Music Competitions

This week and the next couple weeks there are music competitions for the primary schools, and it is amazing. The kids are so talented. I have taken tons and tons of videos and pictures, I just wish there was an easier way to post them for everyone to see. It's somehow slow though. The sun was setting in these pictures, and it was just beautiful.

A few days ago, we were plowing some land into lovely rows, with the P.5 students (around age 10-11), so we could then transplant some tomato seedlings from the nursery to the newly plowed rows. I helped dig a little, and people usually laugh because they think I have never done it before, which actually I never actually have used a hoe. haha, I have done some gardening, but not like this.
By the way, kids carry around machete knives here like nobody's business. As we were in the field, the teacher handed a child a huge machete knife she had just used to chop down a small tree, and I was thinking in my head, gee, that would probably never happen back home. It even reminded me of a time with my host family, and the 1 year old was walking around with a kitchen knife about 7 inches long. Look out. haha.

"If you play the recorder with your nose, by the way, I give you a zero". -on judging a music competition.
Yesturday, I had the chance to attend a music workshop, and it was awesome. The facilitators were really good, and I really think music is so good for the soul, and could and will probably solve a lot of the problems the world is facing. I mean when I think about how music makes me feel, I'm like woah, this could solve anyone's problems... I guess we shall see.
At this workshop, I was faced with some challenges I think under normal circumstances, I would not be able to handle, small, but big, so,
If you want to step out of your comfort zone, do the following:
1. Don't use your fork or spoon tonight at dinner. Try eating with your hands. (Preferably rice and soupy beans, obviously something other than "finger food") and make sure at least 10 people are watching you do this.
2. Sing a song in front of 30 strangers. (I had the chance to sing "You are my sunshine")
3. This is just a random fact I learned, if you want to be a music judge, one of the qualities you must have is, to be sober. Yes, thank you.

Every where I go yo.
















The kids... they like to peer in. I'm like a gem they have never seen before. haha.. Mary, that one was for you. Seriously though, it's because I'm white.

They are playing the song Silent Night in this computer lab right now, and it is reminding me of home and Christmas. woo, I miss my home.
Hey now, I am really sad to be missing Wimbledon while I am here. I hear updates from the BBC sometimes, and last night they were playing the Serena Williams match versus I don't know who, but the screeching is annoying sometimes. Those screechers are a little out of
control, and I think they should be regulated, but I still miss it.
Mostly the mens tennis I miss.
This weekend I went white water rafting on the Nile River. I was sometimes a little scared for my life, but once it was all over, haha, I finally relaxed and realized how much fun it was. Before each rapid, I would look up to the sky with the beautiful clouds I love and pray to God and my Mom that I would make it through okay. I don't know if that was all necessary, but here I am, so maybe it helped. The rapids were mostly all class 5, some class 4, and the first rapid we went down I asked our guide what class it was, and he was like, "uh, those were ripples". haha.. I started to get a little nervous. When we flipped was always the scariest part, and my life jacket always saved me. Luckily. It really was so much fun though, and there would be these long stretches that we would paddle and some areas we could get out and swim, others no because crocodiles, but it was really beautiful.
Yesturday I went to my first burial in Uganda. A teacher at my school's father died, so I went with my school. When we arrived, there were so many people there. I did a random count and approximated at least 500 people, for real. As we are walking up, they got a bench and I sat under a tent in the shade. Once they started carrying the body towards me, I realized I was in the front row of a man's burial I had never even met. It was a little crazy, but by the end I had so many people come up to me thanking me for coming, and I think just appreciating that I was there and that I came. It was very nice of them, and they were so kind. The service was all in Lugwere, so I couldn't understand very much until suddenly I heard, "Naikoote". That is my Lugwere name, and the man next to me pushed my leg and told me I had to stand up. Ha, it caught me way off guard, and I freaked out a little, but introduced myself and said hello. I guess most people were maybe wondering who this random white girl was, so I got to tell them. woo.

I am in town today to fix the tire of my bike that has gone flat at least 5 times and the pedal has also fallen off twice. haha, I guess I am not very good at picking a good bike. Funny story, I was telling my neighbor about it, and he says, (he actually says this), "well when it has to carry, you are so heavy." haha, a little blunt he was. I was like heyyyy, that's not very nice. haha. Funny though.
We painted the resource room last week with water paint though, so it was a little transparent, but it turned out nice yellow.