time to set a few goals. Almost every one of them had the goal to become a nurse, doctor or engineer, but we helped them to see more of what it would take in order to become one of those things. They really understood what we were teaching. Since we handed out candy to anyone who participated we got great responses as well. Throughout the whole lesson Stephen was taking notes. At the end he asked if he could speak. He talked to us and the students about how he knows goal setting is important, and gave some great personal examples. This was awesome because he is the one who will keep the lessons going and sustainable. While he was talking he even told us about how he was excited that this program could continue on even while we are gone. That was the best feeling ever, especially since getting things to be sustainable here has been the biggest challenge of them all.

After our secondary school project Ashley W., Seren and I headed to the church where we were supposed to meet Dennis for our PWD visit. We ended up waiting for an hour and he still never showed up. We were pretty disappointed. It’s hard too because we don’t have phones, so we couldn’t call him or contact the mother and child to tell them we couldn’t come. Even with the disappointment we were able to have fun however. The people that live at the church were sitting there and we got a chance to get to know them better and have some fun with them. We watched one of them get a hair cut. Then she played the drum and sang an African praise song for us. While she was singing a few of the kids came over to use the other drum. Another little girl started dancing too. It was really awesome to see. They were so little, and yet so good at it. It’s cool how these people can find fun things to do and just be happy when maybe there aren’t that many things to be happy about. Their happiness carries over to me and I just have so much fun with them.

June 19, 2008

Today we had the PWD meeting. Lindsi and David taught half the meeting on communicating with your children, and Natalie and Emily taught the other half. Once they were finished with their lessons they had all the women make communication boards. The woman LOVED them. They had so much fun drawing and coloring them. They were sitting there laughing and having so much fun. Playing with the kids was also great. Vincent never showed up today, but for most of the time we thought Diana was Vincent. From the first time they called her Vincent though, something seemed weird. Vincent is very shy and loves to play with the ball but Diana loves to mess around in the latrines and hit people and scream. So, it was a bad mistake. Funny though. OOPS!

After the PWD meeting I went to the business training. I’m not a part of that group, but I wanted to see what it was like and I had some free time, so I figured I would go. It was very interesting. Trent and Jeff taught the lesson on budgeting. It’s weird to see how differently these people handle their businesses. The most common sense things are like foreign to them. They don’t budget their money, or record ANYTHING, or do most of the things that make American businesses so successful. I know that this meeting is beneficial because it teaches them all these things. On top of the meetings, the business group does business check-ups throughout the week. At the meetings they help set goals and then check up to make sure they are accomplishing their goals. It’s been a very successful project.

On the way back from the business meeting Em and I stopped at fruit market, and then discovered a random scone place. They have the best scones ever. I wanted to buy the whole bin that he had sitting by him. They were only 100 shillings. I can’t believe that food can make me so happy, but it really did.

June 20, 2008

Today I went with some of the group to the first Crane school choir lesson. Katie and Steph taught it and did a really great job. I even had fun participating with them.

Once they were finished the kids wanted to sing to us. They sang about four different songs to us; each one was a praise to Jesus. I love how important God and Jesus are to every single one of these people. They love him so much and they talk about how much they love him, often. Anyway, once the children started singing I started thinking about how I really only had a month left till I leave and how sad I am going to be to leave these people. I love them so much! Thinking about that made me sad again. I wish you could see them singing. They were the best children’s choir I have ever seen. They even had dance moves to go along with it. I was sad once again that I didn’t have a video recorder to film this. I’ve wished a billion times that I had brought one here.

The rest of the day I prepared for the teacher training. I made a whole new jeopardy game, and helped make the poster and certificates to hand out.

At 4 o’clock we went to the teacher training which was held in the headmaster’s house. The children really attacked us as we were walking there, and even when we were in the house they watched us through the cracks in the curtains. The training went well, other then the fact that I lost my train of thought and started talking about sodas and teaching-I’m such a dork. The only thing that was different about this teacher training was that this school seems to have some different/better teaching methods, so it probably wasn’t as helpful to them. It still was something they needed to hear-or at least that’s how I feel about it.

Tonight some of the group watched the best movie of all time, Mean Girls. That movie never gets old. I can quote the entire thing and that includes the Kevin G rap. Holla to Meg Bags!!! Haha. I love that movie and was super excited to watch it. During the movie though, I received a phone call from home.


June 21, 2008

This morning I woke up to a quiet house with the power out. Jeff, Ashley R., Jackie, Corbin, Amber, Heidi, Lindsi, Trent and Steph all left for Tanzania today at about 8 in the morning. As much as I love them it’s nice to have it quiet for once.

I wore pants today. It marks the second time I have worn them since I have been gone. I never knew I loved pants so much until I got here and have had to wear skirts every day. I can’t wait till I get home and get to wear pants as much as I want!!

The remaining Mzungus here split up and either went to Jinja or Kampala. I picked Kampala because I have been to Jinja so many times before already. David collected money last night for the fourth of July party at the embassy, so once we got to Kampala him and Emily went to get tickets for all of us. The rest of us walked to the Garden City Mall and decided to go to the butcher shop for sandwiches. As we were ordering David and Em showed up and informed us that the embassy was closed.

I ordered a cheeseburger and the salad bar. The salad bar had potato salad and all other fun things in it. It was so good and since we could only go once I stuffed my plate as full as I could get it. I’m a pig like that. When the cheeseburger came I was full already, but I had to keep eating. It was sooooooooo good. I miss cheeseburgers. I finished quickly and went to pay. While standing in line I found Nutrigrain bars! I bought four at two dollars each, and went away super happy. We all went to the internet café next.

Kampala has what I like to call, high-speed internet. It really isn’t at all, but it’s the fastest you can find anywhere in Africa. I quickly set to the task of uploading pictures. In three hours I got 12 pictures uploaded to facebook, 2 to my blog and 2 attached to an e-mail. Maybe that will tell you how slow the computer is. Anyway, I was happy to even get some up at all. Even better was what I found out while on the computer: Carrie Underwood is coming in concert in November. Earlier I had found out that Tori G. had free text because her phone was internationally unlocked, so I text Jeana about it. She said that she already knew and that she was going to buy me a ticket for my birthday present. If I were to pick a favorite part of the day, it would be that one. I love my friends and I miss Jeana!!

During the middle of my internet session half of the group went to watch a movie at the theatre that is inside the mall. I couldn’t go because it was rated R. Tori, Leslie, David and Emily didn’t go either so we all got ice cream instead. It didn’t taste like real ice cream, but it was close enough. Man, I have such a sweet tooth.

The group that went to the movie came out before long and told us that none of them actually liked the movie. I was even gladder that I didn’t go.

When we were leaving we stopped at the supermarket in the mall. I got some cereal and some cookies that looked good. The cookies ended up tasting like cardboard with sugar on them, and the cereal that was supposed to taste like cheerios tasted like applejacks. It’s funny because when you buy food here, you never really know what you’re getting. At least the cereal tasted somewhat good. Others in the group have bought some and it tastes like cardboard too.

On the way back we ran into a problem with the taxi person. Not the driver, the other guy who sits on the second row and flags down the people out the window. When we got in the taxi the guy agreed to 3000 shillings. While we were driving back the guy switched with another one, and I guess the guy that got into our taxi was told that we were paying 4000 shillings. Since we only agreed to 3000 that’s all we would pay. He was pissed because he said that he wouldn’t make any from us and the other guy lied to him so it was our responsibility to pay the 4000. In the end we really only paid the amount we agreed to, but he left very upset. I felt bad but it really wasn’t our problem to fix.

The taxi ride was even worse because I was feeling sick. Lately I’ve been feeling very dizzy and getting headaches. I know it’s not because of lack of water, because I’ve been drinking plenty, but I do feel like It’s because I am missing some vitamin or something.

June 22, 2008

First I want to say that I only have one month left from today.

Today I woke up to Rylee’s beautiful voice. What am I going to do when I am home and I have to be responsible for myself and wake myself up??

Once I woke up I remembered this crazy dream I had last night. There were seriously power rangers in my dream. Yes, I am 20. In the dream the power rangers were bad and they were trying to kill me. Trent was assigned to watch out for me and he kept trying to hide me and yet somehow the power rangers kept finding me. That’s one thing that happens to me every night. Not the power rangers part, but the crazy dreams. We’ve all decided that the crazy dreams we’ve all been having are from the malaria medication we’ve been taking. I can’t remember how that conclusion came about, but I think someone’s doctor told them that. No matter how we came up with it, I still believe it to be true. I have a dream literally every night, and they are super crazy.

For breakfast I made eggs and toast. I went to use the butter that I had bought two days ago, but found my thing of butter to be gone except for barely enough to cover one piece of toast. It cost less than a dollar, but I was pissed. Everyone eats everyone’s food and it’s super annoying. I started asking around just to find out who used it and nobody would admit to it. Later on in the day when we got back from Jinja, Irene told me that she had used my butter and that she was very sorry. She said that she wanted to tell me yesterday, but I was in Kampala. I felt kind of bad for assuming it was one of the friends in our house, but it was nice to find the culprit.

This morning we all left for church in Jinja at 8:30. On the way there I stopped off at the ATM. I have to admit that I was a little nervous to find out whether my ATM card would work or not. Guess what the result was? MY CARD FINALLY WORKED!! Things dealing with my card worked in my favor for once and I wanted to cry because I was so happy. Finally I won’t be borrowing from everybody else, and annoying Leslie and her family. I just want to thank everyone right here for sharing their money with me for the past month.
As I was leaving the ATM the guard outside stopped me to talk. He asked me if I would take him to America with me. That’s not a new question, but it still makes me laugh to hear it. I told him that if he could earn enough money and get a visa then I’d let him go with me. As I was leaving he told me he’s see me there.

The taxi was filled with 20 of us today-4 on each row. At least the people that were basically on top of me were the people I know this time.

We got to church a half an hour early. We waited for it to start as every member of the branch came to greet us. It’s funny because they ALL shake your hand and ask how you are doing, even if they have no idea who you are.

The meeting was really great. They read the letter from the first presidency saying that during sacrament meetings the people giving the talks shouldn’t have the rest of the congregations turn to certain scriptures. It made me laugh when the first speaker asked the congregation to turn to a certain scripture. I am happy about that announcement though. I’ve always found it annoying to do that, so now I can say I have a reason for not doing it.

My friend Macklyn found me after church. I met her my first time at the Jinja branch, and we have been friends since then. She is from Rwanda but she’s living with her aunt so that she can attend school here. She has no concept of personal space, but I love her. She loves to tell me that she’s older than me (even though she’s only a few months older). She goes with me to all the rest of the meetings throughout church. I will have to get her picture before I leave so you can see who she is.

Gospel doctrine class today was fun. One of the missionaries taught it again, and he did a really good job. They have to start from the very beginning because most of the people that attend this class are new converts or just investigators. It was even cooler today because Les had her own missionary experience and had Richard from the Iganga orphanage to commit to coming to church with her. She sat next to him and answered all his questions throughout the class. At the end of church they met with the missionaries together and he told them that he liked what he had heard and that he is still interested. He said that the only problem he has is that there are no branches in Iganga and that transportation to church every Sunday is too expensive. It makes me sad that that is what is stopping many people from coming. It makes you realize just how lucky you are that you have a church nearby, and that you can afford to get yourself there. Many don’t have that luxury.

I went to young womans today with Tori B and Seren. The girls in the class are really cute. Most don’t have their own scriptures, so when they ask for a reader there are about two girls who read for them. They are also the ones who answer all the questions. The lesson was on how to take care of your physical body.

After church most of us went to Ginger. I got my avocado, basil, tomato and cheese bagel again and a peanut butter shake. The shake was the most delicious thing I’ve ever had in my life and I’m planning on getting it pretty much every other time we go to this restaurant (which sadly will be only about three more times). Once we were finished eating we went to look through the stores. Mom! I got you the coolest present ever. You better love it or else I’m keeping it. I also got a headwrap. Pretty much all the other girls have them, but I don’t because I was afraid with my huge forehead I would look ugly. Les talked me into it though, so I’m going to try it out. I went away feeling very satisfied with my food and my purchases. I started feeling dizzy and getting a headache again as we were leaving, so I was glad that we left when we did.

Once we got back we ate and had our first team meeting as Les and Emily as our country directors. We planned out the week and it looks to be a busy one!

As of right now we are watching Newsies with Irene. I’ve never seen this one before, but I’m not really paying attention and it’s pretty obvious why.

June 23, 2008

This morning I woke up a little late. As others were leaving to Crane School, I told them I’d catch up to them. Ry waited back with me, and then we got going. We were a little unsure how to get there, but with some help we eventually found it. As we showed up we realized that none of the rest of the group was there yet. Ry and I were so confused, and so was the headmaster. We thought that David had talked to him about observing, but he had no idea. We started to explain to him what we wanted to do, and then everybody showed up. Kelsey came to talk about her aids project, Dan came to talk about the stove, and David came to talk about the observations. I think we overwhelmed them a little bit with all our projects. The headmaster talked to Dan and Kelsey and then they left. They pulled together all of their teachers and we met with them in one of the classrooms. We did introductions and then tried to figure out what they would like us to discuss in our teacher training. They started asking a whole bunch of questions on how to write good lesson plans and everything. David turned the questions to me and I was caught way way off guard. I started to talk about it and then realized that this was something I could talk about in my teacher training. I was glad I had that scape goat, so that I could have time to think about it. We’ve never had teachers that communicated so similarly to the way we communicate. We weren’t expecting that.

We started to observe the classes right after the meeting with the teachers. I was put in a baby lower class level. These kids were about three years old. I feel bad because sometimes the kids get way too distracted by the Mzungu in the back. Anyway, there were student teachers in the class when I went in. I think I made them nervous, because they both thought I was a teacher. After one had taught for about a half hour she walked back to me and said, “What did I do wrong??” I told her she was doing a great job. Later she came back and asked me to teach English. I told her that it would be difficult right then because I had no idea what they already knew. She was ok with that. Once the actual teacher for that class came back, I was able to observe her. Some of the children started fighting. There was this one girl on the front row who hit another girl. The teacher walked to the girl and hit her very hard on the back. This was the first time I actually witnessed it, and I wanted to cry. The little girl started balling. It made me way sad and I’m glad we don’t do it like that in America.
Later on in the day I went to an AIDS meeting with Ashley W. She is starting up a new project where they meet with aids patients and do some counseling type stuff. She had to meet with the head nurse first though. The meeting was long but they got many things covered.

After the aids meeting we headed straight for the taxi park to meet David and Rylee to go to Jinja for FHE. They were really late, and we felt uncomfortable waiting at the taxi park. Soon enough they showed up, and we headed to Jinja.

FHE was so fun! We played a coin game and also musical chairs. Sounds lame, but we had a really good time. My friend Macklyn was there-she cracks me up. She brought her friend with her. As she was introducing me I said, “Macklyn is my good friend.” Her friend didn’t hear me say that because somebody had come up to talk to her, so Macklyn waited until she was finished talking, and then asked me to repeat what I said. Later I asked Macklyn to be in a picture with me. She did some model pose and it was the funniest thing ever.

When we left I was in a really good mood. That FHE always puts me in a good mood. I have so much respect for these people, and I wish that I had their strength.

June 24, 2008

Tuesday I went to help out with the stove at Biyinzika. I had the fun job of mixing the clay, water and straw. It gets to be tough work. Either that or I’m just out of shape. I’ll go with the second option. Em and I had to leave early because we had to get to the primary school observation at Cranes.

We ended up getting chewed out at the Crane’s school because of the miscommunication with the stoves. Nobody here has ever been mad at us, so it caught us very off guard. Em and I aren’t really involved too much with the stoves, so we didn’t even know what to tell them. The decided to cancel the stove. They also told us that since they were in the process of doing their midterms we weren’t going to be able to do observations until next Monday.

Em and I stopped off to get scones (which I do everyday now) and then we went back to the stove to tell them about the news. What we decided was that the whole adobe stove group was confused on what stoves were completed, which ones were filled, etc.

They finished filling the stove, but since Em and I were in skirts we just sat there. I decided I’d play with the kids instead. I went into the classroom and the children asked me to teach them English. Then they told me they wanted me to draw, and they started giving me their requests. It was awesome and I had a good time.

After the stoves a bunch of us went to the Milan guesthouse for some lunch. They have the best chips and omelettes there!

June 25, 2008

Today as a group of us were eating our breakfast and getting ready for the day, Em announced that it is six months until Christmas. We decided to do a half Christmas celebration. We drew names, and decided to either buy or make presents for the person whose name we drew. The limit of money that could be spent was 3000 shillings-about two dollars. I was given Tori Griffiths. I made her a mini scrapbook to put her Africa pictures in, and I have to say that I was a little impressed with myself. I kinda wished I could’ve kept it. haha. I also gave her some mango juice and a candy bar. I was super excited to give it to her!

At our secondary school club today we were supposed to be teaching on different professions, but the people assigned to give it were in Tanzania, so instead we played games. My group started with the human knot. When that was finished and I asked them if they liked it most of them said no. Since we still had some time in that rotation we let them ask us questions, and we asked some to them. It was funny when we asked them if any had a girlfriend. Cute Mocha was the only one to say yes, and he was very shy about it. I love Mocha! During the question time Bosco made this cool bracelet thing and gave it to me.

Our next game was this rope game where they had to use teamwork to get all of the group inside the rope. It took them a while to understand what we were trying to have them do, but they eventually caught on. We had some time to spare, so we tried to think of some more random games to play. I attempted to teach them how to play the hand slapping game, but they didn’t really understand what we were doing once again. After that game failed we tried to get them to ask questions again. They all sat there awkwardly just staring at me. I don’t know why they were so shy and quiet today, but it made things kind of weird.

While on my way to my PWD visit and the others on their way to the St. Edwards play date, we stopped to get waters, samozas, pineapples and maize. Yeah, we’re fat Americans. Since the new “no walking while eating” thing, we have all been working hard on it, so we stopped and ate on the side of the dirt road.

I got to the Intercession church and waited with Grace for a little bit before Seren showed up. As I was walking out the door to meet Seren, the plaid shirt stalker guy popped out of the latrines and said to me, “I also want people to stop cutting down the trees.” I forgot to mention earlier about this guy, but he follows us around town and has been doing that for about a month now. A few days ago one of us asked him what he wanted and since then he has been giving us a list of what he wants. He’s super creepy, but I’m not afraid he’ll try to hurt us or anything.

We went to get a boda and the drivers were trying to charge us a price that wasn’t fair at all. It’s 500 shillings for anywhere in Lugazi. If there are two on a boda, it’s still only 500. They were all trying to charge us 1000 each. Out of nowhere a nice man passing by walked up and said, “No. It’s 500 for both of you now hop on.” Then he turned to the drivers, said something in Luganda and walked off.

Our visits were clear out in the booneys, but it was a nice ride and then walk. As we were walking Dennis pointed off in the distance and told us that last night a boy had been robbed and killed in that school. I asked him how common that was and he said it happened about once a month. I have never heard of anything like that here before.

We stopped off at Winnie’s house first. This was the first time we visited here, because of miscommunications on everyone’s part. I was excited to meet her though. Winnie is a cute Down syndrome girl. Her mother is a teacher and takes Winnie to work with her everyday. During our visit she told us how much she loved Winnie. Her brother came in during the middle of the visit and we talked to him a little bit. He said he was having a hard time finding a job. Since he wasn’t doing anything on Thursdays we invited him to PWD meeting. We told him where it was and he was a little hesitant because it was held in a church that he didn’t belong to. After promising him that it had nothing to do with religion, he said he may come. As we were leaving we told Winnie’s mother that the next time we came we would bring flashcards for Winnie to try out to see if they helped her.

Next we went to visit Ema. This was a hard visit because Ema doesn’t really understand English. His mother is amazing though. Her two children just got over malaria. We told her that the next time we came we would also bring some flash cards to practice with Ema. She seemed very enthusiastic about that.

Happy half Christmas! We had SOOOOOO much fun doing this. We put on a Christmas song, then once it was over we sat in a circle. We all had our presents in our laps and we started with Dan. It was awesome! Everyone got something they loved, and we were all happy. DJ ended up having me. He gave me two packages of nice cookies (he knows me too well already) and some hideous plastic rose thing. We all laughed about that, and then laughed harder once his sister unknowingly gave Tori B. the same thing. This turned out to be something that was on everyones favorite things we’ve done in Africa list.

June 26, 2008

This morning was the PWD meeting. Before the meeting started one of the ladies came over and gave us all paper bead necklaces, bracelets and earrings as a gift. It was so sweet of her! I am often amazed at these people and their willingness to serve and care for others. It’s times like that where I realize how much I have been given, and how little I give to others.

The lesson was taught by Kelsey and DJ and it was on personal hygiene and physical health. Every person that showed up was given a toothbrush and toothpaste.

I was able to play with Diana this time. Usually I feel like all I’m doing is trying to keep her under control, but this time she played with me and seemed to have a lot of fun. I helped her practice catching a ball and it kept her occupied for most of the time. As I left she even gave me a huge hug. Vincent hasn’t been showing up lately so I’m sad about that.

Winnie’s oldest brother showed up to the meeting. I totally thought he wasn’t interested, but he came. That was the highlight of my day! I was a little nervous when they opened this meeting with a prayer though, seeing as we promised him it wasn’t a church thing. We’ve never opened with a prayer before, so I don’t know why the pastor chose today. During his prayer he even asked that some of the children would be completely healed.

After the PWD meeting I filled in for Heidi for the home visits. Les was the other one assigned to these people. We went with Faith to visit Sheffy first. As I walked in and saw his crippled body, I thought he was about three years old. I was shocked when Leslie told me he was actually 14. He was laying naked on the bed in a house that was a bit bigger then the size of my bathroom. There was a bed on a bed frame, a mattress on the ground, and a desk. That was all they had for living. There were no lights or electricity, and the house smelled like urine. As Les filled me in more on the life of this boy, I started to feel sick. His mother ran off when he was young, his father spends almost all day everyday working, and he’s now being taken care of by his 17 year old cousin who has a newborn baby. Because they don’t have much food, and don’t want to have to clean up his pee and poo after he eats, they only feed him one meal a day. He was the skinniest human being I have ever seen in my life. We asked the cousin about her communication with him, and she told us she didn’t talk to him very much because she just didn’t have time. I got frustrated and wanted to tell her that it isn’t that hard to talk to somebody! This sounds terrible, but I just wanted to pray and ask Heavenly Father to take this boy so that he wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. Once again I was reminded of how much I have been given, and how ungrateful I am. I don’t know how I got so lucky to be placed in the situation I was, but honestly I don’t know if I deserve it all.

Our next stop was to visit Brian, another boy who is crippled. It was amazing to see the results on this boy because of a loving caring family. What a difference it makes! He had showed much improvement throughout his life, and appeared to be happy. He was starting to learn to stand, and we got to hear him laugh. I know that Sheffy could show much improvement if somebody put some time and effort into helping him. Anyway, we stayed and talked to the grandparents for a little bit. They were just like cute American grandparents. They told us how they met and even gave us a little “advice”. My favorite thing he told us is to put God before anything else.

After we visited the two boys we went up to the post office. Lessy didn’t really want to go, but I talked her into going because it was so nearby. After I asked if there were any packages, the guy went back to check. I saw him holding one, and then he went back to the room again. I started freaking out because I was thinking it was for me. Guess who it was for? Leslie! I’m glad she got hers but I was super bummed. Now that makes Ashley and Leslie who have gotten theirs, and mine was sent before both!

On the way back we saw a big bus coming towards us in the village. There usually aren’t many cars there, so we were a little surprised. It was blowing dirt everywhere, so I stared at the bus and then backed away. Les was wearing a white skirt so she ran and hid behind a bush. Once it drove passed us we realized it was a big bus full of tourist Mzungus. We looked like idiots. They were wearing nice clothes and make up. I looked down at myself and this is what I saw: black mud caked jelly shoes, an obviously dirty brown skirt, a giant green t-shirt and hair that hasn’t been washed for six days. Yeah, we’re hard core African tourists.

After dinner when Les and Tor were walking back to Dao’s, we got a call from them. Les was very upset and she wanted some of the boys to run and catch up with them because people were hiding and throwing big rocks at them. DJ ran to save the day again. We had never had somebody try to harm us here, so we weren’t really sure what was going on. It turns out they were a bunch of young teenagers just being stupid. DJ gave them an earful though, so we’re pretty sure they won’t be trying any of that again.

June 27, 2008

This morning DJ, Kelsey, Tori G., Kira and I went to the Iganga orphanage. As we left we realized that the phone we were taking no longer had air time. I went to go get it at the MTN store, but it was closed. I asked the guard when it would be opened but couldn’t understand his response. The next move was to go ask the guy in the store next to him where I could find another store that carried MTN airtime. The guy in the next store over looked at me like an idiot as he pointed to a bright yellow MTN stand across the street. I paid for the airtime, and then attempted to get a receipt. The only time I’ve actually been given one here was in Kampala once, because none of the stores in Lugazi actually have a cash register. So, when I asked for a receipt (which is required for all Help purchases) they didn’t really understand what I was asking. He started speaking in Luganda to one of the nearby boda drivers, and he then came over to the stand to help. I explained to him what I needed, and he wrote up a receipt for me. I asked him to sign his name and then he took the pen and drew a line and wrote “signature” by it, and handed it back. Apparently my signature was the important one. Then, he asked me how to spell my name so he could write that I was the one who bought it, on the receipt. I started spelling it, “L A U” and as I said that he wrote “M O R”. It cracked me up. I haven’t found a single Ugandan to actually be able to say my name. My name in Africa is Moreen. Sometimes I just say that name and don’t even bother to have them try my actual name. Anyway, Once again I was put in the taxi seat with the chicken underneath my feet. This time I wasn’t as freaked out because the guy who put him on seemed to have it under more control. As we stopped at one of the stops, the chicken started freaking out and his wings were flapping and stuff all over my leg. Luckily we ended up getting out at this stop as well and changing taxis.

At the orphanage we were supposed to help them plant tomatos and then do a craft with them, but since there hadn’t been rain for a while Richard didn’t want us to plant today. Instead we started right off making the paper bag puppets with the children. They had a blast using all the sequins and cotton balls. The stuff was everywhere by the time they were all finished. The puppets looked super cute though. Once those were finished the volunteers did the puppet version of the three little pigs. Richard was nowhere to be seen, so we didn’t have a translator. However, we kept it short and the children maintained interest. Kira was an awesome sport and took them outside to play with the parachute right before we left. It’s a good thing she has so much energy.

When we left we were all pretty hungry so we decided to eat and then leave. We went to a few “restaurants” before we found one that actually had food in stock. They didn’t have most of the things on the menu, and the stuff they did have was a little iffy to us. So, we all ended up ordering rice and beans or chapatti. We like to mix things up. When the waitress brought out the food she brought a bowl full of beans and a heaping plate full of rice for each person who ordered it. The plate of rice for each person could have fed the whole table. Their rice is really good though.

Once we got home we stopped off at the post office because it was nearby. I have been going there often lately, because I keep hoping the package will come. Still hasn’t though. As long as it comes before I leave I will be fine. I’m dying to know what cute little Tally put in it. I miss him!
Later on I went with Natalie, Rylee and Kelsey to the women’s group in Geda Geda. It was a disappointment. What usually turns out to be about 20 women, turned out to be three. The translator also didn’t show up. We waited for a while and then told them that we would save the lesson until next week so that the others wouldn’t miss out on this weeks lesson.

Cute Little Girls

we went to the intercession church to wait for Dennis to come along with us and do our home visit, but he never showed up. While waiting for him to come, these were the cute little girls we played with. They sang and danced for us.

this is a funny picture hanging in the internet cafe. yeah, porn and basketball definately go together.

stranded at rwanda

June 4
Wednesday I went back to St. Edwards to finish up the very last of the poster drawings. David went with me as well. We were fortunate enough to be asked to draw the hardest of any of the posters so far. Seriously, it was ridiculous. Anyway, we toughed that one out and then went back home. At 2 we all went to the secondary school club up at Lugazi Hillview. It’s a newer school started up by Stephen (from town council). At first the kids were very quiet and didn’t show much response. Then we played a game provided by Jackie. Sha boo ya role call! It was really fun and the kids thought it was hilarious. One of the things everybody had to say in it was what their favorite food is. As you can imagine, everyone of them said matoke. WEIRD. Anyway, then we came up with a club name which will from now on be known as light (but in the luganda language). Em and I are mentors together so we met with our group and that was fun. We have 5 in our group. Trent had me talk about the question box that I made. It went over really well and the kids ended up putting a lot of questions in the box. We told them not to put their name on the questions but apparently some of them don’t understand the word anonymous. Some of the questions were just the same questions we asked them on their “about me sheet”. The kids here aren’t really taught to think for themselves. In school they are told exactly what to put in their notes and everything. It’s frustrating!

June 5
Thursday I woke up feeling kind of sick with a sore throat and other stuff. The power was still out, too. I thought I would be ok to go to the persons with disabilities meeting anyway. The lesson was given by Natalie and Ashley and it was on the four stages of coping with a child with disabilities. Since they were teaching, the rest of the volunteers played with the children. Most of the time I sat with this really cute boy named Vincent and we threw a foam ball back and forth. He wore his cute little suit again and I am going to try and get a picture of him next week and put it up on the blog. Anyway, of course by the end of the meeting the children started going crazy again. Diana was hitting people-but at least she wasn’t tackling Vincent. Faith has a tendency to drag the meeting on and on so by the end we were just like “ok, we have to go now.” I was glad because throughout the meeting I started to feel worse. When I got home I took a nap and woke up feeling even worse. Thank goodness for the Theraflu that I brought! That pretty much has saved my life. I blame this sickness on Jeff, who has also been sick for the last few days. Later that night everybody watched Hotel Rwanda since that is where we are going on Saturday. I had a fever so I stayed in bed. I was pretty bummed because of all the movies that they’ve watched here, that has been the one that I have always asked to watch. During the movie Seren and Les came to the room to get something. They were awesome and totally just took care of me. Seren willingly gave up her two blankets for me, and her mom’s “hippie medicine”. It’s hard being sick in Africa but it definitely helped me to have their help.

June 6
Friday I was still sick. I stayed in bed or in the front room for most of the day listening to my IPOD or sleeping. It was super boring and I was sad that I missed going to Iganga. My voice sounded like a man.

June 7
Today we woke up at 4 in the morning in order to get ready. Since we didn’t get to bed until one the night before, we were all really tired. I was glad that I packed my bags the night before too because we had to leave the lights off in order for Natalie and Seren to be able to stay asleep. We also had to wake up the family behind us so that they could unlock the room with all our shoes in it. As we started to drive away Ashley realized she left her PB&J sandwiches home so we had the driver turn around and take us back. Since the driver was late we were also in a huge hurry to get to Kampala. Once we got the sandwiches we told him to drive as fast as he could-without killing us. Once we got to Kampala the driver asked us where he should drop us off. We all started freaking out at that point because we had no idea where it was that we had to go either. He finally got out to ask somebody and it ended up being right by where we were. We arrived to the taxi park right in time. As we got on the bus Emily and I sat down in some random seat because somebody was in ours. About five minutes later a couple got onto the bus and needed us to move. The bus started driving as Emily and I were trying to find another place to sit so we both just sat random places. Les spoke up for us and made the girl move from one of the seats, so we ended up sitting by each other after all.

Bathroom breaks were interesting. In America I would’ve complained about the nasty bathrooms they stop off at, but I have come to the conclusion that at least they drop you off at an actual bathroom. In Uganda they do it just a bit differently. They figure that nature proves to be a great bathroom so they randomly decide to pull off to the side of the road and let everyone hop right off. We were all a little surprised by this whole experience. None of the girls use toilet paper and everyone just takes a squat right by each other.

I started thinking that a 7 ½ hour bus ride was bad, and then it got worse. The bus broke down on the side of the road and we spent 3 hours in the bus waiting for it to be fixed. I had the chance to read The Last Lecture and also The Peacegiver. Those are both really good books that I highly recommend. Anyway, it was a celebration once we were finally able to drive away. We all thought we were going to have to wait for another bus to have to drive from Kampala to pick us up. Thank goodness that’s not how it all worked out.

The group finally arrived in Rwanda at 6:30 at night. We met up with a man named Richard whom Peggy from town council got us in contact with. He is the secretary general for town councils in Rwanda, so that was pretty cool. He had the taxi driver drop us off at our motel first. We paid 9000 francs (about 18 dollars) per night and we got two beds to one room, a flushing toilet and a hot shower. Of course they didn’t look anything like a hotel at home, but it wasn’t what we have been living in for the past 5 weeks. I washed my hair for the first time in one week tonight because the water was actually warm!! It was amazing. Once we dropped our stuff off at the motel we then went to find a bank. We went to a few but none were international banks, so I wasn’t able to pull out any money. Then we went to dinner, so I had to mooch off of David. We were at the restaurant for a total of 2 ½ hours. The food took a very long time to come and so as we were leaving Heidi announced that we are never eating out again. Every time we eat out the wait time just gets upped. Anyway, the food was ok. Once we were done we went back home. Emily and I talked for a while and then went to sleep.

June 8
Today we woke up to a free breakfast. It was funny because yesterday when we heard we were getting a free breakfast Heidi said, “I bet it’s just bread. That’s what they did to us every day in London. What kind of person thinks that bread counts as breakfast?” Well Heidi, apparently Rwandans do. We sat down and instantly received 3 pieces of bread. They also had mini bananas, hot water for powdered milk, and if you wanted you could order some eggs. It wasn’t too bad. At least it was free?

After breakfast Richard came with the taxi to take us around Rwanda. We drove through the city for a little bit just to see what it was like. It was absolutely beautiful. There were hills everywhere and it was very very green. It was MUCH more developed than any of Uganda. After driving around the city we were taken to the Kigali Memorial Centre. This genocide memorial was very nice. It showed and talked about life before the genocide, during and after. I learned a lot about it. In the back of the memorial there were mass graves for the people. Help international put a big thing of flowers on one of the graves. After that we went inside to the memorial. I was surprised at how little the world did to help them during the genocide. The only people that came were from France, and they became allies with the Hutus. The Rwandans even informed the UN that there was something that would happen and they did absolutely nothing to stop it. Honestly, I knew hardly anything about it before going to the memorial. It made me sad that such a devastating thing could happen and yet it could be made into such a small deal. Over 1 million people were killed. One of the sections in the memorial was a children’s section, and it had pictures of children that were killed, how they died, and a few random facts about them. I almost started balling. It was so sad and it made me sick to hear about all the different ways they tortured these innocent people. They told us at the memorial that the Hutus targeted mostly women and children because they wanted to stop the tutsi generation completely. I can’t understand how you could hate somebody-let alone a whole race of people-so much that you would want to do things like this to them. The fact that it was in 1994 gets me even more. I was alive while all of this was going on. Anyway, after visiting the children’s section we went into the genocide section that told about the Jew genocide, Armenian genocide, etc. I have never even heard of the Armenian genocide before.

After visiting the Kigali memorial centre Richard had our driver take us to this buffet place to eat lunch. It was really good; they had fries, cole slaw and a cucumber salad thing. I was way excited. We filled our plates as full as we could get them.

Our next stop was the Colline hotel. It looked a lot different then it was in the movie. We went inside and one of the workers-who was also a survivor of genocide and had stayed in that hotel during the whole thing-came to talk to us and tell us his story. He even had a son born in the hotel. He said that nobody staying in the hotel was harmed, but still wasn’t positive why. He thought it was because on the top of the hotel was the UN flag. It was interesting to hear a personal story, and one that wasn’t devastating. When we were finished looking at the hotel Ry and I looked across the street and saw some weird elephant things. We decided it would be fun to take a picture with it. Les made fun of us and told us we had no memory to go along with it so it was pointless. Well, we made a memory there.

After visiting the hotel we went home. Em and I had this great plan to get to bed early for once. We got talking while lying in our nets and ended up getting to bed really late. Funny how that happens.

All along we had planned to go home on June 9, but since the whole bus incident when we didn’t have time to do anything else that night we had decided to stay in Rwanda for one more day and use another vacation day. I was really glad we decided to do that.

June 9, 2008

Today we woke up to another free breakfast. Basically I have just grown to love the steamed milk. Without the sugar it smells and tastes terrible, but with the sugar it makes it taste great. In fact, I’m planning on making this little treat when I get back to America.

Richard came to pick us up but informed us that he had to work and so he had his friend and co-worker Nadine take us around. First we had her take us to the bank again. We FINALLY found one that was an international one. I took out 60,000 francs which was a bad idea because I should’ve taken out more. Anyway, while waiting for the rest of the group to take money out of their account, I went to the supermarket with some of the others. They had a bakery there and everyone was buying things from it. This is where my sweet tooth brought me to my downfall: I first asked how much it was for the cookies. The lady said to us, “1000 francs for one kilogram of cookies.” I was shocked at how cheap they were, so I ordered one kilogram. K, so one kilogram is A LOT of cookies for anyone who didn’t know that. She kept going and going until Trent came over and asked if I was really serious about buying that many cookies. The lady looked at me and said, “Do you want maybe just a half a kilo?” I said yes, so she stopped filling them up. Once she handed me the bag I was a little shocked to see the 6000 franc price tag. Apparently she said 12000 francs per kilogram and we all just didn’t hear her. So, I paid 12 US dollars for these cookies that ended up being the most disgusting things I’ve ever had. Seriously, I couldn’t even give them away.

Anyway, we waited in line in the coffee place for everyone to order their brownies, fruit cups and other things. It took quite a while to get everything and I ended up standing there for the longest time because Ashley decided she didn’t want to wait and so did David and Corbin, so they had me order their food and they just gave me money. I wasn’t too happy about it, especially since all I had to do was pay for a water.

After taking care of business we hit the road and headed to the Rwanda museum. It was about 2 ½ hours away. We made a quick stop half way there and bought some peace baskets and other fun things. All of the stuff they sold at this place was made by the local people, and it was really cheap. I found some fun presents for my family there and I am seriously considering just keeping it all for myself. Anyway, the museum was kind of boring, but there were a few cool things there. They sold the same things that the store sold, but it was about 4 times more expensive.

The next place we went to was the Murambi Memorial Site. Oh my gosh this was seriously a life changing experience. This was a school that was being built in 1994 when the genocide happened. The local government told all the people then that they couldn’t protect them because they were so spread out, so they had to gather at this school for more protection. All of them believed the government, so 50,000 people gathered there. What ended up happening was the people starved them for two weeks so that they would be weak. Then they came in and killed them all with guns and machetes. Of 50,000 people, only four escaped. We met two of them at the site and they told us their story. One of them was a Hutu, but she was married to a Tutsi. She barely escaped, but she also saved her son. We also met another man who had been shot in the head. After he was shot there were other people shot who fell on top of him. He hid under them until he could escape. He still has a hole in his head from being shot. Once all the people were killed the Tutsi people made mass graves and threw them all in. They covered the grave and with the French people, played volleyball on top of their graves. The mass grave wasn’t discovered until about six years ago. At the memorial site they took us into about ten different rooms filled with bodies found from the mass graves. They were covered in lime to preserve their bodies. The smell was terrible! Many of the rooms were filled with children’s bodies. Some people had clothes on, other had some jewelry. It was hard not to cry. I can’t even fathom how somebody could hate somebody so much that they could do something like that. I really can’t. It was a very humbling experience. Les even turned to me in the taxi ride home and said, “How did we get so lucky?” Really, how did we?
That night we went back to the buffet place to eat. I got to talk to mom right before I ate so that was awesome. The food was great once again, and it was fun to say goodbye to Nadine and Richard. They gave us a book and movie about the genocide. They were great people and I’m glad that we found them and had them take us around. We would’ve been lost without them.

After eating dinner we went back to the hostel. We had to pay the taxi driver so everyone was trying to pull together their money. Since all of us spent all of it at the store in the random village, none of us had enough. Somehow we pulled together enough for all of us, but didn’t have enough to pay for the taxi in the morning. We pulled together some more shillings so that we could hurry and exchange them the next morning to pay. Em and I ended up getting to bed at 2 in the morning, and then we had to wake up at 4:30.

June 10, 2008

First I want to say that today is my ½ birthday. I am grateful for 20 ½ years of life, and also for my good friend Rylee (whose real birthday is today). It’s great to be alive and safe today. Once again, my life got shaken a bit.

We got to the taxi/bus park and they dropped us off. Ashley ran into the exchange place and we ran to the bus. It was driving away as we were getting in. We kept yelling for them to stop, and eventually they got the point. As we got on we told them that we had one more. They obviously didn’t understand or were in too big of a hurry, so they kept driving. We finally got them to stop for here as she was running after the bus.

We were driving for about an hour and a half and then we came to the Rwanda/Uganda border. We waited in lines for a while so that we could get our passports stamped, etc. Then we came to the Uganda side and they checked for Visas. Apparently none of us noticed that our visas were only one entry, so we all still had to pay 50 dollars to get back in. That became a problem, because even the night before we hardly had enough money to pay for the taxi. They also didn’t take credit cards, and didn’t have any international banks anywhere near the border. First we had everyone pay who had the 50 dollars, so that they wouldn’t miss the bus. Once they had paid, they pulled out all the money they had left-euros, shillings and American dollars. We found enough money to pay for everybody except 2 people. The bus was driving away and everyone was frantic. It quickly became apparent that some of us were going to have to miss the bus. I was among the people who didn’t have the money, and had to use others money. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to stay since I did have a visa (we needed two to stay who did have them so that they could cross the border and get to the nearest bank to get money and bring it back for the others waiting). At the very last second I ran after the bus with Jackie and Trent, leaving David, Corbin and Ashley at the border with 10 American dollars and 50 Euros. None of us knew how they would get back. As we were driving away Jackie realized that she had her phone as well as Ashley’s, which was supposed to be left with Ashley. We started panicking. Then we realized that Corbin had and Ashley’s phones were almost dead and we still had a long bus ride ahead of us. Anyway, we called Peggy and she tried to help as much as she could. We made it back to Kampala and Peggy had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at the bus place and wait with us at the mall for the others to show up in Kampala. They ended up sending Ashley into Uganda to get some money. She got out enough and came back to buy David and Corbin their visas. Then they ended up getting on a bus that left Rwanda at 9. Their bus was really slow and made many stops, so they didn’t get back for about three hours after us. So while we were waiting we ate sandwiches at the Garden City Mall. Then we got on the internet (which was a normal speed, but kept cutting out). We weren’t able to relax until they we met up with them at the Garden City Mall that night. It was honestly the scariest thing ever! With everything that I have written I still don’t think that other people could understand how scary it was for all of us! But, we are alive so that’s a plus.

June 11, 2008

I didn’t write this day, so I don’t remember what we did. SORRY!

June 12, 2008

Today was the day the second wavers arrived. We have eight more additions: Tori, Kelsey, Lindsi, DJ, Katie, Kira, Steph and Ashley. That now brings us up to a total of 24 people. Although I was happy to have them come, I was even happier to get my malaria pills, basketball shorts, CREDIT CARD and PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA BARS. Once I got the card I called my mom right away to activate it. She didn’t answer (of course-love you mom) so I tried texting Tyler a billion times. When he didn’t call I called the credit card place myself and got the bad news: The card can’t actually activate for 24 hours after you call, and they can’t give you the pin number over the phone, so they had to mail it to my mom. In seven days she will get it and can call me to give it to me. I’m frustrated that I’m still having issues with this.

Once that was done we split into groups and took the new volunteers for a tour around Lugazi. David and I were assigned to take Kira around. Kira is the volunteer who is just barely 16 and from Alaska. I thought back to when I was 16- all I cared about was boys……not saving people in Africa. It’s impressive that this is something she wanted to spend her time doing at her age. Anyway, it was fun to take her around. It’s weird to have this many people here! They all seem so awesome though and I am excited to get to know them.

June 13, 2008

Today Jackie, David, Emily and I spent all day preparing for our first teacher training. I was assigned the part where I talk about different ways for the teachers to make their lessons interactive. It sounds easy, but it was actually sort of difficult. The classrooms here are packed with a million kids, and are so tight that there are no rows, and no ways for the teacher to even walk around the classroom. They are very chaotic, so it became a task to try and figure out what I could talk to them about. This is something that I really love doing though. I was probably the least prepared of this group, but I wasn’t really nervous.

Em and I rode a boda to the meeting in order for us to get there on time. We got all set up and then Lindsi and Steph met us there. I had a lot of fun doing this. I showed the teacher a mobile, and had them play jeopardy. They didn’t understand jeopardy at first, but once they did they had so much fun playing it. They totally got into it! It made me laugh. They loved the training and we gave them sodas, glucose biscuits, a quote to hang in the office, teacher training certificates, etc. They were excited about it all and thanked us at the end for coming. They said that we had helped them to see things in a way they had never thought about it before. They said it completely sincere too. That comment alone just really made my day. It helped me to feel like we really are making a difference!

Tonight we did our second wave initiation. We had them wait inside the house while we got it ready. Then we gave them each a candle and Jackie and Ashley lit it as they were walking out the door to the front. They had to stand in a circle and repeat the same thing that we did when we had our initiation: “ I am __________. I am from __________. I am a part of the Mzungi tribe, and now I have spoken.” Then, they each blew out their candles and got blind folds. Trent went around and told them they had to, “embrace echinange and then eat the young.” We had them hold a fish (that is the whole fish, only cooked), and then eat a small fish out of the mouth of the big one. It looked like the sickest thing ever, but it was hilarious to watch. Kira was the only one who refused to do it. As this was going on we were recording it. When It was over we all went inside to watch it on the projector. Then we watched our initiation-oh good times.


June 14, 2008

Today we woke up at 5:30 and got ready to leave for Murchison Falls. The bus picked us up at 6:30 in the taxi park. It was funny because our bus was called, “The Struggle”. Anyway, we drove for 2 ½ hours to get to the place we were going to hike. On the way we stopped to pick up lunches.

Once we got there we started hiking. It wasn’t too hard, but it was really beautiful. There was this huge waterfall that could be seen for miles away. As we were hiking along the two guides stopped us and said, “Ok, here’s where we split up. If you don’t want a hard hike you can go with him, but if you want one that is a lot more challenging than what we have been doing, come with me.” Me, being the brilliant person that I am, decided I wanted to go on the hard one. About 15 minutes later I decided I had made a mistake. I sat down on the mountain and announced that I didn’t think I could keep going and that I was willing to walk back and find the other group. Tori and Kira were both behind me, and they were feeling the same was as I was. Dan was the lead of the group and he is 6’5, so the pace was just a little to fast for us. We couldn’t turn back, but luckily DJ was with us. He told us that we could do it and that he would stay back with us the whole time. He even took Tori’s backpack for her and carried it the rest of the way. The entire rest of the hike he was encouraging us, and stopping with us when we needed a break. He was the only boy that did that for us. The worst part about the whole thing was that there were children carrying things on their heads that were passing us. I was so happy once I had made it to the top of the mountain. I couldn’t believe that we had done it. Honestly, it was one of the hardest hikes I have ever done!

The hike was totally worth it though. It was amazingly beautiful. We ate our nasty lunches at the top of the mountain and it was great to have a rest. The man even taught us a lesson on circumcision and other great things. We looked at some of the houses around the top of the mountain too. I couldn’t believe people could actually live up there.

The way down was rough! It started pouring really really hard and because it was so steep everyone kept slipping. There was a part on the way down where I actually sat on my butt and just slid because it was easier. We were soaked completely! DJ was trying to help Tori and Rylee and he slipped off the mountain. Rylee and Tori thought he was dead, but he ended up not even getting hurt. It was a miracle. Once we got to the bottom of the mountain we had to run to the nearest hut and hide inside until it stopped raining. We walked for a long time and found the rest of the group who did the easier hike. They had us then walk to some random hut (while it was still pouring) for tea and to look at some women’s group crafts. The tea was amazing. It was lemongrass milk. I wanted to eat about 10 cups of it.

When we finished that we got back on the bus and drove for a while to the place that we were going to stay the night. When we got there I was amazed at how beautiful it was. We slept in these rad huts that were above a 300 foot waterfall that also had a look out. It was one of those places that resorts try and re-create, only this was the real deal-if that makes sense. It was honestly the most beautiful place I have ever seen. They had warm showers and the latrines had a place you could sit! Even the food was amazing. We had a 4 course meal and REAL cake. I was really excited. They had a bonfire for us after we ate. I was really tired, so I only sat around it for a little bit. My sleep that night was great too. I was sharing a room with Rylee and Lindsi. Lindsi is an elementary school teacher so I annoyed her as she was trying to sleep, by asking her a billion questions about her job. Thanks Lindsi.

June 15, 2008

Today we woke up to an amazing breakfast. We had toast, steamed milk, bananas, omelets, sausage, passion fruit juice and watermelon. They had American peanut butter on the table for us too. WOO HOO. Once we were done we left for a hike. Some of the group stayed behind for this hike too. I ended up being really glad that I went on this one. Holy waterfalls! I’ve never seen anything like them. When we came back we had spaghetti and chicken (and steamed milk). As we were getting ready to leave three of the girls from our group realized they were missing money. Somebody had stolen it, and we figured it was probably when we were eating the night before. We couldn’t believe it, but the owner of the resort was very nice and compensated them half of the money. Lindsi lost 100,000 shillings, Amber lost 150,000 shillings and Ashley lost 200,000 shillings. It had to have been the workers, which was sad because they all seemed so nice!

Once again the drive home was good because I got to sleep and listen to my IPOD. Even though I’m in a bus full of people I still feeling like that is my only time to be alone because with my IPOD in nobody tries to talk to me and I get to be “to myself” for once. That’s one thing I am looking forward to when I get home.

It was nice to arrive home to a nice meal cooked by Irene. She made the best chapati’s ever. I had to do the dishes with Les and Tori after. We started this new system where the people in charge have to set up buckets to wash our dishes in, and then once everyone washes their own dishes we go in and wash the dishes that held all the food. It’s not so bad anymore. Can you imagine having to do dishes for 24 people??? AH!

I went to bed with the phone next to me so that I would get woken up when my family called. I always look forward to those calls. I do miss my family a lot. It’s weird but with how much I miss everything from home, I still feel like one month is not going to be enough for me. I will miss being here in Africa!

June 16, 2008

This morning I went to observe at the Ssanyu primary school. We split up in twos, so Ry went into the primary one level with me. The teacher was an amazing teacher and so far one of the best that I have observed here. She used songs and objects to teach-something I haven’t seen yet. The only way I’ve seen a teacher teach here so far is by standing in front of the class and telling the class exactly what to write in their notebooks. It was funny because the teacher randomly left the classroom a few times and every time she did the kids would turn right around and just stare at us and giggle. I noticed about five of the kids out of the 28 that were in there were using a razor blade to sharpen their pencils. These are six year old kids using razor blades….I decided that the pencil sharpeners that Nancy donated would be put to great use right here. We only observed for two hours so I am planning on going back again on Wednesday. I love watching these teachers because I feel like it also helps me to realize how I want to be when I have my own classroom.

I came back and did some laundry for a bit. That was LONG overdue. Doing laundry is such a pain. Seriously, it takes forever so I was only able to get a little bit of it done.

I came back inside a little later and Les and I worked on our goal setting lesson for the secondary school group that we are teaching at on Wednesday. We had already made our goal setting lesson plan for the PWD meeting, so we just changed it up a bit and made it more applicable to the secondary school kids. We made a lot of posters and some cool goal setting booklets to hand out. Making them reminded me of young woman’s again. Ha ha. Anyway, during the middle of all of this we both decided that we were hungry. We went to Patron Hotel to eat. We got fries, samozas and pineapple marindas. I love pineapple marindas by the way. I wish they had those back at home! I’m thinking about bringing those back in my suitcase with me. The food was good and it was nice to just get out of the house and be with Les to catch up. I’m sad she doesn’t live in the house with me anymore. It felt like we were at home doing one of our in-between-class lunch breaks. I thought of Michelle and how I wished that she was with us. (HOLLA MITCHELL!) After lunch we went back and worked on our goal setting thing again. Once that was finished Jackie, Emily and I went to the back room to organize our donation closet because we had to add all the second waver donations to the stash. It was such a mess and it took us a while to clean. I dumped a bag of sequins about three different times and wanted to chuck them right in the garbage. I decided as I was cleaning that before I leave, with the supplies that my family donated, I am going to put together little packet type things and give them to the children living around here who look like they could use them. Good idea??? Right now I just want to thank all my family for donating all of that stuff. I wish you could see how much these children really do need all of it.

June 17, 2008

This morning I woke up to my handy dandy alarm clock: Emily. It’s nice to not have to set an alarm. This kind of sounds like I’m being sarcastic, but I’m really not. Moving on…I actually had time to get ready for the day this morning because I did wake up so early, it was great. I went to Mukono with Amber, Jackie, Leslie, Corbin, Trent, Natalie and Tori. We went to the bakery that is owned by the Mukono branch president’s wife. We had to clean out the back room which was nasty. Since there was so many people there and such a small space they assigned Les and I to sort through the raisins. We had to take the stems out of them and find out which ones would be too hard to use. It was great? It really was cool to watch the workers make the cakes though. They only make one kind of cake and they use fondant frosting. The cake is the driest stuff you can find here, but it has sugar in it so I think that’s why I will agree to eat it. Anyway, so while we were sorting raisins the rest of the group was finding a massive rat family in the back room. I was really glad that I didn’t have the cleaning job after all. It was frustrating because these people used to live in Provo and when they came back to Uganda they brought with them a whole bunch of things that the people from Provo had donated. That’s not the sad part, it’s the fact that they were in living in Provo two years ago and still had not done anything with the donations! There were boxes and boxes of books that could’ve easily been given to somebody who seriously could’ve used them, and yet they just sat there for the rats to chew up. It made us all a little bit upset. They gave us a cake to eat while we were working, so I guess that was cool.

When we came back Les and I went to the internet. It was somewhat fast today! I received an e-mail that said my mom had put money into Leslie’s account, so I was really happy about that. I had enough to pay everyone back and still some to use until my card gets working again. I never wrote about my card, but if you want to know you can ask me about it later. Probably one of the most frustrating things that has happened to me! So we stopped at the bank on the way home and then I got home and paid everyone back.

While home we talked about the secondary school’s questions and who would answer them. We made a birthday card for DJ, and also had our PWD meeting.

Tonight we went over to Mayor Deo’s house for the weekly team meeting and to celebrate DJ’s birthday. We met on his patio. It was a much better spot to meet because it was about three times the size of our room at the house. It’s also cool outside, unlike the cramped sweaty room. We talked about the armed robbery that happened to the group in El Salvador. My friend Britney Watts is there so I was wondering if she was part of that group? We had to talk about safety precautions and everything. We also planned out who was going to Murchison Falls for the safari, Tanzania and the Gulu District. Once all of that was discussed we ate the cake. I ate so much nasty cake that I felt like I was going to puke!