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Yep, been a while since I updated this jazz…..”sorry, sorry”. Well, I just got back from Tanzania and it was amazing. It was way rad. I’m going to try and write a bit more about what we have been doing here in Lugazi with our projects and stuff because my dad thinks that all I do is go on vacations here and don’t do any humanitarian work……I’m working on the cost/benefit analysis of our organization’s work here that he requested of me. The vacation stuff we do on our days off is just so much more interesting and exciting so that’s mostly what I write about here I’m afraid. Sorry if that disappoints some of you. However, I just finished off all my vacation days with the Tanzania trip so it’ll be nothin but bizzness from here on out—except on the weekends of course. I usually work about 40-50 hours a week building adobe stoves, making lesson plans teaching, or in meetings or other stuff. And then we have Saturdays and Sundays off to do fun stuff like raft the nile or go hiking or something. Also for every 6 weeks, we get 3 vacation days—I’m here for 12 weeks so I get 6 vacation days total and I’m down to 0 now…bummer. I figure work hard and play hard is the best way to get the most out of all of this.

I’m excited though because next week a few of us in the business group are going to Gulu in northern Uganda to do some business training in the refugee camps. We will do two days of seminars and one day working with a grassroots women’s group that a contact we have in parliament works with. Most of these people are in these camps as a result of the conflict between the Ugandan government and the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) which has been going on for a few years now. Some of them have lived there for like 15 years and they will need a lot of help getting back into society and making a living. Actually, our guard at our house, David (who is hilarious and one of my favorite people), his brother was in the army and was killed by the LRA and now David and his wife are taking care of his 3 kids because the mother took off to find another husband. I hear so many sad stories from so many people here as a result of war or disease. It’s heartbreaking because the people here are probably the kindest and most humble people I’ve ever met. I think it will be a really great experience in Gulu.

All the projects have been going really well. Secondary schools club is doing awesome! The kids enjoy it a lot and I think it’s really good for them to have a club like this in which they can take a break from their regular classes and learn in different ways and help each other. i've been kind of bummed because the kids have been pretty shy but yesterday after the lesson on career exploration a kid named joshua stood up and said that he had a question for each of us. he asked some good questions about us and when we answered them he gave us two avocados for a prize. he then turned to the rest of the kids and told them that we always give them candy when they make comments and ask questions so they need to give back. it was so rad! he was encouraging all the other kids to talk more and not be so shy because we are there to help and they'll get candy if they talk more. it made my day. i videotaped most of it on my little camera. The kids in the schools here work so hard and are so dedicated to school. The only thing that holds them back is lack of resources. Frequently, they have to miss days of school because they can’t afford school fees. Few kids go on to secondary school and even fewer to college. It’s cool because at the same school we’re doing the club we’re gonna build a library for them and get some books for the school. Business training is going really well also. The work at the bakery is going ok but still frustrating. We’ve been building a lot more adobe stoves too. I really like working on the stoves. Those are the main projects I’ve been involved with but there are a lot more projects going on also.

As for Tanzania, it was one of the funnest trips I’ve ever been on. Me, Jackie, Ashley, Corbin, Jeff, Lindsi, Stephanie, Amber, and Heidi left on Saturday and flew to Arusha and stayed in the hostel there in Arusha for 3 nights. The first day, we walked around Arusha and bought souvenirs and went to a zoo with a bunch of snakes and we rode camels. Definitely the most touristy day of my life. I don’t know what it is about riding a camel but you can’t help but look like a dork while you’re doing it and that goes for everyone. The second day, we went to Mt. Kilimanjaro and hiked to a waterfall at the base. Our bus got stuck driving up to the mountain and we had to walk in the mud and rain to get to the trail. The hike was beautiful. We couldn’t even see the top of Kili because it was too cloudy but the waterfall we hiked to was awesome.

Then, the next four days, we did safaris at Serengeti National Park and Ngorogoro Crater. It was radical. We saw just about every animal you can think of. I think my fav were the giraffes. None of the animals even cared about us, we could drive right up to them and it didn’t bother them at all. The coolest part was when we saw a lion chase and kill a warthog right next to our trucks. We could not believe what we were seeing. It was like the discovery channel live. No joke. Ngorogoro Crater was beautiful! There were thousands of animals everywhere. Flamingos, zebras, wildebeests, hyenas, gazelle, water buffalo all together and we just drove right through them all. It was crazy. We also saw a leopard, hippos, rhinos from far away, a cheetah, a snake, baboons, monkeys, elephants, and other cool stuff too. We slept in tents and at night hyenas and other animals would come into our camp. Rumour has it a lion did too.

One of the coolest parts of trip was when we visited a Massai village. The Massai people are all over Tanzania and they just live in mud huts and they have the gaged ears with earrings and jewelry all over and they always wear red and blue blankets. It’s cool because even though they have a lot of contact with the city and other developing societies they still stick to their culture and traditions. They’re on the discovery channel and national geographic a lot. When we went to their village, they performed a tribal song and dance for us and invited us to join which was really cool to see.

The whole trip was so much fun with everyone and it was very relaxing. The hostel in Arusha was really nice too. I really want to go back to Tanzania. Some day. Happy 4^th of July. Chau.