I am not very good at saying good-byes. It has been super hard especially here, because there is that thought in the back of your mind that you won't ever see the person again. That is not a very pleasant thought. We have been trying to wrap of everything that we want done. It has become very stressful trying to get the house ready, and packing (which we really haven't started!). To tell you the truth, I feel like I am going on a vacation and will be returning after. Too bad that's not the case.
Today in church, we all bore our testimonies (you could call it a farewell for us). Brian had translated my testimony in Luganda, and I was able to share that. I am so glad that I did too! You could see the smile on the ward members faces once I started. One lady came up to me and said, "That was beautiful Cariel!! Most people leave without learning a single word, and yet you bore you testimony!" I guess I really love the people to be able to learn some of their language. As a family, we also sang God Be With You Till We Meet Again. We sang with Prosy and Sam and they helped translate the 2nd verse to Luganda so we sang that in Luganda. The 3rd verse, the congregation joined us in singing. That is when I started to cry. I look over to my mom, and she is bawling. I guess we both of wimps when it comes to saying good-bye.
I will dearly miss this wonderful home. For it truly has become home. I will miss the wonderful people and their sweet spirit. I will miss the beautiful scenery and weather. It has really been like paradise. I will miss having monkeys playing in our front yard. The list goes on and on. Of course, there are things that I am looking forward to, but I won't mention those. :)
I am eternally grateful for this experience that we have been able to have. This has been such a growing experience for our entire family. I will never forget my many experiences here. I really hope that Bishop Hall was right when he said I would be coming back to Africa.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Rwanda: Land of a Thousand Hills
So, these past three days, I had the opportunity to go to Rwanda with the Nielson's and the Allred's. What an experience that was....
We left on Monday morning (I left the house at 5 to get to their house in Kampala at 6) and started the 10 hour drive. It was a very long day, being in a bus for that long is hard. My butt was about to fall of. Luckily, we did stop a couple of times. We crossed the Uganda-Rwanda border at about 4, and we drove for about 2 hours after that to reach Kigali. The scenery was amazing!! There is a reason it is called the land of 1000 hills. That last little stretch of the drive was probably my favorite, just because of the gorgeous view. The rest of the night was pretty chill, getting adjusted in our hotel and eating dinner.
Tuesday was definitely an emotional day. We started the day off by visiting a genocide memorial just outside of Kigali. It was a church that the people had gone to to be protected, but in the end, about 5,000 Tutsies were killed. We had a tour guide who did some explaining to us before going into the buildings. He was Tutsi and it was so interesting to have him talk about it. Through out the memorial, there was purple and white ribbons. So we asked him if there was a meaning for those two colours. He told us that purple stood for compassion and the white stood for hope. Those two words are the perfect words for Rwanda. They can have such a future if they can forgive and move on. Frankly, from what I saw, they are doing really well with that. Anyway, walking through the church was hard. You walk in and there are the some of the bones on some shelves. That in it's self was hard to look at. There was also cloths on the walls and some of the things the people had, like cups, plates etc. The one thing that about made me fall apart was when the tour guide picked up a machete and some of the other weapons some of the killers used. I about lost it. It is just so hard to think about how someone could become so inhuman enough to do such a horrible thing. I couldn't even go into the last two buildings there, I knew if I would have, I would have broken down right there. It is one thing to read about it in a text book, but to see it in person makes it all the more real.
After visiting that memorial, we went to another one. This memorial was a mass grave of just some of the people they had found. It was under construction at the time, so all of the bodies were up in the office building. I decided not to go in, I saw enough bones at the first memorial. So, some other people and I decided to go say hi to the kids from the primary school across the street. They were SO cute!! They would all crowd around you and want to shake your hand. We couldn't really understand them, but their smiles spoke words. We would take pictures with them, and you would literally be tackled by the little kids. So cute. I am so glad that we had that opportunity to be with them, they totally lifted the atmosphere for me. Mrs. Nielson made the comment about one of the students, “Peter looks more to the future than in the past.” That totally what these children are, the future of Rwanda.
After lunch, we went to the Parliament building, which they didn't fix the building after it was hit during the genocide. On our way there, we saw the President drive by. Pretty cool. Then, after taking some pictures, we went to the Kigali Memorial Centre. It was more like a museum, but it still had a mass grave of about 250,000 bodies. The museum was really cool, I learned a lot. It felt a lot like the Holocaust museum in D.C. It is just so wrong what happened. It is so hard to describe the true feelings felt there, or at any of the memorials. I don't think I will ever be able to forget them.
I did some thing really interesting about going to Rwanda. For one, the difference between Rwanda and Uganda. Even though they border each other, it is a night and day difference. They don't drive as crazy in Rwanda and the infrastructure is so much better even though they are poorer than Uganda. Another thing, all of the boda's wore helmets. They even had helmets for their passengers. I thought that was pretty sweet.
One thing that was hard, was to be driving along and see people you know were alive during the genocide and had to deal with all of the consequences of it. How hard it must be for them to deal with the thing that took place 16 years ago.
That night for dinner we ate at the des Mille Collines, the same hotel that the movie Hotel Rwanda is based off of. That was pretty sweet. The hotel was super nice and food was really good. Even though it took about 2 hours to get our food, I guess they weren't prepared for 27 people (even though we made a reservation). I got chicken cordon bleu. Yummy. :)
Once we got back to the hotel, which was probably close to 10pm. I got ready for bed. As I was reading my scriptures, I came across a scripture that was so relevant to the entire day. It was in 3 Nephi 2:3. It says, “and Satan did go about leading away the hearts of the people tempting them and causing them that they should do great wickedness in the land.” This totally applies to the people of Rwanda. It was Satan that implanted the hatred in the hearts of the people that lead to the genocide.
I am so glad that I was able to go to Rwanda, it definitely was an experience of a life time. Even though it was hard to see and hear some of the things, it definitely was something I will never forget.
We left on Monday morning (I left the house at 5 to get to their house in Kampala at 6) and started the 10 hour drive. It was a very long day, being in a bus for that long is hard. My butt was about to fall of. Luckily, we did stop a couple of times. We crossed the Uganda-Rwanda border at about 4, and we drove for about 2 hours after that to reach Kigali. The scenery was amazing!! There is a reason it is called the land of 1000 hills. That last little stretch of the drive was probably my favorite, just because of the gorgeous view. The rest of the night was pretty chill, getting adjusted in our hotel and eating dinner.
Tuesday was definitely an emotional day. We started the day off by visiting a genocide memorial just outside of Kigali. It was a church that the people had gone to to be protected, but in the end, about 5,000 Tutsies were killed. We had a tour guide who did some explaining to us before going into the buildings. He was Tutsi and it was so interesting to have him talk about it. Through out the memorial, there was purple and white ribbons. So we asked him if there was a meaning for those two colours. He told us that purple stood for compassion and the white stood for hope. Those two words are the perfect words for Rwanda. They can have such a future if they can forgive and move on. Frankly, from what I saw, they are doing really well with that. Anyway, walking through the church was hard. You walk in and there are the some of the bones on some shelves. That in it's self was hard to look at. There was also cloths on the walls and some of the things the people had, like cups, plates etc. The one thing that about made me fall apart was when the tour guide picked up a machete and some of the other weapons some of the killers used. I about lost it. It is just so hard to think about how someone could become so inhuman enough to do such a horrible thing. I couldn't even go into the last two buildings there, I knew if I would have, I would have broken down right there. It is one thing to read about it in a text book, but to see it in person makes it all the more real.
After visiting that memorial, we went to another one. This memorial was a mass grave of just some of the people they had found. It was under construction at the time, so all of the bodies were up in the office building. I decided not to go in, I saw enough bones at the first memorial. So, some other people and I decided to go say hi to the kids from the primary school across the street. They were SO cute!! They would all crowd around you and want to shake your hand. We couldn't really understand them, but their smiles spoke words. We would take pictures with them, and you would literally be tackled by the little kids. So cute. I am so glad that we had that opportunity to be with them, they totally lifted the atmosphere for me. Mrs. Nielson made the comment about one of the students, “Peter looks more to the future than in the past.” That totally what these children are, the future of Rwanda.
After lunch, we went to the Parliament building, which they didn't fix the building after it was hit during the genocide. On our way there, we saw the President drive by. Pretty cool. Then, after taking some pictures, we went to the Kigali Memorial Centre. It was more like a museum, but it still had a mass grave of about 250,000 bodies. The museum was really cool, I learned a lot. It felt a lot like the Holocaust museum in D.C. It is just so wrong what happened. It is so hard to describe the true feelings felt there, or at any of the memorials. I don't think I will ever be able to forget them.
I did some thing really interesting about going to Rwanda. For one, the difference between Rwanda and Uganda. Even though they border each other, it is a night and day difference. They don't drive as crazy in Rwanda and the infrastructure is so much better even though they are poorer than Uganda. Another thing, all of the boda's wore helmets. They even had helmets for their passengers. I thought that was pretty sweet.
One thing that was hard, was to be driving along and see people you know were alive during the genocide and had to deal with all of the consequences of it. How hard it must be for them to deal with the thing that took place 16 years ago.
That night for dinner we ate at the des Mille Collines, the same hotel that the movie Hotel Rwanda is based off of. That was pretty sweet. The hotel was super nice and food was really good. Even though it took about 2 hours to get our food, I guess they weren't prepared for 27 people (even though we made a reservation). I got chicken cordon bleu. Yummy. :)
Once we got back to the hotel, which was probably close to 10pm. I got ready for bed. As I was reading my scriptures, I came across a scripture that was so relevant to the entire day. It was in 3 Nephi 2:3. It says, “and Satan did go about leading away the hearts of the people tempting them and causing them that they should do great wickedness in the land.” This totally applies to the people of Rwanda. It was Satan that implanted the hatred in the hearts of the people that lead to the genocide.
I am so glad that I was able to go to Rwanda, it definitely was an experience of a life time. Even though it was hard to see and hear some of the things, it definitely was something I will never forget.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Look there's a lion!! Oh, nevermind, it's just a warthog.
So, this past week, we went to Queen Elizabeth National Park. What an experience that was!! I had so much fun!
On Monday, we did a LOT of driving to get to Fort Portal. We stopped at Kyaninga lodge on the way for lunch and a break. Holy Cow. What a lodge; it over looked a volcanic lake and the entire scenery was green. We ate a fantastic lunch, squash soup, yummy bread, and pork chops and potatoes. Yum... I have decided, that that was my ideal honeymoon location. It was beautiful!! We got to swim in the lake (no bilharzia!) which was awesome! The water was crystal clear and the perfect temperature.
On Tuesday, we stopped at a botanical garden also in Fort Portal. That was pretty cool, it mostly involved us walking through jungle....
We spent the rest of the day driving more down to Queen Elizabeth. When we finally arrived at our lodge, we went swimming and ate dinner.
Wednesday was the fun day. We got up super early so we could drive into the park as soon as it opened (that's when the animals are out). So, we did a game drive in the morning. We didn't see a lot of animals on the drive, mostly just Ugandan Kob. We did see 2 Ugandan cranes and 1 hyena. That was sweet. My dad was nice enough to let me drive for a while... which is totally different from driving back home. First, your steering wheel is on the opposite side, plus, there are no rules (and it's dirt). Haha
Then, after the game drive, we went to the boat ride. Now, that was sweet. We saw so many animals!! It was awesome!! Elephants, hippos, water buffalo, crocodiles, and lots of birds! We even got to see a new born hippo! So cute. But, I think I would prefer to see them behind a fence, or at least at some distance. There is just something about having a wild animal less than 10 feet away from you. After the boat ride, we went to the lodge in the park to go to the bathroom. While we were there, I remembered that it was Dad's birthday (we ALMOST forgot!)! So, we ran around in the lodge trying to find a piece of cake. Finally, we found one, so we got some people who we had met on Monday and we sang happy birthday to him. I think he really enjoyed it. I mean, how cool would it be to spend your birthday in Uganda, on a game park, seeing lost of cool animals. :)
Then, we went to get a tour of the salt lakes. On the way, we stop and see a lake covered with flamingos! It was sweet! Our tour guide took us closer to take pictures. That was sweet; it's not every day that you get to see wild flamingos in a lake. Then we went to the salt lake. Wow, I'm not sure if I want to eat salt here any more. I guess that because we are in Africa, the sanitation level is lower than back home. It was really interesting though.
Thursday, we spent the entire day driving home. Boring. Once we got into Kampala, we stopped to see the Nielson's. It was really fun to see them! We stayed there longer than we wanted to, so we got stuck in traffic coming home. After such a fun trip, it was good to be home. It's weird to think that we will be leaving this in about a week. This has become home.
Friday, we did splits with the missionaries. Because it was Sister Masaku's last Friday, we decided to get a ton of contacts. It started with 30 contacts for each companion. Then, we changed it to 50! Sister Devanish and I got 50, but Liza and Sister Masaku got 130!! I'm pretty sure we set a mission record. 180 contacts in total. It was so funny to watch them, they would literally stop every person they would see and invite them to church. It was awesome.
I'm not sure if I want this to end! It has been so much fun! I can't believe that we are going back to Utah. It feels like we are suppose to just stay here. It has been such a great opportunity, I know I have said that a lot, but it is so true. There is no way, if I had to go back in time I would want to miss this! :)
On Monday, we did a LOT of driving to get to Fort Portal. We stopped at Kyaninga lodge on the way for lunch and a break. Holy Cow. What a lodge; it over looked a volcanic lake and the entire scenery was green. We ate a fantastic lunch, squash soup, yummy bread, and pork chops and potatoes. Yum... I have decided, that that was my ideal honeymoon location. It was beautiful!! We got to swim in the lake (no bilharzia!) which was awesome! The water was crystal clear and the perfect temperature.
On Tuesday, we stopped at a botanical garden also in Fort Portal. That was pretty cool, it mostly involved us walking through jungle....
We spent the rest of the day driving more down to Queen Elizabeth. When we finally arrived at our lodge, we went swimming and ate dinner.
Wednesday was the fun day. We got up super early so we could drive into the park as soon as it opened (that's when the animals are out). So, we did a game drive in the morning. We didn't see a lot of animals on the drive, mostly just Ugandan Kob. We did see 2 Ugandan cranes and 1 hyena. That was sweet. My dad was nice enough to let me drive for a while... which is totally different from driving back home. First, your steering wheel is on the opposite side, plus, there are no rules (and it's dirt). Haha
Then, after the game drive, we went to the boat ride. Now, that was sweet. We saw so many animals!! It was awesome!! Elephants, hippos, water buffalo, crocodiles, and lots of birds! We even got to see a new born hippo! So cute. But, I think I would prefer to see them behind a fence, or at least at some distance. There is just something about having a wild animal less than 10 feet away from you. After the boat ride, we went to the lodge in the park to go to the bathroom. While we were there, I remembered that it was Dad's birthday (we ALMOST forgot!)! So, we ran around in the lodge trying to find a piece of cake. Finally, we found one, so we got some people who we had met on Monday and we sang happy birthday to him. I think he really enjoyed it. I mean, how cool would it be to spend your birthday in Uganda, on a game park, seeing lost of cool animals. :)
Then, we went to get a tour of the salt lakes. On the way, we stop and see a lake covered with flamingos! It was sweet! Our tour guide took us closer to take pictures. That was sweet; it's not every day that you get to see wild flamingos in a lake. Then we went to the salt lake. Wow, I'm not sure if I want to eat salt here any more. I guess that because we are in Africa, the sanitation level is lower than back home. It was really interesting though.
Thursday, we spent the entire day driving home. Boring. Once we got into Kampala, we stopped to see the Nielson's. It was really fun to see them! We stayed there longer than we wanted to, so we got stuck in traffic coming home. After such a fun trip, it was good to be home. It's weird to think that we will be leaving this in about a week. This has become home.
Friday, we did splits with the missionaries. Because it was Sister Masaku's last Friday, we decided to get a ton of contacts. It started with 30 contacts for each companion. Then, we changed it to 50! Sister Devanish and I got 50, but Liza and Sister Masaku got 130!! I'm pretty sure we set a mission record. 180 contacts in total. It was so funny to watch them, they would literally stop every person they would see and invite them to church. It was awesome.
I'm not sure if I want this to end! It has been so much fun! I can't believe that we are going back to Utah. It feels like we are suppose to just stay here. It has been such a great opportunity, I know I have said that a lot, but it is so true. There is no way, if I had to go back in time I would want to miss this! :)
Thursday, July 7, 2011
I'm Proud to be an American
It has been really interesting being over seas during the 4th of July. That has always been one of my favorite holidays, going down to the neighborhood party and watching the fireworks....
At first, I was really skeptical about being here for the 4th of July. I was thinking it would be nothing like home (duh), which kind of made me sad. Fortunately, we are surrounded with such great people here on campus, that are also American who wanted to celebrate with us! We got a whole party planned... even down to the fireworks (which were really suppose to be candles that you put on cakes, but they acted like fireworks).
We had such fun time!! The food everyone brought was fantastic!!! We made sloppy joes and chocolate cake. Karen made baked macaroni and cheese and jello jigglers. It was so fun to get together with everyone. After eating we sang some songs. It was hilarious because we sang the national anthem, but we forgot to stand up. Dale made a comment on how we are in Africa, so we don't need to stand up. :) But Karen made us stand up and sing it again.
I have become very grateful for being a part of such a wonderful country. I mean, having been here in a totally different country, it has made me realize just how blessed we are. Also, I have been reading 1776 for AP US History and that also has made me more aware just how blessed and lucky we are to actually be a country, the sacrifices and miracles that happened during the Revolution. It still is amazing to me.
Now, I can truly sing the words of the song "I'm Proud to be an American" and be honest in singing them. There is something about being away from your hometown and country that makes you realize just how blessed you are, especially, if the country you move to is in Africa. :)
At first, I was really skeptical about being here for the 4th of July. I was thinking it would be nothing like home (duh), which kind of made me sad. Fortunately, we are surrounded with such great people here on campus, that are also American who wanted to celebrate with us! We got a whole party planned... even down to the fireworks (which were really suppose to be candles that you put on cakes, but they acted like fireworks).
We had such fun time!! The food everyone brought was fantastic!!! We made sloppy joes and chocolate cake. Karen made baked macaroni and cheese and jello jigglers. It was so fun to get together with everyone. After eating we sang some songs. It was hilarious because we sang the national anthem, but we forgot to stand up. Dale made a comment on how we are in Africa, so we don't need to stand up. :) But Karen made us stand up and sing it again.
I have become very grateful for being a part of such a wonderful country. I mean, having been here in a totally different country, it has made me realize just how blessed we are. Also, I have been reading 1776 for AP US History and that also has made me more aware just how blessed and lucky we are to actually be a country, the sacrifices and miracles that happened during the Revolution. It still is amazing to me.
Now, I can truly sing the words of the song "I'm Proud to be an American" and be honest in singing them. There is something about being away from your hometown and country that makes you realize just how blessed you are, especially, if the country you move to is in Africa. :)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
"Is this [place] sanitary, it looks questionable to me!"
Today, I had the amazing opportunity to go to the Mulago National Hospital with the nursing students here at UCU. Holy Cow....
Let's just say that it wouldn't pass ANY heath inspection in the states. We got to the hospital at about 9:30am and I then shadowed a nurse and his patient. All of the nurses were to find a patient, in a specific ward they were assigned and be with them the entire day. Our patient was involved in a boda-boda accident and had 4 fractures in her hip and dislocated her ankle. She wasn't able to move at all, so we had to everything for her. Luckily, she wasn't in high demand of anything.
One thing with the hospital, is that there is no separte rooms for any of the patients, there is just rows of beds. And, all of the patients have to supply their own sheets, pillows, food, and wash them selves. So, if anyone in your family is admitted into the hospital here, the entire family comes to camp at the hospital, no joke.
Some funny things that happened during the day:
We had come to give Rehema (our patient) an injection of pain killers. After we had given it to her, the lady on the bed next to us told us that she hadn't gotten here pain killers for the day. Edson looked at her file and found no record of any injections given to her. He went to go find out what to do... once he came back, he got the injection ready. The lady asked if it was ok, he said, "No, but we need to keep our patient happy." haha woops, hopefully the lady survives.
We were right by the bathrooms, which smelled purely of urine and there was a tracks from people walking into and out of them (presumably urine tracks). Pretty gross.
There was one lady there that looked like she got burned pretty bad. When the doctors came to clean the burns, it was obvious she was in loads of pain. She was yelling, "Jesus! Oh, Jesus Christ come to my side." over and over again. It just about broke my heart, I wanted to at least pull a curtain around her, but for the lack of curtains...
I have to say: what an experience!! I am grateful that the hospitals in America are more sanitary. I'm not sure if I would be able to handle being a nurse in a place like Mulago Hospital. I guess that these experiences are only those you can have in Africa!!
Let's just say that it wouldn't pass ANY heath inspection in the states. We got to the hospital at about 9:30am and I then shadowed a nurse and his patient. All of the nurses were to find a patient, in a specific ward they were assigned and be with them the entire day. Our patient was involved in a boda-boda accident and had 4 fractures in her hip and dislocated her ankle. She wasn't able to move at all, so we had to everything for her. Luckily, she wasn't in high demand of anything.
One thing with the hospital, is that there is no separte rooms for any of the patients, there is just rows of beds. And, all of the patients have to supply their own sheets, pillows, food, and wash them selves. So, if anyone in your family is admitted into the hospital here, the entire family comes to camp at the hospital, no joke.
Some funny things that happened during the day:
We had come to give Rehema (our patient) an injection of pain killers. After we had given it to her, the lady on the bed next to us told us that she hadn't gotten here pain killers for the day. Edson looked at her file and found no record of any injections given to her. He went to go find out what to do... once he came back, he got the injection ready. The lady asked if it was ok, he said, "No, but we need to keep our patient happy." haha woops, hopefully the lady survives.
We were right by the bathrooms, which smelled purely of urine and there was a tracks from people walking into and out of them (presumably urine tracks). Pretty gross.
There was one lady there that looked like she got burned pretty bad. When the doctors came to clean the burns, it was obvious she was in loads of pain. She was yelling, "Jesus! Oh, Jesus Christ come to my side." over and over again. It just about broke my heart, I wanted to at least pull a curtain around her, but for the lack of curtains...
I have to say: what an experience!! I am grateful that the hospitals in America are more sanitary. I'm not sure if I would be able to handle being a nurse in a place like Mulago Hospital. I guess that these experiences are only those you can have in Africa!!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
"Does that monkey have a blue butt?"
This first week of summer has been great!!! It totally feels like summer where the days blend together and trying to remember what had happened the previous day is a challenge (or maybe that's just me).
On Tuesday, Liza and I went to Lugazi with Martin to help with the Help International Students. The bummer was, they weren't really doing anything, so we just chilled the whole day. We didn't end up leaving until 8:30 (it was a long day)! Liza got to experience the public transport for the first time.... :) She was extremely lucky, because on the way back, we had about 26 people in the taxi which is normally only able to hold 14. Even I was shocked. That's not something that happens to you everyday....
The rest of the week was really a blur. I have been doing a lot of things for back home (which is already stressing me out, and we haven't even gotten home yet!). The other night, as I was lying in my bed, I was thinking about how much I really am going to miss it here. I was so sure, before coming, that I would just jump on the plane, and not even give a second glance back.... how wrong I was. Like my mom has said multiple times, "I love it here!! Let's not go back!" I'm not sure about the not going back, but I will be leaving a part of my heart here. I hope one day I can come and get it back. It is just so hard to explain! How I wish I could write my feelings down, but there isn't words to describe the life here. Sure, it has had it's downs, but this has become home!
On Thursday, we spent the entire day in Kampala. We had some errands to run in the morning, but once we were finished with those, we headed out to the zoo in Entebbe to meet up with Beth and David. I have to say, I was really impressed with the zoo. We had such a fun time!!! I mean, it's not like in zoo's back home you have monkeys running wild, and zebra's, ostrage's, and antalop all in the same area. That, and the only thing separating you from the lions is a 10ft moat and a 4ft fence... :) not scary at all! Also, we got to ride a camel! Wow... I'm not sure if I would want to ride one frequently. Let me tell you, it's not as easy as it looks. It was still fun though.
As you probably can tell, it has been so much fun!! It is so sad to think of the 4 remaining weeks. I will always treasure these memories and be grateful for this opportunity we had to come to live in Uganda Africa.
On Tuesday, Liza and I went to Lugazi with Martin to help with the Help International Students. The bummer was, they weren't really doing anything, so we just chilled the whole day. We didn't end up leaving until 8:30 (it was a long day)! Liza got to experience the public transport for the first time.... :) She was extremely lucky, because on the way back, we had about 26 people in the taxi which is normally only able to hold 14. Even I was shocked. That's not something that happens to you everyday....
The rest of the week was really a blur. I have been doing a lot of things for back home (which is already stressing me out, and we haven't even gotten home yet!). The other night, as I was lying in my bed, I was thinking about how much I really am going to miss it here. I was so sure, before coming, that I would just jump on the plane, and not even give a second glance back.... how wrong I was. Like my mom has said multiple times, "I love it here!! Let's not go back!" I'm not sure about the not going back, but I will be leaving a part of my heart here. I hope one day I can come and get it back. It is just so hard to explain! How I wish I could write my feelings down, but there isn't words to describe the life here. Sure, it has had it's downs, but this has become home!
On Thursday, we spent the entire day in Kampala. We had some errands to run in the morning, but once we were finished with those, we headed out to the zoo in Entebbe to meet up with Beth and David. I have to say, I was really impressed with the zoo. We had such a fun time!!! I mean, it's not like in zoo's back home you have monkeys running wild, and zebra's, ostrage's, and antalop all in the same area. That, and the only thing separating you from the lions is a 10ft moat and a 4ft fence... :) not scary at all! Also, we got to ride a camel! Wow... I'm not sure if I would want to ride one frequently. Let me tell you, it's not as easy as it looks. It was still fun though.
As you probably can tell, it has been so much fun!! It is so sad to think of the 4 remaining weeks. I will always treasure these memories and be grateful for this opportunity we had to come to live in Uganda Africa.
Monday, June 20, 2011
So Long, Farewell
If you had asked me a month ago whether or not I would miss school, I would’ve said “No way!” I never thought that I would miss my school. Now that it’s over, I actually miss all of my friends and going into school each morning. Crazy me. ☺
The last week of school flew by! Wednesday and Thursday was Maths day (personally, I think it was a waste of time). We didn’t do anything but play cards and talk. It was so fun! I really have made so many wonderful friends! I am so sad to leave them all!
Friday… our last day of school… we had our awards assembly. I got Highest Honours (I was completely shocked!). That made me happy. I have been stressing about my grades and them transferring (ask my dad). Anyway, after school and all the saying good-byes; Aaron, Liza and I all decided to jump into the pool with our uniforms on. We decided to be rebellious… ☺ My mom took us picture, but she missed on the 1st try, so we had to jump again.
On Saturday morning, I went to Mor’s house. Holy Cow, and I though we had a nice house for Africa. It was like I was in the river bottom’s houses! I had the greatest time with her. We made smoothies, ate cake, ate crackers and cheese, and talked. She is the sweetest person! I absolutely love her!!
A part from school, I spent a lot of the week up at Alyssa's house. I am very sad to see her leave, but I know that she will have such a fun time back in the states. She really has been such a blessing here, I'm not sure if I would've survived. In leaving, she gave me a jewelery box in the shape of Africa. I will miss her so much and look forward to seeing her soon (we have planned a road trip from Seattle to Provo).
Saying good-bye is hard! I am realizing that more and more. Having to say good-bye to all of my school friends, Alyssa, and soon the Buttons has been difficult. It would be in my wildest dreams if I could see them again
. I am continually grateful for this opportunity that we have been able to have. I wish that every single person could have this experience.
The last week of school flew by! Wednesday and Thursday was Maths day (personally, I think it was a waste of time). We didn’t do anything but play cards and talk. It was so fun! I really have made so many wonderful friends! I am so sad to leave them all!
Friday… our last day of school… we had our awards assembly. I got Highest Honours (I was completely shocked!). That made me happy. I have been stressing about my grades and them transferring (ask my dad). Anyway, after school and all the saying good-byes; Aaron, Liza and I all decided to jump into the pool with our uniforms on. We decided to be rebellious… ☺ My mom took us picture, but she missed on the 1st try, so we had to jump again.
On Saturday morning, I went to Mor’s house. Holy Cow, and I though we had a nice house for Africa. It was like I was in the river bottom’s houses! I had the greatest time with her. We made smoothies, ate cake, ate crackers and cheese, and talked. She is the sweetest person! I absolutely love her!!
A part from school, I spent a lot of the week up at Alyssa's house. I am very sad to see her leave, but I know that she will have such a fun time back in the states. She really has been such a blessing here, I'm not sure if I would've survived. In leaving, she gave me a jewelery box in the shape of Africa. I will miss her so much and look forward to seeing her soon (we have planned a road trip from Seattle to Provo).
Saying good-bye is hard! I am realizing that more and more. Having to say good-bye to all of my school friends, Alyssa, and soon the Buttons has been difficult. It would be in my wildest dreams if I could see them again
. I am continually grateful for this opportunity that we have been able to have. I wish that every single person could have this experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)