I have been in Uganda for a little over a day. I have been to Africa before but not like this, I have never been able to really immerse myself in the culture, live here and truly help. I was super nervous before I got here. My nerves are gone. I cannot believe how quickly I have fallen in love with this place. Everything about it is just amazing. The people are friendly, the children are loving, the food is great, the weather is perfect and I have had so much fun already.
I got a tour of Mbale earlier today, that is the name of the city we live in. It is pretty modern and big compared to man of the places in Uganda. It is buzzing with life! There are stores and restaurants and internet cafes packed in every inch. We walked through the market where people sell all kinds of different things in little huts. It reminded me so much of Ghana and Vietnam, which I have missed sooo much! It was thrilling to realize that I was back in another beautiful foreign country, but this time I get to stay. I have more time to really take things in and enjoy them. I don't feel like I have to rush to do and see everything. Its perfect.
After our tour I took my first boda ride. If you don't know what a boda is you should look it up. Basically its little dirt bike that they use as taxis here. It was very very scary, there aren't rea`lly traffic rules here and speed limits and roads barely seem to exist. Not to mention there are many potholes and the road switches from dirt to paved frequently. I was certain I would die for the first few minutes. But after I calmed down I realized it was a wonderful way to see Uganda and the breeze felt great! We arrived at Miriam Nursery School where we were greeted by many little children all excited to see a mizoungu (sp???) haha that's what they call white people here. They smiled and all shook our hands asking "how are you" and when we asked back they all replied "I'm fine." It was very rehearsed but still super cute. They loved playing with our watches and pushing all the buttons. After the warm greeting the kids were sent off so we could paint the school. It felt great knowing we were doing something to help these beautiful kids. Today we just put a base coat of cream down but soon we will be painting murals to help the children learn things like their "ABC's" an numbers and colors. The staff and children were so grateful.
The hardest part of the day was that realization that I have so much more than these people and that I have taken it for granted most of my life. Because I was born in America I get to have things that these kids would never dream of. There school was built out of bricks, with windows that did not have any sort of covering, and the desks were wooden benches with many kids crammed onto each one. They had no posters, or extra supplies, or really any of the things any normal American classroom would have. When I went to the bathroom It was in a little brick outhouse with no light coming in. You could not see much of anything. There were two bricks to put your feet on as you squatted over a whole in the ground. There was a bundle of branches to use as toilet paper. It made me sad. Most people will read this and be disgusted but I was mostly just humbled. We live such different lives. We are given things as a birth right that these people will work hard there whole lives and may never get. We say "I want", "I need", "I'm Broke", "I wish I could have.." and it just felt silly today and I'm sure that feeling will continue to grow deeper as time continues. I could go on forever but that's enough for today.
I am missing home but falling in love. <3
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