Kind of sad I missed the actual day this year. And by that, I mean the anniversary of when I left the USA for Uganda. It was the 8th. We arrived in Uganda the 9th.
Honestly, it should be considered one of the more monumental days in my life. Because it started the experience that has changed me the most so far...that is still changing me. That's the interesting thing about Uganda. It wasn't just four months. That's the amount of time I was living there, but the experience was more powerful than four months. The memories still consume me at times. I still have moments where a smell, a sound, a sight, takes me instantly back to my home in Uganda and some memory hits me like it happened just yesterday. I still look back and consider experiences I had there with things that are happening in the present. I'm still integrating my Ugandan and American selves, very gradually reconciling the pieces of my identity that Uganda successfully fragmented. I'm still re-fragmenting things as I continue to move and journey into new territory with new friends. I don't regret the shattering, however. On the contrary, it has been a joy to piece myself together again, to discard pieces that do not fit and bring new ones into the puzzle...it has been a joy to realize my identity is kind of blurry, that my heart has many homes and it's a good thing to live "unsettled." I say unsettled because what Uganda challenged me to forsake my American peace, that part of me that was content, even proud, of my cultural and religious heritage and identity, and to find my identity more in Christ and His Kingdom and in His people, who are of many nations and cultural and religious heritages. I'm starting to understand what it means to live as an alien and outsider for His glory. Nothing looks the same in Ugandan and the USA...not everyday conversations or university courses, not towns and cities or families and homes, not worship services or dinner or free time. But the same God created all people in His image and desires all these worlds revolve around Him, all these cultural rivers flow from and to Him, that all things be reconciled in Christ and in Christ alone.
So my reflection has not ceased, and I hope it never does. I'm thankful for technology that allows me to stay in touch with friends and family overseas and I'm still looking forward to returning "home." While I haven't set a date yet, I'm hoping to do some research in Uganda for my PhD in 2014...which would seem far away for some people, but if my experience with time the past few years rings true, then 2014 is just around the corner. I can almost feel the sun and the dust and hear the village calling to me! I can almost see Kwagala, my family's cow, waiting for me to come home (you'll have to read my blog for that story...).
I'm incredibly thankful for the USP semester of Spring 2009, an experience that blessed me then and that continues to challenge and bless, and change, me now.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Friday, January 8, 2010
365 days ago, today.
So one year ago today I was in the airport, with nearly 40 strangers, heading to Uganda. I was full of nerves and anticipation. I remember saying goodbye to my parents in Kentucky at like five in the morning, walking away from them and through security, and then sitting at the gate thinking, "I'm not going to see them again for over four months." My decision to go to Uganda was cemented, sealed. I was doing the craziest and bravest thing I had ever done up to that point, jumping way beyond my comfort zone, just hoping to make a decent landing.
I flew from Kentucky to Chicago and watched the sun rise over Chicago from my gate, waiting for my flight to D.C. There were two other girls at the gate with me, conspiculously reading The Poisonwood Bible (which we all had to read before going) and their bags were marked with the blue USP ribbons. I chose not to say hello. They seemed to know each other already, and I didn't want to lose my last couple of hours of solitude. I would have four months to get to know them.
I landed in D.C. and headed towards the ticketing counters with all of my baggage. I would have to recheck it after going through customs. I was still nervous, and there were butterflies in my stomache. It was time to meet the group. How many would already be there when I arrived? What would they be like? How would they be dressed? I had chosen to wear jeans, a cute top, and tennis shoes...not exactly the dress code we had been given for Uganda, but I figured the airport didn't count. I wanted to be comfortable and this was possibly the last day in four months I would get to wear my beloved jeans and tennis shoes. We were heading to a land of skirts, blouses, and sandals, where we were expected to look "smart" for most occassions, and to dress modest but feminine.
I greeted the group with an embarrassing bang. Just as I pulled my rolling suitecase to a halt, the pull out handle caught the beaded watch on my wrist, a gift from a friend from home, and tore it to pieces. Beads fell everywhere, radiating out on the tile floor from where I stood. I blushed and stooped to pick them up, and then realized twenty hands were helping. Soon the USP strangers placed most of the beads back into my trembling hands, looks of concern on their faces. Not exactly the entrance I envisioned, but it could have been worse. "Thanks, I mumbled. It's no big deal. I'll put it back together somehow." And then it was time. I looked at the lady with the clipboard, must be Sarah, who had been in touch with all of us for several months prior to our departure. "I'm Danielle." She checked me off on the list. We were only waiting for a few more people.
Over the next hour or so we waited for the remaining students to come. The girls who I had seen in Chicago arrived a few minutes after me. Others came. Some came with their parents, and I wasa tad jealous that mine hadn't offered to drive me to D.C. But it only would have postponed the goodbye. Maybe it was better to have gotten over with it early rather than do it in front of an audience. Soon most of us were present, and we were hungry. "There's no reason you can't get your tickets and check in," Sarah told us. "I'll send the last few people through when they come." Oh, she wasn't coming with us. From this point on, we were traveling together, just the students. Hunger won out over nerves. The sooner we went through ticketing, security, and customs, the sooner we could find something to eat. Our flight was leaving at dinner time, and there would probably be food, but this was our last chance for American food.
I was one of the first few through security and customs. It took nearly an hour for us all to get through. But we still had a lot of time before our flight would take off. We found the gate and set our stuff down. There was some conversation beginning. Some of the students obviously knew each other already. Others of us were on the perimeters, quieter, because we didn't know anyone at all. I introduced myself over and over again, and the first question I usually asked was "USE or IMME?" I was trying to get a feel for the other students who would be doing semester long homestays like I was going to. There were fewer of us. Some others would be meeting us at the airport in Uganda. They were flying separately. I was thankful to be in the group and have some time to get to know these people before we got to Uganda.
A group of fifteen or so of us ambled down the terminal to find food. There were several choices, but for some reason, I settled on a salad shop. I couldn't believe I was going to make my last meal a salad, but my stomache didn't seem to want anything else. So I ordered a big salad with raspberry vinagretter dressing, my favorite, and then found a table. A few other students sat around me, and I met Lizz, Naomi, Dave, Charles, Ashley...I tried to keep the names straight. Lizz and Charles were IMME students. Naomi was really sweet. Ashley and Charles already knew each other because they came from the same college. Oh, that must be how some people knew each other. I felt like an outsider because a mjority of the students came from schools who were sending more than one student. Milligan never sent two students to the same program in one semester.
I finished half of my salad, and then couldn't eat any more. I didn't want to throw it away, but I wasn't sure I knew these people well enough to offer them my half eaten salad. They would probably think I was crazy. But it was better then wasting it, I supposed. "Anyone want to finish this?" I asked. "I'm stuffed, and I hate to throw it out..." "I got it," Dave said. "I'll eat it, if you're sure you're done," he added. I was relieved. For some reason being able to share leftovers with these people made me feel more comfortable with the idea that they would be my closest friends over the next four months, my only white and American friends in the big unfamiliar place I was heading. Sharing food felt like some rite of passage in my head for friendship and community.
A few hours later we boarded the plane, and I was pleased to be next to Naomi. We all looked around the seating arrangements and figured we were seated alphabetically. Toenies (Naomi), Thomas (Danielle). We talked and slept and watched movies over the eight hour flight that carried us from D.C. to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam we had a 5-6 hour layover. When we deboarded the plane, leaders began to emerge, I noticed. A few strong-personality people stepped forward to read the moniters in the terminal and led the way to our gate. The Amsterdam gate was tiny compared to the one in D.C. There wasn't nearly enough seating for all of the passengers waiting for the flight. We found a corner and settled in one huge mass on the floor. Some people dumped their luggage and headed out to explore. Others went to find bathrooms to freshen up in. It was Friday morning. "Weird, I thought. It's already been a day since I left Kentucky." I made a quick trip to brush my teeth and run my fingers through my greasy hair. I braided it to the side since I can't French braid.
I made my way back to the group. This was a time to be social, but I was fighting it. Large groups make me uncomfortable and it takes a lot of energy for me to put myself out there and start conversations with strangers. I sat at a kiddie table with Charles and Ashley and a few others. Charles was IMME, and he was a soccer player, so there were a couple of things we had in common. We all chatted and got to know each other a bit better while we waited. It seemed like forever, but at last it was time for our next flight. Not surprisingly, Naomi and I were next to each other again. It made it easy, though, because I didn't need to get to know another seatmate since we had already talked on the first flight quite a bit.
I slept very little. Mostly I just changed my little tv (which was mounted on the seat in front of me) from movie to movie and tv show to tv show until I was bored with it. Then I listened to some music. The I tried to sleep. We landed sometime between 8-9pm Uganda time on Friday night. That made it like 1pm on Friday in Kentucky because Uganda was 8 hours later. We headed toward customs with our passeportes and visa money. Each of us had 50 dollars to buy a visa with. We huddled scared in the large customs room debating what we should do. The visa line was long. Should we all wait in it or send someone up as a representative or something? A Ugandan woman in a uniform approached us. "You give me the money and the passports, and I will get you the visas," she said with a thick accent. We looked at each other suspiciously. Was this a scam to run off with our money? Could we trust this woman. "She has on a uniform," someone whispered. "How can we know for sure?" others asked. Finally, we decided to trust the woman, but we sent two students with her as witnesses just to be sure. They followed her to the front of the room and we went into an adjoined room to look for our luggage.
Nearly all of the luggage arrived. Two or three students were missing a piece, but we were reassured that the Ugandan airport would get it to us. All of our passports made it back to us with visas inside, and a very chipper and tiny woman in her early twenties, barely older than us, came to the baggage claim area to great us. "I'm Annie!" she was nearly squealing with excited. I liked her immediately. "And I'm a USP intern!! Follow me to the busses!" We followed her out of the airport in a long line. Walking outside was shocking because of the heat. It was January, and I had worn a winter coat to the airport in Kentucky. In Uganda, January felt like July. It was hot and humid. I sighed. This is how weather should always be. I love summer time.
We got onto the bus and I went to the middle and sat down. I assumed someone would sit next to me, but no one did. There were already a few people on the bus before us, students who had travled separately and arrived earlier. When the bus began to move and I was still seated by myself, I wished I had been braver and made a point to sit with someone. I looked outside, but it was pitch black and impossible to see much beyond shadows and big black shapes. It was a couple of hours to get to the campus, which is where we were headed. I was battling exhaustion from the trip and the time change and all of the emotions I was feeling. I fell asleep and didn't wake up for over an hour. When I woke up, Annie brought me a banana and a chipoti, a bread tortilla thing that Uganda is known for, even though I had never heard of it. They were both good, and I stayed up for the rest of the trip. We paused at the front gate of Uganda Christian University so the drivers could talk to the secuirty posted there. They let us through quickly.
We drove up a hill and then stopped, and Annie got off of the bus and other people got on. Some of the USP staff was there to greet us, and Phil, the other intern. USE students were hussled off the bus, told who their roommate was to be, and handed keys. We were apparently parked near where they would be living on campus. IMME students were all put onto my bus, and then we met Brooke, who was the IMME director. She climbed on the bus and told the driver to take us to the guesthouse. We soon stopped in front of another building on campus. "This is it. Get off, get your stuff, get in groups of 2 and 3, and get a key from me." Brooke was obviously a very direct person, and several months pregnant also. We did as she commanded. Sarah, another girl who seemed on the fringes, paired up with me, and we made our way into the guesthouse and found our room. I used the toilet quickly, but couldn't get it to flush (but at least it was a toilet), took a picture of my first bed in Uganda (mosquito net and all), put on my nightgown (eww, I was not going to like wearing this for four months), and fell asleep. It was after 1AM Ugandan time, Saturday morning. Day one in Uganda.
I flew from Kentucky to Chicago and watched the sun rise over Chicago from my gate, waiting for my flight to D.C. There were two other girls at the gate with me, conspiculously reading The Poisonwood Bible (which we all had to read before going) and their bags were marked with the blue USP ribbons. I chose not to say hello. They seemed to know each other already, and I didn't want to lose my last couple of hours of solitude. I would have four months to get to know them.
I landed in D.C. and headed towards the ticketing counters with all of my baggage. I would have to recheck it after going through customs. I was still nervous, and there were butterflies in my stomache. It was time to meet the group. How many would already be there when I arrived? What would they be like? How would they be dressed? I had chosen to wear jeans, a cute top, and tennis shoes...not exactly the dress code we had been given for Uganda, but I figured the airport didn't count. I wanted to be comfortable and this was possibly the last day in four months I would get to wear my beloved jeans and tennis shoes. We were heading to a land of skirts, blouses, and sandals, where we were expected to look "smart" for most occassions, and to dress modest but feminine.
I greeted the group with an embarrassing bang. Just as I pulled my rolling suitecase to a halt, the pull out handle caught the beaded watch on my wrist, a gift from a friend from home, and tore it to pieces. Beads fell everywhere, radiating out on the tile floor from where I stood. I blushed and stooped to pick them up, and then realized twenty hands were helping. Soon the USP strangers placed most of the beads back into my trembling hands, looks of concern on their faces. Not exactly the entrance I envisioned, but it could have been worse. "Thanks, I mumbled. It's no big deal. I'll put it back together somehow." And then it was time. I looked at the lady with the clipboard, must be Sarah, who had been in touch with all of us for several months prior to our departure. "I'm Danielle." She checked me off on the list. We were only waiting for a few more people.
Over the next hour or so we waited for the remaining students to come. The girls who I had seen in Chicago arrived a few minutes after me. Others came. Some came with their parents, and I wasa tad jealous that mine hadn't offered to drive me to D.C. But it only would have postponed the goodbye. Maybe it was better to have gotten over with it early rather than do it in front of an audience. Soon most of us were present, and we were hungry. "There's no reason you can't get your tickets and check in," Sarah told us. "I'll send the last few people through when they come." Oh, she wasn't coming with us. From this point on, we were traveling together, just the students. Hunger won out over nerves. The sooner we went through ticketing, security, and customs, the sooner we could find something to eat. Our flight was leaving at dinner time, and there would probably be food, but this was our last chance for American food.
I was one of the first few through security and customs. It took nearly an hour for us all to get through. But we still had a lot of time before our flight would take off. We found the gate and set our stuff down. There was some conversation beginning. Some of the students obviously knew each other already. Others of us were on the perimeters, quieter, because we didn't know anyone at all. I introduced myself over and over again, and the first question I usually asked was "USE or IMME?" I was trying to get a feel for the other students who would be doing semester long homestays like I was going to. There were fewer of us. Some others would be meeting us at the airport in Uganda. They were flying separately. I was thankful to be in the group and have some time to get to know these people before we got to Uganda.
A group of fifteen or so of us ambled down the terminal to find food. There were several choices, but for some reason, I settled on a salad shop. I couldn't believe I was going to make my last meal a salad, but my stomache didn't seem to want anything else. So I ordered a big salad with raspberry vinagretter dressing, my favorite, and then found a table. A few other students sat around me, and I met Lizz, Naomi, Dave, Charles, Ashley...I tried to keep the names straight. Lizz and Charles were IMME students. Naomi was really sweet. Ashley and Charles already knew each other because they came from the same college. Oh, that must be how some people knew each other. I felt like an outsider because a mjority of the students came from schools who were sending more than one student. Milligan never sent two students to the same program in one semester.
I finished half of my salad, and then couldn't eat any more. I didn't want to throw it away, but I wasn't sure I knew these people well enough to offer them my half eaten salad. They would probably think I was crazy. But it was better then wasting it, I supposed. "Anyone want to finish this?" I asked. "I'm stuffed, and I hate to throw it out..." "I got it," Dave said. "I'll eat it, if you're sure you're done," he added. I was relieved. For some reason being able to share leftovers with these people made me feel more comfortable with the idea that they would be my closest friends over the next four months, my only white and American friends in the big unfamiliar place I was heading. Sharing food felt like some rite of passage in my head for friendship and community.
A few hours later we boarded the plane, and I was pleased to be next to Naomi. We all looked around the seating arrangements and figured we were seated alphabetically. Toenies (Naomi), Thomas (Danielle). We talked and slept and watched movies over the eight hour flight that carried us from D.C. to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam we had a 5-6 hour layover. When we deboarded the plane, leaders began to emerge, I noticed. A few strong-personality people stepped forward to read the moniters in the terminal and led the way to our gate. The Amsterdam gate was tiny compared to the one in D.C. There wasn't nearly enough seating for all of the passengers waiting for the flight. We found a corner and settled in one huge mass on the floor. Some people dumped their luggage and headed out to explore. Others went to find bathrooms to freshen up in. It was Friday morning. "Weird, I thought. It's already been a day since I left Kentucky." I made a quick trip to brush my teeth and run my fingers through my greasy hair. I braided it to the side since I can't French braid.
I made my way back to the group. This was a time to be social, but I was fighting it. Large groups make me uncomfortable and it takes a lot of energy for me to put myself out there and start conversations with strangers. I sat at a kiddie table with Charles and Ashley and a few others. Charles was IMME, and he was a soccer player, so there were a couple of things we had in common. We all chatted and got to know each other a bit better while we waited. It seemed like forever, but at last it was time for our next flight. Not surprisingly, Naomi and I were next to each other again. It made it easy, though, because I didn't need to get to know another seatmate since we had already talked on the first flight quite a bit.
I slept very little. Mostly I just changed my little tv (which was mounted on the seat in front of me) from movie to movie and tv show to tv show until I was bored with it. Then I listened to some music. The I tried to sleep. We landed sometime between 8-9pm Uganda time on Friday night. That made it like 1pm on Friday in Kentucky because Uganda was 8 hours later. We headed toward customs with our passeportes and visa money. Each of us had 50 dollars to buy a visa with. We huddled scared in the large customs room debating what we should do. The visa line was long. Should we all wait in it or send someone up as a representative or something? A Ugandan woman in a uniform approached us. "You give me the money and the passports, and I will get you the visas," she said with a thick accent. We looked at each other suspiciously. Was this a scam to run off with our money? Could we trust this woman. "She has on a uniform," someone whispered. "How can we know for sure?" others asked. Finally, we decided to trust the woman, but we sent two students with her as witnesses just to be sure. They followed her to the front of the room and we went into an adjoined room to look for our luggage.
Nearly all of the luggage arrived. Two or three students were missing a piece, but we were reassured that the Ugandan airport would get it to us. All of our passports made it back to us with visas inside, and a very chipper and tiny woman in her early twenties, barely older than us, came to the baggage claim area to great us. "I'm Annie!" she was nearly squealing with excited. I liked her immediately. "And I'm a USP intern!! Follow me to the busses!" We followed her out of the airport in a long line. Walking outside was shocking because of the heat. It was January, and I had worn a winter coat to the airport in Kentucky. In Uganda, January felt like July. It was hot and humid. I sighed. This is how weather should always be. I love summer time.
We got onto the bus and I went to the middle and sat down. I assumed someone would sit next to me, but no one did. There were already a few people on the bus before us, students who had travled separately and arrived earlier. When the bus began to move and I was still seated by myself, I wished I had been braver and made a point to sit with someone. I looked outside, but it was pitch black and impossible to see much beyond shadows and big black shapes. It was a couple of hours to get to the campus, which is where we were headed. I was battling exhaustion from the trip and the time change and all of the emotions I was feeling. I fell asleep and didn't wake up for over an hour. When I woke up, Annie brought me a banana and a chipoti, a bread tortilla thing that Uganda is known for, even though I had never heard of it. They were both good, and I stayed up for the rest of the trip. We paused at the front gate of Uganda Christian University so the drivers could talk to the secuirty posted there. They let us through quickly.
We drove up a hill and then stopped, and Annie got off of the bus and other people got on. Some of the USP staff was there to greet us, and Phil, the other intern. USE students were hussled off the bus, told who their roommate was to be, and handed keys. We were apparently parked near where they would be living on campus. IMME students were all put onto my bus, and then we met Brooke, who was the IMME director. She climbed on the bus and told the driver to take us to the guesthouse. We soon stopped in front of another building on campus. "This is it. Get off, get your stuff, get in groups of 2 and 3, and get a key from me." Brooke was obviously a very direct person, and several months pregnant also. We did as she commanded. Sarah, another girl who seemed on the fringes, paired up with me, and we made our way into the guesthouse and found our room. I used the toilet quickly, but couldn't get it to flush (but at least it was a toilet), took a picture of my first bed in Uganda (mosquito net and all), put on my nightgown (eww, I was not going to like wearing this for four months), and fell asleep. It was after 1AM Ugandan time, Saturday morning. Day one in Uganda.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Adjusting
Hey everyone...I realize it's been forever since I posted to this blog, but I just wanted to give my faithful readers an update on life after Uganda. I got home in May and went to Milligan right off to see some good friends graduate. From Milligan, I went home to Kentucky. But over the first month I was home, I travelled A LOT. I went to Myrtle Beach for a Bachelorette party, to Milligan for a wedding, to North Carolina for a wedding...you get the picture. I've finally reached the age when a lot of my friends are getting married and starting families--it's crazy!! I'm certainly not at that stage in my life yet. I'll settle for being a late bloomer :)
After travelling nonstop for so long, it was nice after the first week of June to settle in at home in Kentucky. I really enjoyed spending time with family and friends this summer, getting plugged back into Capital City (my home church). The summer was restful for me. I worked a little as a lifeguard at the YMCA, but mostly I just invested in relationships, which was what I had been doing in Uganda for four months. Over the summer I had some minor instances of reverse culture shock. Some things I struggled with were seeing all of the media violence: movies, tv, video games, etc. I hadn't seen any of this in four months, so it was hard at first. The American food made me sick for a couple of weeks while I adjusted back to how processed and heavy everything here is. I also missed my family in Uganda a lot--after living with them for so long it was hard to suddenly be so far away. But there were plenty of things I enjoyed having again, mainly running water, hot showers, baths, etc.
In July, I did a SportQuest mission trip in Indianapolis with some good friends from the States and from Belgium that I have worked with in the past. It was good to be involved in some service after having a pretty lethargic summer. I had a really refreshing time serving with my Christian brothers and sisters and hope to see them again sometime in the near future, though I'm not sure how...after SportQuest, I went to Idaho with my family for a family reunion (so it was travelling again!!). The reunion was great--God has blessed me with a wonderful extended family.
Finally, in mid-August, I returned to Milligan after being away for around 8 months. And things have certainly changed. Most of my close friends have graduated and moved on, and Abby, my lovely roommate, is abroad in Egypt this semester. I miss her dearly! I'm living in the dorm on freshman row (pretty literally) so I'm surrounded by new faces. It has been a challenge for me this semester to find friends and live in community. Uganda taught me the value of organizing life around community above all else, but I am having to find community in unexpected places since my previous community has mostly dissolved. But God is really working through this with me and I'm growing.
I've had the worst of reverse culture shock in just the past few weeks. Coming back to school forced me back into an "American schedule" full of class, homework, work, and activities...without very much left over time for friends and family. In Uganda it was hard for me in the beginning to adjust to the lack of "structure"...but then I realized that I had time for people. In America now I'm resisting falling back into such a busy routine. I had a break down during week two of classes here. I've been slowly putting things back together since. Obviously, I can't quit everything and just roam around and find people to hang out with...but I have pulled back a little and am trying to really invest in activities that are important to me and let all of the sideline stuff go. Yes, class is important, but I am trying to balance class/homework with the time to rest and enjoy social activities. It's a hard balance to find, but I am doing it. And I am also trying to spend as much time as possible every week in worship, scripture, and prayer. I'm realizing that making my relationship with Christ primary helps put everything else in perspective.
So that's life. I have two semesters of school left, and then I am looking to take some time off to do some missions...then probably I'll go into grad school. But I am not overly concerned with the future. I'm confident it's in God's hands and he'll show me where to go when the time comes. So why worry?
After travelling nonstop for so long, it was nice after the first week of June to settle in at home in Kentucky. I really enjoyed spending time with family and friends this summer, getting plugged back into Capital City (my home church). The summer was restful for me. I worked a little as a lifeguard at the YMCA, but mostly I just invested in relationships, which was what I had been doing in Uganda for four months. Over the summer I had some minor instances of reverse culture shock. Some things I struggled with were seeing all of the media violence: movies, tv, video games, etc. I hadn't seen any of this in four months, so it was hard at first. The American food made me sick for a couple of weeks while I adjusted back to how processed and heavy everything here is. I also missed my family in Uganda a lot--after living with them for so long it was hard to suddenly be so far away. But there were plenty of things I enjoyed having again, mainly running water, hot showers, baths, etc.
In July, I did a SportQuest mission trip in Indianapolis with some good friends from the States and from Belgium that I have worked with in the past. It was good to be involved in some service after having a pretty lethargic summer. I had a really refreshing time serving with my Christian brothers and sisters and hope to see them again sometime in the near future, though I'm not sure how...after SportQuest, I went to Idaho with my family for a family reunion (so it was travelling again!!). The reunion was great--God has blessed me with a wonderful extended family.
Finally, in mid-August, I returned to Milligan after being away for around 8 months. And things have certainly changed. Most of my close friends have graduated and moved on, and Abby, my lovely roommate, is abroad in Egypt this semester. I miss her dearly! I'm living in the dorm on freshman row (pretty literally) so I'm surrounded by new faces. It has been a challenge for me this semester to find friends and live in community. Uganda taught me the value of organizing life around community above all else, but I am having to find community in unexpected places since my previous community has mostly dissolved. But God is really working through this with me and I'm growing.
I've had the worst of reverse culture shock in just the past few weeks. Coming back to school forced me back into an "American schedule" full of class, homework, work, and activities...without very much left over time for friends and family. In Uganda it was hard for me in the beginning to adjust to the lack of "structure"...but then I realized that I had time for people. In America now I'm resisting falling back into such a busy routine. I had a break down during week two of classes here. I've been slowly putting things back together since. Obviously, I can't quit everything and just roam around and find people to hang out with...but I have pulled back a little and am trying to really invest in activities that are important to me and let all of the sideline stuff go. Yes, class is important, but I am trying to balance class/homework with the time to rest and enjoy social activities. It's a hard balance to find, but I am doing it. And I am also trying to spend as much time as possible every week in worship, scripture, and prayer. I'm realizing that making my relationship with Christ primary helps put everything else in perspective.
So that's life. I have two semesters of school left, and then I am looking to take some time off to do some missions...then probably I'll go into grad school. But I am not overly concerned with the future. I'm confident it's in God's hands and he'll show me where to go when the time comes. So why worry?
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Very Much Needed Update: Less than a month in Uganda to Go! :(
Dearest friends. It’s been too long since my last update. In fact, I really should be doing other things than writing this right now…but it’s high time I let you know what’s going on in my life. I’ve had recent internet troubles with crazy African computer viruses. Viruses here are more frequent and potent then they are in the US. Lucky for me I have an amazing computer engineer dad who helped me fix my computer over the phone/through email from another continent. How cool is that? I now have internet access and my computer seems to be virus free. That means I can at last update my blog. So here goes.
I went on a safari this past weekend. It was a bit disappointing, but I still had a decent time. The coolest part was seeing some elephants really close up and risking my life riding on top of the jeep. Yep, I climbed out of the window and on top of the vehicle…while it was moving at a fairly high speed on African dirt (and bumpy) roads. After about twenty or thirty minutes on top of the shaky luggage rack, I decided I had tested my guardian angel’s patience enough for the day and resigned myself to just sitting on the window sill with half of my body in the car and half out. The whole experience reminded me of when I was a kid and my dad used to threaten to tie me to the roof of the car if I didn’t shut up…after the safari, I think that could be kind of cool.
School is SUPER STRESSFUL right now. It’s kind of funny. The entire Ugandan culture seems to be against stress—everything here is so relaxed and chill and there is no strict schedule…but then all of a sudden it’s finals week and I have due dates that I have to keep and everything is happening at once. I have four papers due between Monday and Wednesday this coming week. I have begun three of the papers, but not the one that is actually due on Monday. So I need to think about doing that. The papers are for African Literature, Missions, African Traditional Religions/Christianity/Islam in Uganda, and Reading the New Testament in Africa. On Friday I have a slideshow presentation/speech. Then the following week I have a final exam and paper due in our class called Faith and Action. So this week had been one long paper-writing experience. I have never had four papers going simultaneously, so this is a new balancing act. We are still attending lectures this week, so time is limited and I am still trying to spend time with my family. I’ve given up sleeping and have begun to wake up at 5 am to have time to myself to write. It’s quiet and I’m more awake early in the morning than late at night. I am drinking coke and eating chocolate like crazy right now. It’s not healthy. But I’ve already gained a bit of fat in my tummy (since we have dinner at 10 every night) so I figure what the heck, I’ll just lose all of the weight when I get home. I can’t wait to hit the gym and the swimming pool again.
Today is Good Friday. So Happy Easter to everyone. I have one lecture and then will probably attend a worship service with my mom. It will all be in Luganda and probably kind of boring, but I’ll just read my Bible or something and try to follow along. After service, it’s back to the books. I really want to have my papers finished by the end of today or at least mostly finished so I can have a relaxing weekend with my family. I only have two weeks left at home which is super sad! This weekend I am cooking a meal for my family. It’s something we’re required to do. I’m supposed to cook an American meal. I think I am going to attempt spaghetti. It could be interesting. Spaghetti, garlic bread, maybe eggs? (don’t exactly go with spaghetti, but this is Africa right?). If dinner is a complete failure, I am going to fry bananas for desert, so maybe that will at least be a hit. We’ll see how it all goes.
Ok. I am officially out of things to say for the time being. I need to write papers so I can enjoy my last weeks with my beautiful family. Oh. Wait. I’ll share a poem with you. This is a poem I wrote for my African Lit class. I really like it. It’s untitled at the moment.
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, Hello Madame
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, I love you
I walk the streets to the chorus of small children
And grown men, equally immature and
Enthralled with my white skin
The children are innocent products of misguided upbringing
I say “bye” back to them and marvel that
Goodbye has become the most common greeting I receive in the village
The men are unfortunate products of Hollywood stereotypes and African dreams
I ignore their comments as I feel my face flushing with embarrassment
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, Hello Madame
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, I love you
It’s an anthem to my whiteness as
I swim through a sea of blackness
Wishing for just one moment I could have the relief of blending
I treasure moments when I hear someone in the village calling my name
I never realized what a gift it is to have a name and to be called by it
For it is recognition of shared humanity to call another by name
It makes me more than a mizungu in the street
More than white skin and an American woman
I am careful to call people by their names
For Africa has taught me to love my name
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, Hello Madame
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, I love you
Superficial greetings I will rise above
By sharing my name and learning yours
By recognizing the human in you more than the color
I will overcome upbringing and Hollywood
And though I may never blend on the streets
In Africa I will discover an identity far beyond white American woman because
I will make myself at home and you will be my family
Misguided children and unfortunate brothers
And you will know my name
And I will smile when you say it
I went on a safari this past weekend. It was a bit disappointing, but I still had a decent time. The coolest part was seeing some elephants really close up and risking my life riding on top of the jeep. Yep, I climbed out of the window and on top of the vehicle…while it was moving at a fairly high speed on African dirt (and bumpy) roads. After about twenty or thirty minutes on top of the shaky luggage rack, I decided I had tested my guardian angel’s patience enough for the day and resigned myself to just sitting on the window sill with half of my body in the car and half out. The whole experience reminded me of when I was a kid and my dad used to threaten to tie me to the roof of the car if I didn’t shut up…after the safari, I think that could be kind of cool.
School is SUPER STRESSFUL right now. It’s kind of funny. The entire Ugandan culture seems to be against stress—everything here is so relaxed and chill and there is no strict schedule…but then all of a sudden it’s finals week and I have due dates that I have to keep and everything is happening at once. I have four papers due between Monday and Wednesday this coming week. I have begun three of the papers, but not the one that is actually due on Monday. So I need to think about doing that. The papers are for African Literature, Missions, African Traditional Religions/Christianity/Islam in Uganda, and Reading the New Testament in Africa. On Friday I have a slideshow presentation/speech. Then the following week I have a final exam and paper due in our class called Faith and Action. So this week had been one long paper-writing experience. I have never had four papers going simultaneously, so this is a new balancing act. We are still attending lectures this week, so time is limited and I am still trying to spend time with my family. I’ve given up sleeping and have begun to wake up at 5 am to have time to myself to write. It’s quiet and I’m more awake early in the morning than late at night. I am drinking coke and eating chocolate like crazy right now. It’s not healthy. But I’ve already gained a bit of fat in my tummy (since we have dinner at 10 every night) so I figure what the heck, I’ll just lose all of the weight when I get home. I can’t wait to hit the gym and the swimming pool again.
Today is Good Friday. So Happy Easter to everyone. I have one lecture and then will probably attend a worship service with my mom. It will all be in Luganda and probably kind of boring, but I’ll just read my Bible or something and try to follow along. After service, it’s back to the books. I really want to have my papers finished by the end of today or at least mostly finished so I can have a relaxing weekend with my family. I only have two weeks left at home which is super sad! This weekend I am cooking a meal for my family. It’s something we’re required to do. I’m supposed to cook an American meal. I think I am going to attempt spaghetti. It could be interesting. Spaghetti, garlic bread, maybe eggs? (don’t exactly go with spaghetti, but this is Africa right?). If dinner is a complete failure, I am going to fry bananas for desert, so maybe that will at least be a hit. We’ll see how it all goes.
Ok. I am officially out of things to say for the time being. I need to write papers so I can enjoy my last weeks with my beautiful family. Oh. Wait. I’ll share a poem with you. This is a poem I wrote for my African Lit class. I really like it. It’s untitled at the moment.
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, Hello Madame
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, I love you
I walk the streets to the chorus of small children
And grown men, equally immature and
Enthralled with my white skin
The children are innocent products of misguided upbringing
I say “bye” back to them and marvel that
Goodbye has become the most common greeting I receive in the village
The men are unfortunate products of Hollywood stereotypes and African dreams
I ignore their comments as I feel my face flushing with embarrassment
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, Hello Madame
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, I love you
It’s an anthem to my whiteness as
I swim through a sea of blackness
Wishing for just one moment I could have the relief of blending
I treasure moments when I hear someone in the village calling my name
I never realized what a gift it is to have a name and to be called by it
For it is recognition of shared humanity to call another by name
It makes me more than a mizungu in the street
More than white skin and an American woman
I am careful to call people by their names
For Africa has taught me to love my name
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, Hello Madame
Bye Mizungu, Bye Mizungu, I love you
Superficial greetings I will rise above
By sharing my name and learning yours
By recognizing the human in you more than the color
I will overcome upbringing and Hollywood
And though I may never blend on the streets
In Africa I will discover an identity far beyond white American woman because
I will make myself at home and you will be my family
Misguided children and unfortunate brothers
And you will know my name
And I will smile when you say it
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Luweero Weekend
Hello everyone! Sorry my weekly update is a little late in coming. I usually try to post over the weekend or on Monday, but our internet has been down for the past several days. It was frustrating for a little while, but then most of us realized how much more time we had to do other things when we weren’t glued to facebook…funny we come to Africa and the facebook trap still ensnares many of us. I try to limit my internet time to just checking email, facebook, and updating my blog, but it’s such a temptation to waste time online. So we had a break from the chains of the internet, but most of us were happy yesterday to put them back on. It’s good to be able to communicate with friends and family back home. Maybe I’ll be able to upload a few more pictures. I have fallen drastically behind on that, but the internet just doesn’t move fast enough.
Ok. So last week absolutely flew by. I really don’t remember any major happenings. Mostly I just attended class and hung out with my family. I made some no-bake cookies, read a good book, and began plans to direct a skit. The skit is for a worship service that our studies group is in charge of leading. It’s a campus wide service, so we’ll have an audience of several hundred people at least. I’m directing a skit to a song by Lincoln Park that I learned on a missions trip a few years ago. It’s interesting to be in the directors rather than the actors role, but I am enjoying it. We’ve had a meeting/rehearsal and are having another this week…so far so good. I think it’s going to go really well. Performance day is one week from yesterday! It’s an exciting opportunity to lead a campus worship service and minister to our fellow students.
This week the pace is beginning to pick up as far as school goes. I counted the days today and realized I only have 25 days before the school semester is finished and we leave for our Rwanda trip. That’s crazy! In that time, I have some 3-4 papers to write as well as several projects. I need to get kicking on some of these assignments, so I am going to try to get myself motivated this week to begin working towards finals. Maybe the internet needs to crash again…It’s hard to motivate myself to do school work when all I really want to do is hang out with my friends and family here. Time is short and I am realizing how much more important people are than homework, thought my profs might not accept that excuse. At any rate, finals week is stressful every semester, no matter where I am (Uganda or the US) and I always manage to get through it. It’s good to keep things in perspective
This past weekend was potentially my favorite class trip we have been on. We travelled about 2 hours to a town called Luweero. It’s a fairly rural area. The purpose of the trip was for us to speak with an Anglican Bishop, a Catholic Priest, and to see a ministry called Jesus Cares. The clergymen were amazing examples of what missions to one’s own people can look like. They love their people so much, and they suffer with them a great deal too, but the love of God is revealed all the more through this suffering. Luweero has a high percentage of the population affected by AIDS. Although I’ve been in Africa now for nearly 3 months, it’s been easy on the college campus to ignore the reality of AIDS. It’s not something that people talk about very much—it’s often a taboo topic, like everyone likes to pretend it doesn’t exist. There is still an issue of stigma, so even people with HIV-AIDS often try to hide their status.
The Bishop and the Priest both talked openly about the reality of poverty and AIDS in the area. When we asked Father Gerald, the priest, how he responded to so much pain and suffering, his response was simply “Sometimes there is nothing you can do; all I can offer is to be present with my people.” He’s so present with his people that he declined an offer to study for a masters degree in the US to continue working in the parish. That’s true love. I don’t know very many Ugandans that aren’t dying to make it to the US, and yet he would rather hold dying babies and preach at funeral services than leave his people for the opportunity of a lifetime. I have a lot to learn about true love and compassion.
Jesus Cares is a ministry for AIDS victims run by one Christian family. It’s two parents and their four children. The parents, who are both teachers, saw a need in their community and decided to meet it. They and their four children (all adults) each contribute 10% of their salary to the mission. They have 6 AIDS families that they care for currently. Three of them are single mother households (where the mothers and most children have AIDS), one is a family of AIDS orphans run by a grandmother, and two familiers are child-headed households where an older sibling cares for the younger. In the six familes there are 25 children, and 17 of them have AIDS. We traveled to a house on Saturday where we met with the family who runs the missions as well as the families they minister to. They invited children from the village to join us, so there was a total of around 80 children there. We couldn’t tell which children had AIDS and which didn’t, which I thought was excellent. Our sole purpose was to play with the kids. We divided into four teams called Alpha, Omega, Unity, and Peace. Each team had about 8 white students and 20 children on it. Then we played games in the yard for 3-4 hours. We did relay races and funny games. One of the adults marked points for the teams. My team was Peace (ironic considering my Luganda name means Peace) and we got second place, which was cool. We served lunch to the kids (it made me think of my cafeteria job at Milligan) and then the children on our teams taught us traditional songs and dances which we performed for each other. It was such a good day. Probably my best day in Uganda, just loving kids and acting like one myself.
On Saturday evening we were free for a bit and some friends and I went tree climbing. I haven't climbed a tree in years! It was a lot of fun. My friends were surprised I could climb so well--they said I climbed like a country girl, so I guess I did Kentucky and Tennessee some justice. I am one of the only southern girls in our group. After climbing, we found some strange green fruits on the ground--they were round and about the size and weight of a softball...then we found a stick about like a bat. So you can imagine what we did then. It was kind of like a homerun derby except when you hit the fruit really hard it busted everywhere. So we had a blast and mostly ended up covered in this bitter, sticky fruit juice.
Well…that’s about all of the exciting things about my recent days in Uganda. I’ll have another update for you soon. Prayer requests include: all of the students as our time winds down in Uganda and finals approach; our families who host us and that our remaining time with them would be blessed; my sister-in-law Prose who recently had a baby (Tendo Israel)—just for her and the baby’s health; this upcoming Sunday when I am teaching Sunday School to around fifty 7-9 year olds, that I will get my lesson worked out and God will help me relate it to them; that I find my Bible, which seems to be missing since this weekend. Thanks everyone!
--Danielle
Ok. So last week absolutely flew by. I really don’t remember any major happenings. Mostly I just attended class and hung out with my family. I made some no-bake cookies, read a good book, and began plans to direct a skit. The skit is for a worship service that our studies group is in charge of leading. It’s a campus wide service, so we’ll have an audience of several hundred people at least. I’m directing a skit to a song by Lincoln Park that I learned on a missions trip a few years ago. It’s interesting to be in the directors rather than the actors role, but I am enjoying it. We’ve had a meeting/rehearsal and are having another this week…so far so good. I think it’s going to go really well. Performance day is one week from yesterday! It’s an exciting opportunity to lead a campus worship service and minister to our fellow students.
This week the pace is beginning to pick up as far as school goes. I counted the days today and realized I only have 25 days before the school semester is finished and we leave for our Rwanda trip. That’s crazy! In that time, I have some 3-4 papers to write as well as several projects. I need to get kicking on some of these assignments, so I am going to try to get myself motivated this week to begin working towards finals. Maybe the internet needs to crash again…It’s hard to motivate myself to do school work when all I really want to do is hang out with my friends and family here. Time is short and I am realizing how much more important people are than homework, thought my profs might not accept that excuse. At any rate, finals week is stressful every semester, no matter where I am (Uganda or the US) and I always manage to get through it. It’s good to keep things in perspective
This past weekend was potentially my favorite class trip we have been on. We travelled about 2 hours to a town called Luweero. It’s a fairly rural area. The purpose of the trip was for us to speak with an Anglican Bishop, a Catholic Priest, and to see a ministry called Jesus Cares. The clergymen were amazing examples of what missions to one’s own people can look like. They love their people so much, and they suffer with them a great deal too, but the love of God is revealed all the more through this suffering. Luweero has a high percentage of the population affected by AIDS. Although I’ve been in Africa now for nearly 3 months, it’s been easy on the college campus to ignore the reality of AIDS. It’s not something that people talk about very much—it’s often a taboo topic, like everyone likes to pretend it doesn’t exist. There is still an issue of stigma, so even people with HIV-AIDS often try to hide their status.
The Bishop and the Priest both talked openly about the reality of poverty and AIDS in the area. When we asked Father Gerald, the priest, how he responded to so much pain and suffering, his response was simply “Sometimes there is nothing you can do; all I can offer is to be present with my people.” He’s so present with his people that he declined an offer to study for a masters degree in the US to continue working in the parish. That’s true love. I don’t know very many Ugandans that aren’t dying to make it to the US, and yet he would rather hold dying babies and preach at funeral services than leave his people for the opportunity of a lifetime. I have a lot to learn about true love and compassion.
Jesus Cares is a ministry for AIDS victims run by one Christian family. It’s two parents and their four children. The parents, who are both teachers, saw a need in their community and decided to meet it. They and their four children (all adults) each contribute 10% of their salary to the mission. They have 6 AIDS families that they care for currently. Three of them are single mother households (where the mothers and most children have AIDS), one is a family of AIDS orphans run by a grandmother, and two familiers are child-headed households where an older sibling cares for the younger. In the six familes there are 25 children, and 17 of them have AIDS. We traveled to a house on Saturday where we met with the family who runs the missions as well as the families they minister to. They invited children from the village to join us, so there was a total of around 80 children there. We couldn’t tell which children had AIDS and which didn’t, which I thought was excellent. Our sole purpose was to play with the kids. We divided into four teams called Alpha, Omega, Unity, and Peace. Each team had about 8 white students and 20 children on it. Then we played games in the yard for 3-4 hours. We did relay races and funny games. One of the adults marked points for the teams. My team was Peace (ironic considering my Luganda name means Peace) and we got second place, which was cool. We served lunch to the kids (it made me think of my cafeteria job at Milligan) and then the children on our teams taught us traditional songs and dances which we performed for each other. It was such a good day. Probably my best day in Uganda, just loving kids and acting like one myself.
On Saturday evening we were free for a bit and some friends and I went tree climbing. I haven't climbed a tree in years! It was a lot of fun. My friends were surprised I could climb so well--they said I climbed like a country girl, so I guess I did Kentucky and Tennessee some justice. I am one of the only southern girls in our group. After climbing, we found some strange green fruits on the ground--they were round and about the size and weight of a softball...then we found a stick about like a bat. So you can imagine what we did then. It was kind of like a homerun derby except when you hit the fruit really hard it busted everywhere. So we had a blast and mostly ended up covered in this bitter, sticky fruit juice.
Well…that’s about all of the exciting things about my recent days in Uganda. I’ll have another update for you soon. Prayer requests include: all of the students as our time winds down in Uganda and finals approach; our families who host us and that our remaining time with them would be blessed; my sister-in-law Prose who recently had a baby (Tendo Israel)—just for her and the baby’s health; this upcoming Sunday when I am teaching Sunday School to around fifty 7-9 year olds, that I will get my lesson worked out and God will help me relate it to them; that I find my Bible, which seems to be missing since this weekend. Thanks everyone!
--Danielle
Monday, March 16, 2009
Weekend in Jinja: Rafting the Nile and Bungee Jumping
Hello Everyone!!
I hope you had an amazing weekend! My weekend was one of the best so far. The USP (Uganda Studies Program) students planned a white water rafting/bungee jumping trip to a town called Jinja (where we’ve visited before, but for class reasons). We left on Friday afternoon and went to a hostel in Jinja. It was surprisingly nice. The beds were comfy, the rooms weren’t too crowded, and we were practically the only group there. 26 students went on the trip. We were a mix of students staying in host families and students staying on campus, so it was a good opportunity to hang out with some people I haven’t really gotten to know this semester.
We arrived on Friday night and had dinner and hung out in the awesome bar/hang out/pool table room. Dinner was super good, and then we just chilled out. Chilling is a very American college student thing to do, especially when you live on campus, but living in a host family this semester hasn’t left very much time to just “chill” with my friends. It was really relaxing and liberating not to have to worry anything or anyone. Early Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast. It was toast, eggs, pineapple, watermelon…I was in heaven!
After breakfast we headed out to the Nile River to begin our day of rafting. We split up into groups of 5 and 6 and each group was sent to a raft and a guide. Our guide’s name was Paulo. He was a world championship kayaker and rafter, so quite the professional. This was comforting considering this was most of our first time white water rafting, and we were going on a grade 5 trip, which means we were starting at the highest level. Nothing like jumping right in. After some basic training, which consisted of learning some of the commands Paulo would be shouting at us and learning how to get back in the raft/help a friend get back into the raft, we were on our way. We conquered twelve rapids in all; several of them grade 4s and 5s, with a couple of grade ones and twos or threes. It was awesome and terrifying at the same time.
My raft flipped over on three out of the first four rapids. I got hit in the face with the paddle, thrown so far from the raft that I had to have a kayaker come and rescue me, and pushed under the water so far that I ran out of breath before I could surface. The worst flip we had some of my teammates landed on top of me and unintentionally held me under for a while. That was the only time I was seriously scared. Otherwise, it was a lot of a fun and I would definitely do it again, especially since I know what to expect now. Some of the more fun parts were when we successfully made it down a waterfall going backwards, without flipping over, and when Paulo had us all stand on the edges of the raft, bend our knees a bit, and hold onto each other while he steered us through a level two rapid—and we actually held our balance! He said we were one of a few groups who had ever succeeded in doing this. We also had the opportunity between rapids to swim in the Nile.
On Sunday we went bungee jumping. I didn’t think I was going to go initially because they tied the cord around your ankles, and I didn’t know how that would affect my knees, but then when we were getting ready to leave, I found out you could use a harness to jump and I could actually go. I raced up the platform and asked if I could still jump. The guys working the platform said yes and immediately began to hook me up. I hardly had time to think or psyche myself up (or out)…so maybe this was a good thing. When jumping with a harness, you have to take a running start and leap out from the platform as far as possible holding the cord in front of you…if you don’t leap far enough (or falter and fall) or if you let the cord go, you will get smacked in the face with the metal karabiner. I backed up to the corner of the platform, and then heard “3-2-1 BUNGEE!!!” On 1, I took off running, hit the edge of the platform, and pushed off into the air. The platform was over the Nile River. It was around 160 feet high. The best part by far was the initial running, jumping, and flying. The fall itself was so scary. It was like roller coaster times fifty. But I am glad to have the experience. I knew if I didn’t go after finding out about the harness that I would regret it forever.
So that was my sweet weekend. I would love to raft again, and think I could probably talk myself into jumping again in the future as well. Time here in Uganda is winding down. I just want it to go slower! This is week ten of 16. We are travelling on an Aids trip to Luweero (a town a couple of hours away) this weekend, so it will be a rough trip. Then the first weekend of April we are going on a weekend safari (like 8 hours away!). I only have 3-4 weekends left with my host family, which is hard to think about. I am just now starting to feel like a true part of the family, falling in love with all of the people, accepting them unconditionally and feeling the same kind of acceptance. It will be hard to leave them. At the end of April, we are going to spend 1-2 weeks in Rwanda studying the genocide and doing some work with some churches. Then it’s time for a couple of days of debrief before heading back to the States. I can’t believe I’m already more than halfway through the semester and these last weeks are coming so fast.
Alright. That’s all for now. Sorry I haven’t been able to load pictures for the past several weeks. Internet here just hasn’t been working very well. It takes forever just to write emails and post blogs and facebook picture uploader fails every time. If I don’t get them posted while I’m here, I’ll post a bunch when I get home in May so you can see them.
I hope you had an amazing weekend! My weekend was one of the best so far. The USP (Uganda Studies Program) students planned a white water rafting/bungee jumping trip to a town called Jinja (where we’ve visited before, but for class reasons). We left on Friday afternoon and went to a hostel in Jinja. It was surprisingly nice. The beds were comfy, the rooms weren’t too crowded, and we were practically the only group there. 26 students went on the trip. We were a mix of students staying in host families and students staying on campus, so it was a good opportunity to hang out with some people I haven’t really gotten to know this semester.
We arrived on Friday night and had dinner and hung out in the awesome bar/hang out/pool table room. Dinner was super good, and then we just chilled out. Chilling is a very American college student thing to do, especially when you live on campus, but living in a host family this semester hasn’t left very much time to just “chill” with my friends. It was really relaxing and liberating not to have to worry anything or anyone. Early Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast. It was toast, eggs, pineapple, watermelon…I was in heaven!
After breakfast we headed out to the Nile River to begin our day of rafting. We split up into groups of 5 and 6 and each group was sent to a raft and a guide. Our guide’s name was Paulo. He was a world championship kayaker and rafter, so quite the professional. This was comforting considering this was most of our first time white water rafting, and we were going on a grade 5 trip, which means we were starting at the highest level. Nothing like jumping right in. After some basic training, which consisted of learning some of the commands Paulo would be shouting at us and learning how to get back in the raft/help a friend get back into the raft, we were on our way. We conquered twelve rapids in all; several of them grade 4s and 5s, with a couple of grade ones and twos or threes. It was awesome and terrifying at the same time.
My raft flipped over on three out of the first four rapids. I got hit in the face with the paddle, thrown so far from the raft that I had to have a kayaker come and rescue me, and pushed under the water so far that I ran out of breath before I could surface. The worst flip we had some of my teammates landed on top of me and unintentionally held me under for a while. That was the only time I was seriously scared. Otherwise, it was a lot of a fun and I would definitely do it again, especially since I know what to expect now. Some of the more fun parts were when we successfully made it down a waterfall going backwards, without flipping over, and when Paulo had us all stand on the edges of the raft, bend our knees a bit, and hold onto each other while he steered us through a level two rapid—and we actually held our balance! He said we were one of a few groups who had ever succeeded in doing this. We also had the opportunity between rapids to swim in the Nile.
On Sunday we went bungee jumping. I didn’t think I was going to go initially because they tied the cord around your ankles, and I didn’t know how that would affect my knees, but then when we were getting ready to leave, I found out you could use a harness to jump and I could actually go. I raced up the platform and asked if I could still jump. The guys working the platform said yes and immediately began to hook me up. I hardly had time to think or psyche myself up (or out)…so maybe this was a good thing. When jumping with a harness, you have to take a running start and leap out from the platform as far as possible holding the cord in front of you…if you don’t leap far enough (or falter and fall) or if you let the cord go, you will get smacked in the face with the metal karabiner. I backed up to the corner of the platform, and then heard “3-2-1 BUNGEE!!!” On 1, I took off running, hit the edge of the platform, and pushed off into the air. The platform was over the Nile River. It was around 160 feet high. The best part by far was the initial running, jumping, and flying. The fall itself was so scary. It was like roller coaster times fifty. But I am glad to have the experience. I knew if I didn’t go after finding out about the harness that I would regret it forever.
So that was my sweet weekend. I would love to raft again, and think I could probably talk myself into jumping again in the future as well. Time here in Uganda is winding down. I just want it to go slower! This is week ten of 16. We are travelling on an Aids trip to Luweero (a town a couple of hours away) this weekend, so it will be a rough trip. Then the first weekend of April we are going on a weekend safari (like 8 hours away!). I only have 3-4 weekends left with my host family, which is hard to think about. I am just now starting to feel like a true part of the family, falling in love with all of the people, accepting them unconditionally and feeling the same kind of acceptance. It will be hard to leave them. At the end of April, we are going to spend 1-2 weeks in Rwanda studying the genocide and doing some work with some churches. Then it’s time for a couple of days of debrief before heading back to the States. I can’t believe I’m already more than halfway through the semester and these last weeks are coming so fast.
Alright. That’s all for now. Sorry I haven’t been able to load pictures for the past several weeks. Internet here just hasn’t been working very well. It takes forever just to write emails and post blogs and facebook picture uploader fails every time. If I don’t get them posted while I’m here, I’ll post a bunch when I get home in May so you can see them.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Family, Twists, and Pizza!
Hello to the other side of the world!! This is my weekly update. Straight to you from the papisan chair, IMME quarters, Mukono, Uganda. Harry Potter fans, I hope that makes you smile. It reminds me of the letters addressed to Harry in book 1. Ok, sorry. That was a random moment.
I am doing amazing. This is week 9 and I want everything to slow down. I am a little more than half way, and I just want to relish every last moment. Last week was a good week. No matter how stressed I get with school work, it always gets done, or it doesn’t, and it’s not that big of a deal, and no matter how much this is a “study” abroad program, the abroad part is still way cooler than the study part. I really love living here. Sometimes I miss home, but God has given me the gift of finding a home here as well. I LOVE my family here. Spending time with them this weekend, I was just amazed at how comfortable I felt with them, how right everything seemed, how much they have blessed me by including and accepting me. It’s not easy to welcome a stranger into your family, but a stranger who comes from the other side of the world culturally, and who has a different skin color, who doesn’t speak your native language…I just see the love of God radiating through my family here. The Kingdom is global, praise Jesus, and all of us have family everywhere.
This weekend I finally broke down and went and got my hair done. By this I mean I had extensions and twists put in—twists aren’t quite braids, but they look really similar. It took around 7.5 hours. A friend and I traveled into Kampala (closest city, and capital of Uganda) and went to a salon. It was a bit expensive, but supposedly I can keep the twists up to 2 months, and I don’t have to wash my hair. It’s a little sad because I have beautiful, long, healthy hair right now, and the twists will probably cause me to lose a few inches, but washing long hair without running water gets hard after a while. Basin/bucket baths just aren’t the same as showers. So I am probably just going to get over the fact this might ruin my real hair…and enjoy the extra 15-20 minutes of sleep in the morning and NEVER having to worry about my hair.
In Kampala, we ate at the New York Pizza Kitchen, about the closest thing to American food I have had since coming here. I had pizza with green peppers and onions on it, and bottled coke, a chocolate milk shake and my personal favorite: FRENCH FRIES WITH HEINZ KETCHUP. Life just can’t get much better than French fries and real ketchup. They have this stuff called top-up here, but it’s not the same. So it was a good dinner on Saturday night and I was certainly a glutton. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to go to that restaurant at least once more before going home.
On Sunday, my family took me into the city again. We were visiting my brother’s wife, who is in the hospital after just having had their third child—it’s a boy!—and he’s healthy and happy and one of his names is Israel…the other is very Ugandan and I can’t remember it at the moment. But we had a good visit. I mostly occupied the other two children, who came along. Emma is 2 and Sharon in 8. They’re adorable and excited about their new little brother, but lets face it: babies just aren’t that entertaining after a while So we colored and played with my camera while all of the big people talked and played with the baby. It was a good day.
This week is shaping up to be a good one. My big assignment is a paper due on Friday, but it’s about Islam, and thanks to Dr. Farmer’s History of Islam class I took sophomore year, I have it covered. Other than the paper, business as usual: lots of reading I probably won’t do…it’s a good thing I didn’t go to college some place that’s always warm and sunny—it’s hard to make myself do any work when all I want to do is be outside or hanging out with all of the friends I am making here.
Ok. Thanks for all of the prayers and support! Looking forward to seeing everyone at home this summer. I’ll be back sometime in mid May. Hope you all have a good week!
And PS: Time doesn't change in Uganda. So I am now seven hours ahead of Kentucky/TN, nine hours ahead of Idaho, and ten hours ahead of Washington/Cali.
I am doing amazing. This is week 9 and I want everything to slow down. I am a little more than half way, and I just want to relish every last moment. Last week was a good week. No matter how stressed I get with school work, it always gets done, or it doesn’t, and it’s not that big of a deal, and no matter how much this is a “study” abroad program, the abroad part is still way cooler than the study part. I really love living here. Sometimes I miss home, but God has given me the gift of finding a home here as well. I LOVE my family here. Spending time with them this weekend, I was just amazed at how comfortable I felt with them, how right everything seemed, how much they have blessed me by including and accepting me. It’s not easy to welcome a stranger into your family, but a stranger who comes from the other side of the world culturally, and who has a different skin color, who doesn’t speak your native language…I just see the love of God radiating through my family here. The Kingdom is global, praise Jesus, and all of us have family everywhere.
This weekend I finally broke down and went and got my hair done. By this I mean I had extensions and twists put in—twists aren’t quite braids, but they look really similar. It took around 7.5 hours. A friend and I traveled into Kampala (closest city, and capital of Uganda) and went to a salon. It was a bit expensive, but supposedly I can keep the twists up to 2 months, and I don’t have to wash my hair. It’s a little sad because I have beautiful, long, healthy hair right now, and the twists will probably cause me to lose a few inches, but washing long hair without running water gets hard after a while. Basin/bucket baths just aren’t the same as showers. So I am probably just going to get over the fact this might ruin my real hair…and enjoy the extra 15-20 minutes of sleep in the morning and NEVER having to worry about my hair.
In Kampala, we ate at the New York Pizza Kitchen, about the closest thing to American food I have had since coming here. I had pizza with green peppers and onions on it, and bottled coke, a chocolate milk shake and my personal favorite: FRENCH FRIES WITH HEINZ KETCHUP. Life just can’t get much better than French fries and real ketchup. They have this stuff called top-up here, but it’s not the same. So it was a good dinner on Saturday night and I was certainly a glutton. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to go to that restaurant at least once more before going home.
On Sunday, my family took me into the city again. We were visiting my brother’s wife, who is in the hospital after just having had their third child—it’s a boy!—and he’s healthy and happy and one of his names is Israel…the other is very Ugandan and I can’t remember it at the moment. But we had a good visit. I mostly occupied the other two children, who came along. Emma is 2 and Sharon in 8. They’re adorable and excited about their new little brother, but lets face it: babies just aren’t that entertaining after a while So we colored and played with my camera while all of the big people talked and played with the baby. It was a good day.
This week is shaping up to be a good one. My big assignment is a paper due on Friday, but it’s about Islam, and thanks to Dr. Farmer’s History of Islam class I took sophomore year, I have it covered. Other than the paper, business as usual: lots of reading I probably won’t do…it’s a good thing I didn’t go to college some place that’s always warm and sunny—it’s hard to make myself do any work when all I want to do is be outside or hanging out with all of the friends I am making here.
Ok. Thanks for all of the prayers and support! Looking forward to seeing everyone at home this summer. I’ll be back sometime in mid May. Hope you all have a good week!
And PS: Time doesn't change in Uganda. So I am now seven hours ahead of Kentucky/TN, nine hours ahead of Idaho, and ten hours ahead of Washington/Cali.
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