Last night we set some goals and had a prayer that all that we had talked about would come to pass and that we would have success. Today was above and beyond what we had expected. We had breakfast early, around 7:50am, and then made our way to the taxi yard absolutely FULL of taxis, it was crazy. We left Mukono and arrived in Lugazi 40 minutes later around 9:10am. Deo received us into his 2nd home very warmly as he did the first. Deo is the mayor of Lugazi and is also a polygamist, so he has a wife in Mukono and one in Lugazi. The home in Lugazi was just as nice, if not nicer than the one here in Mukono.
Deo was of tremendous help today. Not only did he taxi us around the entire town of Lugazi, but he introduced us to 3 or 4 school headmasters, 4 of his counselors, 2 women’s groups, and a women that works in the hospital. We found a house today! It’s absolutely perfect, I don’t think it could get much better. It has 4 rooms with one GIANT master bedroom, 1 1/2 baths, a kitchen, a refrigerator that needs a little fixing, a from room with couches and a TV! There is a courtyard right outside the front door which would be perfect for getting together outside for dinner and whatnot. It’s in a great central location in Lugazi, though Deo suggested that we have a guard. As a write, Ashley is on the phone with Jenn right now working out the last details about the place. I hope that we get it, it will be perfect.
Deo took us on an incredible tour of the town; it is beautiful to say the very least. I seriously felt like I was on national geographic walking with the Ugandan people up on the hill above the school. There were kids all around, most of them following us. We checked out the school and learned that it was incomplete and needed some more work. A floor needed to be laid and the walls plastered. We will be looking into our funds for that, I hope we can get a project approval through and make it happen. We continued up the hill where we were able to see the entire town of Lugazi, it was breath taking. The sky was storming in the distance, it was pure green everywhere you looked, and I couldn’t have been happier. It was absolutely amazing. I’ve never felt the way I did standing on top of that hill. I felt like I was in another world; I was. We proceeded on to find women with make-shift hammers breaking up rocks. They did this all day for about 8 hours in the hot sun. I got down and broke with them for about 2 minutes and broke a sweat immediately. The rocks are mixed with cement and sand as a floor base. They would fill a truck load in about a week and they’d earn 15,000 shillings, not very good considering. I took some pictures, we got some footage and then we made out way back. We made many trips around the town, it was fascinating and fun to wave to all of the kids. It was crazy to see the looks on some of the kids faces, as if they had never seen a white person before... funny thing is, that’s probably the case.
Deo has been incredibly helpful up to this point, not even charging us for our room and board. I have learned to love the people that works with him and I hope that they aren’t involved in his cunning works. They were extremely helpful today and I hope to work with them in the future.
We got cell phones today, sim cards were quite inexpensive. It was only 3,000 USH for a sim card which allows any and all incoming calls for free, so basically you get your own number for $1.75 We then bought a large amount of minutes for one of the phones. I thought about getting myself a sim and putting it in my phone. I tried the MTK and it didn’t work, I have yet to try the CelTel. It it does, that would be awesome.
We had a great dinner. Mashed potatoes all flavored up (and a bit salty, but way good) with some beans in a yummy sauce and of course that extra delicious passion fruit drink that we have had for three meals now. Mum has been so great to us and making us excellent food. I’m jealous of those dang BYU kids that will be staying in the house and getting all that yummy food. Meanwhile, I’ll be loosing weight... I hope that’s not the case.
Now it’s time for bed. Another day has gone by and it was a long one, about 12 hours long. I got some amazing pictures, ones that will supplement this jounal entry and help me to remember exactly what I experienced and just how I felt. Last night was hell, I sure hope I can sleep this evening. I was very tired today and I can’t be like that anymore. Until tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Day 4 - Mukono
We have finally arrived in Mukono, Uganda, Africa. I am still in a daze, I can’t actually believe that I’m here. I feel like it’s a dream or that I’m actually somewhere familiar, but that’s obviously not the case. We caught our plane this morning at the Schiphol, the plane left a little late. Luckily we made up for time in the air which is common-place and arrived in Entebbe, Africa around 8pm. The plane ride was much better this time around, it went pretty quick actually, maybe because I have already done it once this trip, but in all reality the plane was nicer. The service was great, I watched a movie, had 2 or 3 diet cokes, was served lunch and dinner. The seats reclined just enough more than the last the last plane that I could actually lay my head back and I ended up sleeping for a good 3 hours, to my surprise. We arrived in Entebbe and the first thing I was greeted by was the warm and very humid air. It was very weird, something I’ve only felt in certain places like Hawaii and New York, but this is much worse. The next friendly greeting was from all of the flying bugs littering the sky just above my head because of all of the lights that shined down to give light to us walking off the plane, down a staircase. We waited outside until Jackie’s host family from 5 years ago picked us up. While waiting I used the restroom and took out 100,000 shilling... though i’m not sure what that equates to in US Dollars. Jackie did it so I followed suit.
The car ride from Entebbe to Mukono was anything but nice. They had planned on 2 of us, but there were three. So we crammed four of us, us 3 and one of the kids in the back seat, the lady and the son sat in front and the father drove. The worst part about the ride was the horrible air that filled the cabin as we drove from the airport into town. It was about a 40 minutes car ride if I remember right, and the whole time I was breathing the nasty air. It was part smoke from fires, part exhaust from all of the motor vehicles, and part stench from the the humidity mixed with people and animals, not the most desirable. But, the experience was worth it and I'm glad I had it.
I found out this guy is the acting mayor of Mukono and he also holds another important responsibility that I don’t recall. He is very kind and giving. The mother (one of two, he’s a polygamist) fixed us a great meal. Some sort of mixture with peas in it and a type of gravy-like sauce, with boiled skinned potatoes. The best part was the passion fruit juice that was served, unreal, too good to be true, the REAL deal. I enjoyed the dinner and was very grateful. I hope that I can eat well enough that my intestines will behave.
I found my first gecko tonight, in my room even. He was SUPER cool. I went to get a picture of him but he jumped of my finger. There will be more and I’ll get a great picture. Jackie and Ashley did some planning this evening so that we can make tomorrow as effective as possible. Our first priority is to get sim cards for the phones and get some housing. Once we get housing, we’ll really be able to move forward.
Now here I am, sitting on my bed for the night under a mosquito net. The place is actually really nice considering what’s around us (mud huts). We found out tonight the water doesn’t work, which for Ashley, doesn’t seem to be a problem. She’s kind of granola, ok, she’s TOTALLY granola. Mom would yap at me if I didn’t shower, I’m glad she does. I think it’s totally gross and very unflattering to NOT shower. Anyway, enough of that. It’s hot, very hot. Humid and hot. I’m not sure how I’m going to sleep tonight. This is the worst possible situation to be in as far as sleep conditions go. I like the cold, I don’t do hot, I CAN’T sleep in hot. I’m wondering what exactly I’m going to do. Jackie is in the other room sweating her guts out as well. Meanwhile Ashley is in her room loving it...whatever.
The car ride from Entebbe to Mukono was anything but nice. They had planned on 2 of us, but there were three. So we crammed four of us, us 3 and one of the kids in the back seat, the lady and the son sat in front and the father drove. The worst part about the ride was the horrible air that filled the cabin as we drove from the airport into town. It was about a 40 minutes car ride if I remember right, and the whole time I was breathing the nasty air. It was part smoke from fires, part exhaust from all of the motor vehicles, and part stench from the the humidity mixed with people and animals, not the most desirable. But, the experience was worth it and I'm glad I had it.
I found out this guy is the acting mayor of Mukono and he also holds another important responsibility that I don’t recall. He is very kind and giving. The mother (one of two, he’s a polygamist) fixed us a great meal. Some sort of mixture with peas in it and a type of gravy-like sauce, with boiled skinned potatoes. The best part was the passion fruit juice that was served, unreal, too good to be true, the REAL deal. I enjoyed the dinner and was very grateful. I hope that I can eat well enough that my intestines will behave.
I found my first gecko tonight, in my room even. He was SUPER cool. I went to get a picture of him but he jumped of my finger. There will be more and I’ll get a great picture. Jackie and Ashley did some planning this evening so that we can make tomorrow as effective as possible. Our first priority is to get sim cards for the phones and get some housing. Once we get housing, we’ll really be able to move forward.
Now here I am, sitting on my bed for the night under a mosquito net. The place is actually really nice considering what’s around us (mud huts). We found out tonight the water doesn’t work, which for Ashley, doesn’t seem to be a problem. She’s kind of granola, ok, she’s TOTALLY granola. Mom would yap at me if I didn’t shower, I’m glad she does. I think it’s totally gross and very unflattering to NOT shower. Anyway, enough of that. It’s hot, very hot. Humid and hot. I’m not sure how I’m going to sleep tonight. This is the worst possible situation to be in as far as sleep conditions go. I like the cold, I don’t do hot, I CAN’T sleep in hot. I’m wondering what exactly I’m going to do. Jackie is in the other room sweating her guts out as well. Meanwhile Ashley is in her room loving it...whatever.
Day 3 - Amsterdam
Well, another day gone by, and the last one here in Amsterdam. The days have actually passed pretty quick. We stay quite busy, lots of walking and looking around, I kinda feel like a missionary again in that sense. We got up pretty early today... OK, not really. It was only 9:20am. Yeah. We WERE going to get up earlier, but we were sort of tired. We woke up to Ashley in our faces, waking us up, I felt like such a dork. We got ready and made our way to the Anne Frank Museum. Ashley felt the need to take us the long way, the REALLY long way. As in, we walked an extra mile to get there and it took 45 minutes, if not longer. It was only 15 minutes away in the first place... GRRRRR! But we forgave her and had a great time. It was the actual place that Anne Frank hid when the Nazis were after the Jews. It was here and a couple of others that hid there for I think 2 years until they were finally found out. It was interesting to be in the same confines as Anne herself and the others. We were in the tiny rooms they hid in and saw some of the decorations the Anne had made on the wall to spruce things up during their stay. I’m very glad I went, it gave me a new respect for her and her journal entries.
After Anne Frank, Ashley took off to the flower garden in Keukenhof, she stayed for a long time, longer than she anticipated she loved it so much. In the meantime, Jackie and I were out getting gifts for my family, it was so hard. I hate shopping for gifts for my family, it’s so dang hard. But, luckily, I got something for everybody but dad. But he’s OK, I’m sure he’d just want me to get something for the rest of the family. Jackie tagged along and was a good sport while I did the shopping. After we got done sending that stuff off, 19 Euros later (just to send), we found out the all of Amsterdam isn’t as ghetto as where we have been staying. It’s actually quite beautiful and we found that out by going south on a random tram. We have decided that we’ll give Amsterdam a second chance in the future.
We met back up with Ashley and hung out in the Hostel bar for about 2 hours. We just talked about Europe and Africa and our plans once we get there. It was nice to just sit for while, we have been up and on the run since we got here and my shoulders are getting a bit tired from taking my backpack around with my camera and four lenses. But that’s the price one must pay in order to get awesome pictures, which I did. After we chatted, we made our way to Vondle Park, on the southwest part of town. We discovered that it would have been very beautiful had we been there in the day, unfortunate that we weren’t. Ian met up with us and took us to a bar called something like Blue Tea House, or something along those lines. He offered us drink, of course we told him Coke Light (ashley and I), but Jackie got a nice steaming cup of hot chocolate, it was freezing outside. We sat around and talked for a while and finally got up and made our way home. We had to stop by Ians to get Ashley’s luggage. We then caught the #1 tram and took it to Central where we got off and walked home. It was kind of a big ordeal, but we were happy to help. I may have just been very tired. And here I am, typing at 1.:46 in the morning; what can I say, I’m a night owl.
That was our day, our last day. We get up tomorrow at 7:15am, check-out of the hostel at 8:00am, and have a flight to catch at 11:10am. It’s another long 8 hour flight, but this time I’ll be listening to music and talking with Jackie and Ashley, as long as they don’t fall asleep that is. Until tomorrow.
After Anne Frank, Ashley took off to the flower garden in Keukenhof, she stayed for a long time, longer than she anticipated she loved it so much. In the meantime, Jackie and I were out getting gifts for my family, it was so hard. I hate shopping for gifts for my family, it’s so dang hard. But, luckily, I got something for everybody but dad. But he’s OK, I’m sure he’d just want me to get something for the rest of the family. Jackie tagged along and was a good sport while I did the shopping. After we got done sending that stuff off, 19 Euros later (just to send), we found out the all of Amsterdam isn’t as ghetto as where we have been staying. It’s actually quite beautiful and we found that out by going south on a random tram. We have decided that we’ll give Amsterdam a second chance in the future.
We met back up with Ashley and hung out in the Hostel bar for about 2 hours. We just talked about Europe and Africa and our plans once we get there. It was nice to just sit for while, we have been up and on the run since we got here and my shoulders are getting a bit tired from taking my backpack around with my camera and four lenses. But that’s the price one must pay in order to get awesome pictures, which I did. After we chatted, we made our way to Vondle Park, on the southwest part of town. We discovered that it would have been very beautiful had we been there in the day, unfortunate that we weren’t. Ian met up with us and took us to a bar called something like Blue Tea House, or something along those lines. He offered us drink, of course we told him Coke Light (ashley and I), but Jackie got a nice steaming cup of hot chocolate, it was freezing outside. We sat around and talked for a while and finally got up and made our way home. We had to stop by Ians to get Ashley’s luggage. We then caught the #1 tram and took it to Central where we got off and walked home. It was kind of a big ordeal, but we were happy to help. I may have just been very tired. And here I am, typing at 1.:46 in the morning; what can I say, I’m a night owl.
That was our day, our last day. We get up tomorrow at 7:15am, check-out of the hostel at 8:00am, and have a flight to catch at 11:10am. It’s another long 8 hour flight, but this time I’ll be listening to music and talking with Jackie and Ashley, as long as they don’t fall asleep that is. Until tomorrow.
Day 2 - Amsterdam
We had a great day today. We made our way to Keukenhof, a place where they grow flowers, mainly tulips. There is a sort of theme part that shows all of these flowers, it was rather amazing. I didn’t know exactly what to expect and I had high hopes. It greatly exceeded my expectations and I’m very happy I went. While Jackie did some recording, I was taking pictures, lots of them. They turned out pretty good too. The only weird thing that came out was the red, and I hope it’s not because I have my camera set on “Landscape” mode. I had fresh strawberries with whipped cream, and an authentic brautworst, it was pretty good, although the bun was a bit small and it would have taken two buns to fit the thing. Luckily, the guy cut in half and Jackie and I each had a half. We ended up staying for about 3 hours, 1 of which was used to doze off under a monstrous tree on velvety soft grass; it was serene. I could have slept for hours, it was Alice’s Wonderland for sure.
I still can’t believe that I’m here, it still hasn’t registered. I guess more than anything I feel like I’m just on a short vacation and things are going be back to normal soon. This is not the case however, and it only about to get worse. Although our living conditions will be mildly okay, that of the Ugandans will not be, nor will their hygiene, among other things. We have seen Amsterdam and have deemed it a rat hole, as far as the inner-city goes of course. Is it fun? Absolutely. Would I want to stay long, most definitely not. It’s a place you come to for no more than a week, visit all of the cool parks, museums, and shops and then get the hell out. It’s a sleazy slime bag of a place, one full of perversion and drugs. While the people are nice an willing to help, it’s not the best environment. As I write, I have a tiny bit of a headache. I’m not sure if that from all of the nicotine and weed I breathed in today, or my lack of caffein; lets hope for the latter.
We moved hostels today. We only stayed in the first one, Bob’s Youth Hostel, for the first night as the other nights were booked and have since moved to Meetingpoint Youth Hostel. It seems to be cleaner and more well kept. The price is about 2.50 but no breakfast. Regardless, it’s a bit cheaper. Luckily I’ve had WiFi in both buildings, something I didn’t count on but was hopeful of. It has aloud me to communicate with my family which is so great.
Today was a pretty funny day, full of laughs at the flower park. We came back to town and walk around a little bit. I did a little bit of shopping after my grandpa told me to spend some money and get some souvenirs, and also to try and send something to the girls. I bought a couple of post cards at the flower park, I’ll get those sent of tomorrow, they should enjoy that.
Ashley got in to town today and has been staying with a guy named Ian; the “I” says like it’s pronounced. He came over later in the evening after she had arrived, he was pretty cool. Ashley is participating in something called couch surfing. A program where people volunteer space in their home for people to come and stay, random people. For Ashley is has turned out to be a great experience, as this isn’t her first time doing it. We went out and found a thing called a “Squat,” an abandoned building turned bar. When the building is abandoned and no one takes it over for a year, people are legally aloud to go in and claim the property and turn it into whatever they want. The drinks are cheaper at squats. Ian bought us a drink. I had vodka...haha, just kidding. I had a Coke as did Ashley. Jackie stuck with water because they didn’t have “light” also known as “diet.” Ian proceeded to have a beer. It was a different atmosphere that a regular bar. You could call it a ghetto bar, yes, with ghetto people inside. People otherwise rejected in public seens (from my observations.)
We went to Burger King for a late dinner. I had two burgers (kids), a med fry, and a small 10 oz shake thing. It case me 6.50 euros, also known as EXPENSIVE in USD. Oh man, I’m so done spending money here, it makes me sick. Our dollar is just horrible.
I’m not sitting on my bed typing in my journal. We are on the fourth floor of Meetingpoint Youth Hostel. I’m on the top bunk of bed #11 and I’m looking out the window down to the streets of Amsterdam. It’s quite a seen. It has settled down a lot, but there is still commotion and will continue to be for a couple of hours I’m sure.
I still can’t believe that I’m here, it still hasn’t registered. I guess more than anything I feel like I’m just on a short vacation and things are going be back to normal soon. This is not the case however, and it only about to get worse. Although our living conditions will be mildly okay, that of the Ugandans will not be, nor will their hygiene, among other things. We have seen Amsterdam and have deemed it a rat hole, as far as the inner-city goes of course. Is it fun? Absolutely. Would I want to stay long, most definitely not. It’s a place you come to for no more than a week, visit all of the cool parks, museums, and shops and then get the hell out. It’s a sleazy slime bag of a place, one full of perversion and drugs. While the people are nice an willing to help, it’s not the best environment. As I write, I have a tiny bit of a headache. I’m not sure if that from all of the nicotine and weed I breathed in today, or my lack of caffein; lets hope for the latter.
We moved hostels today. We only stayed in the first one, Bob’s Youth Hostel, for the first night as the other nights were booked and have since moved to Meetingpoint Youth Hostel. It seems to be cleaner and more well kept. The price is about 2.50 but no breakfast. Regardless, it’s a bit cheaper. Luckily I’ve had WiFi in both buildings, something I didn’t count on but was hopeful of. It has aloud me to communicate with my family which is so great.
Today was a pretty funny day, full of laughs at the flower park. We came back to town and walk around a little bit. I did a little bit of shopping after my grandpa told me to spend some money and get some souvenirs, and also to try and send something to the girls. I bought a couple of post cards at the flower park, I’ll get those sent of tomorrow, they should enjoy that.
Ashley got in to town today and has been staying with a guy named Ian; the “I” says like it’s pronounced. He came over later in the evening after she had arrived, he was pretty cool. Ashley is participating in something called couch surfing. A program where people volunteer space in their home for people to come and stay, random people. For Ashley is has turned out to be a great experience, as this isn’t her first time doing it. We went out and found a thing called a “Squat,” an abandoned building turned bar. When the building is abandoned and no one takes it over for a year, people are legally aloud to go in and claim the property and turn it into whatever they want. The drinks are cheaper at squats. Ian bought us a drink. I had vodka...haha, just kidding. I had a Coke as did Ashley. Jackie stuck with water because they didn’t have “light” also known as “diet.” Ian proceeded to have a beer. It was a different atmosphere that a regular bar. You could call it a ghetto bar, yes, with ghetto people inside. People otherwise rejected in public seens (from my observations.)
We went to Burger King for a late dinner. I had two burgers (kids), a med fry, and a small 10 oz shake thing. It case me 6.50 euros, also known as EXPENSIVE in USD. Oh man, I’m so done spending money here, it makes me sick. Our dollar is just horrible.
I’m not sitting on my bed typing in my journal. We are on the fourth floor of Meetingpoint Youth Hostel. I’m on the top bunk of bed #11 and I’m looking out the window down to the streets of Amsterdam. It’s quite a seen. It has settled down a lot, but there is still commotion and will continue to be for a couple of hours I’m sure.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I Made It!!
Today has been one crazy day. I can’t even believe I’m sitting her, in Amsterdam, in a Hostel no less, on a squeaky twin bed (it’s actually not even a twin, it’s smaller). It’s so surreal. I’ve been preparing for this experience for months and it has finally come, after a long and sleepless 8 hour flight...it came.
Amsterdam is definitely different. It has it’s own characteristics. The people, the food, the entertainment, it’s all very centered around a culture: “just relax.” Today is Saturday, everybody’s day off. The streets were absolutely packed with people, almost wall to wall. There are people of all different races and backgrounds. It’s a conglomerate of Europeans, French, Spaniards, British and even Indian, they’ve got it all. Everybody wants to chill and relax and the best way they know how to do that is to roll up a joint and sip a Heineken. People however have been very nice. We have stopped many people asking, “Where is duh duh duh?” “How do you get to duh duh duh?” They were all very willing and excited to be talking to an American with their broken yet good English. I realize how much I have taken for granted that I live in a country where I know the language, the culture, and the people well enough to feel safe and independent. This experience has and will continue to have an impact on me in that sense. I’m in a country where Dutch is the primary language spoken. All the signs, guides, and written material are in Dutch. It can be very frustrating, especially when you need to catch a certain Central Amsterdam train and you’re not sure how it might be spelled.
Jackie has been great. Full of energy, eager to get out and see the world of Amsterdam, ready and willing to do whatever. She’s fun to talk to, she laughs all the time and tries (and succeeds) to make every situation a good and fun one. I’m excited to continue to get to know her as time goes on here in Amsterdam and in-country Uganda. She has a very strong will which has taken her very far in life. She has an incredible ability to succeed in many things at once, and I mean MANY. She has a hard time declining people who want her to be apart of a certain group, take on a certain leadership position, or anything else that involves being very qualified. She wants so much to do so much in life and accomplish much. She’s a wonder to me in many ways, I just don’t think I could ever accomplish what she has at her age, she’s incredible.
I can’t believe some of the things that go on here. There is a place/area called the “Red Light District.” It’s basically many streets full of extremely inappropriate photos, acts, merchandise, and everything else you might consider XXX. We weren’t so much interested - thankfully - in the content of these street as we were the experience of being there. We kept our eyes forward and unfocused on what was around us for fear something would be permanently etched into our minds. This place, like others, has its nasty side...and if I had to bet, one of the worst in the world.
It’s beautiful here. It’s very green with lots of trees, grass, shrubs, etc. With all of the CO2 in the air these plants are getting their daily fill times ten. We will be traveling to the flower gardens tomorrow to check out the incredible and renowned tulips of the Netherlands, a perfect Sunday activity. We are going to try to make it to church, though it will be awkward since we’ll have our bags on us and I’ll be in jeans.
I took 75 pictures today and we got about 10 minutes total worth of video, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but we covered quite a bit and got some great footage. We are trying desperately to document this trip to the max, we want to leave here not forgetting a single detail, and with Jackie’s HD video camera and my DSLR, we should be able to accomplish that feat fairly well.
Well, it’s time for bed. It’s now 1:49am and I am supposed to be asleep to be fixing my jet-lagged brains. And I’m sure the extra intake of second-hand smoke has done me a lot of good. Until next time.
Amsterdam is definitely different. It has it’s own characteristics. The people, the food, the entertainment, it’s all very centered around a culture: “just relax.” Today is Saturday, everybody’s day off. The streets were absolutely packed with people, almost wall to wall. There are people of all different races and backgrounds. It’s a conglomerate of Europeans, French, Spaniards, British and even Indian, they’ve got it all. Everybody wants to chill and relax and the best way they know how to do that is to roll up a joint and sip a Heineken. People however have been very nice. We have stopped many people asking, “Where is duh duh duh?” “How do you get to duh duh duh?” They were all very willing and excited to be talking to an American with their broken yet good English. I realize how much I have taken for granted that I live in a country where I know the language, the culture, and the people well enough to feel safe and independent. This experience has and will continue to have an impact on me in that sense. I’m in a country where Dutch is the primary language spoken. All the signs, guides, and written material are in Dutch. It can be very frustrating, especially when you need to catch a certain Central Amsterdam train and you’re not sure how it might be spelled.
Jackie has been great. Full of energy, eager to get out and see the world of Amsterdam, ready and willing to do whatever. She’s fun to talk to, she laughs all the time and tries (and succeeds) to make every situation a good and fun one. I’m excited to continue to get to know her as time goes on here in Amsterdam and in-country Uganda. She has a very strong will which has taken her very far in life. She has an incredible ability to succeed in many things at once, and I mean MANY. She has a hard time declining people who want her to be apart of a certain group, take on a certain leadership position, or anything else that involves being very qualified. She wants so much to do so much in life and accomplish much. She’s a wonder to me in many ways, I just don’t think I could ever accomplish what she has at her age, she’s incredible.
I can’t believe some of the things that go on here. There is a place/area called the “Red Light District.” It’s basically many streets full of extremely inappropriate photos, acts, merchandise, and everything else you might consider XXX. We weren’t so much interested - thankfully - in the content of these street as we were the experience of being there. We kept our eyes forward and unfocused on what was around us for fear something would be permanently etched into our minds. This place, like others, has its nasty side...and if I had to bet, one of the worst in the world.
It’s beautiful here. It’s very green with lots of trees, grass, shrubs, etc. With all of the CO2 in the air these plants are getting their daily fill times ten. We will be traveling to the flower gardens tomorrow to check out the incredible and renowned tulips of the Netherlands, a perfect Sunday activity. We are going to try to make it to church, though it will be awkward since we’ll have our bags on us and I’ll be in jeans.
I took 75 pictures today and we got about 10 minutes total worth of video, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but we covered quite a bit and got some great footage. We are trying desperately to document this trip to the max, we want to leave here not forgetting a single detail, and with Jackie’s HD video camera and my DSLR, we should be able to accomplish that feat fairly well.
Well, it’s time for bed. It’s now 1:49am and I am supposed to be asleep to be fixing my jet-lagged brains. And I’m sure the extra intake of second-hand smoke has done me a lot of good. Until next time.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Money Earned
Thanks to an incredible neighbor who has supported me for many years as her auto detailer and computer fixer, I finally have my first donations. My uncle has also supported me in my efforts to raise money.
The current amount raised at this point is: $680.
My appreciation is through the ceiling, thank you so much for your support!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Fund Raising
Remember, purchasing a food storage package is not the only way you can help in this amazing service project. If you'd like to make a donation, you can make checks out to:
HELP International (put my name in the Memo line so that way the know it's for me!)
send to:
HELP International Office
363 North University Avenue, #110
Provo, UT 84604
or, if you feel better about it, send the check made out to HELP to me, and I'll take it to the office. Remember to put my name in the memo line.
Your support is very appreciated, not just by me, but by the people of Uganda awaiting my serivce.
Corbin
1380 South 605 West
Orem, Ut 84058
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