The Nile

One of my long time dreams came true Tuesday, when I actually got to take a boat ride on the Nile! I even put my hands in this historic, ancient river. It was beautiful and so peaceful there. Since it was a Tuesday, it was pretty quiet. What an adventure getting to and from there, though!

We got to the taxi park in Kampala at about 10:30 in the morning and found the bus going to Jinja (which is where the source of the Nile is). The bus was almost full by the time we got on it so I had to cram into the back seat with three other people while Raquel had to sit in one of the pull down seats in the middle of the aisle (the least comfortable place to be). At least I was by the window, which is good for the trip but bad for the taxi park. It was so hot that we were all sweating just sitting there so I had to leave the window open. Unfortunately, when you do this in a taxi park, hundreds of people come by trying to shove their goods on you to buy. You can buy anything from water to shoes to biscuits to table linens. If you're a mzungu, you're even more of a target, so I had the happy task of trying to get rid of these pushy guys as they came by my window. Some of them started getting more aggressive as time went on. One guy asked me if I wanted water. I said no. Then he shoved the water bottle through the window, into my face, asking I would buy it. I gently pushed it away and firmly said "no." You know what he did? He shoved me! Unbelievable! I was so done at that point. Thank goodness the bus was starting to move at that time. We had sat there for a half hour before leaving the taxi park.

So, then I had a small boy, maybe 1 year old, sitting on his mama's lap next to me. He gave me the evil eye pretty much the entire trip. He also felt it necessary to throw food at me. Fun. Three hours later, we arrived in Jinja. Thank God. Then we had the fun task of throwing off all the boda drivers who hounded us the second we got off the bus. We went into the gas station nearby and asked them where to go and how much a boda ride should be. Then we found a driver and asked him to take us to the source of the Nile. He asked for 2500. I told him 2000. He said 2500. I turned to the boda driver next to him and asked him if HE would take us or 2000. Before he could respond, our boda driver said, "Ok, let's go". haha, that meant he'd take us for 2000. Good negotiating skills, huh? :)

Once we got to the Nile, it was so peaceful, we felt like it was a welcome respite from the crazy taxi ride. Hardly anyone was there, being that it was a Tuesday afternoon. (Except for some school kids on field trips, who asked for pictures with us.) We ate lunch at a little restaurant overlooking the Nile. It was all outdoor seating, with a thatched roof for shelter. We had chicken and chips. Then we decided to take a boat ride on the Nile. It was only about a 20 minute ride but it was so amazing to be floating on the Nile! Our driver took us to Lake Victoria then back down the Nile. The source of the Nile is Lake Victoria and the river flows all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. It takes four months for it to get from Uganda to Egypt. Crazy!

After our boat ride, we were ready to go, knowing that our ride would be another 3 hours and we really needed to be back before dark. We got to the taxi park and were very pleased to have our pick of seats. We sat in the back, together, next to the window and the taxi filled up so fast that we were able to leave by 3:30pm. A few hours later, however, we stopped due to brake problems and had to wait for another taxi to come along and pick us up. We didn't get back to the city until 7 pm. Once we got to Kampala, the city was more of a zoo than usual. Traffic was bumper to bumper. It was dark by this time and we were ready to get home, especially after the happenings of the night before in front of our house (I'll tell you that story in a minute). We kept inching closer and closer to the taxi park but not very quickly. At about 7:15, the taxi stopped and the driver told everyone to get out. Raquel and I didn't know exactly where we were so we wanted to move fast and get a boda driver asap. We asked the first one we saw to take us home. We didn't even haggle over the price. We got on and received the ride of our lives. He raced through traffic so fast we felt like we were going to fall off. He sped between cars so we felt like we might lose a limb. He almost hit a taxi and almost hit a bus. We had to stop short a few times. By the time we got to Sanyu, we were shaking from all of the adrenaline and had to drag ourselves up the stairs to safety. The next day we found out exactly why the city was such a madhouse. Apparently, there had been a strike at the car parts shops, which are located next to the taxi park. There were fires and riots. They were burning tires so even driving through the city for the next few day, we came back with black soot all over our faces.

The next day, when we walked down that street, the asphalt was black from the fires. We were lucky that e were dropped off so far away from all of that craziness. These last few days have been really interesting. On Monday night, a woman was robbed on the street in frott of our house. It was about 8:30 at night and it was RIGHT in front of our house. We heard her screaming and ran out to see what had happened. She must have screamed for 15 or 20 minutes. She had been walking by herself down the dark street and someone had come out of the bushes and stole her purse from her. She was in shock so she kept screaming. It was unnerving, to say the least. We had 7 pm curfew anyway but now we saw why. This is a street that we take home every night, too. Then, this morning, we saw one of the volunteers who stays at Sanyu and she was all scraped up and a mess. She was hit by a boda driver the day before. This city is insane! Thank God we have been kept safe and are leaving soon. Keep hose prayers coming!

Well, I'd love to share more about our week's adventures but I have to go now to the slum program. I won't be able to access internet again until I get back home (unless I get to when we're in London). These next few days will be crazy anyway, with the stuff we'll be doing. Today is our last day at the slum program, last day with the babies. Tomorrow is our last day at Ssenge with the boys and Sunday we ship out to Queen Elizabeth Park. It's a 7 hour bus ride so we'll travel that day and stay at a hostel that night and Monday night. We have a 2-3 hour game drive on Monday through the park then we get on a bus again on Tuesday for Entebbe. We are staying with a pastor and his wife in their guest house that night since it is close to the airport. They will drive us to the airport the next day then we fly to London an have a 19 hour layover. Wear going to stay in a hostel in Piccadilly Circus that night but we probably won't sleep much. We want to see the city! I'm so grateful that I'm with my adventurous friend. Then we fly home on Thursday! I can't believe it. It feels like w are on our journey home already and yet there is still so much going on that we won't be resting by any means. Anyway, I wish I could blog more this week but I will definitely update everyone when I return. So, look for updates next week! Love you all.

AFRICA

How could I have let my passion for Africa lie dormant for so long? It's been five years today since I returned from Zimbabwe from 2 months of adventure. I have always had a special place in my heart for Africa and this has not been forgotten but the specific people I spent so much time bonding with in 2003 somehow escaped my memory or perhaps I unknowingly pushed them away, knowing that the thoughts of them would hurt too much. The dam finally broke last night and I was amazed at how much I had forgotten.

I went to see a movie with my friend, Joe, last night, called The Long Way Down. It's about Ewan MacGregor and his best friend, Charley Boorman, who both drive their motorcycles from Scotland to Cape Town, Africa (15, 000 miles in two months). Observing them traipse through Africa's countries and hearing the heart-wrenching stories of the people they meet (often the victims of genocide) made me long to be there myself. I wanted to hug those kids and talk with them for hours. I was aching to return to Africa, and I was yearning to revisit my photos when I went home that night.

As soon as I rushed through the door to my apartment, I grabbed my Zimbabwe album from the shelf and laid down on the couch. I couldn't believe it had been a year, possibly more, since I had even opened it. I found that the photos of my Westgate girls (the girls I lived with at the newly opened home for orphans) were familiar once again. I could recall each personality vividly. Other photos I pored over seemed new to me, as if some person in another life had taken them.

It was bittersweet to see the pictures of people I'd met that summer. Seeing the girls wasn't so hard because I get updates about them often, from Glen Miller (leader of Hands of Hope, the organization I traveled with), who still visits them once a year. But, as I turned the pages in my album to my favorite place in Zimbabwe, my heart leapt in my throat. Photos taken during my two weeks spent at "Just Children Foundation", with its hundreds of ragged, smiling children, greeted my eyes. This place that provided shelter for hundreds of children, in order to keep them off of the streets, had been a haven for me. I looked forward to each morning as if it was Christmas. I spent hours there, sitting with those kids, talking, drawing, playing, singing, teaching. We developed friendships that ached our hearts to sever. And yet, how could I have forgotten about these kids after five years?

I feel guilty that they haven't been in my prayers everyday, that I'll never know what happened to them, that I didn't do enough for them in the little time we had together. All I did was sit and talk to them and then I left after a few weeks to go back home to this rich garden of opportunity and wealth we call America. Reading the letters some of those children had written to me made the ache hurt even more. They said that they would miss me so much and love me always and that I was their only true friend. I miss them so much, I can't stand it!

God, why do I have this desire to go if I can't? Is it You or me who is preventing this passage? I want to be there like I need to breathe and yet I feel trapped and caged here in my present circumstances. Don't get me wrong- I feel that everyday is incredibly valuable here in San Jose. I feel that I have purpose in everything that I've been given and I'm grateful. I love my job, I love the friends I've made, I love my Bible Study girls and I feel blessed to be ministering to them each week. It's not that I don't love it here, it's that my heart is torn between 2 loves and one is continents away and it feels unattainable.

I vow this day to remember you Prince, Tinotenda, Stephen, Trymore. I will pray for you constantly and will make your stories known. I think it's finally time to write my book...

"Now that I have seen, I am responsible. Faith without deeds is dead. Now that I have held you, in my own arms, I cannot let go til you are... I will tell the world, I will tell them where I've been. I will keep my word..."- lyrics from Albertine, by Brooke Fraser

Our First Day in NY

After checking in, we took showers and got ready as fast as possible so we could make it to Fifth Avenue in time for our "Sex & the City" tour. Let me preface this by saying that I have never once seen an episode of "Sex and the City" but it's Nicole's favorite show so she really wanted to go. regardless, it was really fun because we got to take a bus around the city and see all of the hotspots.

It ended up being about 80+ degrees on Thursday so we were pretty hot (in more ways than one, haha!). It was a gorgeous day, though.

We had to meet in front of Plaza Hotel for the tour and it was a beautiful. Tulips were in bloom all over the city.

Here we are in front of the Plaza Hotel fountain. Everytime we'd take out our camera to take a picture of ourselves, a nice New Yorker would ask if we wanted them to take one of us. This was honestly the friendliest city I've ever been to. You know all the stories you hear about rude New Yorkers? It's not like that at all. Service was awesome, people were always willing to direct us anywhere before we even asked, and people just said hi to us when we passed by. I loved it!

We ended up getting to our meeting spot early so we went into FAO Schwartz, which was across the street. That was the coolest toy store I've ever been to! It also had the giant piano from "Big". Everywhere we went there was a famous spot from a movie. On our tour, they said that New York is the most filmed city in America. I believe it.

FAO Schwartz had a section for everything. They had a Star Wars section and a Harrry Potter one. I had to take pictures with Ron Weasley for Mallory.

I loved the buildings in this city. I kept thinking about all of the TV shows and movies I've grown up watching and how I was finally seeing what I'd always imagined the city to look like.

On our tour, we stopped at Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes. They were the best cupcakes I've had.

Next to the bakery was a cute little park, called Abingdon Square. I loved that there were parks all over the city. It made it such a pretty city and you didn't feel like you were in the city a lot of the time, especially once we got to Central Park later on.

Our last stop on the tour was a bar called O'Nieals. Nicole and I enjoyed the outside while everybody else spent $9 on cosmos. Yep, call me cheap.

In a New York state of mind...

After 9 long years of planning to go to New York City, my best friend, Nicole, and I finally got there! What a whirlwind weekend...

Days: Five

Total Hours of Sleep: 30

Money Spent: Approximately $900

Hours Spent in the Subway station each night, trying to get back to the hotel: 2

Rats Seen in Subway: 3

Plane Connections: 4

New Outfits Purchased for the Trip: 5

Photos Taken: 190

Fights Witnessed Between Pedestrians and Cab Drivers: 1

Broadway Shows Taken In: 1

Celebrities Seen: 8

Celebrities Met: 2

Burgers Consumed: 5

Times We Said "My feet are killing me": More than I can count

I long to travel...

My heart is always abroad, but especially today, as I hear of the disastrous earthquake that hit China. I know our planet has gone through its share of disasters, but it seems that lately there have been so many at the same time. Didn't the cyclone just hit Myanmar? Now China has experienced a huge loss. I want so badly to be there, or anywhere where I can help.

Thinking about this makes me realize how much I love to travel and seem to have a "gift" for it. At church, we've been discussing spiritual gifts and I feel that mine is serving. That's why I want to be somewhere helping clean up after a disaster, rather than giving my money to it. Even if it's local, it means something. The Red Cross and CityTeam have many opportunities to serve in this country, state, and city. I want to do this. I should do this. I will do this!

I feel God calling me to use these gifts more than I do, possibly even in my job. For now, I feel like a short term trip is what I need to do and I am excited about God's call to me. On one website I found, for an organization that does international missions, they talked about how we come up with excuses so often about why we "can't" go on a trip, usually revolving around the question of whether we can afford this financially. They said that this is where we need to utilize our faith. We need to move forward and rely on God to provide this money. I don't put my faith into practice enough. I am not a doubter. I believe God can and will do anything that furthers His kingdom, so why do I hold back from allowing Him to do this in my life? I am not only depriving myself of this opportunity but of others who could receive something from the services God provides through my hands. What am I losing by NOT trusting Him? Everything. What am I losing by trusting Him? NOTHING.

Where is God going to take me this year? I can't wait to find out.