Trash is sorted (research)

Bags are stuffed

And I'm scurrying to get last minute things done before my flight in 3 hours. But hey, I'm good...I'm already sitting at the airport.

But being really sad is soon to come...

Until next time...

So, I've been thinking of something things that I have been considering sharing, but either haven't had the time, forgot what I wanted to write before I did finally log on, or had not worded it just right yet. I will start with my thought for today.

As I am now a Returned PCV, I am taking advantage of seeing the country I have lived in for the last two years from a different perspective. Driving the roads of Kampala is an adventure all its own and I'm sure I've picked up skills I will need to immediately discard upon reaching home. I know in the States we like to complain about potholes, and rightfully so, they can do serious damage to vehicles. Kampala has its share of potholes, well and the rest of the country. Some have been 'blessed' with more than others-just trying to put a positive spin on things.

Anyway, I have previously told people that I never thought I would long for speed humps to be installed, but when I used taxis, I wished they have them every 10 feet.

Today I've come up with an alternative to speed humps and I find it quite clever:

Instead of speed humps, they should just install potholes, they are much easier to install and maintain!

Until next time...

Rhinos at Ziwa Santuary

Bwindi

Crested crane at "zoo" except they have a different name for it now, it is more than a zoo, it is an educational center.

A really nice place to stay. Beautiful rooms surrounded by a beautiful rainforest. And it definitely rains in Mabira.

I've made it. It's official. My first full day as a former Peace Corps Volunteer. I'll be returning 14th November. Right now I'm trying to wrap things up here. Research (yes, I'm actually accomplishing something, even if no one really knows about it), small projects I didn't have power at site to complete, and wrapping my head around jumping into American life with my new look on things.

See you soon Stateside.

Until next time...

So...

I plan to buy my plane ticket this month. I'm thinking very beginning of November. Then as cheap as I can, some traveling on the way home. I figure I have to get home somehow, so I can just take it a little slower. We'll see what happens.

Right now I'm just piled with work. I knew I'd be working on research, but gee whiz where'd all this other work come in. Good thing I have people to help and it will all be over before I can believe it.

Grandma and Amanda finally made it to Uganda.

We whisked them around the country and put them on a plane back home less than an hour ago.

Maybe after we all catch up on sleep and digest the last week and a half of events, we'll have plenty of stories and pictures to share.

Until next time.

In March, I participated in an area bicycle race. A week before the event, I was asked if I wanted to participate because people always saw me riding here and there to go to schools and other villages.

So I signed up.

The day of the event was energizing.

The atmosphere full of excitement.

The road lined with crowds.

After a briefing, we headed toward the landing to the starting line. I was the only woman among 28 other men. The only white person for that matter.

The man with the gloves and I for part of the race kept passing each other, until he got tired. Ha.

Raymond took care to have everything I could possibly need along the race course. Which was really great, cause I needed water. It was hot and dry that day.

Somewhere I didn't take a turn and ended up not where I was supposed to go. But I was determined to complete and show girls they can ride bicycles too and that bazungu are not lazy as it seems most people think to some degree. Sorry I didn't do much for people here to think I'm smart. Ha

Most of the ride was lonely except for the times when Raymond whizzed by on the dirt bike.

Speaking of dirt, I collected some on my almost 3 hour ride. You'd think I was wearing leggings.

I finished very much last, but I think finishing was really all I needed to do. After some investigating on the part of the race facilitators, I found out I am 1 of 5 people who completed the entire race legitimately. The guy in the orange gloves passed me on the back of a truck at one point. Although I was about 1 hour behind everyone else-getting lost was not fun, but it was nice when I finally found the correct way. It was also nice to see somewhere I'd not been yet; the forest was very pretty.

Well, I staggered home, bathed, rested, and then was called back to get my prize....

What...I get a prize.

But I was dead last.

Then again, only a handful complete successfully.

SWEEEET.

My prizes. I had my eye on that bicycle pump before the race too.

How did they know?

After I finished this, they called it the expensive European model. I guess it does cost more than the original model, but I would like to think it will last longer and my feet will stay drier.

Tippy taps tend to need rebuilding every once in a while. I thought the last time was the best yet, but the termites and water had a different view…well, they might have thought yum yum, but whatever. So I had told Maama Gertrude I want to leave her with things that were both useful and I could be here to see her enjoy. I had spent some time thinking about improving the tippy tap. First of all, the jerry can could not be easily removed for refilling. Second, when the compound was sweep, whoever was doing it always seemed to move the foot pedal , making it a pain to then reposition and use. These were the main two criteria I used in my simple, yet more costly design. At the end of August, I put pen to paper and drew what I hoped would be a long last, more convenient to use, hand washing station. Here’s what I came up with.

So I quickly took it to the welder in order to wait two months to find out they really don’t understand…which I kind of figured. I had previously asked for angle bar of a length of 15 ½’ with hooks so I could use the exposed rafters to hang a couple window boxes. Surprise, surprise, I ended up with 15’ of angle bar and hooks in the wrong places. Well after a detailed visit the locations were correct as in distances from the ends, but how they were attached is another matter. Anyway, I’ll make it work. I still need to cut my box in half. That will be later.

So the tippy tap. Beginning of November. I make an appointment to go and work with the welders. They did a pretty good job and I even let them use several scrap pieces and by the end I had a brand new tippy tap support that look about 10 years old.

With the language barrier, physically showing what needed to be done was about the only way to get things moving. The main piece I have no idea of its origin, but it is a 2” metal pipe that before removing it had a small metal pipe welded inside and protruding out one end. Rusted and having just a few holes here and there, sure let’s use it.

For the bar across the top we used a nice piece of angle bar. The bracing is square pipe. There was a piece of sheet metal from a previous project (I’m sure) that they hammered flat and eventually was welded at an angle to support the cross bar. I think the part that took the longest was getting a piece of small square pipe between the two uprights to prevent tilting. But they figured it out. So that was one piece of the two piece tippy tap.

The second piece was meant to go into the ground. For some reason one of the guys was trying to get it to attach to the main piece and thank goodness the other guy had seen the location and even kind of helped me measure it. After some miming explanation and purchase of a good hinge, the second piece was complete.

Whew. It only took about 3 hours. Then they wanted to charge me 35,000/- more than what they had told me a few week prior. I was tired and ready to go home. I was happy and a little excited before that because we had just made my picture real. Then change in price made me not so happy and not really excited to get it home any time soon.. I left for the night.

The next day I was willing to give them 5000/- more than the original price and that is what they apparently had decided too. So I then took my freshly painted, newly made, ancient tippy tap home.

It took me another day to get the thing working properly. There are a few improvements to be made, but I used what I had. I guess I also surprised a few people with my drafting ability. Yep, did do some schooling in that area.

Until Next Time…

Hello.

Sorry about the extended absence...fell in a hole. That would make a great story if it was literal. Anyway, I'm out now and ready to start my second year in Uganda.

So what to say. Well, I want to thank Z for the great idea of getting out in the village. My organization has 13 women's groups. One assignment they gave me was to check their records books. Of course, I was like sure. Easier said than done however.

From the experience of the women's group I live near, I know they do not start on time, nor do all the members attend. How in the world would I go to women's groups of which I am not sure of the location nor their regular time they choose to begin their meetings (theoretically all the groups meet on the same day at the same time in their respective locations: Every other Tuesday at 2pm) To me this was a dilemma. I didn't know exactly when the meetings were nor did I just want to show up for a short time and then leave. So I incorporated Z idea of weekend visits to the village. Now each meeting week I go to a different group and spend a couple days with them. What a great idea.

So far I have visited two groups and have enjoyed both. When I first arrived in Uganda, my then counterpart took me to visit some groups, these two just happened to be among them.

Bugoye Women's group is off the main road a bit and way more quieter than my place. It was a refuge and reminder of why I'm here all rolled into one. They fed me way to much food, asked me questions late into the evening, and were perfect hosts. My favorite moment was sitting in the front lawn on a mat just looking around at the green everywhere and hearing nothing. It was bliss.

Muwumuza group was next and this time I had been able to charge my camera and bring it. This group had received funds to begin a catering business, so the night before the people from the district were coming to inspect, we stayed up to mark all the items.

So pots and pans, basins, trays, buckets, and 550 plates later, we went to bed...but of course there were still utensils to do the next day.

While waiting for the district people to come inspect, the women baked a cake. I must say, they did the best job so far...even I can't bake one without burning it a little, but these lady (and gentleman) have it down.

Both groups also did the same thing, after I taught them initial, they went and bake a second almost immediately. Cool huh?Next up will be today's experience at the welders.Until Next Time.

So my May and June were not the best times here in Uganda. Now, let me tell you that surviving without power, that is doable, but when forced to listen to VERY loud music coming from about 10 feet away for a good chunk of every day being from around noon until 2AM, that isn't as survivable.

I figured I would try to tolerate it because all my neighbors seemed to be able to. But I would hear Maama Gertrude tell me every so often that she had a sleepless night the night before. What was I to do. I wasn't sure I could be of any help if the people in the community couldn't do something themselves.

But after a trip to Kampala for the weekend, I noticed my ear felt not quite right. I thought, oh great, an ear infection. But upon a check-up, there was nothing wrong with my ear inside. The doctor figured it was the auditory nerve. Because even if there was nothing in my ear, it definitely felt like I have a wad of cotton in there.

So after a few talks with the town clerk and a letter to local officials (which may have been a bad idea to some people) the noise has been reduced and rarely goes past midnight. And the power is back so I can have some moment of sanity getting to listen to music that varies slightly from the soundtrack of 12 songs my neighbor plays.

Enough of my blabbing, here's some pictures I have managed to upload today.

This is the All Saints Church of Uganda I attend regularly. I have even started doing children's church during the service. This past Friday, the Bishop from Mukono came for the confirmation ceremony. My group performed 6 songs in English that we had worked on for a few months. The girl you see in the foreground there is one of the children who attend regularly too and help me out with some translations too.

This is the inside of the church. One this particular Sunday we were having baptisms and the Archbishop was visiting for that occasion.

So, hope to communicate again very soon.

Until Next Time...

So...since I like to bake sweets, that is one things I'm "teaching" my woman's group. And now I'd like to share some pictures from the last two Tuesdays of treats.

Before the started their bi-monthly meeting, I had them prepare cake mixes to bake while they discussed their important issues and what not. Their patience paid off with a nice slice of cake...yummmm. So after our sweet treat, they were happy were feeling a photo moment was needed. Here I am with Bridget, Mada, and two of the other lovely ladies...(still learning all their names)

A monkey. I've been back to see the monkeys twice last week, first with the new interns and then when Sarah came for another great visit. I am always glad when she comes to see me and talk.

Okay. So this past Tuesday, we made a Uganda donut called amandazi. The women experimented with the recipe a bit putting milk in one and water in the other.

Rolling the dough is the chairwoman of this women's group.

Everybody take a big bit. HeheKaren and Regina enjoying amandazi on Maama Gertrude's verandah. Have to run now, but will have more for you later. Until Next Time...

Howdy people.

I will be getting you some more pictures in about 5 days, so hang on just a little bit longer. Things are going okay here in Uganda. We have been without power for the last 3 plus weeks and it has not rained good for about that same time, so our tanks are empty. Getting pretty good at fetching water from the borehole. My goal is to make it all the way home without stopping, but I've only made it almost once. It's gone down hill from there. My arms get tired and my fingers go numb...

Ummm, what else. My organization has four interns from the NCSU for the next couple months. I'm realizing I'm a very silly person and have some work to do.

I'm getting some projects started at a couple schools, so we'll see how they go. Vermiculture and keyhole gardens.

Finally thought for the day...yep you are getting a thought from me, weird I know. But I'll give you something to mull over...

You will find the same types of people everywhere you go.

Until Next Time...

I washed my shoes and needed a place to dry them. Found the perfect spot on top of my roof above my door. Almost forgot to bring them in...hence the night photo.

I have been trying to get a picture where you could possibly compare something to these Maribu stork that are everywhere in Uganda (at least in the locations I have visited). So this particular bird is about 4 feet in front of a sea flash. I'll keep trying, but this photo should give you a better idea of how huge these storks are in the bird kingdom.

In one of Maama Gertrude's gardens, I found a ring of banana plants. Thought it was pretty cool, so of course I had to take a picture of it, right?

During IST (in service training) Sarah and I went exploring Seeta. We found a water source and on the way back I wanted to get a picture of someone carrying a 20Liter Jerry can on the head...like this girl who can carry one without hands. Talk about great balance and a strong neck.

I went to visit people in Nkokonjeru and we were heading to a football match that was in progress, but as we arrived it turned out they finished early. One of the teams refused to continue play because they disputed a goal made by the other team.

This is my friend Sarah's view out her window. She gets to see a version of this Every morning. Lucky her!

If I walk a ways, I get to see this colorful seen of the setting sun back dropping a sand mine.

The children that run over for pictures every time they see me near the maize mill.

The very persistent three (from the above pic).

Working hard in the maize mill.

Sunset on Lake Victoria with the fishermen at work catching their pay.

These are children up the road from the sand mine. They all collect water from an unprotected spring and then carry the 20L of water back home...up to pretty good inclines, smiles and all.

Just wanted to share a picture of crops grown together. At the moment the term is escaping me...sorry Drs. Petrillo and Demchik.

An Ankole bovine. Their horns are definitely massive.

Before we get to the whole tour, I wanted to share with you my oven. It is there on the gas stove. This method is used to cook many dishes in Uganda, but there are some important differences to making this a functional oven. Ugandans would put sand in the bottom sauce pan and some would put rocks, however, I would not recommend either if you don't plan on purchasing another sauce pan soon.The items I use are three ceramic coated metal cups. They raise my cakes and cookies off the bottom, allowing plenty of air to circulate and allowing the heat on the bottom of the pan to dissipate. I know people who have burned through the bottom of the "oven" because they used rocks. Sorry for them, but I'm still baking with mine. I do miss real ovens though, so enjoy them, those who have them, and bake something nice for me...hehe So if you remember from the time before where my door is, this is the entrance looking out. Yep, there is the refrigerator, with all its rusty, puddle making, electricity taking convenience. There on the wall is a picture of my Grandma's house, and there in the corner is that wonder long handled blue broom.

Here is the sitting area. I do have two chair, but they take up quite a bit of room, so I am using the other elsewhere. In the corner there is my shelf that my friend help me get made. It is getting extensive use. Also you see my table for everything from pre-eating to eating, and also puzzle setting, catch-all, foot rest...My friend also help get me a stand for my kerosene lamp because it does have an awful smell and I can get better light coverage from its new location.

Better view of the couch with what looks like stuff to iron and unpack as well as another package from home...thank you thank you thank you by the way.

Good view of the lamp stand and my new Peace Corps calendar...thank you very much Susan! There hanging next it is my new bag from Banana Boat for carrying my things to school and elsewhere. It comes in quite handy.

Now, let go to the kitchen. You will see where I store my food and dishware, a there on top is my water filter. I have found that the rainwater I get from the compound tanks makes my filter dirty very quickly, but the water from the borehole in town keeps it clean for much longer. There is my gas tank there in the corner as well.

Here is my stove with all my frying pans and cooking utensils above as well as a really nice out of the way place for my dish-rack. When the tanks dried up, I went and purchased 3 more jerry cans for hauling water...only ended up using them for just under two weeks and except for washing, don't use an exceptional large amount of water. Pretty good for me, right?

Okay, so that brings us to the entrance to the second room...my bedroom. As you enter, my bed (or what I refer to as my sanctuary) is on the other side of the wall from my kitchen. It may be called a mosquito net, but it is definitely for ALL types of bugs.

Turning around, you will see the other chair and whatever you call the wooden compartmentalized structure where I put my clothes and other necessities (cause there is not any room for superfluous stuff).

As we continue the turn to the right we find my bathroom complete with walls and a floor drain. I have my basin and 3L jerry can for washing. I also store my bucket and soap for clothes washing in here too.

Since we are on the subject of bathroom...and since that translates to something different in America, I want to now show you my latrine. So we need to go back out of the house. Out the door to the right, and straight ahead, you can see the tippy tap I use to wash my hands.

Once you get to the wall, you take yet another right. The sign tells people not to pee in the area of that first door...it is the outdoor bathing place.

Hey, our first left...There's my latrine door complete with lock, tucked away here in the corner.

Okay, so what is behind this door....

Well, I have TP, a broom and a wooden cover...

And you guessed it...a hole in the floor or ground or what have you...

So that's it for the tour, hope you enjoyed seeing my place as much as I enjoyed showing it to you.

Not sure why I always seem to have problems uploading pictures in Mukono, but I do.

Just a quick update...sorry no pictures this time.

Term 1 of school has started. I am volunteering at a primary school created to serve orphans in the area. I teach P3 and P4...mainly P3 because they behave the best. The subject I prefer is math. I do English every once in a while, but really it is not my strength, never really was...seems to be language period, but that's besides the point.

So my job with my organization is to work with schools organizing and teaching their Sanitation clubs/committees. One school has grown over the last two years to be 60 members. I just went to another school and we had elections for the first time and I counted about 75 members-probably more, because they have to sit so close together and some get lost. How many ands did I just write...anyway.

Any I guess since I don't have enough to do, I told the main women's group I work with that I would begin teaching then English. I am kind of excited about it because the way I am going to teach them is through the lessons of other activities...such as cake baking.

I attended a conference about integrating WASH into Home based care and I think the counseling cards they provided with be a great addition to what I can teach while teaching English. We'll see how it goes.

I was having meeting every day somewhere, including 2 days of teaching...

After four days I found out I was not going to be able to keep it up, so I reduced my school teaching (P3 &P4) to Wednesday mornings and took back my Mondays to concentrate on other things I need to do... i.e. some type of research. Wow, so much to do, so little actual time to do it.

Enough blabbing from me for now. Have a good weekend.

Until Next Time...

We took a wrong turn and ended up on a ledge between some water and soggy ground.

The reception area...pretty heh.

More reception, the center where the cake is located on a raised platform. Fancy eh?

The entertainment was really great. And you could tell they were having fun doing their job. Good stuff.

I always refer to her as the Brown cow because I can never remember her actually name. She recently returned from her trip to a friend's farm. The going was slow, much stopping, starting, mooing, swerving, stumbling, jerking, at dusk fun. She is safely back home now and is eating up a storm every time Anna calls for food.

This is Anna. Maama Gertrude says she's stubborn. Mind you stubborn actually encompasses a whole list of other adjectives to describe someone's behavior. If someone isn't doing quite exactly you would like them to do...they're stubborn. Anna makes two very distinct sounds, a loud long moo to let everyone know there is no food in the trough and that somebody better do something about it because she is hungry. The other sound she makes it similar to what any normal person after consuming WAY too much food would make...kind of a moaning 'I'm so full' groan. It could be one of two reasons...she did eat way to much or...

This is a crazy picture of our late friend the mama goat. She was having problems one morning that I was leaving for school...wasn't the usually goat droppings dispersement. But she was just hanging out under the dish drying rack. Half way through my day at school, Raymond shows up to tell me that the mama goat is no longer with us. I guess she was experiencing paralysis of her entire body and the lady next door kept wanting it slaughtered (hearsay from me), so now we are one goat less on our compound. Her son cried and cried...it was one of the saddest sounds. He cried so much he was getting hoarse; so pitiful that sound. Maama Gertrude couldn't take it anymore either and sent for a companion goat. I kept thinking about all the trouble Sis went to for her rabbits to like one another and that was definitely not the process here. The result of this match was a headbutting young female who liked to eat all the food and keep the little guy away. A few times they were seen frollicking across the compound, but most of the time it wasn't buddy buddy.I do want to tell you about mama goat since I brought up the topic of rabbits. One day we went to collect the goats from the area by the police station and they were proving quite difficult for just me to run down. As I was trying to get close enough to grab the rope, they of course would run off. There was a large group of goats at the time and during the chasing process mama goat took a running leap and totally did a binky. Anyway, I figured at least Sis would enjoy that little tidbit. Let me tell you, mama goat definitely had some air time on that one too. Didn't know they could do that. I've seen the little kids do some cute little excited manuevers, but that was cool. This is the little boy who is no longer with us. He was sold off. However, before he left he managed to get himself tied up in a corner of the compound. He was definitely stuck there. I did help him out of his predicament after I took this photo. I thought it quite humour.

Welcome...this has been a long awaited visit, sorry I did not invite you to come see my place sooner. This is the street I live on. As you can see, if there is a camera, there are children running to get in the picture. Okay, we are infront of Maama Gertrude's clinic so let's turn around and go inside the compound.

I live in a gated compound, so I feel pretty secure at night. During the day people are coming in and out to visit Maama Gertrude, bring food for the cows and goat, and collect water in their jerry cans for 100/= (USG) each.

My new friend Joyne here is going to begin out tour with the open courtyard. Beyond her, you can see two rainwater harvesting tanks...mine is on the right, well the one I use anyway. The building in between is the kitchen. The goats like to sneak in there every once in a while.

If we go in and look to our left we see Maama Gertrude's house. People are always coming and going, but a few people are ever there like my friend Raymond, who is completing is university work, Noah, who does all sorts of jobs around the place and out in the 5 gardens Maama Gertrude has, and Brenda is the newest of the household help, she helps with basics like cooking and cleaning. Of course I cannot forget Nalongo and her twins. She is the main helper to Maama Gertrude in maintaining the compound...and she does it while watching her two little ones. They are pretty good too, except one likes to cry often.

Okay so sweeping around to the right a little you will see the dish washing/drying area and beyond that is where the cows live (eating, sleeping, and poo-ing). It only took me a couple weeks to migrate to using the washing area, but I have my system down now.

Now here we come back to the kitchen and if you look closely on the very right you can see a lace curtain. That my friends is my door.

Unfortunately I need to cut the tour short here due to time. I invite you in and show you where all the fun stuff is next time.

Tippy tap

Newly constructed school rainwater harvesting tank Sunset over the sand mine...one of my favorites...not the sand mine but the sunset.

Our training group has just completed our first three months at site and finished our in-service training. Now we are all excited to get back to site and start working on projects...well except for the few that have already started projects, guess they get to continue, right?

Christmas and New Year were good...not the same as at home, but good having friends here to share the holidays with. I definitely didn't miss out on one aspect of the season...eating way too much food. It didn't help that someone else was doing the cooking. I feel I eat less and enjoy the food more when I cook for myself; might have something to do with it taking a significant amount of time to prepare. I do tell my mom that I will be an expert onion dicer, maybe even develop an immunity to the juices causing my eyes to burn and tear up. I doubt it, but we'll see what happens. Maybe that can be one of my side experiments.

Picture from the holidays to come. Just wanted to say Hi and ask for prayers that the next wedding I go to is either at a comfortable volume or I am no where near any of the speakers...behind them is where I'm thinking will be the best spot.

Hope all of you had a good Christmas and beginning to the New Year.

Until Next Time...

Some boat on the Lake, tied to the landing.

Now, please do not be jealous or feel forgotten, but I do have to let my little cousin Sierra know there is one little Ugandan girl born a week before Christmas Eve very early in the morning. Her mother asked if I would give her an American name. I thought and thought going through relative after relative. My goal was to find something unique that I had not heard yet here in country (and because the mother wished for something unique as well) and something that could be pronounced with Ugandan English. I have always found Sierra to be a very pretty name and being as I was quite on the spot to come up with the perfect name, I think the result was appropriate. Living in a compound with a midwife will probably provide other opportunities to name babies, but I wanted to let you know about this special first naming. Of course I had the privilege for no other reason than being a muzungu, but that's okay with me.

Making roasted G-nut paste (Ugandan peanut butter). Turned out pretty good, just a tad burnt.

The bakery up the road from my village. These little morsels are delectably rich in cooking oil, but they are rather tasty too.

Me preparing my beans Maama Gertrude gave me to be dried so I can enjoy cooking them for a day before eating them.

Inside my organization's maize mill. Yummy yummy posho...

Bicycles are used to transport just about everything from charcoal (seen here) to people. *And for taking on the go photos as well...hehe

Children from the next village over carrying water back to their homes...Their water hole is literally that too, not good.

Maama Gertrude and one of her friends on the veranda on their way to church.

A smiling goat...at least I think so...

One of the monkeys over by the police station, on the hill overlooking the landing. It's a neat place.

Ducks and Pig....someone asked to see wildlife (Dad) and this is what I got. Monkeys that snatch food out of your hand and roaming chickens, ducks, pigs, goats, and cows....

More cute, adorable ducks. But I must say, they are definitely cuter when they are young because some of the local species are as attractive as turkeys.

Here is Korie and Medi, my two chapatti guys, that's about all I have to say about them. They're nice too.

I have just spent the Christmas holiday with my friend Sarah at her convent. The Ugandan Catholic Christmas with three nuns is quite an experience. I would have posted some pictures today, but due to the holiday season I am unable to travel to my home because the taxis will not be going to Kampala until Tuesday. So it may come as bad news, but I'm sure not surprising considering all the issues I've had with previous posts, that you will have to wait yet again to see new pictures.

Hope all of you enjoyed Christmas Day and everyone is doing well. I know my Christmas season involved eating way, way too much food. I have come to the conclusion that cooking my own food also has the benefit of not wanting to prepare much and after all the work required to cook it, what I end up eating I enjoy thoroughly and don't even consider more...except maybe the odd piece of fruit. What I want is a banana though and for some reason I have not been able to find them and when I do, I miss the chance to buy them. When I reach home I plan to get one or five.

I did learn how to make yogurt during this trip and provided some baking tips to Sarah. We did make three delicious cakes that were devoured Christmas Day.

God has His plans for everything that happens, so I thank Him for all the small things and the big, especially giving up everything for us here on earth. After all, He is the reason for Christmas.

Until Next Time.

I'll tell you about these later. Must ride back home.

Of course there will be more to come, but due to time I must stop here. Enjoy! Just for my sissy...here's some furry friends near my home.

Just so you know for those of you in Uganda, Orange is coming to a hill near you. Nkokonjeru is currently constructing a new mast and I got to help shovel a few bits of dirt. Definitely couldn't do this in the States.

They were quite impressed I could get the dirt out of the hole.

Here is the ditch we filled in with rocks and stones for the truck to deliver tank materials with more ease.

The truck bed full of children manuever works every time.

My first Speech day, as guest of honour, began with a parade the students led by a marching band. Brings back memories and they were pretty good too, especially for the size of the group.

I don't remember which grade level by I want to say this is P7 doing their song.

This song and dance was very entertaining. If you can see the boy to the far left is drinking a soda he opened with his teeth and the student with the box was chomping on some tomatoes. I have no idea what was going on, but I want to venture a guess that it has something to do with nutrition and eating properly. I'll have to ask Maama Gertrude.

The landing site with people getting prepared for fishing.

One of the monkeys on the hill just near the landing site. They welcome free food and will come up and take it from you too. Pretty cool. If you visit, I definitely show you the monkeys.

A highlight from the last couple weeks came while delivering rainwater harvesting tank materials to a school several miles from my home. The road was muddy and full of dips and craters.

We arrived and I received my typical muzungu greeting getting surrounded my children. After unloading the bags of concrete mix and other stuff (so to reduce the weight in the back of the truck...it just happened to be stuck), they went and dumped the stones in a pile. Getting back on the "road" presented an equally challenging problem [as it seems uploading photos to my blog is as well]. After several students and much digging, they were able to leave to get a load of sand. While they were gone, the children and I ran up and down the road gathering rocks to fill in the ditch along the road to help the truck get where it is trying to go. With almost a hundred little hands the amount of work that can be achieved is quite amazing and fun too.

I tried to put more photos, but I think I am quite lucky to have miraculously uploaded the one above. Let me see if the ATM has money now and I can get more time.

Until Next Time...

Well, my first month in the real world of Uganda has moved by quite quickly. My two rooms are as clean as I can get them for now. Last Thursday was a big get things done day. Clothes, dishes, refrigerator...you know all the necessities. Then Friday came and that was a big day as well. It rained. Yahoooo. We needed it, the collection tanks were getting low. Mid-morning I rode my Jeep bicycle about 5km to a school that was having their end of year festival. I thought I was just going to watch...and I did, I watched it rain for a good 2 hours before anything started happening. Upon arrival, I was surrounded by a couple hundred children. I wish I could show you a picture, but I was holding a cake in one hand and my muddy, wet poncho in the other and there was not way of carefully or cleanly removing my camera to photographically document this first in "my time in Uganda" moments (don't worry, next time I will eat my cake en route, however, you will also have to wait a year. Maybe remind me next time, I might forget by then. Hehe)

Anyway, after being removed from the circle of children, I was taken to the office to greet people and of course to be asked if I could take the place of the guest of honor who I was told would not be attending because they had lost someone. So I went ahead and accepted, but was sure to ask if I would have to say something. Yep, but luckily they were going to help me with that part.

So around 3pm the festivities started. I have pictures, but unfortunately I pick a computer that has faulty USB ports...sorry. Don't fret, I'll see what I can do.

Okay, so I was seated with all these important people watching all these primary students share what they had worked on to present to a very large audience. And it kept getting later. In case you forgot or did not know, it gets dark at 7pm and very quickly I might add, and the festival was supposed to start at 11am...mmmm, let us see if we can still do all of it. By all means I'm glad they had lighting to continue the fun, but I had a ride in the dark on muddy, slippery roads. Good thing I was already muddy from the ride there. I was definitely not living up to my Ugandan name, Nanyonjo, which mean very clean girl. Oh well, not the first, and certainly not the last.

So they managed to squeeze my speech in before it got too dark. The wrote 5 key points down for me to touch on...I proceeded to write a blurb about the middle 3 because I tend to not talk coherently to a group of lots of people. So I encouraged the parents, students, and teachers to keep educating and being educated. I asked the students who were not going on holiday to help their parents, share what they learned in school with them, and be respectful of themselves. Maama Gertrude (the mom of my supervisor and is in charge of the compound I live in) wanted me to mention something about protecting themselves from HIV, but I'm just couldn't quite work it in...I feel quite novice at giving hardcore direct speeches to people who have never seen me before in their lives. Give me time. On my second round of inspections with a second women's group, I was much tougher on the community members. (Inspections: Members of the women's groups are trained to go train people in the community that are not members of the group in tippy tap, dish drying rack, and rubbish pit construction, and as to check if they have boiled drinking water and a pit latrine and bathing "room" at the homes.)

Again, I'll have to get back to you with pictures.

Back to the guest of honor speech. The plug I really didn't feel comfortable saying was for the solar they are requesting donations for. I tried to work it in the the importance of education, because an improvement of the facilities would likely improve (in some ways) the quality of education. After hearing what the school is lacking, it seems anything would be an improvement. So even though I had said that and the teacher next to me translated it to the crowd, when I turned and asked him if I needed to say anything else, he said to tell them to make pledges for solar. Wait a second, didn't I just tell them that. Guess not, I wonder what else I didn't tell them too because I have not idea what he was saying, I was too busy trying not to sound like an idiot. I've told people I hate that part about being a muzungu, that I feel more importance is placed on what I say even if someone else could say something much better than I. But now that I have typed all that, there is the other side to being a muzungu...that they just smile and nod and say thank you. Saving face, of all parties involve, how courteous.

Thank you all for listening. I am looking forward to getting back to my little two room home so I will end here, but be reassured pictures will follow.

Until Next Time...

After delivering some letters to the two primary schools near the lake, I stopped to talk with Mr. Kulumba, my counterpart. A woman at the shop was making mats and she was willing to let me have a try. I'm pretty sure she had to fix the very little I did. You definitely have to know how to hold all the pieces, which I do not yet. Who knows, I may be able to make of these mats some day.

In case you were curious, this is what a garden looks like, at least the gardens I visited one day. I planted a banana plant in there somewhere. I'll have to go check up on it when I return to town.

Just outside town there is an area that is being used to mine sand. And yes, it is all done by manpower. They load these trucks with shovels and sheer stamina. And it is definitely not just sand they are tossing up there each time either. As they drive down the street through town, you can heard and the see the water pouring out of the truck bed...talk about fresh dirt.

The second day I was in town I was invited to a wedding on the weekend. Here the couple makes their way to the cake. I just have to say I'm not sure I would hire the same sound techs. For the 2 or 3 hours waiting for the bride and groomto arrive we were treated to music and talk. Though I don't know the language that well yet, I would have appreciated all of it much more if my ears didn't feel like they were bleeding. It was quite a painful experience. I couldn't even talk to my neighbors due to the incredible volume. Everyone looked very lovely though and it will be the talk of the village for awhile. I don't know if I'll be able to hear them talking, but I'm told they will be talking of it for months. While sitting there having my inner ear beaten, I found some things to think about that made me laugh. I don't remember them now, but I needed something to laugh about so I wouldn't cry. Anyway, to go along with the talking part. I think it is impressive after being to an event such as this wedding how people can still hear each other...because it's not that they go deaf, but the crazy part is that everyone talks soooooo quietly. Mom, maybe you were right, maybe I do have bad hearing, but most of the time I hear lots of things even if people think I don't. I wonder if I just don't hear somethings because my brain is being overloaded trying to hear what is being said in Luganda, translating it, trying to remember the vocabulary to respond, and then trying to respond with correct pronounciation. Whew...If you want, care packages, letters, any type of mail can contain a pair of earplugs if you have an extra pack lying around. I'll use them for upcoming social functions.

On Halloween (which is not celebrated here...well it is All Hallow's Eve/All Saint's Day Eve I suppose), but I had quite the experience getting a haircut. I know if I just let it grow, I'll just pull it back. With shorter hair it is new for me and in many ways easier to deal with, except in the morning when it wants to be all crazy.Okay, so I asked around to where I could get my hair cut and was told it would be best in Kampala, they'd know how. So I waited until I made the trip to the city. My supervisor dropped me off on Martin Rd at an Indian barbershop. Looked okay, I walked up and asked if they could cut my hair, gave me a nod for yes. I asked how much, 7000/- was the reply. Saved 3000/-, I know this because one of the other volunteers paid 10,000/- at Garden City. I think there is a reason I saved 3000/- (by the way, /- means Ugandan shillings). There was very little talk, very little. No questions. I just sat down, got the cloth draped over me, and he signaled for me to remove my glasses. He spritzed my hair down with water, pulled out a horse comb, and proceeded to chop my hair off. This is an exaggeration in terms, but I do not think I have ever been manhandled during a haircut before. He'd grab a chunk of hair and cut. Then another. I did not see any method here. The top is quite short and the back is still longer than I would have like...but according to the other three guys there, it apparently looks good, okay, and I look hot. Sure, sure. Whatever, it's just hair right? That's what I keep telling myself. Some women here wrap their heads...I have considered this; now to find the right material.

I went shopping a picked up items to make my home more functional. In the States, I tried to be conscious of packaging, trying to avoid plastic wrapping- especially the unnecessary kind, but here I have even more reason to because I can't even "throw it 'away'" I mean, where is it going to go...Most of the time I'm gonna say it just ends up on the side of the road. I don't want to contribute to that. So I think I managed to get two items with plastic packaging. The rest had paperboard, which can at least be used to start cook fires. My neighbor, Raymond is still waiting to see what I manage to do with all the plastic I'm collecting. I haven't figured out a creative way to use it yet, but give me time...I'm thinking. Time to get back to town, mop up all the water that I am very sure has pooled around the refigerator and run along the floor under the cupboard (hopefully no further...not that there is anywhere else to go), eat the avocados that are probably ripe by now, sweep, and visit people. Until Next time...

YAY, more pictures. Enjoy....

I went up the hill to the school to sit on a rock and read...I mean it was Sunday and I needed to not just be sitting my little rooms looking at the walls and my eight-legged roommates (we had a meeting the second day I was there and came to the agreement that if they stay where they are they will live.)

One of our rainwater harvesting tanks. This is the one I use the most since it is right next to my door. As you can see, we are currently at capacity, so if you need water, stop by, the price is reasonable.

On the hill overlooking Lake Victoria, well that's what I'm doing. You are currently looking at me doing just that.

Welcome to my new home. This is basically what you see when you show up at my door...except for the stacks of books under the table.

My first sunrise at my new home. The first day at site, my counterpart took me by this location to show me a bit of the town. You can see the town I live in tucked down there next to the shore.

The second time I went to photo the sunrise a Malibu Stork flew in and did some posing for me. This is the closest picture I have of this species of bird. They are referred to as the garbage eating birds, but either way they are pretty neat creatures.

Before people headed out to the lake to do fishing for the day, the landing is quite a peaceful place. I enjoyed one day watching people coming in from fishing for the day. There is a whole crew of people that wade out to the boat and carry the people, their items, and their daily catch to shore. I guess I'm not quite sensitized to that culture aspect cause I found it a bit humorous to watch.

Uganda is a land of hills and I'd say the majority have cell phone towers on then. The one overlooking town is not different. There are three up there, but no matter, because the view from up there is worth the hike and potential slide down.

Welcome to my home again. This is my kitchen. Equipped with a gas stove, refrigerator, and cabinet space. (Guess you could say I'm not exactly roughing it, but in my own defense, I'd say surviving on a daily basis is pretty rough...especially for a newbie like me. Don't worry though, I'm gonna be Baganda before too long.)

Here is my bedroom leading to my bathing area. It currently does not look like this, but all the items are still there--a bed, mosquito net, and something that passes for an armoir.

My supervisor has a beautiful home. And the flowers around the compound are very pretty. I like these with the little hangy things...sorry not being all biology technical right now.

On my bike purchase day this is what a typical street looks like...the non-traffic jam kind...I am truly impressed with the way people are able to drive here. I'd say it is crazy, but that's still an understatement.

Another flower at my supervisor's home. Had to try out the macro on my camera. At least I got that figured out because I am awfully disappointed with not being able to take good night photos.

I am told that I was giving the impression that Uganda is all pretty and neat, but really I just don't like taking pictures of the not so neat parts. I thought I'd better share, so if you came and visited you wouldn't be completely shocked.

This is probably one of my favorite horse pictures. The mist provided the perfect opportunity for this shot.

This was during our site visit, when we were still trainees, and Khrissee and I passed by a school. They wanted a picture, so I took it for them. The only part I did not appreciate was when they clamps death grips on my new camera to look at it. I was freaking out since I just got it a couple days before after having a man in Wakiso break the one I brought. I do like my new camera though, my one and only splurge. Gots to be able to share pictures with you right?

Just for you dad, my three cycle washing machine. Two wash, one rinse, and then to the line for drying. And like I mentioned before...if it rains, I get an extra rinse cycle...hehehe.

Colin and I with The Herbster, our amazing language teacher after the swearing-in ceremony.

Believe it or not I was a ballet instructor in Uganda and I had some very hard working, dedicated Ugandan trainers for my students. Can you believe even with extensive amounts of paperwork and training preparations, they still wanted to learn a little ballet from a very out of practice American. They atleast have the basics now and I enjoyed getting to know them. Good thing we still have in-service training so I will get to see them.

Here is my buddy Sarah Z. She is currently living with six nuns and working with lots and lots of teen girls AND having a blast doing so. I hope to visit her often as well as many of the other volunteers.

Richard wanted to make sure I had some pictures of me on my camera, so he took one for me. Think I looked pretty good that day, but....

I definitely can't compete these guys. Mica, Richard, and Herbert. Now I'll take you back to while we were still trainees....A view from the road leading to RACO.

The road to RACO...this road may look pleasant and serene, but if you were here and it was raining, I would show you the long cut because it is quite messy this way and on many occassions the vehicles could not pass it....And of course it is all uphill....hehehe

These are some of my little friends at home. Grace and Robert lived directly next door and Immaculate lived behind our house. They made my homestay entertaining to say the least.

Okay, this is Betty (my homestay niece) with our pig Reinbaw...still don't know the spelling or if I pronounce it correctly, but there you go.I guess I will tell you about my morbid naming of the pig...before I knew they named the pig. Let me explain a little, my naming came from two simple concepts: one is because they do not keep pets here like we do in America and second I assumed incorrectly that due to the previous fact that maybe they do not name their animals. So I decided to give Reinbaw a name I could pronounce and lacking extensive amounts of creativity and recognizing the emminent fate of this poor little fellow, I am sorry to say I named the pig Someday. Don't hate me, I have since learned to not name animals, nor do I plan to have any while I am here--in case you were wondering.

Okay, on to more enjoyable topics....oh yeah.This is actually a misnomer...matatus are something I would not consider an enjoyable topic. Though the passenger limit is clear marked on the side of the vehicle at 14...this particular trek during Immersion week found us on our way home with 23 people, at least 3 chickens, a couple babies, and an overheating engine.

Playmates: a tied up goat and dog

Maama and baby...they were done with pictures for the day...

and the rest followed.

Herbert and I have agreed that these little critters are the hardest working in Uganda if not in Africa or the world.

Just a pic of a cool plant...and sorry Grandma, I don't think you can have one of these, but when you come visit you can see plenty of them.

My friend Catherine on here way to work in the fields. She is so nice and always full of smiles.

Homestay Thank You Lunch preparations...how many trainees and trainers does it take to construct two tents...well I lost count, but alot sounds about right.

A view from the "long" way to RACO. This is overlooking a football pitch. Pretty nice, eh?

Me in a borrowed gomez (still not sure how to spell that either) it is the traditional clothing of the Baganda women. Maama Betty asked me to wear it to church and let me tell you that was quite the walking experience. All I heard was Bannange, Webale, that I looked smart, and a muzungu in a gomez...Maama Betty talked about it for days afterwards...how everyone knows Nanyonjo and how great it was that I wore a gomez. Suppose I'll have to get one of my own someday soon. Three trainers sitting on the job....just kidding. This Saturday we were building fuel efficient stoves and Francis, Richard, and Moses were taking a break from mud slinging.

One of my favorite breakfast meals at homestay.

A group visited a fish farm and some braved the waters to go fishing for catfish...they only had to try twice and managed to get a whole two catfish. Good job guys.

One of my favorite parts of traveling to RACO everyday for training was passing by this pasture with all these beautiful horses. Wonder if they are for sale...not that I can have one, don't think one would pass for the permitted pets of dog or cat...hmm

That may sound like a bad title, but really it works out for all involved. Instead of me having to divide my luggage and expect someone else to take care of it for me, I will be staying in Kampala at the office of my organization. Then on Tuesday, when they will be traveling to my soon to be home, I will be able to go with them and sorry to say this since so many volunteers are swerving their ways through the taxi and bus parks trying to keep an eye on ALL their luggage...you know--the 2 large suitcases, two carry-ons, and all the fun extras provided by Peace Corps...a large bucket, a comfy though bulky blanket, and about 20 extra thick books all for our reading enjoyment, not to mention all the notebooks and loose papers. They really do know how to prepare us for the field, cause if we can get there with everything still with us and our person completely intact, we can do anything. Go team.

I did have something written before, but for some reason lost it all. I still want to send my shout out to Sarah, Kiera, and Tina. Thank you, sorry, and you will be truly missed by me!!! All you others volunteers, I will miss you too, the beach will be open...but actually I cannot promise that yet since I will not know until Tuesday what the current conditions are, and who knows plans may change yet again.

I am quite surprised to learn of how spoiled I will be in my new organization...but I guess when your expectations are a jerry can full of water and a kerosene lamp anything will seem luxurious. I am gonna miss our trainers, no names necessary, but Herbert, Ven, Richard, Anthony, Rachel, Jenny, Kabayo, Carol, Florence, Shirley, Mica, Francis, and Irene, you know who you are...

Let's get this service started.

Until Next Time...(which will be in a few minutes, cause it is picture time).

It is Friday. Newly minted volunteers are being whisked away to their new homes. I plan on seeing many visitors since I'm the one with a beach in my backyard. I am currently at my organization's Kampala office. It seems I have more perks than I could have imagined.

I feel bad for those who have more difficulty with their travel arrangements, but I imagine they will be able to handle anything after today. Good luck to you all.

Can I just say, the Lord has provided blessings and miracles in many ways. I thank Him for watching over me and though others may not believe so, over them too.

I am looking forward to beginning my new work building water tanks for rainwater harvesting, latrines, helping make soap, and getting to know my community.

Apparently I will be getting another Ugandan name, but I can have three, no problem.

In Wakiso, I will always be Nanyonjo--mainly because they had difficulty saying Heidi--vowels are weird here....but I guess so is d and p because my bank card is definitely mispelled.

I think they are waiting to get on the road so I will close for now, I do have some funny stuff to tell you, but right now I am not one hundred percent with it cause of the many changes occuring at the present.

Hope all is well with you, and I'll be in touch soon.

Until Next time...

On Wednesday, Uganda will welcome 42 new Peace Corps Volunteers as we will be official after the swearing in ceremony. It will be sad to leave our "new families," but most feel it is time to get to work. I will be traveling to the Mukono District and working with a fishing community in the areas of water quality and sanitation projects. It's all I could have asked for...I knew there was a reason I had not seen Lake Victoria yet.

Today we were given time to shop for supplies we may need at site. I never really liked shopping in the first place, but so far I've gotten some useful items. A bigger backpack to aid in carrying all the extras Peace Corps so kindly gave us to take to site--sorry you can't hear the sarcasm there....

a visor since the sun is quite bright, some rope--always useful, and some expensive forks...

Working on getting pictures downloaded so I can share more with you soon.

Until Next time

Umm...

Well, we are getting toward the tail-end of training. Two weeks and we will meet our counterparts for the next two years and find out where we will be living.

I will definitely miss my Ugandan family, they have taken very good care of me. So in turn, I repay my spoiling with baked goods. The past two weekends we have baked cakes using the Dutch oven method. It is pretty cool how two big metal pans, three metal mugs, and a pan with cake batter on top of a fire produces a pretty tasty treat. I didn't eat the first one because Maria wanted chocolate, but I am told this one is better...Good thing I have all that baking experience from the States, I was able to modify the ingredients (because I didn't buy them) and have a beautiful, moist, delicious cake to eat. In fact I took a picture of it with Betty (the granddaughter).

I went with some of the trainees to a gentleman's fish farm. It was cool to see in practice what I heard from a few master's theses presentations.

In case you didn't hear, a couple weeks ago there were riots in Kampala, so we were put on what some called "house arrest." The first weekend was not all that great, but that probably was not just from the weekend, it was probably building up until that point. We received a handout that showed (generalized) how we could expect to be feeling/experiencing during the first month, second month, year, end of service: from what I read, it was actually pretty accurate...Crazy!

Okay, reading is probably not what you are looking forward to most, so I share some pictures with you now...Enjoy!

Betty with our second scrumptious cake, Herbert (my Luganda group language teacher) in Nkokonjeru with a very young goat.

The New taxi park in Kampala.

The road on the way to getting to the new taxi park...and this is normal. Crazy!

Fishing for catfish.

My neighbors: Rose (L), Florida (In back), Fiona (R), and Immaculate.

Until Next Time...

Wow.

Well, just spent the week in Nkokonjeru visiting and having a language immersion time. Much different from the craziness of Kampala...sorry from a small town.

However, since the first visit, it is getting better.

My language group is a good group. We will soon be traveling back to site to get ready for our 5th week of training. Almost half way done.

I am in charge of the garden at training site, so hopefully we will get a good crop.

I think my brain is going in too main directions right now to think of what you would like to hear about...I'm sure in the next couple months I will have lots to tell you and more time to do so.

Until next time.

Hello again,

Here in Kampala for a few hours on our way to the Mukono District. Thought I'd pick up some items...a new camera, some stamps, find a shop to print photos. Yeah, some guy helped me break my camera so if I plan on taking any shots I either need a long slender screwdriver or an inexpensive newly purchased camera. Either way, it's annoying.

Now that I'm writing this I realized what other things I need to get done on the Internet...loans and banking.

Packing for five days it quite difficult when asked to bring stuff for running, the mosquito net that is ever essential, and clothes enough where I shouldn't have to wash too much thinking a basin nor iron will be very accessible.

Living without electricity or running water in the context of Uganda seems pretty normal, they have a pretty good system of Jerry cans and charcoal. The food is filling, but not necessarily nutritional, however, me being the starch eater that I am, I'm doing quite well...for the most part...don't think my digestive tract has quite caught on to the new diet though...but it has been only three weeks. Only three weeks...wow, may not see that long, but PC sure knows how to pack in the information. Good thing I have it all (most) written down.

This week, language immersion; we get to practice what we know and pick up on some that we may not know. Should be good. We will be shadowing a volunteer, getting the inside scoop on what we will are training to become in two months.

Some day I may get some pictures for you to see, but not yet...you'll have to patient along with me because I'd like to see some of the photos I have taken as well.

Until next time.

We made it to Uganda safe and sound (for the most part) and have been spoiled for the past few days. We soon begin the next phase of intense learning as we prepare to go out into the field. We have a great group of trainees ready to get to work.

Hope all is well back in the States.

Don't have much of anything to say right now, but it is definitely going to be an experience. Kampala has all the conveniences of home--maybe not the way we're used to, but we are talking about a different country.

Until next time.

Good morning (while I can still say that in this time zone ;-)

We are checking out of here and should be leaving in just over 1 hour.

This will probably be one of the last posts I will be able to give you for a while.

Our group of 43 had an enjoyable time during our pre-departure training and short exploration of the historic district of historic Philadelphia...I took a few pictures of some of the historic buildings too. Okay, one more historic and I'll be done.

Trip time: estimated 18 hours: ~8 to Europe, 10 to Africa, and a 3 hour layover in between. Bet you wanna come too now right.

Side note--think my bags are getting heavier the closer we get to Africa...or maybe it is proportional to the length of flight...I am going to be very, very strong when I get there heh.

Until Next Time...

Well...

I'm at the airport waiting for my flight to leave...in about 45 minutes.

It may sound crazy, but what is going to be happening in the next 27 months has not quite hit me yet. I know it's going to happen, but I still feel disconnected from the idea that I will not be 4 or 7 or 9 hours away from home...not even just across the pond, but across the pond and then some.

I am glad I got to see/talk to all of you whom I was able to get in contact with. I will surely miss you...but know my mom printed off pictures upon pictures, so I will at least not forget what you look like.

Packing...still don't know how to pack for 2 years. The few clothes I brought...along with other necessities surely took up a bunch of room for some reason. I am pretty proud of myself though...the luggage did not weigh nearly a ton, in fact my baggage is actually under weight. Yippee for me. The down side is I still have to lug it around...yes, yes, I know it is my own doing-and so far so good. Airport employees are pretty nice in the morning...even when getting randomly selected to get patted down. This experience might as well have been a first for that as it is a first for many many more adventures to come.

Until next time.

In exactly 1 week I will be in Philadelphia along will all my fellow PC trainees preparing for our next to years in Uganda. Amazing.

I don't really have much to write about now, but I can pretty much guarantee something interesting within the next few months.

Right now I can just imagine what it will be like: the beauty of the country, the hospitality of the people, and all the new friends I'm traveling half way the world to meet.

Until next time.

My Peace Corps adventure is about to begin. I know these next few weeks are going to fly by and at the beginning of August I will be flying as well. I know my biggest challenge will deciding exactly what to take and what I will foresee needing for the next 2 years (not that I won't have access to items).

I am seriously considering not taking my laptop; it would be one less relatively expensive item I would not have to keep track of. That just means more paper to write everything needing recorded. Any other thoughts?

I will be getting my hair chopped within the next week. I am so glad I visited my undergraduate professors...needed to hear the practical side that I seemed to be overlooking: shorter hair=less water required to wash.

Until later.

The time is ever getting less as August 2nd quickly approaches.

I am working to get some items of business completed before I leave for my extended trip to a place thousands of miles away.

Getting ready. Attempting to get ready anyway. Not sure if anyone can be truly ready for a lengthy excursion to an unknown place, a place I have not experienced.

I do know flexibility and patience will be my companions, for without them the experience may not be all the adventure is meant to be.

Today marks the end of one chapter and the beginnings of what will take me to a country thousands of miles away.

Uganda, it will not be long now.