Monday, April 23, 2012

Thursday: DeLaura Vs Mr. Kitty

The Landscape in Uganda is gorgeous. The People are Friendly. The food is delicious. The animals are another matter. I am beginning to believe animals of Uganda hate me. First it was the Narcissistic rooster then it was the constipated cow that plotted to sleep deprive me into a mental institution. But lucky for me I sleep harder the more sleep deprived I am. Ha ha! But I have been tested once again. This time with one of Americas most loved animal the devils spawn AKA a tabby Cat! The day started off as the ones before it, rooster, cow, malevolent thoughts, breakfast, coffee, and then happiness. We went to the school excited as always. Although there was a touch of gloom because we knew that there was only one more day left. Today’s lesson was personalizing learning. We taught techniques such as survey graph and design your own coat of arms. The time and detail the teachers put into their coat of arms made me almost shed a tear. I was touched by their account of what they found important enough to put on their coat of arms. At the end of the day we were invited to go to the founder, John Wanda, parent’s home. Never have I met better people. They were soooo nice! They cooked us a huge meal of delicious treats. 
 They spoke to us about the village and their family. I knew once I met them I would never forget them.I also will never forget their cat. A cat that seemed so innocent meowing at me with huge eyes and a seemingly sweet disposition was actually, in my opinion, laughing at me. I am allergic to cats. I sneeze and get watery eyed whenever near them. So what did this cat want to do, cozy on next to me -_- . When I tried to subtly shoo it away it gave me an evil look that warned me to not try that again. But I am not going to fear a small feline that I could pick up with one hand. The cat finally left. Thinking I finally had won I settled into getting down with my scrumptious meal. But when I paused for breath I looked up to the most horrified situations of my life. Mr. Tabby scaled the walls to a high perch above my comfortable position on the couch. The cat gave me a wicked kitty grin and proceeded to dive bomb my position. Touché mister kitty, Touché. 
      

Wednesday's come to soon


Wednesday’s in the US are usually the worse days of the week. To me it’s worse than Mondays because unlike Monday, on Wednesday you can see a glimpse of  light at the end of the weekday tunnel, but only a glimpse. It’s a rude tease that’s cruel and torture on my soul. But it is crazy, in Uganda it was completely opposite. I was sad to reach Wednesday so quick even with the narcissistic rooster and the constipated cow. Forgot to add on Tuesday a cow, who did not want to be out done by the obnoxious rooster, decided to add his two cents in and join in the roosters jolly games of rude behavior. The cow would mooo relentlessly from sun up to sun down. I believe it was a plot to turn me mental.

Today’s seminar was on making the notebook interactive. We introduced techniques such as the KWL chart, weaver, Flip book, rooster game (aka Hangman) which they really seemed to take a liking too. Two more days to go :-( 

Tuesday: DeLaura vs The Narcissistic Rooster


I was woken up at 2 am, 4am, and 5 am by a narcissistic rooster who I believe was beginning to taunt me. The nervousness of the seminars has left after yesterday’s success. But my calm demeanor was slowly beginning to dissipate as that blasted rooster cooka doodle dooed the morning away. I shook off my pre-coffee blues and began the morning as I did the day before. A yummy breakfast of peanut butter honey and banana over bread with a large cup of Uganda’s infamous coffee and finally the day began to look bright. Today’s seminar was on increasing student engagement. A topic that is universally important. I introduced the BINGO song. It was amazing to see the excitement in the teacher’s eyes as they recited this song. Seeing the glow in their eyes made my malevolent plans the narcissistic rooster disappear. I don’t want to leave Uganda.

Mondays Can be the Best Days!!


I woke up this morning feeling apprehension and nervousness. It’s the first day of the seminar. What if they do not like me? What if they don’t understand my fast almost indistinguishable dialect? What if I trip and fall on stage? What if…what if…what if!! The scenarios that played in my head got worse and worse as I continued to broad on the upcoming day’s events. I got up sponged off the night’s sleep and tried to (unsuccessfully) put my worries to the back of my head. Breakfast consisted of honey, peanut butter, and banana smeared over fresh Ugandan bread. I also two cups of freshly brewed Uganda coffee. This coffee was the BEST coffee I had ever had in my life. I felt the caffeine seep into my system. The jitters hit me before my system could register the beautiful glory that was in my cup.  Suddenly the day did not seem so daunting. And it was over all a GREAT day! Our lesson for the seminar was the big reveal which is adding surprise to your lesson. The teachers responded well. Although at times I spoke entirely to fast it was a success. One day down 4 more to go.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday: We tried our best to adjust to the time change, but it was very hard. Good thing Yaya, their adorable puppy, was around a lot. Delaura was absolutely in love with her! We spent most of the day walking around the village and observe the culture. We took the opportunity to prepare at the school AAH, and set up for our week of school.

Sunday: Mount Nusu!
Kate told the group that it would take about an hour to climb up Nusu. False. It took 2 hours to climb up. On the way we discovered new fruits to try and over looked the villages and huts. It's amazing how people there climb all the way the mountain and down to get water and food. We met a bunch of children on the way down. One gave me a small stick to walk with, which I thought was adorable.

It took a total of 4-5 hours of this trip. My skin definitely paid for it later in the week.

Friday- Day 3

We stayed up all night until 6:00 am- Ugandan time.
7 am: Melideo wakes us up and finds us passed out- curled up in a ball.

30 minutes later I quickly wake up and get ready. At this time I am starting to feel queezy. I frantically packed up my things and went to breakfast. For breakfast we had coffee and tea with omlets- the yolk in their eggs are white!

After breakfast Emma takes us to convert our money. I planned on taking a lot out for shopping. And boy I did! We spent the 4-6 hours in a huge van traveling to the village. It's amazing seeing the different villages on the way there. There was a lot of butchering.

6 hours later I wake up to bumpyness and look out of my window- we finally reached the village. The Ugandans looked at us as if we were Mazugus... White people.

Welcome to Uganda!

We gather up our group, including Lacey who we met on the plane. She is really nice and very sweet. As soon as we go inside the airport, I had to pay the expect $50 to enter the country. I received my first stamp in my passport and my first finger print in a new country!

Lacey leads us to our driver, named Emma who is a graduate from Arlington Academy of Hope.
By this time it is midnight in Uganda and it took us about 45 minutes to arrive to the Fairway Hotel. Driving here was absolutely crazy! It amazes me how the people there just walk in the streets while cars and bota-botas are driving.

We finally arrive to Fairway Hotel in Kampala- very beautiful with statues and carvings of animals and village women.

Our rooms;
Melideo has a single room while the rest of the girls shared one room. We ended up building a huge fortress with our mosquito netting.

I skyped yanni and Britney, his girlfriend. After that we played hours of Go Fish. Delaura made a funny comment about the game saying "Why go fish? What am I fishing?"

Day 2- Welcome to Brussels

7 am their time.

The flight attendants greeted us with a chipper good morning announcement. I look outside and Brussels is beautiful when it is lit up at night. I grab a coffee and relax as the plane lands on the strip- still amazed I am awake and have not slept yet. It's about 3am at home. Woah

We got off the plane and it's 9 degrees outside. Insane! Melideo is the first to leave of the group. She waits for the rest of us at the end of the tram. Once we have our group gathered together, we head up for T69- a bus picks us up from the airport to take us to our next destination

7:45 am... Waiting...
I noticed a lot of women who were dressed in Ugandan clothes. i loved the different patterns and textures they wore.
We all go to our gate and sit and wait for 3 hours for our flight to Kampala. I tried to connect to the Internet but it was way too complicated to create a log-in and password in Belgian. Sophia, Delaura, Melideo and I played 2 card games of Speedy.

10:45 Take off
I sat next to a gentleman who looks like he belonged in a Russian mafia. We didn't exchange words the entire flight- except is I had to use the bathroom.

8 hours of the flight...
I wanted to stay awake for the beginning of the flight to see the view from the window. I drifted off for a few hours and when I woke up, I saw beautiful mountains. I had no idea where we were but I could not stop looking.

The Journey Begins- Going To Uganda. Day 1

Wednesday January 11th:
3:00

Mom, Dad, Ms. Lynn take me to Dulles Airport to meet with Melideo, Sophia, and Delaura. The entire ride, Mom was full of nerves. When I got to the airport, Deluara was the only other person there from our group. We waited around and talked about how excited we were to travel over seas for the first time.

Melideo and Sophia finally came. Mom started to cry as we were going to get our bags checked- I mean hysterically crying. I called Yanni, my brother, and gave me last several goodbyes to everyone.

5:00
Boarding the plane.
Sophia and I went to the airports PotBelly- delicious! I was still full from my dinner so I just got a strawberry and banana smoothie with yogurt. I messaged Yanni to let him know that I was about to board the plane.

We board the plane. It takes forever to put my carry on in the compartments. It took me a good 10 minutes to find an available one.

5:45 Take off
For the next 8 hours- going to Brussels, Belgium, I am placed directly across from Sophia and next to a woman and her little daughter who was about 4 years old. I had to get in and out of my seat for this woman and her child- who could not make up her mind of wanting to stay seated or discover the airplane. I understand the girl was young and she was antsy, but I literally counted 12 times throughout the entire flight of how many times I had to get in and out of my seat.

Luckily, the movie selection on the back of the seats kept me occupied for the majority of the time. I watched some movies that have just been released like Something Borrowed, 30 Minutes or Less, and Seasons of Park and Recreations.

We were served dinner that night which was a choice of chicken or pasta- I chose pasta. I didn't really care for it but I shouldn't be complaining. The meals came with a small salad with ranch dressing, bread, and a small walnut brownie.

I eventually made my way over to sit with Sophia since she had an extra seat next to her. I was exhausted but I did not sleep at all during that plane ride

SATURDAY to SUNDAY

Words to describe the journey home:
long
hot
sad
hugs
dusty
bumpy
sweaty
annoying

irritating
dirty
confusing
strange
removed
distant
homesick
uncomfortable
TOTALLY WORTH IT!

its FRIDAY. friday.FRIday.... looking forward to the weekend

We did writing for life today. Or at least that was the topic of the day. It started off a little slow. Last day of school should feel like more fun right... a job well done, a new chance to start something new the next time... but it wasn't really. There was this weird tickle-y feeling at the bottom of my belly that I just couldn't shake.
It was time to start walking back up the hill to the school. It was oddly quiet that morning. It was cold and I had regretted not grabbing some sort of jacket to keep the goose-pimples away. The smell of cow manure and dirt made the tickle-y feeling go away and I kept playing flashbacks of the week in my head. The first time I'd ever been in a mini-van for that amount of time with people I had just met and my PROFESSOR! Wild ride over that knocked a tooth loose.... I think (but not really). We made it to school just as the sun peaked over the top of mount Nusu (that wily lump of land). We planned to do the story carousel today. I was looking forward to getting to read a story but extremely nervous about reading the story to adults... who of course just happened to be teachers. We did a play-by-play of everything we had done over the week. We talked about the writing process and graphic organizers that we use in the states to help start writing. Then came my favorite part. "THE BIG REVEAL!" Finally all those days of hunting teachers from the workshop down to take their picture was about to pay off. All the confused stares and weak smiles swirled about with eye brow lifts and questions. They loved, and I mean LOVED the fact that after all that, they got to keep these awesome pictures of themselves. They wrote these beautiful narratives about themselves. The day ended or at least I thought it had ended with a raffle of everything we had left over. It was a fire sale of epic proportions. We thanked them for coming to the workshop... we voiced with the highest sincerity that we learned much more from them than we had words to thank them with. I started to tear up a bit but fought off the emotion with a quick lip bite and a deep breath.
Lunch now. Its raining outside and everyone seems to be lingering. I've never seen it rain in Uganda. I wondered what it felt like and grabbed the girls for a walk outside. I jumped into the rain feet first.
The teachers called us back in. Strange I thought. They pulled us back on stage and now it was their turn to thank us. Something I had not expected. I cried. It was beautiful and encouraging and it gave me that warm fuzzy feeling inside.
Hugs were exchanged and hand shaken.
The day was officially over. Back home now.... time to pack.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

thursday


Personalizing Learning
We played “hangman” today… we changed the name to “rooster”. It was hard to disassociate the word with the game. They really enjoyed playing the game. It was a pretty good laugh. This was one of those attention grabbing games that I could definitely see them using in their classroom. I am looking forward to seeing what words they choose.
Moses came to the front and did the word “psychology”. It was really nice to see their enthusiasm for this game. This was a quick fun game the students could play by themselves or a great teacher guided activity.
I introduced the “Check-In” game. You simply go around the room and you have the students, and in this case teachers, say their first name and one word to describe their day or mood. For example… Sophia Happy. So we broke the teachers down into 4 groups and had them check-in with us. One teacher in particular was very sweet and said his name and then said “thankful” and I had to stop myself from tearing up.
Another moment that I found myself close to tears was when we did the coat of arms. Their coat of arms were all unique and interesting and wonderful. They really loved talking about who they were through symbols and it showed me how awesome it would be to do this activity in my own classroom. It is a great way to really get to know those around you without doing a ten hour interview.

Wednesday: Making the Notebook Interactive

This is a big day for us. We spent hours preparing ways to show the teachers how we manipulated the note book in the classroom. I was exceptionally excited to see if they would use it in their own classroom and if they thought it effective. Delaura explained the KWL and the "there was a hole song", I did the word web, flip book and the timeline, Kiki did the word weaver and the accordion, and Dr.Melideo took over the rest. They really liked learning about activities they could do with the weaver. Having the letters hidden to "reveal" this long word was great. I got the chance to show them how to put it in the notebooks. It was challenging standing in front of all those teachers and trying to demonstrate how they can do this in their classroom. The restrictions of not having many resources at my disposal forced my creativity. 

Turns out I'm a regular Macgyver (reference to the mountain climbing expedition: I fashioned a t-shirt into a water bottle holder and a make shift knee brace. snaps!). 

I took the pages of the book and folded them, then made small tears perpendicular to the direction of the fold, I then wrote a word between the folds and showed everyone before doing the next step. Then I wove in the paper and had them guess the word. I explained that this was helpful in two ways; one the student could guess a word similar to the hidden word (ie. mouse, and they guess moose) and compare the two when the hidden word is revealed.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Tuesday

I was surprised to see how much they enjoyed signing! Even more interesting how quickly Delaura and Kiki and I all picked up on it and enjoyed it. The day was a particularly warm one. It may have been because of my sunburn but I was feeling the heat that day. I remember my shirt touching the top of my shoulders and causing me great discomfort. The sun near the equator is more intense than I thought. The others in the room didn't seem to notice the heat. Dr. Melideo was signing bathroom. She showed them the sign and had them repeat. She explained that it was a great way to have the students send a message without disrupting the class that they needed to use the restroom. The minute she said restroom all the teachers broke out in laughter. It reminded me that having to go "potty" was funny where ever you find yourself. We worked on ways the teacher could increase student engagement that day. Kiki did hop scotch, Delaura did Bingo, and I showed them how to play the headache game. The headache game is a math game. You take three numbers that can be multiplied together for example: 3 x 2 = 6. The cards had 3, 2, and 6 on them. The product or highest number of the three cards had a star, 6*. I played the game with Kiki and Delaura in front of all the teachers. I wasn't as nervous as the first day which helped because I stumbled over the explanation of the game a bit. We each had a card and place the card on our foreheads without looking at the number on the other side. This meant that I could see Delaura and Kiki's card but not my own. Kiki had a 3. Delaura had a 2. I in turn had to use my deduction skills to guess what number was on my forehead. At first I was not sure if they understood the game so breaking the teachers into groups and trying it with them in small groups helped me see where I needed to make my explanation of the game stronger. I'm slowly learning how to explain things in a way that is easy for them to process. The language barrier isn't a huge gap. I think I need to slow down the way I communicate. I may be talking too fast. They really liked the game. When we had them come to the stage and demonstrate the games each of us showed them a lot of the teachers did the headache game... and I think they did a great job of explaining it... which meant with practice they had already mastered the concept and could teach it. I hope they use it in their classrooms. The teachers really appeared to enjoy it!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

oh... Hello. I wasn't expecting all of this... AMAZING-NESS!

FRIDAY
Breakfast was held on the top of hotel. A huge stork landed on the other side of the hotel and greeted us the only way he knew how, by flappin around. We hopped in another car and drove to the village of Kikholo in the Baduda District. I was surprised at how quickly we got to Jinja, I may have been sleeping most of the ride there. We stopped there and had lunch in this beautiful outdoor restaurant. The food was delicious. I will now be documenting all meals on this trip. 
AAH is in Bumwalakani, which is a parish of the Baduda district. Its goes district, parish then village. 6 hours in a sweaty hot van. We knew we had arrived in the village because the road told us so. The bumpiest roller coaster of a car ride I have had so far. The villagers laughed at how many bags came out of the trunk, it was quite a sight. Crashed on the bed when we got into the house… after a shower of course, a nice cold bucket bath!



SATURDAY
Got to see the school. Started setting up. Patrick and Viola invited us into their home after setting up for our presentation on Monday. Viola had a fresh batch of fruit for us to snack on. It is traditional that they prepare food for guests and it is polite to eat ALL of the food! Their little boy came in from playing in the river for tea and gave Lacey a big hug but was very shy around us. We thanked her for her hospitality and made our way back to the house for the second lunch of the day. Thomas, the Headmaster, came over for lunch at the guest house. I was so exhausted from the long flight I felt my eyes shutting at the table. Headmaster told us about the teachers and the school and how excited everyone was for this workshop. After lunch we ALL crashed into our beds for some much needed horizontal sleep.



SUNDAY
We hiked Mount Nusu and got our butts kicked. I went to the market with Cait and Jennifer to get sugar cane for the girls who had not tried it. We all sat out on the porch and munched on sugar cane as the sun set over the mountains. The air was cooler by the time we finished our plate of sugar cane. Played scrabble with Melideo and Cait, Melideo won.



TEACHER SEMINAR
DAY ONE
We woke up at 645. We had planned to leave at 7 to be at the school by 715 but that did not happen. We left the house at 715 and got to the school at 730. Breakfast consisted of peanut butter, banana, and honey from bees (a special Ugandan honey) it was delicious. The walk to school was so breath taking. There is just green everywhere. The village is thriving but silent in the early morning. You can hear the cows and goats calling out to their masters because their bellies are hungry, but the people remained in their homes. It was interesting to see the difference between the village midday and early morning, you’d think that no one lived there in the mornings. I later found out that there is no one in the streets because everyone for the most part is tending to their crops on their plot of land. Once you have passed the market area the vista changes dramatically. Five minutes into the walk, after passing home after home the right side of the road where there should be houses just drops off. It opens up to this enormous (think football field x 3) luscious green oasis. Getting to school every morning was a pleasure. 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Saturday: On To the Village

Melideo, Kiki, Sophia, Lacey, and myself piled into the car early Saturday morning. Our bags where stacked in the back so high that you could not see out the back window. Emma, our driver looks energized and ready for this long trip. I on the other hand look forward to it with a mixture of exhaustion and excitement. It will take us 6 hours to reach the village. Kiki, Sophia and I stayed up all last night in our fort so we will be able to sleep through this ride. I can only hope that plan will not back fire. I fear that I will be captivated by all the new sights that I will not be able to sleep. Just this morning we saw a crested crane. It looked like a pterodactyl! It was terrifying. I will not be surprised if I have nightmares about that bird!

Friday


WE ARE HERE!! So after the slight turbulence and frightening experience of take off and landing we have reached our destination. I am in good health other than the frantic butterflies in my stomach. This is my first time being out of the county and words can not express what I am feeling right now. Currently I am in the Fairway Hotel located in Kampala. It is a beautiful hotel, although the pictures online are slightly misleading. Its not that hot here. The weather is quite mild with a calm breeze. Sophia, Kiki, and myself have combined our three twin sized mattresses and mosquito nets into a fortress. It is soooo cool in here. Tomorrow begins our journey to the village. I hope they like me there.

Day 1: The Dreaded Plane

So first let me explain that I hate planes. I believe if humans were meant to fly they would have wings. The joy that lays ahead is all that keeps me going. if i survive the flight my next post will be in Uganda

Monday, January 23, 2012

TUESDAY
Waiting… the clock ticks and I watch the hand hit 6. I am off work and its time to head home to meet my parents for our last dinner. They made majadito (unripened plantains mashed with onions and tomatoes and chicharones) and were excited to see me home. Chris came over and had dinner with us and even had a second helping at dinner which is very rare. I deeply enjoyed being surrounded by my family and my best friend. I will miss them greatly when I am away.
WEDNESDAY
Got on the plane. Flew for 21 hours.
THURSDAY
Arrived in Kampala. Got in a van and drove for 1 hour to our hotel. Fairway hotel does not look like its pictures. The hot water ran red from the rust so we did some cold showers for the night. Kiki asked me to wash my hair after I successfully washed mine in the sink with her shampoo. The baby wipe bath was refreshing and got the job done. I washed her hair and laughed uncontrollably when the cold water came on and she let out an ear piercing shriek. Delaura popped into the closet sized bathroom and snapped some pictures of Kiki’s spa treatment. I used my ninja skills to save Kiki’s life mid-wash and smashed a hungry mosquito with my shampoo covered hand. We then proceeded to get ready for bed. We pushed the beds together and made a super fort with the mosquitoes nets elaborately held together with hair ties and bobby pins to cover three beds. Slept for an hour.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

We depart today.

Our flight is scheduled to depart ~5:30pm EST, January 11, 2012.
We are scheduled to switch planes in Brussels, hop to Kigali, Rwanda then finally arrive at the Entebbe Airport on January 12th at 11pm Uganda time.

We will spend our first night at the Fairway Hotel in Kampala and then depart for the village destination of Bumwalakani on Friday morning.

Kiki, Sophia, and DeLaura, my "temporary daughters", have worked very hard and already put in so many hours preparing materials for our workshop sessions.

Wish us luck!
Dr. Melideo

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Thursday Meeting!

We were introduced to the principal of Arlington Traditional School and Cynthia Margeson who were accompanied by Dr. Alice Young. We sat around the table and they exchanged lively stories amongst themselves and we the "girls" listened carefully. After the meeting our bellies were full and our minds stuffed with information about the do's and don'ts of Ugandan travel!

Just the three of us... we chatted about whether or not to call Dr. Melideo by her first name? Will we be sitting next to each other? Who has an extra neck pillow? What is the best shoe to wear on the trip? What are you going to be wearing?....... uh 18hours.... no big deal.