first few days...

Well here we are in Uganda!! It is currently 9:10 pm and a bunch of us are sitting in a lounge type place where you can access wireless internet.

Our group is outstanding! There are about 30 of us from all across the United States. Each person is so unique and comes from such a different background, but yet we are all united by our interest to be here in Africa. Its so great to be surrounded by people who think outside the box and crave to try something different.

We flew out of Dulles Int Airport in D.C. Our first flight was 6 1/2 hours to Amsterdam. It was sooo comfortable, with each seat having its own television and a TON of things to choose from to watch. Our second flight into Entebbe, Uganda was 7 1/2 hours. We were all quite disappointed to see that there were no TVs in the seats :( (spoiled Americans). But we made it!

We arrived in Entebbe around 9 pm on Saturday night (1 pm your time), waited an excessively long time for our Visas, and then headed to a convent to spend the night bc campus was about 1 1/2 away from the airport. Our first night in Africa was quite an adventure... a 3 inch cockroach in the bathroom, cold showers, sleeping under a mosquito nets, lizards all over the screens to our windows. Welcome to Africa, eh?!

We woke up early for breakfast, then had our own church service. It was amazing to watch our group come together as people stepped up to lead worship, play any song they knew on the guitar, or share a Bible passage that was on their hearts. We left for campus around 2pm, and took the 1 1/2 hour drive through the cities of Entebbe, Kampala, and into our town, Mukono. The University here is simply beautiful. Its so green and full of exotic plant life. Its basically built into the side of a hill and the view is breathtaking from our dorms...

Speaking of dorms... yeah it was quite a surprise when we got our room assignments. The dorms are the most simple thing you can imagine. Small, dirty, chipping paint, cold showers, toilets that only flush when they feel like it, no mirrors, no shelves. We just have a closet with one drawer in it. Everything we own is stuffed into it. It quite comical to see. Our bunk beds are short and small, and of course, we all have our mosquito nets for when we go to bed. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to waking up with that silly white net in your face.

This evening, we went into the town of Mukono. People who have traveled to Mexico say that it reminds them of cities there. There are people all over, motor bikes racing by, unregulated traffic, shops up and down the road with the craziest things... and then us... a trail of 30 white kids... the ONLY white kids mind you. Everyone finds us quite amusing and proceeds to stare us for extended periods of time. I guess you cant blame them. We stand out like sore thumbs.

Our cafeteria is oh so simple... rice, beans, potatoes at times, and a veggie if we are lucky. For breakfast this morning (at 7 am, good Lord that was early) we received two pieces of bread, one buttered, one not, and a cup of this liquid that took us all day to figure out what it was... turns out, they call it African tea. Its a combo of tea and fresh cows milk, served hot with a ton of sugar in it. It was sooo good!

We've met a handful of Ugandans... all of which are incredible friendly and helpful. They laugh at many of the questions we ask them, but never cease to answer them anyway. Chickens are running around all over, goats are tied to trees, monkeys scurry across the lawn in the mornings, and there are more kinda of birds than I've ever seen! And the stars... holy smokes, they are AMAZING! The sky is so clear that you can see every single one. And you only need to stare at the sky for about 15 seconds before seeing a shooting star. Its beautiful.

Okay- the laptop is starting to die. Please continue to check this and share the site with people i may not have directly contacted myself. Miss you all!