Day {23}

Tuesday - June 26th

I woke up this morning being extremely exhausted. Like I said last night, Becky and I woke up for Megan's departure at 4.00am. However, I woke up around 3.00am due to the dogs howling and fighting outside - I got out of bed, threw the front door open and yelled at them, ha. They were quiet until I got back in my bed, then they thought now would be a good time to start up again. Becky and I both woke up again later, went outside, to find SIX dogs running around the compound - mind you, Amani only owns two. So these dogs are somehow finding their way through the fencing. Once we were outside with Megan to load up her one bag (I don't know how she did it), there were only our dogs out there again. Mary, who works for Amani had mentioned one of our dogs was in heat.. so maybe that's why we had all the neighbor dogs around. Either way, they need to go - as much as I love dogs. Aside from that, Tina wasn't at preschool again, which is always a "treat". Not so much. I really miss her when she's not here. We watched VeggieTales during our first play time, and naturally, they played my favorite "Silly Songs with Larry" song, I Love My Lips. Definitely sang every word - Becky laughed at me, but there's no way I can listen to that and not sing! Joseph, who's a crazy child has been sitting in my lap the last couple of days. He's so cute, honestly, but he's out of control. During lunch today, I was watching Christopher - he always smiles at me when he eats. And I was reminded yet again, how in love I am with what I'm doing. I couldn't have asked God for a better door for Him to open. Last night was Megan's last night, which meant she was saying goodbye to all of the boys, and she started crying - which almost made me cry. I can't even begin to imagine how broken my heart will be when it comes time for me to say goodbye to those precious boys. Each and every one of them has a distinct personality, and one by one they've won my heart over. One thing that I've discovered about Amani is that, a lot of the children actually have family members - and instead of just adopting the children out, they prefer to try to reconnect them with who they belong with. That's an amazing thing, knowing that these boys and girls have homes they'll hopefully be able to go home to one day. But for the meantime, I'm perfectly content being their family, because I'll probably always consider them mine. I'm just in awe every time I sit down and think about what's actually happening in my life at this very moment. I'm so blessed to know that I have 8 weeks of this left - part of me thinks that's not even enough time. I know for a fact that I'm going to miss my boys every day when I arrive back home. Anyway.. during lunch, one of the Mama's were asking me if I liked the food that they were served today, and I was slightly confused why she was asking me but I said yes - because for some reason I love Ugandan food. Next thing I knew, I was given a spoon and her plate.. so I tried it, said it was good and then was completely confused as to what I was supposed to do next. I asked if they wanted me to finish it, and they said "It's okay." which means yes. I've never seen a Mama give her food away to an Auntie, normally they portion it out to the boys. It was very strange - I'm trying to figure out if it's a good or bad sign, ha. During our long break - I slept almost the whole time. I read a little bit of my Bible at first, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open. After break I ended up going to the girls building to help Sandra sort out new clothes, and Grandma Jenny and friends - check this out:

                                                

(@ Amani - Twins: Mary and Martha)

(@ Amani - Precious)

(@ Amani - Alima)

Mama Lucy wanted me to tell you that she's very appreciative, and thanks you for making her girls look "smart" - which what they say instead of "looking good." Sandra also thanks you! I'll be trying to shorts on the boys later this week! So stay tuned for those photos. But, for those of you who don't know, Jeremy's grandma and a few of her friends made these dresses out of pillowcases for me to bring to Amani with me, and they also made some drawstring shorts for the boys too! I love them! Bedtime went fairly well though! I read Humpty Dumpty to them, and it had a weird ending. It was a Christian book, that ended with a verse from Luke about nothing being impossible for God. It was good, but I'd never heard that before. Other than that, I started blogging as soon as I got upstairs so that I wouldn't get too tired or anything. I think for the rest of the night I may watch a movie on my laptop, and just read. But at the moment, I need to make some dinner because I'm oh so hungry! Have a good night everyone, I think about you every day! Honestly. (:

Day {22}

Monday - June 25th

I did not want to wake up this morning, however, I never want to wake up in the morning. The kitchen table was completely full, seeing as Sandra took the liberty of making everyone french toast. Preschool went really well, thankfully. Tina was back, but just for today.. she will be back on Wednesday apparently though. After class, I finally finished my blog for this past weekend. During the first playtime today we sat outside on the porch and played with blocks. I have no idea why they restricted the children to the porch, but I did not enjoy it. Then, after lunch 5 of us went into town. I finally managed to snap a photo of me on a boda:

(@ Jinja - Boda Boda)

In town, I did some grocery shopping.. Uganda has terrible food in the stores. As much as I hate grocery shopping, I can't wait to go in Wisconsin. Other than that, I just kind of followed other around - I didn't have very many errands to run. But, it was Megan's last day today! So, I wanted to just go hang out with her. After 4.00pm playtime, and after we got the boys in bed, we all started getting ready to go out for Megan's last night. We went to Skewers again, which was delicious, again.

(@ Skewers - Megan and I)

Megan spilled my soda all over, hah, all because she was excited for some skittles. Her and I were the only ones to boda home - her last boda. But, my butt was NOT on the back of the boda, so every bump that we went over hurt so bad. Megan and I were laughing so hard the entire time. Then when we got back to the compound, the dogs came running up to us - which scared Megan, which naturally scared me. What an eventful night. And just now, Megan and I tried collecting red dirt for us to bring home, however, it rained this afternoon. So really.. we were outside collecting mud - needless to say, it didn't work so well. We decided that I'm just going to mail her a bottle of red dirt, along with a necklace she really wants. But, on the way in to the house, I spotted a mouse, except I feel it was the size of our rats. Mum tends to question my sizing of things, she thinks I over exaggerate, or she just takes my interpretations to literally - who knows. But it was big. Now I'm here, finishing my blog again at midnight. Becky and I are waking up at 3.45am to see Megan off. I'm really sad she's leaving.. her and I clicked right away. But overall, I'm very blessed I had the chance to meet her. She's a beautiful person, and so much fun to be around! I shall see her again though, as I mentioned in my previous blog I believe. Anyway, goodnight everyone. I hope you're all doing well! I'm down to 58 days left in Uganda. I can't believe that I've already been here for 3 weeks, the time is flying by! Night! (:

Days {19-21}

Friday - June 22nd

Let's just say that I'm ready for Tina to come back to preschool. I feel like the children are a little distracted just from this last week being a little out of whack. Not only from preschool, but even the bonfire night, and all of the visitors coming and going. After class, I think all I did was folded clothes - woo. Playtime was very laid back, I played with Matthew for a while. He's one of the older boys at Amani, I kind of feel like he doesn't get a ton of attention due to the fact he's older. And he's kind of a bully among the children. But, I felt compelled to spend my time with him that afternoon, but here's some photos from playtime throughout the day:

(@ Amani - Matthew)

(@ Amani - Malachi)

(@ Amani - Silas)

To be completely honest, I don't remember a lot of the details of what happen this day. But later that night, everyone at Amani went out to Surjio's for pizzas. We got around 9 volunteers from Canada, so I think we were mainly going out for them. Megan N and I sat next to each other, which was quiet the experience. Whenever she freaks out - I freak out. And the amount of moths flying around her at the table definitely were freaking her out, so almost every time she jumped.. I jumped too. I bet a lot of people would consider us annoying from time to time, but I absolutely love her. She's also from Chicago, so she's very close to home - we've already been making plans for winter break (Jeremy, we're going ice skating by the Bean, just so you know). After dinner, we all headed back to the compound, and every one kind of split up and did their own things. Earlier that day, Megan and I had found a DVD with a few Disney movies on it, so we decided to watch Mulan later that night. Which is exactly what we did after Surjio's. I've never really been a fan of Mulan, but I think I appreciate it a little more. Then finally, it was time for bed.

Saturday - June 23rd

I slept in today! Until 10.30am I believe. Seven of the volunteers went white water rafting on the Nile River today - so, there was only Megan H and myself in the house. As fun as rafting sounded, I was a little scared - not going to lie, and I also wasn't excited about it enough to pay $125. Instead, Megan and I went shopping. She finished all of her shopping, I have not. I absolutely love being in Jinja, seriously:

(@ Jinja)

However, I have 8 weeks left, so I'm okay. But we ended up having a good talk at The Source over a soda. She's a wonderful person, and I'm super excited for her wedding this August! After shopping and chatting, we headed back to Amani. The internet was not working ALL day, so we ended up taking a walk down to Surjio's to use their internet. I skyped with my mum for a while, which was nice. She's always the one to ask me tons of questions! Once everyone finally got home from rafting, we headed out to The Keep for karaoke. I got a mint chocolate milkshake - yum, not as minty as I'd like, but it was still delicious nonetheless. Only 3 people went up to sing, and it was all for the same song - so they shut down karaoke early, which was kind of sad! Let's see, once we got home, I'm pretty sure I just went to bed, seeing as we STILL had no internet. Sleep is good though, I'm definitely a fan of sleep.

Sunday - June 24th

Finally got to go to church, I was so bummed I missed it last week. But, I wore the dress I bought in Uganda, it's so beautiful (: But service was good, they played a few worship songs that brought me to tears. Hearing songs in Uganda that I sing at home brings an overwhelming peace, because it just makes me feel more at home here, and reinforces that God goes everywhere that I go. I kind of wish that I would have thought to buy a smaller Bible before I came, mine is too big to be carrying around with me. Oh well, maybe when I get home. I still love Calvary church, it's so wonderful. I may be weird, but even at home, when I look around and see people worshiping and praying I want to cry - because it feels amazing to know that I'm surrounding by people that stand for the same things that I do, and that they've devoted their lives to the same wonderful God that I've dedicated my life to. 

 

(@ Calvary Church)

 

(@ Jinja - The walk from Calvary Church)

After service all of the volunteers and the Canadians went out for lunch - we had Chinese. Never would I have thought I'd have Chinese food in Uganda. Might I add, it was absolutely excellent! Megan and I split sweet and sour chicken (which really tasted like orange chicken) and vegetable fried rice. Seriously so good. It's weird though, in order for me to want Chinese food, and I've been craving it for some reason. Thank goodness I was able to have it! One thing that I've REALLY been craving is Subway. I miss it so much.. ha, we've all realized that when we talk about things we miss at home - it's usually food. I also miss the convenience of snack food. For example, just going to the fridge and grabbing a string cheese - ugh. I can handle it though!

(@ Ling Ling's - Sweet and sour chicken)

We were supposed to go to one of the Mama's villages today to see some dances. But of course, it started to downpour when we were out to eat. When it rains here, it really rains. So, a lot of rain makes it almost impossible to drive into a village apparently - I was really bummed about this, but I'm here for 2 more months. I'm bound to go into the villages at some point. We came home and just hung out, because at this point we STILL didn't have internet. I hate feeling like I'm so dependent on internet, but I kind of am. It's the only way I have to communicate with people at home, plus I'm taking an online class while I'm here. Anyway, a few of us watched Monsters Inc. while painting our nails, some of us took naps. It was a very laid back night, which was actually pretty refreshing. Some of the girls made pasta for everyone - it was delicious. I could honestly eat pasta everyday if I were allowed to! The internet was working again, we can always count on Sandra to make things right again (: I skyped with Jeremy for a while, then headed to bed! Again, I always look forward to bedtime, it's so wonderful to me.

Day {18}

Thursday - June 21st

I'm not going to lie, I'm having a hard time remembering what I did this morning. I definitely remember not wanting to wake up. We did preschool, which apparently I'm teaching tomorrow - because both Tina and Sandra are gone. So this is a maybe, I might recruit someone else to do it. Let's see, during my break after preschool, I read my Bible and made a sandwich. (Wow, boring day - I apologize) Afternoon playtime was pretty calm as well, I only had a couple of the boys cling to me. I love when that happens because then I'm able to just sit down, and have them content on my lap. I then read my Bible some more, and then I had to go downstairs to watch the boys nap. The Mama's have been doing bible study (I think I mentioned this), but since they're doing that - they need someone in the room with the boys. They were great when they were sleeping, but as soon as they woke up - all of them.. no one felt the need to listen to Auntie Laura. However, we're never down there during that time, so I had no idea what to do with them. But, half of the volunteers got to go on a boat ride yesterday, and the other half got to go today. So instead of doing the late afternoon playtime, Becky, Lauren, Emily, and myself went on a boat ride on Lake Victoria. Other visitors, and people who work with Amani came with as well. We walked down to the lake, which seems like a really poor community. The people's clothes were very tattered, they were dirty, the buildings/houses were kind of shanty. It was interesting, because almost the entire time I've been here, I haven't really seen poverty in this sense. I mean, I've seen poverty, but not a community full of it - at least not yet. It was definitely an area that depended on fishing though, there were plenty of wooden boats docked along the lake. The boat we went in was originally made for fishing, so apparently that's why it's so deep. Literally, more than half the boat was in the water, so when everyone was in it there seemed to be maybe only a foot and a half that was above water - a little freaky, especially when the boat was leaning more to one side. We stopped on a little island, which was located at the source of the Nile River - which is pretty cool. Never would I have ever thought I'd see the Nile River in my life. Sitting on this island was extremely relaxing, I would have been perfectly content just pulling out a book and reading there for hours. But, once we departed from the isle, we popped by another one to get a closer look at some birds, and these giant lizards. Then we saw some little gray monkeys, which was really neat. I always get really excited about seeing animals in the wild, even though I love zoos more than I probably should. There's just something about seeing an animal in its natural environment that pulls on my heart. Naturally though, I didn't bring my telephoto lens because I knew that we were going on a rickety boat, and I didn't want to risk anything. So, needless to say, I don't have awesome photos of the wildlife - which I'm kind of upset about.. anyway, once we got back to land and were heading back to Amani, we had to pass through the little community again and Lauren and myself got sidetracked by all of the local children. As I've mentioned before, they just love cameras, so we were taking tons of photos of all of them, and I seriously could not believe the amount of laughter that came from these children. And that, right there, made me fall in love with them a tremendous amount. Seeing where they lived, and seeing everything I would consider them to lack - but hearing their laughter and seeing their smiles does wonders to someone's heart. As dirty as they were, they were beyond beautiful. I'm just in awe every time I come across an experience like this. I'm so blessed to have this opportunity for God to open my eyes and heart to new things, and new perspectives like this. All I can say is, thank You. Take a look at what I found there, the environment and the children obviously (because I can never get enough of them):

 

 (@ Jinja - local child)

 

 (@ Jinja - the lake community's doors)

 (@ Lake Victoria - massive sky)

(@ Lake Victoria)

(@ Lake Victoria Island - our boat)

 

(@ Jinja - beautiful girl)

(@ Jinja - shops and homes)

(@ Jinja - the children and myself)

(@ Jinja - the children)

(@ Jinja - the children) 

(@ Jinja - little boy)

When we got back to Amani around 6.00pm, they were already getting ready for the bonfire we were having. Every single visitor/team came on over for a bonfire and rolex. Mama Cook's rolex definitely beat every other rolex I've had in Jinja. I told Becky and Megan that I'd love to bring Mama Cook home with me - then Megan mentioned bringing her to school, which would be lovely! But, one of the teams brought new shoes for all of the kids, which is absolutely awesome.. however - these shoes have squeakers in the bottom. So, every time they take a step, it sounds like someone is playing with a dog toy. As cute as they may be on the kids, I'm not sure I'm really a fan. I at least know I would never buy those for my children, just for the sake of my own sanity. Especially because they know exactly what they do, and they take total advantage of it. All I could hear all night was little squeaks running around outside, it was kind of funny. Putting the kids to bed today was not a fun task. There were no Mama's, so the kids were completely out of control, not only because there were no Mama's but I think being spoiled all day had something to do with it as well. It took 4 people in my room to get the boys in bed. I can't even begin to imagine having to deal with that on my own! What a scary thought - honestly! But, it's now 12.35am, and I still have to shower. I hope you all enjoy the photos I've posted tonight, I wish I was able to upload more, but it would just take forever ): I also wish I could edit them before posting them on my blog. I decided to make them a little bigger, that way you're able to see them a little better! Have a good night! By the way, I'm almost 100% recovered from my cold, thank you for your prayers! (:

Days {14-17}

Sunday - June 17th

I.. did not go to church today. I woke up feeling worse than I had all week. I didn't want to claim it, but it was official - I have a cold. Here's the evidence of said cold:

                              
                                                         (@ Amani - the roll of toilet paper)

I slept in, then when I woke up from everyone getting home from church, I just laid in my bed until around 5.00pm. That's when I chose to take a shower. Whenever I go into the bathroom now, I do a quick scan for geckos, just to make sure they won't interfere with whatever it is I need to do in there. I saw none. So I was all ready for my shower, got in, closed the shower curtain, and BAM! a gecko was just staring at me on the little rock ledge. I'm not going to lie, I slightly (maybe more than slightly..) panicked, and ran out of the shower. After trying to get it to move by banging on the wall, Becky came in to move it, then Lauren came in. Lauren actually picked it up and took it outside. I was very thankful. Finally, I was able to shower. Later on, some of the girls wanted to go into town for rolex. The usual place where we get them wasn't set up, so we went on this mission to find another rolex stand. When we found one, they took forever! So half of us didn't even end up getting one - me being one of those people. But, we were invited to Surjio's by Tina to play Mafia with her team. I wasn't going to go, but I thought maybe being out would be better for me than just sitting around all night. I'm really horrible at this game, people always think it's me because I'm really quiet during the whole thing, but they're always wrong. The second round, I was the doctor - I hate being the doctor, I never know who to save. Later, I found out that I was saving the mafia pretty much the whole time because I believed them when they said it wasn't them. Anyway, Sara and I were ready to leave after the second game, so we walked back to Amani together. While we were walking, I was getting a little freaked out, so I suggested we walk a little faster. When we started walking faster, I noticed something at Sara's feet - and it was a giant toad. Which caused us to freak out for some reason, so we ran a little bit - and we were finally at Amani. However, our gate keeper wasn't there, so I had to climb over the gate. During the process, my foot got caught in my skirt - note to who it may concern: do not climb over a gate with a long skirt on. But, alas, I had made it over and found the key in the shack and let Sara in. It was quite the adventure for being so late in the evening.

Monday - June 18th

Today was also a bad day for my cold. I went down for preschool, played with the boys outside, and took a nap during my break. I had a 1:1 today, so I brought Eric upstairs and we watched A Bug's Life on my laptop at the kitchen table. I almost think I enjoyed it more than him. I haven't seen that movie in ages, we weren't able to finish it though, so that's something I may still do! After putting the boys to bed, we attempted rolex again. This time, we walked into town - which ended up being a lot longer walk than I thought it would be. But, our regular rolex guys, again weren't there - so Charles knew another good guy. And he was right, these rolex were delish. When I got home, I skyped Jeremy for a little bit, and then my nana. Then I thought sleep would be a great idea seeing as my body has been extremely exhausted from this cold. No pictures today - it really wasn't too eventful. Sorry ):

Tuesday - June 19th

I woke up this morning feeling miserable. My entire body was sweating, my nose was stuffy, my migraine came back, and apparently I developed a beautiful cough over night. There was no way I could handle children hanging on me this morning. I found Sandra and asked if I was able to just come upstairs and sleep after preschool, but she told me not to even come downstairs. I feel really guilty for having slept all morning, because I'm not able to do what I was called here to do. But at the same time, I would much rather not get the children sick. Which apparently almost all of them are anyway, Becky just told me. I know yesterday I was wiping a lot of runny noses, and heard quite a few coughs. Poor babies - but, I definitely know where I got it from. There's a couple teams here visiting, they've been helping out with lunch and playtime - they're just everywhere. It makes things a little chaotic, but they are really helpful when you're not feeling well. I wasn't aware of how many people actually knew about Amani, and how many people actual come here to visit. I think that's something I would enjoy doing later. Like with Tina's team - they work a lot at Amani, but they also visit other orphanages, and do more things with women. I'd like to be able to help out in more than one place. I can't help but already think of what else I would like to do. Granted, I still have 64 days here. Anyway, I skyped with Liz for a while today. She's going home in 12 days! I'm so excited for her - I know she's going to be super busy within the next couple of weeks, and when she gets home, but she can't wait! So after that, I felt the need to get out of the house. Everyone wanted rolex again, so that's where we headed. Also, we were having bible study afterwards, so it was perfect timing. I finally photographed the rolex process:

 

(@ Jinja - rolex stand)

 

(@ Jinja - rolex stand)

 

(@ Jinja - rolex stand)

Bible study was absolutely amazing tonight. Tonight's topic was about how we make decisions, and how we feel God helps us make those decisions. It was really interesting to think about this, and to hear how other people are led by God. When I sat down and thought about it, God's really brought people into my life armed with opportunities that I feel God drew me towards. For example, God brought Jeremy into my life when I was trying to rediscover my faith - which led me to Parkway - which then led to receiving the Holy Ghost and being baptized in Jesus' precious name. It honestly amazes me how much I love all of the girls that I work with daily. These bible studies have allowed us to open our hearts to one another to the point of feeling like we've known each other our whole lives. Sara blogged today and mentioned that it's very apparent that God brought us all here at this time in our lives for a reason - and I don't think I could agree with that more. Once we finished our bible study, Sandra suggested that we sing a song. Which eventually led to a 6 song worship session. I haven't felt so refreshed in such a long time - worship is one thing that I miss most about being home. Unfortunately, being sick, I'm not really able to sing as much as I'd like. But the thing I find absolutely beautiful about this scene is that there wasn't a single dry eye in the room, and hearing around 10 women praying aloud. God definitely made his presence known in Helene's apartment. I couldn't be more thankful for being surrounded by such Godly women, and for just having this opportunity to dive deeper into the Lord. He deserves all of the glory! (:

Wednesday - June 20th

I'm finally back to work! I woke up feeling completely refreshed! I mean, my nose is still a little stuffy, but this is the best I've felt all week. I think the worship last night gave me the strength, and encouraged me to trust in God in hopes that he would beat this cold. Preschool was completely chaotic this morning. I feel like there were way too many distractions for the children today. The internet stopped working last night, as some of you may know. Hence this ridiculously long blog entry (sorry). But, since I had nothing to do during break, I was scrolling through old photographs on my laptop, trying to organize them - because that's what I do when I have nothing else to do with my time. I would have read my Bible, however, the Bible app I use on my phone that has my reading plan requires the internet - so, that didn't even work. I had rice and beans today for lunch. Along with Mama Cook's version of spaghetti, I'm not entirely sure what's on it, but it's just yellow spaghetti noodles - I absolutely love it. It's so funny how I find myself so excited about certain things at lunch time. Normally I'm a really picky eater (ask anyone who knows me..), but right away I dove into the food, and loved it. Aside from the fish, and the chicken on the bone, but, I don't really think they have boneless chicken breasts here. I'll manage. But I really do love almost everything Mama Cook makes us. During our break, I finished watching A Bug's Life - and I enjoyed every minute of it, even if no one wanted to watch it with me. Afterwards I was planning on taking a nap, but the teams here have been doing Bible study with the Mama's outside - I could hear them all singing outside. So, I laid in my bed, watching these beautiful Ugandan women who devote all of their time to love on God's children, dancing around singing songs of praise. It was probably one of the most serene moments I've had since I've been here. I'm not really sure what it was about it, but I loved it. Everyone that works for Amani has this amazing peace about them, and they seem to always have a reason to smile. It's so inspiring to know that these are the people that I'll be spending the next two months of my life with. After no nap.. playtime was pretty empty today - quite a few team members and volunteers took half of our kids on a boat ride this afternoon, so literally there was only around 20 kids left to play with. It was nice though, I was able to hang out with some of the older boys I normally wouldn't get the chance to because of the little ones. But, it was nice when they all came back, and the particular ones I love oh so much found their way to me in the yard. I love feeling so loved. These kids will never allow anyone to feel left out, or unloved - which is something I admire so much about them. When it comes to bedtime, the boys for some reason took to charging in the room and tackling us before we put their diapers and/or pajamas on them. Then once they're all ready for bed, they come and hug us and give us kisses on the cheeks. For real, my heart keeps growing in size. Every single day. I kind of can't believe it. We went out to eat again tonight - I know it seems like I'm going out all of the time, and it's because I am. BUT! It's so much more affordable than eating out in America. Tonight we went to Skewers, which is probably my new favorite place to eat in Jinja. It's a kabob restaurant. I had a chicken skewer which is embellished with pineapple, green pepper, tomatoes, and onions. I'm not a huge kabob fan - but I seriously loved this! I pulled out my camera to take a photo, but.. there was no memory card in my camera. This is a common occurrence here, because I'm constantly uploading photos, and then I just forget to reload my camera. So, this is why I have no photographs for you guys today. I had wifi at Skewers, but as soon as I got back to Amani - nada. Sandra came in though, and saved the day. Apparently it was just an issue of something being unplugged - all of us girls have been going crazy. I think it'd be easier for me to get over it, if I just knew it wasn't available. But since I know that it's here, I'd like to be able to use it as much as I'd normally use it. I don't really go on facebook that much though, aside to just check to see if people are trying to get ahold of me. I'm not even bothering to try to upload any photos on there, because it literally takes like, 3-5 minutes to upload one photo. Then when the internet isn't necessarily stable, it might not even work in the end. It's now 11.25pm in Uganda, and I'm exhausted. Again, I'm really sorry that I haven't been keeping up with the blog as much as I'd like. With being sick, and then the internet not working has made it a little more difficult. But, I'm going to try harder to make more of an effort to make sure I take photographs and to blog every night again. Thank you again also, to everyone who reads my blogs as often as I blog. It means the world to me to know I still have your support. And I just pray that what I'm doing here, and expressing what God's doing in my life will also make some kind of movement through your hearts. (:

Day {13}

Saturday - June 16th

I woke up around 9.30 this morning? But, shortly after waking up, Becky and myself went outside to read our Bibles. Emily graced us with her presence after a while as well, not to mention the children managed to find us while we were out there as well. As soon as we told them what we were reading, they grabbed for our books and flipped through all of the pages. It was pretty toasty out, so again I found myself sweating - but, I'm determined to spend plenty of time in the sun. Jeremy told me I should probably lay off.. but, it's one of the simple pleasures of being in Uganda that I can't find myself passing up. Around noon, I think all of us girls went to The Source for lunch. I had to leave my camera behind at Amani due to a low battery ): But, I had a guacamole chicken wrap. I'm not usually a fan of guacamole, but this was good - it would have been even better if there wasn't as much guac, because I feel like I was eating more of that than anything else. It was really nice just sitting around and chatting though. It takes probably 3 times as long to get your food here, than in America. I suppose that could be a good sign, meaning it's fresh, but after a while all I can think about is the fact that I'm hungry! Anyway, after lunch we hit some shops. I found a few things for people, and a dress for me. So, as I've mentioned the paintings before.. I really want to buy a few, however everyone at Amani tells you what you should be paying for something, which is naturally less than what the people are asking for. And, when it comes to the paintings, I feel really bad trying to haggle the price, because 1) I think they're absolutely beautiful, 2) I know how much time is spent on art, and 3) if paint is expensive in the US, I can't imagine the prices here.. it's just difficult because I don't want people thinking I'm just blowing me money, when really I think they deserve what they're asking. I mean really, 50,000 Ugandan Shillings is around $20, which is still a decent price to buy a painting at. I'm just having mixed feelings, because I'm definitely not the kind of person to haggle prices. In my eyes, I see them needing the money. Someone pointed out that I don't know how they spend their money, but that's the same in America too - and I feel we never try to haggle prices in America. I learned that it costs about 20,000 Ugandan Shillings to send their children to school, so really, if they use the money accordingly they could easily pay for their children's education. Granted, I'm aware that they raise the prices because we're white - and they think that we'll just give in and pay. But honestly, everything is handmade here, and I don't really see a problem paying what they ask for, because it's typically still cheaper than what it would be at home. So.. that's my shopping dilemma. Seeing as I didn't have my camera, I managed to take this with my phone. I love the brightness of town in Jinja. Blue windows, orange buildings - it's beautiful:

(@ Jinja - window of local shop)

Later on, around 8.00pm, most of us went down to The Keep to join some others for Karaoke Night. I've never been a fan, because more times than not, when I hear karaoke - it's a bunch of drunk people that don't even remotely sound good. But tonight, there were some decent singers. There was a Ugandan guy that sang "Hello", and he sounded beautiful! There was also a group of Ugandan women that kept going up there to sing, they were a fun bunch. Tina, the preschool teacher brought her ministry team to The Keep (that's who we met up with), and quite a few of them went up to sing. Mainly the younger girls, due to the DJ playing songs such as "One Time" by Justin Beiber, "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. They played "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira - oh my word. So many people ran up there to dance, it was awesome. One Ugandan guy had memorized the music video - so he was legitimately doing the dance Shakira does. There was a little girl that was standing by her table dancing, it was probably one of the cutest things ever! But, even yours truly went up there with Tina and a few other volunteers to sing/dance to Y.M.C.A. I have NO idea what possessed me to get up there, because I hate being in front of crowds! Look:

(@ The Keep - Tina and her ladies [Tina on far right])

But it was a lot of fun. I'm trying to blame my energy on the Espresso Milkshake (courtesy of Becky - thanks girl!). Once I was up there though, I came back to my table and just kept bouncing around. It was kind of annoying, because I officially have a cold. So, I had brought a roll of toilet paper in my purse for when my nose needed to be relieved. OH! Hold on.. I totally forgot to mention when the 5 or 6 of us girls just about peed our pants. We were walking down the dark road to get bodas to take us to The Keep, and we had grabbed our flashlights so it wouldn't be as dark. But, I had noticed two people walking down the road also, but was easily sidetracked due to the fact people walk around at night all the time, and because we were walking under the tree where the GIANT pelicans sit. Megan N. started moving closer into me because she thought  she heard something in the bushes, so naturally my heart starts to panic as well, and I quickly flashed my flashlight over there, to see two people leaping out as us. Obviously my first instinct was to start screaming and shuffle away, and then one by one every other girl started screaming too. While we were screaming, we slowly recognized the culprits.. one, being Susan - my Ugandan roommate, and the other being Kirby - Amani's owner's cousin. I have never been so scared in my life - initially, my first thought was, "CRAP! I haven't even been here two weeks and I'm getting attacked!" Susan definitely taught me a lesson though, if I see people walking on the same road, then realize they're gone - I should be more cautious. Wow, my heart is racing just reliving the moment. But yes, anyway.. after karaoke, we all came home. I chatted with a few girls, represented Coldspring Drive a bit, seeing as they're all so curious about Jeremy. It's kind of weird how much I've been asked to talk about him since I've been here, ha, sorry Jeremy - but it is a little weird. Then it was off to sleep, which really, I absolutely couldn't wait for, I'm praying that rest will help me feel better because I have no cold medicine with me, seeing as I never would have expected to catch a cold in Africa.

Day {12}

Friday - June 15th

I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat. Not enjoyable - and it hasn't gone away yet. However, I also woke up this morning not wanting to wake up at all. Thank the good Lord it's Friday, for real. I never mentioned this in yesterday's blog, but, there were 3 geckos in our room last night. One in our main room, and two in our bathroom. I showered with one last night, I noticed a tail behind a shampoo bottle, then when I looked back there was a face. Not gonna lie - it kind of caught me off guard. Then when I was in there changing, I saw the other one above the sink! That one was stinking huge compared to the others. I'm not really afraid of them, but I've never had to share a room with geckos, so I was a little frightened thinking it may jump on me! Here's a photo of one we found earlier this week, they're kind of cute - I just don't want it on me: 

(@ Amani - Gecko #1)

Today I was kind of having an emotional day. I don't want to say that I'm homesick - but the reality of me being here for two and a half months is finally starting to sink in. Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely loving every minute I spend here, but at the same time, that just means I'm not spending any of my time with loved ones at home. But, Jeremy reminded me today, that that's one of the sacrifices I was willing to make this summer. I need to just keep reminding myself that I'm here to have a servant's heart, and it's not necessarily fair to the children for me to be missing everything at home when they're one of the reasons why I'm here in the first place. I feel like I've been asking for prayer a lot lately, but that's all I have to rely on right now. And those of you that are keeping me in your prayers I appreciate it more than I'll be able to express. There's a few specific things that are difficult for me right now, but God knows my heart, and I hope that you would just incorporate that into your prayers tonight. Thank you! Playtime this afternoon was fun - I was a feeling a little tired from my nap, so I'm thankful there were visitors to keep the children occupied! But they played with bikes today, so basically they were content all on their own. Looking at pictures of the kids never fails in bringing a smile to my face:

 

(@ Amani - Desire)

(@ Amani - Eric)

(@ Amani - Henry)

(@ Amani - Enok)

I need to make something small to eat -I'm so hungry. But, I think I'm going to turn in early and just read my Bible. Thank you everyone who takes the time out of your day to read my blog - it means so much to me! (: Night!

Day {11}

Thursday - June 14th

This morning Lynley had to teach preschool, she's the teacher's intern. By the way, I've absolutely fallen in love with her name - it's so beautiful. Anyway, that was quite the task. It was Lynley, Becky and myself. Half of our other volunteers were still on their safari in the morning, they arrived later in the day! Thankfully! Not only was it stressful getting the boys ready for sleep on my own, but I missed them! (: But yes, Lynley ended rushing through preschool, she was so nervous. But, I think she did a fabulous job! Afterwards, the 3 of us just hung out for a while, which was really nice, because I haven't really had the opportunity to get to know Lynley. She's such a southern sweetheart. Side note - I'm seriously so blessed to have these girls in my life. They're all amazing, I know I've mentioned it before, but man, all of them are SO beautiful in their own ways. I would love to be able to stay in touch when we're all home in the States. Helene is already expecting a wedding invitation whenever that day comes, ha. They're just wonderful women of Christ, and you can never have too many of those in your life. But anyway, after lunchtime, I had an outing! I absolutely love going on outings, granted I'm spending money on the children. But, I love spending my time, attention, and love on them. I took Eric to Surjio's with Becky and baby Wycliff. I absolutely adore Eric. He's so content all of the time. I love holding onto him, and watching him look up at the trees with the biggest smile on his face. He's so beautiful. He's very observant too - when he sees that you're trying to get something done, he's right there ready to help you. He even tries scolding children when he sees that they aren't paying attention to me. Normally he talks up a storm, but he was quiet almost the entire time we were out. I bought him some chocolate ice cream, and he loved it! At this point, I think the children love everything we give them. But I also ordered a vanilla ice cream for me, and I think it was absolutely delicious. It tasted like real vanilla - not artificial. It was fun just spending quality time with Eric though, instead of having 5 other kids pushing him around to get my attention. Here's a couple photos of our time together:

(@ Surjio's - Eric and his ice cream)

(@ Surjio's - Eric and I)

(@ Surjio's - Becky and Wycliff)
  

Since it was Thursday, I wasn't able to help put the kids in bed because it's Bible Study Night. Bible study was absolutely wonderful. Again, these girls are such blessings. I'm so thankful for how open and comfortable we feel with one another. I would never guess these things happened to these girls because they're all so wonderful and happy. What strong women, and I relate to quite a few of them. One thing that I want to turn over to the Lord is my need for some kind of control. I like to think that things happen according to me, but I couldn't be more wrong. My main thing I need to work on is understanding that things in life need to happen according to God's timing. Truthfully, I'm struggling with this concept at the moment - so if you could please pray that God brings me understanding, and allows me to find more comfort in His decisions, I would greatly appreciate it. Last night, we all ended up talking about a volunteer who had come here with the idea of needing to rescue the children at Amani, and that's really not the case at all. Helene made it perfectly clear that in the end, it's the children that end up rescuing us. We all had some kind of inkling that we would be the ones teaching them about God's love, but honestly, these children are some of the biggest examples to live by. Every month they find themselves having new Aunties, and with barely knowing them, they open their hearts and arms to them instantly. It amazes me how quickly they're able to love complete strangers. Helene said that these children know everything that we've left behind at home to help them, and that just makes me love them even more. These children are so appreciative, and it warms my heart. She had said last night that it may not always seem like we're doing much, but we are doing so much for them. We're paving the path for their future. We're teaching them how to love others as if they're family and how to be selfless. There are so many acts of kindness played out by the children that make her statement so real. It brought me to tears last night, just knowing that the relationships I have with the kids is not only helping to build their character, but it's also building mine more than I can comprehend - at such a fast pace. Thank you Lord, for all of these children, and for giving me a big enough heart to have a special place for each and every one of them.

Days {9-10}

Tuesday - June 12th

I feel as if my days are starting to sound a little monotonous. I woke up, had breakfast, went to preschool. We made tiger puppets out of brown lunch bags - they actually turned out really cute! After that, I took my break. I've realized that I love my break time more and more every day. Especially this week, because more than half of our volunteers are gone for a safari until Thursday - so there's only 4 of us running around with the kids. Well, 2 technically, because Emily and Lauren are with the babies. I had an outing today! Falkner took Brian, and I took sweet Henry. We took them to The Source (where I had dinner last weekend). Henry had a scone the size of his face! But he loved it! We took boda's there, I think the boda ride is what Henry loved more than anything. When we got back, all he kept telling the other boys was the fact that he rode on one this afternoon.

                                       

(@ The Source - Henry)

When we got back, it was about time to feed the kids and get them in bed. But before that, I managed to take this:

 

(@ Amani - Boys B and Boys C)

Once all of the kids were in bed, a few of us went to get Rolex again for dinner. Almost as soon as I got home I was ready to sleep. But, I ended up skyping with Jeremy for a little bit. Last night was the first night I've cried since I've been here. It wasn't even about anything specific, I just have an overwhelming load of feelings. I haven't really processed anything since I've been here. To be honest, I haven't really missed home since I've been here. I think I've just been so busy, and haven't really wanted to dwell on the people or places I left behind at home.

Wednesday - June 13th

This morning was a little rough. I just felt really emotional today, and truthfully didn't really want to do anything for a while. Preschool was fun though, we made Noah's Ark with paper plates. They were actually super cute! I ended up going to the children's clinic with Lauren, Becky, Mama Lois, and 3 Amani children. It was like any other free clinic, except we were the only 3 white girls there. Lauren and I were discussing this, and we feel like we're stared at either out of fascination, or because they'd rather us not be there. However, the children don't seem to mind us being there. I can always count on the Jinja children to give small smiles when I flash them mine. There were pigeons hanging out inside the clinic, because it wasn't really a closed off building - it was somewhat open. But, going back to being like any free clinic, we were waiting.. waiting for a very long time. The babies got weighed and measured and then we were on our way. We got back just in time for lunch - rice and beans. After lunch I decided to step outside for a couple of hours to catch up on my Bible reading. I absolutely loved sitting outside in the sun soaking up the word of God as well. This is something I plan on doing more often. I feel I need to come home with a fabulous tan - otherwise no one will believe me when I say that I've been in Africa for the last 2 and a half months! It's slowly coming around. Unfortunately, I'll have a farmers tan on my arms and legs, seeing as the majority of my skirts go down to my ankles. After I finished reading my Bible, I came in and read the last few days of my devotional as well. Then it was play time. The longest playtime of my life. The mama's kept the kids out there longer than normal, so Becky and I were getting impatient due to the fact that they still needed to eat, bathe, and get ready for bed. Finally, they were all in bed - so I read them a story. They were really good for the most part, which was both surprising and a relief - a mama had stayed in there with me though to help me out, thank the Lord. Becky made pasta for dinner, that was really nice change. I'm super thankful she made it, it was delicious! Now that I'm all finished blogging, I have to go downstairs to the preschool and hang up their work they made today. I was sidetracked by going to the clinic today, and only just remembered when I wrote about it earlier. The only photo I took today was the one on Instagram from the clinic:

                                      

(@ Children's Clinic)

Have a good night everyone, please pray that God continues to give me strength and comfort everyday! Thank you!

Day {8}

Monday - June 11th

I'm not going to lie to you all, I'm very exhausted - so this may not be a long post. This morning after preschool all of the volunteers headed over to the new Amani Baby Cottage location that's currently under construction. It looks absolutely beautiful! I would more than love to come back and see it when it's finished, just in case it's not by the time I leave here. Anyway, us volunteers were doing a variety of things from sanding the walls, pulling up concrete, sweeping, to laying down tile. We were all very busy, but were more than happy to help in any way possible. We came back to the compound for lunch - which was fried chicken. I'm not a fan of eating meat off the bone.. but I tried it, then gave the rest to Lauren. The time spent after lunch was very chill. I managed to skype Liz who's all the way in New Zealand! I absolutely can't wait to see her when I get home! But I had to get back to work at 4.00pm. Today was "Dress Up" day for the children, so most of them were wearing crazy costumes, running all over the place (: Once the kids were in bed, the volunteers headed out to The Keep - where we had milkshakes the other night - for Faulkner's going away dinner; she leaves on Wednesday. I played it safe and got spaghetti, it was "interesting". Becky told me tonight that I say everything that I've tried in Uganda is "interesting"! But yes, I'm finally home and showered, and more than ready for bed. Wishing the internet would work on my phone though to say goodnight! Here's a few photos of the kids today:

 

 

(@ Amani - Justine)

(@ Amani - Sande)

 

(@ Amani - Henry dressed as Woody)

 

(@ Amani - Frank as Spiderman)

Day {7}

Sunday - June 10th

Overall, it's been a really laid back day. I went to a Ugandan church called Calvary today. It's mainly comprised of Ugandan's, but there a handful of white people (muzngu) as well. Since our group was new, they asked us all to stand up and introduce ourselves and say where we were from - it got funny after the third person, because we were ALL from the United States. During their worship, they sing some songs in English and then some in Lugandan. When worship started, I couldn't help but start crying - because this is why I'm here. This has already been an eye opening experience. And I've already deepened my relationship with Christ in such a short amount of time. I'm constantly praying for His hand of protection, and giving Him thanks for everything I have at home that I don't have here. I'm so unbelievably blessed to have the church I have, but there was just something about this church that made me fall in love with it. I think it might just be because it's in a location where the people need to rely on Christ for so much. I think the love they have for God is so pure, and I feel as if they are living their lives for God day in and day out. But, I definitely felt God in this tiny church - it was so powerful! The pastor preached in English, and there was a woman translating the sermon into Lugandan. That was a really interesting experience in itself. The church is within walking distance, so I'm thinking of taking a walk up there just to snap some photos for you all to see the size of it, compared to Parkway or whatever church you may attend. After service we all just hung out outside of the church. There were so many children jumping around for their pictures taken, and silly me chose not to take my camera - I just didn't want to be disrespectful, seeing as I'd never been there. But now I know for next time! I did manage to take one with my phone, I've been trying to occasionally post some photos on Instagram, but here it is:

                                                                       (@ Jinja - Calvary Church)

After we left the church, we all went out to eat at the Ugandan pizza place, Surjio's. I had a pepperoni pizza - which means I probably had some of the pepperoni I brought over from the States. It's just been really great getting to know the volunteers these last couple of days. I seriously have grown to love them so much - I can't get over how nice and beautiful, inside and out they are! When we got back from lunch, we all split up and kind of did our own things. I finished yesterday's blog, seeing as the internet was not cooperating with any of us yesterday. Then I went for a little walk around the compound, played with Amani's dogs with caution. I feel as if they don't get much love, which makes me sad, because they're so beautiful - annoying.. but beautiful! I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but the dogs don't bark - they howl. Alllll night long, no joke. Once these two start, all of the other dogs in Jinja join in, and since we don't have glass on all of our windows, we hear it perfectly. I came inside and played with the babies for a while. Having 6 babies rolling around on our living room floor is one of the best things ever! Especially when they're as giggly and happy as these ones are. Here's one of the only photos I took today:

(@ Amani - Fred and Justine)

A few of the volunteers went outside to play with the older children for a while. I ended up being the last volunteer to come inside, I just can't help myself. Every time I went to head inside, they would say, "No Auntie".. gets me all the time. Finally, when I was at the point of exhaustion - I had to come in. It was really hot in the sun, and unfortunately I'm a sweater, so it wasn't the prettiest picture ever. But I'd rather sweat and be with them, than sit inside all day. I've found that I just always want to be outside doing something, even on my days off. Anyway, when I came in I started catching up on my Bible reading, talked with Becky for a little bit, ate my leftover pizza, and now here I am. I've just been chatting with my dad and Abby on the phone using Whatsapp. I'm really thankful for this app, it stinks that I need wifi to use it, but it's better than nothing! I think I'm going to keep reading my Bible, take a shower, and hit the hay. Back to work tomorrow. After preschool, we're going to go help out at the new Amani site!

Day {6}

Saturday - June 9th

First day off! And it was a fabulous one! Started my day off with some breakfast, toast and pineapple as usual (: Becky and I had all of the intentions of going into town until it decided to start storming. So, I laid in bed, read my Bible and fell asleep. Once I woke up, we ate some lunch. Becky and I then chose to go take a short walk. We ran into about 5 local Ugandan children, and they were jumping up and down yelling things at us. Obviously we didn't understand what they were saying, so we just smiled at them. A woman who was walking behind them told us they wanted a picture taken (Becky and I were carrying our cameras), so we turned around and snapped a few shots and they of course loved it. We continued walking towards Lake Victoria, but then thought we better turn back around. On the way back, when the kids saw us again they began jumping up and down again. So I got my photo taken with them, they were so beautiful. Shortly after we got back to Amani, 4 other girls were getting ready to go into town! When we were walking down to the gate we got distracted by all of our boys running around outside, so we needed to stop and say hello! A lot of them were so excited about all of our sunglasses, and just to be getting love from their Auntie's. Have a look:

(@ Jinja - the local children)

(@ Amani - Christopher)

(@ Amani - Henry)

When us girls finally got into town, we definitely hit the stores. I can't describe the culture found in the stores. I loved, and wanted to buy everything - thankfully I didn't! I did find a few gifts for people at home, and I bought myself a new purse, handmade in Uganda (: There's a store full of paintings, and honestly, they are some of the most beautiful paintings I've ever seen. I love when you can see every brush stroke the painter made, and the when there's a richness of color. We then went to eat at The Source, which is a cafe in town. I had my first Ugandan hamburger. It's quite different than our hamburgers - they serve it on toast, and they had veggies grilled into it. Different, but good. After dinner we headed back to Amani to exchange all of our photos from the day. Then we watched "We Bought A Zoo", and I then skyped with Jeremy for a little bit. Then headed to bed. It was a long, but wonderful day. Here's a recap of our time in town in photos:

(@ Jinja - shopping)

 (@ Jinja - Megan N and I)

(@ Jinja - beautiful paintings being sold)

(@ Jinja, the Source Cafe - Ugandan hamburger)