Welcome to the hipster town of Israel: Tel Aviv. Thank goodness it was raining today- I didn’t feel so bad for not looking trendy haha.

 

Well friends, here I am- finally a free day with internet

I went on the Jesus Trail jesustrail.com and hiked all the way from Nazareth (Jesus’s hometown) to Cana (where He turned water into wine, and yes, we did share a bottle of wine there) and stayed the first night, after much rain and mud along our 10 miles in an eco goat farm. We slept in a big dome-shaped tent with a furnace and it was amazing, though my legs felt like jello in the morning and I thought I might need a cane– nothing advil couldn’t fix though!

Day two of the trail took us from the goat farm through some Kibutzim (which are kind of like Israel’s communist farm towns- pretty cool, but not a good place if you’re trying to find some snacks since they don’t really deal with $). It took us through some amazing fields too- I was so happy. If you’ve seen “Everything is Illuminated”- I felt like I was driving through the fields there minus the sunflowers. The sky was bright blue and the fields were bright green- it was amazing. We also went up through the Horns of Hattin where Sultan Salah ah-Din defeated the French Crusaders in an epic battle in the 12th Century. And when we couldn’t find the trail to get down, we just scaled the side of the hill (or mountain as I like to call it) and minus the thorns and mud on the way down, it was well worth it. That night we stayed in cabins at Moshav Arbel ( a moshav is similar to a Kibutz).

Day three took us to the cliffs of Arbel  which have one of the most beautiful views of the Sea of Galilee. You can see Tiberias, Magdal, Capernaum, even all the way out to Mount Hermon and its snow! From there we scaled the face of these cliffs- which was even more intense than the day before let me tell you! This one had metal handles drilled into the side so people had something do grab onto like a ladder for part of the way- it was awesome and super windy. Once at the bottom, we hiked a bit of a ways more and found some lunch from where half the group took a taxi over to Tiberias and the rest of us trecked on another 10 or 12 kilometers to Capernaum- successfully completing the Jesus Trail in 3 days!

Tiberias was a bit of a shock for us since it’s a super Westernized city and we’ve mostly been traveling the Arab world. But I suppose it was refreshing too- especially being by the Sea. While we were there, we explored the Magdal excavations where Mary Magdalene was from, Capernaum where Peter’s home was, and the Church of the Beatitudes where Jesus most likely preached the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7.  Bruce, my professor, jokes that if Jesus didn’t preach there, he should have- it’s so beautiful! Needless to say, we spent a lot of time in the Gospels and the Bible in general and it was so so wonderful. To be seeing and exploring these places has been such a blessing!

After that, we went up through Golan Heights and explored some waterfalls and Nimrod’s Fortress (a crusader castle on a hill that was engulfed in fog- so amazing), and up to the very tip of Israel such that you could see borders with Lebanon. And the past few days we’ve made our way over to the coast, had lunch on the Mediterranean and watched the sunset with a failed attempt at a group pyramid in front of it for picture’s sake, but alas. And last night we rolled into Tel Aviv, a pretty cool city in Israel. I went on a walk tour this morning with a friend of one of our leaders who’s from Whales and has been in Israel the last 9 years. He had some great insight into Israeli life here all that. Can you believe it though, not 20 minutes into our walk, we were going through an open market and all of a sudden it started hailing out of no where for a good 5 minutes. It was so funny, we could only laugh. (I was definitely wearing my rainbows Haha- and it rained all day!)

Anyways, here I am. Tomorrow we’re going to explore Jaffa a bit, head to Ramla where the book “The Lemon Tree” gets its name (and if you’re interested in the conflict here or just want to read a novel- that book is amazing! I highly recommend it).  And we’re staying in Jerusalem again for a couple of nights- it’ll be nice to be somewhere familiar for a few nights after so much traveling.

And again, no more Egypt but I’m sure whatever the alternative is, it’ll be wonderful. I’m not worried.

Alright, if you’ve read this far, you must really love me

I love you all and I hope life is grand!

Blessings and love,

Alyssa

Just a quick update so I don’t fall behind.

First of all, I don’t know how much you’ve been hearing about the riots going on in Cairo right now, but it’s getting a bit more intense than people expected. Well, I have 2 more weeks in Israel before we’re scheduled to head to Egypt so, fingers crossed, things will calm down a bit to let us in.  If things still seem dangerous, that means no Pyramids on the 15th, but instead we’ll stay in Sinai where we’ll be for a few days anyways. I suppose I don’t mind some extra time lounging around the Red Sea (especially after we do a sunrise hike up Mt. Sinai on the 14th- sweating myself to the ground on Valentine’s day), but I’ll be super bummed if we don’t get to go to Cairo… but whatever we do, know that Bruce Fisk (our professor) only has our best interest in mind and so trust that we’ll be safe.

 

Other than that, Nazareth has been great- we had a free day today filled with rain but beautiful nonetheless. Getting here was a little difficult since we had to pass through a checkpoint on our way as we crossed over from the West Bank to Israel- the only problem was that it was on Friday, which is the start of Shabat for Jews and they closed the gate at 1:30 in the afternoon, so when Matt’s (one of our leaders) Hebrew and our American women charm didn’t win them over, we had to drive 2 hours out of the way to get through a different checkpoint that was open. BUT, stopping at the Palestinian Fairtrade Organic Olive Oil factory was SOOO worth it.  It’s called Canaan Fairtrade and what they’re doing is awesome. They said they ship and they have a website but I haven’t figured that out yet.

We also stopped at a refugee camp along the way that’s doing a really cool, progressive thing with theatre. It’s called the Freedom Theater and they have a website too. It’s such a good way for people and especially youth who are growing up in hostile settings like this to get their emotions out through acting  and also feel like they’re able to give something back themselves.

 

Tomorrow we head down the Jesus Trail and believe it or not there’s a possibility of snow! We’re hiking 10 miles a day for 3 days from here to Tiberias and then we get to spend a day at the Sea of Galilee.

 

Alright friends and folk,

I love you and I appreciate you keeping up with my adventures. I hope all is well at home.

 

Always,
Alyssa

Hey everyone- it’s been a while hasn’t it?

I’m sorry about that- we haven’t had much internet, or time, and since I’ve been borrowing computers, that doesn’t leave me much time to sit down and tell you all about my experiences so far. Where to start?

 

I think I left off on one of the first days I was in Jerusalem. We did so much every day- there’s so much to tell.

Did I tell you about the main focuses of our trip? The whole thing revolves around TRAVEL, MARGINALITY, and PEACE & CONFLICT.

These apply to both the present situations of the land and the ancient history- and there is so much to do with both.  Even archeology here is political.

There’s so much to add to all of this but let me just tell you the places I’ve been going and some of the people I’ve talked to and met.

Jerusalem: We stayed there until the 20th and during that time we did a sunrise hike up Masada (the snake path as Josephus refers to it) near the bottom of the dead sea. It’s a major archeological site from King Herod’s time. In that same day, we went and swam in the dead sea (hence the name: Life of Brine. I thought that was pretty witty, especially since I’ve begun to understand soo many Life of Brian quotes) and went to some waterfalls. We also toured Silwan, aka the City of David, in East Jerusalem and hiked “down into hell”- or rather, where Judas supposedly hung himself. We met with an Israeli Jewish woman and Palestinian man who are members of an organization called “Combatants for Peace” and an Australian Israeli woman who works for ICHAD (IsraeliCommittee Against House Demolitions), and so many others. We also went to the Holocaust museum there which was pretty intense. You can tell that it’s still so present here in a lot of people’s minds. The place we stayed in the Old City was called the Ecce Home Convent and we could see the Dome of the Rock (we were right next to it it felt like) from the balcony. We’ll be going back there in a few weeks for a couple days.

 

from Jerusalem we stayed at a place called the Tent of Nations which is a Palestinian farm in the “seam” zone between the armistice green line of 1949 (general line between Israel and Palestine that Israel doesn’t acknowledge) and the Separation Wall (aka Security Barrier, Fence, the Wall, the Apartheid Wall, Israel’s border). Basically no man’s land for a Palestinian but they’re trying to make it work. We planted grape vines there, had a bonfire and slept in caves.

 

Bethlehem: We did homestays with Christian Palestinian families which was so wonderful- for 3 nights. The total traveling we’ve been doing is very small. Bethlehem is only about 6 miles from Jerusalem, but most Palestinians aren’t allowed to go (even if they worked there in the past) unless they have a special permit (of which there are random checks in the city all the time- not to us though, since we’re white). Anyways, we met students from the Bible College there, went to the Church of the Nativity which sits over the cave where Jesus was most likely born (awesome), and met a man (Sami Awad) who works for Holy Land Trust which is a Palestinian run Non-violent Protest group.  While there, we visited Hebron which has the tombs of the Patriarchs, a site which was overshadowed by the tension between Palestians and Israeli Settlers and Military.

 

Jericho: then we headed down 1200ft. below sea-level to Jericho and stayed at an eco park for the night. The day was a bit dulled for me since I’ve been sick for the past week, and my ears have been plugged, so as we descended the pressure in my head was almost unbearable and it stopped hurting when we got there, but I spent the day feeling like I was wearing earplugs- no fun at all. That night my professor prayed for me and I felt 99x better in the morning. I could hear!! Wooo. But while we were there, we took cable cars up to the Mount of Temptations, where they believe Jesus spent his 40 days.

 

Ramallah: then we visited Ramallah and stayed in Bir Zeit for the night (a little bit outside of Ramallah). R is a city that’s the most liberal of Palestinian places, where most of Fatah is centered. We got to hang out with some students from Bir Zeit University and tour the campus. It was really cool getting to talk to them a little bit.

Ari’el: on our way to Nablus yesterday, we stopped for a few hours and toured the Israeli Settlement/City of Ari’el, smack dab in the middle of Israel and the northern part of the West Bank (or Samaria as our Jewish guide, Avi, referred to it), originally built for “security” because of it’s strategic location, but now holds 19,000 settlers and 12,000 students at the university. It was very interesting to hear Avi’s perspective of the situation, if somewhat clouded.

Nablus: here I am! We stayed here last night and toured the city. This was a place where a lot fighting and civilian deaths during the 2nd Intifada. It’s really cool to be here and last night we visited a Turkish Bath, just to see it and ended up hanging out, smoking hookah, and being a part of a Palestinian TV show. That was entertaining to say the least.

We’re here for one more night and then head off to Nazareth for 3 nights, Galillee for 4 nights, Golan Heights, Banias, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Negev, and on February 12th, say goodbye to Israel and head into Egypt for a few days!

So far, the most common things in my life, food wise, are tea (with a lot of sugar), pita and hummus (every single meal) and falafel.

 

So there you go- quick update to Alyssa’s life the past few weeks.

I can’t believe it’s only the 4th full day in the Middle East. CRAZY. After Amman, we went to a camp called “Friend of the Earth, Middle East”. So cool. They deal with water issues and work with the community to reflourish some of the land- you would never guess you were in the desert in some of the places they’ve worked on- and they start with simply putting up fences to prevent overgrazing by local Bedouin sheep herds. So, as we walked around, we got to go into a Bedouin tent and have tea with the woman there…..Best thing ever! And she put in a lot of sugar, which according to my cousin David, is a great sign of being welcome there.

Then we packed up and left the camp and travelled to the Jordan river, to the most probably baptismal site of Jesus, since that’s where they know John the Baptist (talked about in the Gospels, in Matthew and Mark) worked most. It’s also near where, in 2 Kings 2, Elisha witnesses Elijah being taken up to heaven, and then Jesus in the Gospels compares John to Elijah- oh my goodness, I was so blown away by being there. I was near tears as we were reading the Bible, sitting next to the, well, once mighty Jordan river (there’s not much left of it and I definitely wouldn’t swim in the water that’s there).

But then we went to the border and crossed over into Israel last night and now I’m sitting here in a convent in the Muslim quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem (the old city meaning we’re within the Ottoman gates) and when I go up to the roof I can see all of the old city, with the Dome of the Rock literally right there practically next to us, and the Mount of Olives to the left…… Oh my goodness- we explored the city a bit this afternoon and all met up at the Western/Wailing Wall and went up onto the Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock sits. 2 of the Egyptian girls in our group wrapped their heads with scarves like hijabs and pretended to be Muslim and got to go inside the mosque- I’m so jealous of them and their dark skin and Arabic. haha

Oh the hummus and the pita- I haven’t gone one meal without pita so far and I don’t even mind.

I’m sorry I don’t have pictures to upload, since I don’t have my computer, I’ve been borrowing. I’m also typing really fast and not covering as much as I’d like to about the conflict and everything.  If you have any questions at all, please feel free to comment and ask and I’ll respond to them if I have any idea.

 

We’re here at this convent for a whole week which is fantastic. It’s cold but amazing aside from that. If I ever come back to Jerusalem, which I feel is highly likely, this is where I’ll stay.  My goodness the history here is just phenomenal. I miss home and those of you I love, but I’m so truly happy to be learning here and traveling as a student and a pilgrim.

 

Okay, I should go.

Shalom!

Hi everyone-

First of all, I don’t know how to change my title from “African” so that’s just going to be how it is.

I got to Paris exactly one week ago and have been having a great time. I was sick for a couple of days but I’m getting better- just taking it easy. I did push myself a bit and we made it over to Notre Dame yesterday, which was just magnificent. My goodness, this land is so beautiful.  We got up early yesterday and went to the Museé d’oray and since we’re so far north in the middle of winter, the sun doesn’t rise until around 8:30, but, can you believe it- it was clear out! The only clouds in the sky were from airplanes and they were pink with the sun. It was so beautiful, but boy was it cold haha. By noon though it was overcast again. Still beautiful though, just cold

 

I can’t wait until I’m learning more! I’ll update when I can. I fly to Amman, Jordan on Sunday!

Everyone being themselves at the Falls

The Crazy Taxi Park in Kampala

Kampala

Oh Kampala- big, ugly birds, crazy taxi parks, overwhelming Awino market and men calling out “Sista, sista, how is Obama?”  or “Mzungu, come, have a look!”  Garden City (essentially a mall overlooking a golf course, with a really good Indian restaurant) and Thousand Cups coffee have been the places most frequented by me.  Ciao Ciao’s, the Italian gelato place right down the street offers a heaping scoop of magic for 1000 Ugandan shillings (thankfully, that’s basically 54 cents.  Which will I miss more: chapatti the food or the kitten we adopted? African tea or Stoneys (best ginger soda ever)? The accent or the styles?  Will I miss being called mzungu? Probably not, but it’s nice that it’s not uncommon for everyone to wave as you drive or walk down a street.  Will I miss taking doxy every night or making sure my bed net is secure? Nope.  Am I sad to leave in less than 2 weeks now? Yes I am, but I’m also excited to see my mom, my brother, my grandma, my man, his family and all of my friends at home and at school.

As for Kampala the city I’ll be leaving, it’s really big and bustling.  The first weekend here, we went and saw “Ndere Toupe Dancers” which was a performance of all different styles of Ugandan dance.  Some move their hips and pound on gourds, while some shake their chest and play the drums.  That was also my first experience with a large number or mzungus (white people) other than my group and you may be surprised to find that I was very overwhelmed and felt awkward and out of place.  It’s better now because when we went rafting, which I’ll talk more about in a bit, there were even more mzungus and I was fine, possibly because people were from all over the world.

Anyways- the classes I’ve been taking have been pretty interesting.  I’m studying African Literature and African Traditional Culture and Religion.  It’s been really fast paced, with each class 3 days a week for 2 and ½ hours each, but I suppose it was tougher in Rwanda.  For out Lit class, we’ve read: Things Fall Apart, The River Between, Death and the King’s Horseman, Song of Lawino, So Long a Letter, Nervous Conditions, and Disgrace.  It’s interesting how all of these books really bring about the traditional cultures and struggles of different African tribes, and how it so clearly connects with out Culture and Religion class. For that one, we’ve visited the tombs of 4 of the kings of Buganda (one of the tribes in Uganda as well as the shrines of the Ugandan Christian Martyrs.  Both field trips, so to speak, were really interesting.  After the shrines, we also went to a waterfall in Mukono district (just next to Kampala) that was quite beautiful.

Our house here is on the same compound as the FH office and it has an amazingly beautiful backyard such that you don’t feel like you’re in Africa, except when Simon the monkey comes to hang out with us, or a big crane or toucan or hawk struts its stuff around the yard.  If you walk down the street to La Patisserie, a really nice coffee shop, on Sunday, you’ll see someone leading his cows, with their huge horns, across the traffic in the street. Here, the big homes are mixed in with the shanties and the slums.  At times I feel at home, and at times, especially at night when I see the kids on the street, I ache and think of “Slumdog Millionaire” and how real that really is.  The streets are quite a bit dirtier than those of Kigali- mostly with trash, but Museveni has actually begun a push on a “Ban against dust”.  We’ll see how that works out.  In terms of the dear Baganda president of Uganda, I know the North (places like Kitgum, where I’m headed this weekend, and Gulu and Pader) doesn’t like him, the East (Mbale and Kapchorwa) doesn’t like him, but it seems people in Mukono and Kampala, where his Buganda tribe resides, he is ever so loved.  There’s even rumor that either US or UN troops had Joseph Coney surrounded in Sudan, and called in Museveni to arrest him and he either never came, or let him go. Whether that’s true or not, it’s no wonder the Acoli and other tribes of the north hate him- it seems he only cares for the Baganda and himself. (Again, Buganda is a tribe of many in Uganda.  Colonialism created the country lines, so people still identify themselves by their clan first, tribe second, country third).

Okay- enough of politics.

I forgot to mention earlier- I’m going to miss the fruit here. The giant avocados from which 1 could make guacamole for 10 people.  The delicious, abundant, magnificent mangoes.  The perfect little bananas that are just the right size for a snack.  Oh and the delicious pineapple that no other will ever quite measure up to. (And Erica- you’d better take that as a challenge- just fly me out to Hawaii and I’ll tell you what I think ;P ).

Alright, back on track-

Thanksgiving was great fun and we even entertained guests. Luckily- there was plenty of food for 35 (though my green bean casserole left nothing over- that was a hit that I was proud of).  It wasn’t the same as being at home, and we all felt it, but it was a good meal nonetheless. Now, are you ready for the kicker? Wednesday morning we had two live turkeys tied next to the house.  Wednesday afternoon, before I headed up to class, I watched as one of their heads was sliced off. If you’re going to eat meat, you’ve got to be willing to watch it die.  I didn’t watch the second one, and I’m going to return to being a vegetarian when I go back home.

Water rafting was Amazing, can I just say!  It’s definitely not something I would normally do, as adventurous as I like to think of myself, but I’m super glad I went. There was no time to think- we got on the bus at 7:30 in the morning, drove to Jinja where the New Zealand run company is set, right on the Nile. As soon as we put our stuff away, we were given directions to suit up and head to the water- life vest and helmet on, paddle in hand. We got in and set off. Did some practice drills- the rapids we went through were classes 3, 4, and 5, mostly 5.  We walked around the class 6 and when I asked our guide what made it a class 6, he just said, “Death.” We flipped once- and therefore bought the video and pictures- both of which I still need to put on my computer, so maybe you’ll just have to see those in person.

Okay- sorry it’s delayed but there’s the update!!! I’ll try to do another one after I go to Kitgum, which will be this weekend.

I love and miss each one of you and can’t wait to see you, talk to you, and hug you when I get back!

Oh- and I forgot to mention- my hair is now back to normal. It had a good run of 6 weeks, plus a day of being really crimped, which was fun, but now I’m all back to my normal hair.

K- that’s all :] Until next time!

Ok- sorry it’s been so long!!!

For the whole month of October, I was on practicum in Mbale, Uganda and unfortunately, my internet and my time simply were not enough to update my blog on everything going on- my apologies.

Right now I’m in Kampala, Uganda, where I’ll be for the rest of my stay- 5 more weeks, but for now I’m going to tell you a little bit about Mbale.

First off, the people are of the Bagisu tribe and they speak Lugisu. Since I wasn’t originally going there, I didn’t have much of a job description but you quickly learn here in Africa that a job description is really more like guidelines anyways, and you’ll be doing anything that’s needed. The three of us (Megan, John and I) lived in the Food for the Hungry (FH) main Mbale office that had 2 bedrooms for us as well as two bathrooms (one squatty potty and one western toilet- Thank goodness!) and a kitchen that consisted of a pantry and a stove. Vicky, a part-time FH staff, lives at the office too when students are there and was our cook. She was great and we had a lot of fun, but she also thought she had to be our babysitter, which probably was what she was told. She worried about us a lot and we weren’t really allowed to go out after dark because Moses, the coordinator in Mbale, said it was too dangerous (though we met a huge group from Oregon who said they go out every night and have a blast). That was a little pride issue each of us had to deal with on our own. There were times when we felt we were treated like children and had to convince the staff that we were capable on our own, and times when we felt they expected way too much of us.

In Mbale, FH primarily works in two communities: Makhai and Bufukhula. They’re very involved in these areas and mostly work with child sponsorships for education. They’ve built up schools there and sponsor over 1200 students in Primary and Secondary. They’ve also begun a vocational school. For the first 2 weeks there, my main job was taking pictures of as many of these kids as I could find, ranging over 6 schools, for their annual reports. The CAPRs as they’re called, are the letters that get sent to the students’ sponsors each year as an update. If you’ve ever sponsored a child, you’ll have an idea of what I’m talking about. The pictures were a little ridiculous at times, but still fun because we had to come up with varying activities for the students to pretend to do for the picture such as hacking weeds or milking a cow, etc. In Mbale, most of the students are sponsored by Canadians, with a few from the UK or Switzerland. It was actually kind of neat to be the one behind the camera for that and thinking of all the people who were going to be getting those. Also, one day we were doing home visits in Bufukhula to community elders and at one of the houses was one of the kids that I had missed the day before at the secondary school. So not only was I able to get his picture, but I also got to meet his family and hang out with them for a little bit. That was pretty cool.

The elders in the communities have really begun to take hold and be self-reliant and have the vision for what needs to be accomplished. FH has been in Makhai for 9 years now and their limit is 10, so that means they’re beginning to phase out and will probably have a big celebration next year. I think they’ll still support the children that they have, but haven’t been taking on anymore.

I got to spend a few days in the clinic at Makhai with the nurse and doctor who work there. That was pretty interesting just to see how things are run in terms of antibiotics, money, tests, etc. Pretty much everyone who came in was given some sort of shot and a few pills to take home. They all had a purpose of course, but I don’t know if the man who came in complaining of back and body aches really needed de-worming tablets. Never know I guess. Susan, the nurse who worked there, was really fun to be around and I really enjoyed the days I spent with her.

Other days were spent teaching hygiene classes to Primary students, meeting people in the communities, filling out child and sponsor names on CAPR forms, teaching staff about some quirks on Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

There was a lot that went on in that short time. I learned a lot and I met some wonderful people that were really hard to leave. God has such an amazing way of blessing us- it’s so hard to describe. There was a very high Islamic population in Mbale and if I was paying attention, I would hear the prayer multiple times a day and one Saturday, after finishing a really thought provoking book called “Through Painted Deserts” (not an African book but written about a road trip from Texas to Oregon), I proceeded to write like 10 pages in my journal about different things. One weekend, if you’ve seen the pictures you’ll know, John, Megan and I went up to a place called Sipi Falls and hiked to 3 different waterfalls and it was one of the most fantastic things ever. The following weekend, John’s dad was able to come up (he was in Uganda for a few weeks working) to Mbale and I had a really good conversation with him, on top of the fact that it was refreshing to have a new person around.

It was a tough couple of weeks, and a lot of adjusting that had to be done on my part, but I really enjoyed it. We had to write journals for our class while we were there, so I have those explaining my day-to-day life and they’re typed up if anyone wants to read them. I don’t mind putting them up on here, but I don’t want to overwhelm anyone at the same time.

As a side note, the weather here is so funny, and kind of ridiculous, because in Mbale, we were towards the end of the rainy season, and in Kampala, we’re just at the beginning of it, I think. Days will start out with a heat that you can feel burning you through your sunscreen and two hours later it’ll be raining.

Anyways- there’s an overview of my first month in Uganda. I’ll be up again soon with the experience that is Kampala!

My email is abrindley@westmont.edu if you ever want to talk directly! Can you believe I’ll be home in 5 weeks?? Crazy!

 

Safely in Kampala, half of our group has departed for their practicum sites, with the rest of us leaving at 730 in the morning tomorrow.  All but 2 people actually- John and Meg are both sick and have to wait until their better before they can leave.

But, today was a down day, so naturally, what do Audrey, Mallory and I decide to do, but get our hair done African style of course!

I wasn’t planning on doing this until later, but when I learned that our showers in Mbale are going to basically consist of buckets, I decided I don’t want to deal with washing my hair- so twists it is! This is the closest I will come to ever having dreads, it lasts for 1-3 months, it took a little over 4 hours to do, cost about $24 (47000 shillings), and it’s awesome/awesomely ridiculous!

Are you ready for this?

Before!

Now!

Thank you. That is all. See you in Mbale!

So, everyone, drum role please……….(seriously)……….

I am headed to Mbale, Uganda (a city in southeastern Uganda on the border of Kenya) with Megan (a senior from Greenville) and John (a junior from Gonzaga).

I’m really excited- I mean, I’m still bummed about Ethiopia, but I’m sure God has something amazing in store here and I’m very grateful.

There weren’t any health related options left in Uganda, so I’ll be doing mostly CDP work, which is the Child Development Program that Food for the Hungry has.  I’m not exactly sure what my job will entail, but I think it will be a lot of field work and though Mbale is a fairly big city, I’ll mostly be working in rural areas, and I’m really excited for that because last week in Gitarama, doing field work research, was probably my favorite week so far! Also, John and Megan are both doing CDP-Health-esque things, and there’s a clinic nearby, so hopefully I’ll be able to be around it a little bit and observe.

At the present moment, my bags are packed and we head our at 4:30 AM tomorrow morning for Kampala, which is practically tonight.  That’s a 12-14 hour drive. Then, Saturday morning we head out for Mbale- which I think is a 5-6 hour drive.

If you could pray for safe travels, that would be much appreciated!  These roads, not to mention bus drivers, tend to be a bit crazy.

Also- I’ve been sick all week. In a group of 15, if one person gets sick, we’re all bound to catch it.  I’m on the tail end of it, but it still seems like I can’t blow my nose often enough!

If you could just pray for me in that I’ll be able to have the physical and mental/emotional ability to really jump in and get to know the people, culture and the work well and right away, since we’re only there for 3 1/2 weeks.

As for my last day in Kigali- it’s been wonderful! This morning, my project was finished for our presentations, so I got up around 730, had breakfast and read a little bit, then took a matatu downtown to the market and craft co-op, all by myself- and though I’ve been theremultiple times an before  d pretty much know my way around the basic areas, but to get there by myself reminded me a little of how I felt the first time I drove myself somewhere without anyone else- so exciting!

Then we did our presentations, came back and had an amazing dinner, finished packing and had a dance party  (which is always a good choice with good people!) and here I am, probably covered in mosquito bites, but loving it all the same because this is my last night in the gorgeous land of a thousand hills and boy am I going to miss it!  Their story is amazing and if anyone is interested in learning about it, I’d be happy to tell you, any of the long, medium or short versions. But, as one of our guest speakers told us- people must not be so sad now, 15 years later, and dwell on the past, but look to what we can do in now to help those who are actually still hurting or trying to better their lives and live in harmony amongst each other- which is an amazing feat in itself.  I know Corey understands their story, and how far they’ve come and turned around- it’s awesome.

So long, to all the Rwandese I’ve met, to the Kinyarwanda language, to the beautiful hills and valleys, to the source of the Nile, to peace baskets and banana leaf chairs, to Rwandan tea (icyayi) and coffee (ikawa), to Aida and Shakira our cooks, to TJ and Bubbles our dogs, to Bourbon the ex-pat coffee shop that was really good but really overpriced, and to Pastor Anastase- thank you for all that you taught us about your heart and your country! May we meet again soon!

So, though I was very excited about going to Ethiopia for practicum, there appears to be some difficulty about getting our visas, as they aren’t allowing anyone with visitor or student visas into the country right now because some people came in and stirred up some things they weren’t supposed to and there’s an election coming up.  The government isn’t taking any risks, so only people with business visas can enter- but those can only be attained in one’s home country. :/

So that means we either go to Ethiopia, get thrown in jail and deported- which I’d totally be down for- or we go to a different practicum site.  Since only 4 of the 15 of us were going to go there, they hopefully won’t have too hard of a time redirecting us.

I should find out on Monday or Tuesday where I’ll be.

We say goodbye to Kigali and Rwanda on Thursday and head to Kampala, Uganda for a day.  Then I think on Saturday we all split ways for a month and head to our practicum sites, only to return to Kampala at the end of October.

I know God has a plan, and though I’m bummed about missing out on Ethiopia (and you all should be too, because that means no Ethiopian coffee for you), I’m excited for whatever experience is in store.