ups and downs, and mostly ups

Oh, what an amazing life I lead. It is hard to describe the way I feel on a daily basis, perhaps that is why it has been so hard for me to blog. Well, technically the biggest hangup has been continual internet downages, and crazy computer viruses eating away at my USB drive. It is much harder to think when I am at the stuffy Internet cafe, so usually I try to write on a laptop at home, and bring it up to town to download. However, some crazy virus literally eats away at whatever I have stored, so I get here and it is all GONE. Kind of a pain...

Speaking of things being GONE, my camera was stolen yesterday :( I am truly the saddest person evvvvvver over it. I am trying to think positively about it-- like maybe the guy who rummaged through my purse when we were on that crowded taxi reallllly needed the money he'll make from pawning it. However, I am not that much of a saint and am mostly just bitter. Everyone has been super nice and offered me all the pictures they take while we're here, and even occasionally letting me borrow it. It is SUPER nice of them, but I am still a bit sad. I'm basically obsessed with taking pictures, and wanted my own little record of everything I do here (since I haven't been the best about my journal...). But alas, I am back to wishing and borrowing. Such is life.

The first and second wave people all left a few days ago, and our house population has been cut in half. As much as I'll miss having them around, I will admit the extra space and more quiet atmosphere is quite nice. Now there are only 13 of us living in the house, and it is so clean and so quiet! It should make the next month go by quite smoothly. We have also been assigned our new project lead positions, and groups, which means we will actually get to start contributing a little bit more... YAY!!! I will be the Project Lead for Secondary Schools, and co-lead on primary schools with Emily, and women's groups with Amber. I love all 3 of those groups and know we will have a lot of fun and get a lot done. I will also be working on the teams for Adobe stoves, AIDS support, Orphanages, and PWD- Peoples with Disabilities.

Yesterday James B and I took a taxi down to Jinja (the site of the camera theft...) to visit an orphanage and primary school that one of the sisters in the LDS Branch there runs. She took a couple of the students out of class and walked us around the entire village to visit a few of their families and homes. It was such a fascinating experience. I have already met a lottt of people here in Lugazi and seen where they all live. However, it was so different to go into each of their homes, meet with them individually, and talk about their circumstances and about their beautiful children. Each family was so cheerful and so welcoming. Most of the mothers are single, and live in unimaginable conditions. I am often ashamed that I used to feel so sorry for myself when my mother was single, when I felt like we were "so poor", and when I used to think I had it sooo rough. Silly me! These people have literally nothing. They have the smallest shacks- made of wood, or sometimes bricks, that are smaller than a typical bedroom in America. The weather here makes everything dirty all the time, and their meals are small and meager. Yet, they greet us with a smile, thank God for our coming, and invite us to come in to sit and talk with them. I am continually amazed by their perseverance and optimism.

It is interesting the type of adjustment that my brain has made from being here, even though only a short 2 weeks. Events that used to shock and amaze me, or sights that use to push me to tears, have already become part of my daily life. Walking through rows and rows of shacks is simply a part of life here; I still hate the poverty and hate that I am so helpless. However, I feel at home here in Lugazi, and I feel like my daily events and adventures are just a regular routine. Rather than just being sad about all the poverty, I have accepted it, and gone on to the stage of HOW do we fix it. Obviously, it needs to be fixed, but the real question becomes "What can we do about it?" Hopefully, our meager projects are making some sort of a difference.

I had several pictures I wanted to put up today that came from my last download before my camera was stolen. However, the USB is not cooperating at all and so I will be unable to upload them today. Perhaps I will steal some from my friend Mallory's facebook, so you can at least get some sort of visual update. Things here are good and my life is great. I am catching a bit of a cold, but trying to fight it off with plenty of sleep and a good dose of vitamins. My stomach does somersaults pretty much continually throughout each day, but I have gotten used to it so I don't notice it a whole lot anymore. Well, I better head off to the Namengo Women's group, where we will be teaching some business classes today. This weekened we will be going to spend the weekend hiking at Sipi Falls. If I don't have the chance to update again before that, I'll be back next week!