Flippin Sweet

Okay team, so I know it's been a real long time since I last posted, and I keep saying that will change, but there has been a whole lot going on the past few weeks. And now I'm stuck at home, sick with "very much malaria" and some intestinal parasite, so I figured I had some time to sit down and write. Not to worry you, I'm fine, just feel real, real crappy and scared to stray too far from a toilet. But anyways, I really don't even know where to begin on everything that has happened, but I'll try to give a brief synopsis.

First and foremost, in early July, I lost one of the people I was closest to in Uganda. Her name was Joyce, and she was one of the kindest people I have ever met. She was the sister to Morris, one of the directors, and she would spend a lot of time at the house with her sister Julie. She was HIV+, and I would go and spend time with her a few times a week because she was too sick to go to school. We became very close in those few months, but she eventually became too sick to fight any longer. The executive director, Andrea, and I spent two weeks in Kampala with her at one of the best hospitals in Uganda in late August when she became sick to the point of comatose, but there was nothing they could do. Her immune system had become so weak from her no longer taking her antiviral drugs that her brain began to swell, and she couldn't fight against it. She passed away just 3 days after her 18^th birthday, and her going has shaken my world. That was probably the roughest month I have faced in my entire life, and even though we all miss her whole heartedly, we've had to learn fast that life has to go on. The kids were all affected by it, and I've had to learn to bottle my feelings to stay strong for them. This whole period deserves a blog of its own, but I just can't do it. So just know that was a major reason why I haven't blogged and there's a whole lot more going on under the surface that I just don't choose to write about.

On a much lighter note, however, a few weeks ago, my mom and sister came to visit me! It was great to have a little dose of home come, and I absolutely loved having them here. We had a whole lot of fun, and I got to show them where I'm living and what I do every day, which was great. It was also pretty sweet to be able to do fun things that I can't afford to do on my own, like rafting and bungee jumping. That's right. Bungee jumping with my mom, sister, and another volunteer, Lindsay. It was at this place called Adrift, and luckily they had a bar at the bottom of the jump platform, so we all took a shot of Zappa, some terrible licorice alcohol, and climbed the stairs to our fate. I was the first to jump in our group, and I was a little scared. They tied my feet up and made me shimmy to the edge of the platform, which is directly across the water from the bar full of people watching. I just tried not to think about the fear and jumped as soon as he said go. It was basically like 1.5 seconds of pure exhilaration, and then you bounce back up and do it again. It was intense but also extremely fun, minus the end where you hang upside down forever and get a terrible headache. My mom went right after me, which everyone was shocked by, but she's just that cool. After her it was Kailey, then Lindsay, who was the most scared going in, but probably had the best jump. We finished up with some post jump beers and then went to town for some great Chinese food. The next day, we rafted the Nile, which was pretty flippin awesome, literally. I've been rafting in Colorado and in Yellowstone, and this made those trips seem like some little canoe rides. It was wild. We rode nothing but class 3, 4, and 5 rapids, which basically means intense. There are just giant amounts of matter going every which way, and sometimes it's enough to flip your boat and send everyone swimming. On the first real rapid of the day, our boat hit a wave wrong and flipped us, and I just remember coming out of the water dazed and confused, and when I finally grabbed the raft and my sister came up next to me, her entire face was covered in blood. I'll admit, I was scared. She was a bloody mess. Turns out my mom paddle slapped her in the face as we flipped, and it was just a bad bloody nose, made to look even worse by the gigantic amount of water hitting her in the face. She got cleaned up and we kept going, but it was a great start to the day. We flipped again on the biggest rapid of the day, and I accidentally let go of the boat and got washed away into the rapid, which washing machined me around and around in the water for a bit, but nothing too extreme. It was a long, awesome day though, and I think everyone had fun, minus the fact that my mom looked rather patriotic with her bright red sunburn, followed by pasty white arms, then dark blue bruises. She looked pretty beat up, but she had a good time.

Long story short, my mom and sister being here was a good time. If you want more details on what all we did, ask them, cause I really don't feel like writing it all here. I had fun with them, and I'm very glad they came, and I'm excited for my dad and uncle to come in October.

After they left, the kids went on holiday, which means that the 50 or so younger kids that live at Musana all went back to stay with their guardians. This leaves only the older kids, who are still in class all day, which makes for a very boring Musana. So what I decided to do was to go visit some of the younger kids in their village, and I have made it my goal that by the time I finally go home I will have visited every kid's home village. So Andrea and I went to a tiny little fishing village, Namuni, this last weekend to visit some of the younger kids, Damali and Peter. Namuni is deep into the country, at the very end of a peninsula in Lake Victoria. It is two and a half to three hours by taxi on a good day, but we were on one for nearly seven. It was probably the most ridiculous taxi ride I've had thus far, and I basically wanted to cry by the end of it. First of all, Andrea, Dorcus, Elijah, (Damali and Peter's older siblings) and I sat in the back of a taxi in the Iganga taxi park for almost 3 hours waiting for them to fix it and for it to fill up. By the time we finally left, there were seven people in our row, which is supposed to seat 3, and our taxi would die every time it idled for more than a second or two. At this point, there probably about 30 people in our taxi total, which it says very clearly on the side, is made for 14 passengers. That didn't stop the driver from picking up another family of six as we were leaving town though. So for most the ride there were 36 people in a pretty small little van, kids on pretty much everyone's laps, myself included. I don't know who this boy was, but we got were very close by the end of our six and a half hour journey. So this taxi drove us on all dirt roads, which were bumpy and windy and all around crappy, and at every stop the taxi would die, and you had to hope and pray that she might start up again. Right around hour 5 or so, when Elijah told us we were ten to fifteen minutes away, we got a flat tire and had to pull over. To try and fix it, the driver, the conductor, and two other men got out and first tried to lift it with their hands, with thirty some people still inside. When that obviously didn't work, they got a tiny little jack from under the car and again tried to lift it with everyone inside. This was like a go cart jack, trying to lift car with a couple thousand pounds of people weight alone. After nearly a half hour of this ridiculousness, they decided to empty out maybe half the people and try again. Eventually they figured it out, but not before I was far past the point of annoyed. After it died a few more times and was reborn a few more times, we finally reached the house we were trying to get to, and I couldn't have been happier.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the father of the family, who was a little surprised to see us. We hadn't actually told them we were coming, but we also hadn't planned on getting there after dark. It was almost seven when we got there, and they had already had dinner, but Ugandans being as welcoming as they are, they still went right to preparing food for us. Damali and Peter were very excited we were there, as were Elijah and Dorcus to be home, since they hadn't been there since Christmas. We helped them prepare dinner, my favorite part being when cute little 4 year old Damali got so into cutting the head off this chicken. She made my chicken slaying look like some amateur work. I helped them de-feather it, and they made us tea and g-nuts while we waited for it to cook. By the time we finally had dinner, it was almost 10 o clock, and they gave the entire chicken for just Andrea and I, plus a giant plate of matoke, which is cooked bananas. We ate till we thought we'd burst, and they still laughed at how much was left. I pretty much immediately crashed after dinner, and I was excited to sleep on the floor of a mud hut for the first time. I slept better than I have in a long time.

In the morning, we went and toured around their property and the village. They have land that backs right up to Lake Victoria, so we went and played in the water while the kids swam for a while, which was a great time. I had just barely waded into the water when a little naked Damali ran past me and dove right in. One of their cousins came and told us that there were some white people in the village catching crocodiles, so we decided to go check it out. The actual town part of the village is as far down the peninsula as you can get, and it is surrounded by beautiful water and islands. We walked around and tried to find someone who had caught a giant fish, because supposedly there are some monster perch there, but there was nothing too sizable. We found the white people, who turned out to be from National geographic filming some show called Dangerous Encounters or something like that. They said they had caught a fifteen foot crocodile the day before that had been killing villagers, but they had already relocated it, so we didn't get to see it. I was disappointed, but it was cool to talk to them. So we walked back to the house to get ready to go home, but they told us we couldn't leave till we had lunch. So while they prepared it, Andrea and I went and chased village kids around, scaring the begeezus out of them. Most of these kids had either never seen a white person before, or very very few of them, so it was fun to make them think all white people are scary. They had a good time running up and touching us and running away squealing, so we decided to chase after them and pick them up and throw them around a little. I may have made one or two cry, but it was all in good fun. Lunch was finally ready, and they had made us two fresh fish and another humungous plate of matoke. We ate what we could, and took the rest home with us for the dog. Did I mention we got a dog? We did. Her name is Bamboo and she is a hellion. But that's beside the point. Anyway, we caught a boda leaving from Namuni, and left Elijah and Dorcus to spend another day with the fam. We made it maybe a mile out of town before our boda got a flat, and we had to stop for another half hour or so waiting for them to fix it. That gave me time to do more kid scaring though, which I've learned to sincerely enjoy. We ended up having to get a different bike, because our guy couldn't fix his, and took that to a bigger town to get a taxi. We decided to go boda all the way to Iganga instead, which ended up being 5 hours faster than our trip had been before. All in all it was a pretty awesome trip minus transport, and I'm excited to see everyone's villages.

Just a couple days ago I went to a much much closer village to visit some other kids, but that was just a short little day trip. It was Andrea and I again, and we went to visit Fred, Bisha, and Bella, some of my favorite little ones. They were very happy to see us, and their family gave us a giant papaya and some g-nuts for coming. This time I brought bubbles, which is the quickest and easiest way to attract every single kid in a village. Those little guys just love them bubbles. We visited for a while, and then went to see some of our other kids in Bwongo, Ananeia, Faith, and Joseph. They all have the same father, but Joseph has a different mother than the other two. They live in different houses in the same village, and it was fun to see where they all came from. Fred came with us for the journey, which was great, because he's probably the most entertaining kid I've ever met. He loves to ride a pretend motorcycle, which is basically him running as fast as he can and making motorcycle noises. Severely entertaining. It was good to have a dose of little ones, because Musana has been pretty dull without them. They all come back in the beginning of September though, so I don't have long to wait.

Anyway, that's basically all I got thus far, minus the uber amounts of drama that I can't write about. You'll hear it someday. Things are pretty wild over here right now, but it makes life interesting if nothing else. I'll be home in December, and I love you all. I'll try to write sooner, but as always, I probably won't. Sorry. I love you all, and have a grand day.

 

 

 

When a US president dies, we eat mattresses

So I don't know how long it's been since my last post, but I know it is too long. I apologize, but it's not easy to find time to sit down and write a blog. Anyways, a lot has happened in the last few months, so I'll start with a brief of overview of everything. A few weekends ago, five of the other volunteers and I went to a place near the Kenyan border called Sipi falls. We stayed in small little huts called bandas at the base of one of the 3 large waterfalls in the area. It was possibly the most beautiful place I've ever been, and the resort we stayed at was fantastic, with some amazing food. The following weekend, all the volunteers and Andrea, Pipih, and Haril went to Jinja, a larger city about 45 minutes from Iganga, to celebrate Annie's last few days here. We went to a delicious restaurant and watched the USA vs. England World Cup game with a bunch of British people. It was a blast. Later that week, I went with one of the matrons of Musana, Joseph, and another volunteer, Bekah, to meet some girls who had been recommended to come live at Musana. We traveled to a village near Iganga, and walked around asking people if they knew these girls. We eventually found them at their home, where they lived with their two very elderly grandmothers and tiny baby brother. Their parents had both been killed, and so their grandmothers from both sides were their last living relatives. Bothe the old women had a slew of health problems, and so we are now in the process of deciding whether or not they should come live at Musana. It's not my decision, but they certainly have my recommendation.

Last week, we had a group of teachers from Colorado come and assist the teachers at Musana for a week. There was a group of 6 of them, and two had brought their sons. They were both about my age, and thankfully they came and helped me at the farm a couple days. One of the teachers was also a well known Christian speaker named Gari Meacham. Her husband used to play for the Yankees, and is now coaching for the Houston Astros. Gari was one of the kindest people I have ever met, and she came to the volunteer house and led a Bible study, which was very cool. Another one of the women was the wife of Tyler Polumbus, a tackle for the Denver Broncos. Before they all left, they arranged for a little party for all the kids, and made them delicious food and brought them soda and cake, which they all loved. They also brought tons of candy, and a pair of shoes and a backpack for every kid who lives at Musana. They were all very kind, and we were all sad to see them go so soon.

Also this past week, I have gotten the chance to go to a nearby village a couple times with Matron Joseph to get a women's group started up there. The village is called Bwongo, it is up in the hills outside Iganga, and it is gorgeous. Many Ugandan, especially in villages, have no real career besides being a mother and housewife, and much of their day is spend dying very little. We have gone around and gathered them together to teach them to roll paper beads for necklaces. The beads are relatively easy to make, but they can be very time consuming. We have some women who already work at Musana strictly rolling beads for necklaces to sell, but we decided that it would be good to outsource a little bit to increase our productivity. It works out well for both parties, because it gives the women something to do with their days and a way to earn a little extra money, and it helps us by giving us more beads then we can ever produce alone. The women seem to really enjoy it, and even some of the men will come to the meetings with us and try their hand at rolling. I really enjoy going out there, although they speak very little English, and I speak very little Lusoga, so conversation is slim. I don't mind though, because they enjoy having a Mzungu to crack jokes about, and I like to laugh at their poor bead rolling skills.

This weekend has been pretty fun and exciting thus far. In the morning, I went with some of the Musana boys and girls to a soccer game at a school across town. All sorts of people from the surrounding area came to watch, and I had a good time playing with the random kids that were there while we waited for the other team to show up. They were running on African time, which basically means they were almost an hour late. It probably would have been better if they had never shown, though, because then we would have at least stood a chance of winning by default. Our soccer team just started practicing together regularly about a month ago, so they haven't really worked out most heir kinks yet. We have some amazing individual players, but as a whole, they could use some work. The team we played, however, has played together for years, and was probably on average two or three years older than all of our boys. I was only able to stay till halftime, but by then we were already down three to zero. Even losing, the kids had a good time, which is all the really matters I guess.

After I left the football game, I went to a graduation party for the uncle of my housekeeper, Rehema. She lives with him, and I have walked her home a couple times and had tea with him, but I certainly wouldn't say we are close at all. I guess he feels differently, however, because when I arrived I was informed that I was the Guest of Honor, and asked to give a speech. Everyone wants to be friends with a white person here, and so they are treated extremely well and almost revered. It would have been rude of me to decline, so I thought of a quick little something to say, using what little Lusoga I know as some filler, and I guess I did okay because I got some laughs and plenty of applause. Minus the me speaking portion, I had a good time at the party, and I ate like a king. They prepared an ungodly amount of food for everyone, and it was all quite delicious. I have been invited to attend prayer at their mosque on Friday, and I plan on going, just for the experience and to please them.

Last night, two of the volunteers who are leaving today planned a campfire and s'mores at Musana for the kids, and that was an absolute blast. I was the first volunteer to arrive, and when I got there, all the kids were running around the fire chanting and dancing as others played the drums. It was awesome to watch, but it all stopped when they saw me and the other volunteers got there. We still had an awesome time dancing to music from the car, and all the kids were very confused as to why we were there at first. Pipih informed me that basically the only time they had fires like that was right after someone was buried, so many of the kids thought someone had died. I decided it would be fun to tell them it was Obama, so Pipih and I convinced like half the kids that he had died, and we were having a celebration in his honor. When we finally got around to the s'mores, he compared the marshmallows to sponges or mattresses, and Morris told them,"When a US president dies, Americans eat mattresses." Bekah finally stepped in and told them the truth, which was much less fun, but it was funny while it lasted. After, Bekah and I roasted mallows for everyone, and the kids were ecstatic about it all. It was one of the most fun nights I've had since I've been here, and I'm excited to do it again sometime.

Also, quick update on everything else I have going and will be doing: I'm still working at the farm 3 days a week, and we have finally started harvesting beans, which is exciting. I'm also someone in charge of the women's group/bead rolling village project, so I'm real excited about that. Also, one of the volunteers who is leaving today, Jessica, wrote an entire health curriculum and started to teach classes, and I will be taking over that twice a week when she leaves. I've also planted a garden at Musana, and I am always expanding on that when I get a hold of seeds or space. My watermelon plants are looking great, but I'm worried they may get stolen when the fruits finally come, because there is no fence. I'm still tutoring every day, and I will be coordinating that for all the new volunteers when they get here. I'm also still trying to raise money to get some computers for computer classes, but that is at a bit of a stand still at this point. I hope to get that ball rolling soon, but I don't know when it will happen. I'm also still slowly trying to learn Lusoga, but studying can be hard to find time or motivation for, so it's not coming along real well. Otherwise, I'm still loving it here, now more than ever, and going back to the states is going to be very hard for me. I love all these kids, and I'm really started to love Ugandan culture in general. I'm debating whether or not this is where I want to spend a good portion of my life, so don't be surprised if I do. Anyway, I love you all, and I'll try to update sooner this time, but don't count on it.

Uncle Bryaneee!

So, no thanks to David and Gwen, I’m finally an uncle. I have literally hundreds of new nieces and nephews, not only at Musana, but scattered all throughout Iganga as well. The kids at Musana all call me Uncle Bryan, and many of them are dayschoolers, which means they only come to Musana for class and go home at night. I guess they go home and tell their friends my name or something, because basically everywhere I go in this town, some little kid will yell my name and run up on me. For some reason though, no one can just say Bryan, and they add a drawn out “eeee” sound at the end. I like to think it’s as close to celebrity as I’ll ever be, so I’m lovin it. There is one group of kids in particular who without fail has brightened my day. They all hang out by a house on the way to Musana, and will literally start chanting my name when they see me in the distance. When I’ve gotten pretty close, they will charge me, some hugging, some tackling, some just jumping cause everyone else is doing it. They are almost always led by a little girl named Angela, who has definitely stolen my heart. She’s tiny, like very tiny, and will run up yelling “Impetacu, impetacu,” which means pick me up. She loves to be carried just for the 30 or so feet that I walk by her house, and giggles, smiles, and repeats everything I say the whole time I’m with her. She’s my precious little parrot, and I’m trying to think of ways to smuggle her home.

In the last three weeks, I’ve spent much of my time at the farm. Musana has 15 acres deep in the village outside of Iganga. It is probably one of the most peaceful and beautiful places I’ve ever been, because modern technology hasn’t even touched it. The only roads to get there are tiny dirt paths that only a skilled motorcycle driver can navigate, and so there is literally no noise except birds and the thumping of hoes in the ground. Most of the time I’m out there I spend weeding the corn or beans, which is actually pretty intense work. I’m hunched over all day, because the hoe I use is only like three feet long, so my back is pretty much constantly in pain. My shoulders are sore all the time, too, because I’m basically just digging thousands of little holes for 5 hours straight. I really do love ding it though, because the guys I work with are fun to be around, and if I’m not in the itchy corn, I can take my shirt off and get jacked and tan. Most the farm workers speak little to no English, so communication is slim to none, but it’s entertaining to try. They teach me funny Lusoga phrases, and I try to teach English the best I can. I haven’t been out there this whole last week, though, because I somehow got malaria, so I’ve been worthless to the world up until a couple days ago.

I’m feeling much better now, and I feel like I got pretty lucky as far as malaria goes. I’ve heard some horror stories, and when my blood test came back positive, I feared the worst. I really just had a terrible sore throat, a lot of pressure in my ears which caused some gnarly headaches, and some awful muscle soreness and weakness. I got medicine for all of it though, and I feel good now, minus being a little tired. The thing that sucked the most about it was that this was the week all the kids got back from holiday. I got to meet all the little ones, but I felt too crappy to play for most the week. Luckily in the past couple of days I’ve felt better, and so I’ve had some fun with them. There are two little sisters named Bescha and Bella that I absolutely adore, and a little boy Brian who brings honor to the namesake. He’s very funny, but pretty shy, and I try and spend a lot of time with him.

I also went to Kampala last week with Pipih to go shopping while Morris picked up Andrea from the airport, and it was a great little journey. We went to the market there, which is an absolute zoo. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I don’t think describing it could really do it justice, but I’ll try. It’s basically this country’s version of a shopping mall, except ghetto times a thousand. It’s a GIANT maze of little shops that are probably like five feet by five feet. You literally have like a two foot wide path to walk on, and you are absolutely surrounded by people and stuff. It’s somewhat organized into sections, like one second you’ll be surrounded by nothing but shoes, then t-shirts, then pants, then bedding, etc. But the stuff is just everywhere. Its on shelves, on the ground, hanging from the ceiling, just everywhere. The whole place was muddy and smelled god awful, and I was constantly be grabbed by people and pulled to their stuff to look at. You can find pretty much anything, though, and be it original or knock off, it’s pretty dang cheap. They had thousands of Chuck Taylor’s and Jordan’s, and you could get them for like 15 bucks. The people selling don’t really know what they have, and I managed to get a sweet Hundred’s hat, which is a brand, for five dollars. I almost bought the same exact hat this spring break in Vegas for $46, but thought better of it. Sure glad I made that decision. I also bought a shirt I used to have as a little kid, and a sweet pair of wingtip shoes. They are stylin, and Pipih swears that Ugandans will be very jealous.

I realize this is basically an essay, so I’ll cut it off. I’ll try to post sooner next time so I don’t have to write so much, but finding time and inspiration to sit down and write can be a bit difficult sometimes. I love you all, and have a wonderful day!

Mzungu Bonga!

So I have officially been in Iganga for a week now, so I figure it's probably about time I post a blog. Let me just start off by saying that this place is more amazing than I dreamed, and I'm pretty sure I've fallen in love with Uganda and its culture. For those of you who don't know, I am currently volunteering at a pretty good sized orphanage/school called Musana Children's Home in Iganga, Uganda. It's a dream come true for me, and I feel I have finally arrived at where I am supposed to be at this point in my life.
I arrived at Entebbe Airport last Monday, and was scared half to death when I thought no one was there to pick me up. I was walking around trying to push two baggage carts completely loaded with bags, trying to find Morris, whom I was told was picking me up. He is one of the directoirs of Musana, and I had a pretty good idea on what he looked like. I didn't see him anywhere, though, and was flocked by cab drivers whom I could barely understand. People here are very pushy here towards white people, or mzungus, which means ghost. They assume you have money, so everyone fights for your business. Luckily I was approached by what I thought was some random kid, but when he asked if I was Bryan I was forever thankful that i wasn't stuck. Turns out this was Pipih, Morris's brother and a volunteer coordinator for Musana. He is 23 (I think. supposedly he lies a lot about his age), and quite possibly one of the coolest people I have ever met. He helped me take my bags to his friends car, and we left for Kampala.
Basically as soon as we got to Kampala, our driver got "pulled over," which is actually just whistled at by some girl cop standing in the middle of the street. From what i could tell, there are absolutely no traffic laws in this country, but I guess I was wrong. She told Pipih to get out of the passenger seat and into the back with me, and then she hopped in the front. I was already confused at this point, but then she just chilled up there for at least another half hour while we drove around and did errands. The driver and her were whispering to each other in Lusoga, and he was trying to hand her some bills for her to leave. She was offended and took us to the "police station," aka a parking lot full of dudes with AKs. We were only there for like 10 minutes, though, cause Pipih knows some people who he called and got us off skotch free.
After we left Kampala, we drove the approximate 3 hours to Iganga, and I was welcoming by dozens of singing children when we got to Musana. The kids are AMAZING! They all crowded around me when I came in and grabbed me by hands and led me around the campus. They sat me down in a classroom and a group of girls came and danced and sang songs for me. I'll try upload some video of it, cause it was awesome.
So that was day one, and I'm definitely rambling, so I'll try and summarize the next six days. Important things you should know:
A. No pet monkey :( Guess some townspeople killed it cause it stole food. Turns out Ugandans hate all animals besides goats, cows, and chickens, which all three are pretty much everywhere. Like literally, they just roam all around town, eating the plethora of trash off the street. And they abuse every other kind of cool animal, like cats, rabbits and dogs. It's some BS, but there's nothing I can do.
B. Everything here is ridiculously cheap. like dirt cheap. Which is great, but also sad for the people that live here. like average salary is less then $2 a day, or 4000 Ugandan shillings, which means a full plate of food is like a dollar, or a buck fifty if you want a giant beer with it.
C. The food here is suprisingly pretty awesome. I've tried some weird stuff, but i'm impressed by most of it. I had some goat testicle with lunch the other day, and not too shabby really.
D. I rented bodas, which are the motrocycle taxis, with another volunteer Ryan and one of the older Musana kids, Emma. This guys gave us each their bikes for 3 dollars for 3 hours, and we road all around town causing ruckus. I'm an awful boda driver, but it was a blast.
E. I live in a sweet house, minus the mice, bugs, and lizards. Its a pretty good size, and everything is done for me. We have a house keeper, Raheema, who is fantastic. She's my age, but she does all our sleaning, cooking, laundry, everything. Its amazing and I try to thank her everyday. We have a pretty major mouse problem though, although i think they are funny. They are tiny, and chase each other all over the house. they aren't really afraid of people, so you see them all the time. The lizards I don't mind, cause they are cool and eat some of the many bugs. But sometimes when they are in my bed, i get a little creeped out.
F. The kids in the street are my favorite part of this country thus far. They absolutely love white people, cause they rarely see them, and some expect you to give them stuff. I don't, cause there are too many of them, but most just really are very friendly. As soonas they see you, they will run from all directions yelling "Mzungu! Mzungu Bonga!" and then put up there fists for you to bop. This is the bonga part, and they get so happy. Even the smallest little toddlers will waddle over to you and bop you. It makes my dsay evryday. Some will hug you or climb up you, and i almost always have 3 or 4 on each hand as i walk to Musana. It's a pretty amazing feeling to see that kind of love form complete strangers, and I can't stop smiling when it happens.

Alright I'm far past the "too long" point, so I'm gonna end it here. I'll try to write more regularly, but I doubt it will happen. If you want to kno anything, email or facebook me. I love you all, and thanks for reading it this far.

Test Run

Welcome to my first blog ever. Prepare to not be entertained, because I got nothin. I'll post from Uganda when things should get interesting. See you then!