i bless the rains down in africa!

hello! today marks two weeks that i have been living in africa. i can't believe it! it feels like i have been here so much longer! it is great. first of all, i received several emails from family members in response to an email my dad sent. thank you so much!! it was so great to hear from you all and feel the support from everyone. i am so blessed to be here. every day i wake up and try to soak it all in. every day has been an adventure!
well, i'm sitting here at hope internet cafe, which is about a twenty minute walk from my house. i want to tell you a little more about lugazi. i already mentioned that every time we walk through the streets in our neighborhood it is a parade of children running and screaming after us and holding onto our arms. well, i am happy to report that this hasn't died down one bit! i am convinced they will sing bye mzungu bye mzungu and run after us all summer long. they are adorable. we've made many friends and know a lot of their names. there is a main road about ten minutes from our house called jinja highway. now, it is not really a highway, but i'd say its just about as dangerous as one! traffic here is insane! boda bodas, motorcycles, come flying out of nowhere all the time. and taxis are everywhere. pedestrians defnintely don't have the right of way in africa haha. so its an adventure crossing the streets. also, ugandans have a really cool handshake that they do when they meet you. i'll show you when i get home haha. and it can last for an uncomfortably long amount of time too! its so funny. also, women and little girls carry anything from huge gallons of water, to baskets of fruit on their head as they walk around. it is incredible!! i have no idea how they do it without dropping anything.

this week has been extremely successful as far as projects go for our team! everyone is making contacts and setting up things and its fantastic. me and suzanne have over twenty schools to work with through the summer for our teacher training and writing/art contest and workshops. i am so excited! its taken a lot of preparation to get things ready to go, but we've had a lot of help and enthusiasm that has made it a productive week. we will be using the iol, inside out learning, manual to do teacher training here in uganda. the other day, the director of iol called me from kenya and said she would be willing to come to uganda and hold a teacher training meeting with us because help international has been such a helpful partner in the past. it is so exciting! so many doors are being opened to help us get thigns going.
we were supposed to meet with the mayor again yesterday... but when we showed up at the town council he was in another city. haha oh uganda. we've learned very quickly that it is normal to not show up for meetings and not answer phone calls. yet, at the same time, people will drop whatever they are doing to meet with us or help us with something. its funny. the people here are so great! it is my favorite thing about uganda. more than the beautiful scenery, cheap prices, touristy excursions- it is the people that i meet that has made the biggest impact on me already. i've met people with the purest hearts and serve others so unselfishly. it is really inspiring. it makes us want to do our best by finding out their greatest needs and doing all we can to facilitate change. because they know much more than we do about what their community needs. the only difference between them and us is that we have the resources available to improve their situations.

it's friday! yesterday i was feeling pretty sick to my stomach, but today it has been better. i've just been living on a diet of bananas and rice for the last few days haha. at least half of our volunteers have sore throats and bad head colds as well. hopefully i don't pick that up too. we are planning on going to african paradise tonight! it is a local dance club within walking distance to our house. and tomorrow!! we are going to a soccer game between kenya and uganda!! i am soo excited. it is going to be sweet! on monday me and suzanne will start meeting with schools about the writing/art contest and continue setting up contacts and meeting with the headmasters of each school. i love being here! i miss you all but honestly i am nowhere near ready to come home :)

KATIE LIDDIARD! if you read this, i need to email you about project/packing information. but i don't have your email because i can't access my address book here. so email me at ashleyalder15@gmail.com okay? asap! can't wait for you to get here!

bye!!