So, I'm really excited... I'll be coming home for Christmas! :) My flight comes in the evening of Monday, December 17th, and I fly back to Uganda January 8th. So a little over 3 weeks stateside! I hope I get to see you all while I'm back. I miss all your smiling faces.
The Internship Program Officer, Jamie (aka one of my bosses) was an intern over the summer, and he said his 3 months as an intern were the 3 fastest-slowest months of his life. I can't believe it's been 3 months since the plane touched down in Entebbe Airport, but leaving home feels like forever ago. Sigh. Time is such a funny thing.
I love you all. Hope you are learning to see God more everyday.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Avoid the Christmas Rush
So... there's a possibility I may come home for Christmas... The IC office is closed for 3 weeks in December/beginning of January, and all the international staff is leaving Gulu during that time. If I end up not coming home, I'd be here alone, which would mean I'd learn a lot of independence, but I'm a little freaked out at the idea of spending 3 weeks of nights alone (the days aren't a problem, it's the nights that get a little hard).
So, while my father scans the internet for cheap tickets (ha, ha), I'm going to offer everyone a solution to avoiding the Christmas shopping rush... Beaded Necklaces from Uganda!!! :) Many different Acholi women make beaded necklaces and sell them to earn their living (quiet a few of mine are from women in Awer IDP camp)... and I'm thinking of selling mine to earn a plane ticket home. I'm thinking of selling them for around $15-20, and each will be accompanied by a kicken' card explaining where they're from and telling a bit about the women who make them... what do ya'll think?
So, while my father scans the internet for cheap tickets (ha, ha), I'm going to offer everyone a solution to avoiding the Christmas shopping rush... Beaded Necklaces from Uganda!!! :) Many different Acholi women make beaded necklaces and sell them to earn their living (quiet a few of mine are from women in Awer IDP camp)... and I'm thinking of selling mine to earn a plane ticket home. I'm thinking of selling them for around $15-20, and each will be accompanied by a kicken' card explaining where they're from and telling a bit about the women who make them... what do ya'll think?
Monday, November 19, 2007
The Season is changing... and so are my plans!
so, there are really only two seasons here in Gulu: the rainy season, which consists of hot days randomly interrupted by rather heavy rainfall, and the dry season, which consists of hot days and no rain, so the roads quickly turn to dust and everyone walks around with a slight film of dirt covering them completely... we're nearing the end of dry season, and therefore the end of my white skirt wearing days. :)
sorry I haven't updated in so long... I have no excuse. :/ A lot has been happening here in Gulu Town. Last week I went on a Schools for Schools retreat to Jinja... saw the source of the Nile, ate some very yellow french fries and swam at the nicest resort I've ever seen (and then promptly walked back to my dorm that cost 1/15th of the price). Kope Cafe has opened in town (I don't know if I've posted anything about it yet... it's a cafe that is being run my the Intern Program Coordinator, Jamie. It's an income generating project for HEALS, a NGO in Gulu that gives vulnerable children guidance and moral support through music and play therapy). It's our new hangout... like the Central Perk or Max of Gulu (who can name those two shows?), and I've been having a lot of fun hanging out there in the evenings and weekends. I've also started hanging out a HEALS on Sunday, learning traditional Acholi dances and songs, as well as just getting to know the kiddos there. It's amazing, and probably my favorite place to be in all of Uganda.
Another big change that happened is my travel plans home have changed... I'm going to be staying in Gulu until February 20th, which I'm really excited about. I love and miss all of you, but I feel as though I haven't learned everything I'm supposed to here... God has been teaching and molding me a lot, but he's definetely not finished yet! :)
I'll try to be better about updating my blog... For whatever reason, I never know what to write about! I hope you all are having amazing weeks, and that you have a happy Thanksgiving!
love,
Betsy
sorry I haven't updated in so long... I have no excuse. :/ A lot has been happening here in Gulu Town. Last week I went on a Schools for Schools retreat to Jinja... saw the source of the Nile, ate some very yellow french fries and swam at the nicest resort I've ever seen (and then promptly walked back to my dorm that cost 1/15th of the price). Kope Cafe has opened in town (I don't know if I've posted anything about it yet... it's a cafe that is being run my the Intern Program Coordinator, Jamie. It's an income generating project for HEALS, a NGO in Gulu that gives vulnerable children guidance and moral support through music and play therapy). It's our new hangout... like the Central Perk or Max of Gulu (who can name those two shows?), and I've been having a lot of fun hanging out there in the evenings and weekends. I've also started hanging out a HEALS on Sunday, learning traditional Acholi dances and songs, as well as just getting to know the kiddos there. It's amazing, and probably my favorite place to be in all of Uganda.
Another big change that happened is my travel plans home have changed... I'm going to be staying in Gulu until February 20th, which I'm really excited about. I love and miss all of you, but I feel as though I haven't learned everything I'm supposed to here... God has been teaching and molding me a lot, but he's definetely not finished yet! :)
I'll try to be better about updating my blog... For whatever reason, I never know what to write about! I hope you all are having amazing weeks, and that you have a happy Thanksgiving!
love,
Betsy
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
knowing it's the first of many doesn't make it any easier...
I have to say my first goodbye this morning... well, not really the first, other people have come and gone from IC Uganda already, but the first one to someone I consider a friend.
Okidi Richard resigned today, and while I understand he needs to go and take care of his family, I selfishly wish it wasn't so... sigh. It just makes me dread December 15th even more.
I dislike goodbyes greatly, even when I know they will be followed by some amazing hellos.
love and miss you all
Okidi Richard resigned today, and while I understand he needs to go and take care of his family, I selfishly wish it wasn't so... sigh. It just makes me dread December 15th even more.
I dislike goodbyes greatly, even when I know they will be followed by some amazing hellos.
love and miss you all
Sunday, October 28, 2007
a decidedly non apolegtic entry
we all know I haven't posted in awhile. I really don't have any new or better excuses, so I'm not going to give any. Sorry for not being more communicative. I love you all. :)
I feel like I'm changing here. Which is probably the biggest "no duh" statement of the year. I think if I wasn't changed by this experience, I wouldn't be human. I'm becoming braver, more sure of myself. More questioning of my own motivations, more enthusiastic about the future. I laugh just as regularly, but oddly enough, I cry less. I feel the undercurrent of God's delight in creation more often. I talk less, listen more intently, and think so much that sleep eludes me from 2-3am everynight.
I have less answers and more questions, but I'm more willing to accept uncertainties. I'm depending more on God, more on others... but learning that I can stand strong alone.
This will probably make little sense to anyone but myself... so I'll stop waxing poetic and tell you more about what I've been up to...
We went to Jinja last weekend, where I went White Water Rafting for the first time. It was a lot of fun, but I'm not "hooked for life." I just think it's exceedingly cool to be able to say I've white rafted on the Nile. My favorite part wasn't the rapids, though. At one point, we were able to get out of the raft and swim in the Nile. It was amazing. The current just swept us along, we all agreed it was the closet to flying as we'll ever come. And as the sun started to set, casting the long shadows of the trees across the water, a feeling of peace and calm settled within my entire being, and I felt closer to God than I have in such a long time. It's so nice that we get to delight in Him so fully.
This past week I've really been studying Luo. It's coming along frustratingly slow, but I want to learn so bad. Patricia has been tutoring me... I feel like I'm back in Spanish class. I write paragraphs at night, and she grades them for me the next morning. It's difficult, but I have so much motivation to learn. I want to be able to sing and play with the children on the way home from work, and they all speak Luo. Besides, I'm tired of people having to translate all the wedding proposals I've been getting... I'd rather handle them myself :)
This week I'm taking Patricia to dinner, celebrating Halloween (we're all really excited to try and explain the concept of a jack o'lantern to the Ugandans), and attending a ton of meetings (which I'm not really looking forward to)
I love you all. Hope life is treating you kindly.
I feel like I'm changing here. Which is probably the biggest "no duh" statement of the year. I think if I wasn't changed by this experience, I wouldn't be human. I'm becoming braver, more sure of myself. More questioning of my own motivations, more enthusiastic about the future. I laugh just as regularly, but oddly enough, I cry less. I feel the undercurrent of God's delight in creation more often. I talk less, listen more intently, and think so much that sleep eludes me from 2-3am everynight.
I have less answers and more questions, but I'm more willing to accept uncertainties. I'm depending more on God, more on others... but learning that I can stand strong alone.
This will probably make little sense to anyone but myself... so I'll stop waxing poetic and tell you more about what I've been up to...
We went to Jinja last weekend, where I went White Water Rafting for the first time. It was a lot of fun, but I'm not "hooked for life." I just think it's exceedingly cool to be able to say I've white rafted on the Nile. My favorite part wasn't the rapids, though. At one point, we were able to get out of the raft and swim in the Nile. It was amazing. The current just swept us along, we all agreed it was the closet to flying as we'll ever come. And as the sun started to set, casting the long shadows of the trees across the water, a feeling of peace and calm settled within my entire being, and I felt closer to God than I have in such a long time. It's so nice that we get to delight in Him so fully.
This past week I've really been studying Luo. It's coming along frustratingly slow, but I want to learn so bad. Patricia has been tutoring me... I feel like I'm back in Spanish class. I write paragraphs at night, and she grades them for me the next morning. It's difficult, but I have so much motivation to learn. I want to be able to sing and play with the children on the way home from work, and they all speak Luo. Besides, I'm tired of people having to translate all the wedding proposals I've been getting... I'd rather handle them myself :)
This week I'm taking Patricia to dinner, celebrating Halloween (we're all really excited to try and explain the concept of a jack o'lantern to the Ugandans), and attending a ton of meetings (which I'm not really looking forward to)
I love you all. Hope life is treating you kindly.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
The days start to blur together
One of the strange things about being here for one month, is that now so many things that I’m sure would have thrown me for a loop before I came here, or would seem interesting to all of you back in the States just seems to be part of the daily routine. So, I’m going to work hard on continuing to update, but you’ll have to let me know if it starts to sound tedious or monotonous! (I don’t want to bore you all!)
I’m being a little lazy today… so instead of writing something new, I’m posting something I wrote last weekend, about my trip to Sir Samuel Baker with Okidi Richard.
Turning up the tree lined road to Sir Samuel Baker, I am immediately struck by the many differences from my own high school. The rush of cars driving by, the harsh light of the sun bouncing off the pavement is absent, in its place is a sense of tranquility, as though this land knows it is meant for study and quiet meditation. All around is green, green, green, surrounded by a sky so blue, I feel as though I have found myself in a piece of art. Someone once told me that Uganda is the most beautiful country in Africa, and I am inclined to believe them.
Arriving at the front gate, you can almost feel the history of the school; the leaders that have passed through, the futures of great men that have been shaped here. The buildings themselves shout of their former glory, and it only takes the squinting of my eye and an imagined coat of paint to restore them to what they must have been. Young men in crisp white shirts litter the ground, reading, talking, dreaming.
Speaking to the headmaster, my original characterizations of the school are confirmed. They have suffered much, but overcome. Political coups and changing policies, LRA occupation and military sentries, burning buildings and insufficient funds, the administration and the students preserved. The headmaster recounts the current obstacles facing the school; inadequate teaching staff, dilapidated dorm rooms, classrooms that are crumbling around students. However, the present struggles don’t dissuade the inhabitants of the school. I can sense it in the air; their will, their desire to restore Sir Samuel Baker to all it once was, is palpable. And I, for one, have faith they will…
I’m being a little lazy today… so instead of writing something new, I’m posting something I wrote last weekend, about my trip to Sir Samuel Baker with Okidi Richard.
Turning up the tree lined road to Sir Samuel Baker, I am immediately struck by the many differences from my own high school. The rush of cars driving by, the harsh light of the sun bouncing off the pavement is absent, in its place is a sense of tranquility, as though this land knows it is meant for study and quiet meditation. All around is green, green, green, surrounded by a sky so blue, I feel as though I have found myself in a piece of art. Someone once told me that Uganda is the most beautiful country in Africa, and I am inclined to believe them.
Arriving at the front gate, you can almost feel the history of the school; the leaders that have passed through, the futures of great men that have been shaped here. The buildings themselves shout of their former glory, and it only takes the squinting of my eye and an imagined coat of paint to restore them to what they must have been. Young men in crisp white shirts litter the ground, reading, talking, dreaming.
Speaking to the headmaster, my original characterizations of the school are confirmed. They have suffered much, but overcome. Political coups and changing policies, LRA occupation and military sentries, burning buildings and insufficient funds, the administration and the students preserved. The headmaster recounts the current obstacles facing the school; inadequate teaching staff, dilapidated dorm rooms, classrooms that are crumbling around students. However, the present struggles don’t dissuade the inhabitants of the school. I can sense it in the air; their will, their desire to restore Sir Samuel Baker to all it once was, is palpable. And I, for one, have faith they will…
Friday, October 12, 2007
a quick hello
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to travel to Kitgum, a town/city about 3 hours drive from Gulu. Kristen and I went with Patricia (the mentor I spent the day with a couple weeks ago) and Peter (one of the IC drivers). Because Patricia had to do 4 home visits with students near Kitgum, we ended up spending the night in a hotel and drove back to Gulu this morning... The hotel we stayed in was called "Los Angeles" and I kept laughing at the irony of flying 23 hours around the globe just to end up back home. :)
I'm really working on learning Acholi (Amito ngeyo lebo Acholi- I want to learn much Acholi but Pe angeyo lebo... I don't understand much). I've got flashcards and quiet a few willing teachers. It's a little frustrating at times, wanting to be able to communicate with people in their native tongue, and not being able to. But, I'm going to keep working on it. Hopefully by the time December rolls around I'll be doing better.
I can't believe it's been a month since I left home. Time has been flying by so quickly, I can hardly stand it. I hope you are all having an AMAZING day! I'll try to type up a longer update soon!
love you all!
betsy
I'm really working on learning Acholi (Amito ngeyo lebo Acholi- I want to learn much Acholi but Pe angeyo lebo... I don't understand much). I've got flashcards and quiet a few willing teachers. It's a little frustrating at times, wanting to be able to communicate with people in their native tongue, and not being able to. But, I'm going to keep working on it. Hopefully by the time December rolls around I'll be doing better.
I can't believe it's been a month since I left home. Time has been flying by so quickly, I can hardly stand it. I hope you are all having an AMAZING day! I'll try to type up a longer update soon!
love you all!
betsy
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