First days in Gulu

Internet is slow, so pictures will come later. Walked through Gulu today, the red dirt really jacks up your clothes and feet, but a reason to be dirty. The beard is growing in nice right now, but here is what has happened so far. Oh yeah, treat all this like a story and characters will be introduced along the way. I am mentioning people like you know them and I am sorry, but whatever this is my blog.

We woke up and went to the Bavubuka community center in Kampala. It is run by the best rapper in Uganda called Bataka. He is in the states half the year and in Uganda the other half. The center was unbelievable. We got to hear what the center was all about and how they are pushing a very positive message and a conscience message about the problems in Uganda. They educate the kids in dance, rap, reading, writing and just seem to provide an unbelievable environment for the kids. Their house was one of the better places I saw in Kampala and while we were there, we taught them a bunch of activities to get the kids to know each other, and I use so many of them as bell ringers in the classroom. It was a great experience and got some wonderful pictures that I will post as soon as I can. They have a website that I would like you guys to look at and I will get it to you soon.

The trip to Gulu was an experience. To say the roads are inadequate is an understatement. To make a normal 4 hour trip takes about six hours because you are constantly stopping, swerving, going on the side of the road to avoid to gigantic potholes that exist on the only real way to get to Gulu. It was a bumpy ride, but we got to see the wonderful geography of Uganda. It is so lush and green and absolutely gorgeous. There are constant huts and small shacks along the way, with a few major villages built in between. The little children along the way are so friendly, waving to us as we went by. As we got close to Gulu, we crossed the Nile, it was absolutely breathtaking. We cross were there are some falls and it was just so surreal to see it. The trip took about a total of six hours and was not that bad at all.

I sat between Jon and Alison and was just cracking up at them the whole time. Jon is constantly doing something to be funny and being almost 7 feet tall, most motions inside a small bus are hilarious. Alison and I were just playing would you rather as we figured out about our different regions of the U.S.

As we arrived to Gulu, I got to see what an IDP camp looked like. We passed two on the way into Gulu. It is pretty strange to see huts so close together, but they did that in order to be safe and not to spread themselves out. While many people are returning to their homes, there are still large populations to not return to their original home. In some cases, the parents return to their original home and the kids stay in the IDP camp, because that is where the school has relocated and that is where they can receive an education. That can cause problems, as the informal foster family can exploit the kids, especially the women.

The IC house is pretty cool. As we rolled up, the place is fenced in and out of the main drag of the city a little bit. We were greeted by group 1 and the interns that have been here for a while and it was nice to be greeted by a good group of people. It has a main house and a room quarters. There is a cook here that created the most amazing little Mexican fiesta for us last night. I will get some pictures right away of the IC house to send out, because it is cool. We got to meet the man, Jamie, who runs the show at the IC house. He lives here year round and that has to be interesting, getting new roommates every couple of weeks. After we ate, we had to send off half the group to the nunnery, as there are only so many rooms here and many are teaching right over there. It was kind of sad, because there has been so much bonding and then these people are gone and it is uncertain how much we will all see each other. Also, the people that I see to get along with the most, Matt A., Alison, Casey and Jo are all staying there. Anyways we will see them today but still it would be nice to be close to everyone. Anyways worn out, I sat around and talked with the group 1 people and there are only six of them, compared to the 21 of us, so there were all at the IC house and it was nice to talk to them a little, as they asked us about what was going on in the states and we started asking about Gulu. Finally, I headed off to bed, having the middle spot on the three level bunk bed with big Matt and Dave. I fell asleep listening to Germany and Turkey play their Euro semifinal, and fell asleep at halftime tied up 1 to 1. I am getting a little nervous about being so remote in Atanga, but everyone seems so excited for myself and Dave. Maybe they are a little nervous for us too and want to keep our spirits high.