My new goal

Since I've been in Uganda I have struggled a bit with communicating with the people. In my first interview with my country directors Suzanne and Whitney (whom I love), they suggested that I make a goal to talk to a few people each day for at least a few minutes to work on this. Since I made this goal things have been going much better! Here are the people I have met:

1. Benard. I met him this past Saturday night when we went out to dinner for Whitney's birthday celebration. He is 19 years old and came with the missionaries to meet us at dinner because he was on splits with them. He is preparing for his mission and will hopefully leave around December! He educated me on the school system in Uganda which is similar to America, except that they basically have two extra years of schooling after high school and they have to take exams before they can finish these last two years before going to a university. Benard is in senior 6 (which also has different levels) - kind of complicated, but basically he is almost ready for University. His father is a painter and he has 7 sisters! Crazy! I think we talked for too long though b/c at the end he asked if I had a boyfriend ... haha I will probably start talking to more females in the future :)

2. Elder Omondi. He is from Kenya and has been out for 2 months - although he lied at first and told me he had 12 months. Crazy kid! He told me that in Kenya sometimes if you are at a restaurant and you leave the table people will put bad things in your drinks to make you sick, so you have to be careful and should never leave a table unattended. I told him I probably don't want to go to Kenya anymore and he said "oh no, it's great, it's great" haha. We talked over pizza and since then when I run into him at church and such he calls me pizza. Creative nickname!

3. Mercy. She is our cook and we LOVE her! She makes the best food ever. Jen and I decided to help her with dinner on sunday and we spent about 6 hours making potato wedges and french toast with her. We had to make a lot and our pans were small - we cooked over hot coals and it just took a lot of work - she kept saying "don't burn yourself", and luckily we didn't. She also told us to not cut ourselves, but we nearly chopped off all of our fingers though trying to cut the potatoes - she made it look so easy! Sheesh! It was a great learning experience and now we know how true Ugandans cook outside.

4. Lydia. We met her at church this past Sunday and she is getting baptized this next Sunday! Woohoo! She is so nice and kept telling us how much she would miss us when we leave and that she wanted our contact information. I told her to not worry about that yet - we still have a long time here! We took a picture with her and in relief society, she turned around and told me that I have a really nice digital camera and asked me if I would bring one back for her when I come to Uganda again. Too bad they are a little pricey! Sorry Lydia!

5. Dennis. He is a member of the branch already and sat in front of me during Sunday School. I tried to get him to join us in our row because he was by himself but he said "I am fine, I like to be closer to the front" - what a good man. He attends school and told me that he wants to go to America really badly. We talked about where I am from and where I go to school in America and then he told me he had an Ohio State shirt that he got from a market here in Mbale - pretty cool! A taste of America!

6. Joel. I talked with him yesterday when we went and visited God's Mercy, which is a youth organization that teaches youth how to be woodworkers and barbers so that they have skills and can fight unemployment. He works as a carpenter and has lived in Uganda for most of his life, but goes to school in Kenya. He has also been to Nairobi and hopes to go to America someday, especially Utah! I asked if he lives with family, but he is single! Any takers??

I love the people here - they are so nice and love to share about their lives. I love to learn and feel that I am getting more familiar with the culture through meeting these people!

Sorry for no pictures - the SD slot is not working today. I will have pictures in my upcoming posts. I have some good ones coming so stay tuned! Love you all!