Monkeys, Monkeys and More Monkeys...

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to let you know that I got to Uganda safely - and to give you a few snippets from the first few days that I've been here.

My trip went extremely well, considering that I traveled apart from the rest of the group and it took me at least 48 hours to get here and another 8 hours or so to actually get to the university. I didn't sleep much during the trip and am definitely still trying to make up for that. Thankfully I think that getting little sleep has really eliminated all jet lag for the most part.

I flew out of Cleveland on Sunday afternoon and then took an overnight flight from JFK to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is a ridiculously rich nation and their airport reflected that...there are shops lined all the way down the terminal, which seems like it goes on for miles. I landed there on Monday night and had an overnight layover there until Tuesday morning, when I got on a plane which took me from Dubai to Entebbe, Uganda with a stop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The flights themselves were very nice - Emirates is a great airline - and they pretty much stuffed my face with so much food that I couldn't possibly eat it all. I probably watched 5 movies on my own little personal tv on the way from JFK to Dubai. When I landed in Entebbe I had to wait about 6 hours in the airport for the rest of the group to get there, but the Ugandans practice hospitality like nobody's business and many Ugandans talked to me and welcomed me to their country. After the rest of the group came, we hopped on a bus and drove through Kampala to the town of Mokono where the school is located. I was too tired to really notice anything and it was pitch black anyway...

I'm staying in a dorm on campus with a few other students from my program and most of the last couple days has been composed of orientation sessions. We are traveling to Rwanda tomorrow for nine days and so we have been preparing for that and also just talking about general rules, safety and health. Yesterday we took a bus to Kampala to visit this gigantic mall and the tombs of the most recent Bugandan kings...all in all it has been a wonderful experience so far.

Here are some small snapshots that I think you may enjoy:
-waking up every morning to the sound of monkeys playing in the trees outside my window...
-hiking up hills in a skirt - and seeing more monkeys in the trees...
-walking through the town of Mokono and having literally EVERYONE stare at you and yell "Mizungu!" (white person in Luganda)
-taking VERY cold showers...sometimes even in the dark...I guess it's better that they really have no mirrors to see what I look like...
-washing my clothes by hand for the first time in a bucket...
-driving on the wrong side of the road!
-pedestrians = last leg on the totem pole when it comes to road etiquette...
-squatty toilets...
-lots and lots of bugs...but really that terrible...
-beautiful weather every day! low 80's and sunny...

I'll be sure to update more when I come back from Rwanda, but that's all until then!

Countdown: One Week!

Hi everyone! Well I can't believe how quickly the summer has gone by and that it is almost time for me to leave. As most of you know I will be studying abroad in Uganda this coming fall semester with BestSemester, a Christian study abroad organization. My communication will be extremely limited and so I am planning to use this blog as a way to let you all know how I'm doing and to tell you about all the exciting adventures I am having :) I am excited about the prospect of learning to wash my clothes in a bucket and going rafting down the Nile river - should be an amazing first semester of my senior year!

I've had a wonderful summer working at a transitional housing facility for homeless young mothers called Jubilee Village. My summer was filled with many challenges and most days I came home exhausted, but I am extremely grateful for the many opportunities that this summer afforded me. As my awesome friend Christine (who is spending 6 months in Peru at the moment) commiserated about earlier on in the summer, sometimes the best way to learn is just to be thrown in the action. So when I was terrified out of my mind because I was asked to go to court with a client and advocate for her in front of a judge, I just reminded myself that I even when I feel completely incompetent, my best is still better than nothing - and guess what? I got a ticket completely dismissed and my client's fees reduced by half! I guess my incompetence can be good after all...praise the Lord! I look forward to more moments of complete and total reliance on God this coming fall.

I promise to update this blog as much as I can and I hope you have fun reading it as well. I will also be reachable by email (meghan.quigg@gmail.com) and would love to hear from you at any time! I will try to send out an email to everyone each time that I update this blog. Thank you all for your support!

P.S. If you're curious about the name of my blog, you'll have to ask my wonderful fiance Josh :)