Day 1- THIS TIME FOR AFRICA

Well.. I am currently sitting in the Dallas, Texas airport about to board my plane to Paris!  I will be staying with Emma and her family for a few days before heading off to Africa.

Last night my mom through a "farewell" party.  It was so nice of her.  A little hectic finishing packing, but i'm so glad I was able to see all my favorites before leaving.  At the end of the night cute little Avery came and hugged my leg so tight and said, "I wuv you!"  

I couldn't hold it in... I bawled my eyes out. 

I got a blessing from my grandpa, dad, brother, and in-laws. it was amazing.  The Lord is going to be with me on this trip, I've already seen his hand.  My family is so great.  Every single one of them. Ang is the hardest to say goodbye to because she's my best friend in the whole wide world!

Ok... enough about the sad goodbyes... let me tell you about a little bit of my adventures I've had already.

(and i'm not even there yet)

First of all, we had to leave for the airport at 3:30am so I slept for a total of 1/2 an hour (which if you know me that is not a good thing at all) Dad drove me and was teaching me french on the way...

"Je parle anglais!"

"I speak english!"  I'm gonna get there and feel SO foreign.

AIRPORT (funny moment #1)

I flew from SLC to Dallas, Texas but the weather caused us to wait in Abelene, Texas for an hour and a half.  Which meant I was going to miss my flight to New York. When we landed in Dallas a lady was trying to direct everyone where to go.

My answer: "Go find another airport because there are no more flights to New York."

Ok, knowing how new I am to flying, "Go find another airport" is like telling an 8 year old to find their family in Disney Land... yeah right. So I got some more help and was told to fly to Boston, Massachusetts and connect to a Paris flight there.

Slight problem... it was 12:45 and that flight left at 1:00.  I felt like a loan ranger running to my flight like on Home Alone!

I hopped on the train/shuttle to get on my gate... no clue what i'm doing.

Well, I don't know how lucky I am because this old couple that was on my train were arguing back and forth, so of course I lean in to hear the drama.  Low and behold, they were in my same shoes- trying to get to the Boston flight as well.  So of course I say something to them that i'm trying to get there too!

No joke it was 12:55 and we were still on the train.  By this point the grandma wife was getting so mad at her husband that they were late.  The second the train stopped we shot outta there.

Me. Grandma. and grandpa.

We were BOOKING it.  I've never seen a grandma move so fast.  But this was the best part:

THE ESCALATORS
All I know is we had to take these escalators to get to our gate.  There were 2 next to each other that both went down so I hopped on one and the grandma hopped on the other.  I don't know how to explain or give this scene justice because it was seriously so funny.

All I see is this old lady CHARGING her way down the escalator with her baggage on wheels slapping each and every stair we went bouncing down.  I was doing the same thing.  We looked so frantic! All of a sudden this lady gets on behind us and says 'You going to Boston? Because there is an hour delay!"

Me and Grandma halted.

Our hair whipping around stopped completely as we looked at each other (still on the escalator) and busted a gut!  We were freaking out over nothing.

We finally figured it out and needless to say I'm flying straight from Dallas to PARIS. We keep getting delays because of the weather but at least I don't have 2 layovers, just one. I took a sleeping pill awhile ago and it's definitely kicking in.  I could sleep standing up probably...

Paris... here I come!

GRATITUDE LIST:
1) So glad i got a window seat in my first flight.
2) So glad that couple was fighting so I could find my way.
3) So grateful for my ipod
4) So grateful for my cute family.
5) My grandma gave me my easter basket since I was missing the annual hunt... extra candy for my trip:)

Switch-a-Roo

So... obviously, I have struggled to keep my blog updated while I was in Africa.

But not to fret, I have written what I did every single day I was there... from the very start to finish.

I guess I'm doing this more for me then anyone else, I just want to have a digital copy with writing and pictures of my Africa adventures... the truth of EVERYTHING... good, bad, embarrassing, funny, miserable, scary... everything! So... take it for what it's worth...

here goes.

bug legs:)

Here in africa you say "Mulembay!" except you have to be real good at it because the first time practicing to see if i got the lingo, a little boy said to me in such a matter of fact voice "We understand english".... haha! "I mean.."  it cracked me up!

Africa has been amazing! I'm used to being here so things are more normal and aren't as crazy as I thought it was when we first got here!  We got 10 new people yesterday so we're showing them the ways of how to live here!

but I have a confession...

So.. our guard David cooks white ants.  They look like crickets and are about a half an inch long.  They look kinda like big earwigs (i think that's what they're called in our cherry tree)

So we were having a meeting and welcoming the newbies.  I decided I had this GREAT idea.  The word "innitiation" rang in my head.  So we grab a bowl of insects and I say "We ALL had to do this when we got here, so if you want to live in this house, you have to eat a bug!" haha i was dead serious when I was saying this cuz secretly there is no way in heck I would've eaten one of those!

haha so poor little things... some of the girls were crying, some of the guys were shaking, some other girls screaming.  and I would just brush it off all pridefully by saying "they just taste like butter and salt, it's not a big deal!" (deep down starting to feel the guilt)

One of the team members caught on to my plot and he said "pay me 5,000 shillings or i'm gonna rat you out!"

NOTE: 5,000 shillings is roughly $2... but that's like 5 taxi rides! no way in heck would i make the deal!

Finally, my guilty face gave it away and I had to confess. So they held the bowl in front of my face and chanted "Aubrey, Aubrey!"  and were all in a circle around me waiting til I chewed every last leg! 

I wanted to cry.

Finally i just bucked up and plopped one in my mouth, but then I thought of it's legs so i spit it out...

second try was a success tho, not to worry! I made it! it wasn't as bad as I thought, but i still felt bad I was making everyone eat it for "innitiation".  I was so sly tho!


That was the main event yesterday.  We've been working on all of our projects!  We taught at a hospital yesterday to mother's who have babies with spinibiphida and encephalitis. THey all like to hear about dental care because it's not a super common thing here in uganda.

I'm working on a "smile camp" where I found a dentist who is willing to check 300 little kids teeth, so i'm working on getting supplies and getting classes ready to have a full day of dental work.  It's gonna be a little crazy.  At a normal dentist you see 24 people a day TOPS, so for one day packed with 300 check ups...it's gonna be quite the event! I'm working on dental awareness so that when I leave they can continue the classes and raise awareness and knowledge about keeping their mouths and teeth healthy.  I'm stoked. this is my dream.

We also have been working on a "sanitation outreach" where we built hand washing stations, and are teaching kids how to wash their hands. They are the cutest little things ever! We love to go play with them all the time because they're so fun.  We sing and play games.  Some of the kids have parents, but most of them are orphans so they live at the school.

From the beginning I have felt the Lord's hand constantly watching over me.  Whether it be when I have worms, or when i'm on a boda boda, or when I am walking through an orphanage and my heart is broken.  He's always here. I've come to realize that the hardest part of this trip is realizing how much i CAN'T do.  I can't say this is the easiest thing I've ever done, it's definitely up there. But when you look at a little kid with hardly any clothes and barefeet...and they flash you a smile and tell you they love you... it's worth every second.  I know sometimes I complain, but I don't know how i'll be able to say goodbye to these people.  I love them.

update!

Well, so much has happened and I only have a few minutes to update my blog!

The other day we went and visited the Islamic University of Uganda.  We had to dress to our wrists and ankles and wear a scarf around our heads so that we don't show any neck.  It was quite an interesting experience!  The people we met with were so neat and at the end we had a closing prayer.  It was so funny because Devin (one of the volunteers) was bowing his head and closing his eyes for like 15 minutes because he thought they were praying when really they weren't. It cracked me up, i had to sit there with my shawl on and hold in my laugh.

We also went to a festival at Impact Ministries, which is like an elementary school.  There were about 300 kids.  They served us up a meal and sang and danced for us.  Afterwards we helped served food for them since there were so many.  But there wasn't enough.  About 30 kids went without food.  That was one of the hardest things to watch.  They look at you with longing eyes and watery mouths.  I still tear up thinking about it. If they don't get food they go without and they're used to it. It kills me.

We went and hiked Sipi falls the other day and it was beautiful! i'm having a hard time digesting some of the food here, but other than that AFrica is amazing:)

Wow. so much has happened here in Africa, it's a little bit hard to always keep this blog updated because of the limited amount of time to use the internet. But it is still so amazing here!

The past week we were able to paint 8 different classrooms for a school that was filled with spiders and cobwebs.  It looks really nice and the kids are back in school today, so we were excited to get that finished right up front.

We also worked at a hospital called CURE.  It specializes doing surgery for babies who have hydrocepholis and spinobiphida. On Friday we held a seminar training with all of the mothers about nutrition, hygiene, and first aid.  About 50 people showed up and it was very successful! we will be training the staff and mothers every Friday.

This weekend we went and hiked the mud slides. and of course, it was raining, muddy, and very wet! It was so beautiful though. Huge mountains with waterfalls. I love it.

The people here are very nice to us and want us to help them.  Some of the little kids get scared because of how "scary" our white skin is since they've never seen it before. But most the time kids follow us wherever we go and give us "bonga" (bones)

i am absolutely loving it here and am happy inside and out!

You know you're in Africa when....

When your guard is afraid of dogs and doesn't carry a weapon so we buy him a bow and arrow... that's normal.

When you eat chicken for dinner after cutting off the chickens head a few hours earlier.

When you ride a taxi that can fit 15 of us in one ride and kids yell "mzugu" (white person) at you and wave like we are in some parade.

When your roommate is a cocroach... that's normal.

When you use the purple bug zapper for our dance parties and then the whole room fills with smoke because there was a big bug!

When your snack is salted crickets.

When your eyes burn in the middle of the night from misquito net chemicals.

When your clothes hang outside for days because it keeps raining.

When you get proposed to on the daily by people in the streets.

When Obama clothing is the cool thing! the belt buckle was my favorite!

When the beautiful Ugandian ladies laugh at us when we try to speak to them.

When everywhere you go someone is openly breast feeding.

When you here wings fall on the floor at night from some kind of bug.

When you wear deodarant but you don't need it because you blend in and no one cares!

When you have to be taught how to use a brick phone.

When the toilets are a hole in the ground and you have to learn how to aim.

I am LOVING It here! definitely not a vacation, but i've been here a week and already love it!  It's a completely different lifestyle and these are just some things i've come to learn to enjoy! Everytime something happens that is out of the ordinary we just say "T.I.A." (this is africa)


i'm excited to continue on this adventure!

Arrived to Africa!

ok... so here is what i have seen and been doing the past 24 hours. i honestly feel like I have been here for MONTHS it has taken us FOREVER to get here! It seriously is so crazy here in AFRICA! i still can't comprehend that i'm here. I don't know what day or time it is, all i know that this doesn't seem real at all!

i found my group in london before we boarded the plane.  I honestly slept from the time we got in to the time we got out.  I sat next to a really big lady which was a little bit hard but i zonked out so it didn't matter. she was telling me all about uganda too since she was from there.  She's all "it's muddy... do you know what muddy is?" i'm all "ya" and she's all... "no... i don't think you do!"

We arrived to the airport in kampala and had a 5-6 hour bus ride to Mbale which is where we are staying! haha our bus... i loved it. just imagine.. wow, i can't really compare it to anything... just imagine a big beat up van that squeeks when you drive and bounces around haha our big dodge van was a mercedes compared to this mobile! we stick out SO bad here. i didn't know how white i really am!!! the streets are unreal. they don't have rules and padestrians have to LEAP out of the way or they're doomed! The people here are SO nice tho, and they are SOOO happy. they probably live closer to heaven then we do just because of how humble they are. they would come up to our windows to sell things and try to get any kind of money. they think we are the richest people ever! the little kids yell out "muzugu!" which means white person whenever they see us and wave!  We were stopped in Munoko to get a fridge for our house and the CUTEST little kid was waving to me, i was trying to teach him how to blow a kiss and by the time we left he kept blowing kisses til we pulled away.  The kids are seriously so cute and are the happiest little things i've ever seen. they play in the streets and play soccer a lot here.

Let me tell you about last night...

First of all... we got to our house and it was raining and we don't have power so it was adventurous in the rain with our luggage and mud. haha i loved it. (enrique just turned on here, hahahah i am loving this!!!) but anyway.. haha sorry i am so scatterbrained right now.  We got all unpacked and put up our maquito nets... the sounds of africa at night go like this: wild dogs barking, drums, trucks, singing, beeping.  so i popped in my headphones and was completely out after preparing for hours to not get eaten alive by masquitos.

all of a sudden i hear "AUBREY!..."  i jumped! Whitney was on the bunk across from me and she's all "Do my eyes loook like hitch!?!" she pops her head out of her net and i shine my light on her face, "no, why?"... suddenly i feel this liquid coming out of my ear and she is freaking out!  our country director wakes up and comes in our room to see what was going on, and I guess the pharmacy had told us not to wash our nets... but your supposed to since there is so much chemical stuff on them! so we were all having these allergic reactions! we had taken HOURS to put them up and nail them in too! haha so everyone starts waking up bein like "owww... my eyes!" and at 3am we were having this fiasco! haha one girl was zonked out and didn't budge while the rest of us were being attacked! haha

finally we stripped the nets off and we all went back to bed.  if you only knew what this has been like it is a full on movie. We are soooo lucky tho, we've made some friends with the hotel people so if we ABSOLUTELY need a hot shower we can.  and we live like KINGS here! our compound is completely protected. we have the BEST guard that everyone fights over to have named David... he's awesome. but when we can't see him at night we just have to tell him to smile so we can see his teeth!

We woke up today, had a meeting about safety. we're basically getting settled in! but it's not as roughing it as much as i expected! we have tile floors, flushing toilets, 2 showers, running water! We are living like kings!

we went to an orphanage yesterday, it broke my heart and was really hard to see the little kids, but they are so happy it is unreal! these people are probably a lot happier than most people in the United States and they have nothing. 

haha and let me just tell you about this... today i rode my first BODA BODA! which means taxi.  which means motorcycle.  the money system is so crazy that it's only like 50 cents of american currency to ride to the city.  we made a caravan of white people on these boda boda's.  One girl's broke down so we had a slight problem with not knowing where she was, but they give us all the contact information and we live close by that we will be just fine.

i'm living a complete dream!  i really can't believe i'm here! just barely i had to go pee and so i went to the bathrooms which was a hole in the ground and no doors.  just had whit stand in front of the door and was good to go! 

as far as scenery here, it is SO beautiful! very green, there is a waterfall a little ways away from our house and it is beautiful!

i know there is so much else that has happened but its hard to remember everything.  i've made sure to keep a journal though because i don't want to forget a THING!

i know i've only been gone a week but there have been so many things going on that i feel like i could write a novel. i and have felt the Lord with me this entire trip, i have to be honest in saying this is the scariest thing i've ever done, but i don't ever feel alone. i'm very protected.  My emotions have been a little bit numb.. i'm still waiting for it all to hit me.  it's really hard for me to see people sitting in the streets with no legs, and little kids that look really unhealthy. i just will never be the same after this trip, that's for sure.

my tevas? work like a charm:) and Ang... you packed my waterbottle SO good! hahah i went to get water and one of them had opened a little, and i didn't realize it so when my water was read I gotta little bit scared haha but not to worry!

they eat really weird food here. like goat hair in the soup. haha THIS IS AFRICA! T.I.A. whenever something really weird happens that is unusual we just say "T.I.A!"

so happy tho so don't worry about anything! i'm very safe with the group i'm with!