The Next Chapter

Greetings from Jinja! Weve just returned after spending a week volunteering at the Lubani Primary School with NGO, Soft Power Education. Everyone is pretty spent and ready to relax after a week of intense painting. The week started with a visit to a local art festival in Kampala, where Izzy bought a cool pair of sandals for the good Mzungu price of 28K. Afterward we went white water rafting in the Nile River down class 5 rapids! A few people were pretty nervous beforehand but everyone conquered their fears and enjoyed the adrenaline rush and beautiful scenery. Zoe got a pretty BA bloody nose while Becca was burnt to a crisp by the hot sun... her skin is nicely recovering.

Afterward, we caught a bus to the school and got acquainted with Soft Power Education. SPE is an organization that focuses on improving education in Uganda, both via hands on teaching and improvement of local school facilities. They have worked on over 500 classrooms.
Accommodations included a sea of foam mattresses and a jungle of mosquito nets.. Things got pretty cozy in the shared classroom we inhabited. Day 3, Vickys bag arrived!

During the mornings and early afternoons we worked on priming and painting the four classroom school building and the late afternoon was spent learning Kiswahili with our awesome teacher, Roy. The language was really interesting but we will become much more prevalent when we get to Tanzania, where English is not as widely spoken. The whole time we painted, we were watched by kids who seemed particularly entertained by Chris and his sweet dance moves. It was really cool being able to interact with and get to know all of them. We miss them already, as well as Monicah, who cooked us amazing meals everyday, and Swaibu, who was an excellent foreman for the project and a good friend to have around. Meals included lots of starches and fruit.. One night we had chicken, which Charlotte so bravely butchered for us... and we ended up getting a good anatomy lesson out of the experience.

Weve been having a lot of fun playing games like Sniper, to which Alexa fell victim to first, and pushing our comfort zones, as Jess did with the squatty potty... Cliff and Karen also entertained us with some amazing pteridactyl impersonations. Tomorrow we will head off to work at the coffee plantation! Stay tuned...

Love Will and Taylor

And the real journey begins

So today was the last day of a successful orientation! After 4 long days of scavenging, bonding, and team building the adventures begin! For now were going to back track to the scavenger hunt and tell you guys a little bit about Kampala. We were sent out in groups with a list into the city, with each group having there own special tasks. The city of Kampala is absolute madness. There are no traffic lights, no stop signs, barley any sidewalks, and no crosswalks. Just walking was a task, because you have to cross at your own risk. The city is FULL of people. We had to squeeze our way through every crowd. A couple of kids almost got pick pocketed, but luckily nothing was taken. Some of the things we had to find were prices of bus tickets, the currency exchange, and the post office. OH, the post office, which took everyone forever to find, but luckily in the end we all made it. We (Zoe and Alexa) won the scavenger hunt and won very interesting prizes. So cheers to that! That’s just one of the crazy and exciting days that we’ve had together as a group. And by the way have we told you guys yet that this group is AWESOME? Everyone is getting along so well and we’re all having a great time. Some of us have hit some speed bumps along the way. Vicki’s bag was lost in the airport or somewhere along the way that contained all of her stuff for three months and she has been amazing. Rebecca got sick for a day or two and now she is back in action and ready to go. She didn’t complain once. Taylor missed her flight to Amsterdam and had to meet the group a day late. She had to join after everyone knew each other, but we all accepted her with open arms. Despite the speed bumps the group has also been having the greatest time with each other. Jess is amazing at drawing and uses the best adjectives to describe things such as “spectacular” or “precious.” Izzy sings Taylor Swift songs and keeps everyone laughing and entertained when he is awake. Chris has the best accent and eats so much bacon it’s just astonishing. He had bacon for breakfast lunch and dinner, no joke. Will is hilarious and is the sweetest. Charlotte has the cutest laugh and it’s very contagious, the whole room cant help but start laughing. Everyone contributes something positive and makes the group that much better. We couldn’t have asked for better people to spend three months with. Tomorrow we’re going white water rafting on the Nile! We are all super stoked yet a little nervous, but it proves we’re ready to dive into adventure and excitement that the semester will bring. We miss you and love you all! We’ll be keeping you updated!

-Zoe and Alexa

Habari!

Hello fellow parents and friends! After 2 long days of traveling we have finally arrived at the Kampala backpackers hostel. In the morning we got together, had orientation and were sent out in the city for a scavenger hunt! We have been scavenging all day and have learned some words of the local language. They seem to enjoy trying to watch us speak and we laugh with them. I (Alexa) got white person and thank you confused while trying to say thank you, so they got a good laugh out of that. It’s scorching hot but we are all happy to be here! Well we need to go and we will keep you updated.

Love you all! – Zoe and Alexa

East coast meets West coast in Amsterdam!

HQ is pleased to announce that the Africa group has re-grouped! The group is together, well, for the most part. Due to a missed flight out of Portland, Taylor will join the rest in Entebbe in just 24 hours. Stay posted as the next blog entry will come directly from the Africa Fall 2010 group! Safari njema everyone!

Godzilla Attacks Portland; Students Flee to East Africa

Karibu - Zoe, Taylor, Rebecca, Charlotte, Will, Izzy, Alexa, Chris, Victoria, and Jessica!

Welcome! This is the blog through which you'll be sharing your adventures with friends and family from across the globe. It will be a place to post photos, tell stories and store memories as a group. And it will become a place where your loved ones will come to find out where in the heck your adventurous spirit has taken you since you saw them last.

Each of you will take turns documenting our shared experiences and posting these journal entries for the world to see. Blogger will be one of the roles that each member of our traveling family will rotate through as we journey in East Africa. These roles will help each of you build the skills to become independent travelers in the developing world. At the same time, sharing responsibility will help our group build a tight-knit community that will quickly come to resemble a family.

We're looking forward to an educational journey with you, full of adventure, smells, toil, sights and laughs. In the meantime, we're anxious to discuss the details of our first in-person meeting in Portland or Amsterdam, so keep your eyes out for the 503 area code on your cell phone. Hopefully you've already had a chance to pore through the itinerary, pick up a phrasebook, and read up on the history and culture of East Africa. For now, enjoy your last week in the States: Eat the foods you love, hug your families and pets, and pick up those last minute travel-essentials. Next stop, Uganda.

Salama,
Karen and Cliff