Music, Singing, Mass, and Game Rides, African Style!

Hi eveyone! I can’t believe this is my last week - it all went way too fast, but I've loved every minute of it!

So last Thursday all of "the girls" (Lauren, Monica, and I) went to the office in the afternoon, There weren't a whole lot of kids there so we hung out w/ Lucy, Robert (2 volunteers), and Grace. Lucy, Lauren, and I taught each other songs and Lucy also told us a story. I was able to teach all of the volunteers and Grace how to make hemp bracelets and we hope to be able to sell them here in Gulu and in the USA to help fund Dwon Madiki. (Actually pronounced Dwon Madiri with a flipped "r").

Friday morning Clare, another volunteer, called us and invited us to "pray" with her at her former school, Sacred Heart. We didn't realize that when she asked us to "pray" we were actually goijng to a full mass. It was to celebrate the Feast Day of the Sacred Heart. Mass was incredible! There was so much singing, dancing, and celebrating. I don't thinbk I've ever heard a homily where the priest was able to make his congregation laugh so much before - the kids loved their priest. When Clare realized I could semi do the high pitched yell she kept asking me to do it - I got some pretty amusing looks when I did... =)

After mass we packed and headed to the National Park - the roads were acutally really good, mostly because prior to 2003 they were rarely used b/c of rebel activity. We passed many IDP camps, they really are extremly crowded! Along the road we also got to see many monkeys, birds, antelopes, and even a herd of elephants!

We had to cross the Nile to get to where we were staying. While we waited for our Ferry we got to get really close to a hippo who had ventured out of the water to graze. There were so many bamboos! They were really bold too - one kept following Monica around until she threw him her banana; the same one climbed into Moses' (Collins' cousin, and another attorney) car and took a carton of juice. Some soldiers gave us some sugar cane (which to Moses' amusement we really didn't know how to eat) and we kept hving to throw pieces to the bamboos so they wouldn't keep following us!

When we got to our lodging we were all VERY excited to discover we had running water and a shower! It was so nice to have clean hair!!! It was very hot out so we enjoyed dragging our mattreses out to the screened in porch and sleeping out there - the breeze was so nice!

Saturday we took a boat tour down the Nile to the falls - along the way we saw a lot of hippos, antelopes, birds, and crocodiles. It was so incredibly beautiful!

After the boat we drove up to the falls. I have never seen water falls as incredible as these! They were so powerful and the water was just so clear and unpolluted, it was awesome!

Sunday we woke up early and went on a "game ride." There weren’t any cars available so we just took Collins' truck. (We realized a little too late that the nice breeze didn’t mean we wouldn’t get sunburned – we all have pretty sweet tan lines…) Anyways, we got to see a lot of giraffes (and are now able to distinguish b/w the male and female giraffes!), antelopes, birds, water buffalo, and water bucks.

Today we are planning on going to mass with Grace – one of her nephews is getting ordained as a deacon. I also hope to catch the “football” match – if Uganda wins then they get to go to the African Cup!

That’s about it for now.

Love,
Amy

PS. So I guess “Amy” is short for Emilio – so whenever I say my name, people assume it’s “Emmy” and hence I guess I have a boy’s name. In Uganda, “Lauren” is also a boy’s name as well – we are in search of new names.