I've been back home for over a week now... first visiting my parents and some friends from high school, then heading south to move in to a new apartment.
Getting home was no easy task, though. Since I visited Egypt on my way back to Uganda this last January, I had to go through Cairo once again. So, this is how the trip went...
Uganda to Kenya to Sudan to Egypt (for an 8 hour layover beginning at midnight!?!) to London to San Francisco
It took an insane number of hours and two missed nights of sleep before I arrived in SF. BUT, I arrived WITH all my luggage, so all was well.
Now I'm settling back into Orange County. I spent my first night at my new apartment last night. I go to sign my new teaching contract tomorrow...hooray! Things will be back into full swing before I know it!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Goodbye Teacher Beth
Today was my last day of school. I leave on a plane tomorrow. But, before I left, the school surprised me with a going away presentation. Most of the classes had a song or poem to present as a farewell wish. Despite the challenges teaching in Uganda, I was sad to see my time with the kids end. They drive me crazy, but I love 'em just the same...
A special song from P1:
I was also given a number of gifts before I left. How sweet are they!! They are always so appreciative of everything you do.
It was a great feeling to be appreciated, but it makes it that much harder to leave. I'm excited to go home to the US, but I'll miss all the relationships that I built here.
A special song from P1:
I was also given a number of gifts before I left. How sweet are they!! They are always so appreciative of everything you do.
It was a great feeling to be appreciated, but it makes it that much harder to leave. I'm excited to go home to the US, but I'll miss all the relationships that I built here.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Maranatha Christian School...part 2
It can be slightly embarrassing having your mom walk around with you taking photos of all the "normal sights" I see and the people I have to walk by or work with on a daily basis. However, I'm definitely glad she did now that it's all over because I have some great photos to remember what life is like here in Uganda! 
This is a typical shop along the road to school.
A day is not complete without walking past the boda drivers and being propositioned in one way or another.
I'm winding up my last few days at school, and thought I'd post a few extra pics of Maranatha Christian School. This is where I spent a lot of my time over the last year... thanks mom for the pictures!
This is the upper primary school building and admin offices. 
This is the school kitchen!!
A few of the P3 kids after a reading lesson.
This is at Christopher House Ministries, where the kids learn music, drama, art, and sports.
This is a typical shop along the road to school.
A day is not complete without walking past the boda drivers and being propositioned in one way or another.I'm winding up my last few days at school, and thought I'd post a few extra pics of Maranatha Christian School. This is where I spent a lot of my time over the last year... thanks mom for the pictures!
This is the upper primary school building and admin offices. 
This is the school kitchen!!
A few of the P3 kids after a reading lesson.
This is at Christopher House Ministries, where the kids learn music, drama, art, and sports.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Two Weeks with Mom and Lois
I've been MIA for a while, but with good reason- my mom and aunt came to visit! We were able to squeeze a lot in during the short two weeks that we had...
Day 1: Mom and Lois stepped off the plane Friday AM and were ready to get started, so, we took off running! Breakfast, ATM, visit the Lutheran Missionaries in Kabalagala, grocery shopping...
Day 2-3: We left early in the morning for Soroti to visit Pastor Julius' church, mom's sponsor child, and a "cousin." When we arrived, the kids were already waiting for us at their Saturday program...they were ready to greet us, sing for us, and play with us :) On Sunday, we visited the family of my mom's sponsor child. Below is the picture she took with the whole family, who by the way, live in a tiny 2 bedroom house! They were so excited we came to visit them, though.
Day 4: We left Soroti and headed back to Kampala, stopping in Jinja to visit the Nile (and Bujagali Falls) and the Jinja YMCA (for Lois).
Day 5: Shopping Day! It was a public holiday, so we took advantage and went downtown to do all the souvenir shopping mom and Lois could manage!
Day 6: Maranatha Christian School...I took mom and Lois to school with me. Below is a picture of my P3 class. We read a story and made the paper hats to go with!
Day 7-11: Safari!! We got to go to both Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls...both are amazing! Of course, we had a few bumps, bruises, and mishaps along the way, but we still enjoyed ourselves, the food, and the animals... Here's a picture of mom and me hanging out near the pool...behind us in the Kazinga channel, which connects Lake Edward and Lake Alfred.
We saw lots of wildlife...giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, antelopes, chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, birds, and LIONS! This lion nearly walked right up to our van. Seriously, he was like 10-15 feet away!
Day 12: Back to Maranatha Christian School and Christopher House. Several of the classes from Maranatha go to Christopher House Ministries once a week...it's a place they learn art, music, dance, sports, and character. The kids love it and it's something they definitely crave and need.
Day 13: Once again, we had to wake up early to back out to the Entebbe airport to drop off mom and Lois. Time flew by! I guess we were having fun :)
Day 1: Mom and Lois stepped off the plane Friday AM and were ready to get started, so, we took off running! Breakfast, ATM, visit the Lutheran Missionaries in Kabalagala, grocery shopping...
Day 2-3: We left early in the morning for Soroti to visit Pastor Julius' church, mom's sponsor child, and a "cousin." When we arrived, the kids were already waiting for us at their Saturday program...they were ready to greet us, sing for us, and play with us :) On Sunday, we visited the family of my mom's sponsor child. Below is the picture she took with the whole family, who by the way, live in a tiny 2 bedroom house! They were so excited we came to visit them, though.
Day 4: We left Soroti and headed back to Kampala, stopping in Jinja to visit the Nile (and Bujagali Falls) and the Jinja YMCA (for Lois).
Day 5: Shopping Day! It was a public holiday, so we took advantage and went downtown to do all the souvenir shopping mom and Lois could manage!
Day 6: Maranatha Christian School...I took mom and Lois to school with me. Below is a picture of my P3 class. We read a story and made the paper hats to go with!
Day 7-11: Safari!! We got to go to both Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls...both are amazing! Of course, we had a few bumps, bruises, and mishaps along the way, but we still enjoyed ourselves, the food, and the animals... Here's a picture of mom and me hanging out near the pool...behind us in the Kazinga channel, which connects Lake Edward and Lake Alfred.
We saw lots of wildlife...giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, warthogs, antelopes, chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, birds, and LIONS! This lion nearly walked right up to our van. Seriously, he was like 10-15 feet away!
Day 12: Back to Maranatha Christian School and Christopher House. Several of the classes from Maranatha go to Christopher House Ministries once a week...it's a place they learn art, music, dance, sports, and character. The kids love it and it's something they definitely crave and need.
Day 13: Once again, we had to wake up early to back out to the Entebbe airport to drop off mom and Lois. Time flew by! I guess we were having fun :)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Teaching the Teachers
After a short stint away from teaching, I finally got back on the horse, so to speak. Sometimes it felt like the holiday break had been going on forever. Not that I hated working at GBI, because I actually did enjoy using my admin gifts even if it sounds totally nerdy, but it is not where my passion lies.
For me, I love the look of excitement on a student's face when they are learning something new, when they really GET IT for the first time. I love being a part of that, even if it is the faces of teachers learning new ways of teaching a subject they had, for the most part, ignored in the past.
The latter of the two is what I got to experience this last week. I was the teacher of teachers. A friend had asked me a of couple weeks ago if I would come to the school he worked at to do a training on teaching reading. I was more than happy to do it.
There were about 25 teachers at the training from all levels, pre-school to 7th grade. Fortunately, it wasn't too big of a stretch to tell them that they could use most of the strategies I was teaching in any level, especially since kids are currently leaving primary school without basic reading skills. I got a lot of great feedback from the training, and I actually really enjoyed myself while doing it. One teacher was nodding at everything I said like it was the most genious thing anyone had ever told him, and then he came to ask more questions during the break and at the end(and I'm pretty sure it wasn't because he was looking for a mzungu wife!). I figure it's a good sign when teachers ask additional questions...it shows they were listening and want to know more.
Now, the kids will be returning on Monday for the second term of school. My time is running out quick, but I'm excited to work with them for at least a few more weeks and I'm hoping that the teachers will continue to use some of the reading strategies I've shown them.
For me, I love the look of excitement on a student's face when they are learning something new, when they really GET IT for the first time. I love being a part of that, even if it is the faces of teachers learning new ways of teaching a subject they had, for the most part, ignored in the past.
The latter of the two is what I got to experience this last week. I was the teacher of teachers. A friend had asked me a of couple weeks ago if I would come to the school he worked at to do a training on teaching reading. I was more than happy to do it.
There were about 25 teachers at the training from all levels, pre-school to 7th grade. Fortunately, it wasn't too big of a stretch to tell them that they could use most of the strategies I was teaching in any level, especially since kids are currently leaving primary school without basic reading skills. I got a lot of great feedback from the training, and I actually really enjoyed myself while doing it. One teacher was nodding at everything I said like it was the most genious thing anyone had ever told him, and then he came to ask more questions during the break and at the end(and I'm pretty sure it wasn't because he was looking for a mzungu wife!). I figure it's a good sign when teachers ask additional questions...it shows they were listening and want to know more.
Now, the kids will be returning on Monday for the second term of school. My time is running out quick, but I'm excited to work with them for at least a few more weeks and I'm hoping that the teachers will continue to use some of the reading strategies I've shown them.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Facing a Fear
I faced my fear today...it only took 10 months of living here to do it.
I was afraid to get my hair cut in Uganda. I've heard some bad stories...seen some bad pictures.
But, we went to a "nice place" and I was quite impressed. I like the cut...pretty much looks like it would if I had done it in the US, but for half the cost.
There's nothing much to fear hear...as long as you go to the right place :)
I was afraid to get my hair cut in Uganda. I've heard some bad stories...seen some bad pictures.
But, we went to a "nice place" and I was quite impressed. I like the cut...pretty much looks like it would if I had done it in the US, but for half the cost.
There's nothing much to fear hear...as long as you go to the right place :)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Girls' Weekend
Sometimes a girl just needs to get away from home for a few days with other girl friends and have a slumber party. That's exactly what I did this last weekend...
A friend of mine, Sydney, invited me along on this girls' weekend to Suubi, one of Watoto's orphanage villages (www.watoto.com). I had gone out there with Sydney one other time and met the headmistress of the primary school, Winnie, who invited us out for a girls' weekend the next time we came.
The weekend got off to a rough start trying to leave Kampala. With horrendous Friday-night-traffic and irritated police officers, there was one point that I really believed our weekend was going to end before it even got started. After talking sense back into the officer who took Sydney's license away, we were back on the road again!
The weekend didn't consist of anything particularly spectacular, but overall it was exactly what we were looking for! We stayed up late, watched numerous episodes of Flight of the Conchords, slept-in, and played games. On Saturday afternoon, Sydney and I walked down to Suubi 2, a new part of the Watoto village where teens from Gulu now live. We brought a volleyball with us and played with them most of the afternoon. These young adults from Gulu have extraordinary stories, former child soldiers and abductees now living in a place where they are accepted as God's children and learning how God can change the future of their lives.
We also attended the village church service on Sunday morning. It was a nice way to wrap up our time at Suubi...hearing about how we are not good on our own, but through Christ, who works in us, we become good.
A friend of mine, Sydney, invited me along on this girls' weekend to Suubi, one of Watoto's orphanage villages (www.watoto.com). I had gone out there with Sydney one other time and met the headmistress of the primary school, Winnie, who invited us out for a girls' weekend the next time we came.
The weekend got off to a rough start trying to leave Kampala. With horrendous Friday-night-traffic and irritated police officers, there was one point that I really believed our weekend was going to end before it even got started. After talking sense back into the officer who took Sydney's license away, we were back on the road again!
The weekend didn't consist of anything particularly spectacular, but overall it was exactly what we were looking for! We stayed up late, watched numerous episodes of Flight of the Conchords, slept-in, and played games. On Saturday afternoon, Sydney and I walked down to Suubi 2, a new part of the Watoto village where teens from Gulu now live. We brought a volleyball with us and played with them most of the afternoon. These young adults from Gulu have extraordinary stories, former child soldiers and abductees now living in a place where they are accepted as God's children and learning how God can change the future of their lives.
We also attended the village church service on Sunday morning. It was a nice way to wrap up our time at Suubi...hearing about how we are not good on our own, but through Christ, who works in us, we become good.
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