i am definitely in africa

homestays:
i am now living in an awesome home for two weeks in mukono.
my home is very close to campus, only about a fifteen minute walk back to my room. And I get to walk with by brothers and sisters to school… unbeatable!
i love my family (but don’t worry parents, i love you more!).

i got dropped off, literally, in front of this house that had a small door and no windows. i walked into the darkness and there were children! (yay for brothers and sisters!) then my mom came home from the school and she had a bag of mushrooms. so we sat on the floor and picked off the bottoms that were mud-filled. we were to eat them in a sauce later… okay, lets do it!

it wasn’t until the evening that i saw the rest of the house, because i was a guest i think- they waited on me and treated me like royalty (even today i have to insist on helping and taking care of myself!). the rest of the house isn’t too much. they have two more rooms. behind the sitting room/ dining room there is a room with a tri-bunk bed and a table with cooking utensils on it. there is a side door that allows for light and leads to the outside where there is a shanty for cooking under. continuing through the rooms, after the children’s bedroom/kitchen/ storage, there is another room with more stuff and two beds. i sleep in the back and share a room with my mother.

i preferenced beforehand to be alone, with children, and rustic- of which i got all three!! there is no running water or electricity, and they cook their meals outside over a fire! awesome!!
its crazy, but i love it!
i just laugh so much
and smile constantly!

my ugandan family:

my mom is a worker at ucu and cleans the classrooms sometimes at night and sometimes in the early morning. she is very kind and has told me a lot about her family and how she has managed to provide for them throughout the years. praise god because without his strength and provisions, they may not have enough everyday.

my eldest sister is irene, she is 17 years old. i met her yesterday and she is very talkative. she is very sweet and we talked by lantern last night for a long time.

gerad is fifteen and left for boarding school (until december) on sunday- i felt so emotional that he was leaving for so long (but it seemed understood in the family so no one else showed sadness). he was quiet but had a great smile and i am sad that i won’t get to know him more.

jeremiah is “head cook” and is only thirteen. this guy rocks! he has been the cook for the family since he was ten and is so mature and responsible. he is going to teach me how to make everything… on top of cooking he also goes to school (from 6:30-6:30 everyday… crazy!).

now for sweet princess phionah (patience)… she is my sweetheart little sister, who is eight. she has a shaved head and missing front teeth, and a gorgeous smile. she tells me she loves me and lets me run errands with her. we made necklaces the first evening and she put “aim” beads on hers… love!

my teddy bear andy is my little brother, who is almost seven. adorable little guy who doesn’t speak very much english. but i tickle him and he loves it. we also love to make monkey faces and laugh together (phionah too). i can’t get enough of how cute this kids is, especially in his school uniform (with a little tie too)… 

there is also a girl named winnie who stays nearby and is kinda family. she is nineteen and will only be home for school on the weekends. she has an awesome heart for the hungry, poor, and injustice. she even has dreams for opening an NGO to help orphans… please pray for her as she continues to plan and trust god!

that’s the family…

now for a funny story. or two.

the first evening before we were going to bed, i asked if i could go to the toilet (which is kinda far outside). my mom looked at me and sincerely asked “do you mind the bucket?” taken aback, i was like, “sure that’s fine…” okay, whatever, just use the bucket!?!!?! laughing at how ridiculous it seemed she let me have space and i used the bucket… laughing the whole time… crazy!!  it was a i am def in africa moment!

a bug story.
the first night we were in the sitting room and little andy fell asleep and i saw cockroaches on the wall, then one walked across his face! are you serious…
then last night i was up talking to irene in my room and i saw something fly by. i was like oh, that’s a bat. my sister said, no that’s a cockroach. i was like okay then, whatever it won’t hurt me… continued talking… then this “cockroach” flew onto my bug tent… only it wasn’t a cockroach it was a baby bat! sick. sick. sick. i was freaked out and hid my face. my brave sister laughed and shooed it away. let’s just say that i was not as calm the rest of our conversation! but i was brave… yet soo grateful for my bug net!!

so despite the bugs, which i must say i am okay with for the most part – it’s so dark i can’t see them anyways!- i love my house.

i can’t believe i am so blessed to live like the majority of ugandans and “rough” it with sponge baths, pit toilets, cooking over a fire, and seeing by lanterns.

i laugh a lot and am grateful always.
especially when my little brother and sister curl up next to me on the couch and we cuddle… precious. unforgettable.

a brief recognition of culture shock phase TWO

a journal entry... (feel free to laugh out loud, that's why i included it!)

so i am in a guest house in kigali.
with not towels. and geckos.
wearing the same sweatshirt everyday
and clothes for the second or third time!
i didn't even bring bug spray to africa!
really aimee? WOW!
plus i have no pants or shorts, even at night my nightgown makes me vulnerable... to bugs!
bugs. geckos. centipedes. NO bed net. :(

Lord, keep me strong tonight.
and oh ya, i think i smell... welcome to africa!
You are going to stretch me.
i am already uncomfortable.

laughs. cries. smiles. tears.
this semester will contain them all!

(that night sar and i laughed ourself to sleep, because if we didn't we might scream! and don't worry, i am dealing a lot better with all the culture shock now!! :) )

AFRICAN RAIN SHOWER. literally.

we arrived at lake bunyoni, aka. the most gorgeous lake ever! it was a windy dit road through lucious forest that then came upon a lake surrounded by tall vibrant green mountains with small houses/ tents around it. the lake itself was mirror-blue with canoes and an island.

the moment we arrived it started raining, then pouring. me, kimber, sar, and dana all got into our swimsuits and washed our hair in rainwater from an african thunderstorm at a resort lake in the mountains! :) amazing!!

so freezing. so cleansing. so a once-in-a-lifetime expereince!

now we are sitting on our porch listening to the rain clank and drip on our tin roof and watch it glide oer the edge in between us adn a view of the lake. the thunder is tumultous and outrageously loud following flashing bolts of lightning across the whole sky. i love it! i feel so blessed!

recollections from rwanda

I am back from my 10-day trip to Rwanda. It was awesome, difficult, a blessing, and fun! I am glad to be back in Uganda, where we have a semi-routine, although we are leaving for home stays this Friday! J I will try to sum up what I saw and learned in Rwanda, but there was SO much that I can only try to give you a small piece of what occurred there….

When we left early last Saturday morning I had butterflies in my tummy.
The night before when we were supposed to cram everything into a tiny backpack, there was a power outage for most of the night!!
Thankfully by the grace of God we had a small amount of electricity and were able to SEE what we were packing…
Our drive was about eight hours, across the equator and into Rwanda.

What a difference between Rwanda and Uganda (see my blog for my comparison list!)

The trip was AWESOME in so many ways.
It was a great chance for all of the American usp students to bond!
I feel like I can integrate into the ucu community much more confidently now that I have formed good friendships and am comfortable that I am supported here!

I can’t believe all the cool people that I was able to meet and the places I was able to go!
What a BLESSING!!
I went across the equator; was welcomed into a rural church in kibungo; met the Bishop of Gahini (where the East Africa Revival began); visited the national genocide museum in kigali and a memorial site of a school massacre outside Butarre; went to a lecture at the national university of Rwanda; listened to the stories of two genocide survivors who had amazing testimonies and even ate dinner with one; went to awesome ministries like an orphanage, a women’s center, and a missionary business called “cards for Africa;” heard from lawyers from the gacaca process (of reconciliation post-genocide); and lastly the mufti of Rwanda about inter-faith dialogue. WOW!
I never would have learned so much nor had such amazing contacts if I had not come as a student… I felt so blessed to have such opportunities.

The trip was DIFFICUILT in that I stopped feeling ecstatic about being in Africa, and realized that it was to be my daily life for four whole months. The laundry, clothes, food, and bugs weren’t going away anytime soon! J I felt homesick a lot, especially when I felt most out of my comfort zone. I miss my family… I love each of you… more than I thought I did!! J honestly, one of the hardest personal (and yet most insignificant and lame) struggles that I had was with how much I wish I had packed to Uganda and especially Rwanda. I had only three skirts and three shirts for ten days… and did no laundry. My clothes were awful and dirty (actually my roomie and I did laundry tonight and we saw the BROWN water!), it was very easy to start complaining and fantasizing about food or clothes that I wanted from home. But I realized that I consciously had to hold my tongue… because how selfish is it to think so much about myself in light of what I was learning and seeing.

The trip was FUN because I got to hang out with forty awesome people. And I formed some really great friendships. I got especially close to Sarah and Kimberly (my roomie), and we shared lots of good laughs and conversations. “11 touches”- it is psychologically proven that it is necessary to have 11 physical touches from people in one day to be right in the head J … before I was lacking this, but many girls filled that gap for me this week!! From sharing a bed with someone to simply getting a hug, or a sweet back rub, it was very great!! Plus shower times… always a way to bond… washing each others hair and taking swimsuit showers in an african thunderstorm. BONDING!! J


i love you all. and would love to hear from you, although it is sometimes hard to reply!! :)
God Bless!

traveling to rwanda

i am leaving for rwanda tomorrow, for over a week.
it is supposed to be very emotional, if you know anything about the genocide, we will see lots of post peace and memorials.
i love all of you.
please continue to pray for relationships to form that are godly, and for adjustment into this culture and place.

thanks all.
i will post pics as soon as i can!
love aimee

expectations vs. dreams

everyone knows the devastation of broken expectations.
and everyone tries to avoid setting themselves up for disappointments by not allowing themselves to expect anything.
but i would like to meet someone who has been successful at that.
it is impossible (at least for me) to go into a situation tabula rosa.
tv clips. conversations. pictures. classes. all these leave an imprint on your mind, even if you don't know it or want it there.

implicit and explicit expectations.
i tried my hardest not to have expectations, which wasn't entirely difficult on a specific basis (since i knew hardly anything about the trip), but i found that i had many.
you don't realize what expectations you had, until it is not met.
and in creeps the disappointment. failure feeling. and frustration.

we had a talk about these and i just wrote a paper about mine.
it was very helpful to identify them so that i can recognize that they may happen and God may have different plans. :)
also tonight my friend sarah talked about a "dream"
and that frame of mind is what i believe should be taken instead of creating an expectation of any situation (because who can honestly know what to expect!).
to have a dream is different than having an expectation.
because a dream is a hope or desire, that you wish to be fulfilled but are not counting on it or thinking it will complete your life.
an expectation on the other hand is something that you think will happen and assume that it will happen. so much so that when it doesn't you don't know how to feel or react.

it was a very enlightening though process for me.
as many of you know i can become very disappointed when an expected thing fails ot happen.
praise God!

explicit expectations for uganda:
to make friends with USP students
to grow in my relationship with God and concrete my faith
to know God's will for my life after this trip

i think now that those are dreams and hopes for my stay here.
but they cannot realistically be expectations because i have NO idea what God has me here for or what HE wants to do in me or through me.

implicit expectations (the ones you never knew existed until they are uncomfortable or different)
uganda (southern uganda to be specific) is not a destitute or hopeless country
kampala and mukono are not like the villages you see in Invisible Children
the people are not native, they are just like us in so many ways!

expectations can make or break anything, even my semester, so i am thankful that i have at least recognized the change in thought that needs to occur, and pray that i can APPLY this everyday so that i can have an open mind for what God has in store for me!

ucu.

i am now on the campus of UCU.
my roommate is ironically the same girl that i roomed with in kampala... kimberly. :)
she is awesome and thank you all so much for your prayers for putting me with a special one!

wow.
the campus is BEAUTIFUL!
there are rolling hils and flowers. and brick building!
it seems like a little town full of Christians because there is a church, 4 cafes, houses, etc.
i keep having to remind myself that i am in africa.

today however, was the first day that i finally felt like the MINORITY!
we went to the town of mukono on a scavenger hunt looking for the essentials...
toilet paper (BLUE!)
soap
gum boots (rain boots... yay for puddle stomping!)
and mmore.
everyone looked at us and some honked and waved and def stared.
my favorite part was when we went to the market behind the main roads
because it was exactly how i would have pictured africa.
i love the feeling... but again we were the minority
and there were funky things for sale, like raw meat or gizzards with flys... gross!! :)

rain comes suddenly and HARD!
we were having class in a tin roof classroom and had to leave the class because it was too loud to hear anything! :)
puddle jumping to come very soon!

the food.
breakfast: sweet potatoes and tea
lunch: rice and beans with a purple peanut sauce and today there was beef and corn malt meal stuff
and sometimes sweet potatos and cassava (which is a starchy root... i am eating a root! crazy! :) )
dinner: rice and beans wiht a purple peanut sauce
and tea time at least once a day, in the morning! it is awesome to just break to sit and talk!
and soda in glass bottles is a semi-staple!
i love the food.
good thing i like rice and beans a lot. :)

tonight four of us cut one girls hair really short.
kimberly my roomie did a really good job!
it was so funny because none of us knew what we were doing
we just held pieces up and chopped!!
"thankfully curly hair is forgiving!"
it was tons of fun and a really random, college dorm thing to do!

mosquito nets.
i feel like a princess. protected. secure.
but it is also weird because you feel like a mummy.
when i got up for the bathroom, i didn't let myself look around too much
in fear of finding a gecko or a bug near my bed!
eek!!
thankfully, i have not seen too many.
although, i did kill a cokroach! :)

we are going to rwanda on saturday, so i am not sure when i will write again.
but i am having tons of fun.
i love sarah my friend. i am excited to become better friends these four months! :)

love love love.
aimee