Day 10: HOME!

Made it home to KC this evening!

 Now let me back up to where this day started...

Well, I took a Benadryl when I got on the plane in Addis, and just like I hoped, I didn't wake up for 5.5 hours until we landed in Rome - some time in the middle of the night.  I ate some awesome airplane food, popped another Benadryl, and slept most of the way back to D.C.  Plenty of sleep, that's for sure!  It helped that no one was next to me and could sprawl out across two seats. 



Woke up in Rome, snapped this picture out the window, ate, and went back to sleep...



Landed in D.C. around 7:30am local time.  My throat was killing me and so was my head.  I don't know if it's allergies or what, but not cool.  I drank orange juice a couple times on the flight thinking that might help - some vitamin c. 

Hopped off the plane, was the second one from our flight in line for immigration, so didn't have to wait at all.  Got my bag and waited in line to check it in again, then took off for my gate.  Found a Starbucks for breakfast.  Oatmeal and some more oj.

I felt pretty gross from being on an airplane for so long, and really wanted to clean up.  So...what do you do when you're at an airport?  You take a bath in the sink.  Yea, it's awesome. ;)  I spread all my stuff out on the diaper changing station next to the sink and got started.  Washed my face, stuck my head under and washed my hair, then started with the body and a wash cloth.  Ha, I got some seriously strange looks from people walking in, but thankfully it was super early and the airport was pretty dead.  I even shaved my legs and stuck my foot up in the sink to wash them.  There was water every where by the time was done, but I felt great!  Clean body and clean clothes... I even dried my hair out in the airport because there wasn't an outlet in the bathroom.  More strange looks...  Oh well, I felt way better after that! :)

The only thing left to take care of was my nails, so I found a little "10-minute manicure" place in the next terminal and set off for it.  Got my nails done and made it back to my gate just in time to board the plane for Chicago!  Perfect!

Easy 2 hour flight to Chicago, grabbed some lunch and relaxed for awhile before my final flight in to KC.  I was SO ready to be home by that point.  I had been traveling for almost 48 hours if you count the time I left Hoima on the bus!

Flight from Chicago to Kansas City

Another easy flight, and Matt was waiting at my gate to get me!  Man was I excited to see him!  I just hugged him and kept giggling, ha.  Hopefully that was the last time I ever have to go on a big trip without him!

Oh - here are a couple funny things I learned while in Uganda:

"It is possible."  =  Yes

"I will remove it."  =  I'll turn the light off.

"I will come."  = You wait here, I'll come back.

"It is very near."  = It's probably at least an hour away.

:)

Day 9: Hoima-->Kampala -->Entebbe

I couldn't decide if my alarm would go off if I had my white noise app running, so I just turned it off rather than lay there stressing about it all night. Turned out to not be my best decision, ha. Apparently the neighbors like to party on Friday nights.  Like, loud music until 2am...

I did manage to fall asleep though. But then the loud bell rang at 4:15am!! I couldn't figure out why... Sarah got up and told the cook it was Saturday and to let the girls rest! I guess he forgot what day it was?

I fell back asleep and woke up at 5 when my alarm went off. Went to the bathroom and then washed my face - and a little of my body - with a wash cloth. Still hadn't bathed since the dusty motorcycle ride yesterday. Yuck. Threw on some clean clothes, brushed my teeth, packed, and waited for JP to come get me.

While I was waiting, Clementine brought in a note for me to give to Matt, with a picture she drew on it. Immaculate came in after that with a note, too. (And she brought a note from Peninah for her sponsor.) I couldn't believe they got up and dressed so early just to give me a letter! They were so sweet about it, and I had to physically pull both of them up off their knees at my feet to give them a hug!

Sarah and I sat around and waited awhile for JP. At 5:50, we walked down the footpath to the edge of the little alley way. He called at 5:58 and said to walk down to the main dirt road. It was still pitch black out! Sure am glad I downloaded that flashlight app on my phone now! :) JP was there, but with only one boda-boda. With all my stuff, that just wasn't going to work. Plus JP isn't a small guy. So he walked up to the house there and woke some poor guy up and asked him to take me to the bus stop! He jumped right up and off we went...dirt roads in the dark again. Love it. :)

We were ON the bus by 6:10. And here I thought it left at 6. Africa time. I forgot. They honked the crazy horn at 6:30, and I thought surely we would leave soon. Honked again at 7 and we drove about two blocks to another stop, ha.  We finally took off shortly after that, but continued to stop at numerous spots along the way to let people off or put more people on. I didn't drink anything all morning because I didn't want to have to pee on the bus. I just sat there with my head out the window and enjoyed the surroundings. I think I might of even fallen asleep for a little bit! 

On the bus...still waiting to leave

When you stop in a town, there are tons of people selling all kinds of stuff - but mostly meat on a stick and water - that come running up to the side of the bus. They waive it in your face and holler at you, trying to get you to buy. It's pretty entertaining. :)

Meat on a stick!

Not far from Kampala, we got stopped by a police check point. They made all of the people standing - which was a lot - get off the bus and wait for another one. Sure was glad we got there an hour early to get a seat (and a window seat at that).  I felt bad for them!

We finally pulled in to Kampala around 10:30. Not bad! Saturday's are pretty crazy, I guess. Or maybe everyday is crazy! The bus was stopping a lot and getting stuck in traffic, so JP and I just got off to walk. It was a nice morning, minus the diesel fumes, and my legs could use some walking/stretching. There aren't sidewalks here, and he only had to pull me out of the way of traffic twice, haha. I kept forgetting that they drive on the other side of the road here!

 The traffic we kept getting stuck in...

Following JP walking the streets of Kampala Saturday morning

 We ended up at the prime ministers office to deliver a letter to allow entrance to the refugee camp I guess. Whatever it is for, I doesn't work on Saturdays. And now JP has to make the long trek back on Monday to pick up whatever it is he needed. He didn't seem too pumped about it.

While we were there, the army guard took me to the 'bathroom' out back. I'd been holding it a loooong time. Just a hole in the ground, but there was a sink with running water to rinse your hands off at least!

From there, JP found two boda-bodas to take us to Kireka. The first couple he stopped either didn't know where it was, or didn't want to take us. (Made me think it was a ways away.) We finally found one who knew where it was, and JP got on with him. Another younger kid pulled up. JP told me to get on with him and told the driver to follow him. Should be easy enough, right?

Wrong.

It was fine for awhile...until my crazy driver decided he wanted to drive faster and passed JP. I was a little weary, but just figured he knew where he was going. I kept turning around to check for JP, too.  And then - no more JP.  I couldn't see him anymore, and kept turning around every 2 seconds.  My driver finally stopped at a busy intersection - because he didn't know which way to go - and HE finally realized the other driver and JP weren't behind us anymore.  Ugh.  Insert sick feeling in my gut. 

He stopped, put his foot on the ground, and turned around searching the traffic and said, "Where he at?" 

"Are you serious!? I don't know where he's at!  Why did you pass him??"

Still standing there searching, really confused look..."Where he go?" 

"I DON'T KNOW!  You're in the middle of the intersection.  Move out of the way or we're going to get hit."

"Oh" ...as he moves his bike over to the side of the road.

It was sheer terror by this point, ha.  I mean, there I was, on a motorcycle in the middle of Kampala, with a guy who barely speaks English and doesn't know where to go, and I can't find JP.  What was I going to do!?  I actually started to get out my phone and was going to go through my papers until hopefully I found a phone number to someone who would know JP's - and figure out how to call it.  Or just go to Red Chilli Restaurant/Hostel or have him take me to the airport.  A million things ran through my head as cars and motorcycles and buses whizzed past us...and still no JP. 
Ha, it probably was only a couple of minutes in reality, but it felt like an eternity.  And then, out of the traffic, I saw JP and his bright shirt.  HALLELUJAH!  I guess they stopped somewhere - or got stuck in traffic?  I don't know, but he wasn't concerned at all, he just passed us and waived us on.  Ugh! 

I made sure THAT didn't happen again.  My driver tried to pass him a few minutes later, and I literally smacked him on the arm and said, "NO!  Stay behind!"  Ha, I think he got the point!

But the panic came again when we got stuck in a major traffic jam.  JP's driver was much better than mine, and weaved in and out of the traffic.  My driver got stuck for awhile and I couldn't see JP anymore...  

Here we go again!!

We eventually caught up to him, as he was turning, thank goodness, and were able to follow him - staying right on his tail- the rest of the way to Kireka...which was a long ways!  We drove through the city forever!  Kampala is a much nicer and cleaner city than Addis.  They even have a nice, green golf course right in the middle of the city!

I think we were getting closer to the outskirts of Kampala, and the area turned pretty rough again.  Bumpy dirt roads (that red dirt that sticks to everything) and people living out of little shacks.  I got pretty good at taking pictures while not holding on to the boda-boda!

A few curves and turns, and we pulled up in front of a building with a big locked gate. 

When we got inside, we sat down in a room that looked like it should have lots of bags and jewelry, but there were only a few hanging on the wall, and a big pile of paper beaded necklaces on the table.  Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed.  I mean, that was supposed to be the highlight for the day!  Getting to see the women making the bags.  I guess I forgot that it was Saturday and they don't work on weekends!  Duh! 

(Pretty excited to dig through this pile of jewelry...)


No worries though.  Peter, the founder of Life in Africa, assured me that I would still get bags!  The women had actually packed almost all of them up and took them to an event going on that day to try and sell them.  He said he would get pick some up and meet me at Red Chili, a little hostel/restaurant place that JP and I were heading to for lunch.  So nice of him!

I did buy a handful of necklaces, a wall hanging, and a little pencil holder for my desk while I was there though!  :)

After a quick tour of the grounds, JP and I set off on boda-bodas again through Kampala.  It was a pretty long ride to Red Chili. 

I about died laughing when I walked through the gates.  I haven't seen one white person the whole time I've been in Uganda, and then, all of a sudden, it was like they were all hiding at this one place!  It was nothing but white tourists -- and a big fat dog!  Probably because they have normal (to us) food, Internet, and SHOWERS.  Makes sense. :)

Before we could sit down and eat, JP wanted to take me to exchange money at a bank or Western Union place.  We had tried yesterday (Friday) but the banks closed earlier than we thought.  So he negotiated a driver for me - he said it was safer to take a car than a boda-boda to a bank  - and also worked in for him to take me to the airport later that afternoon.  For almost $30!  I thought it was a rip-off, but I guess that's the price you pay when you're at a tourist hostel - and the airport is an hour away!

The first place we pulled up to gave me a decent exchange rate - better than the airport anyways - so I handed over my USD and he gave me a giant wad of Ugandan Schillings.  I needed money to buy bags from Peter, and to give JP money for his way back home to Hoima.  (OH - did I mention that JP has a whole brood full of children, and his wife still lives in the Kyangwali Refugee Camp?  I think they have like 4 of their own and adopted 4 or something crazy like that...)

So, back at Red Chili, JP and I ordered food.  I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and some Pringles!  Hallelujah for American food, haha!  It was amazing.  Peter still hadn't showed up by the time we were finished eating, so I walked around the place - and just happened to spot a bunch of monkeys chilling under the picnic table outside!  I totally wish we had monkeys hanging out around the US!  How cool would that be!?

I also found the SHOWERS when I was walking around.  I couldn't pass up that opportunity.  It had been days since I showered - unless you count the bathing out of a bowl thing in Hoima! ;)  So I grabbed my bag and told JP I would be quick.  Oh it was glorious.  Not only a shower, but hot water.  Man, do I take that for granted over here.

It felt so, so amazing to be clean again!  I didn't shave my legs, but I washed my hair and put clean clothes on.  That was good enough for me!  By the time I was finished, Peter was there with a stack of bags, aprons, and oven mits.  To say I was excited is an understatement.

I might of went a little overboard and bought like 10 bags or something absurd like that.  But come on, it's for a good cause, and they were cheap!  I'll probably give some away, or might even try selling some of them over here and give the money back to ThinkHumanity.   The apron will probably go to my niece, and the oven mits will be given away, too.  (Lord knows I don't cook enough to use them!)

We didn't have too much time to hang out after all of that.  It was time to take JP to the bus station, and then head to the Entebbe airport.  My trip was finally coming to an end.  Well, kind of.  I still had A LOT of traveling to do!

Once we dropped JP off, I rolled down my window and took a little cat nap.  It was a pretty long drive to the airport, and we got stuck in late afternoon traffic in Kampala.  (I'm beginning to think it is just "all day traffic" in Kampala...)

When we pulled up to the airport, there was a little check point kind fo place at front with a guy in camouflage.  He waived us over to the side, of course.  He was looking at me, so I rolled my window down.  He motioned for me to give him something - or that's what I thought.  I handed him my passport, and he said, "No, you come."  Ummm, excuse me?  You want me to get out of the car right here?  My driver said to get out.  I grabbed my one bag with me - the one with all my personal stuff in it, not knowing what was going on.  He looked me up and down, and then told me to walk up to the scanner thing.  Still outside.  100 feet away.  It's Africa and it's HOT.  Why couldn't I just drive up there?  But my driver had already pulled forward, past that thing.  So off I went.  Handed my bag to a security officer and walked through a metal detector, and that was it.  Good to go.  What in the world was the point of that?  They didn't search any of my other bags.  I guess they thought I looked like the type of person who was going to carry a concealed weapon in to the airport. ??

I asked the gal checking me in there at the airport if they could check my bag all the way through to Washington DC. They said they could! They even said they could  check it all the way to Chicago.  Not sure why Chicago and not KC, but I said I would pick it up in DC. I have a four hour layover there anyways.  Then I looked at my boarding passes and saw that we get in to terminal 2 in Addis - the domestic one - and then depart from terminal 1. On top of not even knowing how I'm going to do that, I am highly doubtful my bag makes it on that flight. We'll see if Ethiopian Airlines can pull it off! :)


Walked through the immigration line - no waiting at all and the guy didn't look at anything. Just stamped my passport. Hung out in the open area for awhile and walked through some of the shops. Nothing was as cool as what I bought from the Acholi women! 

Finally ate some of my candy while waiting - first I've had since I left. Boarded plane on time. Seat was in business class! Sweet! Pretty non-eventful two hour flight in to Addis. 

It was raining in Addis when we landed. And miraculously, my phone decided to work. Didn't work the entire first three days I was there. Thank goodness it did that time though. I had nothing to do but text for awhile. 

Oh, and it was super easy to get from terminal 1 to terminal 2. They had a little walkway over to it. I've just never had to use it. So I think the airline will get my bag to DC now... :)

(While my phone was working, the free wifi at the airport wasn't. Would have been nice to check email. If I remember right, it wasn't working the last time I was in this terminal either.)

Walked around the little stores at the airport for awhile, and bought a cute little pair of strappy sandals.  For $20!  Not a bad deal in the states, but such a rip-off here in Ethiopia!  Oh well, they're cute. :)

Started boarding around 9:30. Couldn't wait to get on there and take some Benadryl. I have some allergy / head stuff going on. Probably from the masses of diesel fumes, pollution, and dirt I've been breathing in for the last week. Really hope it is just allergies and goes away before tomorrow.

Got a window seat and no one next to me! Popping Benadryl, laying down, and hopefully not waking up until we land in Rome to re-fuel in 5.5 hours...

-TK

Sent from my iPhone

Day 8: Bulisa District (Asaba Model School)

Oh I feel SO much better this morning! Didn't get up at 5 with the girls. Skipped porridge and slept in until 7. I think I just needed sleep - and water! I'm telling you, the African sun just takes it out of you!

Decided to give the whole bathing from a basin thing a shot again. I'm getting a little better at it, and after how filthy I got yesterday, it was necessary! Washed up while swatting mosquitos away - I'm terrified of them here because I haven't taken the malaria mess and do NOT want to get malaria! I haven't gotten bit yet - knock on wood. Only two more days to be on alert for them!

When I got back from bathing and washing hair again, Sarah was sitting on the floor doing the crossword / soduko book I brought. She is in love with that thing and did it almost all day yesterday! Matt's Aunt Mimi gave it to me for Easter and I haven't had a chance to use it yet, so I decided to bring it here. Turned out to be a huge hit! :)

I got ready for the day - which consists of sitting on the floor and putting a little makeup on - and then asked Sarah if we could walk in to town to get some bread. Since I skipped porridge this morning, and my one nutri-grain bar was not going to it, I wanted to get some bread for pb&j sandwiches for everyone.

First though, Jonas showed up with his laptop, so I quickly checked my emails. Have to take advantage of Internet every chance I get!

When I was done, we took off walking. Sarah said there was a place nearby. Just down the hill to the road and then up a few buildings / houses, there was a little "shop." (With a big snake dead in front of it. Something else to look out for here now...) Sarah held up a couple things that were bread-like, but that's not what I was talking about. I saw in Kampala that they had regular loaves of bread, so I tried to explain that to Sarah. Ooooh - we have to go to in to town to the supermarket for that. On a boda-boda. YES! I love riding on those things.

It's pretty funny how everyone just stares at me like they've never seen a white girl, ha. Especially the kids. They're either really curious, or completely terrified and run and scream. That's happened on numerous occasions...including in the supermarket. :)

We found the regular bread I wanted and came back to the hostel. I made pb&j sandwiches for Sarah, Christine and myself. Jonas went in to town, and the cook was asleep.

There is one girl here who is sick - with malaria Sarah said. Hmmm, maybe I should be taking those pills. I just hate medicine though!! I swear my body is over-sensitive to everything and I just don't want to be sick from the pills! Anyways, her name is Sifa Justine. No pb&j for her, but she took three pieces of plain bread. And I gave her an Aleve. She has something wrong with her finger, too, and it is causing bad pain all up her arm. :(

The girls loved the pb&j though. Like, a lot! So much that I made them another one! I had two, too. It's a good thing that stuff travels so easily. It has saved my life this trip! :)

Sarah and I sat around for awhile and talked. I updated some of my notes on my phone, and she started reading the bible study book I brought. We kind of just sat around for awhile. I think there is just a lot of "sitting around" time in Africa in general. ;)

Jonas showed up again around 10:45 and fixed himself a pb&j. He went light on the jelly. No one is too sure of it here. Theyve never had it, but they all love it once they try it!

Jonas left again to find someone to take us the to the Bulisa District on a boda-boda. There is a school there, Asaba Model School, that ThinkHumanity helps. Jonas and Sarah said it is "very nearby."

We took off for town, me between Jonas and one driver, Sarah on another boda-boda. We stopped at an intersection and Jonas told Sarah and her driver something in Swahili, and they kept driving. Then Jonas got off and left me there with the driver. He said, "I will come," and started walking off. Ummm, does that mean I'm supposed to come with you? No, I will come means he will come back, ha. It's the little things that are confusing! ;)

So there I stood, with a guy I didn't know and a motorcycle in the middle of Hoima. A few minutes later, HE said the same thing and left me there by his bike! I just stood there, getting stared at from every person that came by, ha.

Jonas showed up a few minutes later carrying a helmet. A nice new motorcycle helmet. For me. I obviously made him take money for it. Made me wonder where we were going that was " very nearby" that I needed a helmet for the trip! I forgot to say that before we left, he also told me to put on long sleeves because it will be colder and very dusty...

We ended up walking quite a ways, and met Sarah on another street corner (have to say again it is SO hot here) and she now had a helmet in hand, too!

Two boda-bodas pulled up, both drivers in long sleeves and helmets. We hopped on and off we went down the dirt roads heading west from Hoima.

We drove for awhile. And kept driving. And kept driving. I know very near is a relative term, ha, but I thought it would be like 5 - 10 minutes. The road got dusty alright, and I was glad I had the helmet. The road turned to washboards and ravines, and one big truck nearly ran us off into the bush. It was interesting to say the least. And over an hour later, we drive through Kigorobya, and stopped at a school just outside of there. We were very near Lake Albert.

The school was called Asaba Model School, and had 239 kids, ages 3 to P4, which is our fourth grade I think. I sat down with the school manager and head teacher for awhile and they told me about the school. It educates mostly orphans and very poor that can't afford school. The manager doesn't make them pay. He said some families pay 5,000 schillings, some pay 40,000, and some can't afford any. He has another job and uses his wages to pay the teachers and feed the kids breakfast and lunch every day. Pretty amazing. His goal is to add one class each year. So next year we would add P5.

I eventually got to visit every classroom 3 year olds on up. And ooooh my were they CUTE! I have lots of good pictures of them, of course. :) They all understood at least a little English, and were very polite when I greeted them. One class even sang me some songs, which I recorded. (They desperately need shoes here!)

We got all the kids lined up out front for a picture - it was lunch time anyways so we weren't interrupting class time. One little girl came up to me just smiling. The director said, "She has problems. She does not talk, very slow learner. She just smiles.". It broke my heart. She was so sweet and obviously had down syndrome. I tried to tell them that, but they had no idea what I was talking about. They just leave her in the class with the little ones because they don't know what to do with her. I know I've heard of an organization that helps disadvantaged kids in Africa. I absolutely have to contact them when I get home and find a way to help her... (in turquoise/white striped shirt - top left in picture above)

We weren't really at the school all that long. Time for the long boda-boda ride back to Hoima. And I was just starting to be able to feel my butt again! ;) It's hard to sit still and hold on tight for that long, up and down the hills. I loved it though. Waaay better than a bus!

When we got back to Hoima, we stopped at the same restaurant, Eve's, for lunch again. Same food. I hope it treats me better today than it did yesterday! Oh - and when I went to wash my hands, I looked in the mirror and about died. Jonas and Sarah failed to mention my whole face was covered in red dirt!! My whole body is filthy. These clothes are done for sure!

After lunch, we took another boda-boda back out to the hostel. I seriously had to bathe again. It was just too much dirt! But before I could do that, I realized I should probably exchange some more money. So back in to town we went. First bank already closed. (It was only 4:30!) Same story with second and third. :( I had enough money to get JP and I to Kampala tomorrow, I just wanted more to buy things from the Acholi women. Hopefully I can find someplace to exchange tomorrow in the city...

For some reason, there wasn't much water when we got back. It was doing this weird blowing air and then a little water thing. So I just washed me feet and face. They were the worst. The rest can wait I guess.

Jonas still had his laptop out here at the hostel, so I checked email again and briefly updated my blog. Something made me remember that I had brought my little battery powered iPod player, so I brought it out and turned on some tunes next to a few girls working on baskets. It was loud and every girl around just froze and looked at it, haha. I said, "DANCE PARTY!!!" and started dancing around, and I thought they were going to die laughing. Seriously. More and more girls came to see what was g on, and they all started dancing too! It was awesome. Turns out they love Shakira, Chris brown, and Rihanna. Who would of guessed?! We danced and danced until I was sweating too much and had to stop, but I'm pretty sure they loved it. :)

I got so hot dancing I had to go buy some more water down the road! I chugged all mine. :)

Started sorting / organizing my stuff when we got back. I'm going to put my extra stuff (stuff I've bought and going to buy tomorrow) in my big black Nike duffel bag - and just pray the baskets from the girls don't get ruined. So I asked Sarah if she wanted my big blue bin. Ooooh my, she danced and clapped and through her hands in the air! "Oh yes! I want very much!" and gave me a big hug, ha. Too cute. It is great for storage and also works perfect for a little table or chair, too. So glad it made her so happy. :)

The bell rang for dinner around 6:30 and all the girls lined up for their portion of posho and beans/cabbage. And man do they pile it on! I couldn't eat that much in three meals! I was still feeling pretty good, but as a precautionary method for the bus trip in the morning, I just had fruit snacks and pb&j again. :)

As soon as the girls were done eating, they returned to making their baskets. I think when they saw how excited I was over the one Immaculate gave me, they all wanted to send theirs with me. (Don't know if I mentioned that two were already done and I bought those earlier.)

JP showed up at the hostel with tomatoes from the ThinkHumanity garden at the health clinic. It's just so awesome all the projects that they have helping each other and working together. I'm just so thankful that Beth has let me see it all first hand and contribute what I can. :)

Study time tonight consisted of a debate. The motion: early marriages should be abolished in east Africa. They had it all set up with a judge and two panels debating and rules, etc. The side for NOT abolishing early marriages was pretty funny. I mean they came up with some interesting reasons...like being in love more when you're younger because you are still "fresh" and more attractive, ha. :) And you should get married early to have lots of kids so they can help you dig in the garden.

The debate went on and on. And we shut the doors and windows to keep the bugs out, so it was nice an steamy in there. My head actually started hurting. I had to step out a couple of times! But Julia stole the show again. She's just so animated and smart! She cracks me up... :)

Debate was still going strong an hour and a half in, so I stepped out and packed up most of my stuff. I'm sure I'm not going to want to do it at 5am! Bleh. Sarah brought me a sweet note and some beautiful (fake) purple flowers. She is so kind and has taken such good care of me. I'm going to miss her!

I finally went back in to the study room to tell the girls good-bye and goodnight...and caught them just at the end of their debate. So of course they all stopped and several girls got up to speak and to thank me again. Even Christine and Sarah spoke. It was all so moving. I was almost in tears numerous times as they talked about how much our support means to them and how grateful they are for the opportunity to be studying. That i have to tell all of their sponsors how happy they ate and that they are studying hard. They made me stand up to talk too, and I made a promise I have to keep: I will come back to visit them.

They sang song after song for me, and Christine finally had to stop them, ha! Those girls would sing all night if you would let them! It was such a great night to end on here at he hostel... These girls really are amazing.

So tomorrow I'm heading back to Kampala via the awesome bus with JP. Then heading to visit the Acholi women - that is supposedly "very nearby" Kampala, haha. We'll see what that means tomorrow. Then back to Entebbe for my flights to Addis, Washington DC, Chicago, and finally home on Sunday!

 -TK
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