Wonderful Weekend! (by: Alyssa)

Hey Everyone!

So, Em and I got the chance this weekend to go on a Safari! I'm just going to give a brief summary of what we did. We went with a group of volunteers from the orphanage and it was from Thursday afternoon - Sunday night. Really, the only "safari" day was Saturday, but there was A LOT of travelling involved throughout the rest of the weekend. We went to Murchison Falls National Park, which is about 7-8 hours away from where we are staying in Uganda. Plus, we had to go to Kampala first, which is the capital of Uganda, because that is where we stayed on Thursday night. Getting to Kampala wasn't too hard, but getting to the Red Chilli Hostel (Red Chilli was our safari company) was QUITE the adventure, as I had forgotten to write down the directions! My bad! So, we got a little lost and it was a littttle stressful, but eventually we arrived! :) We left early on Friday morning to drive to Murchison Falls, and arrived at about 4 pm. We then hung out that night and went to bed early because we were exhausted! We slept in two-person tents that had BEDS in them, which was definitely a nice surprise, and there were warthogs(Pumba!) just chilling all around the campsite. Saturday, we left very early for our 4 hour game drive, which was definitely a huge highlight. We saw lots of different animals and it was so sweet to experience them in their natural environment. My favorite was probably the giraffes - such beautiful and graceful creatures. We also went on a boat trip saturday afternoon and on that trip we saw lots of hippos, elephants and a few crocodiles. :)
Sunday was our last day, and on our way home, we stopped to see the actual Murchison falls and that was INCREDIBLE and breath-taking. Then we departed for the trip home, which felt like it took forever, but we got to see a lot of Ugandan people in their villages, as well as many different types of landscape. All in all, the weekend was definitely worth it, and now it's good to be back with the kids! It was so precious seeing them run up to us when we got back, saying "Auntie, Auntie!" :)
I'm not feeling 100% today, so I'm taking a bit of time off, but hopefully I'll be back to normal tomorrow!
Much love!
Alyssa

Time for a Song! (by: Emily)

SO, a guy who works as the guard here for Amani was nice enough to loan me his extra guitar! I didn't realize he wanted me to use it for awhile, so yesterday I brought it down to give it back to him but all the kids saw me with it first. There eyes went SO wide and they got SOOOOOOOO excited! I don't know if anyone from the orphanage has played guitar for them before, or not very often at least! They all wanted to hear Alyssa and I play, so we took turns playing some songs we know. We didn't know any kids songs on guitar off the top of our head, but the kids loved anything we played! Even though they weren't exactly dancing and clapping songs that we knew, the kids were dancing like crazy and it was hard to sing and not burst into laughter. It was honestly one of the sweetest pictures so far. It melted my heart to see how much they loved hearing us play...even though we're both not experts or anything! Even when I made a mistake, they didn't notice or care one bit... they just loved the music! I'm noticing that the Africans are all about the music...and I LOVE the music too! I'm hoping to bring out the guitar again sometime soon! Maybe I'll stop by the internet cafe later and look up chords for some fun children songs! I haven't seen those kids get that excited yet! Well, except when they're being brought to town for their chocolate cake outing! Music, music, music.... I'm loving the music!!!!!

It's a new day! (by: Emily)

It's my lunch break on Monday and I decided to go to town to quickly check my e-mail. On the way here, I was once again amazed by Africa and the people here. I always feel like I'm being watched....it's almost like I'm a celebrity or something...well, maybe not quite that crazy, but people are definitely looking at me! I am becoming friends with some of the children here in the town, and I saw one of the boys today. That put a huge smile on my face! You are definitely treated much differently here for being a mzungu. For one thing, there is an African price and a Mzungu price. There are actually signs up for things that will say the African price and the Mzungu price. If you go to a store or take a boda boda or anything they will always try to charge you more for being a mzungu. I'm happy that I finally know how much I should pay and when I'm being ripped off big time. I'm not really a fan of this extra attention...I'm really not used to it! But I mean, who is used to people wanting to come up to you and touch your skin or your hair? It's definitely weird for me at times!

I'm getting used to all of the things that used to make me pull my camera out and get me squealing with excitement! I've stopped taking pictures of goats, cows, and chickens on the roads. I've also come to enjoy the geicos that crawl on the walls of the guest house I sleep in. I'm just really enjoying everything about Africa.

Every afternoon when the children wake up from their nap they either have activity time or one on one outing time with an auntie or uncle (that's what they call us..cute, eh??) Alyssa wants to do slip and slide with the kids today, so we'll have to see how that goes! I'm sure they'll love it! I love just playing with the kids...it's so much fun! All you have to down is sit down and almost instantly you will be covered in babies...they will circle you and jump on you and all want to sit on your lap. The girls (and even a couple of the boys) LOVE doing my hair! It is usually a very painful process as they attempt to braid and twist my hair...I actually saw one of the boys run off with a fistful of my hair on Sunday. But, I know they love it so I let them play with it for a bit! I may end up with dreads one of these days though...they sure make lots of tangles and knots..haha! I love these kids!

Oh, and mom and dad. Just thought I'd throw this out there. I've met a couple who is your age and has kids who are grown up and going off to university...and, they're adopting a little boy from Amani! SO...if you happen to want me to bring a little baby home...let me know;) (don't worry, I'm just joking!)...it's actually a very long process to adopt...way more complicated than I ever imagined before! Especially if you're from Canada...it's a much quicker process for Americans!

Speaking of Americans... I LOVE them! They're so much fun! They all say the craziest things here...and it's started to rub off on me!

I'm loving this place and never wanting to leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Em

Church and the Source of the Nile (by: Alyssa)

Heyyy!

Today, we decided to check out a different church called "Acacia Community Church" with a bunch of the other volunteers. This church was a little further away, so we took bodas to get there, and it was kind of scary because I had no idea if my driver was taking me to the right place, and we lost the rest of the group for awhile. We brought kids with us too, and I brought little N who was very well behaved throughout the service :) I really enjoyed this church - It's outdoor, on the Pastor's lawn, and they don't have any instruments for worship but they have big speakers that they play music from and we sing along. We sat under an avocado tree and the Pastor warned us jokingly at the beginning of the sermon to try and not get hit by one!

Weird coincidence/story - I was talking to a lady that was at church this morning and later she came by to Amani. She told me she is trying to adopt two girls from Uganda but because she is Canadian, she has to live in Uganda for three years. I asked her where in Canada she's from and she said Ottawa, Ontario! And I said "No way! Me too!" It turns out, she is from ORLEANS (lives in Chapel Hill), went to GLOUCESTER HIGH (same as me!) and graduated the year before I started grade 9!! What a small world!

Then, this afternoon, we took a boat tour to the "Source of the Nile". It cost 70,000 shillings to rent the boat (after we bartered) but it was only 5,000 each because there were 14 of us, so that's only 2.50 each! :) It was raining a bit when we started the tour so the "Captain" got us a "tented boat" :P It was covered with something more like a tarp with holes in it, but after all, this is Africa! The guide pointed out each different type of bird that we saw on our way and always made sure to get the Captain to turn the boat around if we missed seeing something. Although usually by the time we turned around, the bird was gone. :P The Source of the Nile itself isn't tooooo impressive, but it was fun to take the boat out there! One of the girls said "This is the same Nile that Moses drifted down in a basket!" Prettty cool! :D

Much love!
Alyssa

Dress-up! (by: Alyssa)

Hey!

Preschool was pretty crazy today! There are lots of volunteers gone to visit a village today so we didn't have many workers, which seemed to create a bitttttt of chaos! Oh well, we got through it :) Eventually, we rounded the kids up in a circle and the mamas sang some songs with them. There's a really cute song in english that they like to sing. It's kind of a song/game, and involves the kids running around the circle and then coming into the middle and wiggling their hips! It's SUPER adorable!

Yesterday, during activity time, we decided to pull out the dress-up clothes (Amani has a huge storage bin of them!), which the kids LOVED. There weren't a whole lot of male costumes - mostly just dresses and such, so the boys were running up to us with dresses asking us if they could wear them, haha! We just couldn't say no :P .... The most hilarious thing was a little 4 year old boy wearing a ballerina costume and a huge sun hat! And by the end of the afternoon, some of the kids had taken off some of the costumes and were running around in their underwear or diapers, as well as a few accessories. Little D had on his underwear, some fairy wings and a necklace, haha!!

That's it for now :)
Much love!

Alyssa

The Pearl of Africa (by: Emily)

Indescrible....

that's what today felt like! During our lunch break when the kids were napping, a few of us headed off to a placed called Bugagali falls. My friend Megan and I shared a bodda there and back. The bodda ride was my favourite part I think. First of all, I just love riding boddas!!! Secondly, I got to see a lot more than I usually get to at the orphanage and around town. We went way out of the central city with the town and passed villages. I saw people living in huts made of sticks and mud and I saw children playing and laughing at little things they could find to amuse themselves. I saw so much lush vegetation and rolling hills and a lake...the view was breathtaking. Even when we got to the falls and saw the rapids and the rolling hills behind I was left standing in awe! Uganda is known as the "pearl of Africa" as it has such lush vegetation...a lot of people think of sand and desert areas when they think of Africa...Uganda is nothing like that. It's full of trees and rivers and long grass and beautiful flowers....it is absolutely amazing!!!!

Nkwagala Nyo,
Em

JOY (by: Emily)

It's been a very interesting week so far! We finally got sick, but everything here is still wonderful!

I don't have time to say very much. The thing that touched my heart was the Ugandan family we visited yesterday. We were just walking down the street on our day off and we ended up visiting a wonderful family. They taught us a couple African songs and we taught them one as well. It really touched my heart and I was so encouraged by the family and their faith. Just hearing the mother's story about how she was abandoned as a child and lived as a street child was super heart breaking and also a reflection of the situation so many other children I've met are in. Despite everything she's been through, she never once complained or asked for anything. They were all sitting on the ground but wanted Alyssa and I to have chairs. OH, and a funny story! I told Alyssa my foot was falling asleep at one point and the mom thought I was saying I was tired and wanted to clear a spot for me to have a nap! It was a challenge trying to explain that expression..haha...I'll have to be more careful with my choice of words next time! They were a very sweet family and we promised we'd come back and visit again. I'm very excited for that!

We find a boy on the sidewalk just lying there and Alyssa was afraid he was dead. We discovered after a lot of asking around that he had been sniffing something. I was so shocked! He was lying on the sidewalk of the main street and there was nothing we could really do except leave him a juice box and cookie.

We also met a whole bunch of beautiful sisters! They were all lying in a ditch...and one by one they all came out! Alyssa and I were amazed by how many could fit down there! We had a lot of fun with those girls!

We've been meeting a lot of great people, and their joy is so encouraging and so contagious! I love Africa!!! I love the JOY!

Much love,

Em

I never know what to title these blogs :) (by: Alyssa)

Hey!

Monday night we welcomed three new volunteers and Friday, two more will be arriving. The majority of the volunteers are from the United States, and it's fun learning things that they do and say differently even though they are from our neighbour country. (like they say "College" instead of "University")

Yesterday, Em and I had a day off. We decided to go to the internet cafe to try to pick out courses for next year, which was very confusing, because Nipissing seems to have made some changes that cause weird course conflicts! Anyway, on our walk back to the orphanage, we met some street kids and got to hang out with them for a little while. It still amazes me - that these kids can be on the street, without families or ANYONE at all to take care of them, except maybe older brothers and sisters who are often not even that old. It's overwhelming, because their needs are so great, and it's obviously not possible for us to take care of them in the way that they need it most. We also ended up visiting with a Ugandan family on their front porch and got to learn a lot about their lives and how different things are here. The mother has 7 kids - the youngest is 14 i believe, and one of the daughters has a beautiful baby of her own. From what I understood, some of her children were not even her own - she had taken in her brother's kids when he and his wife had passed away. The mother was saying that she didn't have a job this year so some of her children weren't able to go to school, but she decided to stay home with them so that someone would still take care of them. It was so sweet to see her joy and sense her great love for her children. Em also taught a song to the family and they taught us a Lugandan song too - translated, the words mean "Jesus loves you!" It was a really precious to hear them singing. :)

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called "The Gately" and we ordered a chicken burger because we were really craving one... It was very interesting, haha! We decided it must have been canned chicken, or something like that :P oh well! The fries (called"chips") were tasty!

This morning, preschool went really well! Em and I both agreed that it was the best day yet :) The kids seemed pretty well behaved, and there were very few time-outs! yay! Haha, and Em had the idea to do a sweet craft with them, incorporating different shapes that they learned about this morning. We gave them each a piece of construction paper and different types of shapes that were different colours and then let them paste them on. What we didn't realize is that these kids have never (or barely ever) used glue sticks!! So they didn't really know how they worked - They were gluing one side and then expecting the shape to stick on without flipping it over, haha!

This afternoon, we will go on another outing - I'm not sure where we will go yet, or what kids we will take, but it should be a goooood time!

Muchhhh love!!

Alyssa

A Whole New Perspective (by: Emily)

WOW! So much has happened in this past week! It's sad, but this is the longest I've gone without the internet in quite awhile!

Anyways, life in Uganda is CRAZY. I am in love with this place...I don't want to come home... Mom and dad, would that be a problem?? haha...don't worry! I am going to come back! I'm not sure how though..it's going to be hard! I love the culture! Being a part of the Western culture, we measure wealth according to our money and our possessions...these people have so much JOY. They are RICH in faith! So many people I have met are so in love with Jesus...and that means so much more than anything else to them. Everyone here has this joy that I've never experienced before. If you walk anywhere, you are greeted by so many people! It's such a contagious joy! The thing is, it's been really difficult for me to understand that these people are truly happy...I cried today when I became aware of the reality of how much these people here make. The school fees are very expensive...and most families have a lot of children. People are barely getting by. I passed by a village yesterday and was consumed by a huge crowd of children from the village who circled around me! Lyss and I took a video of them saying hi and some pictures with them...they are so excited about that picture that is displayed back for them on the screen! My friend Macey and I met a couple of other children on the way home and they taught us how to do a little African dancing...I've already forgotten though! We got the chance to teach them the song "I love you Jesus deep down in my heart"!! They loved it...SO precious! I have been gaining such a new perspective on things that I've only heard of before. I've never seen poverty like this...neither have I seen joy like this. We are SOOO busy all the time...we work and make so much money, but not even close to what these people make and they work SOOO much harder than anyone I know. The mamas here barely get to sleep at night. I talked to one who said she might get between 3-4 hours a night. Everyone here enjoys life....they are so joyful and friendly and everything is slower. Even their talking is slower! I'm starting to talk slower like them...they break up all of their syllables here and it is so different than our culture...I love it!

The poverty is getting to me big time...but, when I see their culture and how much joy they have...these people are happy!! They don't complain...these people work hard through every condition. I talked to one mama who is not married and supports her friend who is unable to work. She says it is very hard to get by...but, she was still happy to work hard and in LOVE with these beeeeautiful little babies that God created!

I don't know why I am in the place I'm at...I don't get why I have so much and why they have so little. I don't understand why I've never realized that only 4% of the world makes more than $2 a day...and I don't understand why I've never been curious or it has concerned me at all. Things are coming into perspective and God is definitely taking the blinders off my eyes and revealing to me a life that I've never known before...and maybe, I will never truly understand it. Yes, these people are poor in the eyes of the Western world...but wow...they have more joy than anyone I've known.

hmm...I have a lot more to say, but not too much time!

I am starting to feel a bit sick today, but I'm only a little dizzy. We are trying to drink lots of water...and even though I have lost my appetite because of the heat, I'm still trying to get things down. Don't worry mom and dad...It's not that big a deal and I don't even care...I just love everything here so much!

OH, and the boda boda rides are incredible!!! It is proper for ladies to ride sideways on them...I tried for my first time and it was great!!! I can't get over how many boda-bodas there are...and they swarm you and beg you to let them drive you somewhere. I've had a guy ask me for money for a picture with him. I've also had street children beg for money, although it is illegal to give them money. We can only buy food for them. These street children are often forced to beg for money from their parents. Some are even threatened a beating if they don't bring enough home. That is definitely very sad.

Also, I've fallen in love with one little girl. I want to bring her home, but, she is unadoptable. She will never be able to be adopted because she has family and they won't sign her over. It's a pride thing...some parents also think of their children as property. It's heartbreaking to know that for a lot of these kids, adoption will never be possible. A few of the children here have special needs, including the little girl I adore! The parents here don't really understand children with special needs...if they're not talking or walking some parents consider their children to be dumb...they are often physically abused.

I had an outing day yesterday and brought my little boy out for some chocolate cake! All of the kids get a chance for an outing as their is a binder and rotation system. The little boy I had was crazy....he was so excited and squirming everywhere! It was very overwhelming when he was inhaling his cake and milkshake...but, some of the other aunties that were on outings gave me a hand. These kids get very excited for special one on one attention...so their outing day is a real treat! I want to take my beautiful baby swimming this week because I'm told she absolutely adores it!

I also had the chance to take a little boy to church yesterday. Oh man...that was an adventure for sure! He had to "su su" (that means pee here) a LOT...well, at least that's what he told me, but he never really did. He pretended he had to su-su and would wiggle around a lot...so I must've brought him at least 4-5 times...I ended up just sitting outside with him because it was very disruptive to the service! haha..it was quite the experience! BUT, I'm not upset with him even though we did chat about it outside...the service was way too long for him to sit through! Next week, we will check out Sunday School!

Well, I think that's all for now. A lot has happened in such a short amount of time...and I'm loving every minute! This culture is so rich.....SO beautiful. It is not a dirty, scary, violent country that people often believe...it's truly beautiful.

Opps...I better go! The babies are almost done their naps and ready for outdoor fun!!!

Much love,
Em

Amani Update (by: Alyssa)

Hello All!

Again, Em and I are writing at the same time, so repetition is pretty much guaranteed :P

It is VERY hot in Jinja today! I'm not sure how hot, but the past few days have been hotter than the hottest day in Canada, I think! Or at least pretty close!

Today, I will go on my first outing! Em already had one on Friday, but I haven't gotten to go on one yet. Basically, we just sign out a child and then dress them in "smart clothes" which are basically clothes that are nicer than their everyday stuff. They look so cute when they're all dressed up! And then we bring them out of the Amani gates, either into town, or swimming, or on a walk. The point of it is just that they get to go out of the gates of the orphanage, and have some one-on-one time with a child.

Last night, we said goodbye to three Canadian volunteers that have been here for 2 months. And tomorrow night, we have 3 new ones coming! So, that is exciting, but it makes me realize how much changeover the kids experience in volunteers. And it makes me understand why they test us, especially at the beginning, just to see what they can get away with. :P Preschool for the past few days has definitely been interesting! We've learned some more Ugandan phrases which seem to be useful, although I don't think they kids will ever listen to us as well as they listen to the mamas!

Speaking of the Mamas, they are great. They always have so much joy and are singing and dancing around, and asking us how we are doing. And they work SO hard here - never slacking off, but always giving everything their ALL. I've been thinking a lot about work while I'm here, and about how God wants us to be working hard, with our whole heart, and the mamas are definitely an inspiration and encouragement in that area.

Yesterday, we went to our first Uganda church service, which was really cool! It was a Ugandan pastor who was speaking but he was speaking in English and he had a translator to translate every sentence he said. All the music was pretty familiar to me, although there was one Ugandan song at the end that I didn't understand at all, haha! We got to take a kid with us too, and they are very excited to get to go to church! I brought a little girl and she did really well - listening quietly and flipping through the pages of my bible, pretending she was following along with the service :P On the way home, we passed a huge group of children who were from a village right beside the area that the church is in. They were SO excited to see some Mzungus and were all crowding around trying to get their picture taken by us! And then of course, they all wanted to see the pictures.

After church, Em and I and two other volunteers decided to go into town to explore and get some souvenirs and such. We also decided to attempt to go to the central market here (because we really wanted some fresh fruit!), and that was DEFINITELY an experience. We walked along a little pathway through the market and there were many different stands on either side of us, selling everything from raw meat (with flies all around, YUCK!) to salted grasshoppers, to dried mini-fish, to more normal things like cucumbers and tomatoes. Finally we found the pineapple section and bought two pineapples, one of which we ate last night, and the other we will eat today. Fresh pineapple is SO delicious!

Poverty is becoming so much more personal to me being here. We are meeting people with such incredible stories of hardship, and it definitely puts things into perspective. I can't believe the burdens that most of these people have - and yet, they are SO joyful. I heard that A LOT before I came to Africa, but since being here, it just makes a lot more sense. I strongly encourage anyone who is considering travelling and seeing how other people live, or mission work, to DO IT! I know I have a lot more to learn while I'm here too.

I was a bit sick this morning, but nothing too bad, in comparison to some of the other volunteers that have really not been feeling well! I've been told that a little sickness is just a part of the transition to this culture, so I can take it!

With MUCH kwagala, (I think that means "love", haha, I know that "Nkwagala Nyo" means I love you!)

Alyssa

Recent Happenings in Uganda! :) (by: Alyssa)

Hello All!

Sorry it's been a few days! Trust me when I say that it's not the easiest thing ever to have access to a computer here! I am using one of the volunteers' right now, as I won't have a chance to go to town today to the internet cafe. Also, yesterday, the power was out for pretty much the whole day, which is a few common occurance here. If the power's out, that means that the internet is also out. So ya, if you don't hear from either of us for a few days, rest assured that we are still alive, and it's just not possible to update the blog every day! Haha, ok, now to the real deal!

We are still loving it here - Uganda is a beautiful country, with such fantastic people!

After the internet cafe last time, Em and I rode our first BodaBodas!!!! We were VERY excited - they are pretty much motorcycles and seem to be the Ugandans primary mode of transportation! :) I held onto the driver and Em was behind me, and we had a blast! Today though, we found out that you're not supposed to hold onto the driver.... oops! :P  We were joking about how that's why he gave us a good price! He probably loved driving us "Mzungus" back to the Baby Cottage... (Mzungu is what they call white people, although I think Em already mentioned that before).  Good times!

The other day, a bunch of the volunteers went to Siouxanne's house for pizza (she's the medical coordinator here), which was DELICIOUS, but was eaten in the dark because of the power outage. And last night, we went to another person's house to play Mafia, which was also fun! It's a great community of volunteers here, which I'm really thankful for!

Meals have been interesting, haha! The Mamas here cook us lunch everyday, which definitely gives us a taste for Ugandan food. Today was sweet potatoes (quite different from Canada) with a sort of pea-soup sauce, as well as "g-nut sauce", which is pretty much like peanut sauce! And they always serve "greens" with the meals too, which I THINK is spinach :P or something like that!

Em and I have both been working with the preschoolers during the mornings, and are loving it, although it's definitely chaotic! We do puzzles with them, as well as letter activities, and other activity-type things. I love how these kids latch onto us so easily. All we have to do is walk into the room and we get bombarded with "AUNTIE, AUNTIE!!!!!" which is what they call all of the volunteers. The children are so precious - each and every one made so wonderfully by God. I can't even imagine what their lives would be like if Amani didn't exist, and I am so glad they get to live such a wonderful life here. 

I have to go, unfortunately, even though there is so much more to say! Emily will hopefully get to write later on and will fill you in on everything I missed! 

Oh, and if you happen to read this, Happy Birthday Liv and Nick! :) Hope you both have great days!

Much love from Africa!

Alyssa

Amani is Amazing! (by: Alyssa)

Hello!!

Finally, I am getting a few minutes to write a blog. Still, I don't have a lot of time because we have to be back at the orphanage soon to take some of the kids on an outing! :) (I am in town, at the internet cafe. There is no computer at Amani (it's broken) but some girls have laptops so I may get a chance to use one of those later on. Em's also writing a post at the same time, so there may be lots of repetition!

Wow, how do I begin to describe what it's like here! There is so much to say!

Today, we floated around in the morning, helping with whatever age group there was a need. We were with Baby A, B, and C at different times, which are all different age groups of the kids. There are also toddlers and preschoolers but we didn't work with them. Em and I both got to hold a little girl who is just over a month old and SOOOO tiny! Awww!!

Tomorrow, the new schedule will start, and Em and I will both be with the preschoolers, which I'm really looking forward to! :) We havent gotten a chance to interact with those kids much yet.

For lunch, we went out to a restaurant downtown with some of the other volunteers.. I had a wrap with chicken and avocado, but discovered that I don't really like avocado! It seems to be pretty tasteless with a weird texture, haha, but that is one of the first foods i've tried here that I haven't really liked. Everything else has been pretty good so far! And so far, I haven't gotten sick either, which is definitely a blessing, although I've been told that it's almost guaranteed to happen soon.

We have seen lots of strange things here - like Em said, goats on the street, and chickens, and lots of signs with funny english. Uganda is a BEAUTIFUL country though, with so much lush vegetation, and wonderful people who are so friendly :) From our room in the orphanage guest house, you can see Lake Victoria, which is probably about a 5 minute walk down the road.

We are sleeping very comfortably too!! It cools down a bit at night which is nice (it's QUITE hot during the day - probably like 30 degrees!) and i love the sound of the crickets outside the window.

We bought our first souvenirs today too! - Aprons for 10,000 shillings each! Which is only 5 dollars american :P

I don't have too much more time, so I think that's all I'll say for now :) More when I get another chance! It may not be every day, but hopefully every few days, we'll get a chance to come here and write something.

Much love!!

Alyssa

Day 2!!! (by: Emily)

It looks like I get another chance to write a short message! We are in town for our lunch break and Alyssa and I decided to go to the internet cafe! First of all, everything is SO cheap here! We got our lunch for like $3.50 Canadian! It's absolutely crazy!!!

We had a chance to play with the youngest babies today. I got to hold one baby who was just one month old and SOOO little! I have never held a baby so small before, and at first I was kind of nervous to hold her because she was so small, but one of the mamas (that's what they call the Ugandian woman who take care of the children here) just put her in my arms and gave me her bottle. I was so happy she did because she is just so beautiful and precious and Alyssa and I already want to bring her back! Then we helped with the older babies and fed them their lunch! They all seemed to be wearing more than they were eating...haha...they are SO adorable!

It's 3:20pm here and in 40 minutes we have to be back because it's outing day today! We get to get to each bring a child into town, and I think we're taking them out for cake! It's going to be so much fun!!! We are going to take boda-bodas back, and you have no idea how excited I am to ride one of these!!! I've heard so much about them, and I just can't wait!!!

Did I mention I saw CHICKENS just walking around on the side of the streets...along with the goats of course! I take a picture of every chicken and every goat because I am just so blown away that they are everywhere!!!

What else can I say? hmm...the soil here is dark red! And you walk along dirt roads to get anywhere! That's pretty exciting!!!

The last couple of days have flown by...I hope the rest of the time doesn't go so fast! I really really love it here! Everything I see is so different than anything else I've ever seen before..it's so interesting to me and I want to take it all in and experience everything! Speaking of trying everything, people here eat fried grasshoppers! A little girl told me they just take the wings and legs off, fry them, and put lots of salt on and then eat them! They are apparently VERY GOOD and I would very much like to try one! I want to try everything I can while here...I am loving every minute so far!

Well, that's all for now!

Sending you love from Africa,

Em

Day 1!!! (by: Emily)

It doesn't seem real, but we are finally here in Jinja, Uganda! We flew out 6:10pm on Monday May 10th and arrived Wednesday morning at 2:30am...of course, with 8 hours of time change! There was an extra hour added to our first flight because of the volcanoe and then we had an hour delay our second flight because the door fell off (don't worry...it was just the luggage door...and they fixed it!) OH, and something kind of funny...there was someone sitting in front of us for the first flight to Belgium who looked like Prings...well, at least from the back! Alyssa and I thought that was funny! The plane ride was lots of fun!!!

When we got to Entebbe, Uganda it was a little overwhelming. For one thing, our luggage took a bit to come in and we were wondering if it got lost or not and then we couldn't find our driver...BUT, everything ended up working out in the end! There was a small communication gap with the driver...he thought it was 9:40AM..not PM...so, he left to pick us up at 5:00am (it's a long drive) and then he was there all day! Poor guy!

Okay...now, Africa so far:
Goats wandering around the streets, wild dogs everywhere, tons of boda-bodas asking you for a ride, street children, a LOT of poverty...it's definitely eye opening. I have so much I want to say, but I am borrowing my lovely friend Natalie's computer and I think she wants to go back on soon! I don't know if I'll get to say too much as it doesn't seem like there is a computer here...but, we shall see! I am loving everything so far...the babies are so precious. I already want to bring them all home! One funny story about today before I go...ready? Okay...today on our way home from town there was a bunch of street children who were yelling at us and calling us "Mzungus" (that's what they call white people here). They threw a toy at my eye...by accident I'm sure...but they all surrounded me rubbing my skin and trying to hold my hand. They seemed to be intrigued by us because of our skin colour...that was really funny to me. One boy told Alyssa that he wanted a picture with me...his "Mzungu"...so a bunch of little street kids piled around for a picture with me. They were so excited to see the little picture played back on the camera screen... My heart broke for all of those children who are out here on the streets all day and some all night. Everything is SO different than Canada, which I definitely expected! For one thing, you can be a millionaire here....1,000 ugandan shillings is only 50 cents! It's SOOOO crazy!

Opps...I've got to go! This computer is very popular it seems!!!

Much love,
Em

We are here!

That is all we have time to write right now! More later :)
We are here and safe and everything is amazing so far!