I'M ALIVE! I PROMISE! I am settled at last in Kabale. Internet connection is rather (by rather I mean extremely) hard to find, thus the late update. Sorry, no pictures this time around. There is only one plae in town with wireless internet and I am unfortunately not there. All is well, though. It feels amazing to be back! I can’t wait to settle into a steady routine here now. Because it’s hard for me to find interwebs these days, I’ve decided to make a running post throughout the week and upload the whole thing from a flash drive whenever I can. Thus, extremely long posts!
So, Paris. A.Maz.Ing. What an awesome adventure. My one mishap of the day happened almost immediately, so I suppose it was good to get that out of the way. I missed my very first metro stop, on the express train, so another stop did not come for a while. As a metro newbie, this was a small ordeal, especially hauling 100 pounds of baggage with me! I kept my humor though, and found my way back without too much trouble. Aside from that, the day went quite smoothly, and I am now a huge fan of Paris’s metro system.
The first thing I did was visit the Louvre! (That statement demands an exclamation point.) Wow. The museum itself is a work of art. It is massive! And the glass pyramid! Don’t even get me started. I loved it all. Unfortunately I did not get to spend much time there because there was a free walking tour I wanted to go on. It was lots of fun; very informative. I did not take the full tour though, because as soon as we go to the Louvre, I, of course had to go inside again. I saw all the standards: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Nike of Sacramothe, etc. There is way too much to say about the Louvre, so you will just have to ask me about it when I get back. After that, I walked along the Seine to Notre Dame. Beautiful. The inside was just as amazing. There was a service going on, and Latin chanting + pipe organ + Gothic architecture = maximum creepy awesomeness. After this, I ordered some crepes confiture and ate them in the shadow of the cathedral. Is that not the ultimate Parisian experience? After this, I was truly exhausted, as I was running on very little sleep and had been walking all day. But what is a trip to Paris without visiting the Eiffel Tower? While still in the city, it is actually quite a distance from everything else. It was lovely, of course. After my 30 minute metro ride back to my hostel I was somewhat revived, so I just meandered through my hostel’s neighborhood, along one of the Seine’s canals. It was nice to see a non-touristy side of Paris. I returned to my hostel, showered, ate, and crashed. I have decided I like hostels. I like the international feel of them. Actually, I met somebody from Modesto there! Small world!
The next morning, I took the metro back to the airport, and resumed my journey. My last flight, from Nairobi, Kenya to Kigali, Rwanda was delayed, and then combined with one to Burundi, so I did not arrive in Kigali until around 4 AM. Needless to say, I was quite tired after all of this. Charles (one of Joab’s friends, and mine too now) still graciously picked me up and took me to the room I had booked. A few short hours later, Joab returned with Charles to pick me up, and I enjoyed the chance to get to know Charles a little better; he is a very interesting guy. I am now Auntie to his six adopted kids!
It felt so great to finally get back in to Kabale and see the familiar sights and friends. Joel and Joan (Joab and Connie’s kids) have gotten so big! There are so many new buildings up on the new KTC campus! Everything looks wonderful. Joab and the staff have been very busy getting ready for the term. Monday was the students’ registration day and classes began Tuesday. I am eager to find my niche here, which is slowly but surely happening.
This week, I have been sitting in on different classes, and teaching, as well as doing the odd work project. As far as teaching classes goes, I am loving it. There is a bit of a language barrier, but as long as I speak slowly, I am usually understood. Mostly, I have been in English classes, my comfort zone, if you will. I am finding out where I will best fit in around here. Starting next week, I will most likely have a set program for my stay, which will include teaching, leading Bible studies, secretarial work, and whatever else is needed at the moment. Also this week, I have been to the Akanijuka (He is able) Children’s Home, where I am also teaching English. I will be there for three mornings a week. These kids are aged around four to twelve, and as precious as they could possibly be. David and Kathryn (a young Australian couple who run the orphanage) are very nice people. So, I’m having a great time here in Kabale so far. It has been so great to see familiar faces around here, and to begin building new friendships. Actually, I've had fun making friends with people from all over the word: France, Ireland, Japan, Australia.
This past weekend, I hiked up to Lake Bunyoni with some of the KTC staff. Bunyoni is the deepest lake in Uganda at 6,500 feet. More than a mile! And it is possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is surrounded by beautiful green terraced hills and has many islands. Lovely. The best part, though, was seeing Edith on our way into town! (Edith was one of the first friends I made in Kabale in 2004, and my family actually sponsored her education for several years. She has endured a lot of hardship in her life, and is still overcoming.)It was immediately decided that she would join us, and we had a great time catching up. She is an amazing person. On our way back in to town, I quickly stopped at her house to say hi to Edith's mom and to meet Edith's daughter Joan at last. She's adorable!
I’ve really enjoyed getting a taste of Ugandan life. One of the main differences is, of course, the food. A few mornings ago, I came out of my room to find corn on the cob on my plate for breakfast. Most meals will include either posho (a maize based substance best described as looking like mashed potatoes and tasting like nothing) or matoke (mashed and steamed plantains). Goat is the most common meat, which, it turns out, I really genuinely like. Dinner is almost never eaten before 9:00 PM. The other night, I had a great time in the kitchen with Connie. She showed me how to make chapatti, a sort of flatbread. So delicious. Also, it was requested that I make an American dish, so I cooked pasta with garlic sauce and tomatoes and peppers. People seemed to like it, although you never know when someone is just being polite.
Currently, the most popular evening entertainment is Uno. I brought the game with me and taught Joab’s family how to play, something we have done every night for a good solid hour or two. Instead of saying “uno” when you’re down to one card though, it is now common practice to say “I am remaining with one.” I love it.
It has been raining off and on for the past few days here, something I realized, hypothetically, could be problematic when driving almost exclusively on dirt roads. It becomes quite literally a problem though, when the tiny pickup you are driving uphill on a steep dirt road in the rain stalls and begins to slide back down. I was wondering if I should bail, and Joab was just laughing. T.I.A. On the plus side, the weather is quite nice when not raining. It is very moderate, and the rain makes the already impossibly green hills look absolutely luminous.
So far, I’ve loved being here without a group. It is an entirely different experience. The students at KTC seem much less shy when there is only one of you and many of them. Everywhere I go, I here murmurs of “muzungu” (white person), to which I respond with a grin and an “agandi” (how are you?) which gets an even bigger laugh. Everyone is very interested in my family and life in California. I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know everyone, and have met more people than whose names I can possibly remember.
So, that is about a week's worth of updating. God is incredibly gracious, and already I am learning so much about Him as well as myself. As always, your prayers are welcomed! Please pray that I am able to see His will for me here and use every opportunity to serve for His glory. Sorry for the word-heavy, picture-light post, but with the internet as it is, posting pictures is quite the chore. Ask me to show them to you when I get back! I love you all!

Well, what to say? I leave tomorrow. I'm incredibly excited, and can't wait to see all that God has in store. I'm just ready to be on the airplane, on my way to Kabale. I won't get there until Saturday morning, actually. Here is my itinerary, all in local times:

Depart- 5/20 San Francisco 8:05 AM. Arrive- 5/21 Paris 6:55 AM.
Depart- 5/22 Paris 10:50 AM. Arrive- 5/22 Nairobi 8:20 PM.
Depart- 5/22 Nairobi 10:15 PM. Arrive- 5/22 Kigali 10:40 PM.

A friend in Rwanda is picking me up at the airport, and I will spend the night in Kigali. Saturday morning, Joab is picking me up and taking me at last to Kabale. So, I have quite the journey ahead of me! I would really appreciate your prayers as I travel. For that matter, while I am there, too!
So, today consists of last minute packing/rearranging (how to get rid of those two extra pounds of baggage?), collecting letters, etc. from various people for friends in Kabale, making travel playlists, and one last visit from a very sweet boyfriend.
It has been so amazing to see the love and support you all have given me as I prepare for this. I am incredibly blessed with wonderful friends and family. Thank you so, so much! I can't wait to share the next part of this journey with you.

From here...

To here!

In which Susanna attempts to collect her thoughts in a somewhat logical manner.

I've never been much of a journaler (as evidenced by my scanty blog updates), but on my past two trips to Uganda in 2004 and 2007 I journaled pretty regularly. My Africa journal is one of my most treasured belongings. It is quite tattered; it has been with me to England, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. But it holds so many priceless memories of people and places that I do not want to forget. I think that reading one's own words is a much more accurate form of memory keeping than photographs are. A picture may be more visually authentic, but really cannot embody the emotion that words can. A photo's memory can be whatever its owner wishes it to be, but the recollection of honest words is exactly that: honest. My most vivid memories manifest themselves in the form of eager, hurried words scrawled in airports and hotel rooms halfway around the world. I love reading through my journal; it is a chronicling of myself, in a way. How I have changed, and how I am the same. I wrote the following words in 2007, the day after I returned home from Uganda.

"I'm sitting alone at home right now. Hard to believe I am back. It could be that I am back and nothing changed except my need to take malaria pills all month, but I have been changed. For the better. It was so great to see my family at the airport. I felt a lot of things. Joy, weariness, sadness, homesickness, contentment. I have definitely left a peice of my heart there.

"People have been asking me what my favorite part of the trip was (how distanced past tense sounds!) and of course it is impossible to single out a certain thing. My favorite part was loading 24 people in a 16 passenger van. It was being given an African name. It was being scared out of my mind to share my testimony with complete strangers. Being called Joab's other daughter. Sharing pictures of my family with everybody. My favorite part was whitewater rafting on the Nile. Listening to Darius pray. Crying at the genocide memorial in Kigali. I could go on for pages.

"Though I seem to have so many, the words aren't enough, as I've said time and again. As for a conclusion, I don't really have one. A conclusion doesn't feel quite right. I just know that this was not an isolated two weeks I spent going back to Uganda that one time when I was 17. It is part of who I am now. It is the living God moving and breathing through me. It is amazing."

These words are just as true today as they were two years ago. Maybe even more so. In five days I will christen the pages of a brand new journal. I look forward to reading through it years from now, and being reminded of the ways God worked through those two months in 2009.

Welcome...

...to Kabale Trinity College!
Ok, since I haven't posted in a while and don't really have any news updates, I thought I'd share a little bit more about the place I will be spending the next two months of my life. So without further ado...(cue drumroll)...a virtual tour of KTC!
So, the basics. In Uganda, as well most of Africa, a primary school education is all that is required by law. This elementary education is free, and if a student wishes to have more schooling, they must pay for it personally. Secondary school is divided into six classes: Senior 1 through S-6. The education received is roughly comparable to junior high through junior college. Students can choose to quit after S-4, around the "high school graduation" point. Students range in age from about 12 to 23. It is pretty common for students to take a year or so off because of lack of money, family obligations, etc., resulting in the wide range of ages. Most of the students live in school dorms, and are fed three meals a day. Whether schools have religious emphasis or not (most do, to varying degrees) is entirely up to the administration. For example, KTC places great importance on spiritual training, but is not really called a "Christian school." After secondary school, students can continue on to universities, and receive degrees in various fields.
And now, permit me some bragging on KTC. It was started around 15 years ago by Joab Tumwebarize who is the director (administrator). I cannot say enough about Joab! He started the school because he felt called to offer an education to kids who would otherwise not be getting one. His first students were a handful of kids either too poor to go anywhere else or delinquets who had been kicked out of other schools. There are now around 2,500 students, and it is one of the most highly regarded schools in Uganda. It is the most highly represented secondary school at the Kampala (Uganda's capitol) university. Like I said, I can't say enough about Joab. People respect him, students and peers alike. In a place where school fees are hard to come by, he makes sure that the kids who really have the desire and potential to excel receive the opportunity.
KTC is currently on two campuses; the original one is a converted cattle yard that they rent out and the second is on land owned by the school. In 2006, a new chapel was built on the school's land, and KTC is currently in the process of moving the entire school over to the new campus.


The chapel building, and students lined up to welcome visitors. Yes, a brass band is part of the welcoming fanfare.

Students at chapel. These are boys and girls; the girls shave their heads to prevent lice which can become a problem because of the cramped quarters in the dorms.

Some classrooms around the original campus.

Inside a classroom. No textbooks are used. Students take efficent notes from the lecture.

Students in line for lunch. The pavalion with the smoke coming out of it is the kitchen.

The typical meal- beans and posho (corn meal).

Inside a dorm room. Bunkbeds are three high.

Weekend entertainment.

So, that is a little bit of life at Kabale Trinity College. Come and visit some day! In other news, welcome to all of my new friends! It's lovely to have you here, and I'm looking forward to sharing the adventures to come with you all. Fourteen more days!

Updates, Ramblings, Etc.

Finals are over, and I can breathe again. Time to focus all my energy on getting to Uganda. Actually, there is not a whole lot else for me to do at this point. I have my tickets, my passport, and my visa is on its way. It's mainly just the fun stuff that is left to do.

For example: plan Paris. Yes, Paris. For 26 hours, the City of Lights is mine. To someone who has never traveled alone, a solo Parisian adventure feels quite courageous. So far I've booked a hostel and bought a ticket to the Louvre (oh happiness, oh delight!). Beyond that, I have no solid plans. Any suggestions?

It feels rather illogical to take a two month trip without making many plans for what I will do while I am there, but, hey- T.I.A. (this is Africa). Any solid plans I make would likely be thrown out the window the moment I arrive. The general plan is for me to help out teaching classes at the school and to lead some Bible studies, which is one thing I can prepare for right now. I'll also be volunteering at a local orphanage, which I am pretty excited about.

So for now, I'm brimming with excitement; ready to be back in Kabale. I miss the red dirt, I miss Edith, I miss fresh pineapple, I miss the luminous smiles. I miss the joy these people have for life, despite circumstances I have never had to deal with.

And it's true, behind each smile is usually a world of hurt that I can't imagine. I don't want to go to Uganda seeing myself (much less, being seen) as someone to solve peoples' problems or heal their pain. Rather, I want to be a light for the only One who can heal pain. In essence- it's not about what I can to to help anyone, it's about what He can do!

Scenes from Uganda...

28 days and counting...