Final Days…

June 11th, 2009 by Cristina

So school this past week has been absolutely awesome! I played tic-tac-toe with my P1 class! I divided the class into 2 groups (X and O) and I had a list of questions. If they got the question right, they could put their mark on the # that I put on the blackboard. The first 2 games they weren’t quite sure about what was going on or how to play it. By the 3rd game, they got into it, and started blocking the other team and by the 4th and 5th game they were yelling and cheering and trash talking the losing team!! hahaha It was so much fun!! The “O”s won, 4-1!!

Last weekend we had gone to Jinja and checked out the craft markets. I got to see some more of the craft shops than I saw 2 weeks ago when I went. I got to meet some extremely talented local artists too! One of them showed me his studio where there was a ton of artwork that wasn’t on display. He actually has a website and said that some of his stuff is in the USA! The card he gave me has 2 websites and I haven’t checked them out yet, but if you would like to, they are www.storenvy.com and www.jinja-art-kale.com. His name is Angelo Masike Edrine. I would have bought some of his stuff, but I couldn’t for 3 reasons. I didn’t have the money, I would never be able to fit it in my suitcase, and there is no way I could have just chosen one!! Oh, and one more reason. I have no where to put it. hahaha Minor detail though, right?

So on a more serious note, and I realize that this last journal entry is all out of order and a mishmash of information… This was my last week at the school.

I had my last day of teaching said goodbye to my kids yesterday. I gave them some of the disposable cameras I brought and they all went nuts! I know I am going to get lots of pictures of half faces because they love to do closeups and I am sure they got WAY too close on a lot of them… One of the kids was actually taking pictures of a car!! I was like, I dont want pictures of a CAR!! I see those all the time!! I want pictures of YOU!! hahaha

Kira who was also saying her goodbyes, came up and basically said we had to leave NOW. She had said her goodbyes and was on the verge of tears. Well, we finally made it out of there 20 minutes later, and at that point I was straight up bawling. I started crying when I got my stuff. I looked at all their faces and said “I am going to miss you” and that was it. The tears came out of no where and there was NO holding them back. I just started crying right there in front of 30 kids and they all looked at me like, “what is this crazy mzungu crying about??” I think the older kids understood but the younger ones were a little confused. One boy thought it was his fault that I was crying because I had a few pictures left on one of the disposable cameras and he snatched it out of my hand. So he came back in and handed me the camera with the pictures still available on it. haha I gave it back to him to take more pictures. I cried as I left that room, cried as I got that last camera back, cried as I walked up the road out of the school compound, and cried for about 5 more minutes while walking down the road. And writing about it now, is making me teary eyed again. I definitely did not want to leave those kids. I wish I could stay. I wish I could stay and help teach there forever. I wish I could watch them grow up. I wish I could bandage their wounds because they get a lot of them. I wish I could watch them learn and hold them when they cry. I wish I could teach them more games, and see them get excited. I wish I could give them more. So many wishes… I have decided to donate on a monthly basis to the Global Volunteer Network Foundation (http://www.gvnfoundation.org/programs/projects/uganda/real/). If you see the different programs for Uganda that GVN has been working with (partnered with The Real Uganda), you will see one listed as the Hope for Africa Children’s Village. That is where I have been teaching. They just finished putting in the energy saving stoves for the kitchen that feeds the kids breakfast and lunch. Their next project is to move the latrines. They built a new school building with the funds donated and were able to knock down most of the temporary structures that are always getting destroyed by storms. My P1 class is still in one of those structures. They might be able to have a classroom in an actual building in the future.

So yeah, I had a very emotional day yesterday…

Today is Kira’s birthday. It is also her last day in Lugazi. I know for a fact that she should be packing right now and all she is doing is lying on her bed listening to her music and thinking of how much she doesn’t want to leave. I know she is doing that because I caught her doing it and because I know I will be doing the same thing on Sunday when it’s my turn to pack up and get ready to leave… I just know I am going to break down either on Sunday or Monday…

So on a final note…

This trip was an incredible experience. I have worked with some amazing people, made friends with other volunteers from all over, fell in love with my host family and all the kids I taught, and realized that traveling halfway across the world and volunteering in a 3rd world country is not as scary as I thought it would be. Sure I had my issues and I missed some comforts of home, and I can’t wait to have an actual shower with an overhead spout and hot water and water pressure… But these are minor things that you never realize that you can go without until you don’t have them as an option. I thought I was going to freak out at all these crazy bugs and it turns out that I saw maybe 5 cockroaches, a handful of little spiders, got only 2 mosquito bites, and had more of an issue with flies on the last 2 days of school than anything else. Oh, and there are ants everywhere. Mostly just the little ones, but yeah. They are everywhere. You get used to it after a while. The bugs were definitely not something I had to worry about. Oh but be careful if you have long hair. I had some get caught in my hair on more than one occasion. hahaha That’s not fun…

I finally got my hair braided and yes it has some funky color. I have been told that I look very “smart” which is their way of saying that I look very good with the hair braided. I have also been told that I am African now. hahaha I think I need more of a tan…

I got proposed to often, heard the words “I love you” in passing, been told that I am the future wife of whoever. hahaha My host mom says that there have been men that have followed me back to the house (I have never seen them) and she also said that they all know I stay with her and they ask her if I have a boyfriend. She tells them that of course I do and that even if I didn’t, their wallet wasn’t “happy” enough to keep a mzungu girlfriend, and that they had to compete with mzungu millionaires. hahaha She is too funny… I also apparently have a stalker that I haven’t met and who doesn’t know where I live. hahaha He isn’t a very good stalker. He has shown up about 5 times at the Mukono house for volunteers and says that he is with me, or looking for me. Every time he shows up I am not there. So the other volunteers are like, “well, you can’t be with her because she isn’t here and doesn’t live here.” So he makes himself comfortable there and starts reading or talking. hahaha He doesn’t knock to come in, he just walks in. It’s really funny. I hear it every weekend. “Hey Cristina, your stalker was here!” I think it’s probably one of those random guys in Mukono that asks for a name and we give our names and mine was probably the one he remembered. Eventually he is going to realize that “Cristina” isn’t getting him anywhere and he will use someone else’s name. It’s very entertaining though.

So my last big Uganda experience will be tomorrow. I am meeting up with people in Mukono and we are all heading to Kampala for the Ugandan Cranes rugby game! woohoo!!! I can’t wait! I have never been to a rugby game and my first one will be in Uganda. hahaha That’s awesome.

Thanks to everyone at home for supporting me and helping me get here! I appreciate all of it and this has been an unbelievably awesome experience! Thanks to my family for realizing that this was something I needed to do and for helping me when I needed it. Thanks to everyone for the prayers I know where said! I told some to pray that I write in this journal and I did!! hahaha And most of all thanks to the people in Uganda. They are beautiful wonderful people who were full of warm welcomes, big smiles, hugs, and gifts! I received massive amounts of avocados, mangos, passion fruit, jackfruit, etc… hahaha

I hope to come back again someday…