I Can't Believe My Homestay is Over

I'm not feeling very inspired to write today, but I figured I'd leave my loyal followers with something before I take off for the weekend :)

This morning I left my host family. My Mama, one of the helper girls (I feel awful I never learned her name!) and Isaac walked me to school and it pretty much broke my heart when I had to say good-bye to Isaac with his big puppy dog eyes. Last night was so much fun, and I got to take pictures of everyone (except Resti unfortunately, because she's always at work). Mildred and Andrew took off with my camera for awhile, so most of the pictures were pictures they took of absolutely nothing...or everyone's head was cut off, so I ended up deleting the majority of them, but I still uploaded a bunch on my Facebook. If you have access to it, you should definitely go to my page to see them, because it's a royal pain to put pictures on my blog, and when I do, I only do 2 or 3.

I wanted to update everyone on some of the minor things that have happened in the last few days though. I guess I'll start with last night and work backwards. After dinner and before we all went to bed, I got the opportunity to pray with my Mother and Father last night. They love to worship in song, and Isaac was also there and was dancing around like crazy, it was one of my favorite parts of my stay there. Then, since all the prayers and worshiping were in Luganda, my Mama tried to say the Lord's Prayer in English for me. It was so funny because she must've tried it 3 different times, and each time she'd forget the words and try and start over, and each time she busted out laughing, which of course, made me laugh. We never did get through the whole prayer...

I also think I mentioned previously that I bought PB&J for my family, but my Mama being as hospitable as she is, kept feeding it to ME! I told her it was for her and the family, but I ended up eating PB&J for the last 3 or 4 days in a row. By the way, the peanut butter here is much different than at home. It tastes pretty much the same, but it's in like liquid form, so I would pour it out of the jar and onto my bread.

I also tried a bunch of new foods while I was there. I couldn't tell you the name of most of them, but one was some kind of green squishy squash-like vegetable that was probably my least favorite food to try. Then I also tried jack fruit, which was like these weird noodle-looking peels that were super sweet. Also, not one of my favorite things because it was so sweet. They gave me fish (which I ate all of. Yay, me! and it actually wasn't that bad) and I had beef two nights. I had posho(sp?), which I like to think of as the African version of tofu, mtoke (also not a favorite), lots of rice and lots of beans. Mama also gave me these like deep-fried dumpling type things for breakfast a couple mornings which were pretty tasty. I think that's all the interesting things as far as food goes...

For another random event to talk about, the other day I was in one of the dorm lounges, where all the USP kids go to get internet, and one of the Honors College students, Jones, asked me where I was from because he said I had a different accent from everyone else and was wondering if maybe I was from England. I realize I talk a tad bit differently then most people, but England, really?

I also went running again yesterday. Woohoo! If I can keep this up, I'm going to be in super good shape in time for bikini season when I get home! I think that gets everyone caught up. We leave tonight at 5 for Jinja and I'm so excited! Lots more pictures will be on Facebook come Monday, I'm sure. Although, I've been uploading pictures for the last hour and they're still not done...and there's only like 20! Oh, the Ugandan internet...

Love you all, have a fantastic weekend!

Day 19

I had one of the most incredible moments of my life last night, and I’m almost hesitant to share it. I hate reducing significant spiritual events to simple words, but I’ll do my best. Last night after dinner everyone cleared out of the living room. It was only 9:30ish so I wasn’t ready for bed yet, but I went into my room too. My mama came in about 5 minutes later just to say goodnight and make conversation. She said that she and my Father were going to pray, but they felt bad because they couldn’t pray in English. I told her I didn’t mind at all, and I was content just to listen if they would let me join them.

They went back into the living room and my Father sat in a chair, while Mama sat on a mat on the floor. I sat across from them on a bench and they began to pray in Luganda. About a minute into their praying, God entered the room. I dropped to the floor on my knees as soon as I felt His presence there. It was one of the most intense feelings I’ve ever experienced, but I was caught somewhere between fear and adoration. Mama and my Father continued to pray in Luganda and then began to worship in song, all the while I sat on my knees with my headed bowed and prayed to Him and thanked Him for showing himself to me and just praising Him in complete awe.

I’d been really struggling lately with what it means to be a Christian and whether I could even call myself one. I think a lot of it stemmed from the discussions we’ve been having in our Faith & Action class where we’ve been discussing Christianity in the African context and discussing how it relates to other religions like Islam and African Traditional Religions. I’ve heard a lot of skewed interpretations of the Bible, and one girl went as far to say that as Christians, people of other religions are the enemy. I believe with every ounce of my being in Jesus’ message of love, but I really began to wonder whether I wanted to lump myself in with this group of hateful believers.

In the midst of these doubts and this struggle within myself, God has revealed Himself to me on more than one occasion. I’m not sure why He thinks me worthy to stand His presence, but I’ve never felt so on fire for the Lord, and I’m praying that it’s not a Christian Summer Camp kind of Jesus high, but a flame that’s going to continue to burn within me.

I guess my main point of telling everyone this story was both to share you with the grace of our God and to thank you for your prayers, because clearly, they have not gone unheard. After our prayers and worship were finished, God continued to keep the blessings coming and I got to talk to my host parents for a good 20 minutes or so. It was my first one-on-one time with both of them, and I was so grateful. I’m going to miss them tremendously when I leave on Friday, but I promised them that I’ll continue to visit them throughout the semester.

There are a couple other things that I wanted to share, but I may wait to tell you them tomorrow, because nothing seems worth talking about after what I just shared. I guess now, I’d just like to thank you again for your continued prayers and all the love and support I’ve received throughout my time here. I’ll leave you with my feelings for today, in the words of Flyleaf…

Here she stands today, in her big shiny way, fully alive, more than most, ready to smile and love life. Fully alive and she knows how to believe in futures.

I Must Be Getting Used to Uganda

...because I'm finding myself having less and less to report!

I think the only new things worth discussing are things that no one really cares to hear, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

The one little perk of my day was going for a run around the track. I haven't run in a long time, so yay for having motivation! It kind of made me feel not so hot after though, because I hadn't eaten lunch and running on an empty stomach wasn't the wisest idea I've ever had. I was feeling pretty funky the rest of the day, but I eventually wandered home and stayed in my room most of the night because Tuesdays are my crazy days when everything is due.

After I did all the reading I had with me, I waited for dinner to be served, which to my frustration wasn't until 10:00 pm, and by that time I was ready for bed! I ate dinner (all of it! yay!) but I made myself sick once again, because my body does not like to be that full, especially that late at night. So I laid in bed and tried to get some sleep over the sound of my family talking, singing and praying. For some reason, I couldn't sleep and then I started thinking about a story one of the guys in USP told earlier about how he had shared his sleeping bag with a cockroach the night before. Ew!

Coincidentally, right after I freaked myself out thinking about that, I felt something moving around my head. I reached for my flashlight and it scurried away. The rest of the night I heard it moving around the house and squeaking and such. Yeah, I later figured out, I had shared my sleeping quarters with a rat. Lucky me! I was wide awake after that little incident and kept my flashlight on as a nightlight because I was expecting to be covered in rats the rest of the night.

I finally managed to fall asleep for about an hour then the rain came. Oh, the rain. I could describe it to you, but you'd probably assume I was exaggerating when I say it sounded like I was standing under a waterfall. It was insane! It came in through these little decorative holes in the wall of my room and completely soaked my bed. I managed to fall asleep in my little freezing cold puddle, and then groggily awoke at 7 am.

All this, but I had a pretty good day. I won't go into detail but I had an awesome God moment last night so that made me happy. I've got to get going now, almost time to leave for my homestay again. Hopefully, I'll get moderate food portions and a lot of sleep! Love you all!

A "Boda Boda" Wiped Out in Front of me Today on my Way to School...

Yeah, as the title suggests, Africa is full of all kinds of dangers! It was scary though. I think the driver may have actually swerved to avoid hitting me and the roads were a complete mess because it rained all morning, so it ended badly. Thankfully, I don't think he was hurt, and clearly, neither was I. I have to say- I'm loving my homestay, but I won't miss the walks to and from campus! The other day, I was almost impaled by the side mirror of a matutu which is an 18-passenger van that is the African equivalent of a taxi. Scary stuff!

So, to re-cap my weekend: Friday night I presented the kids with Candyland. It was quite eventful. They're all pretty young, so didn't really understand the concept of the game, but were able to amuse themselves simply by grabbing the playing pieces out of each others hands. When I went to take a picture, chaos ensued. They immediately abandoned Candyland and were all over me trying to play with my camera. Therefore, you will notice a lack of pictures.

Saturday, I spent some time talking to Resti. She showed me her family's photo albums and explained to me which children belong to whom because I was seriously confused. Mildred (6), Moses (2) and Marjorie (7 mos) are all hers. Isaac (3) is the son of one of the girls who helps around the house, Gret. Vivienne (2) is the daughter of Resti's sister Pross (sp?). Andrew (10) is the son of Resti's husband. Apparently, his mom completely abandoned him, so Resti took him in. I also learned that Resti and the kids are living with Mama and Papa while a house for Resti and her husband is being built. Resti's been married for 7 years, but her husband is rarely around because he's a businessman and he's constantly traveling. After, I watched the kids for a little bit while all the ladies cooked and did things outside. Resti's sister, Betty also came to visit me with her two sons, Arthur (7) and Mark (1 mo). Before I went to bed, I actually got to talk to Mama for a minute or two. She speaks very little English, so communication isn't easy. But she told me she really loves my hair.

Sunday morning was Church in the house again. I spoke to the Reverend after we were through for a little bit, just about the differences between African and American services. After, I vowed that I wanted to start praying, worshipping and praising God like a Ugandan. Sunday afternoon, I spent most of the time doing reading for school in my room, but I made an appearance at about 8 pm and played with all the kids. They love to play Patty-Cake and I love to snatch them up and tickle them. We had dinner around 9:30 which was super good. My favorite dish sounds really nasty in description, but it's so yummy. It's cabbage, onion and tomato all fried in cooking oil. It's super good, and Mama knows I like it so she gives it to me often.

Today is a public holiday, known as Heroes Day, which celebrates the current President's rise to power in 1986. All my classes were cancelled except for the main USP course, Faith and Action. I usually leave for school around 7:30 am, but it was raining so hard outside that I didn't end up leaving until about 10:15 because my class wasn't until 11. Oh, and just a side note, I've decided that rain on a tin roof is one of my favorite sounds in the world.

I guess that brings everyone up to date. I've got lots due tomorrow, so I should probably get on that. I'm including a couple pictures at the end, just a forewarning- I look awful!

This is Vivienne!



L to R: Isaac, Vivienne, Mildred and Moses



Ugandan Observations:

1. Ugandans often speaking in the 3rd person when referring to themselves.
2. No one drinks anything with meals.
3. Uganda has turned me into an avid tea-drinker! I drink it at least twice a day- it's so good here!
4. Kneeling is a sign of respect in most families, thankfully my family doesn't make me do it, because I think I'd have a big problem with the whole submission thing...
5. Not directly Uganda-related, but I've started having those wierd dreams from my malaria medication. Almost nightmares. I decided Doxy Dreams would be such a cool band name! Don't ask. But no one better take it- I thought of it first!

I've Been in Africa for 2 Weeks!

My big plans for this weekend include introducing my family to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Candyland! Woop woop! Oh, and I'll be gracious and include some pictures for my Mommy to see, since she's been bugging me. Although, I have yet to take any of my host family. So here's the first:



This is the view from my bedroom, and that beautiful little African child is Isaac, my nephew about to take his bath.

The past two days I've taken part in some very stimulating conversations with some of the African Honors College kids here, and us USPers. Yesterday, we discussed the death penalty and today we discussed homosexuality. It's amazing to see just how much culture plays a role in our stances on these controversial issues. The Americans were much more liberal in their thinking about homosexuality, while completely against the death penalty, while Africans were exactly the opposite.


Yesterday, Resti, my sister who's been sick for the past 3 or 4 days came and talked to me. She'd been hiding out in her room, because she didn't want to worry me, but she had malaria! She walked me to school part of the way on Monday and she said by the time she got back to the house her joints hurt so badly that she couldn't move. She said she hurt so badly that she honestly thought she was going to die. That's not exaggerating. That's malaria. I really hope I don't get it, it does NOT sound fun!

This is my bathroom. AKA: where I splash water on myself out of a basin:



My last bit of news is that my father and I had an actual conversation last night. Here's some of what I learned:

1. He's been married 31 years
2. He used to play soccer
3. He works in a store on campus

I guess that catches everyone up. I won't be online again until Monday. So I hope every has a fantastic weekend. Love and such!

A Very Belated Day 11...Cont'd

Today was definitely a whirlwind. I started off feeling frightened and homesick, and ended the day on a very high note.

I arrived at my homestay after school, and just like every other day was greeted by excited little African children, all wanting to hold my hand. It occurred to me today that contrary to popular belief, I don’t actually dislike children. I think I just dislike spoiled American children. Guess that means I’ll have to adopt me some beautiful black babies!

I dropped my backpack off in my room and my Mama came in to ask me about my day and let me know she had my bath water ready for me. After I bathed, tea was waiting for me, as usual in the living room. I usually have afternoon tea right around 7, then dinner anytime after 9. I usually get slices of buttered bread, peanuts, bananas or scrambled eggs with my tea, but today it was 2 boiled eggs.

After tea I sat in the living room until dinner with my host father listening to Obama’s inauguration on the radio. It’s a scene I hope I never forget- I was huddled next to a small radio trying to decipher Obama’s speech through static and Luganda translators in front of a hurricane lamp. Being in Uganda has definitely made me appreciate the American government; especially because I’m learning just how corrupt the Ugandan government is. Ugandans will tell you- it’s astonishing to see a peaceful transition of power, like what we’ve witnessed in the U.S since every Ugandan President since Independence has come to power through a military coup. Can you imagine if that were the case in the U.S?! It gives you an idea of just how far Uganda has to come, politically speaking.

Anyway, it was a very powerful feeling listening to Obama. I feel like I almost appreciate his election more being in an African context than if I were still home. So, since I haven’t done this in awhile, maybe I’ll leave off with some more African observations for your viewing pleasure:

1. Hand-holding is not a romantic thing in Uganda. Instead of shaking hands, Ugandans will just grab your hand and hold it. It’s also a way to show a close relationship, and it’s quite common to see two Ugandan men walking and talking together holding hands. It’s adorable!
2. I still haven’t figured out what children belong to whom in my host family. Most African families take care of children that aren’t biologically related to them.
3. You can definitely see the effects of colonialism in certain places within society. Such as the very regular breakfast and evening tea.
4. Bathing out of a bucket (even with all my hair) is not that bad.
5. Ugandan’s concept of time is definitely NOT as strict as in the U.S. It doesn’t matter if you’re late for a class, because the Professor usually is. You just kind of wander in, and class starts when it starts.

Day 11

Hey Everyone!

Today’s been a pretty iffy day for me so far, and I’d like to ask for your continued prayers. This morning around 5 am, one of the girls in the USP program was walking to campus from her homestay and was mugged. From what I’ve been told, apparently two guys came up to her, beat her and tried to rape her. She managed to get away with a few cuts and bruises and minus her backpack which had her laptop, cell phone, iPod, etc. She’s one of the strongest girls I’ve ever met and she seems to be doing fine, but my guess is, she’s still very shaken up.

I’d like to ask for your prayers for her and her family because they must be worried sick. I know if I had been in her place, I’d probably be on the first flight back home. I’d also like to be incredibly selfish, and ask you to pray for me (and the rest of the USPers, for that matter). The program heads have told us that we’re incredibly safe, and nothing like this has ever happened before, but I have yet to feel comfortable and safe here. We’re young, American girls. We’re perceived to be rich, and clearly we’re an easy and obvious target being the only white people in pretty much the entirety of Uganda.

Anyway, sorry to bum you all out, I just had to vent. I appreciate all of you who are continuing to be patient with my limited access to technology, and appreciate even more your prayers and messages. Each little comment I get from you makes my day, and it makes the adjustment here a lot easier knowing that I have such a fantastic support system at home to fall back on.

Love you all so much! And, hopefully, internet and God willing, I’ll be able to put some cheerier pictures up here to accompany my depressing update.

p.s. Everyone better be watching the Inauguration for me tonight!

Days 8, 9 & 10

Woo! It's been awhile! I'm pretty sure there's no way I can remember everything that I want to say, but I will do my very best to share what I can.

Saturday morning we were each loaded up into a van and dropped off with our host families in Mukono. I was greeted by Resti (don't know if I spelled that right) who is the oldest daughter of my host mother and father. She has 3 kids. Isaac is 3 (he absolutely adores me and has a smile that can light up a room), Vivienne is 2 (she's a lot shyer than Isaac and is still warming up to the mzungu in the house, but she's cute as well). Marjorie is the youngest, and she's almost 7 months.

I haven't done a whole lot all weekend because they keep insisting on doing everything for me and won't let me help. So they stay outside doing chores and cooking and such and leave me alone in my room to occupy myself. I got a lot of homework done! They have a nice house, but no electricity or running water so once it gets dark out, the hurricane lamps come out and my host father sits in the living room and listens to the radio (in Luganda). The bathroom is a little building outside with a hole in the ground. I only peed once the entire weekend. The shower is actually in the house, next to my room (oh, I have my own room and it's a pretty nice size). It's just a small room with a pipe in the floor and I wash myself in a basin with water that they boil for me.

Sunday morning, I didn't go to Church. Church came to me. My family has a Pastor come to the house and my host father worships with him and two other women while my host mother prepares them lunch. It was a little awkward because the majority of the service was in Luganda, but Rev Patrick speaks English so he tried to translate most of it for me. After the service, he made me sing a song. The only one I could think of all the words to was 'Praise Adonai.' He said he really liked the song, but I was slightly mortified that he made me sing in front of everyone. The only reason I didn't stress too much was because singing constitutes so much of their worship here, so everyone does it.

After Church, the adults politely dismissed me so they could converse in Luganda without me sitting there awkwardly. I got the rest of my homework done and took a nap. I didn't do much at all, honestly. They served me tea around 7:00 and I bathed. They make me bathe at least twice a day and insist on feeding me sooo much food. I can never finish it, which is really rude in Ugandan culture, but I can't eat all of it! They also don't serve dinner until at least 9:00 pm and it's always a lot of heavy food, so I tried to go to sleep early so I wouldn't have to eat supper, but my sister came in and woke me up to eat. Darn!

After I ate dinner (which was a somewhat smaller portion than usual, maybe they're getting the hint) I sat in the living room with my host father, Isaac and one of the helper boys Andrew. Andrew is about 8 and does so much around the house it's insane! Most Ugandan families take in children to help them do chores, while the kids are provided with a place to stay they may not have otherwise. Andrew and Isaac were teachng me Luganda words for awhile, before I went to bed. I wasn't very good, but maybe with a little more practice I'll be a bilingual machine!

I apologize that this was so sporadic, but I was trying to fill you all in, in a limited amount of time. I'll be walking back home (about a 1/2 hour walk) in 30 or so minutes and am trying to get a lot of my work for tomorrow done before I leave.

Love you all. I put more minutes on my phone today so I'll try to give some of you a call.

Best Day Yet!

I'm going to keep this one short and sweet, because I should really be in bed. But today was by far the most fun I've had yet. Classes were this morning, then immediately after, I threw on a pair of jeans (YAY!!! Finally!!!) and us USPers boarded a UCU bus and made our way to Uganda's capital, and only city, Kampala.

They brought us to Garden City which is like a seriously Westernized mall, where we got to splurge with some pizza and ice cream. Whaat!? I then bought the essentials I've been running low on that got confiscated in Syracuse- toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner and bug spray. It actually cost me more than I thought it would. After, the USP staff gave us a short tour of the spots in Kampala that would interest students. We got to see a little bazaar/craft fair type thing, the Ugandan Parliament and a bunch of little shops and such. When we got back on the bus and returned to UCU, the Honours College (whom we're living with) threw a dinner/dance party in our honor. Talk about fun! I had a long conversation with a boy named Ambrose who was actually good friends with a couple girls from Eastern who came here last semester and I danced my little white booty off.

Tomorrow morning, we're all getting up bright and early to be dropped off at our Mukono homestays. I'm not sure where I'll be, but it'll be somewhere in Mukono, for the next two weeks, within 5-40 minutes walking distance from campus. I'm so nervous, but I'm sucking it up, and trying to learn what I can. I'm hoping my host Mama can teach me how to do laundry the Ugandan way- it sounds hard! Alright, I've gotta get going. I'll try to keep you posted as best I can over the next two weeks, but I make no promises. Now, it's time to shower off this dancing sweat, and get my butt to bed!

Love you all. Thanks for your prayers, and keep praying that the transition with my host family goes well. I'll need it!

Day 5: I Ate Meat Today!

That’s right folks- the girl who only ate chicken back in the States gobbled up a hefty portion of beef today! But we’ll get back to that momentarily.

Today’s been a pretty easy and stress-free day. I was under the mistaken impression that I had an early morning class, so I got up and was ready to go by about 8:15 am. Oh yeah, so apparently Uganda is some sort of alternate universe where I get up by about 7:00 am every morning…and I’m human!

Anyway, since breakfast ends at 8:00 am, Katie (my roomie) and I made our way to a canteen on campus and had a huge muffin (I believe it was a relative of corn muffins) and a Fanta (Passion flavor. Ooh la la!) By the way, all the soda they have here in Uganda is in those old school glass bottles, and the refrigerators have bottle openers on the doors, so you just pop ‘em off and you’re good to go. I think it’s the one thing food-wise that the U.S. is really missing out on. After our delectable breakfast, we came back to the dorms where I proceeded to get online for about the 2 seconds time my battery allowed, and then took a nap. If you read my previous entry, I’m guessing you understand why I didn’t get much sleep last night.

Class was at 11:00 am, and it was ATR- which basically discusses African Traditional Religions, Islam and Christianity and how they’re connected. Unfortunately, I took a class almost identical to it last spring, so I’m hoping to drop it and take a History class instead. Lunch was amazing. Nice, tender, juicy beef and mtoke, which is mashed plantains (a relative of the banana, but definitely not as sweet). I think it’s probably Uganda’s equivalent of mashed potatoes, and it’s served quite often. Notice: no rice and beans for this chick today!

After lunch, I thought maybe I’d take a stab at being productive and start doing some homework. My first assignment for Creative Writing is to read three concentrated sessions of my favorite writer, then try to write a childhood memory, imitating that writer. I wanted to do Donald Miller, so I took my first solo expedition en route to the library. Let’s just say, I’m really hoping I won’t have to spend much time in there. There’s no electronic system for keeping track of all the books and such, and it’s such a mess! I literally had no idea how it was organized. Or if it even was organized. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, and after a couple failed attempts at communicating with the librarian, my last shred of hope for good ol’ Don was in the USP library (a couple bookshelves specifically devoted to us USPers). Guess what? They had him!

Now, I’m sitting here writing this in my room on Word, so I can just copy and paste it for all my followers to see! Prior to today, the outlet in our room wasn’t working, and there’s no outlets anywhere where the wireless internet is, so I was charging my computer in the bathroom, then making my way down to the dorm with internet access using the little battery power I had. It’s been quite a pain. As of now, I’ll probably go online once more, do some more reading/homework, and then we have a meeting at 5:00 pm, dinner at 7:00 pm and another meeting at 8:00 pm to discuss our homestays (which will start on Saturday and will continue for the next 2 weeks).

After last night, I won’t be using the internet after dark since I have to be outside, and I’d rather not have a repeat of that little incident. If you received my e-mail, giving you my cell phone number, that’s your best and most convenient way to get in touch if you’re desperate to hear my lovely voice. Otherwise, keep e-mailing/Facebooking/blog commenting! Trust me, I read everything you guys write. I just don’t have all the time in the world to respond, so I apologize. But I really appreciate all the prayers, support and words of kindness! You’re making this transition a whole lot easier!

I guess to end Day 5’s entry, I’ll leave you with some more African observations:

1. They have pineapple jam here. Enough said. You can bet your bottom dollar, I’ll be trying some of that!
2. Soccer is HUGE. I’m pretty sure as far as Ugandans are concerned, there is no other sport. Whenever there’s a game on, the Dining Hall is PACKED with guys squinting at the big screen TV on the far wall.
3. I have absolutely no problem with the fact that there are little ants crawling over my possessions 24/7. It’s just a fact of life, and they even provide some entertainment!
4. I’m going to officially confirm the stereotype that all Africans can sing.
5. Ugandans are 10 times more graceful than white people. That’s my only explanation for the fact that they never, EVER stumble, while us USPers trip, slip and wipe out all the time on the roads.

The Bad News

With any experience, I think it's necessary to report the bad, as well as the good news.

Last night as I was finishing up my internet session, B and I were headed up to our dorm to get to bed, when a young man approached us, crying, telling us someone he knew had just died and he needed help. It was a little unusual, but we told him we'd pray for him and if he wanted, he could find us tomorrow at lunch to talk some more. The weirdness continued for another 10 or so minutes, until B suggested that if he needed help, we'd get our RA to come out and help him. As we turned around to go get her, he yanked B's laptop from her hands and started to run away. B immediately tackled him, and he dragged her down a very steep hill into a gravel driveway. Her screams were heard by a bunch of local Honours College guys and they dashed out to help. They chased the guy down and managed to get her laptop back, but needless to say, we were both pretty shaken up and B's pretty scratched up as well.

I didn't want to share this to worry anyone, because the way I see it, for that one creepy scumbag preying on the charity of good Christian girls, there were at least 10 guys that bolted to the rescue the second B opened her mouth. If anything, this experience has definitely made me realize more and more what it feels like to be a minority, and that being a young white American female in Uganda, might prove to be more challenging than being a male. Sorry, if I concerned anyone, but know that I'm perfectly fine and everything is being handled.

I love you all, and I promise the next time you hear from me, it will be only good news!

It's Day 4, So I Can't Disappoint

From what I'm hearing (and seeing), I think I've developed quite a following! So I'll start out by sharing that prior to this little internet session, I shared my nightly frigid shower with 3 grasshoppers, a praying mantis and a little lizard! Haha.

Let's see. Where to start? I had my first class in Intro to Ugandan Politics. I'm also taking East African Politics since Independence, so I was a little afraid that they'd be really similar, but the syllabi are completely different. Plus, the teacher is really laid back and the class is small, so we'll actually be having our classes at her house on campus over tea! How cool is that?! Class got out earlier than usual, so the other students in the class and I went to the Dining Hall for milk tea at 10:30 am. It was really good! I don't even like tea, but it tasted just like chai, without the spices. Mmmm!

I also went to my first community worship service at noon. The whole time, my thought process was just that I wish EVERYONE could experience what I'm experiencing once in their life. The Reverend was speaking about demonstrating Christian maturity, and it was just completely powerful. I don't think I'll ever be able to worship the same after I come back. I'm going to be so spiritually spoiled!

We went to lunch at 1:00 pm, it was fairly uneventful, although our friend Peterson joined us again. He's probably the UCU student I'm closest to, and he's definitely a sweetheart. I had my first Creative Writing class at 2:00 pm. I'm absolutely scared to death to take it, because believe it or not- there's a lot of writing involved! Plus, we have to read all our stuff out loud, which is only slightly intimidating. My professor could be one of the chillest guys I've ever met. He's also rather intimidating, but so cool. The only way I could describe him is an old school hippie/poet turned Christian missionary/family man. That's seriously the way he comes across, it's kind of hilarious.

We took a third trip into Mukono. Only this time, it was a USP-wide scavenger hunt so we could get better acquainted with the town and figure out where everything is. It was definitely not the most fun trip. We came very close to dying multiple times. The traffic is horrendous. Ayone who thinks NYC is bad, needs to come here. It's terrifying! We also got a lot more sleazy comments. There's a lot of sketchy guys that would love the opportunity to get into the pants of a young American girl. Of course, American stereotypes don't help our situation. I'm incredibly intimidated whenever we go in just because a large portion of these people have never even seen a white person before, so we're a huge spectacle.

At dinner, I decided to go out of my comfort zone, and I actually went off by myself and sat with two Ugandan girls for dinner. My goal is to try and make some female Ugandan friends. It's very easy to get along with guys here since they're much more outgoing. The girls, however, are much more reserved and harder to talk to. I was very proud of myself.

There's no homesickness yet, but I'm growing more and more aware of how NOTHING here is familiar. I would kill for a vending machine right now! Or maybe just a few white people...haha.

In the mean time, stay tuned for some more of my incredibly insightful observations (haha):

1. I'm pretty sure the color of most of the birds here doesn't even fall on the color spectrum. They're incredible.
2. When in need, bobby pins are a fix for just about everything. Hanging calendars, pinning up the bottoms of my pants, fixing broken shoe straps...I have yet to use them for my hair.
3. Ugandans are the best dressers I've ever seen. I don't think I'll even get that much use out of my "hippie" skirts, because everyone dresses so professionally!
4. Anyone who knows me, knows I have serious issues walking at a leisurely pace. When I walk, I walk to get somewhere. This is not the case with Ugandans...
5. Prayer is so important here. However, it's not just the quality that counts, it's also the length and volume, if you catch my drift.

That's all for tonight, I'll try and continue to keep you all posted! Love and such!

Day 3: Whaaat?!

Another day gone and over with at Uganda Christian University. This morning I got up and got dressed and went to class at 8:30 am. The class was East African Politics since Independence. The class is made up of USP students but is taught by an African lecturer. It seems like it won’t be bad at all. Most of the classes here have a much heavier workload as far as reading goes than back home, but there’s only two relatively good-sized papers and neither seems too difficult.

Lunch was at 1:00 pm…yet another meal of rice and beans (FYI: every meal thus far has been rice and beans), then we all went to class at 2:00 pm. The class is Faith & Action and all 40 of us USPers are in it. The workload is pretty intense, but should be worth it because it’s basically just a way for us to analyze and reflect back on our time here and what we’re experiencing. After we got out, I went back to the room to get a super head start on my reading when a HUGE rain storm came through. Hail, tree branches flying…you name it- it was crazy!

At 5:00 pm we had a meeting to talk about some of the rules of social interactions, dress code, etc and soon after Katy, Katie, B and me decided to walk into Mukono again. On the way there we stopped by the Grand Opening of one of the canteens (a shack like place/cafe that serves food) on campus. They were serving muffins, these potato-like things that tasted like really fat French fries and a Tang-like drink. It was just enough of a taste of home to get me through the endless rice and beans.

Walking into Mukono was a tad bit frightening this time around. We left a little later in the day than yesterday, and it was only 4 of us as opposed to like 25. I got some Ugandan shillings at the ATM and we went to the supermarket and I got a juice box (pina colada flavor) and a chocolate bar. I was craving chocolate so bad! We had to hurry back to get to dinner on time, but we made it with time to spare to enjoy another meal of….you guessed it- rice and beans! Hahaha. Our friend Peterson that we met yesterday on our walk into town came to our table to visit and asked if I remembered him. He’s the first UCU student I’ve remembered the name of. It’s pretty sad how pathetic my memory is. That was my day.

So now it’s time for more Ugandan observations:

1. I no longer want to ride a boda boda Those things are terrifying!
2. Even the dirt here is pretty (like a burnt orange/red color), but it’s a big pain in the ass- everything gets covered in it, and pretty much everyone here but me has slipped on it .
3. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the cold showers…
4. This isn’t an observation, but they gave us cell phones, so stay tuned for my number so you can all call me!!

Love you all!

Day 2 of my African Adventure!

Wow. I definitely wrote a whole blog, just for the internet to fail and make me lose everything. Boo, African internet! Anyway, I'll try this again and save it to Word just in case I can't get it to work again. I missed a lot of things yesterday that I wanted to make sure I informed everyone about today!

So, the first African student we met was a girl named Lydia. She came to visit Katie and me in our room and told us her little sisters were excited to meet us. Her family lives on campus so she took us down to her house to meet the little girls. At one point, two of them came up and yanked on the back of my hair. When I turned around, thinking "What the crap?!" they giggled and ran away. It occurred to me about 5 seconds later that it must be so unusual for them to see hair like mine. Especially since it's so long.

Another girl I met was a girl on my hall named Agatha. She came to my room while I was in there by myself and brought me to her room to show me pictures from when she was in high school, I later showed her the few pictures I brought from home. It was really interesting to talk to her though. When I asked her what she was going to school for, she told me Law. When I asked if she wanted to be a lawyer, she told me no, that she wanted to be a legal advisor because being a lawyer is too risky. If you're a lawyer defending someone who’s going against the government you will be killed. She stated it so matter-of-factly I was completely taken aback. I mean, we hear these kinds of horror stories, but don't consider the young college girl who doesn't want to follow her passions for fear of being killed by her very own government!

This morning we went to the church service on campus. We ended up going to the later service at 10:15 am so there were a lot fewer people than at the earlier service. I was a little disappointed with the message because the Vice Chancellor was speaking and he didn't really deliver a message, but rather a vocabulary lesson on the Anglican tradition. Apparently, he doesn't speak there regularly, so I'm hoping the messages will get better as the semester goes on. My favorite part was when a traditional African song was sung. We also sang traditional hymns that I would sing back home, but it was odd because I felt like my heart was truly worshipping when we were singing the African songs. I guess language doesn't matter when you're praising the Lord!

We had lunch at 1:00 pm and two men, Stephen and Moses came and sat with us. Stephen was very interested to know whether I had voted and who I had voted for. I think Africans are more excited about Obama's election that Americans are. As Stephen said, "it shows that we are one people." How true! He wasn't the only Ugandan to ask me that either.

After lunch, a large group of us went into the town of Mukono with the help of our "tour guide," Ken. Two other students, Samson and Peterson joined us. I spent a lot of time talking to Peterson, who also asked if I had voted. We discussed a lot of cultural differences, specifically our different celebrations of Christmas and New Years.

I think that gets me all caught up. Here are my observations thus far:

1. Ugandans are the friendliest people you will ever meet
2. There are a hella lot of bugs
3. Even though USP forbids it, I really want to ride a boda boda, which is a motorbike type thing that everyone has that looks like so much fun, but apparently is a death trap
4. Being an American in Uganda is like being a celebrity, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of waving at the little African children who are astonished to see a mzungu (white person)
5. I'm starting to figure out what it feels like to be a minority...haha

That's all for today. I start classes tomorrow, so wish me luck! Love you all!

So...I'm in Africa

Woo! I made it! We arrived in Entebbe at about 9:30 last night and after a two-ish hour bus ride to campus, finally got in around 12:00. It's pretty much been a whirlwind since. You wouldn't believe how beautiful it is. There's no way I can describe it that doesn't sound entirely cliche...I almost don't even want to take pictures because I know there's no way I can capture the beauty of it all.

There are 6 girls in the USP program on my hall and 3 of us are Katie's. One actually goes to Eastern and I knew her before hand, and the other is my roommate who's from North Carolina.

We ended up going to sleep around 2:00 AM, after a very cold shower (they will definitely take some getting used to) and were woken up very early this morning. My roommate got up at 6:30 AM to find a chicken had gotten into our dorm and was standing outside our door. Turns out, Ugandans are up veryyyy early. We started orientation at 9 am this morning, and went on a campus tour at noon. I registered for classes and will hopefully be taking Intro to East African Politics, Africa Religions, a required class called Faith & Action, Health & Wholeness, and what I think will be my favorite- Democracy and Human Rights.

Lunch was at 1:00 PM and it consisted of rice, beans and this white stuff that I forgot the name of. It kind of looks like mashed potatoes, but is made of maize and is a a thick, pasty consistency. We went on a small hike around 4:00 PM and saw a bunch of monkeys. It was an amazing view of the town, Mukono on one side and a spectacular view of Lake Victoria on the other. There's not too much planned for the rest of the day except dinner at 7:00 PM then worship at 8:00 PM, I believe. Tomorrow, our whole day is free with the exception of church in the morning. I guess that's all for now, I'm letting Katy (from Eastern) borrow my laptop so she can use the internet. Hope to update everyone again soon!