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.

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.