Sunday, December 24, 2006
Merry Christmas!
MERRY CHRISTMAS! It actually feels a little more like the Christmas I'm used to since I'm in the States with all the hectic rushing around. I'm certainly not FOND of the craziness and commericiality (is that a word?) of the holiday season, but for some reason, combined with the colder weather, it just feels more like Christmas.
Currently still in Bowie, Maryland but getting ready to head to Columbia, Maryland for a Christmas Eve service at my sister's church. Then we (Debbie, Sarah, and I) are driving to Pennsylvania for a couple of days to spend Christmas with my parents (who went there yesterday) and my aunts and cousins.
Things are going well. It feels like I sort of went to sleep and just woke up 16 months later...a little eerie how things don't really seem to have changed. cell phones....those seem a little different and more confusing to me. Guess I'm just used to my simple simple Ugandan one...
Speaking of cell phones, I have borrowed my mother's and the number is: 301-213-8767
I'll be in Maryland until the 30th of December. I'll be in Michigan from the 30th of December until 4 January. Then I'm back in Bowie until I depart for Uganda on the 10th of January.
Here's hoping you all have a blessed Christmas with your families, friends and dear ones, wherever you may be!
Currently still in Bowie, Maryland but getting ready to head to Columbia, Maryland for a Christmas Eve service at my sister's church. Then we (Debbie, Sarah, and I) are driving to Pennsylvania for a couple of days to spend Christmas with my parents (who went there yesterday) and my aunts and cousins.
Things are going well. It feels like I sort of went to sleep and just woke up 16 months later...a little eerie how things don't really seem to have changed. cell phones....those seem a little different and more confusing to me. Guess I'm just used to my simple simple Ugandan one...
Speaking of cell phones, I have borrowed my mother's and the number is: 301-213-8767
I'll be in Maryland until the 30th of December. I'll be in Michigan from the 30th of December until 4 January. Then I'm back in Bowie until I depart for Uganda on the 10th of January.
Here's hoping you all have a blessed Christmas with your families, friends and dear ones, wherever you may be!
In America for Christmas
WOW! This is SO crazy! It is FREEZING here in America! For those of you who don't know by now, I'm currently in Bowie, Maryland at my folks' house. I came in and surprised them last Tuesday night. Read below to find out all about the trip home and my first night back in the States.
My trip home was great. LONDON was great. My trip there was just fine. After landing, I got a coffee from STARBUCKS! YEAH for yummy warm coffees! And they sure do have some new flavors, for all those flavor-lovers out there! I rode the tube to Picadilly circus and got tickets to go see Les Mis for 20 pounds! In line, there was this nice couple behind me talking to me about shows and which to see, etc., etc....they were wanting to see Lion King, and I told them I was too, but that I knew that it wasn't showing Mondays. They didn't really believe me, so I just said, well, its' just what I found online, but maybe my "online" stuff is wrong from Africa, blah blah blah. Anyhow, long(er) story shorter than it could have been....they are going to to Bwindi in August and were asking about stuff to do nearby! Crazy, small world! They took my email address...who knows if I ever hear from them again! So, after the show (which was pretty good, from what I can remember...I did doze off a little!), I decided to grab a slice of pizza for dinner. (You know, those 2 lunch/dinners that they served on the airplane just seemed SO LONG ago!) So I ate a DELICIOUS slice of pineapple/ham pizza as I walked briskly to the tube. Did you know that people can carry open beers and stuff like that around London and even on the train?!?!? Crazy, I tell you! I think I was on SERIOUS sensory overload with all those beer-smoke-stinky smelling things! I actually was missing the simple scent of plain old body odor! There were a couple of guys who were talking rudely about stupid Americans. One eventually called the other a "boinker" or something stupid like that and said that's what they say in America. Well, I could not be quiet any longer and set those guys straight. "They don't say 'boinker' in America," I said quite plainly. The look on their faces was priceless--kind of like the look people might give you when they're talking about you in front of your face in Runyankore and then you say something to them in Runyankore back! (Not that I would exactly know what this feels like, but thought Jay and Nick might understand!) Anyhow, they were all apologizing and wishing me a Merry Christmas as I got off at the next stop to go to Seiko's house. I finally found the apartment and was so glad I pretty much just crashed. Both Seiko and her brother (name, please Andrea??) were heading to be anyhow since they had to be up to work early the next day. Let's see...I was so tired, I didn't even MIND the fact that they're re-doing their bathroom and therefore didn't have a bathroom door. They were so sweet...had a lovely bed made up for me, complete with a towel and pair of pajamas laid out (Is that a Japanese thing Andrea?). Of course, Seiko probably forgot who I was/what I look like, or else just didn't have any pajamas larger than a size XS. I thought it was a little funny, but oh, so sweet, to even have a place to stay!! They had a shelf with some cool looking bottles on top-- and ONE RWENZORI water bottle which made me smile!I left the next morning to head to the airport and even left myself extra time (Thank you LORD!). The tube train I was on just kept STOPPING! It was kind of funny....others on the train heading to heathrow did NOT think it nearly as funny as I did...I guess that's one reason I was thrilled to have left Seiko's at 9:00 am to catch a 12:45 flight! The other was that AIRPORT! WOW!~ What a MADHOUSE!!!! I do NOT recommend flying this close to Christmas if you can avoid it. And those poor aiport workers--having to deal with rude people always in hurries!! The simplest "thank you for your work" sure did light up their faces with gratitude (sometimes confusion)!I know this is getting longer and longer, but I have a couple more things to share with you, then I need to head to the eye doctor! You know those really cool moving walkways they have at the airport? Well, I was walking on one towards my final gate and there is this sweet middle-aged, middle-eastern looking lady with two small children walking TOWARDS ME...and they were WALKING! I couldn't help but laught out loud, because I don't think they were doing it for fun....think they just didn't understand! Had TWO SCREAMING babies on the flight from London to Baltimore, but it wasn't a big deal since I just kept my headphones on most of the time watching movies--nothing really worth mentioning except the Pirates of the Caribbean 2. I got out through customs (was I supposed to say I was bringing "souvenirs" or "merchandise" with me?) Even made it through the "random" x-ray testing and all before Debbie was there to get me....had to trade someone a dollar for change so I could call her and tell her NOT to park, but just swing through to get me since I had my luggage and was ready to go. Spent a LOT of time LAUGHING wiht her last night. Ate a wonderful meal of stuffed pork loin with apricot chutney (sweet meat Jay--you would have LOVED it!) and couscous and fresh green beans and carrots. Totally YUMMY! Plus cappucino chip icecream for dessert! My parents reaction was...well, they're not really emotive people. They just sort of stared-- Mom, with her mouth open for about 30 seconds. Then she finally said, 'what are you doing here?' They spent the next 10 minutes asking where Chris (debbie's friend who she was SUPPOSED to be brining home) was and talking about him, until we finally said, "you can meet him later." So confusing! The next question from my mom was, "where are you going to sleep??" She didn't think my bed (or any of the other 4 spare beds) was cleaned off....or the rooms were clean. They were all just fine---just typical Christmas junk in the rooms...but clean sheets and warm blankets! My sister-in-law didn't think it was a problem (she told me on the phone) because after all, I had been in AFRICA for the past 15 months, right? What do people think that means? That I sleep on a mud hut floor?!?!?!?! Anyhow, great night of sleep--other than waking up at 3 am, 5 am and then again at 6 with a HORRIBLE headache and urge to throw up/diarhea (don't even know how to SPELL that word!) Felt much better at noon when I finally got out of bed. Been drinking coffee---not as good as Ugandan, but it's hot and there's yummy creamer. Found some yummy spinach dip with carrots--I mean, store bought spinach dip--and it's pretty good!!
The winner of the "most surprised" contest goes to my baby sister Sarah, who I'm not 100% convinced believes I'm even here. We called her on speaker phone down in NC last night...Debbie and I. It was hilarious! She wanted to know who was with Debbie. Finally we convinced her it was me---and then we said, haha...we're on 3-way! We got disconneceted from her cell phone (even in America!!?) and then Debbie called her back about 20 minutes later and apologized for lying to her and pretending I was home. She passed the phone off to "mom" and I had her thinking I was my mom for about a minute---until I totally lost it and couldn't stop laughing. She kept shrieking and squealing, "what the crap?!" man, her language! hahaha... anyhow, THINK she believes it now and will hopefully bring me some stylish clothes when she arrives on Friday. My older sister Rachel, didn't seem as shocked or surprised. Glad I'm home safely, how did I pay for it? The common question seems to be "how did you get here?" And, not that my family members are stupid, but, are there THAT many options of getting to America from Uganda that I just don't know about??
Well, time to brave the cold and the roads (the washington beltway) to get to an eye doctor appointment...
Lots of love from this cold, but familiarly warm place
My trip home was great. LONDON was great. My trip there was just fine. After landing, I got a coffee from STARBUCKS! YEAH for yummy warm coffees! And they sure do have some new flavors, for all those flavor-lovers out there! I rode the tube to Picadilly circus and got tickets to go see Les Mis for 20 pounds! In line, there was this nice couple behind me talking to me about shows and which to see, etc., etc....they were wanting to see Lion King, and I told them I was too, but that I knew that it wasn't showing Mondays. They didn't really believe me, so I just said, well, its' just what I found online, but maybe my "online" stuff is wrong from Africa, blah blah blah. Anyhow, long(er) story shorter than it could have been....they are going to to Bwindi in August and were asking about stuff to do nearby! Crazy, small world! They took my email address...who knows if I ever hear from them again! So, after the show (which was pretty good, from what I can remember...I did doze off a little!), I decided to grab a slice of pizza for dinner. (You know, those 2 lunch/dinners that they served on the airplane just seemed SO LONG ago!) So I ate a DELICIOUS slice of pineapple/ham pizza as I walked briskly to the tube. Did you know that people can carry open beers and stuff like that around London and even on the train?!?!? Crazy, I tell you! I think I was on SERIOUS sensory overload with all those beer-smoke-stinky smelling things! I actually was missing the simple scent of plain old body odor! There were a couple of guys who were talking rudely about stupid Americans. One eventually called the other a "boinker" or something stupid like that and said that's what they say in America. Well, I could not be quiet any longer and set those guys straight. "They don't say 'boinker' in America," I said quite plainly. The look on their faces was priceless--kind of like the look people might give you when they're talking about you in front of your face in Runyankore and then you say something to them in Runyankore back! (Not that I would exactly know what this feels like, but thought Jay and Nick might understand!) Anyhow, they were all apologizing and wishing me a Merry Christmas as I got off at the next stop to go to Seiko's house. I finally found the apartment and was so glad I pretty much just crashed. Both Seiko and her brother (name, please Andrea??) were heading to be anyhow since they had to be up to work early the next day. Let's see...I was so tired, I didn't even MIND the fact that they're re-doing their bathroom and therefore didn't have a bathroom door. They were so sweet...had a lovely bed made up for me, complete with a towel and pair of pajamas laid out (Is that a Japanese thing Andrea?). Of course, Seiko probably forgot who I was/what I look like, or else just didn't have any pajamas larger than a size XS. I thought it was a little funny, but oh, so sweet, to even have a place to stay!! They had a shelf with some cool looking bottles on top-- and ONE RWENZORI water bottle which made me smile!I left the next morning to head to the airport and even left myself extra time (Thank you LORD!). The tube train I was on just kept STOPPING! It was kind of funny....others on the train heading to heathrow did NOT think it nearly as funny as I did...I guess that's one reason I was thrilled to have left Seiko's at 9:00 am to catch a 12:45 flight! The other was that AIRPORT! WOW!~ What a MADHOUSE!!!! I do NOT recommend flying this close to Christmas if you can avoid it. And those poor aiport workers--having to deal with rude people always in hurries!! The simplest "thank you for your work" sure did light up their faces with gratitude (sometimes confusion)!I know this is getting longer and longer, but I have a couple more things to share with you, then I need to head to the eye doctor! You know those really cool moving walkways they have at the airport? Well, I was walking on one towards my final gate and there is this sweet middle-aged, middle-eastern looking lady with two small children walking TOWARDS ME...and they were WALKING! I couldn't help but laught out loud, because I don't think they were doing it for fun....think they just didn't understand! Had TWO SCREAMING babies on the flight from London to Baltimore, but it wasn't a big deal since I just kept my headphones on most of the time watching movies--nothing really worth mentioning except the Pirates of the Caribbean 2. I got out through customs (was I supposed to say I was bringing "souvenirs" or "merchandise" with me?) Even made it through the "random" x-ray testing and all before Debbie was there to get me....had to trade someone a dollar for change so I could call her and tell her NOT to park, but just swing through to get me since I had my luggage and was ready to go. Spent a LOT of time LAUGHING wiht her last night. Ate a wonderful meal of stuffed pork loin with apricot chutney (sweet meat Jay--you would have LOVED it!) and couscous and fresh green beans and carrots. Totally YUMMY! Plus cappucino chip icecream for dessert! My parents reaction was...well, they're not really emotive people. They just sort of stared-- Mom, with her mouth open for about 30 seconds. Then she finally said, 'what are you doing here?' They spent the next 10 minutes asking where Chris (debbie's friend who she was SUPPOSED to be brining home) was and talking about him, until we finally said, "you can meet him later." So confusing! The next question from my mom was, "where are you going to sleep??" She didn't think my bed (or any of the other 4 spare beds) was cleaned off....or the rooms were clean. They were all just fine---just typical Christmas junk in the rooms...but clean sheets and warm blankets! My sister-in-law didn't think it was a problem (she told me on the phone) because after all, I had been in AFRICA for the past 15 months, right? What do people think that means? That I sleep on a mud hut floor?!?!?!?! Anyhow, great night of sleep--other than waking up at 3 am, 5 am and then again at 6 with a HORRIBLE headache and urge to throw up/diarhea (don't even know how to SPELL that word!) Felt much better at noon when I finally got out of bed. Been drinking coffee---not as good as Ugandan, but it's hot and there's yummy creamer. Found some yummy spinach dip with carrots--I mean, store bought spinach dip--and it's pretty good!!
The winner of the "most surprised" contest goes to my baby sister Sarah, who I'm not 100% convinced believes I'm even here. We called her on speaker phone down in NC last night...Debbie and I. It was hilarious! She wanted to know who was with Debbie. Finally we convinced her it was me---and then we said, haha...we're on 3-way! We got disconneceted from her cell phone (even in America!!?) and then Debbie called her back about 20 minutes later and apologized for lying to her and pretending I was home. She passed the phone off to "mom" and I had her thinking I was my mom for about a minute---until I totally lost it and couldn't stop laughing. She kept shrieking and squealing, "what the crap?!" man, her language! hahaha... anyhow, THINK she believes it now and will hopefully bring me some stylish clothes when she arrives on Friday. My older sister Rachel, didn't seem as shocked or surprised. Glad I'm home safely, how did I pay for it? The common question seems to be "how did you get here?" And, not that my family members are stupid, but, are there THAT many options of getting to America from Uganda that I just don't know about??
Well, time to brave the cold and the roads (the washington beltway) to get to an eye doctor appointment...
Lots of love from this cold, but familiarly warm place
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Mudding with the Youth
One Saturday a long time ago (in September??), the town youth went to Jadress's home (one of the members at MCC) that is currently being built by many volunteers from our church. Jadress is a widow with LOTS of kids (9?). We helped to build the walls of her new home with MUD. Be sure to check out the pictures on my new picture site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethellen/
Here's one of me building part of a wall:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethellen/
Here's one of me building part of a wall:
Paper Mache Africa
As a culmination of our Social Studies unit on Africa, the 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders made a huge papier mache Africa map. Not only was it messy and tons of fun, but I think we all learned a lot too! Be sure to check out the pictures from our construction (sketching it to scale, layering papeier mache, coloring, and labeling) on my picture site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethellen/
Here's a picture of the completed map:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethellen/
Here's a picture of the completed map:
"new" Picture Website
I have been posting pictures on the website listed below because it's easier than all the resizing and stuff that I had to do before for the other one I was using. The only problem is, unless I pay a user fee, it only lets 200 photos be available to see. Also, I've been having trouble being able to put them into groups and label them. Sorry about the hassle, but hopefully you can figure some of it out yourself! Good luck and enjoy! Much love!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethellen/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethellen/
Boys' Slumber Party
Well, to be fair to the boys in school, we had a slumber party for boys only last week. In attendance was Curt and James Baker, Luke Fouts, David Earles and Jae Kim. We started the night out with a "puzzle" that they had to solve. (They were tied together with string and had to figure out how to separate themselves without breaking the string or untying it!) It was a lot of fun for them and very helpful for me to be able to be in the kitchen making supper without worrying about who was wrestling with whom or doing other typical "boy" things and hurting themselves or destroying Terri's house.
After a yummy pizza supper, the boys worked in teams to build structures by rolling newspapers. Their goal was to make the biggest, sturdiest structure possible. They seemed to really enjoy this too. AND, they were very creative once they saw I was taking pictures. We spent nearly an hour (after the building contest), posing for pictures that would "tell a story"! Be sure to check out the pictures I've posted online at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethellen/
(*I'm intentionally NOT including any pictures in the email because I know that it is difficult for some people to receive such large emails!)
After cleaning up all the newspaper (and I apologize to parents because I think several of their newspaper "swords" went home), we went outside and played flashlight hide and go seek. (Yes, we did put on bug spray!) A couple of the kids ran up and scared the Fouts and Grandma and Big Daddy in the midst of our game. Livingstone, my worker, thought we were crazy, running around in the dark with flashlights! But it was loads of fun.
The boys were very diligent in brushing teeth and getting ready for bed. Then we watched "The Rookie,"during which I sort of fell asleep on the couch until I got a phone call from America. My sister convinced me to let them watch ANOTHER movie...so then they watched "Spy Kids." The boys were much more talkative during the movie than the girls and they were thrilled that they were up later than the girls! They finally crashed out around 2 a.m I think.
I was sort of surprised that I was the first one up at 8:30, but the boys got up soon thereafter. We had a delicious breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, fruit smoothies, banana bread, hot chocolate (they had to be like the girls!)...
Overall, a great time was had by all! Remember to check out the pictures!!
After a yummy pizza supper, the boys worked in teams to build structures by rolling newspapers. Their goal was to make the biggest, sturdiest structure possible. They seemed to really enjoy this too. AND, they were very creative once they saw I was taking pictures. We spent nearly an hour (after the building contest), posing for pictures that would "tell a story"! Be sure to check out the pictures I've posted online at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethellen/
(*I'm intentionally NOT including any pictures in the email because I know that it is difficult for some people to receive such large emails!)
After cleaning up all the newspaper (and I apologize to parents because I think several of their newspaper "swords" went home), we went outside and played flashlight hide and go seek. (Yes, we did put on bug spray!) A couple of the kids ran up and scared the Fouts and Grandma and Big Daddy in the midst of our game. Livingstone, my worker, thought we were crazy, running around in the dark with flashlights! But it was loads of fun.
The boys were very diligent in brushing teeth and getting ready for bed. Then we watched "The Rookie,"during which I sort of fell asleep on the couch until I got a phone call from America. My sister convinced me to let them watch ANOTHER movie...so then they watched "Spy Kids." The boys were much more talkative during the movie than the girls and they were thrilled that they were up later than the girls! They finally crashed out around 2 a.m I think.
I was sort of surprised that I was the first one up at 8:30, but the boys got up soon thereafter. We had a delicious breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, fruit smoothies, banana bread, hot chocolate (they had to be like the girls!)...
Overall, a great time was had by all! Remember to check out the pictures!!
