19/6/2001

Yes, it is the nineteenth day of the sixth month in the year 2001 according to the Ethiopian calendar. I am officially living in the past.
I have spent slightly over a week in Ethiopia, and I am in love. I have transitioned from being a “muzungu” (foreigner in Uganda) to a “forenge” (foreigner in Ethiopia). I was one in a group of twenty, now I am one in a group of three. I was living in a bustling metropolis, now I am living in a compound that is surrounded by villages of mud huts. I was using matatu (public taxis) to get around, now I ride in a peptobismol pink Land Cruiser (the color is by request of the Japanese donor: he wanted it to stand out). I was eating rolex (chipati and egg on the street) and Americanized food cooked by Grace, now I eat spaghetti for breakfast and ngera with sauce for the other two meals, cooked by Banchayo. I used to wake up at 7:30 to eat breakfast and get to class on time. Now I wake up at 6:45, wash my face, and enjoy devotions with the rest of the Sasiga FHI staff for an hour. Breakfast follows at 8:30. I used to sleep on the top bunk, now I sleep on a mattress on the floor. I used to get dirty, now I get covered in red dirt. I used to utilize a larger variety in my wardrobe, now I wish I only had 4 shirts and 2 skirts here with me. I used to write in large font in my journal, now I am writing as small as I can because I have nearly filled it and there is no chance of buying a new one for at least a week.
Oh friends, I wish that you could be here beside me for a moment to experience what I am experiencing. Like Grace Kibuye told us, “Ethiopia is practicum all on its own”. From the moment we got off the plane on Monday, February 16, we knew that. The security guards tried to confiscate Eli’s video camera because it was “professional”. After some convincing, they let him keep it. Aweke Solomon met us at the airport and took us to a fantastic little lodge for the night. Hot showers were a plus!!!
On Tuesday we embarked on what turned out to be an 11 hour trek west from Addis Ababa. We learned one thing about Aweke: He loves coffee. And after spending more time with him here at Sasiga, we learned that he likes mangoes as well. Even though they’re still slightly green because the season is not yet upon us. On Wednesday we took Suzy and Kristen to Belo, where there is an FH compound about 25 kilometers away. We forged through a few large creeks on the way there. We haven’t seen them since, but are hoping to give them a phone call tonight.
Eli, Tessa and I have traveled together for a majority of the past week, visiting farms, water points, and giving health presentations. It has been frustrating to have such a great language barrier, but thankfully we have several good translators. I have given 2 short biology presentations to grade 8 students, an education and adolescence talk to a group of approximately 100 middle school girls, explained the US education system to teachers, instructed a group of community women in nutrition, and made various other “speeches” at goodbye parties and other community functions.
In the past week I have: attended an informal wedding, gone to market, milked a cow, attempted to spin cotton on a drop spindle (which I literally DROPPED on the ground- I felt so sorry that I soiled the dear grandmother’s pristinely white thread), conducted innumerable interviews, learned a few Amharic and Oromo words, read a Karen Kingsbury novel, as well as “Mountains beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder (an incredibly inspiring true story about a doctor who commits everything he has to serving the poor), finished “Mere Christianity”, walked 30 minutes to a farm only to sprain my ankle and ride back to the compound on a dirtbike driven by Desta, eaten countless mangoes and slices of papaya, started to crave ngera, attended a large Christian conference where I was prophesied over, talked for hours with Tessa and Eli, as well as Dawide (the ag officer), Matthews ( the amazing Project Manager), and Mazgebo (the social worker), climbed a small rocky mountain, sucked honey from the comb, conducted several home visits of children who are sponsored through FH, and countless other activities.
Everyday experiences include: enjoying coffee every day after lunch (we wait while the ceremony is performed- consisting of roasting the beans, then grinding them and brewing the thick black drink), gulping burning hot tea at public gatherings so that the cup can be washed and used by someone else, fording streams to get anywhere, walking with the company of twenty to fifty children, blowing my nose and ending up with a tissue full of black dirt, watching clumps of people walk with umbrellas, parking the car under a mango tree, observing children as young as 5 years old herding goats, hearing the rhythmic thumping of donkeys trotting by with a wooden carrier on their back full of water jugs, washing my clothes on a concrete slab, watching out for “friends”- the large black spiders that freak Tessa out, sleeping under my “princess tent” style mosquito net, showering with toads and grasshoppers, and so many other little things that I have forgotten to mention.
Sorry to have so many lists of activities with little explanation, but I have limited time on the computer and I don’t want to bore you with too many details.
I love you all and I am having the experience of a lifetime. Pray that I can continue to connect with the local community despite our language barrier. The pink car got in a little accident today, so we will be confined more closely to this village of Angar Central- perhaps this is for the best. May God continue to work in all of us to mold us more closely to His heart as we learn to love the people whom he has placed beside us.

Reflection on Stage 1 of the journey

It is so hard to believe that I have spent slightly over four weeks here in this beautiful city and am ready to move on to stage 2 of the GoEd experience: Practicum. I will be going to Ethiopia with Kristen, Tessa, Suzy, and Eli. As of now, I still don’t know what city or village I will be in. But I look forward to experiencing a totally new culture and group of people.

The past few days have been harder for me emotionally, as I have been away from home for over a month and am missing my dear family and friends.

How strange it is to be away from all that is comfortable, yet surrounded by people who genuinely care about me. I want to be there, I want to be here. I want to run around the kitchen and cook with my mommy, yet I delight in teaching new recipes to Grace, who cooks for us here in Uganda. I love the sights and sounds and smells and tastes of Kampala, yet at times I am overwhelmed by the crowded streets and the passersby calling out "Muzungu"- the Lugandan word for foreigner. I crave silence, I crave company. I have so many emotions, yet I am numb.

I enjoy the novels we are reading for African literature, but despise answering the questions, and reading the never-ending list of articles. I was surprised when the overpowering odor of gasoline filled our classroom on Monday morning and we had to evacuate the building, continuing our class on a concrete slab and then in our bus. Dr. Mpagi has no idea how many notes were passed during that class period . Our afternoon literature class was held here at the guest house, and I watched out the window in awe as a beautiful thunderstorm filled the western sky.

My feet are constantly encrusted with dirt from wearing sandals all the time, and scrubbing them in the shower doesn't seem to do much good. My hair loves the warm and humid weather and the curls bounce happily as I go through the day. My shoulders are peeling for the first time that I remember. I am energized by the runs I enjoy with Suzy and Jenny, but sore from our ab workouts. We haven't played football (soccer) or Ultimate Frisbee for a few days, and I miss playing. I will greatly miss the large group when we are split up for practicum.

I am excited to move to Ethiopia next week, but also scared because it will be a change. This guesthouse has become a home. The living room is covered in papers and books and computers, the bedrooms piled with the stuff of living. The jars of peanut butter and Nutella disappear at an extraordinary rate as we feed our cravings for comfort food. We each have our own little idiosyncrasies and we have been learning attitudes of humility, service, and love.

Our Monday evening worship services continue to be times of encouragement and honesty as we sing choruses, pray and reflect on our lives together. We have some amazing talent in our group and our singing is breathtakingly beautiful at times.

This past weekend a few girls and I went to a campground for a weekend retreat. We stayed in a darling little banda (cabin) and hiked around on various trails, observing the monkeys and other unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells of the Mabira Forest.

Yesterday afternoon I went to the slums with Kristen, Ryan, and Jenny. I don’t really know what I was expecting, but I definitely wasn’t expecting what I saw. When we arrived, our friend Jess was treating a boy who had been burnt this past weekend. He was very drunk and fell into a pot of scalding oil. We watched the young boys getting high on random substances that they sniff. What touched me the most is WHY these children are living in the slums. Many of them have run away from their families because of abuse or simply being fed up with being required to do housework. This lack of familial love seems to me to be the definition of true poverty.

May I never take for granted the wealth of relationships. Thanks to all of you who love me and pray for me!

Mirembe (Peace)

Just to give you a quick view into the English that we encounter every day here in Kampala. Sometimes I feel at a disadvantage as a native speaker. Truly, if this land is not for sale, how can you buy it? And who would WANT to buy it if it's "at your own risk"?!?!

There are other random signs as well, such as "Peaceful Butchery" which highlights a ramshackle stand that has carcasses of beef hanging from the front. What, if anything, is tranquil about such a scene?


Here's a snap of Jenny and I while we were at Ssezzibwe Falls for a field trip last week. It was really fun to hike around on the rocks, and enjoy the muddy waterfall. We'll get to hike around some more together since we're joining Suzy, Kristen, and Tessa for a weekend camping/hiking trip to Mabira Forest.

Just last night we received our practicum assignments. I will be going to Ethiopia on February 16th! Suzy, Kristen, Tessa, Eli, and I will all be going together, but I think we will be split in two groups once we get there.

I have been busy with lots of reading homework this week, but its been a good week as well.

Our group study on Wednesday nights has been talking about the issue of poverty. For us, this trip is to see physical poverty in East Africa, but it's also a time for us to realize the spiritual poverty that is so apparent in our own lives and in the lives of our North American neighbors.

Paz y Amor a todos.

Adventure!

What an exhilarating, once-in-a-lifetime weekend! This past weekend we went white water rafting on the Nile River. It was a beautiful experience. I was in a raft with Joy, Jess L, Mindie, Jenny, Kristen, a Frenchman (Pierre), an Irishman (Steven), and an Englishman guide (Clarkey). We had a lot of fun together, as well as some interesting conversations about worldviews and beliefs. I also did my very first backflips off the raft into the water. It was a lot easier than I expected. There were some funny misunderstandings due to strong accents- it turns out that what Mindie thought was the “man falls” was actually the “main” falls, and the “bullflies” were in fact “butterflies”. We had some incredible class 5 rapids, and one was a legitimate waterfall! Our team didn’t flip until the very last rapid, called “The Bad Place”, where flipping is inevitable. I was underwater, being tossed around like a ragdoll for several seconds until I resurfaced and grabbed my bearings. What a thrill! I loved the entire day- there were some tense moments, but many relaxing and enjoyable ones as well.

When we got back to the Adrift camp we took hot showers ( heated by an outdoor wood stove), then bought some charcoal and worked hard to get hot coals without any lighter fluid. We roasted sausages and baked potatoes- they were delicious since we were so hungry! We were able to share some extras with our friends from the rafting company. After watching a video recapping the day 12 of us girls (Danielle was home sick with a nasty virus) piled into the lodge for a good night’s sleep on a rickety tower of bunks. I would’ve slept well except for my incredibly sunburnt knees! Yesterday morning several of our group bungee jumped, which was super fun to watch. I would’ve loved to do that, but I had already spent enough money on the rafting!

It was a good team bonding experience! It was, however, hard to reconcile the fact that I had spent more money on one day of fun than the many Africans doing laundry and bathing along the banks of the Nile would see in a year.

Today we went back to classes. For lunch today I had some good “Rolex”- fried egg wrapped in a chapati. After the afternoon class Tessa and I did a bit of exploring in near the taxi park and bought some fabric to have some African dresses made for us.