We are the youngsters—St. Jude’s….of Gulu!

Jared (one year) & I playing in my K2 class 

K2 class & I practicing traditional music and dance 

Hair braiding time

Another day at the St. Jude's hair salon with Sunday & Kabila on my lap 

A little hair twist from my friend Nancy 

.  I'm not certain why the pictures are at the top...but enjoy!

To catch all everyone up let me just recap these last few days…

1.     Attacked by red ants at St. Jude’swas ToTaLlY a BlAsT. 

2.     We decided that face painting would be a good idea Monday afternoon. Why? I have no idea. When would it ever be a good idea to take on 40 children when we were only manned with 2 paintbrushes??? So naturally I paint a snake on a little boy’s face and he immediately washes it off and asks for Spider-man instead. 

3.     My hair is braided. Currently 20 baby braids in my hair and I loveee it. Not cornrows, I repeat, not cornrows.

4.     Who knew I was going to be in Uganda during rainy season (obviously not me.) It will rain about once a day here but it still gets really sunny too...kind of like the beach. Yesterday it absolutely monsoon-ed and flooded the streets. Which was really fun until I realized how slick all of the eroded mud became and I slipped in my flip-flops. KeWL.

5.     I’m obsessed with St. Jude’s Nursery School and Orphanage. Literally obsessed. Today when I was leaving one of the little boys named Sunday teared up…so of course I teared up as well. There’s moments when reality hits me hard there. Today one of the social workers, Kane, told me that a girl I have become close to, Cecelia, has been at St. Jude’s since she was one week old. Her mother passed when she was born and her father did not want her and does not want to visit. I couldn’t imagine never having a home of my own. This cycle of growing up at the orphanage and seeing others grow older and leave is nothing new to her.

6.     On a happier note I’ve become friends with a 2-year-old girl named Juliet. She’s like the playground gossip queen AND she’s chubby…I’m in love with her and we’re basically inseparable.

7.     There’s an avocado tree at St. Jude’s *~*AnD i LoVe It*~*

8.     We were gifted a goat…an entire live goat. So we’re having it for our end of the trip celebration party. I’ve promised to try one bite in order to become more cultured.

9.     THIS WEEKEND IS SAFARI WEEKEND. So I’ll be hanging with my best elephant and lion friends Saturday & Sunday at Murchison Falls. Saturday we are hiking The Nile which I am NOT game for. I keep having flashbacks to this Discovery Channel story where a man was ripped out of his kayak by a crocodile on The Nile. Although I won’t be in a Kayak or in the water I’m not ruling this scenario out. However, I am trying to get my hands on a safari hat of some sort to even out the pro/con list.

10. And last but certainly not least…. we have hot water!! I had my first hot shower in 4 weeks yesterday and I am definitely not mad. The only problem is we have the choice of either scolding hot or still pretty cold. So it’s pretty fun trying to find a happy medium.

As I am writing this I am sitting on my balcony on the 3^rd story of Kakanyero Hotel staring out at Gulu Town. I truly love this town. Only one more week in Gulu, then it’s off to Entebbe!