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The Journal: This is a journal I kept during my trip to Africa in 2002. I hope you will find it enjoyable. I am planning to go to Africa again in 2005. If you would like to donate, you can find out how here.Warning: main(comment.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/addison/public_html/africajournal.php on line 16 Warning: main() [function.include]: Failed opening 'comment.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/addison/public_html/africajournal.php on line 16 May 15, 2002 This is so cool it should be illegal! The Super 80 we flew on to Chicago was one thing but the 747 was entirely different! I can't believe that each seat has its own T.V! At the moment I'm watching BBC World News! This is almost the coolest thing I've done on my life! They just gave us a little bag of bread sticks and a drink. This is neat! I really like flying! I will write more later. (Time passes.) We just ate dinner... good food! I am watching a movie that Jason says is good, it is.May 16, 2002 Jason, Isaac, and myself are the only ones awake. It's 1:00am STL time but we can see the sunrise out our window it is really cool! It's the only light on the plane. We are traveling at 563 mph, the outside temp. is -49 degrees, we are 11,277 feet in the air. This is so cool! I have to get some more sleep. Bye! (Time passes) Well! Did we have fun in London! We got to see the Tower Of London, which was really neat! I'm the only one awake from our group. We are on our way to Entebbe and should arrive around land sometime tomorrow morning. We're riding in a 767 instead of 747 which by the way, was really nice! This one is just about the same except our own TVs! The crew is super friendly here, they even give out water in the middle of the night! I really miss Mom alot, especially after the phone call from Jason's cell. I need to stop writing and get some sleep. One last thing though, the bathrooms on the plane are really neat! I just read a note from my mom saying "thinking of you and miss you". It almost brought tears to my eyes. XOXOXOXOXOMay 17, 2002 Wow! The first thing I noticed about Uganda was the change in humidity. I felt it right off the plane! We sent Mom an email today, but forgot tell her about the traveling experience. We ate lunch in Kampala and got supplies at a store called Metro. (Kinda like Sam's but an a much smaller scale!) We were really able to see Uganda up-close-and-personal in Kampala! It was wild! I mean, some people build their houses out of whatever is available! I've never seen so many people in all my life! When we got our luggage unpacked we went with DR. G (this is what I call him, pronounced: "Gee") to the worksite at the church to pay the men their day's wages. Then we went to the Stensas' for dinner. While we were waiting for the food to be served, a storm blew up. A lightning bolt was seen right over the wall across the street as a loud thunder clap pierced our ears. I've never been that close to lightning before! Welcome to Uganda, where you put your faith to the test! (a song that Dr. G sang whenever things got a little rough!) Tomorrow we are going on visitation at 1pm. So I've got to get some sleep!May 18, 2002 Today we went to the market here in Soroti. I don't think it is something I'll forget very soon. Apperantly some things bothered Isaac because he barfed on the way out. I think it was the meat that did it, I almost lost it myself after that! I really miss My Mom and sisters, and its only the 2nd day here! BTW, our email did not get sent so we will try again tomorrow.May 19, 2002 It was so good to get Mom's email. I could almost picture her saying it! The joy of email! Well today we went to our first Ugandan church service today... that was fun! Philip burned some things on CD for Dr.G. They include, Monsters Inc. Blackhawk down, and some current pictures of people at church. We had our first taste of Ugandan food today. At first I thought I would not like it. Actually it was very good! I'm begining to miss the girls alot. I try to picture them often in my mind. Boy! My third day in Uganda! I can't believe it! Isaac has had somewhat of a rough time. Everyone else is cool, although we could all use more sleep! That's why I need to stop for now! Oh! We have not seen any snakes yet!May 20, 2002 Boy! Was it good to hear Moms voice! I wiwsh I could have talked to Amaris though. There's somthing I forgot to say the other day. I had my fist ride on a Boda Boda! It was better than expected! Nice breeze on the ride though! :-) Today was our first day of work at the property. It was fun though I got quite dirty, although I don ú roperty. It was fun though I got quite dirty! It is hard to understand the Ugandans sometimes, though I'm sure that will fet easier as we go on. It's a good thing the Guimon's have alot of fans to go around as it is warm here. I miss my Mom and sisters alot everyday. I'm so glad I brought this journal! Alot of things are different here in Uganda, espesially the streets.Some are just ruts in the grass! Most familys try to make a living selling something in the streets. Sometimes it's clothes, fresh mangos... whatever they can make a few shillings on. Dr. G says its a greedy culture. He's right. They try to cheat the Mzungu (that's ateso for white dude!) as much as they can, but that has not happened to me yet! I need to start wearing bug repelent now that we have started to work at the property.May 21, 2002 Dad is not having a fun time! He felt so bad after lunch today that he could not go to class. sure hope he feels better soon. Isaac and Dad are both asleep. I gotta go.....May 22, 2002 Well not much to say today. Isaac was not feeling well this morning, Dr. G took him home. He came back after lunch. We had the usaual meal at Cafe Amigos. Dinner was at the Stensas tonight. We had salad, potato soup and Kool-Aid. We also had apple crisp and brownies for dessert. I'm begining to like Dr. G more every day. For insatnce, while we were at the job site today, we started to throw some little fruits at the Ugandan kids over the wall. Just joking of course! So Dr. G came over and literally said "Hit the Mizungu!" You have no idea how many times I got hit with one of those little things! Man these kids can throw hard! We had fun though! I forgot to say something yesterday. Yesterday, while we were working some kids started yelling at us and motioning for us to come over. So we went over and looked over the wall. They had caught this huge moniter lizard and they had it on a rope!! It was dead though... thank God!! The kids said they trapped it and gutted it. We showed it to Dr. G and Mr. Stensas. The thing was at least three feet long! Exciting! I forgot to write that yesterday because I got to sleep so late. I was just able to jot down a sentence or two. Speaking of sleep, I gotta go to bed.May 23, 2002 Ahh! We had another fruit fight with the natives today.I Only got hit a million times! I guess that's better than the two million last time! Ha Ha! We told the kids to come back tomorrow. Ran, fought with us today. That was nice! We had another meal at Cafe Amigos today. We had dinner at the Wright's house tonight. They fed us fahitas! We had rice krispie treats for dessert. I did the puppets today. That went over with the kids really well. Joshua drew a picture for them and told them about Jesus. It was nice to get a small break from work to do the puppets.We also had a meeting at the church and another chalk drawing. Alot of the kids came tonight. I think our war helped with that! :-) On the way home, we sang hymns on top of Dr. G's 4x4 Nissan. Then Dr. G stopped and bargained with a street cook for some chipatti's. They are kinda like a burrito, only thicker, and more grease! are kinda like a burrito, only thicker, home and came back to get them. Then when we got home for the second time time, out with the ketchup,(that's just what you do over there-eat them with ketchup) it's snack time baby!!!May 24, 2002 Well, well, well, Friday! Finally! It was good to hear moms voice today! Tomorrow will be alot of fun. We will go to Sipi falls, and on Sunday, we will climb Soroti rock. I'm ready for the break! We had a huge fruit fight today! At least we had them outside the wall! That was fun! We had a chalk drawing at the church again. The kids really enjoyed it! We had alot of kids this time. The first five rows or so was all kids! They were quite the whole time. I hope that I get to the puppets again! That was alot of fun. The kids really enjoyed that to! That's about all for today because I'm getting sleepy! Big day tomorrow...May 25, 2002 Today we had alot of fun!! We went to Sipi falls!! It was very beautiful. Not just one waterfall, but a combo of three. It was really cool! I took alot of pictures today... about a roll and a half! Wow it's hard to believe only a week and then we leave. It was good to take a break today. Tomorrow I will do the puppets in the kids church which I know will be fun! I really like to work with the kids here. It's amazing, they all want to shake hands with the Mzungu! Funny isn't it?!?!? For dinner we ate roast with carrots and potatoes. And cake for Mrs. Guimons birhtday. I can't wait for philips birthday. Well, I've got to get some sleep! Goodnight!May 26, 2002 Well, we had a really great time climbing Soroti rock. Some parts were really steep but it was alot of fun! When we got to the top we could see the Guimons house. It was really cool.We ate pizza for dinner at the wrights house. Very good! Then we went to the Stensas to watch Goast And The Darkness. Wow! Was that cool! It was a movie about two man eating lions...SCARY!!! Today while we were at the wrights house for dinner, me, Philip, Joy, and Naomi were outside in the backyard. Then one of the Guimons dogs jumped over the wall, and started attacking the wrights dog! So Philip got right in the middle of it, and started to seperate the dogs, while me and Philip Hall wrestled the other dog. Philip Bruza got his hand bit by one of the dogs. That was exciting! TTFN.May 27, 2002 Well tomorrow is Philips birhtday. I really can't wait! We will celebrate at the wrights house. We did not do anything exciting today but I will do some puppets at the school tomorrow. That will be fun! Well, Goodnight!May 28, 2002 Today was philips birthday. Yesterday we all signed a card Naomi bought. It was nice. Philip got an exotic shirt, you know, the kind with the vivid colors and beach scenes. He also got a five pack of Hot Wheels cars from Jason. We ate at Cafe Amigos again. Good food. Then we ate at the wrights house for dinner and the only thing I can remember is the mashed potatoes! We did the puppets today. It was nice to stop work for the puppets. Tomorrpw after lunch we will go shopping for shirts. They have some neat, bright, African ones. I hope to get one pretty cheap. Today I read Frank Pereti's Hangman's Curse. Good Book! don't read if you don't like spiders though. You'll never sleep again!May 29, 2002 Well today we went to the property to work. Boy! I did not know a wheelbarrow full of concrete could be so heavy. I'm actually looking forward to the ride home. Not because I don't like it here but because I really like to fly! Boy! It's hard to believe I haven't seen my sisters or my Mom in two weeks! I miss them!May 30, 2002 Well yesterday I forgot to write that I bought a real Ugandan shirt for about eight dollars U.S. funds. It is really nice. Naomi is the one who suggested the color. I will wear it tomorrow when we give the men taking the class their certificate of completion. Today we did the puppets at a school again. The kids really liked it! After that we went to the traveling market and I bought my Mom a handmade purse. Not that she needs another purse, just that it's from Uganda, and I couldn't think of anything else she would enjoy! It seems I have learned alot these 2 1/2 weeks. I really have. I'm going to miss James and Mundi alot. They are Dr. G's right hand men. I will miss Dr. G too.May 31, 2002 Well today was not the best of days. In fact I spent most of the night barfing! Ugh! Before that we went to the market for souviners. We began a game of Axis and Alies. That is, before I got sick! That's all for today.June 1, 2002 Well I was not much better today. I stayed in bed all day. Everybody else went to a village except Mrs. Spilger and Mathew. I didn't throw up anymore but I am still very tired.June 2, 2002 Well we went to church this morning. I stayed out with the luggage to keep it from being stolen. After that we went to Cafe Amigos for a sack lunch. Then we drove about three and a half hours to Kampala. I slept quite a bit on the way here. We stopped at the international theater and bought souviners. Then we went to Fang Fang chinease restaurant. The food was very good! Then we drove about 45 minutes to Entebbe. We checked in to Sophi's motel. It is quite a nice place. It was nice to get a soft bed to sleep in after traveling all day. That's all. June 3, 2002 We got up at 6 am this morning, took a shower, ate, loaded up, and went to the airport. We took off at about ten till nine. We are on a 767. It has alot of room per person. (time passes) It was a nice plane. We checked into the Marriott at about 6:45 or so. It's a very nice hotel located very close to the airport. We were able to watch Monsters Inc. on the plane. It is a very funny movie! After we checked in, we went to dinner at a little place called Pheasent Pub. (yeah I know it's called a pub, but we didn't sit in the bar or anything!) They had very good fish! I'm looking forward to seeing my family again. I should see them tomorrow night, Lord willing! That's all.June 4, 2002 Wow! It's good to be back home! I'm sure glad to see my family again! I couldn't wait to show my stuff to mom! We got up early and ate breakfast at Mcdonalds in Heathrow airport. We had some time to browse the "duty free" shops before we got on the 747. That's a big plane! After we landed in Chicago, we had a big layover bacause of multiple delays. We ate in the food court. I had a Mcdonalds quarter pounder. I guess you can tell what food I missed the most! Once we got on the plane to STL I fell asleep. I had a nice little nap. We got off the plane and had to walk a long way from the gate. I was really excited to see everybody. Just turned a corner and bang! There they are! Almost cried!
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