Whats Next?

I have been home from Uganda for a week and am ready for another adventure.  I don't really have anything in mind just yet, I just want to go and see more of the world.  I had an amazing time in Africa and it truly was a dream come true but now I want to see more of the world and see as much of it as I can.

I absolutely loved being immersed in a completely different culture, meeting the people and seeing how they did things.  I realized that no matter where you are in the world people are the same.   

Maybe I will stay a little bit closer to home this time because travel is expensive and unfortunately I don't have an unlimited supply of money (although I wish I did).  I will always have the ability to get more money though so why not use what I have to help others?

Someone once told me that "traveling is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer."  It is so true, the experiences you have, things you see and learn all help you to grow as a person and maybe even change your perspective. 

It is one thing to see starving African children on TV and feel compassion, maybe even be compelled to donate money or to "sponsor"  a child; however it is life changing to actually meet these people, talk with them, become friends with them and develop a connection to them.  

I hope I was able to make even a tiny difference in someone's life.  I know they made a BIG difference in mine!

Welcome Home Party

I finally got my barbeque.  My mom sent out invitations to my family and friends and we had a good ole American barbeque for Pioneer Day.  It was so much fun to see everyone and tell my stories.  I am so glad that I had the opportunity to live in Uganda and see what it is really like.  I learned alot, I saw alot and my life has definitely changed.  I am happy to be home with my family and friends but I miss Africa.  I would do it all again if I had the opportunity and I hope to someday be able to go back to Africa.

More Pictures!!

I woke up early on my last full day in Lugazi to walk around with Andrea and take pictures.  Enjoy!

My friend Lydia

I gave the blanket that my grandma sent me with to Beatrice, a nice lady I met at the market

Lydia's son Jonathan

Jonathan making porridge

Streets of Lugazi

Eric making me a rolex

Eric, me and my rolex

Rolex- basically chapati and egg

Me with Lydia's kids--Patience, Trest and Jonathan

Trest

Lydia's Family

Cute little girl

Last supper :(

I'm Home! (And oh so Tired)

I have been traveling for thirty five hours, twenty four of which were on airplanes.  We left our house in Lugazi, Uganda at 4 AM Utah time and headed to the Entebbe airport, where we arrived three hours early for our flight. We couldn't even check in yet so we just waited until we could.  We played scum (a card game) until it was time to board the airplane.  The flight from Entebbe to Nairobi I think was about an hour and a half and they fed us a meal.  I was surprised when a flight attentant told me to put my tray up because we were going to land shortly.

The Nairobi International Airport was so very small, basically it is just one hall way with a few shops and gates along it.  We had a three hour layover there so we mostly just played scum and then boarded the over night flight that would take us to London.  I was able to get a little bit of sleep.  I woke up about half way through the flight and watched 500 Days of Summer.  I had a hard time sleeping because I was anxious to get home and also felt nausous.

We got into London with enough time to ckeck in for our flight and find our gate.  I was hungry and wanted some real food, so I was able to stop at this little italian place and buy a sandwich, potato chips and some water and then continued on to the gate.  I ate my sandwich and opened the water, took a sip and I had accidentally bought sparkling water.  Guess I would be throwing that away... oh well at least they had water on the airplane.

I wasn't able to sleep much on the airplane from London to Dallas.  I watched Just go with it with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler.  I enjoyed it but don't take my word for it, I don't know if it was the circumstances or if it was legitamately good :)  I started another movie and was finally able to get a little sleep.   

I got off the plane quickly when we arrived in Dallas and the first thought I had was ah American air- or something to that effect.  I headed to customs and got through the line and went straight to the baggage claim-  I had to recheck my luggage to make sure that it got to Salt Lake City.  I was standing there for about twenty minutes before I decided to look on the other side of the baggage claim.  Someone had taken both of my bags off of the belt and set them on the floor.  So annoying!  Maybe they thought they were their bags and took them off and just left them there.  It was frustrating because I only had two hours to get through customs, recheck my baggage and get on the plane. 

I finally found my bags and had to get a new tag so they would make it to SLC.  I handed them off the guy who was in charge of getting them rechecked and headed towards the second part of customs.  There was a huge line and I had to be on my flight in forty minutes.  I thought for sure I would miss it.  About half way through the line, a guy came and opened the rope to let us out to talk to a different customs offficer.   He truly must have been an angel sent from heaven.  

We finished the customs stuff and had to go through security yet again (I swear I went through security 500 times that day.)  I took my shoes off, sent my bag through the scanner machine and walked through the metal detector.  The lady who was looking at the scanner told me she had to look through my backpack-I kept looking at my watch and seeing the time getting closer to 3.  I was getting so stressed out and worried about missing my flight.  I HAD to get home on time.  She went through my bag and found my therma care heat wraps, took those out and had to rescan my bag.  FINALLY I was good to go. 

I had to take a train to get to my gate,  I got on the train and had to wait for three stops before it was my stop.  I got off and ran to my gate, when I got there I saw a line of people waiting to board so I quickly ran into a shop and bought a pen.  I went straight to the gate and got on the plane.  Then our flight was delayed...  There was some kind of mechanical problem so we had to wait for a mechanic to come fix it and then there was something going on with the weather so we had to wait for extra  fuel.  We finally took off and in three hours I would be in Salt Lake and get to see my family.  I pretty much slept for the whole flight.  We finally landed and I got out of the plane as quickly as I could.  I stopped at the bathroom and then went straight to the baggage claim to meet my family.

I came out and there were so many people waiting for missionaries.  I finally saw my family!   They all had signs that said my name.  I ran and hugged my sister and the rest of my family.  It was the moment I had been waiting for.  My sister took my backback and we went to get the rest of my luggage.  We took some pictures and then got into the car.  We went home, I took a hot shower and we ate my mom's homemade spaghetti for dinner.  I showed everyone my prizes from Afica and then we ate german chocolate birthday cake.  I ate way to much food, but it tasted so good and I have had nothing like it for six weeks.

At 11 PM I couldn't stay awake any longer and went to bed.  I pretty much stayed up all night according to Ugandan time.  It was good though because I need to get back on Utah time so I slept when I supposed to sleep.  It was hard to sleep becasue I felt like it was daytime and I should be out doing something, even though I was exhausted.   It took me a while to realise where I was when I woke up in the morning.

I had a great time in Africa and was able to see and learn alot but I'm so happy to be back home with my family and friends and I'm looking forward to figuring out what the next step for me is.  I'm very dazed at the moment and don't think it has fully hit me that I am home.

Last Day

I can't believe that my time in Africa is up and I will be home tomorrow.  I have all my things packed and am just waiting around until our ride gets here to take us to the airport.  I am super excited to see my family and friends and to get back to my life in America.

I plan to update my blog with more details and pictures shortly, so check back soon.

Safari

Last weekend I went with six other girls to Murchison Falls National Park on a safari.  The first thing we did was stop at a Rhino sanctuary and trek some rhinos.  It was really fun to see rhinos in the wild just doing what they do.  I don't even really like rhinos so it got me excited to see the animals that I really like.

Our Guide

Accommodations for the night

The next day we went on a game drive early in the morning,  we saw elephants, giraffes, Ugandan kobs and a bunch of baby animals. 

Ugandan Kobs--the national animal

Warthogs

Buffalo

Andrea and Me

Can you see the lion?  (look on the left)

A tower of giraffes

With our guide on the Nile River--can you see the hippos in the background?

 
We took a boat cruise on the Nile where we saw a crocodile and some elephants drinking from the river. 

Hugging the world

Baboon!

Crocodile

We got out of the boat and hiked to Murchison Falls- a waterfall on the river Nile.  I have never seen a waterfall so powerful and out of control.  It reminded me a bit of the blowhole in Ensenada Mexico.  We sat on a rock for a while and just enjoyed being there. 

The trail

Enjoying the waterfall

We spent the night in huts with grass roofs.  it was so peaceful and quiet.  I loved it and it was just what I needed.

On Sunday we drove to a rain forest where we went trekking for chimps. We saw about seven and got to hear them all yelling and screaming.  It was amazing!  We were just deep in the forest looking for chimps.  At one point my foot got tangled in a vine and someone had to help me get loose.  I also tripped over a branch and fell straight onto my knee.

 It was a fantastic experience, even though there are no zebras in Murchison Falls National Park.  I am really going to try to take a day trip somewhere to see zebras but I am running out of time and it is pretty much all accounted for.  

Sorry this post if so brief, I will add more details and pictures once I get home.