Back in Kampala

Hello!!

First I just wanted to let the GW people know that i got their letters. I teared up and wanted to cry because it was SOOOOO good to hear from you all! Thanks a MILLION =) I think i might read them all once a day.

So i just got back from our trip to the west of Uganda. It was awesome because I didn't get sick this time! There are sooo many things i want to share...

First we went to a place called Mbarara and we basically went on Safari game drives. I saw warthogs, water bucks?, a lot of gazelle looking like things, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, water buffalo, lions, monkeys, and a bunch of pretty birds. We got to go on a boat and that was when we saw all the hippos and the elephant playing in the water. (Well, some people say the elephant was trying to charge us but since it was in the water it was just flipping out. I like to think it was just glad to see us and entertaining us). That was pretty awesome and i took as many pics and videos as possible, which i will show when i get back.

Then we went to a place called Kasese Village and we got paired up to live with host families there. I LOVED THIS VILLAGE. People were soo nice and they were so thankful that we were staying with them. They say that most people just go to climb the Rwenzori mountains but never actually spend time in the village and stay overnight.

So me and my friend Kate stayed with a family and this was more like what I expected from Africa. Banana trees, yams, casava, beans, vanilla, maize, greens, potatos, aloe and much more growing right in their back yards. No electricity, no running water, not great phone service etc. We used pit latrines which are stalls with a hole in the ground. Not bad but the smell was hard to deal with. I did the breathing through my shirt. The hardest part of the pit latrine was at night.

Me and Kate had to go and so we bring our head lamps and notice there are cockroaches on the walls. These bugs are HUGE. I wish i had taken a picture but i thought the family might think i was crazy. So me and kate are just standing there (me having to poo) and we are semi freaking out. Should we kill them? shoo them into the hole? spray it was 100% deet bugspray? hold it in? I think we may have stood there with our flashlights for about 5 minutes or so and then two of the boys come over. They look inside the stall to see what we are looking at. They notice the bugs and just nonchalantly go in and start stepping on them or shooing them. The one kid is like... humming/singing as he's stepping on he bug. I couldn't stop laughing (at myself). They leave after we THINK all the bugs are out, right as i go in i see one on the ground. Kate starts to tell me to just deal with it, so eventually i do. That was one of the most disturbing moments so far. But i love looking back on it now. I really dislike cockroaches.

I got to see their "kitchen" which was just really cool to see. It's a hut type thing made of reed and mud then there are two metal boards on top to protect it from the rain. They use firewood to make a small fire, and rocks to hold up the pot for whatever they will cook. it's completely unsanitary but not really a big deal. They made us "chips" alot (which are like french fries) because they noticed we really liked them. They also made us goat (which are goat they have in their back yard just chilling, waiting to be slaughtered) and chicken (same concept, just running around the yard).

Me and Kate went into town which was like... 1 kilometer away? and bought fabric to get made into dresses. I didn't really like the choices they had so i jsut bought the cheapest which was 8,000 shillings and got a knee length, sleeveless dress made for 5,000 shillings. all together that's less than 8 dollars. =) When we came back the next day to pick them up it wouldn't fit over my shoulders, so they adjusted it. Now it goes on but it's a big wide on my upper body. Eh. haha.

Man, there is so much to write about. I think i better buy some more minutes.

Okay, So our homestay father is one of 9 kids. His mother (the grandmother) is still alive. Out of the 9 kids, there are 41 grandkids of the grandmother. Therefore there family under grandma is over 50! and some of the 9 aren't even married so they will deff add onto that number. They say that on average they cook lunch and dinner for 20-30 people! crazy. Some of the kids live elsewhere but there were lots of people that lived in that one house.

I took baths with two basins (just large round bucket things). One had hot water, the other cold. I usually mixed them then divided them back to two, one bucket for hair, the other for body. You just cup your hands and pour the water over you. Difficult to wash hair but... not so bad. Kinda didn't like that the bathing stall was connected to the pit latrine stalls. So you get whiffs of nasty while you are trying to clean yourself and smell clean. Brushed teeth with bottled water. They had us bath twice a day. Completely uneccessary for me so in the mornings i would just wash my face and then splash the water around.

It honestly feels like your a celebrity when you are in villages like these. The kids just follow you, some for quite a while and everyone kind of just stares at you. If you greet them in their language it just like... brightens their day. They would be sooo surprised and would just laugh with joy. They were awesome.... i will most definitely miss them and i think that was probably the highlight of this entire study abroad experience thus far.

They loved the digi cams. They wondered when it ran out of film. When i showed them the video i took of the elephant in the water they were like, WOW it MOVES! and they liked out head lamps or flashlights, which they called torches. Me and kate tried doing our own laundry, friggin so tiring when you try to do the bed sheets. They were experts at it.

after four days we left to spend a couple days in little grass hut type things. But the place we went to was def catered towards tourists. They had electricity and semi running water. Wish i took pictures but my batter was running out and there wasn't a place to charge the battery. We had slugs on our walls, i liked looking at the slime trails. haha. weird.

So now i'm back and the next week or so i have to prepare for my independent study project. I don't know what to do. Something probably with health. Basically we just pick any topic and interview bunch of people, write up a 30-40 page paper and present it to the group at the end. I can't decide where i want to go. I wish i could go to a village and do something really interesting but i dont think i could survive in a village for more than a week. Sometimes it gets reallllly boring becaues there really isn't much to do. I want a place with a kitchen so i can cook some of my own food.

Although I am thoroughly enjoying my time here in Uganda. The idea of being in America or living with friends back in the dorms becomes much more exciting as the days go by. I miss people alot. The people here (on the program) are pretty cool. But there have been some really frustrating moments. Especially being a Christian, there have been many discussion/debates/comments that have been really ..... bleh. offensive? annoying? I miss my community back at home. The humor and everything is just a little different with these people. Don't always feel like I can just be myself. I think just about evryone on the trip feels this way, which is expected.

So yeh, this is such a long blog. I bet there are so many things i'm missing. I'll fill them in as a remember them. I need to figure out my schedule for next semester... gah. what a pain. okay, well for all those that wrote letters or commented of fb or my blog, thanks and i miss you all. Thanks so much again for keeping me in your prayers. Please continue to do so.

I hear things in Hope are changing a bit. I will be praying for the fellowship. It was really great to hear about the retreat and how God has been moving in the group. Thanks again for the letters. They really mean alot when i'm all the way here in Uganda. Love you all and miss you lots!!

-Julia