Sorry I am a little late in blogging this week, it has been a crazy and weird week. This previous weekend was Independence Day and we went to Luweero with the IMME group.
For Independence Day Kristina and I along with our Mom went to Kampala to what reminded me of a massive state fair. There were craft booths everywhere and I was able to get a lot of shopping done which was wonderful. The highlight of the day was the opportunity to eat real, delicious icecream that actually tasted like icecream, it was amazing!!
In Luweero we had the opportunity to hear Father Gerrie speak of his work and his role of a priest. The most influential thing that he spoke of in relation to poverty was that it needed to be a combined force between the Catholics and Anglicans. He spoke on the issue several times throughout the night, but one phrase that he mentioned was wonderful: “for the challenges we have, we must unite and not worry about the trivial things – we are all Christians – we have too great a challenge to get caught up in doctrine.” I loved this quote and the unity expressed for a common goal that God has called all of us to accomplish. I hadn’t expected this relationship between the two churches but it was later reaffirmed that night we spoke with the Bishop of Luweero. It gave me a new and much better realization of Catholicism. Both churches realize the extreme need of helping the poor, and instead of working separately and combating each other, they have chosen to work together in order to be more effective. I found this a little startling, for I had previously heard that the relationship between the two wasn’t great, and wonderful. It has changed my knowledge and perspective on the topic. I love the emphasis that we are all Christians and by letting doctrine interfere in so great a problem it hinders not the church people but the poor.
Not everything seems as cute and sweet and exciting. The children have become very annoying, the ones that we pass everyday and follow, and stare, and point, and giggle, you just want to say “yes, I realize that I am white, thank you for reminding me, now shut up and stop staring.” I know it sounds harsh and ridiculous but it can’t be helped, I’m convinced of it. The communal aspect which I have fallen in love with can also be hard to bear. I have been sick the past few days and have been continually asked how I am feeling by my family as if I could drastically change conditions in a span of a few minutes. All I wanted to do was sleep, which was impossible do to the fact that I was sweating in bed and because Mama can in about three times in a couple hour period telling me to wake up and have tea, by the end of which I just wanted to be like “I don’t want any more *@#$ tea!” but I didn’t so don’t worry. But at the same time I couldn’t be upset directly at her because I knew that it was all done with the best of intentions. Then we have a ‘nephew’, Chachi (at least this is what I call him) who randomly cries for no apparent reason other than because he wants to, and he does it all the time. He starts off with a whimper/ soft sob and rapidly progresses into body shaking/ gagging/ throwing up ridiculousness. It is crazy and you almost just want to give him something to cry about as awful as that sounds. I am ashamed of myself…maybe…a little. Yet as awful and funny as these sound I absolutely love it here. It is hard to enjoy everything though because exhaustion comes so easily, it is easy not to look at life as a wonderful gift and getting everything out of every minute. The books my mom sent me have been wonderful God-sends. They allow me time alone to just escape to another world giving me rest and relaxation from this one that is always imposing and always drastically aware of me. Another thing that I am enjoying is my classes, I am being stretched and pushed in new and exciting ways and even though they are challenging I still love them. We have been viewing God, and church, and how we live our lives with new perspectives that have been extremely enlightening. It is through these classes that I learned that the bitterness is just a phase that should pass, just maybe not before I go home, but hopefully:) This past weekend, though most of the time was spent resting and reading from being sick and homework, we had a guy come over that sold fabric which we brought and are having dresses made as I write this. I wasn’t able to walk down to the seamstress so I sent measurements so it should be interesting to see what comes back, but I am very excited! They are supposed to be done this coming weekend but we won’t be here. On Friday we leave for rural homestays and will be gone till the next Sunday. Today I received an incredible package from Aunt Debbie and my cutest cousins, Molly and Maggie. It was amazing and EVERYBODY is enjoying the oreos that were sent!! Everything had post it notes on it with little notes and it was wonderful, I love you all!! I almost cried because I had notes from Molly and Maggie as well and it was wonderful to see their handwriting and pictures drawn for me. It was great! I hope everyone is doing wonderful and enjoying the fall weather that I am missing. I miss you all and love hearing from everyone, you all have been wonderful!!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Jinja Excitement
Okay so I haven’t gotten better at remembering the past week, but I do remember this weekend. This weekend we went back to Jinja, the source of the Nile. This weekend was the white water rafting and bungee jumping weekend, and yes, I did both!!!!
Saturday morning we left from a hotel in Mukono at 7:30 in the morning (the people from Adrift Adventures came to pick us up) and took the ride to Jinja. We had first heard that half would bungee jump on Saturday and then white water raft then on Sunday the rest would bungee jump. Because of the rain that we had on Saturday we couldn’t jump so we waited for a little bit and then left for white water rafting around 10:30. My raft asked for the extreme experience so we had a lot of training in the raft before we went down any rapids. We had to practice jumping out, finding air pockets when trapped under the raft, getting back into the raft, and then getting down and holding on to the raft. The rapids were fours and fives and amazing! The weather was perfect and cloudy with a little drizzle in the beginning; I still got burnt but not nearly as bad as if it would have been sunny. I got trapped under the raft once and couldn’t find the air pockets for a while but I survived and the second half was incredible. The only part that wasn’t exciting was the extremely long periods of stagnant water that we had to paddle through in order to get to the next rapids. There are pictures and a video which will be widely looked at and watched when I get home because I probably won’t be able to load them unto facebook. We rafted all day, starting at around 10:30 then breaking for lunch on an island (which was delicious) and then rafting until about 5:30. It was incredibly amazing even though I am incredible sore at the moment and is very painful to bath, go to the bathroom, and get into bed, as well as practically every other normal body movement. It was definitely a little frightening at some point when all you can see are clouds and white foam and you are about to go through it, and seeing rapids about to engulf your entire boat wondering if you will actually stay in the boat or where you will end up if you come out. It was crazy and amazing! We got back and they fed us and then loading unto waiting buses that drove us back to Jinja. We rafted 22 miles. When we got back we lounged around resting and waiting for the video that they showed at about 11:00 which we bought and will be shown when I get back.
On Sunday we woke up and some had breakfast. No, I did not because I did not want to see it again, I didn’t know when I would be jumping. They split us up, fifteen going first and then a thirty minute break and then the rest of us. I opted for the second shift to give me a chance to watch fifteen before I went. It actually made me much calmer and relaxed after watching everyone else go. While watching them one of my friends commented that she thought she would rather go with a partner and starting asking around and I was like heck yes I will go with you! I was then much more reassured that I would be going with someone for I wasn’t sure how I would jump if someone wasn’t going to be there to help me the entire way. At this point I am completely excited and pumped and ready to go!! After the break the rest of us climbed up to the platform to wait for our turn. Julie and I were third in line and extremely ready to jump. It came our turn and we walked up to the platform at the end to get strapped in. We sat in separate seats to begin with and were individually strapped in; a towl was wrapped around our ankles and then a strap was tied and wrapped and twisted and then another strap was wrapped around that the carabineers were attached to. We then sat next to each other and they hooked our ankles together with the bungee cords. He then gave us instructions and what to do and how to do it. We both stood up with our ankles next to each other and put our arms around each other’s backs. We then had to shuffle to the edge of the platform/cliff. And we had to keep shuffling together until all of our toes were hanging over the edge. Once at the edge we held on to a bar above our heads. He instructed us not to look but it didn’t really matter because I felt like I was going to throw up anyway. I started panicking and was trying to remind myself to breathe and yet I was completely excited! He had us take down our arms which I did not want to do, we told me that he still had us but I still questioned him for reassurance to make sure, because I felt that when I let go I would just tip forward. We let go and then Julie and I had to face each other and embrace in a massive bear hug which was okay for me. They then counted 5-4-3-2-1-BUNGEE and at this point we had to start leaning out over the cliff and he would push us the rest of the way. The feelings going through you are indescribable and incomprehensible. You are excited but at the same time you are like WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING THIS IS INSANE AND I WANT TO CHANGE MY MIND NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Being in the air you have this amazing adrenaline rush come over you mixing with a huge warning signal that something is wrong! You can just feel yourself FALLING 145 FEET!! We both started streaming in terror the second we left the platform. Screams of terror soon changed to screams of pure excitement once we realized that we were alive and then once we realized we were having the time of our live we started laughing hysterically!! We squeezed each other the entire time and screamed into each other’s face and made sure the other was still alive and had an INCREDIBLE TIME!! The feeling is crazy and once over the puking period it is so exciting. I didn’t see all of it, the pictures that I remember seeing are random and splotchy, either from my eyes being clenched in fright or being buried in Julie, I just remember seeing Julie’s hair and the sky and platform above me and then the water and the men in boats as we started to slow down. They then lowered us into the boats who then rafted us to shore. It was an incredible experience and I am so excited that I did it!!
We got back to the lodge area, which overlooked the Nile and was beautiful, and I ate lunch which was delicious and treated myself to the dessert bar! Then we all rested and read and took pictures and then headed back to Mukono around 4:00 and then went home! Please comment because I had no comments on the last post and I definitely lost the competition with my friend!
Saturday morning we left from a hotel in Mukono at 7:30 in the morning (the people from Adrift Adventures came to pick us up) and took the ride to Jinja. We had first heard that half would bungee jump on Saturday and then white water raft then on Sunday the rest would bungee jump. Because of the rain that we had on Saturday we couldn’t jump so we waited for a little bit and then left for white water rafting around 10:30. My raft asked for the extreme experience so we had a lot of training in the raft before we went down any rapids. We had to practice jumping out, finding air pockets when trapped under the raft, getting back into the raft, and then getting down and holding on to the raft. The rapids were fours and fives and amazing! The weather was perfect and cloudy with a little drizzle in the beginning; I still got burnt but not nearly as bad as if it would have been sunny. I got trapped under the raft once and couldn’t find the air pockets for a while but I survived and the second half was incredible. The only part that wasn’t exciting was the extremely long periods of stagnant water that we had to paddle through in order to get to the next rapids. There are pictures and a video which will be widely looked at and watched when I get home because I probably won’t be able to load them unto facebook. We rafted all day, starting at around 10:30 then breaking for lunch on an island (which was delicious) and then rafting until about 5:30. It was incredibly amazing even though I am incredible sore at the moment and is very painful to bath, go to the bathroom, and get into bed, as well as practically every other normal body movement. It was definitely a little frightening at some point when all you can see are clouds and white foam and you are about to go through it, and seeing rapids about to engulf your entire boat wondering if you will actually stay in the boat or where you will end up if you come out. It was crazy and amazing! We got back and they fed us and then loading unto waiting buses that drove us back to Jinja. We rafted 22 miles. When we got back we lounged around resting and waiting for the video that they showed at about 11:00 which we bought and will be shown when I get back.
On Sunday we woke up and some had breakfast. No, I did not because I did not want to see it again, I didn’t know when I would be jumping. They split us up, fifteen going first and then a thirty minute break and then the rest of us. I opted for the second shift to give me a chance to watch fifteen before I went. It actually made me much calmer and relaxed after watching everyone else go. While watching them one of my friends commented that she thought she would rather go with a partner and starting asking around and I was like heck yes I will go with you! I was then much more reassured that I would be going with someone for I wasn’t sure how I would jump if someone wasn’t going to be there to help me the entire way. At this point I am completely excited and pumped and ready to go!! After the break the rest of us climbed up to the platform to wait for our turn. Julie and I were third in line and extremely ready to jump. It came our turn and we walked up to the platform at the end to get strapped in. We sat in separate seats to begin with and were individually strapped in; a towl was wrapped around our ankles and then a strap was tied and wrapped and twisted and then another strap was wrapped around that the carabineers were attached to. We then sat next to each other and they hooked our ankles together with the bungee cords. He then gave us instructions and what to do and how to do it. We both stood up with our ankles next to each other and put our arms around each other’s backs. We then had to shuffle to the edge of the platform/cliff. And we had to keep shuffling together until all of our toes were hanging over the edge. Once at the edge we held on to a bar above our heads. He instructed us not to look but it didn’t really matter because I felt like I was going to throw up anyway. I started panicking and was trying to remind myself to breathe and yet I was completely excited! He had us take down our arms which I did not want to do, we told me that he still had us but I still questioned him for reassurance to make sure, because I felt that when I let go I would just tip forward. We let go and then Julie and I had to face each other and embrace in a massive bear hug which was okay for me. They then counted 5-4-3-2-1-BUNGEE and at this point we had to start leaning out over the cliff and he would push us the rest of the way. The feelings going through you are indescribable and incomprehensible. You are excited but at the same time you are like WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING THIS IS INSANE AND I WANT TO CHANGE MY MIND NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Being in the air you have this amazing adrenaline rush come over you mixing with a huge warning signal that something is wrong! You can just feel yourself FALLING 145 FEET!! We both started streaming in terror the second we left the platform. Screams of terror soon changed to screams of pure excitement once we realized that we were alive and then once we realized we were having the time of our live we started laughing hysterically!! We squeezed each other the entire time and screamed into each other’s face and made sure the other was still alive and had an INCREDIBLE TIME!! The feeling is crazy and once over the puking period it is so exciting. I didn’t see all of it, the pictures that I remember seeing are random and splotchy, either from my eyes being clenched in fright or being buried in Julie, I just remember seeing Julie’s hair and the sky and platform above me and then the water and the men in boats as we started to slow down. They then lowered us into the boats who then rafted us to shore. It was an incredible experience and I am so excited that I did it!!
We got back to the lodge area, which overlooked the Nile and was beautiful, and I ate lunch which was delicious and treated myself to the dessert bar! Then we all rested and read and took pictures and then headed back to Mukono around 4:00 and then went home! Please comment because I had no comments on the last post and I definitely lost the competition with my friend!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Good Times
I am determined to start journaling more often so that when I am ready to blog I can actually remember what happened at the beginning of the week. One thing I do remember from the first part of the week is the song “Bless her Beautiful Hide” from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I asked my roommate if she had ever seen the movie (for she was making cat noises that made me think of the movie, for any of you who have seen it), and we both started singing this song, which was funny by itself for we get repeated the chorus for about ten minutes. A few minutes later I walk outside and our mom is repeating what we had been singing, I almost wet myself, it was hilarious!
The weather here has been better than expected! It gets hot during the day but in the mornings and evenings it cools off, and about every other day we have storms during the day that brings a cool front for a little while. The storms here are wonderful and beautiful except in the middle of the night when it starts pounding on the tin roof and you wake up thinking you are being murdered. Other than that they are wonderful!
This weekend was wonderful, especially Friday. Friday I only have one class and I was done at 9:20 in the morning and even though I worked on homework throughout the day there were wonderful break. It was the birthday of one of the IMME students and we all pitched in and ordered enchilada casseroles and brownies to celebrate, it was great. Later that afternoon, the IMME students had been invited to the vice chancellors house where we met the different missionaries on campus and they all brought dessert, it was fantastic, holy cow!! Everybody piled up the cookies and brownies etc. Then that night I and four other IMME students had our missionary dinner (everybody signs up under different missionaries who have offered to have us for dinner). The missionaries live in Kampala and he is the president/principal of the Bible college there; their house was incredible and the food delicious. They have good meat loaf type things, rice, and fresh tomato and cucumber salad. We all ate our weight in the salad for we aren’t really fed fresh vegetable, it was wonderful! They also have a nice movie library, so we are planning on letting them know that we can babysit for them anytime the need a date nightJ
This weekend was the introduction of our new church building (which is beautiful) and our mom does catering for the church. Saturday we went with her to help all of the church women prepare food. Kristina and I cut up onions, garlic, green beans, and potatoes. It was fun to actually be able to help and to be around all the women and girls from the church. The gruesome part of the experience was the chickens. There were a lot running around the yard when we arrived and only around two or three by the time we left. They would snatch them up, take them in the shed and then come out and immediately pluck, peel, gut, and whatever else they were doing to them. They would pile them up in large buckets with water and the flies would just fly around and land on them. When we were peeling potatoes Kristina had to sit right by the one of the buckets of water and chicken, and occasionally they would through a chicken in it and the water would splash Kristina, she was practically sitting in my lap trying to get away from it. It was nasty and funny at the same time. The live chickens would also go around picking at the leftover pieces of the dead chickens –nasty cannibal chickens! We helped from around nine to early afternoon and then we came home and had lunch and then napped for about three hours :) it was beautiful for we had the house to ourselves (which has yet to happen) and the silence of just being able to lay there was incredibly relaxing and very much needed. We rested and did school work for about the rest of the day. Sunday was the day of the introduction; we arrived in the sanctuary at 9:15 and didn’t leave until after 3:00! Thought the ceremony was beautiful and wonderful to participate in I thought I was going to jump out the window that we were right beside by the middle. It was so long, good, but long! It was just Kristina and I, for our family was outside helping prepare the meal, along with about a thousand Ugandans we didn’t know, exciting stuff right there. It was fun being a part of such a monumental event for them, but just a little long. The food afterwards was yummy though and we felt very proud that we had helped, in a very small way, prepare it. We got home around 3:45 and we lay down again :) and then worked on some more homework. I had taken my laptop home and one of the little boys was engrossed with it, as well as the girl that helps out at our house, she was just using Word and she was fascinated. It was fun to introduce them to something so common for me. The little boy loved playing with iTunes:)
My classes have been going well, they definitely keep me busy, but I am trying to get to a point where it doesn’t consume me at home. Hopefully I will get to this point soon! I am really enjoying most of my classes, they are causing me to think deeper and in vastly new ways which is difficult and exciting all at the same time! All of the classes seem to merge and pull from each other which is nice but also frustrating when you can’t remember what you read for what class. I am loving the new ideas and concepts that they are introducing to all of us and I am excited to see where I grow in these areas!
Thank you all for your prayers and I love hearing from you all even though I may not always respond:)
The weather here has been better than expected! It gets hot during the day but in the mornings and evenings it cools off, and about every other day we have storms during the day that brings a cool front for a little while. The storms here are wonderful and beautiful except in the middle of the night when it starts pounding on the tin roof and you wake up thinking you are being murdered. Other than that they are wonderful!
This weekend was wonderful, especially Friday. Friday I only have one class and I was done at 9:20 in the morning and even though I worked on homework throughout the day there were wonderful break. It was the birthday of one of the IMME students and we all pitched in and ordered enchilada casseroles and brownies to celebrate, it was great. Later that afternoon, the IMME students had been invited to the vice chancellors house where we met the different missionaries on campus and they all brought dessert, it was fantastic, holy cow!! Everybody piled up the cookies and brownies etc. Then that night I and four other IMME students had our missionary dinner (everybody signs up under different missionaries who have offered to have us for dinner). The missionaries live in Kampala and he is the president/principal of the Bible college there; their house was incredible and the food delicious. They have good meat loaf type things, rice, and fresh tomato and cucumber salad. We all ate our weight in the salad for we aren’t really fed fresh vegetable, it was wonderful! They also have a nice movie library, so we are planning on letting them know that we can babysit for them anytime the need a date nightJ
This weekend was the introduction of our new church building (which is beautiful) and our mom does catering for the church. Saturday we went with her to help all of the church women prepare food. Kristina and I cut up onions, garlic, green beans, and potatoes. It was fun to actually be able to help and to be around all the women and girls from the church. The gruesome part of the experience was the chickens. There were a lot running around the yard when we arrived and only around two or three by the time we left. They would snatch them up, take them in the shed and then come out and immediately pluck, peel, gut, and whatever else they were doing to them. They would pile them up in large buckets with water and the flies would just fly around and land on them. When we were peeling potatoes Kristina had to sit right by the one of the buckets of water and chicken, and occasionally they would through a chicken in it and the water would splash Kristina, she was practically sitting in my lap trying to get away from it. It was nasty and funny at the same time. The live chickens would also go around picking at the leftover pieces of the dead chickens –nasty cannibal chickens! We helped from around nine to early afternoon and then we came home and had lunch and then napped for about three hours :) it was beautiful for we had the house to ourselves (which has yet to happen) and the silence of just being able to lay there was incredibly relaxing and very much needed. We rested and did school work for about the rest of the day. Sunday was the day of the introduction; we arrived in the sanctuary at 9:15 and didn’t leave until after 3:00! Thought the ceremony was beautiful and wonderful to participate in I thought I was going to jump out the window that we were right beside by the middle. It was so long, good, but long! It was just Kristina and I, for our family was outside helping prepare the meal, along with about a thousand Ugandans we didn’t know, exciting stuff right there. It was fun being a part of such a monumental event for them, but just a little long. The food afterwards was yummy though and we felt very proud that we had helped, in a very small way, prepare it. We got home around 3:45 and we lay down again :) and then worked on some more homework. I had taken my laptop home and one of the little boys was engrossed with it, as well as the girl that helps out at our house, she was just using Word and she was fascinated. It was fun to introduce them to something so common for me. The little boy loved playing with iTunes:)
My classes have been going well, they definitely keep me busy, but I am trying to get to a point where it doesn’t consume me at home. Hopefully I will get to this point soon! I am really enjoying most of my classes, they are causing me to think deeper and in vastly new ways which is difficult and exciting all at the same time! All of the classes seem to merge and pull from each other which is nice but also frustrating when you can’t remember what you read for what class. I am loving the new ideas and concepts that they are introducing to all of us and I am excited to see where I grow in these areas!
Thank you all for your prayers and I love hearing from you all even though I may not always respond:)
Monday, September 21, 2009
Jinja and more
Hello Everyone!
Last week, even though I am having trouble remembering what happened, was great. I had a real chicken salad sandwich at Brooke’s house (leader of IMME); I had brownies ordered from a lady that cooks American food for the ex-pats here, and wonderful cookies that my Mommy sent me in a care package. It was great! Of course everything here is shared amongst the other 21 IMME students to I didn’t have as much as it sounds Hahaha the food from last week is all I can remember but if something else comes to me I will add it on later.
This past week my roommate and I, along with one of our brothers, went to visit a USE student living with a couple that had previously visited our home stay. They live very close to us and what we knew of them convinced us that they would be open for a visit. Their “daughter” had not arrived home yet, but we were welcomed into their store/home with big smiles, welcoming hearts, and kind words expressed in enthusiasm over our visit. They cleared off the nicest seats and bade us to sit. My conception of the visit before we arrived had been that it would last roughly ten minutes, we would chat, then say hello to their “daughter,” then leave. This was not to be. The couple that we visited was humor-filled with extreme kindest and an inviting spirit. The conversation flowed easily with much laughter. Even speaking in Luganda with our brother was conversational for their expressions and movements told much of what they said. Once the other student arrived I remember thinking that now would be a polite time to leave so that we don’t overstay our welcome. Well once she arrived the party started; the tea was brought in, bread was bought and served sandwich-style with butter in-between, peanuts in bowls, and oranges and tangerines. The conversation continued in an amazing sequence, the company was enlightening and hilarious, and the food was deliciously simple. Their spirit of hospitality is unique to me, not that I do not know hospitable people, but their level of invitation was incredible.
This weekend the IMME students went to Jinja, which happens to be the source of the Nile, yes the Nile. I got to take a boat ride on Lake Victoria and the beginning of the Nile. It was incredible. We arrived at the resort on Friday night and heard from missionaries who work in the prisons. Their work sounded incredible and requires much patience and dedication. That night we ate wonderful food with HEINZ ketchup, holy cow it tasted ridiculously delicious!! Saturday we heard from a missionary and ate at the Source Café which is a branch of the mission. The missionary then led us on a devotional tour of Jinja. We started at a golf course the overlooks Lake Victoria and the beginning of the Nile, we then went to what was called the ‘Beverly Hills of Jinja’ back in the day before Idi Amin, and is now run down mansions. Then we went to a place called ting-ting. It is a slum work area where hundreds of men pound metal trying to shape it into something else that is worth something/anything. We then went to Jinja’s hospital where we wouldn’t send our pets for help. The nurses here don’t feed, bathe, or provide medicine. Relatives must come stay with the patients in order for them to be fed, bathed, and they must buy the medicine. It was devastating seeing patients just lying in beds, some with no relatives, some who haven’t even seen a doctor and won’t for a couple of weeks. The tour was great, the missionary also gave us questions that we need to be asking ourselves and seeking during our time here and beyond.
When we got back we went on the boat ride. I loved it, it was absolutely beautiful, with birds covering the trees and sky. We could see the tide changes when switching between Lake Victoria and the Nile, there are little whirl pools around the islands that signify the beginning of the Nile. It was fabulous. I still can’t believe I have actually seen the Nile. It is unfathomable, as is much of what happens here. That night we went to a restaurant and I had pizza! It wasn’t great, but it was satisfying and exciting! We got back Sunday night (last night) and went home; our mom missed us greatly, for she gets lonely without us. So she was excited to see us as was everyone else. Going away for the weekend is like going away for weeks, they welcome you back the same way, it is always exciting to come home! I am going to try and put pictures on facebook of Jinja soon, I hope you have all enjoyed the pictures of Rwanda and of my home and family.
Kristina and I have finally talked to our mom about helping out around the house, I don’t know if it helped drastically, but it has definitely helped a little bit. Our brother Alex says that we just need to disobey if we want to help out more, and I think he might be right, but our talk has helped so we will see it takes us. Our family is doing wonderful and our brothers are great. Samuel, the youngest at 18, and I have very interesting conversations that usually end up with both of us frustrated over the other, but last night we talked for about thirty minutes before he started driving me crazy and vise versa. Alex (middle brother, 21) is wonderful and very helpful, but then he always says that I hate him which is completely false, it’s a fun time had by all The oldest brother (24) isn’t around as much for he is at work in Kampala and other areas that I am not of, but he is also great. I love you all and can’t wait to hear from you all!!
Last week, even though I am having trouble remembering what happened, was great. I had a real chicken salad sandwich at Brooke’s house (leader of IMME); I had brownies ordered from a lady that cooks American food for the ex-pats here, and wonderful cookies that my Mommy sent me in a care package. It was great! Of course everything here is shared amongst the other 21 IMME students to I didn’t have as much as it sounds Hahaha the food from last week is all I can remember but if something else comes to me I will add it on later.
This past week my roommate and I, along with one of our brothers, went to visit a USE student living with a couple that had previously visited our home stay. They live very close to us and what we knew of them convinced us that they would be open for a visit. Their “daughter” had not arrived home yet, but we were welcomed into their store/home with big smiles, welcoming hearts, and kind words expressed in enthusiasm over our visit. They cleared off the nicest seats and bade us to sit. My conception of the visit before we arrived had been that it would last roughly ten minutes, we would chat, then say hello to their “daughter,” then leave. This was not to be. The couple that we visited was humor-filled with extreme kindest and an inviting spirit. The conversation flowed easily with much laughter. Even speaking in Luganda with our brother was conversational for their expressions and movements told much of what they said. Once the other student arrived I remember thinking that now would be a polite time to leave so that we don’t overstay our welcome. Well once she arrived the party started; the tea was brought in, bread was bought and served sandwich-style with butter in-between, peanuts in bowls, and oranges and tangerines. The conversation continued in an amazing sequence, the company was enlightening and hilarious, and the food was deliciously simple. Their spirit of hospitality is unique to me, not that I do not know hospitable people, but their level of invitation was incredible.
This weekend the IMME students went to Jinja, which happens to be the source of the Nile, yes the Nile. I got to take a boat ride on Lake Victoria and the beginning of the Nile. It was incredible. We arrived at the resort on Friday night and heard from missionaries who work in the prisons. Their work sounded incredible and requires much patience and dedication. That night we ate wonderful food with HEINZ ketchup, holy cow it tasted ridiculously delicious!! Saturday we heard from a missionary and ate at the Source Café which is a branch of the mission. The missionary then led us on a devotional tour of Jinja. We started at a golf course the overlooks Lake Victoria and the beginning of the Nile, we then went to what was called the ‘Beverly Hills of Jinja’ back in the day before Idi Amin, and is now run down mansions. Then we went to a place called ting-ting. It is a slum work area where hundreds of men pound metal trying to shape it into something else that is worth something/anything. We then went to Jinja’s hospital where we wouldn’t send our pets for help. The nurses here don’t feed, bathe, or provide medicine. Relatives must come stay with the patients in order for them to be fed, bathed, and they must buy the medicine. It was devastating seeing patients just lying in beds, some with no relatives, some who haven’t even seen a doctor and won’t for a couple of weeks. The tour was great, the missionary also gave us questions that we need to be asking ourselves and seeking during our time here and beyond.
When we got back we went on the boat ride. I loved it, it was absolutely beautiful, with birds covering the trees and sky. We could see the tide changes when switching between Lake Victoria and the Nile, there are little whirl pools around the islands that signify the beginning of the Nile. It was fabulous. I still can’t believe I have actually seen the Nile. It is unfathomable, as is much of what happens here. That night we went to a restaurant and I had pizza! It wasn’t great, but it was satisfying and exciting! We got back Sunday night (last night) and went home; our mom missed us greatly, for she gets lonely without us. So she was excited to see us as was everyone else. Going away for the weekend is like going away for weeks, they welcome you back the same way, it is always exciting to come home! I am going to try and put pictures on facebook of Jinja soon, I hope you have all enjoyed the pictures of Rwanda and of my home and family.
Kristina and I have finally talked to our mom about helping out around the house, I don’t know if it helped drastically, but it has definitely helped a little bit. Our brother Alex says that we just need to disobey if we want to help out more, and I think he might be right, but our talk has helped so we will see it takes us. Our family is doing wonderful and our brothers are great. Samuel, the youngest at 18, and I have very interesting conversations that usually end up with both of us frustrated over the other, but last night we talked for about thirty minutes before he started driving me crazy and vise versa. Alex (middle brother, 21) is wonderful and very helpful, but then he always says that I hate him which is completely false, it’s a fun time had by all The oldest brother (24) isn’t around as much for he is at work in Kampala and other areas that I am not of, but he is also great. I love you all and can’t wait to hear from you all!!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Settling into Uganda
A lot of little things have happened in the past week so hopefully I will be able to remember them. My roommate and I were talking with our mom and our brother Alex the other night and we were talking of African traditional weddings. Alex is very excited to have a lot of sisters now (through the program) because the brothers of the bride each get a chicken at the wedding. They each get a live chicken and if he doesn’t get his, the wedding is called off until it arrivesJ It was hilarious and he had us rolling on the ground with his impersonation of receiving his chicken or not receiving it. Another night our mom brought out all of her traditional clothing and tried all of them on for us, and then Kristina and I were allowed to try them on as well. It was amazing and hilarious and our mom is going to take us to get a dress made soon. She is going to take us to the place where she gets her clothes made for she knows that they will give us a good price. Our mom also has a friend that makes the most amazing bags; she came over to visit the other day and the lady said I could come over and she would show me how to make them. I can’t waitJ
The riots that many of you have heard about started on Thursday. My roommate and I hadn’t heard the news before we walked home (come to find out the other students were driven home and some had to stay on campus). We heard the news when we got home but didn’t realize the extent of the situation until that night when our brother got home. He had gone into town to pick up a book and had to hide behind a barricade and then ran home. We could hear the gunshots throughout the night but my roommate and I are not directly in the town and thus haven’t even seen the aftermath and the riots let alone the riots themselves, unlike some of the other IMME students. We are again allowed to walk into town so the problems must be much better. Thank you all for your prayers, they were much appreciated!
I am starting my second week of classes and so far they are going very well and are enjoyable, but we will see what my opinions are in a couple of more weeks. I feel as though I am still a little lost in some of my classes and not really knowing what is going on, but there are a lot of other people in the same boat which is comforting. My literature class is my favorite class, the teacher reminds me of YodaJ but he is great. It was a little embarrassing though, for I feel as though my name is the only name that the teacher knows; then he had the entire class clap for me after answering a question correctly. I was trying to slink down in my seatJ
This was our first weekend at home with our families and it was wonderful to relax and sleep-in. We were able to take naps after our lunches and to read and get some homework done, even though not nearly what I needed to get done. On Saturday our mom took us to this little factory (that you don’t even realize is there until you walk through this little opening) close to our house that makes placemats, bags, and shoes. It was amazing and cheap, for the prices were wholesale which is fantastic. We weren’t able to go into the factory part because the lady that walks you around wasn’t there, but hopefully we will go back soon to look around! Sunday was church and even though it wasn’t as amazing as the church in Rwanda it was still wonderful. Their concept of time was enlightening: the service starts at eight, we got there a few minutes late and we were the only ones there. The service at about 8:30 and by 9:00 it was starting to fill up, it was great! Sunday afternoon we had a massive storm that resembled a hurricane. It was incredible! Kristina and I wanted to go outside and play in the rain but our brothers wouldn’t let us for fear that we would get sick. They do not like rain. We were hanging out in their room and they were literally holding us back from going outside. It was beautiful!
They keep feeding us a ton of food and I am getting a little better at eating since I try not to eat lunch other than a piece of fruitJ They aren’t feeding us as much for breakfast, which is amazing, so at least it is not as painful to walk to school, but they are still feeding us a lot for dinner and for lunch over the weekend. At least the food is good and I am not tired of it yet even though I do dream of food from home.
I don’t remember if I mentioned this before but our oldest brother is a doctor. Over the weekend there was an emergency and a little boy came to our house; he had fractured both arms. His parents had taken him to a doctor in town but hadn’t set it right (or something to that effect) and so the parents brought the boy to our house and our brother re-casted both of his arms on our couch, it was crazy. They went the next day to Kampala (the capital) to have it officially x-rayed and casted in a hospital, but it was incredible to see him do it on the couch…crazy crazy. (Danielle, it was Margaret’s son).
I am basically a pro at squatting…the goal is to just approach it as a gamble, hit or miss you still win, and so far I have yet to miss. Bathing is going very well even though I sometimes think of a shower. But our water is also hot; they heat it up for us twice a day. Yes, we bath twice a day, or we are supposed to, I usually wash my body at night and then my hair in the morning. Our mom won’t show us how to wash our clothes, for she does then for her other children why not us, we also have a house maid that does the laundry so at least it is not just our mom doing all of it. Kristina and I finally convinced her to show us how to iron and she gave me a 90% and Kristina a 50%. It was very funny. I have to take these compliments where I can get them for every other time they are calling me fat or manlyJ At least I don’t have a low self-esteem, or I didn’t when I came anyway! Haha they don’t mean it as insults they are just very honest, even though my mom did say that I have a small waist, just broad shoulders and large hipsJ Please excuse any misspellings, I don’t have time to spell-check. I love you all very much and would love any comments (I have a contest with a friend who never gets any comments on his blog).
*Ooh it Is night and I just showed my family pictures of my families and they were like “ooh Rachel you are the biggest in your family…and your dad is very tall…and your older sister is very portable…and your sisters are very beautiful…and your mom is so small,” it’s like ‘sheesh Rachel what happened to you’ and I am just like ‘yep that’s me.’ Ooh the abuse that I go throughJ so funny, getting a little old, but still funny how open they are!
The riots that many of you have heard about started on Thursday. My roommate and I hadn’t heard the news before we walked home (come to find out the other students were driven home and some had to stay on campus). We heard the news when we got home but didn’t realize the extent of the situation until that night when our brother got home. He had gone into town to pick up a book and had to hide behind a barricade and then ran home. We could hear the gunshots throughout the night but my roommate and I are not directly in the town and thus haven’t even seen the aftermath and the riots let alone the riots themselves, unlike some of the other IMME students. We are again allowed to walk into town so the problems must be much better. Thank you all for your prayers, they were much appreciated!
I am starting my second week of classes and so far they are going very well and are enjoyable, but we will see what my opinions are in a couple of more weeks. I feel as though I am still a little lost in some of my classes and not really knowing what is going on, but there are a lot of other people in the same boat which is comforting. My literature class is my favorite class, the teacher reminds me of YodaJ but he is great. It was a little embarrassing though, for I feel as though my name is the only name that the teacher knows; then he had the entire class clap for me after answering a question correctly. I was trying to slink down in my seatJ
This was our first weekend at home with our families and it was wonderful to relax and sleep-in. We were able to take naps after our lunches and to read and get some homework done, even though not nearly what I needed to get done. On Saturday our mom took us to this little factory (that you don’t even realize is there until you walk through this little opening) close to our house that makes placemats, bags, and shoes. It was amazing and cheap, for the prices were wholesale which is fantastic. We weren’t able to go into the factory part because the lady that walks you around wasn’t there, but hopefully we will go back soon to look around! Sunday was church and even though it wasn’t as amazing as the church in Rwanda it was still wonderful. Their concept of time was enlightening: the service starts at eight, we got there a few minutes late and we were the only ones there. The service at about 8:30 and by 9:00 it was starting to fill up, it was great! Sunday afternoon we had a massive storm that resembled a hurricane. It was incredible! Kristina and I wanted to go outside and play in the rain but our brothers wouldn’t let us for fear that we would get sick. They do not like rain. We were hanging out in their room and they were literally holding us back from going outside. It was beautiful!
They keep feeding us a ton of food and I am getting a little better at eating since I try not to eat lunch other than a piece of fruitJ They aren’t feeding us as much for breakfast, which is amazing, so at least it is not as painful to walk to school, but they are still feeding us a lot for dinner and for lunch over the weekend. At least the food is good and I am not tired of it yet even though I do dream of food from home.
I don’t remember if I mentioned this before but our oldest brother is a doctor. Over the weekend there was an emergency and a little boy came to our house; he had fractured both arms. His parents had taken him to a doctor in town but hadn’t set it right (or something to that effect) and so the parents brought the boy to our house and our brother re-casted both of his arms on our couch, it was crazy. They went the next day to Kampala (the capital) to have it officially x-rayed and casted in a hospital, but it was incredible to see him do it on the couch…crazy crazy. (Danielle, it was Margaret’s son).
I am basically a pro at squatting…the goal is to just approach it as a gamble, hit or miss you still win, and so far I have yet to miss. Bathing is going very well even though I sometimes think of a shower. But our water is also hot; they heat it up for us twice a day. Yes, we bath twice a day, or we are supposed to, I usually wash my body at night and then my hair in the morning. Our mom won’t show us how to wash our clothes, for she does then for her other children why not us, we also have a house maid that does the laundry so at least it is not just our mom doing all of it. Kristina and I finally convinced her to show us how to iron and she gave me a 90% and Kristina a 50%. It was very funny. I have to take these compliments where I can get them for every other time they are calling me fat or manlyJ At least I don’t have a low self-esteem, or I didn’t when I came anyway! Haha they don’t mean it as insults they are just very honest, even though my mom did say that I have a small waist, just broad shoulders and large hipsJ Please excuse any misspellings, I don’t have time to spell-check. I love you all very much and would love any comments (I have a contest with a friend who never gets any comments on his blog).
*Ooh it Is night and I just showed my family pictures of my families and they were like “ooh Rachel you are the biggest in your family…and your dad is very tall…and your older sister is very portable…and your sisters are very beautiful…and your mom is so small,” it’s like ‘sheesh Rachel what happened to you’ and I am just like ‘yep that’s me.’ Ooh the abuse that I go throughJ so funny, getting a little old, but still funny how open they are!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Rwanda and more
Hello Everyone,
We got back from Rwanda on Sunday night and started class monday (yesterday) morning. It has been a whirlwind and most of the time I no one knows what is going on but everything is going wonderfully. Rwanda was an incredible experience that I hope will stay with me throughout my life. It was a very eye-opening and humbling opportunity that has left a lot of us with more questions than answers. The first two nights we stayed in Gahini, which is the starting point for the East African Revival. We stayed on a beautiful lake and went to church on Sunday. The church experience was incredible and I absolutely loved it! There was one solid drum that played through the worship and at least three different choirs. The mission group split into different teams and went to different churches, each team was responsible for two-three songs, a testimony, and a short sermon. The sermon for out group ended up being the actual sermon which was fun and we sang a swahili song (that was taught to us by one of the Ugandan students) and an English song. It was three hours long and amazing, I loved it!! While in Gahini we head a lecture from a pastor and a testimony from a woman who lived through the revival in the 1930's. They were both wonderful and it was interesting to hear this before traveling to Kigali and hearing of the Rwandan genocide that starting springing up in 1959. We were in Kigali for four night and heard many lectures, went to the Genocide Memorial, and the Nyamata church. It was devastating and horrendous. The Nyamata church held app. 10000 Tutsi and all but seven were slaughtered over a three day period. Our guide was one of the seven survivors. He was 23 years old and told his story at the end of the tour, he only survived because his older brother covered him in blood and hid him under dead bodies. It was unbelievable. The church contained mass graves that you could go down into and see all of the caskets of known bodies and then caskest full of bones from the unknown. The memorial started with genocides that have plagued the world since the beginning and then leads into the childrens ward. This hit everyone the hardest, it has poster size pictures of children and lists their favorite food and game, their best friend (which was usually a sibling), what they wanted to be when they grew up, and how they were killed. It was devastating. And then you go into the rest of the genocide- detailing deaths, survivors, support, a lot of lack in support, crimes that were committed etc. Then we watched a documentary untitled The Ghosts of Rwanda. It was a very hard day for all of us. Where we stayed in Kigali, it was part of the guest houses by a church. The church was mentioned in the documentary and it was where a couple unarmed UN soldiers were actually able to save those in the church, which was incredible. We were given a free afternoon to walk around the city which was fun and we my little group of four people went to the church of Hotel Rwanda. We just walked into the lobby and went up the elevator and started looking around and we were able to see the swimming pool that the people had to drink out of. Our last two nights were spent back in Uganda on an island in a lake. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We spent the day debriefing and finally being able to relax. It was amazing. Classes started yesterday and so far I have had three of fives classes and they are great. My history teacher is very jovial and laughs over everything and my literature teacher reminds me of yoda its going to be great:) It is wonderful to be back home! I am loving my family very much even though they keep feeding me too much. I will start to slow down eating and my mom will say "Rachel, what are you doing, you need to eat more, you are cheating me" I look into her eyes and relunctently hand her my plate to refill. Last nights dinner was amazing though, it was a pumkin that is stuffed with potatoes, corn, peas etc. then wrapped in bananas leaves and steamed. Its was fantastic! Our brother Alex is teaching my roommate and I Lugandan (their language) which is fun and interesting:) and out brother Samual is telling us folklore of night dancers and creation stories, that is when we are not arguing, which happens most of the time. His other brothers call him 'calamity'. He is something else:) Our sister left for boarding school down the road yesterday which is sad because I didn't even know she was leaving. Though we have only been gone a short time the entire group already knows what we want to eat as soon as we get home, it is very funny to sit around and tell each what foods we are dreaming of:) the food is good here it is usually just the same which is why the dreaming. I hope everyone is doing wonderful and I would love to read your comments!
We got back from Rwanda on Sunday night and started class monday (yesterday) morning. It has been a whirlwind and most of the time I no one knows what is going on but everything is going wonderfully. Rwanda was an incredible experience that I hope will stay with me throughout my life. It was a very eye-opening and humbling opportunity that has left a lot of us with more questions than answers. The first two nights we stayed in Gahini, which is the starting point for the East African Revival. We stayed on a beautiful lake and went to church on Sunday. The church experience was incredible and I absolutely loved it! There was one solid drum that played through the worship and at least three different choirs. The mission group split into different teams and went to different churches, each team was responsible for two-three songs, a testimony, and a short sermon. The sermon for out group ended up being the actual sermon which was fun and we sang a swahili song (that was taught to us by one of the Ugandan students) and an English song. It was three hours long and amazing, I loved it!! While in Gahini we head a lecture from a pastor and a testimony from a woman who lived through the revival in the 1930's. They were both wonderful and it was interesting to hear this before traveling to Kigali and hearing of the Rwandan genocide that starting springing up in 1959. We were in Kigali for four night and heard many lectures, went to the Genocide Memorial, and the Nyamata church. It was devastating and horrendous. The Nyamata church held app. 10000 Tutsi and all but seven were slaughtered over a three day period. Our guide was one of the seven survivors. He was 23 years old and told his story at the end of the tour, he only survived because his older brother covered him in blood and hid him under dead bodies. It was unbelievable. The church contained mass graves that you could go down into and see all of the caskets of known bodies and then caskest full of bones from the unknown. The memorial started with genocides that have plagued the world since the beginning and then leads into the childrens ward. This hit everyone the hardest, it has poster size pictures of children and lists their favorite food and game, their best friend (which was usually a sibling), what they wanted to be when they grew up, and how they were killed. It was devastating. And then you go into the rest of the genocide- detailing deaths, survivors, support, a lot of lack in support, crimes that were committed etc. Then we watched a documentary untitled The Ghosts of Rwanda. It was a very hard day for all of us. Where we stayed in Kigali, it was part of the guest houses by a church. The church was mentioned in the documentary and it was where a couple unarmed UN soldiers were actually able to save those in the church, which was incredible. We were given a free afternoon to walk around the city which was fun and we my little group of four people went to the church of Hotel Rwanda. We just walked into the lobby and went up the elevator and started looking around and we were able to see the swimming pool that the people had to drink out of. Our last two nights were spent back in Uganda on an island in a lake. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We spent the day debriefing and finally being able to relax. It was amazing. Classes started yesterday and so far I have had three of fives classes and they are great. My history teacher is very jovial and laughs over everything and my literature teacher reminds me of yoda its going to be great:) It is wonderful to be back home! I am loving my family very much even though they keep feeding me too much. I will start to slow down eating and my mom will say "Rachel, what are you doing, you need to eat more, you are cheating me" I look into her eyes and relunctently hand her my plate to refill. Last nights dinner was amazing though, it was a pumkin that is stuffed with potatoes, corn, peas etc. then wrapped in bananas leaves and steamed. Its was fantastic! Our brother Alex is teaching my roommate and I Lugandan (their language) which is fun and interesting:) and out brother Samual is telling us folklore of night dancers and creation stories, that is when we are not arguing, which happens most of the time. His other brothers call him 'calamity'. He is something else:) Our sister left for boarding school down the road yesterday which is sad because I didn't even know she was leaving. Though we have only been gone a short time the entire group already knows what we want to eat as soon as we get home, it is very funny to sit around and tell each what foods we are dreaming of:) the food is good here it is usually just the same which is why the dreaming. I hope everyone is doing wonderful and I would love to read your comments!
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