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.