DISCLAIMER: Since being here, Mandy has cooked in the kitchen and had speechless moments...

I am alive and well. And if you noticed from the title...I actually have spent some time in the kitchen with Darla :)(mama be proud) I have not had internet since my last blog other than one day when I was traveling in Jinja. So sorry for the delay in blogging. I have been journaling regularly though and as I flip through the last 13 days, I do not know even where to start. My first half of my internship is coming to a close as Thursday morning I leave for Mbarara, Uganda before heading down to Rwanda for almost a week. I have no idea how the internet connection will be for the next and last half of my journey so please don't worry if I do not blog much or at all. Consider it a treat if you do hear from me!

The last couple weeks include so many things. I have visited the slums, visited schools (one which Fred introduced me to speak unexpectedly in front of about 200 kids), visited nurseries and babies homes, went to a Ugandan Rugby game (which was so legit!), met many missionaries that have come through town and stayed with us, participated in a few different kinds of bible studies with church members, rafted the Nile River in Jinja, Uganda which was level 5 rapids (olympic style :)), visited a facility for disabled children in need of physical therapy (Jake you would love this place!), and I spent the night by myself with Rebecca, a member of the church.

The experiences I have had, the things I have seen, felt, heard, and even smelt I do not know how to share with you. My pictures won't do justice. My words won't make the cut. I mean how can I really describe what it's like to hug a child and feel his bare skin through the big holes in his shirt, or to cross paths with an elderly woman in the traditional Ugandan dress that has worked so many hard years bent over that from her waist up she is almost completely horizontal, unable to sit or stand upright at all. How do I convey to you the feelings I had as I saw kids standing on top of a huge pile of trash, covered in dirt, eating and drinking whatever they could find left in a bottle or package. Or what about the awful smells of the slums that make your face distort even when you try to keep yourself composed. It is here that you must carefully watch your step as you follow the river of sewage that marks the path through the side by side rows of shacks that people live in and work from in this big city. Or the feeling of holding a precious crippled toddler with deformed eyes as she smiles at me and sings songs for Jesus and not wanting to ever have to let go. I will never forget having to walk away from her as she yelled, "Bye mzungu! (white person) See you!" Or what about sitting on the hard floor of Rebecca's house as I helped her cook dinner that we ate at 11:30 pm in her living room since she doesn't have a kitchen. How do I describe? How will I ever be able to explain? I simply cannot. Everything that I truly wish I could show you are not even in my pictures. There are only certain times I find it appropriate to pull out my camera and take pictures of my surroundings. I already stand out and the last thing I want to do is disrespect anyone by taking their picture or one of their "home." The pictures I have are really the tip of the ice burg. They do not truly convey the extent of what we have seen. Everything I have really wanted to take I haven't been able to do so. The pictures I have are simply the ordinary common activities and scenes of Kampala, Uganda.

There are two women missionaries that haved stayed the last two nights here at Darla's. At dinner tonight I asked a ton of questions and we ended up talking for almost 3 hours. I loved every minute. I really have been learning so much from the missionaries here and even from the visiting missionaries that come through for a few days. It is wonderful.

My experiences here have definitely gone through the "honeymoon" stage (everything is beautiful and wonderful) to the "culture shock" stage (annoyed, frustrated, confused) to now the comfortable stage of understanding and coming to grips with certain aspects of the culture. It has been really interesting.

This entire blog has been written in a rush and for that, I apologize. Hopefully my next will be better thought out. I love and miss you all. Please continue to keep my in your prayers.