Day 5: Church on the Hill

I can't maintain the kind of journaling I've done the past few days. Today I was so busy and active all day that I am just now able to take a second and jot down some of my thoughts... Today you get bullet points: - Slept beautifully until 8:30am - Short, freezing cold shower, much more fun and invigorating than I expected - A quick banana, buttered toast, hard-boiled egg - An extremely strenuous 75 minute hike uphill on dusty, slippery red rocks in the beating hot sun to a church service on a mountaintop (can't wait to show you the pictures and play the songs I recorded!) - Gorgeous, arid mountainside farmland replete with mud huts, wooden sheds, goats and cows tied to stakes by one leg, and hundreds of sweet, dirty children peeking out of homes with curious eyes and wide smiles saying "Mulembe!" (Meaning hello in Lugisu) or "Howareyou?" (the only English they know until starting school) - Several men eager to come out and meet us, introduce themselves (David, Richard, Peter...), shake our hands, join our walk uphill - A lovely two hour church service, with a sermon entitled "Arise and Shine" featuring English translation and a few speeches by a few goofy Americans (us) - A super friendly 23-year-old aspiring doctor named Vincent (and recipient of an AAH scholarship to acquire his nursing certification) who volunteered to translate our goofy speeches during the church service and insisted on holding my hand as we made our way on... - An insanely steep walk ("sloping" they called it) down the other side of the mountain to have a big meal at John's mother's house with two dozen family members and the best cabbage I've ever eaten. - A wonderful conversation with Vincent about faith and self-confidence while walking to see the grounds of Arlington Academy of Hope for the first time. - Garen's sponsored student, Joshua waiting for us at the Guesthouse this afternoon, eager to meet us and send his deep gratitude for Garen paying his school fees for years. I gave him a flashlight and Dad gave him some cash for back to school supplies. Joshua's begins his second year of secondary school tomorrow, S-2. - An adrenaline pumping boda-boda ride to Joshua's home 3 km up the dusty road. - Joshua's sweet family Winston & Naomi and his siblings Aaron, Don, and Rachael. They made a video on my phone for me to share with Garen when I return to NYC. They referred a couple times to Garen's amazing dance abilities and how flexible and gymnastic he was. - Delicious Quest Bar snack (chocolate cookie dough), especially yummy when warmed in your pocket all day! - A lovely walk back to the Guesthouse with Marissa during my favorite time of day, sunset, with some nice conversations about her experience working in the village for the last eighteen months and what exactly a stage manager does. - Reflections on Ugandan rural lifestyle: They have so little. It's like colonial times. It's shocking and also, completely simple. I am inspired and humbled and curious and grateful and eager to help and see myself in them and feel like an alien and feel like I'm on Mars and wish they could see other countries and wish I would see other countries and ... My hope for all of us is that we fight to understand more than what little we see of our corners of the world. - A big pasta dinner with Marissa and the Sims, who spent the day with their sponsored student Brian and his family. - Thinking of going to bed early because tomorrow is a big day - the first day of the new school year! Lots of celebrations and we have to BE at school by 7:30am!