remember that time we almost went to Africa?

After living in the Heathrow airport for seven hours, Jessica and I met up with members of our team to board the plane to Uganda. We were thrilled. Sadly, the plane was not nearly as excited, for it would not start. After sitting on the runway for three hours, we were put on a bus to be shipped to another plane, but then the airport in Entebbe informed our captain that we would not be able to land if we left now since the runway would be closed. British Airways decided to reward us with vouchers for a hotel and food and our flight would then depart at the same time the following day.

 By this time it was four in the morning, and our bodies were extremely confused as to what time it was so Jessica and I collapsed in our hotel and slept all day. All of this confusion and chaos was deemed acceptable after we realized we would be able to take another one last hot shower. Heavenly!
We finally departed from our lovely Heathrow airport and were on our way to Uganda at last! Jessica was fortunate enough to sleep the entire flight, whereas I was wide awake for the entire seven hour flight. Watching the sunrise over the continent of Africa was one of the most beautiful and exciting things I have ever experienced in my life.

As soon as we landed, the humidity hit us like a wall. Jessica and I have never been so sweaty in our entire lives. Amazingly enough, none of our luggage was lost! It was a miracle. Uganda is beautiful! I will try my best to describe it, but honestly, my words will not do it justice:
Uganda is the greenest place I have ever seen. Everywhere you turn there are rolling hills covered in jungle. The sky seems bigger here and the clouds are unreal. The daily rain makes the jungle seem even more vibrant with the greens against the grays. But don’t let the words “rainy season” fool you into thinking its pleasantly cool here, it’s still over 80 degrees with 100% humidity everyday, and when the sun comes out, it fries you. That’s when it feels a little bit like home.
After being greeted at the airport by monkeys in the trees and one taxi van for luggage and another for humans, we packed in to head to our new home. The drive from Entebbe, through Kampala, to Mukono town was crazy to say the least. From what we could gather, there are very few traffic laws, and taxis and boda bodas speed by passing at their whim. Jessica thinks she would be really great at it. I can’t decide if I am excited or concerned about riding one. I don’t have the greatest history with riding motor bikes, just ask my family. Luckily, I don’t have to drive.
After our hour of dodging traffic and moving our backpacks to the middle of the taxi so no one would reach through the window and grab them, we arrived in Mukono! Mukono is very different that I imagined. The center of town is much more developed than I had thought, with its bustling vendors and busy marketplace. But when I say developed, I mean that in a very rural, third world sense. There are places in Mukono that are extremely poverty stricken and even worse than I could picture. Mukono is very difficult to describe. Every store front is a different bright color and all of the townspeople are outside all the time! It’s chaotic, yet relaxed. To sum up my feelings on Mukono: I am in love with it, all of it, and I am so excited to spend the next eight weeks here.

Our house is beautiful! We live in a compound with a ten foot wall covered in razor wire to keep out intruders. But the best part of our house is our guard David (Jessica and I only call him “our guard David,” it’s his official title). He is the greatest and I’m pretty sure he used to be a ninja. Edith our cook is also incredible! She is the sweetest thing and she creates such delicious meals for us. She has made the transition into Ugandan food a pleasant experience. Speaking of the food, it is so good! We eat a lot of vegetables and starchy foods such as potatoes, mutoke, and pojo(?). I am obsessed with the unlimited amounts of avocado. And the pineapple…don’t even get me started. We share a room with four other girls and we already adore them. Our three sets of bunk beds are covered in mosquito netting so it makes us feel like princesses in canopy beds. Not. But we are grateful for them and their protection against Malaria. Our team is incredible and very enthusiastic about serving the people of Mukono, so I know that we will do incredible things this summer.

across the pond.

If you truly want the best experience,you must read this post with a Briish accent:

WE ARE IN LONDON!! Smack in the middle of our seven hour layover before we embark on our second all night flight into Entebbe. After a whirlwind few days of packing and preparing, we've finally embarked on our journey! Checking our bags into the Las Vegas airport was slightly surreal. We truly enjoy the fact that our boarding passes say "world traveler," it makes us feel so experienced and exotic.

After our ten hour flight which consisted of dinner at midnight, a grand movie selection, awkward sleeping positions, and drinks with no ice (welcome to Europe), we finally arrived at the Heathrow/London airport! We are having an extremely difficult time maintaining our normal, boring, American speaking voices, seeing as everytime we are around someone with a British accent, we feel the need to mimic them (unintentionally, of course). How embarassing. We have made several attmepts at using our international calling card, but with no success, so family, if you are reading this, we are alive and well! But Nicole did decide to marry the phone operator who kept calling her "love." 

After Africa, we are moving to the UK.

So wish us luck as we attempt to calcualte military time, find cold water, and a somewhat comfortable place to sleep on the plane (cross your fingers). We are meeting up with other members of our HELP team on our flight to Entebbe, and we couldn't be more thrilled to get to Uganda! We cannot wait to get to work. Thanks for all of the support! We appreciate it so very much.

P.S. As we were finishing this post, an elderly American man, decked out in Alaska gear, who referred to himself in third person as "grandpa" just asked us if we were from the states, specifically Tennesee because we were the only TENS he SEES. Cheesy American pick-up lines don't come off any better in England. We find them hilarious nonetheless.

the countdown begins!

Less than a week. In five days, Jessica and I will be embarking on our African adventure as we fly for Uganda. I could not be more excited! For months we have been training, fund-raising, stuck with needles, training, planning, consuming malaria pills, training, and buying long dresses and sunhats. We are ready to go! Today will be the last day of my Ugandan shopping, only a few more things to pick up.

After picking up the bulk of my supplies yesterday (including the strongest bug spray I could find), I came home and put on my gear. I came out into my family's kitchen dressed in a full length cotton dress with a denim shirt and the sleeves rolled up, a large floppy sunhat and my tevas on my feet. My mom just looked at me and said I looked like a hippie grandma about to go garden. I'll take that as a good thing. I'm sure I will fit in Mukono quite nicely.

I tried to pronounce some Lugandan phrases yesterday and my family ended up crying with laughter. I hope to provide hours of entertainment for the villagers of Mukono, I'm sure they will love to listen to me butchering their language!

If you are reading this, that means you helped Jessica and I raise money for our Mukono team and our service projects. I cannot thank you enough. We are inspired by people like you and we hope to make you proud as we serve the people of Uganda. Stay posted for more details on our adventure, we look forward to sharing it with you. We are so excited! May 5th can't come soon enough!

yanguwa!

It means hurry up in Lugandan. Yeah, I've been practicing a bit.


Exactly four weeks from now, we will be blowing kisses and stepping onto the red-eye flight that will deliver us to London and then on to the beautiful country of Uganda. While I'm in a bit of shock that it's coming so fast, I could not possibly be more thrilled!


We had a meeting tonight with the other Uganda team. Afterward, it was all Nicole and I could do to contain our squeals until we'd stepped outside the house. We are impossibly excited. Really the only thing we're nervous about is the thought of leaving when our time is up. 


I just did the math, and by this Saturday I will have completed over 40 hours of training and meetings relating to HELP International and the projects we will do while in-country. I have been enlightened, educated, and prepared as much as possible, and now all that's really left is the last minute details. And I must go get those shots that I should have had last week. Whoops!


Key things learned tonight:
1. It is not unusual for a Ugandan to shake your hand throughout an entire conversation, even if it continues for a good twenty minutes.
2. One town's council decided a few years ago to purchase a large outdoor sound system, and even if you're 10 miles away, every night at 6pm you will hear them play "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion at full volume. 
3. When street vendors call out "Rolex," they are not trying to sell you a fake watch. They are really saying "rolled eggs" and want you to buy a delicious stuffed omelette. 
4. If you go white water rafting on the Nile, your guide will most likely get a huge kick out of purposely flipping your raft over and over again.  
5. Girls who wear pants will almost always be confused for a boy, even if they're an immensely girly girl.
6. To Ugandans, if a man has a beard, it is automatically assumed that he is 50+ years old. 
7. The children are hilarious and LOVE Americans, and if you let them climb all over you once, word will spread quickly and every time you are spotted you will be swarmed by children who think you are a tree. 

What's not to love? 

My two favorite hobbies right now are daydreaming about Africa and avoiding preparing for my finals.


HURRY UP May 5th!!!!!!