I vowed at the beginning of this trip that I would keep a journal, and a good one. Recently I have been slipping and I’m not very happy with myself. The problem seems to be that each day I come home a little more tired, a little less apt to do anything but sit and just relax. What I should be doing is reading a book, writing in my journal, etc. I’m just going to have to buck up and do it!! It’s already been four days since I’ve written and there have been other times when I didn’t as well. Luckily I have a bunch of writings already, hopefully I will stay on task in the future.
Today has been one crazy day. We began a Simba Stove at the Equator Primary School. Jeanette is the lady we are working with and she is such a doll, she really is just beautiful. Sadly, Jeannette suffers from AIDS and is very skinny at this point in her life. She is still very bright and has a great spirit about her. We are shocked by her ability to continue to serve the kids. She is the cook for all of the kids at the school. While Amber was investigating women’s groups, she came across Equator and NAADS and set up the project. We really kicked butt today on getting started. We got the entire foundation in and we couldn’t be happier, it turned out amazing. Dan, from Canada, is our man on site. He is well trained in construction and does a first class job with everything he does. He designed the foundation well, I couldn’t be happier. We will go back on Thursday to actually mold the stove.
There was a rather unfortunate circumstance today however. After Dan and I had finished with the stove, we were brought a meal by some women at the school. It was matooke covered in a peanut sauce along with some yummy perfectly ripened avocados. I dug in praying the food would be free of food born illness; after all, we don’t REALLY know these people and their cooking habits. The food was good however, and even Dan thought so, until the unthinkable happened. As he was eating his food he realized that there was peanut sauce on the matooke. Dan is severely allergic to peanuts, nuts in general, and legumes. He started to freak out, said some choice words (which I would as well had I known I had just eaten death itself), and then told me that he needed to throw it up and then get on a boda boda immediately to get back home and get his medicine. I panicked, but handled it well. My first thought was, “There aren’t even any boda bodas up in this area, we are going to have to run down the mountain and get one!” As we were sprinting towards the bottom, his through beginning to swell, a boda boda came driving up the path with a passenger. I sort of waved him down, he could see we were panicked and running. He drove past, we kept running. Seconds later I hear yelling behind us. It was the boda boda on it’s way toward us without a passenger, it couldn’t have been any luckier - except that we all know it wasn’t luck. I put Dan on the boda boda and sent him off telling the driver to take him to Nakazadde where the house is. I began sprinting again, but this time I was out of control; I don’t think I’ve ever ran so fast for so long in my entire life. It wasn’t until after 2 minutes of sprinting that I found another boda boda to take me back to the house. When I got there Dan had just pulled up and was in taking some benedryl pills. I asked him when it was time to give him the EpiPen shot, he said not until he said. So, of course, I prepared myself for what thought I might have to do. At first he didn’t feel like he needed to go to the hospital, then all of the sudden he said, “Ok, I need to go.” Jackie, Ashley, Dan and I hopped on the two bodas that were waiting out front and headed to Kawolo as fast as we could. There we went into the injections room where he was given a shot of hydrocortisone. Unfortunately they didn’t have epinephrine available. The nurse prepared the shot and then turned to me and asked if I was giving it, I told her “no”, she then proceeded to give it to him. I couldn’t believe she asked me, it was pretty funny. Maybe she had found out I was a medical assistant, I don’t know. We gave Dan a blessing. Trent anointed, I sealed. It was short, simple, and to the point - it felt good. He said he began to feel a little better or at least that the side effects of the reaction had stopped progressing.
Jackie, Trent, David and I decided to leave, Ashley stayed behind. Jackie and I decided it would be a good idea to go to Jinja and check out the hospital situation for future reference. To our surprise we got a call from Ashley saying they were in a car on their way to Jinja with Dan. His condition had worsened and they eventually gave him the EpiPen. We all met at The Surgery, a branch of the big hospital in Kampala. There was a nice Australian women doctor there, we felt very comfortable with her. She was very helpful and treated Dan accordingly. We left Dan and Trent overnight in Jinja because the doctor said it would be a good idea to have him stay in town.
It was a crazy day, I'm so tired right now and the group wants to watch a movie, I guess I'll watch one. I told the The Forgotten was a good one, it should be good. Until next time.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Day 28 - Really?
Ok, so, I’m pretty sure it’s a little late to be writing in my journal but I have been slacking lately and I’m not too happy about it. At the same time, I haven’t had much to write about, so maybe it’s OK. Alright, the previous statement isn’t entirely true. I can’t be in Lugazi, Uganda and NOT have something to write about; impossible. Sometimes I get the feeling that I forget to include the really important things in my journal entires. I guess it’s different when you out in the world on an adventure. Instead of writing mostly thoughts and feelings, I write what happened throughout the day, mostly because it’s a totally new experience but also because it seems like the right thing to do at the time. There isn’t much room for thoughts and feelings when you are new to a place because all you can possibly think about is the fact that you are in a new country trying to get your bearings. There are way to many occurrences that would just never happen back home and so there is an obligation to write about it. Now that I’ve been out of my comfort zone for 28 days, really gotten out of the Orem bubble to see the world, and have seen much and recorded much, I feel like it’s time to focus more on people, thoughts, and feelings.
I have a new friend named Amber. She is quite possibly one of the funniest people I have ever met. Why? Well, first of all... really? Ok, just kidding. Only she would understand the pun you just missed. That was an inside joke of ours; see, I’m already getting our of control. Amber seems to share almost my exact sense of humor, to the point that we both HALF to laugh at the other when they make a face, say something, or otherwise. What WE think and see as absolutely hilarious others don’t quite get. If I may say, our level of humor is on a higher level...er...just kidding. :-) We have a TON of fun together. The other night we were doing orthodontics on Heidi and I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. We laughed for SO long as we attempted and succeeded putting the rubber color pieces back on Heidi’s braces. That was more or less the beginning of our new found friendship, even though we had laughed a little bit before and even in training back home; she’s great. Heidi is also a new good friend, also very funny, super dramatic, and can’t stand to have her ears touched nor even spoken of. If her ears are touched she will absolutely throw a fit, start screaming, and at seek to punch whoever or whatever bugged her ear. She cracks me up each day. When Heidi, Amber, and myself all get together, it’s a recipe for laughing like you’ve never seen. Amber and I are leads on the Lorena Stoves which we have decided to rename the Simba Stove. We thought that “Simba” was much more appropriate that “Lorena” here in Uganda, don’t you think? We have a meeting tomorrow with a school to discuss with them a little further how the stove works, it’s benefits, and what the agreement will be on getting materials, etc. We will also be going to a women’s group and plan out a stove there; they have already decided and are set on having a stove.
I really am liking my stay here and I’m doing everything I can to keep busy and not be lazy. Living in such a beauiful country and being in a house that is “nice” sometimes makes you want to be lazy and relax a little more. I’m not sure if I already mentioned it here in my journal, but I have had a thought lately that really has me thinking and a bit uptight. If when I get home and ask myself, “What did I do to help the people of Africa?”, and the answer to myself is not very convincing, I think I would have a heart attack. So many people have contributed to my being here and the last thing I want to do is throw away people’s time, money, and support by not pushing though and making things happen. Luckily, Simba Stoves and Hospital work is up and running and we will be having much work starting next week; I’m beyond excited. I need to know that I have made a difference, then I can leave here knowing that I have and I’ll have peace of mind. Then I can tell Sister Child that her generous donation to this cause indeed changed the lives of many. That way I can tell my grandparents who also financially supported this project that I too, like them, was able to improve the lives of troubled teens and people in general. My goal is not only show the people here and myself that I have the ability and desire to make a difference, but to show those who have supported me back home, especially my family, that because of me hundreds will have fewer respiratory problems and conserve their money on firewood, that hundreds of kids are better informed about HIV and it’s serious danger, that the people of Uganda KNOW that there ARE muzungus that truly care about them and their welfare because they too are children of our Heavenly Father.
I thank my heavenly father every day that I have the opportunity to be here and serve these people. I haven’t had this kind of opportunity since my mission and it’s quite refreshing. The time has come to snooze, until tomorrow.
I have a new friend named Amber. She is quite possibly one of the funniest people I have ever met. Why? Well, first of all... really? Ok, just kidding. Only she would understand the pun you just missed. That was an inside joke of ours; see, I’m already getting our of control. Amber seems to share almost my exact sense of humor, to the point that we both HALF to laugh at the other when they make a face, say something, or otherwise. What WE think and see as absolutely hilarious others don’t quite get. If I may say, our level of humor is on a higher level...er...just kidding. :-) We have a TON of fun together. The other night we were doing orthodontics on Heidi and I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. We laughed for SO long as we attempted and succeeded putting the rubber color pieces back on Heidi’s braces. That was more or less the beginning of our new found friendship, even though we had laughed a little bit before and even in training back home; she’s great. Heidi is also a new good friend, also very funny, super dramatic, and can’t stand to have her ears touched nor even spoken of. If her ears are touched she will absolutely throw a fit, start screaming, and at seek to punch whoever or whatever bugged her ear. She cracks me up each day. When Heidi, Amber, and myself all get together, it’s a recipe for laughing like you’ve never seen. Amber and I are leads on the Lorena Stoves which we have decided to rename the Simba Stove. We thought that “Simba” was much more appropriate that “Lorena” here in Uganda, don’t you think? We have a meeting tomorrow with a school to discuss with them a little further how the stove works, it’s benefits, and what the agreement will be on getting materials, etc. We will also be going to a women’s group and plan out a stove there; they have already decided and are set on having a stove.
I really am liking my stay here and I’m doing everything I can to keep busy and not be lazy. Living in such a beauiful country and being in a house that is “nice” sometimes makes you want to be lazy and relax a little more. I’m not sure if I already mentioned it here in my journal, but I have had a thought lately that really has me thinking and a bit uptight. If when I get home and ask myself, “What did I do to help the people of Africa?”, and the answer to myself is not very convincing, I think I would have a heart attack. So many people have contributed to my being here and the last thing I want to do is throw away people’s time, money, and support by not pushing though and making things happen. Luckily, Simba Stoves and Hospital work is up and running and we will be having much work starting next week; I’m beyond excited. I need to know that I have made a difference, then I can leave here knowing that I have and I’ll have peace of mind. Then I can tell Sister Child that her generous donation to this cause indeed changed the lives of many. That way I can tell my grandparents who also financially supported this project that I too, like them, was able to improve the lives of troubled teens and people in general. My goal is not only show the people here and myself that I have the ability and desire to make a difference, but to show those who have supported me back home, especially my family, that because of me hundreds will have fewer respiratory problems and conserve their money on firewood, that hundreds of kids are better informed about HIV and it’s serious danger, that the people of Uganda KNOW that there ARE muzungus that truly care about them and their welfare because they too are children of our Heavenly Father.
I thank my heavenly father every day that I have the opportunity to be here and serve these people. I haven’t had this kind of opportunity since my mission and it’s quite refreshing. The time has come to snooze, until tomorrow.
Day 25 - Can it be?
Instead of going through the daily grind of what went on today, I’m going to express some feelings.
Africa is amazing, the people are a amazing, this experience is amazing. However, as with anything we endeavor that takes time, money, and effort given by our own free will and choice, there are consequences. Now, I don’t want the word “consequence” to be taken out of context or seen as a necessarily negative thing. A consequence is simply a result or effect of an action or condition. I have been able to make many comparisons between this experience and my mission. As incredible as the mission was and as much as I learned and experienced, it was HARD. I’ve never done anything so hard as the mission; at times it was unbearable. This experience is similar though I haven’t come across any “unbearable” moments just yet, unless of course we count my EXTREME stomach ache that I had last Monday and Tuesday that gave me cramps like never before.
Africa truly is amazing. It is the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot. I thought Hawaii was beautiful, and it is, but Uganda beats it. The Nile was like paradise, I could possibly live there 1 week out of the year... every year... on a houseboat.
The people here are amazing. But just like any place on earth there are people that aren’t so happy, that aren’t so nice and friendly. The people that we have been working with thus far however have been just incredible. There has been so much love and acceptance from these people and it has been so great to be received so warmly. It’s nice to know that these people respect that we are here and are willing to work along side us to accomplish theirs and our goals. It’s when you encounter people that all they can think of is the fact that they think we have money and wonder what we can do for them, that’s when problems set in and it makes it hard to work with them. Luckily these are not the people we are working alongside; it would never work.
This experience has been amazing so far. I’ve never done anything like this in my life and it has really opened my eyes. You can never really understand what it’s like to be in a 3rd world country until you’ve gone. You can’t know what these people are truly experiencing until you work along side them, eat along side them, and sleep along side them. If anybody has heard about “mud huts” that people live in, it’s true, not a myth. The sight here can be stunning, although once you’ve been here for a while it’s less of a surprise and more of an awareness. We live in a house that is incredibly nice for this area and I feel so blessed to have what I have. We take for granted so many things, it’s ridiculous.
Let me go through a typical day of a women here in Lugazi. She most likely has anywhere between 4 and 8 children - the birth rate here is outrageous. She gets up around 6:00am and begins sweeping around the house. Breakfast is being prepared simultaneously, if there IS breakfast. The kids generally get up around the same time and begin their daily chores. When they are not in school they have chores around the house and they are quite disciplined. Kids wash dishes, clothes, walkways, floors, babies, etc. They are trained from very young to contribute to the family. Father’s are usually at work all day trying to provide for the family. If there isn’t a father, the mother TRIES to work, in which case she may have to put her kids in an orphanage if she cannot afford to survive them. The mother is continuously cooking and cleaning throughout the day, she stays home and just watches outside as people go by. Her life is nothing but caring for her kids and her home, she has NO life other than that. I try to imagine myself being a kid in that situation and I can’t even begin to comprehend what that would be like. The kids just play around the house all day if they don’t have any chores or can’t afford to go to school.
To be quite honest, I can’t even begin to compare our lives. They are just different and that’s the way it is. I think about the way these people are living and my initial reaction is to think that they are so bad off and that they are suffering terribly and life is miserable. And while this may be true for some, many have at least enough money to provide food which is all they are worried about, as well as a roof over their heads. If they have a mud hut with a good roof then they are good to go, they’re kept safe from the rain. If the kids can go outside and play with friends and kick balls around and make wire cars that they push around, they are happy. Life is different here and should NOT be compared with our own. These people truly are happy, it’s just the way they have been brought up so they don’t know any different. Could their lives be improved? Of course. Is it imperative for their survival that we try to make their lives like our own? No. For their happiness? Most definitely not. I’ve had to drop my thoughts of “so much needs to change.” Those aren’t the right thoughts because that’s not what NEEDS to happen. It is impossible to enter a community and in 3 months change it’s entire infrastructure; not going to happen! The BEST thing that we can do is support them in what they already have going and do small things to improve their living conditions. We don’t have the means or the ability to build homes for people, but we do have the skills and knowledge to build them an Adobe Stove which not only conserves firewood and heats three pots at once, but removes the smoke from the home which will dramatically reduce respiratory problems. The lesson remains that material things do not bring happiness. These people really don’t have much but they are happy, especially when the muzungus walk through their village.
These are my thoughts of the day, more later.
Africa is amazing, the people are a amazing, this experience is amazing. However, as with anything we endeavor that takes time, money, and effort given by our own free will and choice, there are consequences. Now, I don’t want the word “consequence” to be taken out of context or seen as a necessarily negative thing. A consequence is simply a result or effect of an action or condition. I have been able to make many comparisons between this experience and my mission. As incredible as the mission was and as much as I learned and experienced, it was HARD. I’ve never done anything so hard as the mission; at times it was unbearable. This experience is similar though I haven’t come across any “unbearable” moments just yet, unless of course we count my EXTREME stomach ache that I had last Monday and Tuesday that gave me cramps like never before.
Africa truly is amazing. It is the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot. I thought Hawaii was beautiful, and it is, but Uganda beats it. The Nile was like paradise, I could possibly live there 1 week out of the year... every year... on a houseboat.
The people here are amazing. But just like any place on earth there are people that aren’t so happy, that aren’t so nice and friendly. The people that we have been working with thus far however have been just incredible. There has been so much love and acceptance from these people and it has been so great to be received so warmly. It’s nice to know that these people respect that we are here and are willing to work along side us to accomplish theirs and our goals. It’s when you encounter people that all they can think of is the fact that they think we have money and wonder what we can do for them, that’s when problems set in and it makes it hard to work with them. Luckily these are not the people we are working alongside; it would never work.
This experience has been amazing so far. I’ve never done anything like this in my life and it has really opened my eyes. You can never really understand what it’s like to be in a 3rd world country until you’ve gone. You can’t know what these people are truly experiencing until you work along side them, eat along side them, and sleep along side them. If anybody has heard about “mud huts” that people live in, it’s true, not a myth. The sight here can be stunning, although once you’ve been here for a while it’s less of a surprise and more of an awareness. We live in a house that is incredibly nice for this area and I feel so blessed to have what I have. We take for granted so many things, it’s ridiculous.
Let me go through a typical day of a women here in Lugazi. She most likely has anywhere between 4 and 8 children - the birth rate here is outrageous. She gets up around 6:00am and begins sweeping around the house. Breakfast is being prepared simultaneously, if there IS breakfast. The kids generally get up around the same time and begin their daily chores. When they are not in school they have chores around the house and they are quite disciplined. Kids wash dishes, clothes, walkways, floors, babies, etc. They are trained from very young to contribute to the family. Father’s are usually at work all day trying to provide for the family. If there isn’t a father, the mother TRIES to work, in which case she may have to put her kids in an orphanage if she cannot afford to survive them. The mother is continuously cooking and cleaning throughout the day, she stays home and just watches outside as people go by. Her life is nothing but caring for her kids and her home, she has NO life other than that. I try to imagine myself being a kid in that situation and I can’t even begin to comprehend what that would be like. The kids just play around the house all day if they don’t have any chores or can’t afford to go to school.
To be quite honest, I can’t even begin to compare our lives. They are just different and that’s the way it is. I think about the way these people are living and my initial reaction is to think that they are so bad off and that they are suffering terribly and life is miserable. And while this may be true for some, many have at least enough money to provide food which is all they are worried about, as well as a roof over their heads. If they have a mud hut with a good roof then they are good to go, they’re kept safe from the rain. If the kids can go outside and play with friends and kick balls around and make wire cars that they push around, they are happy. Life is different here and should NOT be compared with our own. These people truly are happy, it’s just the way they have been brought up so they don’t know any different. Could their lives be improved? Of course. Is it imperative for their survival that we try to make their lives like our own? No. For their happiness? Most definitely not. I’ve had to drop my thoughts of “so much needs to change.” Those aren’t the right thoughts because that’s not what NEEDS to happen. It is impossible to enter a community and in 3 months change it’s entire infrastructure; not going to happen! The BEST thing that we can do is support them in what they already have going and do small things to improve their living conditions. We don’t have the means or the ability to build homes for people, but we do have the skills and knowledge to build them an Adobe Stove which not only conserves firewood and heats three pots at once, but removes the smoke from the home which will dramatically reduce respiratory problems. The lesson remains that material things do not bring happiness. These people really don’t have much but they are happy, especially when the muzungus walk through their village.
These are my thoughts of the day, more later.
Day 23 - The Nile
If anybody ever wants to talk to me about white water rafting, I’d be happy to... just don’t plan on trying to show me up. Today I rafted the the great White Nile of Africa, the longest river in the world, the river that I’ve learned about in geography class since elementary school, the ULTIMATE white water experience in the world; I did it.
The day started off usually and intimidating. As we prepared to leave the house to catch our 8:15am taxi to Jinja, it began to rain. And when I say rain, I do not mean a sprinkle, a bout, or anything else that would describe it as inferior. It RAINED. Rain so hard you could fill up a swimming pool in no time. Rain so hard that by standing in it for 2 seconds will get you absolutely drenched from head to toe. The best part about it was that we HAD to walk in it to catch our taxi, we had no other choice. We couldn’t miss our taxi because it was part of the package deal that we paid for. So we all bundled up the best we could, threw on our bags, and out the door we went. Luckily for me, I had some equipment that made my walk in the rain a little less painful than others. My dad bought me a super lightweight waterproof Rain jacket in St. George before I left. I keep it in my backpack at all times just in case. Also, the backpack I bought to come out here has a rain fly. These two things literally saved me. When I got in the taxi, the only thing that was wet were my pants, naturally. My upper body was dry and so was my backpack... so I thought. I later found the things in the bottom of my backpack a little wet, I’ll have to determine why and make sure I don’t let that happen next time.
The ride was uneventful except for the pouring rain which made things halfway interesting. My iPod Shuffle found its way to my ears, but only lasted 2-3 songs because a song came on that brought back a flood of memories I didn’t want to have. We arrived in Jinja at Nile River Explorers, the company we used to raft the Nile. We were greeting with a nice piece of paper to sign our lives away, a little discomforting but obviously necessary on their part. We had breakfast which was comprised of toast, chapati, eggs, pineapple, and midget bananas; it was quite good. We had a short introduction to rafting and some instruction on getting life vest and helmets. The whole time I had small knots beginning to form in my stomach. I kept wondering what I had gotten myself into and whether or not I was going to be able to handle it. The part of the Nile that we rafted was comprised of five Class-5, two Class-4, three Class-3, and two Class-2 rapids. Go ahead and look those up, Class-5 rapids are no messing around, they are HUGE and DEADLY if you’re not careful.
I got in a group with Trent, Jackie, Ashley, Emily, Heidi, and Lauren. Jackie spotted a particular guide and he was very cool. I was quite happy with my little group and knew that we would be laughing and having a great time. We got on the raft and entered the water; we were off. I knew there was no turning back and that my life was in the hands of the Nile, the raft, a life vest, a helmet, and a very experienced guide that had floated down the river over 200 times. The first couple of kilometers were used to train us with commands in the boat as well as being in the water and learning how to deal with the water when in rapids; we swam in a Class-1 rapid. We got back in the raft and were greeted with a Class-4 rapid to begin our journey. When we approached I got super nervous and figured I’d be in the water and halfway drowning. Luckily, that was not the case. We went over it, crazy as can be, but we made it and it was awesome. This was the trend throughout the day. I can’t really go in to detail about these rapids because there were so many of them. All I can say is that they were intense, so intense that I sort of felt like my life flashed before my eyes a couple of times, especially the last rapid which I will go into more detail about.
The last rapid was a class-5 and was called “The Bad Place”; it was most definitely the ultimate bad place and when I think about it I get the chills. Right before this last rapid there is a class-6 that we actually had to skip. We docked each of the rafts, got out, and the rafts were carried for us about 50 yards to skip the class-6. We got back in the raft and got going again. It was only another 20 yards on the water until we got there. I can’t even begin to explain the power of the water of the Nile. If you think you’ve seen big white water in your life, nothing compares unless you’ve been to Nepal which is considered the best in the world by some, though some claim the Nile to be best.... who knows. This water is out of control powerful and it’s very scary. We came to the edge of the water and went over. The picture of what I saw was equal to that of a washing machine on drugs. As the water poured over and plunged downward, water rolled over the top and created a sideways cyclone of sorts. Our raft hit the rushing current, the front flipped up, the back down, and we were ALL thrown out. I remember being in the water being tossed and turned like never before in my life. I remember spinning at least 10 full revolutions before my head poked out of the water. I held my nose and mouth with my hand to keep any water from going in and any of the precious air in my longs from escaping. Even though my head popped out of the water I still wasn’t in a position to get any air, I had to wait another 10 seconds for that chance to come around. The first person I saw when I finally got out of the water was Heidi. It was good to see somebody’s face in the water to remind me that I was still alive. Immediately I was worried about my fellow rafters. When I was finally well out of the water there was a rescue kayak right there to help me out. I grabbed on to the handle on the front of the kayak and wrapped my legs up and around as instructed before. He took me to the edge where I got off and tried to get ahold of myself. I was in shock to a point, I was shaken up big time. I couldn’t believe what had just happened to me.
The ride home was horrible. We sat in the back of a huge truck like a bunch of animals with a trailer stacked 4 high with rafts. The ride was horribly rickety. Many times I felt like I was going to fly out as we were traveling on roads through villages nearly the whole time. Ashley was scarred out of her mind, I felt really bad.
The night was pretty fun, we just sat around and talked and played cards. We had dinner, it was OK. We were super hungry so anything was good. We each got tickets for 2 drinks, I found an extra ticket and ended up having 4 drinks... yeah, 3 cokes and a bitter lemon Krest, it was heaven, they were even super cold. We must have sat around for 5 hours. When I got back in my dorm I discovered something a little unnerving. I had emptied my backpack out on the bed I was staying in which included a protein bar and some peanuts in a bag. I discovered that they had been eating through... by a mouse, or a rat, or some other rodent I’m unfamiliar with at this point in my adventure in Africa. I was so mad!! I ended up hopping in bed with a fellow volunteer because I was worried the little freaker would be back for some more chewing, but on my toes.
The day was amazing, I’m so glad that I rafted the Nile; what an accomplishment. Until next time.
The day started off usually and intimidating. As we prepared to leave the house to catch our 8:15am taxi to Jinja, it began to rain. And when I say rain, I do not mean a sprinkle, a bout, or anything else that would describe it as inferior. It RAINED. Rain so hard you could fill up a swimming pool in no time. Rain so hard that by standing in it for 2 seconds will get you absolutely drenched from head to toe. The best part about it was that we HAD to walk in it to catch our taxi, we had no other choice. We couldn’t miss our taxi because it was part of the package deal that we paid for. So we all bundled up the best we could, threw on our bags, and out the door we went. Luckily for me, I had some equipment that made my walk in the rain a little less painful than others. My dad bought me a super lightweight waterproof Rain jacket in St. George before I left. I keep it in my backpack at all times just in case. Also, the backpack I bought to come out here has a rain fly. These two things literally saved me. When I got in the taxi, the only thing that was wet were my pants, naturally. My upper body was dry and so was my backpack... so I thought. I later found the things in the bottom of my backpack a little wet, I’ll have to determine why and make sure I don’t let that happen next time.
The ride was uneventful except for the pouring rain which made things halfway interesting. My iPod Shuffle found its way to my ears, but only lasted 2-3 songs because a song came on that brought back a flood of memories I didn’t want to have. We arrived in Jinja at Nile River Explorers, the company we used to raft the Nile. We were greeting with a nice piece of paper to sign our lives away, a little discomforting but obviously necessary on their part. We had breakfast which was comprised of toast, chapati, eggs, pineapple, and midget bananas; it was quite good. We had a short introduction to rafting and some instruction on getting life vest and helmets. The whole time I had small knots beginning to form in my stomach. I kept wondering what I had gotten myself into and whether or not I was going to be able to handle it. The part of the Nile that we rafted was comprised of five Class-5, two Class-4, three Class-3, and two Class-2 rapids. Go ahead and look those up, Class-5 rapids are no messing around, they are HUGE and DEADLY if you’re not careful.
I got in a group with Trent, Jackie, Ashley, Emily, Heidi, and Lauren. Jackie spotted a particular guide and he was very cool. I was quite happy with my little group and knew that we would be laughing and having a great time. We got on the raft and entered the water; we were off. I knew there was no turning back and that my life was in the hands of the Nile, the raft, a life vest, a helmet, and a very experienced guide that had floated down the river over 200 times. The first couple of kilometers were used to train us with commands in the boat as well as being in the water and learning how to deal with the water when in rapids; we swam in a Class-1 rapid. We got back in the raft and were greeted with a Class-4 rapid to begin our journey. When we approached I got super nervous and figured I’d be in the water and halfway drowning. Luckily, that was not the case. We went over it, crazy as can be, but we made it and it was awesome. This was the trend throughout the day. I can’t really go in to detail about these rapids because there were so many of them. All I can say is that they were intense, so intense that I sort of felt like my life flashed before my eyes a couple of times, especially the last rapid which I will go into more detail about.
The last rapid was a class-5 and was called “The Bad Place”; it was most definitely the ultimate bad place and when I think about it I get the chills. Right before this last rapid there is a class-6 that we actually had to skip. We docked each of the rafts, got out, and the rafts were carried for us about 50 yards to skip the class-6. We got back in the raft and got going again. It was only another 20 yards on the water until we got there. I can’t even begin to explain the power of the water of the Nile. If you think you’ve seen big white water in your life, nothing compares unless you’ve been to Nepal which is considered the best in the world by some, though some claim the Nile to be best.... who knows. This water is out of control powerful and it’s very scary. We came to the edge of the water and went over. The picture of what I saw was equal to that of a washing machine on drugs. As the water poured over and plunged downward, water rolled over the top and created a sideways cyclone of sorts. Our raft hit the rushing current, the front flipped up, the back down, and we were ALL thrown out. I remember being in the water being tossed and turned like never before in my life. I remember spinning at least 10 full revolutions before my head poked out of the water. I held my nose and mouth with my hand to keep any water from going in and any of the precious air in my longs from escaping. Even though my head popped out of the water I still wasn’t in a position to get any air, I had to wait another 10 seconds for that chance to come around. The first person I saw when I finally got out of the water was Heidi. It was good to see somebody’s face in the water to remind me that I was still alive. Immediately I was worried about my fellow rafters. When I was finally well out of the water there was a rescue kayak right there to help me out. I grabbed on to the handle on the front of the kayak and wrapped my legs up and around as instructed before. He took me to the edge where I got off and tried to get ahold of myself. I was in shock to a point, I was shaken up big time. I couldn’t believe what had just happened to me.
The ride home was horrible. We sat in the back of a huge truck like a bunch of animals with a trailer stacked 4 high with rafts. The ride was horribly rickety. Many times I felt like I was going to fly out as we were traveling on roads through villages nearly the whole time. Ashley was scarred out of her mind, I felt really bad.
The night was pretty fun, we just sat around and talked and played cards. We had dinner, it was OK. We were super hungry so anything was good. We each got tickets for 2 drinks, I found an extra ticket and ended up having 4 drinks... yeah, 3 cokes and a bitter lemon Krest, it was heaven, they were even super cold. We must have sat around for 5 hours. When I got back in my dorm I discovered something a little unnerving. I had emptied my backpack out on the bed I was staying in which included a protein bar and some peanuts in a bag. I discovered that they had been eating through... by a mouse, or a rat, or some other rodent I’m unfamiliar with at this point in my adventure in Africa. I was so mad!! I ended up hopping in bed with a fellow volunteer because I was worried the little freaker would be back for some more chewing, but on my toes.
The day was amazing, I’m so glad that I rafted the Nile; what an accomplishment. Until next time.
Day 22 - Hope Burns
Today was Seya again, we are about half way done with our projects there, but at this point we are only sending people that are involved with the construction group because we don’t need too many people of there. There is only so much man power on there end that we have to keep our numbers low. We were there from about 9am to 4:30pm, it was a long day to say the least. We had lunch again, it was good as usual. We had potatoes, beans, cabbage, eggplant (which I don’t care for because the texture drives me nuts), rice, pineapple, and passion fruit juice, all for the low price of US$ 1.21 or 2000 shillings. I got totally full and it was all good, except for the eggplant of course. We worked hard today, I was quite busy from laying bricks, breaking and forming bricks, digging holes for posts, and a little chicken chasing on the side.... :-) I feel like we made pretty good progress, I have the feeling we will spend next week there as well, which is fine, I love it there.
I have two new favorite friends up at Seya: Isaac and Coleb. They are the funnest kids there that I’ve met... so far. They are always laughing and having a good time. They were hanging around me a lot today and we played around quite a bit. I chased them down and tickled them a couple of times, they taught me some Luganda, I taught them some Spanish, they were helpful with bringing wheel barrows full of cement (mortar) down to the project sites. I’m drawn to them because they have such amazing spirits, especially Isaac. There is something in his deep brown eyes that speaks innocence and strength at the same time. These kids really truly amaze me.
I got sunburned today, I could really feel it. The sun here is different, I’m not sure why. It’s almost like the sweat and humidity in the air acts as a magnifying glass and just torches your skin. At the same time, I’m on doxycycline which is for malaria, I know that is playing a big part in the burning, but dang. I hope I don’t peel, we’ll see.
I have two new favorite friends up at Seya: Isaac and Coleb. They are the funnest kids there that I’ve met... so far. They are always laughing and having a good time. They were hanging around me a lot today and we played around quite a bit. I chased them down and tickled them a couple of times, they taught me some Luganda, I taught them some Spanish, they were helpful with bringing wheel barrows full of cement (mortar) down to the project sites. I’m drawn to them because they have such amazing spirits, especially Isaac. There is something in his deep brown eyes that speaks innocence and strength at the same time. These kids really truly amaze me.
I got sunburned today, I could really feel it. The sun here is different, I’m not sure why. It’s almost like the sweat and humidity in the air acts as a magnifying glass and just torches your skin. At the same time, I’m on doxycycline which is for malaria, I know that is playing a big part in the burning, but dang. I hope I don’t peel, we’ll see.
Day 19 - Meetings Galore
I woke up today at 7:45 am, 15 minutes after my alarm clock went off, I was very proud of myself. I had a bad experience on Saturday when I decided to sleep until 11:30 am, definitely not a good idea. I was rested this morning when I finally woke up, even though I could have laid back down and shut my eyes for another hour or two. The benefits of getting up at 7:45 am this morning were extremely beneficial. Not only did I feel good in the morning, I had energy all day long with no sleepy spell. It’s only 11:17 pm now, so I should be able to get some good sleep again. We are waiting for Ashley and the 3 newest volunteers to arrive: Amber, Seren, and Heidi. We are so excited to get them here, it’s going to be a blast. We are already jammed in here so it’s going to be interesting having another 3 people, but we’ll make it work... somehow.
Today started out with a meeting at 10 am with Peggy and the advisers and medical superintendent at the hospital. We were there to get our point across that we were there to help and offer our services as needed. It was very hard to communicate with them, their English isn’t all that complete or easy to understand. We think they understood what our purpose was and we hope that they follow through. We asked that they provide us with a complete list of volunteer opportunities available in their facilities. They said that we could get a hold of the list on Thursday and in turn show it to out volunteers to get some things going. We waited to meet with the superintendent longer that we had the meeting... a little worrisome. After that meeting we headed back to town council and met with the mayor. It was Jeff’s first time meeting the mayor and I hadn’t seen him in about a week. He was as jolly as ever and eager to introduce us to his counselors and others. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about business and how we would like to train people to better their business if they have one, and if they don’t have one how to start one and be successful. The plan seemed well received. They asked Jeff to have the plan ready for Thursday so that he could present it to them and they could look over it.
While Jackie, Ashley and I were here for the first week, we really kicked butt and got a lot of things done. We set the way for the volunteers to be able to come in and get to work. We now have project leaders figured out and we are going to work to organize all of these areas and get projects off the ground. Our projects at home have been sort of a pre-runner to everything that we'll be doing this summer. It was an opportunity for everybody to see what it was going to be like to be building and working with the people. When we are done at Hope, we will be more divided and working in many many different areas in the community.
I'm feeling a lot better today than I was yesterday. I really can't even explain how I'm feeling. All I can say is that right in the pit of my stomach I feel cramps, pulling, jabbing, knifing, twisting like never before. It was enough to kill me. At this point, the pain comes and goes much less regularly, with the regular part being pain free. I'm not sure what caused it, but I'm glad it didn't last too long.
Today is a very unhappy day for me. I have been so careful with my things so as to not loose them or have them stolen... today ended that streak. When I got home from Hope yesterday, I removed my super muddy shoes at the step near the door like I always do so I wouldn't track any mud into the house. I went straight to my bed and was there for the next 6-7 hours. When I was organizing and picking up the front room, I looked outside and my Keens were gone. I couldn't believe my eyes. I figured the girls had taken them around back to wash up like they've done in the past. They said they saw them last night on the north side of the house and even this morning. Not only mine, but another guy's Keens and another guy's Adidas got taken as well. What we couldn't figure out is WHY they would take those three shoes only and not just clear out the whole lot of them!!! Anyway, I'm VERY upset and almost can't even handle it. They were $100 toward which Mom contributed half. Money is so sacred to me and now I feel so distraught and upset that I can barely think straight. I could just scream!!! I don't know what to do except be angry and hope for a miracle which don't really coincide. If they don't turn up soon, I'm going to have to go to town and see if i can pick something else up to replace them with, or have you guys get me another pair and send them with second wave. The shoes were perfect and I was LOVING them, I'm seriously SO sick about it.... ugh.
It was nice to go to the internet and update my blog as well as upload some new pictures. I’ve been a bit lazy with my picture taking lately, I guess just realized that I have 9 more weeks here and PLENTY of time to take pictures. I do need to get the camera out a little more often though, and remember to take it places that I go. I talked to my mom tonight, always good to talk to her. She’s one person that ALWAYS brings me happiness and joy just by the sound of her voice. My mom is incredible, irreplaceable, and my best friend. I miss her a lot, but know that she is rooting me on, praying for my safety, and most importantly wants me to have a fantastic time.
We had a slideshow of pictures from everybody tonight. They got their pics out of their families and explained who they were. I of course had to put a slideshow together and project it on the wall... I’m such a nerd. It was fun to see pictures, but I missed most of them because I was on the phone with my mom. After pictures we put on “Boy Meets World”, I couldn’t believe we were sitting in Lugazi, Uganda, Africa, in a home in Nakazadde, it’s just weird. It ended up being pretty funny and it was fun to remember watching it back in the day. We ended up staying up pretty late again, we even did some Yoga with Ashley, that was fun and HARD! I never knew how hard it was, wow. It really requires a lot of strength and you’d be in great shape if you did it often.
Today started out with a meeting at 10 am with Peggy and the advisers and medical superintendent at the hospital. We were there to get our point across that we were there to help and offer our services as needed. It was very hard to communicate with them, their English isn’t all that complete or easy to understand. We think they understood what our purpose was and we hope that they follow through. We asked that they provide us with a complete list of volunteer opportunities available in their facilities. They said that we could get a hold of the list on Thursday and in turn show it to out volunteers to get some things going. We waited to meet with the superintendent longer that we had the meeting... a little worrisome. After that meeting we headed back to town council and met with the mayor. It was Jeff’s first time meeting the mayor and I hadn’t seen him in about a week. He was as jolly as ever and eager to introduce us to his counselors and others. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about business and how we would like to train people to better their business if they have one, and if they don’t have one how to start one and be successful. The plan seemed well received. They asked Jeff to have the plan ready for Thursday so that he could present it to them and they could look over it.
While Jackie, Ashley and I were here for the first week, we really kicked butt and got a lot of things done. We set the way for the volunteers to be able to come in and get to work. We now have project leaders figured out and we are going to work to organize all of these areas and get projects off the ground. Our projects at home have been sort of a pre-runner to everything that we'll be doing this summer. It was an opportunity for everybody to see what it was going to be like to be building and working with the people. When we are done at Hope, we will be more divided and working in many many different areas in the community.
I'm feeling a lot better today than I was yesterday. I really can't even explain how I'm feeling. All I can say is that right in the pit of my stomach I feel cramps, pulling, jabbing, knifing, twisting like never before. It was enough to kill me. At this point, the pain comes and goes much less regularly, with the regular part being pain free. I'm not sure what caused it, but I'm glad it didn't last too long.
Today is a very unhappy day for me. I have been so careful with my things so as to not loose them or have them stolen... today ended that streak. When I got home from Hope yesterday, I removed my super muddy shoes at the step near the door like I always do so I wouldn't track any mud into the house. I went straight to my bed and was there for the next 6-7 hours. When I was organizing and picking up the front room, I looked outside and my Keens were gone. I couldn't believe my eyes. I figured the girls had taken them around back to wash up like they've done in the past. They said they saw them last night on the north side of the house and even this morning. Not only mine, but another guy's Keens and another guy's Adidas got taken as well. What we couldn't figure out is WHY they would take those three shoes only and not just clear out the whole lot of them!!! Anyway, I'm VERY upset and almost can't even handle it. They were $100 toward which Mom contributed half. Money is so sacred to me and now I feel so distraught and upset that I can barely think straight. I could just scream!!! I don't know what to do except be angry and hope for a miracle which don't really coincide. If they don't turn up soon, I'm going to have to go to town and see if i can pick something else up to replace them with, or have you guys get me another pair and send them with second wave. The shoes were perfect and I was LOVING them, I'm seriously SO sick about it.... ugh.
It was nice to go to the internet and update my blog as well as upload some new pictures. I’ve been a bit lazy with my picture taking lately, I guess just realized that I have 9 more weeks here and PLENTY of time to take pictures. I do need to get the camera out a little more often though, and remember to take it places that I go. I talked to my mom tonight, always good to talk to her. She’s one person that ALWAYS brings me happiness and joy just by the sound of her voice. My mom is incredible, irreplaceable, and my best friend. I miss her a lot, but know that she is rooting me on, praying for my safety, and most importantly wants me to have a fantastic time.
We had a slideshow of pictures from everybody tonight. They got their pics out of their families and explained who they were. I of course had to put a slideshow together and project it on the wall... I’m such a nerd. It was fun to see pictures, but I missed most of them because I was on the phone with my mom. After pictures we put on “Boy Meets World”, I couldn’t believe we were sitting in Lugazi, Uganda, Africa, in a home in Nakazadde, it’s just weird. It ended up being pretty funny and it was fun to remember watching it back in the day. We ended up staying up pretty late again, we even did some Yoga with Ashley, that was fun and HARD! I never knew how hard it was, wow. It really requires a lot of strength and you’d be in great shape if you did it often.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Day 18 - Sickness Overcomes
I have tried so hard while I’ve been out of the US to stay healthy by keeping my hands out of my mouth and off my face, making sure the food I ate was properly prepared, and doing everything physically possible to keep myself from getting sick. Well, I finally got a bug and it has been extremely unpleasant. We got up early yesterday and left for Seya at 7:50am. Around 8:40am after standing under a roof as the rain poured from the sky, a feeling in my stomach caught me by surprise. It was a sharp pain, one of twisting and pulling, I couldn’t quite pinpoint the pain nor it’s origin. This lasted basically all day. I tried to work through the pain while I was at Hope by hauling bricks and doing what I could to stay busy, it only worked for about 30 minutes and then I was in pain again. As the night went on, the pain got less and less. The pain comes in waves, even at this point. It will get really bad and I’ll hurt really bad and then it will float away for a while. As the night went on, the pain was less and less.
Our day was spent at Hope Children’s Home. We were to check on the Adobe stove, continue work on chicken coop, and start the pig pen project. When we got there, it began to rain, this was at 8:20 am or so. We waited for the rain to let up for about 2 hours, again I couldn’t believe how much water had fallen from the sky. The adobe stove wasn’t dry yet, in fact, it was still quite wet. We were unable to take the forms off knowing that if we did the thing would likely collapse. Kennedy told us that he had put water on top of the cement we had laid for the the top layer. I couldn’t figure out why he decided this was necessary. The water he poured went down the main hole (burner) in the front and saturated that clay, so we’re not quite sure how the rest of the stove is moisture wise. We are also unsure whether or not we should start a fire within to get the drying process up on it’s feet. Ashley was afraid that by doing so, we might interfere with the natural drying of the clay and cause cracking which would not be good. We decided not to make a fire, we will just have to be patient with the humid air here.
We formed an assembly line of sorts with volunteers and kids from the school to move bricks from one area to another. We needed bricks for the foundation of the pig pen that was down about 75 feet from the chicken coop. The line worked well and we moved 200-300 bricks in about 30 minutes. The kids are incredibly strong, not surprisingly. They are used to working everyday, especially taking water cans down to the now piped natural water well and hiking them uphill to the house. All the kids are well disciplined, know how to work, and love to work next to us muzungus. The leaders have mentioned to us that by working with the kids, they see that white people really can work and that life IS about work. It’s great to have such an impact on such a small matter as moving bricks from one end of the land to another.
We stayed at Hope until 1:30pm. We decided as a group to have lunch at Hope again, again I was impressed and the food was great. I was weary at first, not knowing WHO would prepare the food and just HOW it would happen exactly... sanitation was obviously on my mind. Luckily, everything they prepare here is cooked well. We had beans, rice, matooke (plantain), pineapple, mango, cabbage and a coke. I loved it, the flavor was great and I was full when finished. It cost us 2000 shillings for lunch there, which covers the food, drink (600 shillings), and the labor of the cooks. So, really, we got FULL on US $1, pretty amazing. Every time I eat I imagine just how little of our money provides so much food for them. It makes me sick to think about going out to dinner and spending $15 dollars on a plate. That would feed a child for over a month at the school.
We returned home, my stomach was still cramping like never in life. I was trying to contain myself and relax as we made out way home. I took my shoes off and went straight for my bed and slept. Laying down felt really good but didn’t solve the whole problem. Sleeping helped dull the pain. While I was sleeping, Edith came in the room and somehow I noticed and woke up. She was there to ask for my clothes to wash them, my heart sank. Here is this girl that all she can think about is serving us, it makes uncomfortable to a point, but then realize that she loves being around us and just wants to be a part of who we are and what we are doing. She has one of the sweetest spirits I have ever met.
I slept for a good 3-4 hours on and off. Dinner time came around and I was still in bed. Many people from the group including Jackie, Ashley, and Lesli came in to check on me and see how I was doing, I really appreciated that. Jackie asked me if I needed ANYTHING, she was so willing to help me get over being sick. She eventually got me a 2 liter sprite to help settle my stomach. Tori, bless her heart, brought me two Pepsi’s, I had been craving one all yesterday, and a nice note that wished me to get well. I absolutely love my group, everybody is so caring, loving, fun, and just awesome. I couldn’t have asked for a better group.
I felt the best after dinner during FHE and watching a movie. FHE was fun, we played a game that involved asking questions not normally asked to see how different people think. I believe the name of the game was “Loaded Questions.” It was fun because a lot of the time the questions were just downright hilarious and the answers we got from people made us laugh. Afterwards, we set up my computer and watched “The Invasion.” I had seen it once before, I think it’s a pretty good movie, I like it better the second time around. My group was pretty stoked to find out that I had brough 65 movies, almost enough to last us one per night... :-)
Our day was spent at Hope Children’s Home. We were to check on the Adobe stove, continue work on chicken coop, and start the pig pen project. When we got there, it began to rain, this was at 8:20 am or so. We waited for the rain to let up for about 2 hours, again I couldn’t believe how much water had fallen from the sky. The adobe stove wasn’t dry yet, in fact, it was still quite wet. We were unable to take the forms off knowing that if we did the thing would likely collapse. Kennedy told us that he had put water on top of the cement we had laid for the the top layer. I couldn’t figure out why he decided this was necessary. The water he poured went down the main hole (burner) in the front and saturated that clay, so we’re not quite sure how the rest of the stove is moisture wise. We are also unsure whether or not we should start a fire within to get the drying process up on it’s feet. Ashley was afraid that by doing so, we might interfere with the natural drying of the clay and cause cracking which would not be good. We decided not to make a fire, we will just have to be patient with the humid air here.
We formed an assembly line of sorts with volunteers and kids from the school to move bricks from one area to another. We needed bricks for the foundation of the pig pen that was down about 75 feet from the chicken coop. The line worked well and we moved 200-300 bricks in about 30 minutes. The kids are incredibly strong, not surprisingly. They are used to working everyday, especially taking water cans down to the now piped natural water well and hiking them uphill to the house. All the kids are well disciplined, know how to work, and love to work next to us muzungus. The leaders have mentioned to us that by working with the kids, they see that white people really can work and that life IS about work. It’s great to have such an impact on such a small matter as moving bricks from one end of the land to another.
We stayed at Hope until 1:30pm. We decided as a group to have lunch at Hope again, again I was impressed and the food was great. I was weary at first, not knowing WHO would prepare the food and just HOW it would happen exactly... sanitation was obviously on my mind. Luckily, everything they prepare here is cooked well. We had beans, rice, matooke (plantain), pineapple, mango, cabbage and a coke. I loved it, the flavor was great and I was full when finished. It cost us 2000 shillings for lunch there, which covers the food, drink (600 shillings), and the labor of the cooks. So, really, we got FULL on US $1, pretty amazing. Every time I eat I imagine just how little of our money provides so much food for them. It makes me sick to think about going out to dinner and spending $15 dollars on a plate. That would feed a child for over a month at the school.
We returned home, my stomach was still cramping like never in life. I was trying to contain myself and relax as we made out way home. I took my shoes off and went straight for my bed and slept. Laying down felt really good but didn’t solve the whole problem. Sleeping helped dull the pain. While I was sleeping, Edith came in the room and somehow I noticed and woke up. She was there to ask for my clothes to wash them, my heart sank. Here is this girl that all she can think about is serving us, it makes uncomfortable to a point, but then realize that she loves being around us and just wants to be a part of who we are and what we are doing. She has one of the sweetest spirits I have ever met.
I slept for a good 3-4 hours on and off. Dinner time came around and I was still in bed. Many people from the group including Jackie, Ashley, and Lesli came in to check on me and see how I was doing, I really appreciated that. Jackie asked me if I needed ANYTHING, she was so willing to help me get over being sick. She eventually got me a 2 liter sprite to help settle my stomach. Tori, bless her heart, brought me two Pepsi’s, I had been craving one all yesterday, and a nice note that wished me to get well. I absolutely love my group, everybody is so caring, loving, fun, and just awesome. I couldn’t have asked for a better group.
I felt the best after dinner during FHE and watching a movie. FHE was fun, we played a game that involved asking questions not normally asked to see how different people think. I believe the name of the game was “Loaded Questions.” It was fun because a lot of the time the questions were just downright hilarious and the answers we got from people made us laugh. Afterwards, we set up my computer and watched “The Invasion.” I had seen it once before, I think it’s a pretty good movie, I like it better the second time around. My group was pretty stoked to find out that I had brough 65 movies, almost enough to last us one per night... :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
