Mzungu, How Are You?

Hola! I'm in Africa! It is awesome. I actually have a lot to tell so let's just get right down to it.

Let's just start with the fact that I live in a little two room house with 17 other people.I sleep in a triple bunk bed and we have one shower, one toilet and one "latrine" a.k.a. hole in ground. It's awesome. And I don't mean that in a sarcastic way at all. It really is so fun. The people in my group are way fun to hang out with and everyone is really nice. Everyone has such diverse talents that we're really able to get a lot done and help each other in all of our projects but we still get along really well. The first week I was here we went river rafting on the Nile. Sweet. I don't know how many people can say that they've done that, but I can and I'm pretty happy about that. We saw a cute little monkey and cranes and we were even swimming right next to a baby crocodile. Turns out it's really hot when you're right on the equator. I got tons of blisters all over my legs but for the thrill of riding down those class 5 rapids it might have been worth it. They even cut up fresh pineapples on the back of a kayak and fed them to us right on the river and we ended the trip with a big bbq. All in all it was a pretty sweet day.
When we're not off rafting the Nile we're actually doing pretty good work. HELP International is a really cool program because you get to go to the country, talk to local leaders and organizations and partner up with them to decide what projects would be beneficial in the area. That way the projects are really sustainable because there is someone who will be here year round to continue to carry them out. It also allows us to be really creative in our funding options because HELP pretty much has no money. Or at least that's what they tell us. Right now I'm working on a couple of projects. The one that is taking the most time and that I'm most excited about is our library project. Lugazi, the city that we live in, doesn't have a public library and a lot of the students don't have enough money to pay for textbooks that they need for school. So we're working to get a public library in our town. We are still working on getting funding for it which has been a good experience for me. We have been writing letters to some of the bigger businesses in the area and trying to get the government to fund our project. We have also been working on petitions and surveys to find out what the people want in a library to make sure people will actually use it. Hopefully we'll know where we're going to have the library by the end of July so we can really get started on it.
My other projects are smaller but important, I think. I'm working with a partner to organize a creative writing contest with a lot of the schools in the area. We are going to teach a lesson on creative writing and then give them a prompt to write about. We'll work with the administrators to judge the papers and then award the winners. I'm hoping it will encourage creativity because a lot of the students have a hard time branching out beyond what their teachers and parents tell them. I'm also hoping it will empower the kids to know that they created something worthwhile and let them know that they can do great things.
The other main project I'm working on is teacher trainings for teachers out in the villages. Most of the teachers haven't really been to that much school, themselves. They just volunteer to help because they have good hearts and want to help their children. The schools that we've been to have been really excited to have our help and can't wait to learn more. It's sad to see so many people who are eager to learn but have no options or opportunities. One school that we met with was run by a husband and wife and you could just tell they had no money at all but that they were such good people. While we were having our meeting they had one of the students run out to get us drinks and crackers. They even invited us to stay one night to have sweet potatoes with them because that is all they have to give. It's so great to work with people who are so appreciative and grateful to have you help them.

Ok, well I'm probably running out of time and I haven't even really told you anything about Uganda. It's just awesome. Every time we walk out of our house there are tons of little kids who run after us screaming "Mzungu! Mzungu!" holding their hands out for a fist bump and people everywhere want to talk to us just because we are white. That part is weird but kinda fun. We're like celebrities. The scenery is so great. When you're in our town it doesn't look that green but if you just go a little ways out, all you can see is trees after trees. There aren't any really cool animals around where we live except for giant cranes. One time one that was as tall as me landed three feet away from me. I almost wet myself but no one else seemed to notice it. Other than that there are just chickens and goats and cows everywhere. They just go wherever they want. They're just chillin in Uganda. Just hanging out.We ride these taxis everywhere which are basically just tin boxes on wheels and they will shove over twenty of us into one of them and then drive 60 miles an hour down the road and then probably pick up some more people. If you don't want to take a taxi you can hop on a little motorcycle and they'll drive way to fast going the wrong direction on the street and you can even ride side saddle if you want! Boy is that an adventure. You can also find pictures of Obama everywhere. Tons of people have pictures of him on their shirts or bags or coat. That's just a random thing that I thought I'd mention. Oh, how could I forget to talk about the food!? The food is actually really good! I was pretty skeptical at first. Well, actually I'm still pretty skeptical of the meet considering most of the animals graze in the trash, but other than that, the food is great! There is a young boy who has a stand on a street near us and he sells us Rolex's for only 800 shillings! That's less than 40 cents. They're these omelets wrapped in a tortilla-type thing with vegetables and plenty of oil. Oh man. Yum. We have two cooks who feed us on the week days and they make the bomb food. I wish I could describe how good it is. But I can't. You'll all have to come to Uganda someday.
I wish I could continue stuffing your brains with everything that has happened to me, but I can't! It's Saturday and that means no work so we're all headed to Kampala. They have a place called Garden City and when you're there it's almost like you're in America except you still have to squat. 

I love this blog because it's mine and I get to rant about whatever I like. There is a moral, though, so you should read it. Ok.

I guess you could call me a TLC junky. Whether it’s Say Yes to the Dress, Hoarding, Extreme Couponers or The World’s Largest Man, I’m watching it. But the truth is that most of these shows leave me feeling a little uncomfortable. They are so ridiculous. I usually find myself jaw-dropped after most shows. $5000 for one dress?? Let’s get real, people. But nothing--absolutely nothing, shocks me more than Toddlers and Tiaras. Have you seen it? This show is in a realm of its own. It's about super young girls doing beauty pageants but, mostly it’s just hours and hours of footage of mothers (and occasionally fathers which is disturbing) physically and emotionally abusing their daughters (and occasionally sons which is also um…weird). Has no one turned these people in to social services yet? Just kidding. It's probably not that extreme. But for reals, have you seen some of the things they do to their children? These girls have been wearing fake teeth, hair, eyelashes and nails since before they could walk. They are forced to be spray tanned, waxed and plucked. They endure hours upon hours of their precious childhood lives rehearsing routines and sassy little struts. But just you wait, it gets better. It’s been recently revealed that there are mothers who personally perform Botox on their eight year old daughters.....I’m sorry, since when does an eight year old face need more plumping? Are they nuts?? This pretty much pushed me over the edge. 

Some people say the reason the parents make their daughters do pageants is because they want to relive their glory days or need to live a life they never had. I’m sure others do pageants because they truly believe that their daughter is the bomb.com and a bag of chips which may be true, who knows. Maybe some just do it because it’s lots and lots of fun. I don’t actually know what the motive is and I don’t really care. It’s the principles behind the pageants that really get to me. Pageants teach you that winning a fake crown and a few hundred dollars is more important than whether or not you had a fun time. That it’s appropriate for a four year old to go on a stage in a bikini and dance to Lady Gaga. That screaming and crying will get you absolutely anything that you want. That true beauty comes when you spend hours in front of a mirror or at a salon. That even as a perfect little eight year old girl, she isn’t pretty exactly the way she is. When you tell your daughter that the only way she can win a beauty contest is if she sticks a bunch of needles in her face and pumps it with artificial crud, the only thing that you are teaching her is that she is not, and never will be, good enough. And that just makes me want to scream (I initially wanted to say “hurl” or “punch something” but then I thought everyone would think I’m disgusting and violent—but really, that’s how mad it makes me).

Don’t get me wrong--I don’t feel like these are bad people. I’m sure they are loving mothers and do not have bad intentions at all. My heart just aches for these girls who will never be able to look at themselves and feel like they are beautiful just the way they are. It’s not just an issue in the beauty pageant world, though. I see it everywhere. And do you know what I think? I think that it sucks. And I think it’s the work of Satan. Because Satan wants you to feel not good enough and he wants you to believe that you should be something other than what you are. Because as soon as you believe that, you’ll believe that you aren’t good enough to do anything and so you’ll so stop doing things and you’ll stop being awesome. And it’s a bunch of lies. The truth is that you’re perfect. You’re perfect because you are exactly the way Heavenly Father made you the way He wanted you. 

So do yourself a favor and look in the mirror and decide that you like what you see. Decide that that weird crooked thing your lip does is charming and that your extremely bushy eyebrows frame your face quite nicely and that the way your hair curls up at the bottom adds personality. Then, smile at yourself and remind yourself that you’re awesome and move on. Now doesn’t that seem much better than giving yourself puncture wounds? I thought so, too.

Ok, end of rant. 

So, one of the things I do to help Reed is get him ready for bed. This process usually includes brushing his teeth, washing his face, helping him go to the bathroom and getting him a drink (all of this is done while I tell him some sort of bedtime story that he generally sleeps through because I’m annoying). Next, I tuck him in and turn off the lights.

Then, at 2:56 in the morning I make my way up the stairs and completely crash on my bed. And then do you know what I do? I think to myself,

“Crap”

Do you know why? Because that is the moment when I remember that I still have to brush my teeth, wash my face, go to the bathroom and get a drink. And that moment is the worst moment of my whole day. Seriously. (I know, I know-I have a really hard life)

All I’m saying is that sometimes I think that Reed is living the dream.

I have got to get myself a personal care attendant.

Blast from the Past

There are few things in this world that I love more than Zumba. Seriously. It's the bomb. And just when I was thinking it couldn't get any better, we learned a new dance to this great song. And I couldn't stop laughing the whole time because Jamie and I spent WAY too many hours of our junior high lives watching this ridiculous video. Those were the days. These are the days, too. It's a good life. Thanks to Gary for making it even better.

Please, remind yourself of the joy this brings.

Shall We Have a Tea Party, Then?

We had real (herbal) tea. And caviar on tiny sandwiches. Super classy.

Pinkies Out!

Daaang Gina!

Grace + Kendrick

Sis. Hull

Cosmo looking candid. 

The ever-beautiful Grace.

Kristal. Cutting the cake at bridal showers-also classy.

MMM.

Kendall <3

I'm so happy to have these girls for friends. They've been so wonderful to me and I love all of them!

The valet man ran away with my heels and so I wore my red sneakers.. so embarrassing.

You know that moment when you're just laying in your bed

and suddenly it hits you that in a month you're going to get on a plane all by yourself and fly to the other side of the world to a place with no toilets or clean water where you will try your best to make some lives a little better and make really great friends and see elephants and monkeys and sleep under a mosquito net and then you get those faint jitters deep in your stomach and your heart starts slowly coming out of your chest and then you think to yourself that your life is awesome?

Yeah, I just had that, too.

Sometimes you just can't decide what to name a post.

Maybe you thought you were waiting in line for the public bathroom. But maybe you were wrong.
Maybe what you were doing was something completely different. And maybe you don't even know what that thing is yet. But in the meantime you probably learned some things. You might have met someone who taught you how to truly love and serve others and in the process you learned how to love and serve yourself. You probably had some really interesting conversations that reminded you of what you believe in. You were probably standing in a place with scenery so beautiful you knew God had to be there, watching you, painting the moment for you. There were probably moments when you forgot who you were but in a moment you remembered that you're awesome and that you actually like yourself. You did something that help you realize that you are strong and that you can do hard, scary things. And then, when you finally got to the stall, you looked back and thought, 'waiting in line wasn't so bad' and then you remember all of the things that you've learned and the person that you've become and you realize that maybe you don't need to go to the bathroom anymore, maybe you just thought that you did. So you go somewhere else. And you don't know where it is yet or what you're going to do there or who you might meet. But you do know that everything is better when you don't have to go to the bathroom! So you just get going and you be happy about your new adventure and  know that this one is only going to make you stronger because that's what daddy told you.

(And yes, I'm now hating myself for ever having compared waiting for a missionary to waiting in line for the bathroom)