Tuesday - July 24th
Today a lot of us volunteers went to the Jinja fair during our break. Aside from the music and the race majority, I almost felt like I was at Wisconsin State Fair. However, their rides were a little rickety compared to what we have at home. Unfortunately, it began to rain while we were there. But it was fun nonetheless! I didn't take any photos though, which is somewhat of a bummer. They just had a ton of booths like they did at the Friday Market in Kampala. It's fun to just get away from Amani sometimes, to enjoy Jinja's simple pleasures. But here's some photos of the kiddies from playtime when we got back:
(@ Amani - Joseph and I)
(@ Amani - Silas)
(@ Amani - Edwin)
(@ Amani - William and Jacob)
Wednesday - July 25th
Thursday - July 26th
Thursday was a slow day, I think. Almost all of the volunteers were planning on going to the Friday Market in Kampala on Friday. So, since there would be no one else to take my outing with, I went on my outing today. We went to the Keep, and it's official - they have the best chocolate cake in Jinja! Anyway, I took Godfrey, he has the cutest chubby cheeks - they're even chubbier than mine used to be. But, I'm also teaching William - the oldest boy we have - how to say and throw up the "dueces". I documented it on video, but it's too funny. He also apparently doesn't enjoy the nicknames "Bill", "Billy", "Will", "Willy", or Jaa ja - which means grandma in Luganda ha. He's too funny - but here's our outing group for the day:
(@ The Keep - Godfrey, Eric, Charlie, and William)
(@ The Keep - Becky and Eric)
(@ The Keep - Godfrey and I)
Friday - July 27th
There were a total of 3 volunteers at Amani today, everyone else was in Kampala. It wasn't really stressful either, thankfully the boys weren't too out of control during nap time! But, during my afternoon break the internet decided to stop working because of another storm - which is why I'm so far behind.. sorry! Here's a recap of my day:
(@ Amani - Godfrey and Eric being "dogs")
(@ Amani - I'm so blessed)
(@ Amani - My sweet, sweet Jonah)
(@ Amani - Enoch toes)
(@ Amani - Rain, rain, and more rain)
Saturday - July 28th
I literally laid around and did nothing all day. I watched 2 of the 3 Lord of the Rings movies, Bolt, and Beauty and the Beast. I'm so thankful I'm not afraid of Beauty and the Beast anymore.. ha. I used to be terrified of it when I was younger, but now that I'm a big girl - not so much (: The longer I'm here, the more I need a day to do absolutely nothing. Granted, I felt really lazy and such a bum, but I realized how much my body needed to relax. It's tiring work entertaining children day in and day out! But, it's something that I love more than words can express. And it's something I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to do, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Sunday - July 29th
This morning a lot of went to church with Lindsay. She goes to an all Ugandan church basically, and it was quite the trip to get there. Becky and I were riding on a boda with Emily - the child Becky brought with - plus the boda driver. Halfway to the church our boda was making such a loud noise that the driver had to pull over, and when he wasn't able to figure out what the cause was - we were handed over to another boda driver. Finally, we made it to the church - somehow, seeing as we were left behind not knowing where the church was. But, Pastor Rich is one passionate preacher, you can just tell he has a true love for the Lord, and enjoys preaching the Word to those who are willing to listen, and probably those who are not willing. The worship was some of the best worship I've had since I've been here. I found myself in complete tears, all the while raising my hands to the most high God. It made me realize how happy I am to be back at Parkway worshiping the Lord with my closest friends and loved ones. I miss my pastor so much, it will be wonderful sitting in his congregation again in a few weeks. At the end of service, Pastor Rich came around and thanked all of us volunteers over the microphone, and after he did so, tons of Ugandans came and shook our hands and hugged us. It was beautiful. There was a little girl who came to hug me, and when she pulled away, she said "may you be blessed" - my eyes began to water. One of my favorite things is to see children be so in love with God, and to see them have some kind of understanding of what God's done for them. I don't know, it just really touched my heart - and for some reason it almost made my trip feel complete. Naturally, once I pulled out my camera I had a huge crowd of children wanting their photos taken:
I literally laid around and did nothing all day. I watched 2 of the 3 Lord of the Rings movies, Bolt, and Beauty and the Beast. I'm so thankful I'm not afraid of Beauty and the Beast anymore.. ha. I used to be terrified of it when I was younger, but now that I'm a big girl - not so much (: The longer I'm here, the more I need a day to do absolutely nothing. Granted, I felt really lazy and such a bum, but I realized how much my body needed to relax. It's tiring work entertaining children day in and day out! But, it's something that I love more than words can express. And it's something I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to do, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Sunday - July 29th
This morning a lot of went to church with Lindsay. She goes to an all Ugandan church basically, and it was quite the trip to get there. Becky and I were riding on a boda with Emily - the child Becky brought with - plus the boda driver. Halfway to the church our boda was making such a loud noise that the driver had to pull over, and when he wasn't able to figure out what the cause was - we were handed over to another boda driver. Finally, we made it to the church - somehow, seeing as we were left behind not knowing where the church was. But, Pastor Rich is one passionate preacher, you can just tell he has a true love for the Lord, and enjoys preaching the Word to those who are willing to listen, and probably those who are not willing. The worship was some of the best worship I've had since I've been here. I found myself in complete tears, all the while raising my hands to the most high God. It made me realize how happy I am to be back at Parkway worshiping the Lord with my closest friends and loved ones. I miss my pastor so much, it will be wonderful sitting in his congregation again in a few weeks. At the end of service, Pastor Rich came around and thanked all of us volunteers over the microphone, and after he did so, tons of Ugandans came and shook our hands and hugged us. It was beautiful. There was a little girl who came to hug me, and when she pulled away, she said "may you be blessed" - my eyes began to water. One of my favorite things is to see children be so in love with God, and to see them have some kind of understanding of what God's done for them. I don't know, it just really touched my heart - and for some reason it almost made my trip feel complete. Naturally, once I pulled out my camera I had a huge crowd of children wanting their photos taken:
(@ Amazing Grace Church)
(@ Amazing Grace Church)
(@ Amazing Grace Church)
(@ Amazing Grace Church)
(@ Amazing Grace Church)
(@ Amazing Grace Church)
On the way home, our boda driver put a little boy in the front of his boda - and I thought it was cute how he was bringing his son along. But, as soon as we arrived back at Amani, he took the boy off of his boda.. apparently thinking he was ours. And I made it very clear he was not ours, and thought it was his son! The man was pretty freaked out, so we told him to take the boy right back to the church! So.. during my time in Uganda - I apparently managed to accidentally kidnap a child! Ah! But after that little incident.. I watched more movies.. Bolt and The Little Mermaid. You see, the majority of the movies found around an orphanage happen to be children's movies. Not that I'm complaining.. anyone who knows me knows that those are my favorite (: So, it's not completely random that I'm filling my time with Disney. Other than that, we still didn't have internet, so then I went to bed. Fun day.
Monday - July 30th
A normal day at work. During my afternoon break a few of us went into town, and while I was there I bought some DVD's. Emily brought seasons one and two of The Office, and I already loved it - but watched it from the start made me have a whole new appreciation of it, so I had to buy the rest. So, I finished my afternoon with that - then it was playtime - which happened to be Dress Up Day, one of my favorites:
After we put the boys to bed, some of us headed to The Keep to watch the Olympics. I've honestly never really watched the summer Olympics, I'm more of the winter kind of girl. So, I just had dinner and used the internet. Once we were home, I crawled into bed and watched The Office. I'm addicted.
Tuesday - July 31st
It's my nana's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Nana! (: On my outing today, I used some airtime to give her a call, but I got her voicemail instead. So I left a voicemail, but I had a little boy wanting to wish her a happy birthday as well. Jacob was excited to talk on the phone even though there was no one on the other end. While we were on our outing, the Olympics were on - and every time the women dove into the water, Jacob would yell "SPLASH!" It was quite cute seeing him get into the TV, but, he told us that tomorrow.. Brian, Vincent, and himself were going to dive like that for us at "home." He's such a silly boy. I love him to pieces. But, we're currently back at The Keep watching the Olympics. I'm trying to pay more attention to my blog than I am the TV. Guess what I'll probably do when I get home tonight.. yep, watch The Office - I'm glad the other volunteers understand this phase I'm going through. Tomorrow marks exactly 3 weeks until I leave for home. I. Cannot. Believe. It. It's so unreal to think about. I feel like I'm going to be completely uprooted from my life, to be plopped back into my other life. I'm definitely going to miss this life, but there is a part of me that's ready to go home. While talking to my mum and nana earlier this evening - I requested an ice cream cake from DQ, I miss ice cream so much, it's weird. It's just not the same here. But, the idea of having to say goodbye to my little ones has been popping into my head more than I'd like. Pray for me please, as I'm continuing to prepare my heart to go home again.
Monday - July 30th
A normal day at work. During my afternoon break a few of us went into town, and while I was there I bought some DVD's. Emily brought seasons one and two of The Office, and I already loved it - but watched it from the start made me have a whole new appreciation of it, so I had to buy the rest. So, I finished my afternoon with that - then it was playtime - which happened to be Dress Up Day, one of my favorites:
(@ Amani - Fred)
(@ Amani - Happiness)
(@ Amani - Enoch)
(@ Amani - Christopher)
(@ Amani - Michael)
After we put the boys to bed, some of us headed to The Keep to watch the Olympics. I've honestly never really watched the summer Olympics, I'm more of the winter kind of girl. So, I just had dinner and used the internet. Once we were home, I crawled into bed and watched The Office. I'm addicted.
Tuesday - July 31st
It's my nana's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Nana! (: On my outing today, I used some airtime to give her a call, but I got her voicemail instead. So I left a voicemail, but I had a little boy wanting to wish her a happy birthday as well. Jacob was excited to talk on the phone even though there was no one on the other end. While we were on our outing, the Olympics were on - and every time the women dove into the water, Jacob would yell "SPLASH!" It was quite cute seeing him get into the TV, but, he told us that tomorrow.. Brian, Vincent, and himself were going to dive like that for us at "home." He's such a silly boy. I love him to pieces. But, we're currently back at The Keep watching the Olympics. I'm trying to pay more attention to my blog than I am the TV. Guess what I'll probably do when I get home tonight.. yep, watch The Office - I'm glad the other volunteers understand this phase I'm going through. Tomorrow marks exactly 3 weeks until I leave for home. I. Cannot. Believe. It. It's so unreal to think about. I feel like I'm going to be completely uprooted from my life, to be plopped back into my other life. I'm definitely going to miss this life, but there is a part of me that's ready to go home. While talking to my mum and nana earlier this evening - I requested an ice cream cake from DQ, I miss ice cream so much, it's weird. It's just not the same here. But, the idea of having to say goodbye to my little ones has been popping into my head more than I'd like. Pray for me please, as I'm continuing to prepare my heart to go home again.
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