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! :)
Sunday, July 17, 2011
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.
Cheesecake!!! :)
The last 2 weeks of school were really pointless…. we did absolutely nothing. My mom let us stay home from school on Friday and Monday. On Friday I went with Camera to the clinic. The public transport was very interesting. The taxi’s weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. If you have problems with space and become claustrophobic easily... I’d advice not ever taking a taxi. We stopped at the taxi park in Lugazi to pick up the Help International students. While we were waiting for them, this random guy came up to me. This is what he said, “I want this, this is what I want.” (pointing to me) He kept going on and on about how he wanted to marry me. Wow, first marriage proposal, not exactly how I pictured it. We spent the entire afternoon at the clinic attending a meeting that was in Luganda so we couldn’t understand it. What a day!
On Saturday, there was a wedding at church. It was suppose to start 12, but it didn’t end up starting until 1… totally Ugandan culture…. and lasted until 6. What an experience. We had to leave early because we went to Alyssa’s house for dinner. That was wonderful! They made yummy hamburgers with cheetos! Ahh, I didn’t realize how much I missed the small things like cheetos. Also for dessert, they made cheesecake!! They have heard me rant about how much I miss cheesecake (since the first week here!). It was SO sweet of them! They have been so nice! I am so glad that they have been here!
Monday, we got to stay home! I love my mom! ☺ I didn’t really do anything…. Still it was wonderful! I got to babysit the Scully’s and Button’s with Alyssa. That was really fun. What sweet kids they are!
I can’t believe that we only have another month and ½!!! How time has flown.
On Saturday, there was a wedding at church. It was suppose to start 12, but it didn’t end up starting until 1… totally Ugandan culture…. and lasted until 6. What an experience. We had to leave early because we went to Alyssa’s house for dinner. That was wonderful! They made yummy hamburgers with cheetos! Ahh, I didn’t realize how much I missed the small things like cheetos. Also for dessert, they made cheesecake!! They have heard me rant about how much I miss cheesecake (since the first week here!). It was SO sweet of them! They have been so nice! I am so glad that they have been here!
Monday, we got to stay home! I love my mom! ☺ I didn’t really do anything…. Still it was wonderful! I got to babysit the Scully’s and Button’s with Alyssa. That was really fun. What sweet kids they are!
I can’t believe that we only have another month and ½!!! How time has flown.
Friday, June 3, 2011
"Give me more Jesus"
This week has definitely been an eventful one.
For starters, it was exam week (all of the stress and pressure); I learned so much about the British system (and I thought I had learned a lot from just going to school). I still don't like it.
On Monday, we get to school and we take attendance and then head straight down to the Hall (where are exams were to be held). We all walk into the Hall, and I see row after row of desks and chairs. I have to say that Monday was torture because I had an English exam first (in which I wrote 6 1/2 pages) then I had 2 History exams (in the first one I wrote 7 pages and in the second, I wrote 8). I about lost it at the end. My hand was hurting like crazy! When I got home, I went to the Scully's to babysit. I was there from 5-10:30. Their kids really are the cutest ever! Once I put them to bed, I was starting to fall asleep on the couch. It was the best though because they paid me in a huge bag of twixs! Ahh, they were so good! They literally helped me get through the week.
The rest of the week went ok. I had a math exam on Tuesday that was frustrating. Oh, well. On Wednesday I had another math exam and a physics exam. Thursday I finished it off with Chem and Bio exams. I really don't know what to think of the exams, I guess we'll just have to wait for the results. Only 2 more weeks of school! Yeah!
Yesterday, after we got home from school, we went to see Betty and Paul and their chicks. They were UGLY!! I'm sorry, but they were. They smelt disgusting and their fur was falling out in places! I now know that I don't want baby chicks.
Once we got home I went up to Alyssa's house to hang out (which we haven't been able to do in a while due to exams). I had a BLAST!! We laughed so hard! I think there were times when we both couldn't stop laughing at stupid things. :) What else are friends good for? haha She literally is the best! I am so grateful that she has been here for me! I don't know what I would've done without her! She has been there for me when I needed a friend (especially last night). I am definitely going to miss her when we leaves in 2 weeks. I might just go insane without her!
Today, was a national holiday (Martyr's Day), we didn't have school, thank goodness! We went to Jinja with the other expat family in UCU. It was so much fun! We went to Kingfisher (a super nice resort on lake Victoria) and spent the morning there. We went on a cool boat ride (at first we weren't sure if we would survive) on the Lake and up the Nile a bit. We saw some pretty cool birds and fisher...
Then we went back to the resort and swam. That was fun. I miss swimming for fun. I don't really get that opportunity at school (dang it). After that, we went with Beth and her son Jake to down town Jinja and ate at this really nice Indian restaurant. We then went to all the small shops and bought some things (I got these really cute giraffe and elephant earrings as well as a "My name is not Mzungu" t-shirt). I had so much fun!! I can hardly wait to be out of school for the SUMMER! :)
*If you're confused by the title.... lets just say that the Ugandan people say some pretty funny things
For starters, it was exam week (all of the stress and pressure); I learned so much about the British system (and I thought I had learned a lot from just going to school). I still don't like it.
On Monday, we get to school and we take attendance and then head straight down to the Hall (where are exams were to be held). We all walk into the Hall, and I see row after row of desks and chairs. I have to say that Monday was torture because I had an English exam first (in which I wrote 6 1/2 pages) then I had 2 History exams (in the first one I wrote 7 pages and in the second, I wrote 8). I about lost it at the end. My hand was hurting like crazy! When I got home, I went to the Scully's to babysit. I was there from 5-10:30. Their kids really are the cutest ever! Once I put them to bed, I was starting to fall asleep on the couch. It was the best though because they paid me in a huge bag of twixs! Ahh, they were so good! They literally helped me get through the week.
The rest of the week went ok. I had a math exam on Tuesday that was frustrating. Oh, well. On Wednesday I had another math exam and a physics exam. Thursday I finished it off with Chem and Bio exams. I really don't know what to think of the exams, I guess we'll just have to wait for the results. Only 2 more weeks of school! Yeah!
Yesterday, after we got home from school, we went to see Betty and Paul and their chicks. They were UGLY!! I'm sorry, but they were. They smelt disgusting and their fur was falling out in places! I now know that I don't want baby chicks.
Once we got home I went up to Alyssa's house to hang out (which we haven't been able to do in a while due to exams). I had a BLAST!! We laughed so hard! I think there were times when we both couldn't stop laughing at stupid things. :) What else are friends good for? haha She literally is the best! I am so grateful that she has been here for me! I don't know what I would've done without her! She has been there for me when I needed a friend (especially last night). I am definitely going to miss her when we leaves in 2 weeks. I might just go insane without her!
Today, was a national holiday (Martyr's Day), we didn't have school, thank goodness! We went to Jinja with the other expat family in UCU. It was so much fun! We went to Kingfisher (a super nice resort on lake Victoria) and spent the morning there. We went on a cool boat ride (at first we weren't sure if we would survive) on the Lake and up the Nile a bit. We saw some pretty cool birds and fisher...
Then we went back to the resort and swam. That was fun. I miss swimming for fun. I don't really get that opportunity at school (dang it). After that, we went with Beth and her son Jake to down town Jinja and ate at this really nice Indian restaurant. We then went to all the small shops and bought some things (I got these really cute giraffe and elephant earrings as well as a "My name is not Mzungu" t-shirt). I had so much fun!! I can hardly wait to be out of school for the SUMMER! :)
*If you're confused by the title.... lets just say that the Ugandan people say some pretty funny things
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