Lions and Giraffes and Elephants, oh my!

One of the things that I wanted to do during my stay here in Uganda is to go on safari. I mean, what person doesn't immediately think of safari when they hear the word Africa? I had my chance these past three days and I have to say, it wasn't what I expected, but it was pretty amazing. There was a team travelling here from Alaska that had set up the safari trip in Murchisson Falls and I was able to hop in the back of the bus and travel along with them.

So bright and early at 5 AM on Monday morning we left on our little expedition in this city tour bus that was made in China, as told by the lettering on the door, with Muslim symbols on the back window and a Ugandan driver. The floor was caked in dirt, the windows were falling out, and the seats in the back were broken and fell over after the first two minutes of driving (with someone in them). I'm just saying, this was one classy ride. Didn't matter though, cause we were going on safari! so I settle down in my seat, all excited to go on this adventure, and smile the whole way through the first ten minutes of the bumpiest ride I have ever been on. You know when you are on a roller coaster and you come up to the big drop and the cars are making their way up the track to the top and the whole way your body is bouncing and you are just waiting to fall down? Well, multiply that by ten and then add a team of ten Alaskans plus a New Hope staff family and their two toddlers and one blonde california girl. The whole time I could just hear the thunder mountain voice asking me to hold onto my hat cause that there was the wildest ride in the wilderness. of course, i couldn't share this with anyone since no one had been to disneyland enough to know what i was talking about.

Anyways... after traveling for six hours we made it to the lodge in one piece, praise God, and were ready for some safari action. We went on a game drive that afternoon in our rickety old bus with this awesome guide we hired from the lodge. He took us around the Murchisson Falls game reserve and we got to see lots of antelope, water buffalo, giraffes and even two lions, something that is rarely seen. Pretty awesome. We also saw some smaller animals like a gila monster and two porcupines, something i didn't even know they had in africa. All the animals were amazing to see in the wild, especially the giraffes. Watching them run is unreal. You'd think they'd be these awkward gangly things when they tried to run with those long legs and neck, but instead they are incredibly graceful and somehow beautiful as they move. Another cool thing to see were the lions. We saw one male and one female together relaxing in the grass and at first you are like "wow, it's a lion!" but then when they don't move at all and could care less that you are ten feet away in an enormous bus your excitment starts to leave and you wonder if they are even alive. Well, I'm sitting next to our guide and his rifle and thinking that there is a reason that he is required to bring his gun along. So I start asking him if lions ever charge the vehicles and he replies yes. to which i respond by asking why the lions would charge and he said if the people make too much noise and disturb the lions. So, just as anyone else would do, i ask him not to make too much noise, but maybe just a little noise just to make sure the lions aren't dead or something. He laughs and then starts banging on the side of the bus which makes the lions jump up and the older Alaskans scream a bit, first at the guide and then at me. But, they soon stopped screaming since we got to see the lions move around, yawn, and then lay right back down. good times. but it was pretty cool.

While we were on the game drive there were elephants at our hotel, one of the only animals we didn't get to see that day. we found this out during dinner and were told that they were just up the road a little ways, but it was too dark to see them as we were driving in. After hearing this one of the alaskan guys and myself decided we'd just walk out to the front of the hotel and see if we could see anything. But here's the thing, when the sun goes down here and there is no moon out it is black outside and you can't see anything, your hands, your feet, your shoes, everything just blends in with the night. we had two small flashlights with us that gave off barely any light, just enough to light the path by our feet. When I realized we weren't going to see anything I mentioned to Jonathan that we should probably go in and that it wasn't safe outside in the dark with elephants roaming around, but as I'm saying this to him I'm following him up the road because when is the next time that i can just walk right up to an elephant? About two seconds later this guy that works at the lodge pulls up in our jeep, tells us how foolish we are for walking around at night with elephants and hippos nearby, and then tells us to hop in. He then drives us 30 seconds up the road to where six elephants, two moms, two babies, and two full grown, were hanging out and eating. It was amazing. The size of them in unreal, they dwarfed the ten foot palm trees they were eating. Then, as we are watching the elephants leave, we turn the corner and see three hippos walking along in the grass! Can you imagine? Definitely a cool moment. Pretty nice of that guy to take us up there, don't you think?

The next morning we were supposed to go on another game drive but it had poured the night before and the roads were too muddy for our bus to make the trip. Instead, myself and Chris, who was another Alaskan guy, went exploring down the road towards the nile river. we found a path along the river and started walking, knowing that it was foolish since there was a chance that we would come upon a hippo, but all the while hoping that we would run into a hippo. Sure enough, after ten minutes or so of walking, out pops this hippo in the grass 15 feet from where we were walking. Chris sees him first and turns and sprints back the way we came while i stood there frozen watching him sprint and the hippo stare. Then, amazingly, the hippo just turns around and starts walking the other direction while chris is still sprinting and screaming back at me asking if the hippo is chasing him. All I could do was laugh, and I kept laughing till I was crying.

Later that afternoon we went on a boat ride on the nile where we saw lots of antelope, water buffalo, hippos, and crocodiles. We actually got close enough to the crocodiles that they jumped into the water and swam right next to us, pretty awesome. We also got to see the falls from a distance, which was cool.

We left for home the next day. It was a pretty amazing trip. This weekend I'm going to Jinja with Monique to go white water rafting in the nile. I was starting to feel a little homesick over here so I'm thinking a little excursion on the nile might be the cure i need. There's also some bungee jumping with ankle harnesses that could also be a solid possibility, we'll see...

Yes, yes I am a mizungu

So one of the cool things that I get to do here is to work in the primary school classrooms and help the teachers with whatever they need. So far I am teaching math and English with 3rd and 4th grade and I love it.  It feels so good to be teaching and be in a classroom again. it's funny, it's like it's a part of me now and it's as though something is missing when i don't get to stand up in front of a group of kids and boss people around. but they are good kids and don't need much bossing, which is nice. One thing we have trouble with though is communicating. Because their primary language is Luganda and they are still learning english, I find that I have to speak extremely slow for them and at times we both have trouble understanding each other's accents. The other day I was explaining something and said the word city and they could not understand me until i gave a full description of the word and then after a few minutes someone finally shouted out "oh, ci-ty" and then everyone in the class started nodding and repeating "oh, ci-ty" and looking at me like i was re-tar-ded. It was pretty funny.
My schedule at the school is a little crazy as they don't really set up a schedule for me at all but allow me to wander from class to class as I choose or as I finish. I do that until lunch and then after lunch I take over for a teacher who is a family parent for one of the New Hope children family groups. Each day has definitely been an adventure filling that role. I've done everything from art projects to gardening to PE and nothing really ever goes as I expect it, in both a good and a bad way. But definitely the most awesome day so far with that class was today when I was actually in charge of 2 classes at once and so, to keep them all occupied and in one central location I thought we'd do something on the field outside. Mind you, each class has 25 kids, so that is 50 kids that i had to make sure didn't fall into the well, or get bitten by a snake, or, i don't know, die. So the best thing I could think of was to set up a soccer match, which they call football here. We walked out, I set one class vs. another, threw the ball into the air, and let them play, completely unaware of the chaos that would ensue. Unbeknownst to me, girls to not play football here, and so when they were given this opportunity to actually step onto the field and try and play with the boys the girls went crazy! they got into a massive clump and just started screaming and swinging their legs, even when the ball was clear across the field. I've never seen anything like it. After about a minute of this all the boys started running up to me insisting that the girls get off the field so that they could actually play. I couldn't really blame them for this as I watched the craziness from the sideline and as a compromise I gave the girls 10 minutes on the field while the boys sat on the side and then switched it so the boys could play for 10 while the girls sat. At first the boys were mad that they had to leave first, but finally consented knowing they would have the field to themselves in a few minutes. It was funny watching them though as they paced the sidelines and continuously asking me how much time was left till they got to play. As this was going on, it started to rain a few drops here and there and then started to pour, like really pour. I assumed that all the girls were going to start screaming and running for cover under the trees but they kept right on playing as though the rain wasn't even there. And I'm talking serious rain, like when your shirt is soaked in the span of a minute. And do you know, we played football in that rain for an hour? We alternated boys and girls until I had to force them to go home. School had already been dismissed for 15 minutes and we were still playing. Water was dripping from every inch of us, our clothes, our hair, our eyelashes, it was amazing. Probably one of my favorite memories so far being here. I tried to play with each team to make it fair, and i think it only helped the opposite team. When it rains that hard all you are running on is water. The field becomes a slip and slide and with most children going without shoes, you slide everywhere. I fell down numerous times trying to get the ball, everyone was. And then when you get up all the kids rush up to you and say sorry, aunt, as though it is their fault that your pampered white feet with painted toenails are not as strong and sturdy as their tough-skinned black feet. The word for white person is mizungu, and I definitely showed my mizungu colors today.

you are most welcome, in prison

Today was pretty awesome. This morning I woke up and decided to get off my lazy butt and get some exercise in for the first time since I've arrived. Some of you will be proud that I lasted 6 days with no gym or running or biking, while my dad is probably wondering what i could have been doing this whole time that would keep me away from working out. Anyways... I threw on my running shoes and thought I'd go exploring, not the smartest idea. After a few minutes of jogging I found myself winding through the village next to New Hope, something I did not expect when I followed a narrow dirt path through the jungle. But that's actually all the village is, is one narrow path after another leading through the dense green foliage of the bush to small clearings that have just enough space for a small mud hut with a straw or tin roof and an outhouse. Some have a cornfield growing next to them or a few animals such as goats or long-horned cows, which are extremely terrifying as they greet you running by. After encountering a number of these little huts, each at the end of their own dirt paths, I found that I couldn't remember which path I needed to take to get back to New Hope. I took a few turns here and there thinking I could figure it out and found that I was always returning to the same place, or what looked like the same place since each tree and bush looked the same to me. Thankfully, praise God, there was this girl who came out of her hut right at the time I was frantically running by and shouted out "Aunt Terra!" Which I was shocked that someone in this crazy jungle area knew my name, but it turned out to be a girl who had recognized me from the school. I asked her directions to get back and she, after laughing a bit at me, told me to go left at the second corner while making motions towards the right with her hands. I ended up following her hand motions and found New Hope in the end. It wasn't what I had expected when I set out, but it was exactly what I wanted when I got back, to be able to explore and figure things out here by seeing people in their everyday lives.
After that I went to church and then went with a medical group that's travelling here from Alaska to a prison that is 45 minutes away. That was also an adventure. There were two vehicles that were taking people to the prison, both Ugandans and the Alaskan team, one was a bus and the other was an open bed truck with metal railings on each side. I, fortunately, got there late and was put on the truck. At first I thought this was going to be great fun as everyone is standing in the truck bed and holding onto the railings on the side. Little did I know that the truck was going to go barreling down this dirt road filled with holes and cause dust to fly up everywhere. We would hit a hole and everyone in the bed would fly up into the air,  holding onto the railings for dear life. In the beginning it was fun, but after 45 minutes the fun turned to terror and then to exhaustion. By the time we got there I was covered in dirt and had sores on my hands and arms, good times. We then went into a small chapel at the prison where we held a service for the inmates and then tested them for malaria. Thank God, no one tested positive, but there were many who showed signs of illness that the team didn't have the medication for. Most of them received some kind of tylenol or ibuprofen and were sent on their way. The prison here is interesting in itself. There is a small dirt area enclosed by a barbed wire fence with a two-story building on one side which served as the sleeping areas. There is no kitchen as no food is provided by the country. The only way for inmates to get food is for their families to bring it to them. They also are not provided bedding or anything else, their family is required to provide for them or else they die in the prison. pretty intense, huh? after testing the inmates i actually had a little extra time and was able to meet some kids who were hearding long-horned cattle through the field next to the prison. These kids were no more than 8 years old and were walking with sticks to prod the cattle and control them, so crazy. They didn't understand any English, but we were able to play some games together that didn't require any language, such as down by the banks and paddy cake, pretty awesome. I learned afterward that those were the kids of the inmates and they lived in the huts on the same compound as the prison. Life is so different here.
Intense day, but amazing. Looking forward to learning more about Uganda...

water pump in the village

mud hut

mom and her baby

nicer mud house

45 minutes on a bumpy road in this thing

prison

prison chapel, where we tested for malaria

prisoners' children

an introduction to Uganda

This weekend has been an interesting one so far, one that has made me realize that there are some things that I am quite thankful we do not have to experience in the states. On Saturday I had the privelege of helping to decorate and attend an introduction here at New Hope. The purpose of an introduction is to publicly announce two individuals to be wed as well as to introduce the bride's family to the groom's family. It is a very big deal over here as the couple is not allowed to be seen alone together before the introduction. Actually, the entire dating/relationship system is very different from ours. It starts with the guy, who, when he is interested in a girl, goes to his spiritual advisor to tell them about his interest and to ask for advice. If the spiritual advisor feels that it is a good match and that the man is ready for a serious relationship he approaches the woman's spiritual advisor and asks if the woman is ready for a relationship. The woman's advisor then, if he or she feels the woman is ready, asks the woman if she would be interested in having a relationship with the man. If she agrees to it, then they start meeting, but always with others around, as they are not allowed to be alone together. This goes on for a few months until they agree upon marriage, after which, an introduction is held. They are then allowed to date as we have it in the states, until they are married. It's a process that I found to be very structured, very detailed, and very crazy. However, it seems that for the couples that have gone through this process they are extremely close and happy in their marriages.

Not all Ugandans participate in this process, as can be seen by the children who have been abandoned here at New Hope. Many of the kids have a parent who is still alive, but is unable to care for them as they are not married and cannot afford to raise a child. It is actually something that is preached a lot here in the schools as it is a problem in the culture here that men leave women who are pregnant with their children without any financial support.

But, back to the introduction, the whole affair is an extremely big deal and is actually more of a celebration than the actual wedding. The bride has two or three outfits during the ceremony and matching outfits for her bridesmaids. All the bride and groom's immediate families as well as aunts, uncles, cousins and so on come to meet each other while friends look on from the sides. Everything has a tradition, down to what is said, what songs are sang, where the families sit and how they are served, it was quite entertaining to watch. And the gowns of both the introduction party and the guests were beautiful, something I think my sisters would quite enjoy to see. The colors that they use in their clothing here is so vibrant, it makes everything that much more beautiful. The men, on the other hand, wore what they call a "man dress" which is like an extremely long collared shirt that extends to the ankles, slacks underneath, and a suit coat over that. In 90 degree whether, they had to be dying under all that clothing. I'll have to post some pictures when I get a chance.

The ceremony lasted for about four hours with lunch/dinner served after that. Since I started at 7 with decorating and then gone to the ceremony at 11 and was still under the awful throws of jetlag, I actually slept through the middle hour and a half, but was back in time to see the end of the ceremony and eat the food. Good timing, huh? By the time all the guests left and we had finished putting everything away it was close to 7 in the evening, that's 12 hours of prep and everything for those who hosted, not to mention all the cooking they did the night before, craziness.

Overall though, it was fun to watch it all and I'm thankful I get to be here amongst the people and the culture and get a small glimpse as to how they live their lives on the other side of the world.

first week of Uganda living...

 So I was getting ready to write a lengthy email about my first week here in Uganda and realized that many might not really want me to flood their inbox with random stories of people from the African continent, so I decided to post stuff as often as possible for anyone who has the time or curiosity to read.

I first want to say that it takes a VERY long time to get here, around 25 hours of airplane travel time, including layovers, and then another 3 hours just to arrive in Kasana where I am staying. With that said, I would do it all over again to come back. The past week has been a whole new experience for me, one that makes me feel that I'm still so young to how the other side of the world works. Things like electricity, running water, and other basic technologies are still such novelties here that many decide that it's easier to live without them rather than wait for the generator to work or the pipes to function. Candles and hand water pumps which pump water straight from the ground are frequent sitings around here.

The people are friendly, always stopping what they are doing to help, or to make you feel welcome. That is actually the reasoning behind my title of the blog; whenever you approach someone's home, office, classroom, garden, kitchen, or any breathing space they have around them, they greet you by telling you that you are most welcome. As in, they are thanking you for coming to visit them, or stand next to them, or to walk by them. With my upbringing as a Californian, I am used to walking by people without a glance or an occasional hello or wave, and it has actually taken me a little getting used to stopping what I am doing at all times to welcome someone and accept their welcomes in return. But, like I said, I am learning, and am excited to continue welcoming others and learning about the culture that is Uganda.

I am staying in staff housing that is on the New Hope premises, where they have children housing, a primary school, a secondary school, a vocational school, a church, and a farm. The amount of property they have is amazing and you can tell that the surrounding community and villages appreciate all that New Hope offers. If you are curious at all about what they do here you can check out their website: NewHopeUganda.org

The kids each live with and are raised by a Ugandan family parent and a staff member. They are grouped in families of twenty to twenty-five kids or so and have small straw roof circular huts with cement walls for their living quarters. Each family has a parent house, two girls huts, two boys huts, a meeting area, and a latrine (toilets). All cooking is done outside under a tin roofed tent that includes four posts, a small amount of counter space, and a stand for charcoal over which pots are set to cook the meals. Each night the children have a devotional as a family lead by a New Hope staff member, do their homework, and eat dinner. From the little I've gathered by talking with the children, they seem happy to have what they do here at New Hope but are constantly asking me about my family and parents, which leads me to think that they miss their own terribly. They are healthy and cared for here, but, sadly, I don't think any of this can measure up to the life they would have had with their own parents and families.

I think I'll leave you with that for now, more to come...

Fruit stand in the local town of Luwero

Family group housing

Kampala, capital city of Uganda