Speed Bumps

So....I wrote my blog TWICE in Gulu. It was at least two pages in Microsoft Word each time and each time something went wrong with the computer. TWICE! But now I'm in Kampala with "high-speed" internet and a box of fruit snacks and granola bars in front of me from my mommy....so I'll summarize. There's a ton to say.
Extravaganza: Went well...or horribly. Depends on who you talk to. Wilson thought it was great, we thought it was horrid. So...ya know. A cultural difference I guess. The highlights were dancing traditionally and the crowd going wild...ALso the Mayor of Lugazi, Ozuma, got up and danced and I had a special little duet dance with him. It was nice.
Ride to Gulu: Let's just summarize it with 188 speed bumps, sitting in the back of the bus and gettin air on every bump, bus breaking down, stopping in a town with a bunch of drunkards for about 2 hours who asked me if I would sleep with them.
Gulu: Was nice. We stayed in a hotel with rats and roaches and spiders one night, then at a pink indian hotel for the rest of the nights. lovely. Built stoves. Met with Invisible Children--WAY cool. Visited an IDP camp. Just normal stuff...ya know...There are loads of mzungus there or mwonos as they call them in Acholi (Gulu is acholi tribe)....not much for us to do in 2 days.
SAFARI: AWESOME. I saw hippopotami and elephants and giraffes and warthogs and crocs and lots of other animals! Sadly no zebras...but the others sufficed.
Post-Safari: Driver was supposed to take us to Masindi and lied to us and actually took us back to Gulu so we had to suffer through the 5hour speed bumpiest ride EVER on the way back...not to mention suffering through a man next to me the entire time asking me to marry him and him leaning on me the entire 5 hours. Sick butt. I was so happy to get back to Lugazi. I love Lugazi sooooo much. It is my second home.
I guess I don't have much else to say. OH YEAH! I remember what I wrote in my other forty page long blogs. So..I love Uganda. So much. Like I didn't realize it until recently for some of my circumstances...but...I love it. I love the people. I love the land. I love the weird foods. I love all the gross things about it even. I embrace the latrines and the cockroaches. Seriously though. Like...Honestly, I really couldn't live here long term. But there will always be a place in my heart for Uganda. The people are wonderful. They need so much and lack so many necessary things, but one thing they do have is happiness. Pure joy and happiness. I especially love to see the joy in the members of the church. People here don't join the church because their parents are members or because they feel obligated too. It's a hard thing and many are persecuted. These people have nothing. They have maybe two pairs of clothes and a pair of worn out shoes. They have a meal once a day and it consists of flour and water. Most can't even afford rice and beans. But you know what? They're happy. People inside the gospel especially. But as well as people everywhere in Uganda. It's a kind of happiness you hardly ever see in America. It's hard to explain. GAH! I wish everyone could just automatically have the knowledge I have gained being here. I wish I could just shoot it into your brain or something. I wish everyone could have this experience....with ALL my heart. If I had the money, I would send each of my loved ones to come and take a part of east AFrica with them. I wish you could see these people. I wish you could hug one of the children. I wish you could be their friends and practically their family and feel their love day in and day out! It is incredible.
I see so many NGO's who come for two weeks and leave and they think they know so much about how these people live and they think they have helped these people so much by building a house and holding a few kids hands. Sure, building a house is great, but these people really do nothing much for these people and can never really understand them in that short amount of time. I have already gained way more than I have given here. I know I say this every time and I'm sure I'll say it again the next week and the next...but it's amazing what I have learned here and the love I have felt. I love the Ugandan people so much.