Hacuna Matata

A PICTURE!!!!!! I GOT A PICTURE ON!! AND HOPEFULLY I'M NOT SPREADING SOME WEIRD VIRUS TO ALL OF THE LAPTOPS WE HAVE!! haha. Merry Christmas everyone. These kids kind of look high...but they're not I promise. Well, actually I can't promise that, but I don't think they are. And they are the neighborhood kids I always hang out with...Mary, Fatuma, Shareaf, Junior....awwww...I love these kids. Everytime I walk out of the gate to our house, they all yell, "DANIELLA! DANIELLA!" Or sometimes, Diana...I'll take what I can get.
Not much new out here in Lugazi. Well...there are a few developments. First of all, I got really sick AGAIN and was in bed all day yesterday. I'm feeling better now...Mom, thank Grant for the medicine for me...the prescription stuff is the only thing that has worked. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO grateful...he must have been listening to the promptings of the Spirit or SOMETHING Cause...I was dyin.
Um...sadly, Ivan is still in Prison. We're like positive that he took our stuff which makes me SO sad...It is sad that he betrayed our trust. But, we are trying to find an alternative than the police keeping him in jail for a few years. Kristen (kristen is my country director) called her parents to ask for advice and her mom said that she would sponsor him to go to a super strict boarding school as long as Ivan was honest with us and he didn't make any contact with any of us for the rest of the summer...but Mike at HELP said that it is against HELP policy to sponsor someone for school...If we do, people will think that HELP usually does that...and we don't have the money to sponsor a whole bunch of kids. So...I don't really know what's going to happen. Poor Kristen and Melissa have had to deal with this every day this week.
Yesterday I watched my first movie since I have been here...GREASE! Haha I haven't seen it for years....It was wonderful. For a second, I felt like I wasn't sick in the middle of east africa, I was sick at my house in Alpine with my mommy a few rooms away.
The last few weeks have made me really appreciate life in happy little bubble of a place, Alpine, Utah.
I feel so grateful for so many things in America that make life so easy.
Grateful for a soft bed.
Grateful for a comfortable home.
Grateful for a family that is alive and healthy.
Grateful for a family that loves me and that are my best friends.
Grateful for a flushing toilet.
Grateful for a naked shower every day
(we don't shower naked here...outside in the open).
Grateful for privacy.
Grateful for good healthy food.
Grateful for clothing that does not have holes in it.
Grateful for a washing machine and a dryer.
Grateful for a dishwasher.
Grateful for very few bugs.
Grateful for a good education.
Grateful for the opportunity to get a good education.
Grateful for the garbage trucks that pick up our garbage and dispose of it properly.
Grateful for clean water so that I can drink from the tap.
Grateful for best friends who I can truly depend on.
Grateful for an extended family who loves and supports me and who gets together often.
Grateful for a job.
Grateful for clean grocery stores.
Grateful for EVERYTHING SANITARY.
Grateful for the medical system (even though drugs out there are WAY more expensive than here. I went to the doctor here, Dr. Nyumbi the other day and he gave me 3 different kinds of medicine for 13000 shillings...like $6.50).
Grateful for a car.
Grateful for our political system.
Grateful for a President and the ability to vote.
Grateful for the media and all the knowledge I receive...here the politics are completely unfair (they just had an election for mayor here in Lugazi and the guy who won only won because his slogan was "obama"...that's all it takes here).
Grateful to be so close to a temple and to my church building.
Grateful for my home ward that is so strong and so kind and caring.
Grateful for the opportunity to come out here and serve.
Mom, you were right when you told me that getting out of America will only make me more grateful to be from America and to be an American. I wish everyone had this opportunity. It makes me so much more patriotic. Since Monday was memorial day, we had one girl in our group sing the star spangled banner, and I almost started crying. We are so blessed and so lucky. Really and truly. To live in America and to have the gospel in my life...I am TOO blessed. I don't know why Heavenly Father decided to bless me with this much, but I hope to be able to help others with the knowledge that I have. I'm going to do everything I can to give back to Heavenly Father what He has given to me.

33 Chicken

This is a really long blog post, but probably the best so far…so read it all…. Okay? Okay J

Wow. What a weekend. Or as Zig would say, “WAW!” Yep. It was crazy. Let me start with Friday. So, we went up to this AIDS Clinic that was built by USAid up in the middle of the Jungle to watch an MDD performance (It’s not called MDT here, it’s Music-Dance-Drama). It was a super rainy day and the mud was sooooo slippery. But Becca, Lacey and I had to get back down quickly so that we could make it to a traditional dance performance. So, we climb down the hill and by this time our shoes are COVERED in mud. At the bottom, miraculously, there was a boda boda. So random. What he was doing there is beyond me, but it was definitely an answer to prayer (I’ve had so many of those the last few weeks). There are three of us. One boda. One driver. He says, “No, no, you can all come!” So, sure! Boda driver on, then Lacey, then Becca, then me. He starts the engine and slowly starts driving, when BAM. We all fell to the side. Now our whole bodies were covered in mud. Once we got to the town (we drove very slowly and a cop shook her finger at us), we walked down the street and EVERYONE was peeing their pants. “THE MZUNGUS! BAHAHAHAHAHHA!” They all pointed at our mud and were laughing their heads off. A woman literally fell out of her chair. It was so funny. A girl at the Youth Outreach office helped us clean up a little bit, thank heavens. But I’ve never had about 100 people full on LAUGH and POINT at me. We were laughing so hard. It was quite the experience.

So, then we meet up with Luta. I love Luta. Such a sweetie. He is with the Youth Outreach office. He’s 19 I think. Just like Wilson and all the other guys, so sweet. So he invited me and whoever else wanted to come to see his team and where he teaches dance and stuff. So we went down to this little village in lower Lugazi called CoaCoa village. We met this lady who takes care of a bunch of kids in the dance group and lets them practice there. Basically, it’s kids from tiny to my age who can’t afford school who audition for this dance team. Luta and this other guy run it. They train these kids in traditional dance and take them all over the country to perform and with he money they earn, pay for the kids schooling. So we got to watch this incredible traditional dancing with real African instruments and EVERYTHING! Definitely my favorite thing I’ve experienced so far. I loved it. These guys are incredible. They perform for the different Kings in Uganda. So cool. And a private performance for a few Mzungus. Then they made us dance. We put on these really long fur things (goat fur or something like that is what he told us) and they made us dance and try and shake their hips. Once again…twice in one day, I was full-on laughed and pointed at. By this time, word had spread around the village that Mzungus were there and the whole neighborhood was sneaking around the trees to watch. Everyone was laughing! A few women in the corner were crying they were laughing so hard. So funny. What an experience.

So, I write everything I want to remember to say on my hands or on some other body part. Sometimes I write it on my legs. I never remember things. And I haven’t had tmie to write in my journal, so …that’s my method. Just so you know. Hey! Mom! Or Drew! Or whoever talks to him first, tell Todd McCabe that I’m singing his song in church here next Sunday! Just thought he might think it was cool that his song is in a different continent. I’m hopefully going to sing it in both of the nearby branches!

So, something really sad has happened. Drew in my group caught Ivan stealing some clothes off our clothesline the other day. There have been some other things missing too…like digital cameras and such. The cops are investigating now, but David (our AWESOME guard) said it was really important to get the cops involved. So he’s in custody right now and in a few minutes they are going to search his house and al the places he has been. Supposedly, if the stuff is found, he will be put in jail for a few months. If not, he’ll be let off. So…I have no idea what’s going to happen. It just makes me so sad. I don’t really know what to believe and I won’t say whether he actually stole or not, but I just think Ivan is a sweetheart either way and I am so grateful for him. Honestly, we would not have been able to do 90% of what we have done so far if we didn’t have Ivan. He’s been a huge help with everything and I personally trust him so much. But, I guess we’ll see. It has been a hard thing for everyone to deal with and it is something no one wanted to do, but something had to be done.

On a happier note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY, SHOUT HOORAY! I WANT TO SING TO YOU TODAY! BUT I’M IN AFRICA AND YOU’RE IN THE US TOO, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TO YOU! I hope you liked my makeshift lyrics. I really hope you have a wonderful birthday and I’m so sorry I’m not there to spend it with you, but I’ll bring you something AWESOME home :)

So…I’ve had a few weird things said to me lately. These are some funny stories. Yesterday we went to the house of the Branch President of the Mukono ward for dinner which was so fun and he rocks! But afterward, there were about 15 of us cramming into a place to ride home in which only 11 people should have been sitting. SO….as we’re going up to the bus/taxi/van/whatever, this guy comes up to me and says, “You are a beautiful woman.” Alright…uh.. “thanks man.” This is pretty normal and I’ve gotten used to it, right? So…then he starts following me up to the van. “Will you marry me? We be married. Let us get married. You are so beautiful. You are so beautiful!” Uh…I run up to Jake (guy in the group) and say to him, “This is my omubisi, sorry!” The guy just laughs, “No…let us get married. Come with me! You are too beautiful. I am serious. Serious. Serious!” AHHHHHhh. So Jake is not backing me up and I’m getting a little freaked out cause this guy is all up in my grill. I start getting into the taxi, towards the back part. He is in the taxi now and my whole group is peeing their pants but no one is helping me! Everyone’s just laughing! So he says the same things over and over and is right in my face when finally we start to drive off and he has to jump out, then he starts CHASING THE TAXI. Oh my goodness it was so funny. I wish I would have got in on camera, but alas, I didn’t. It was quite the proposal.

Also, today a lady in the market passing by said, “hello” so I said, “hello” back, then she says, “you look just like my daughter!” Uh……HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH. It was really funny.

Oh and on one of the taxi’s yesterday, there was a guy in the back with his 33 chickens under the back seat. Don’t worry. There were just 33 chickens…just chillin the back of the taxi. ….Just hanging out. WHAT THE HECK? None of the other girls would sit back there except Melissa so I decided to be brave. I kept my feet up. I didn’t want to get pecked to death. And the chickens were fighting. Well every once in a while there would be a big thud and then some squawking. It was scary. I am not a big fan of animals. Actually, I don’t like animals…at all. It was really exciting. Also, it was about a 90 minute drive. Wonderful.

Now for what you’ve all been waiting for….RIVER RAFTING ON THE NILE. YES. I ACTUALLY RIVER RAFTED, CLASS 5 RAPIDS, ON THE NILE. And for all you who didn’t believe me…Dad, Drew, Merrill….etc, there ARE Class 6 rapids on the Nile. All of the guys said that. Only kayakers were allowed down it though….it would be suicide for a rafter. So, our guide was a Ugandan named Tutu. Yeah, like the little ballerina thing…Tutu. He was hilarious. He was the most serious person I’ve ever met in my life, but everything he said was so funny! We had a couple from the Netherlands, a brother and sister from England, a kid from New York, and then Me, Andrew, Ryan, and Amy on our raft. Everyone else didn’t laugh at Tutu cause they were scared of him, but I was peeing my pants and laughing out loud. Rafting was SO much fun. I loved my group and it was hard work, there were times where you don’t go down any white water for an hour or so and you just paddle…. It’s a lot of work. But the rapids were so fun! They were HUGE. Our raft had a bunch of crazies on it and we all requested the most dangerous route possible, yes, even me. And we purposefully would flip as much as possible. There was once where I really thought I was going to die. I was under water for the longest time I have ever been under water. It was TERRIFYING. I literally saw my life flash before my eyes and was sucking in water trying to breathe. Scary huh? Yeah it was awesome. But here I am, alive and well…a little sore…but happy. EVERYONE got super sunburnt, but I only got a tiny bit on my shoulders. I barely put on any sunscreen. I only did it to please my mom. But…yeah other people’s are blistering and they put on SPF 70…I only put on SPF 30…I guess I am just lucky! Thanks genetics for good skin! Yeah! Well…I think I am finally done talking for today, but…yeah the nile rocked. And I love Tutu. And I hope to go back in a few months to do kayaking lessons for a few days straight. I am also looking into horseback riding on the nile. I am overcoming all of my fears. 1…2…3…TEAM TUTU!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Daniella

Too Much

I discovered that the "too much" phrase isn't just something that Andrew, Zig, and Josh say all of the time. EVERYONE in Africa says it all the time haha. ALso, if you ask them a question, like, "can we come on thursday at 2pm?" They won't say yes or no, they will say, "it is okay." I never understand that....Anyways. MY HAIR IS TURNING BROWN. Like, no joke. So...a few days before Africa, I go to the hair place and say, "put some more blonde highlights in," right? Yeah. Then it turned out to be PLATINUM BLONDE and I thought to myself, "what the heck?" But THEN I come here and my hair is turning darker than it has been in the past like...long time. It's so random. I'm wondering if it's something in the water or something. Oh and did I tell everyone that I went 4 days without showering? YEAH BABY! Haha. It'll be so weird to someday get in a shower that I can stand up in and to pee while sitting down.
I love Peanut Butter. I am addicted. They actually have good peanut butter here and I love it. Just a side note.
So...I am feeling so much better. I'm really anxious to talk to my family tonight, but other than that, I'm not very homesick or sick....I still have to use the bathroom a lot in an uncomfortable way, but other than that, I feel GREAT! I think the main thing that changed it is the following experience...
I think it was Wednesday afternoon when I went with Andrew L (we have two Andrews. Andrew L is the one who is in the band with me and Andrew H is on the BYU Rugby team...just FYI) to this Youth Outreach office. It's an organization, kind of like Dan Blake's...but it is run completely by Young people, 20 and under. These are all University students from the surrounding area...Lugazi, Jinja, Mukono, even Kampala. They go to different schools and teach about AIDS/HIV and hygiene, a balanced diet, and things like that. Then they get young people involved in Community Service, because NO ONE really does that here. They don't make any money off of it, these guys just wanna change Uganda and make it a better place. They sometimes teach kids about Aids or Drug Abuse or something like that and then play Futbol with them to reward them for coming....the kids here LOVE soccer. So Andrew is big into soccer and brought a TON of soccer stuff. He donated every bit of it to them and we're starting a soccer league type thing that will spread awareness of Aids and the sort. I went with Andrew to their office to give this stuff to them. They were so grateful, everyone was near tears. "Too Much! It is too much! You do too much for the people here and they are so grateful! You will see their faces, Andrew and Dani, they will be so happy!" On and on and on. It was so awesome. Wilson is the President and he is SUCH a sweetheart. The other guys are Godfrey, Luta(super goofy he is so funny--I'm going with him to a MDT performance today at 5pm), Robert, Barack(yes, his name is barack and he gets a lot of praise for it), and so many others. THey are mostly guys. But every single one of these guys want to just change the world, and make it a better place. Their careers, everything. Everything they are doing in their lives is for the good of Uganda, for no praise at all. "He is a social worker, I am an accountant, we will work with the poor and the needy. We do not care if we live in a one room house, like this office. As long as what we are doing is spreading and helping the youth, we will be happy." They are incredible. This gave me a whole new....renewal I guess. It made me remember why I am here. Being homesick and missing American food is such a dumb thing. What's the point? Of course it'll happen, but I just gotta get over it. It's not doing anyone any good. There's so much to do here and so many people that I still want to help and who will still teach me. I am so excited for these next few months!
I still have a few minutes so I'm just going to tell you a few funny things about Uganda and what it's like here. Everyone is so welcoming. Whenever you walk into a building or even a little shack, people will say "You are most welcome here." They are so nice and make you feel so comfortable. There is this place where we always go to get lunch. It is with Nixon(the rolex man) who makes us each a rolex. It is 700 Shillings and it is basically a tortilla with a layer of omelet (like eggs and tomatoes and onions) all rolled together. The tortilla is called a chipote (don't know spelling) but so much better than the ones in America. Everywhere I go, men seem to call to me. There's about 3 or 4 places in town wehre all of the Boda drivers gather. They all sit there and wait for someone to ask for a ride on a boda. Whenever I pass by, I always get some weird comments, whether in Luganda or English...it's always weird. Today the guy just yelled, "I love you so much!" Haha uh...thanks?? So that's entertaining...
The smells in Uganda are horrid. Walking through the market is death. Seriously, death. They have all the fruit stands and stuff, but then they have fish. It just looks like they picked up the fish and let it dry for 3 months and then set it out for you to eat. It is disgusting and smells like........death. Yep, that's the only way to describe it. And I'm sure eveyrone who has been to a 3rd world country has seen the meat places....the stands of meat. Let me describe this to you. One day, Shareaf goes out and kills a cow, he skins it, takes it to town and sits it on a table. For about 3 weeks. SIIIIIIIIIIIICK. I hope you can all imagine me whining that sick, "SIIIIIIIIIIICK!"
People here are late to everything. For example, yesterday we had a teacher training and there were supposed to be 8 teachers. It was supposed to start at 2...the first teacher go there about a quarter after and finally by 2:30, we had to start with 2 teachers. Then 2 more came throughout ...and the other four probably showed up 2 hours later. Haha, it's always a suprise whether things will actually happen or not. That's one thing I've learned here. Development is a slow-moving thing. You have to have SO much patience. You just HAVE to be able to go with the flow, otherwise, it will never ever happen. That's one thing I suck at. Going with the flow. But I'm learning. And I'm really enjoying it too.
Well, time to go again. I hope you are all doing well. Again, thank you EVERYONE for your sweet notes of encouragement and your prayers. I appreciate it more than you know. Things have been good. We've had a few scary moments...first with everyone getting sick, another girl needs back surgery and there's no good medicine here, one boy just got malaria, and two girls got beat by drunkards with banana tree branches last night after a political election...yes these are all people in my group. Haha...but everyone is okay. And happy. And working hard and doing our best to get as much done as we possibly can in the few short months that we are here. I LOVE UGANDA. As do I love all of you!
Love,
Me.

Kiss Me Through Da Phone

That was for you bonnie. Ivan was listening to it today and I started dancing an he got embarrassed like always. So...I got sick. Not just homesick, but sick-sick. Almost everyone in our whole house except for 5 people did. I was feeling a little sick monday morning but thought I was imagining it. I didn't eat anything cause I couldn't get anyting down. Then, I was in Mukono meeting with a teacher and I was walking with her. All of the sudden I realized I was on the ground and pushing myself up thinking, "oh man that hurt." I blacked out and scraped up both my knees and elbows pretty bad. Then I went home and fell asleep at like 6pm without any food. All throughout the night I was....in the bathroom. Then I slept almost the entire day. I had the worst fever I can ever remember having in my whole entire life. I would be FREEZING. I would be shaking and so cold even with leggings, sweatpants, a skirt, 3 shirts and a sweatshirt, and a huge warm blanket.....SO COLD. Then about a half hour later, I would be sweating like I just ran 10 miles outside in the middle of Africa. I was dripping. Then again, freezing, cold, freezing, cold. I was really dizzy and had a horrible headache. Like...worse than all my thyroid bad days combined. It was horrible. Today I'm pretty weak and can't eat anything, but I'm okay. I am really sore too, like my back kills. We thought it was the food at first, but we think it may be somethign that's going around because our guard david and our neighbors are really sick too. Um...yeah...but I'm doing a lot better today. It just made me mroe homesick to be really sick and away from home. I want my mommy. But I'll be better tomorrow. Today will be chill.
So, have I mentioned that men hold hands here? It still freaks me out a little bit. But I'm getting used to it. It's like so normal to them. Sick. Just wanted to mention that. We've decided the people here just tell us that but really Lugazi is the Gay capital of Uganda. Haha.
I have so much more to say, but my time is up for today. More on friday.
Everyone who wrote me sweet e-mails and notes of encouragement, thank you so much! I am still homesick, but most of you said to stay busy and that will take it away, and once I am feeling a little more...stable...I will be up and moving and keep myself going. So thank you. I have the best friends in the whole world. I love you all. Especially my family :)
Love, Daniella (the neighborhood kids can't say Dani so they just started calling me Daniella)

Mama Africa

So...I've been pretty homesick the last few days. I didn't think I would get so homesick but I definitely am. So write to me. On here or at my e-mail dani.israel23@gmail.com. I am dying to hear from people at home. I do have a few funny stories though. Yesterday at church....Story Uno. I taught YW. So I get through the entire lesson titled "Chastity and Modesty" and at the end I ask if anyone has any questions. A girl says, "What does Chastity mean?" Uh.............
So second, there was this boy named Geoffrey getting baptized. A sweetheart definitely. He befriended us on the first Sunday and is a very intelligent university student. So, we went to his baptism right after church. Now...a lot of people here are terrified of the water. I don't really understand why, but they are. There's a guy in the ward baptizing him and he gets him only part way under the water and Geoffrey jumps right back up. This happens 6 more times, then the Elder is like, "okay, I'm goin in." So he gets in a jumpsuit and tries to baptize him. Geoffrey still won't go under. So the Elder comes up with a new technique. He says the prayer and TACKLES him into the water. Whatever it takes, right? Nine times! Hahahhahahahahhah. Poor thing, everyone was laughing. And he just got out with the biggest grin on his face, so happy. I love baptisms. It was awesome.
Everyone got sick last night...like really sick. There were five throwing up continuously throughout the night. One girl puked 4 times. We have no idea what it could be. I've been really nautious and haven't eaten anything. Even smelling food makes me want to barf. I've also been really really dizzy and have a pounding head ache. I do not feel good at all, but at least I'm not stuck in bed like everyone else. THere's also about 6 others who are stuck in bed not feeling well. Poor things. I guess that's waht happens when you are eating delish (sarcasm) food in a 3rd world country. I hope everyone has an awesome day. I'll write again hopefully on Wednesday!
Love, Dizzy D

Mzungu

Today was our first vacation day and we went to the Mubiru (or something like that) forest. It was an adventure even if it started off way lame. We paid a few thousand shillings to get into this forest that is inbetween Lugazi and Jinja. It is a pretty big forest and it has a road called Jinja Road running right through the middle of it. Jinja Road is a busy road that goes all the way from Lugazi up to Jinja...about a 30 minute drive. Anyways, we start into this forest and all we see is a few really fat and long (probably 6 inches or more) centipedes. Oh! And we go around this corner and there was this MAN just standing in the middle of the trees. It scared the crap out of me! I almost screamed. He was just standing there...this 60 year old man...with a toothless smile! It was so scary. Wow there's another white guy in here...that's a first...
So...we go through this forest for a while...super boring...and the rest of the group is like "oh here's jinja road....anyone who wants to just go to jinja, just go." So 9 of us were definitely ready to be out of the boring forest. I just felt like I was in Bedford, New Hampshire walking through my backyard. We are on this road and a million cars are passing by. Finally a bus stops for us and they tell us they are going to make us pay 3000 shillings to get to Jinja....that's a lot. That's $1.50 which is a lot here. So...no way. Then NO ONE will stop for us. We walk for like 30 minutes and finally I say a prayer asking for some help. By this point the rest of the group was WAY far away from us. So finally a bus stops and says they'll take us to the nearby market where we can catch another bus to Jinja, suuuuuure!! So we get in and go to this market. At this market there are hundreds of people in these blue vests running at you and sticking their arms in your windows or right in your face trying to sell you fried bananas and meat on a stick. Disgusting meat. The smell alone made me want to barf.
We cannot find a bus that will take us to Jinja. So we see this man with a truck...and jokingly we're thinking maybe we could just ride in the back. This was probably a stupid thing to do, but we ask him for a ride. He says he'll let us hop in the back for 10,000 shillings total. AWESOME. So we're riding in the back of this random man's truck, just HOPING he's actually taking us to Jinja and that we don't fly out of the back of the truck. The drivers here are insane.
Finally we got there and were starving. It was like 2pm and we hadn't eaten since 8am. And we'd been hiking all day. We went to OZZIES!!!!!!!! It's this American/Australian restaurant in Jinja with burgers, milkshakes, brownies, anything you could ever want. It's so sad that after only one week here we are all dying for American food. We were so excited. The owner lady there was a sweetheart too. A really awesome woman who had taken in many orphans and fed many people who couldn't afford food. She's from Australia and lived in NewZealand for a long time, so she got really excited when I told her I was going there next January! Also, we met some other mzungu's, from canada, who were doing humanitarian work and had just been rafting and bungee jumping on the nile. It made me really excited to go! We're going next weekend! Yay! There were a lot of Mzungu's there it was soooo awesome. For about 30 seconds I felt like I was home. That was nice. I also bought some sweet souveniers to bring home to people and I'm so excited! You guys will love em.
So...tomorrow I am going to church in Jinja again and I'm teaching Young Women's. I'm really excited! Oh Lauren! I forgot to tell you that the girls were all so excited when I told them that I know you and everything! They were so happy! The YW president too! I don't remember her name, but they just LOVE you!
Well, I have to go. Mallory, Jay, Kyle, Garyn, Sam, Drew, Matt, Merrill, Shanda, Jade, Christy, Rachel....and all of the rest of you, I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Okay? Okay. Bye. Love.
P.s. JESSICA MARIAH AND GABRIELLE JOIE ISRAELSEN. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU NOW. YOU'D BOTH BETTER SEND ME AN E-MAIL ASAP OR I WILL NOT BRING YOU HOME AN AWESOME SOUVENIER. I almost think you don't love me anymore :(

Tender Mercies

Hello! Today marks the one week anniversary of my beginnings in Africa! 12 more weeks to go! There is not as much to say today, but I still want to write. I love my team. They are awesome. My grandpa passed away and I just found out yesterday. I was having a really hard time because I have to be so far away from my family right now. But I asked a few boys for a priesthood blessing and they were more than willing. Today I feel so much better! I am so happy! And I know my grandpa is happy too and that my family will be comforted!
We have been working on projects and will start jumping in with full forces on Monday. We're going to be doing everything from teacher training, to AIDS prevention to adobe stoves building to farming to music dance theater and everything inbetween! I am Project Lead over the Teacher Training and tehre are so many awesome people who are really excited to start on it. I'm so glad there are so many passionate teachers .....and just passionate people here. We're all really here for the rigth reasons trying to do good things. We're all here to teach these people what we know and to learn from them and what they know! I love my team!
Today, Andrew, Ivan and I went on a boda ride around the entire city of lugazi for about an hour. We got to see the most beautiful sights i have ever seen. I'm sad that my camera battery was dead, but Andrew got some awesome pictures. We got to drive right through the middle of the sugar cane fields and go all the way up to the golf course and all aroudn the town. We went to some places where none of us "muzungu"s have been yet and people were jumping out of their pants to yell "muzungu" at us and to see us. Word travels fast here. In one area, there were kids lining the streets yelling at us becuase they had heard "muzungu's" were coming. It was hillarious. I thougth this girl's lungs were going to jump out of her throat because she was so enthusiastic about screaming at us.
Oh this is a good story. So yesterday afternoon, Andrew, Ryan and I start washing our clothes okay? So we get these buckets and we like soak them in soap and stuff and swish em around and then wash em off and Ivan and our cook/mom Mary come running over "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO WASH YOUR CLOTHING HERE. WE ARE NOT LAZY LIKE YOU AND WE CLEAN OUR CLOTHES. I WILL SHOW YOU NOW." So they start scrubbing our cltohes like I have never seen anyone scrub before. It was insane. So we spend like hours cleaning our clothes with Ivan doing the large majority of it ("these are clean ivan, freak!" "no they are not! give them to me, you are lazy! I will show you"). So we hang them up on all of the lines outside and I was a little self concious to just hang my undrewear out in the open but that's about all you can do here. So, after all this work, we eat dindin, go to beddie bye......Its dark outside when I wake up and it is POURING RAIN. It is pouring harder than I think it eve rhas here. I think to myself...crap, all my laundry is outside. I have two options. Option one. Get out of bed, go try to save mine, andrews, ryan's clothes. Option Two. Leave my clothes out there probably to fly off of the thing and either get lost or really dirty again and go back to bed. Definitely took option two. Yeah, my clothes rae soaked. But it's really warm today so they should be fine. That's how we do here in lugazi.
Tomorrow we are heading up to Jinja (where I go to church and a bit bigger city than this) to do some shopping, hopefully tour a jungle, and eat some goo damerican food...milkshakes, burgers, the like. It will probably not be real american food, but good enough. I can deal.
I haven't had any proposals today. So...you know...It's all good. Haha. Um...yeah so I'm leaving now. I hope all things are going well in the U.S. and I hope you have a wooooooooooonderful day! Webale! Or waraba! I don't relaly know...okay bye.

Omubisi

Okay. Geez. It has been a crazy two days. Every day here is crazy! I love it. So I have all of these things written down and I hope I can get through all of them. This is kind of my journal for the next four months too so I hope this works. I LOVE not having an alarm clock. My alarm clock is the rooster that lives next door. I LOVE not looking at my watch all of the time. I LOVE people being late to meetings and not showing up. I thought I wouldn't be able to stand it, but it is the best blessed thing that has ever happened to me. Everyone is SO relaxed here and it makes everyone have so much less stress and everyone is so happy.
An update on my "honey" situation: So....I dumped him. Hahahahha. We had a divorce and I gave his ring to Lacie. Then he was mad at me for a while for giving his ring away, but we just barely made up and we are friends. But HIS friend Julius Caesar. Did I talk about him last time? I don't remember. He was over meeting us and Ivan got mad at him for talking to me. Anyways, he brought me flowers yesterday. I don't understand. And these are the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. He picked them, and formed this beautiful bouquet with everything from scratch, he made a kind of wrap thing with some cardboard and some banana fibers to tie it all together. And the smell. My friends, I have never smelt anything more beautiful in my entire life. I'm not even joking one tiny bit. Bonnie and Jess LeBaron, remember how when we went to the stores and I would smell that special stuff of Abraham's and wanted to die? It is that times one bajillion million. Answer me this. How come I can hardly get a DATE in America, but here, I could basically marry any man I want? I can tell you this, I have never had more self confidence in my whole entire life. Haha. And yesterday we were walking by a bunch of men ...they all own "boda boda's" which are basically little motorcycles. They own these and they sit on corners and wait for someone to ask them for a ride somewhere (I went on my first one yesterday and it was SO fun but a little scary). Anyways, so this guy said hello to me and I reach out to "shake" his hand. When they shake hands, they don't really shake, they just kind of hold your hand, so this guy holds my hand for a minute, then keeps holding on...I let go but he starts following me and he says "No! But I love you!" So one of the guys in my group, Ryan, says "Omubisi" which means "my honey" or "my sweetheart" kind of claiming me. Hahaha it was so funny. So the guy finally backed off after a few minutes. Ryan was like "what is with you and these Ugandan men?" And everyone is teasing me about "dating the locals." I swear I am just friendly to them....I'm just trying to be kind, but whatever.
So...our water came on yesterday! Hallelujah! But before that, I had to take a shower. I felt completely disgusting. Like, sorry for the details kids, but you clean your arms, legs, face, hair, etc. But you don't clean where your swimsuit covers.....your "necessaries" as we like to call them. So we came up with a shower method for this particular problem. You put soap where is needed, then one stands in the front with a bucket of water, one stands in the back with the same. ONe, two, three. Then there's a bunch of screaming cause the two buckets of water are FREEZING!! Then you crab walk under the rain-water faucet to rinse the rest off. It was really a wonderful feeling to be totally clean. Well....for about 30 seconds.
So we were coming up with a team mission statement yesterday and a guy in my group named Andrew suggested the phrase "self discovery," so I told my group that we needed to have a firm ending, and I came up with "...while on the road to self discovery." Andrew supported me in this and we now put that at the end of every sentence basically. It was hilarious. I'm sure no one else thinks this is funny...but I am peeing my pants just thinking about it so I want to remember it.
Yesterday we went to an AIDS/HIV clinic and oh my goodness. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen. There are dozens of people just sitting there waiting to hear their fate. As I walked in and saw all of these beautiful people...My eyes started to water. It's incredible the power something like that can have on your life. Most people become completely unmotivated and think their is no reason nor any way to live. There was this one woman waiting with her not-even 3 year old girl. The little girl was in this cute white dress and she was staring at me, so I went up to touch her hand. She just grabbed it and held it. My friend got mad at me and was like "don't do that! You'll get some disease!" But I just wanted to pick her up and hold her and give her everything I have. Ah! It's hard seeing these things cause I just want to give them everything. So I just sat with her and held her hand for a while. The most angelic little girl.
Andrew Sitati. I want you to know that half of the men here look like you. I love it. I always want to run up and hug them.
The other day in the middle of the market there were these drums playing and lots of music. I started dancing and EVERYONE was laughing and pointing. Then they made me go in the middle and tried to get me to play the drums. Funny. OH and yesterday I was sitting outside of the SILDA internet cafe and some lady comes up just being really friendly. I shook her hand and she started to pull MY RING OFF. She was crazy. So I was laughing at her trying to ask us for money and every time she would do this insane crazy laugh. As we were walking away, we were like "ah yeah man that was the craziest person in all of Uganda!" And this MAN jumps out of a dumpster making these goat noises and laughing hysterically. So funny.
Well, I need to go and get some lunch now before it is too late. But I love it here. I love the people. i know that we came here to try and do everything we can to improve their way of life. But I don't think I can do anything for them. i know that I can help their education a little bit and maybe build them a stove or two or eight or twenty to help cut their costs, but whatever I do here will NEVER be enough to make up for what they have done for me. I have been here for less than a week and I have learned more than I have in my entire life. These people are incredible. They are so Christ-like and know the right way to live. I love Uganda and everyone here! Even the crazy ring stealer and the psycho dumpster man!

--
Love Will Save The Day
Dani Israelsen

Shake Shake That Mango Tree

I am sitting inside an internet cafe right in the middle of the market place and there are about 300 people gathered outside listeing to this man yell and some music. Right now TI's Live Your Life is on! Yah man! Okay I have so much to tell and I finally have a second to get on and write. Okay so here are some of the things about our living conditions. I don't really remember what I said last time so forgive me if I repeat myself. Our house is two stories and as of today there are 28 of us living there. It is not very big. Maybe like my kitchen, family room, and great room....that's about it. But it is probably the second biggest house in Uganda besides the mayors. It is a doctors house. We do not have running water right now. For some reason they turned it off in the entire city for a few days and ...yeah...which means....I am very sweaty and dirty! Yuck! But it's okay. I am so happy to be here. I don't know if I have been this happy since I was playing with my six boys before they all left! It is hard making the adjustments to be here (not to mention every one has WAY bad B.O. Sick), but I am still so happy! Heavenly Father is blessing me! Oh! Backstreet Boys just came on! American Music! Yeah!
Also, we do nto have flushing toilets. Yes, I pee in a hole in the ground. It is the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. I can not tell you how blessed you boys and men are. We females have a lot harder time aiming. Yeah....But it's a talent I will eventually posses I am sure. The food is good. Just a lot of rice and beans. I love rolex's and these scone things that no one really knows what they are called. They call them "snahks" because they can't say "snacks."
We are the most popular people in town. Every where we go, people follow us and stare at us and yell "Muzungu! Bye Muzungu! How Ah You?" They cannot say their "r"s. Neither do they use any contractions. Do Not. Cannot. Should not. Etc. When you are talking to anyone...even if they have had many years of english, you have to talk like them. So I have started to think in their accent.
Everyone dresses so nice here! All of the women wear dresses or skirts and all fo the men have slacks and button up shirts. Especially at church! Oh I loved Church so much! I went to the Jinja ward yesterday and it was so beautiful! The chapel is open and warm with fans blowing and all of the windows and doors wide open, yet it was so quiet and peaceful and the spirit was so strong. A little girl named Sarah passed me a note and she said "this is for you" at the very end of the meeting. It was so cute. It just read "I want to be your friend. I think you are nice" and then her address and her brother's phone number haha. I love it. I am also teaching young womens next week. The young women's president is incredible. She teaches every single week. I can't imagine how hard that would be with everything else these people have to do. I am hoping that the branch president will give us callings so we can really help the branch grow and strengthen. There are many investigators here and I LOVE seeing the missionaries at work.
Oh, quick shout out to Jadie poo! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GF! I hope you had a good one. My mom was going to call you and tell you happy birthday so I hope she got a chance.
I have to tell about my friend Ivan. He is so funny. He follows me arund everywhere and always listens to my ipod. Then he started calling me Nakintu (said Na-sheen-tu). He said this was my African name. He and one of our bus drivers gave it to me. Then he started calling me "baby" because "you have a young voice" then he calls me things like "mulaloo" which means "handicapped/crazy" whenever I try and speak luganda. And he calls me "little punk" and...what else...there are so many. He is so mean to me. Then he gave me a ring and said we were married. So now he says "you are my honey" and he introduces me to everyone like, "this is my honey." It is a little awkward and I don't really know what to do haha...and I can't really tell if he is joking or not. But he'll go back to school soon and hopefully won't be with us as much. He is defintiely my best "african friend" and he is so helpful to us! He always shows us where to go. And there he is. He just walked in. What a sweetheart. We all love Ivan. Oh he also made me a bracelet today and now everyone else wants one haha it is way cool.
Um...okay the KIDS! This is the best part! Everywhere I go I seem to find a flock of kids. ALL DAY yesterday ...literally...like 4 hours or more...I just went out of our gate and played with the kids. It was me and a boy named Andrew in our group at first. And there were maybe 20 kids out there...then 30 more joined after about a half hour. Then it was much to complicated to try and do ring around the rosy with all of them or to play london bridge is falling down because they all were trying to touch me and my skin and my hair haha. They are so beautiful! They talught me this song that goes ...
"SHAKE SHAKE THAT MANGO TREE
MANGO YELLOW MANGO GREEN
ONE FOR YU AND ONE FOR ME
SHAKE SHAKE THAT MANGO TREE!"
And another one to the tune of frerejaka or however you spell that haha...
"BABY JESUS, BABY JESUS
I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU
YOU ARE MY SAVIOR, YOU ARE MY SAVIOR
EVERY DAY, EVERY DAY!"
They are adorable. I just can't even tell you. When I go anywhere everyone else in the group just waves at the kids as they come out and yell "MUZUNGUUUUUUUUU!!!" But I want to touch and hold and play with every single one! So I at least touch all of their hands or give them a high five or pound it...they say "bonga" when you pound it. Whatever that means.
Saturday we went to African Paradise which is the dance club here. Okay so....everyone LOVES obama here. Like seriously..LOVES obama. I asked Ivan why everyone loves him and he immediately said "BECAUSE HE IS BLACK! HE IS LIKE ME!" I asked him if that was the only reason and he said, "No. He also speaks my language." So...there you go. Everyone loves Obama because he is black and he speaks Luganda. So when we walk down the streets and adults are yelling things at us we don't understand, we just yell "OBAMA!!!!!" And they all go nuts, "OBAMA! OBAMA! OBAMA!!!!!" Cheering and jumping and going crazy! It is so funny! Anyways...so at African Paradise...There are like 20 of us Americans, so they play this song called "obama the hero" or something like that over and over and over and over. We even coreographed a dance to the chorus and every one just watches us on stage. Look up the song on google or something. It is sooo freakin hillariuos. "hero hero hero obama is the hero of africa..." It is stuck in my head all day every day.
Ihave about twenty minutes left and I'm trying to think of what I want to tell! I am constantly thinking oh Merrill would appreciate that or Grandma Nina would think that was hillarious....but I CAN'T REMEMBER IT ALL! Oh okay so I just love meeting the people and talking to people. I love it. I want to meet every single person in this town. And they are all incredibly beautiful. No matter if their hair is all gone and their teeth are all rotted out and they have scars all over their body and their clothes have holes and their eyes don't look straight. They are all beautiful! These people have relationships and love is the most important thing to them. Anyone who will take time to look them in the eyes and say "hello" is their hero. It is a big deal to them. And I love it! I was talking to another girl in my neighborhood ...I can't remember her name for the life of me...something like Vivi. But she is 15 and goes to Secondary School right now. She is so cute. She speaks english so well! She asked me why I play with the kids because apparently all of the other whites who come here are rude and will not talk to anyone. I told her that the kids in
America don't do things with each other. Every child has his or her own video games and movies and maybe plays a team sport but that is about it. THey don't have real relationships like they do here. They don't love like they do here. And they are SO not fun to play with! Haha. Sorry kids, but true. I have never seen real love and real happiness like I have here. And I can't imagine how I will be able to see it even more by the end of this four months.
Like...think fo this. I am walking with a group of about six of us and we're trying to find African Paradise for the first time. Of course everyone else in the group is too shy to ask anyone and I run right up to this store and ask this man where it is. He drops what is in his hands ...literally drops waht he is doing and says..."I will show you. I will escort you. Come on"....And of course we are white so I'm sure that makes a difference, but this has happened multiple times and they do this for each other. This is just how they are. These people are so kind and so caring and so generous. Everything they have, they share. There are no hesitations. If one child gets a mango, they split it into 20 different pieces and give it to the rest of the group. I saw this today multiple times and have seen it every where I go.
So today we went to an orphanage then to do Adobe Stove evaluations. Which is basically checkin out the stoves HELP did last year and making sure they still rock. Which almost everyone did. It was crazy. There were children coming out of every corner and from half a mile away to play. They all wanted to hold uor hands and tuoch us and see us. I don't know if it is weird to make this connection, but I almost feel like this is hwo it will be to see the Savior, you know? Like we will all be so grateful to Him and run up to him and want to feel His hands and just thank him so much for everything He did. Every child's face...I think of the love I feel for them and can't IMAGINE how great Christ's love is for them. Wow. Incredible. Anyways...one of the girls in the group was like, "Dani, we just need to five you a flute and you'll be the Pied Piper." Haha they are so cute. Oh and I do have my flute so I will be teh pied piper. I just want to keep every single child and take them home with me. I wnat to give them everything I have and help them to find a better life. Even with them being so happy....I want them to feel every joy in life.
I have to go, but I love you all. I love Africa! Thank you for your comments on the last post and keep commenting so I know this serves a purpose. I love you all soooooooo much. I don't really miss you to tell the truth, but I love you.
I hope you are doing well and have a good day! "MUZUNGUUUUUUUU!"
P.s. Lauren. the girls in the ward LOVE you. More later.

MAMA AFREAKA

Yay!I am here! Oh. My. Gosh. It is beautiful. Okay I'm going to try and say as much as I can in the next 14 minutes so sorry for typos and horrid grammar. So it all started Thursday at 4am. We left for the airport and I was already crying cause my little sis Jessi came in crying. Geez. But I was fine as I went through security then after I blew my mom a kiss goodbye it set in. Oh my goodness what the heck am i doing? Oh and then my little money pouch thing that I have to go under my dress? It's like this pouch for my camera, ipod, money, and passport okay? Yeah, it broke. My mom is worried now, I know it. Haha, but I tied it and just basically held it the whole time in my hands. Nothing is stolen so far. I'm good. So...then the flights were long and boring, but I was with many people. Especially from Amsterdam to Entebbe. Plenty of other volunteers. When we landed in Entebbe (a few hours of a drive from Lugazi), it was pitch black so it still felt like good ole American Fork Utah. But then when we were driving...about 20 of us packed into a van that they call a "bus" and oh my gosh. they were like new york taxi drivers! I'm sure you'll understand how crazy they are drew! And I stuck out my head out the window and everyone was staring at this bus of white people as we drove past...crazy. Then we got to the house and I already had liek 10 bug bites (thanks for the heads up Lauren...I don't know what I would do without you and Leslie!) But the house is big and beautiful. No huge bugs yet (inside anyways). We walked into town today and EVERYONE WAVES AND STARES! And it's true that all the little kids yell "MUZUNGU!" Then they run up to you and giggle and act shy or they shake your hand and bow to the ground. They are beautiful. It's beautiful here. I've already become great friends with this 18 year old guy named Ivan. He's a friend of help and has been previously! He's hillarious. He laughs at everything I say and lets me listen to all of his African music on his ipod. He's fun. And he takes us around town and shows us everything. Okay so I have a couple of shout outs to make and Bonnie, if you could please tell these people to read this on facebook or when you see them, that would be awesome. I love you.
First of all, Bonnie: I love you. And I watched Bride Wars on the plane and thought of you and me. Our friendship. We're cute. Watch it and tell me what you think. And I loved your note. Also made me cry.
Ziggy and Joshua: I am SO SORRY I did not answer your phone call. I was about to leave for the airport and kind of going crazy. But I love both of you guys and everything here reminds me of you! Like when josh goes "oh!" in a really high pitched voice...everyone does that here.
Matthew Bailey: Your asian whisltle is safe and sound and thanks again. Haha. I'm going to find someone to braid my hair soon!
Drew Engebretsen: I have listened to your song at least 8 million times. When I was crying my face off after I said goodbye to my mom and dad, I listened to your song for like an hour straight and was happy. I laughed a lot. Like the mocking/stalking part...funny. And what else? I don't know, I just love it all. And I played it super loud today for everyone in my group to hear.

Well, I promise I"ll write more next week. But, mom, be assured that I am happy and safe. Everyone here is so kind to us. They already feel like family, really! Today we are going to go swimming (if it stops raining here, it is the most beuatiful warm rain) then go to the dance club African Paradise which I am super excited about! Then tomorrow we will go to church and just have a free day. I love you all! And I LOVE UGANDA. I never want to go back to Utah. If I could just pick up my house and plop it on a piece of land out here in Uganda, then I would live here forever. Keep reading and I promise I'll put al lmy funny stories and everything in next time! Bye!

Safe Journey

The African phrase for "peace out homie" or "don't die out there" is "safe journey!" And that's what I'm about to do. I'm leaving Utah for 13 weeks in order to do some humanitarian work in Lugazi, Uganda. If you don't know where that is...TAKE GEOGRAPHY. Just jokin'...Here's a map:
































See the cute little pinkish/purplish one in between Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo? That's me! I'll be living in a tiny little house with anywhere from 15-32 people throughout the summer. I will eat legit African food, showering about once a week, and spend much of my time killing huge African bugs. If everything goes according to plan, I will be working in the schools, orphanages, refugee camps, and other places doing things like teaching, building, and just loving the people! I am so excited! I have wanted to do something like this my entire life and it's finally happening! I'm so glad that I found HELP-International. They are an incredible Non-Profit Organization that really wants to do good in the world and actually help people. I am FINALLY leaving on Thursday, May 7th (Glenn's Birthday!) and I am prepared to tell you everything about my awesome experience.
Please read about my trip and if you like reading it, COMMENT! Please :) I think everyone needs to have an experience like this in their life...if you aren't able to do that right now, then at least read about mine to get a better understanding of what's going on in the rest of the world!
Love,
Dani Diz

FYI:
***I'll be mentioning the following names a lot in this blog: Abe, Andy, Brent, Chris, Glenn, and Kendall. If you have no clue who they are, check out this blog... http://boysofdiz.blogspot.com.
***If you want to know more about the organization that I am going to Africa with, check out their website: http://www.help-international.org.
***If you want to get a hold of me, comment or e-mail me at dani.israel23@gmail.com.