Snacks, Snacks, And More Snacks

Thanks to everyone who sent the great presents! AND WE REALLY LOVED ALL THE SNACKS! Now we have an entire cabinet full of snacks! These are a few examples,

• Wheat thins
• Cheezits
• Candy
• Doritos
• M&M's
• pringles
• Oreo's

Those are just a few of our snacks, if I would have said them all this post would be too long to read! For those who did send snacks, send more whenever possible. For those who did not send snacks, please do send snacks.
Christmas is usally about seeing our family, but this time we saw our friends. Please if you can come to Uganda, come. Also, you should get Skype, it really helps.

Musings from Mum & Dad

Happy Christmas as the Brits say. Christmas was pared down to the spiritual essentials this year--no crowds, no last minute shopping, hardly any decorations. On Christmas Eve, we had an early dinner of drunken lamb with a houseful of friends (only a few friends were drunk), then enjoyed a service with the British Resident's Association where there were readings and a lot of Christmas carols. It turns out that British carols are different-same lyrics (sort of, if Beth-lee-hem counts), different notes. As it became darker, we lit candles and sang. We then went back to the house for dessert and "It's a Wonderful Life" (family tradition). I was very worried that we wouldn't get the movie, but the last mail pouch which came in on Sunday night (sorted out on Christmas Eve by generous Embassy volunteers) had the package. Christmas was quiet and just the family--I kept feeling like we needed to pack up the car and start driving North. Things really shut down here--a lot of other muzungu leave town and most of the Ugandans go up-country to visit their families. Kampala is refreshingly unjammed with less smog (cars here would never pass a Maryland emissions test--in fact many of the cars are those that fail emissions tests in Japan.) This week-end we are busily packing, cooking and freezing for a camping trip to Murchison Falls http://www.uwa.or.ug/murchison.html. The falls occurs where the Nile bursts through a narrowing in the rock escarpment of the Rift Valley. It is named after Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, a influential Scottish geologist who was a past President of the Royal Geological Society. We are looking forward to our first game drives. Apparently the strategy is to leave camp early in the morning and eat breakfast in the car while driving, come back for a late large breakfast, take an afternoon siesta break then head out in the late afternoon again to see the most wildlife. In the afternoon drive, it is customary to have "sundowners," drinks on the roof of your car (hopefully while watching lions, giraffes, elephants and buffalo).

Not your traditional watch the ball fall, we know. But, we will be sure to sing Auld Lang Syne and think about all of our blog faithful as 2008 begins at the Equator. New Year's Resolution:

Jimmy: Play "Ants Marching" like Dave Matthews

Yuka: Fill up all the time I used to use watching bad TV by keeping in touch with friends

Meeting the Ugandans Across the road

The other day, my brothers and I finally got up enough courage to go and try to talk and play with the locals across the road. It wasn't easy, but we tried to communicate and play American football (ya, I call it that now) with them, but they were pretty shy. Maybe after a couple of tries we can actually get a decent game of catch going. One really big obstacle is that there English is terrible, and our Luganda is even worse.

Seeing the Tanks up the Hill

The hill that we live on is famous for the huge water tanks up at the very top of it. In fact, the hill that is called Muyenga has been nicknamed Tank Hill. We live so far up the hill that it's a pretty short walk up to the tanks, or, as close as you can get to them. It's not a really special sight, but its interesting.

Christmas Break

Well, it's officially our second holiday here in Uganda and boy are we pumped! We got off school on Friday the 15th of December and spent the first week just chillin...

AND GUESS WHAT???!!! WE GOT A DOG!!! Her name is Mpologoma, or Mpolo or Polo for short, which, in Luganda means "lion". We named her that because her species, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, were originally bred as lion hunters. Everyone is so happy. These are pictures of her. She is 6 weeks old.

For the holiday we are going to Murchison Falls for 3 days, where we may get our first look at wild elephants and giraffes. Then, we're headed to Sesi Island for a day, also known as the Chimp Island because it is chock full of chimps. Supposedly, there is one that loves to throw things at people. Maybe we'll get a repeat of our video!
http://www.kilimanjaro.com/uganda/mfnp.htm: Link about Murchison Falls National Park.

When these trips are over, I'll post about them in more detail.
Later!!!
and we'll keep you posted on our new pup too!

The First Poll Answered Incorrectly

Come on guys! Jack isn't holding matooke, it's bananas, and you could've figured that out by reading the post. Reread it and see what you come up with. It's the first post that you answered wrong, but don't worry, I'll get you again. Matooke is on the left. Bananas are on the right.

Moshi was GREAT!!!

CLICK THE TITLE AND MAKE IT A HABIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At Moshi, there were 4 teams in all: The International School of Uganda (ISU), The International School of Tanzania (IST), Arusha (ISMAC), and The International School of Moshi (ISM). ISM is a boarding school and the host of the sporting event. I competed in basketball, volleyball, and soccer/football as it is called here for boys in grades 6-9. It was tons of fun. The ISU boys went undefeated in all sports except soccer in which we lost only one game to our rivals IST.
Sorry it took so long. I was waiting for pix but they didn't come. If I can I will post them later.

Moshi: Sporting event in Tanzania

Hey everyone! GUESS WHAT??!! I, thomas, am about to go for a sporting event in Tanzania, called Moshi. I was selected as one of the 5 eighth graders to compete in 3 of 5 sports. I was chosen for soccer, volleyball, and, basketball. I can't wait!!
It's from December 7 to 9.
No pictures taken by us for this one. Sorry.
I will get some to you after the trip.

Muzungu

In Arfican villages, which we have passed many of over the past couple of months, we are always shouted at. Usually, the word that is shouted is "Muzungu, Muzungu!!", and the kids wave their hands wildly to try to get our attention. Muzungu means white people, and for some of the kids it is the first non-african person that they have seen in their life. The adults either just stare or make fun of us in a friendly way. It's almost a little weird, how friendly people are here. They are always just itching to get to know you, even if we can't even communicate very well. If you wave they'll wave back, and ask "How are you?". And if you give them the thumbs-up, they'll give it back saying "How are you?" again.
They love to ask us questions, even though the conversation is usually a little awkward, especially since they can't understand us very well.

Nsambya Church

Finally, we have begun to go to a catholic church. It was very hard to find a church that was catholic and had masses in English, and not Luganda. Even though we are the only muzungus, or white people, there, it was still a mass that we will remember, and very fun.

It is at 8 o'clock, so we have to get up pretty early, but we enjoy it.

The service followed the exact same format, but seemed and definitely was much longer. The songs were much more energetic, and instead of saying "Amen!" after a priest's speech, they clap.

I think that dad will want to go to this church instead of the one that all muzungus go to and is pastored by our friend. This one is called KIC, for Kampala International Church. I think the main reason that we don't go there is because it isn't completely catholic, but I'm pretty sure that it is christian.

We will keep on keeping you guys updated about our every-day Ugandan adventures.

Bananas and Matooke

In our garden, we have an abundance of plants, including a banana and matooke, or matoke, tree. Today, we got our first harvest of bananas, and the matoke is soon to come. If you click the title, you will be taken to wikipedia, where you will get a more detailed description of matooke, but here's mine.

Matooke, as well as bananas, come in year round harvests, meaning that they don't have a specific harvest time, it just takes a certain amount of days, and then the matooke or bananas are ready to be picked. Matooke is a staple food here in Uganda, and is extremely cheap. I haven't been able to try any yet, and I'm not sure if I'll like it, but we'll see. I do know, however, that bananas and matooke look extremely similar.

CHECK OUT THE NEW POLLS!!!

The Chronicles of Max

Jack has a new blog that's all about him, or, rather, his Max. I designed it for him, and every time that we go to a new place, we will post something new about Max. You guys can get to this site by clicking the title, or following the link on the sidebar called The Chronicles of Max. The first post will be up shortly.

International School of Uganda (ISU)

Yes, this post was posted by tmoney, but I'm letting the only person who hasn't posted yet, post.....JT.

Hi, everybody. I really like my new school. It is called ISU. Kids from all over the world come here. It has a huge campus, and I've made many friends. At ISU, we have a huge swimming pool, a place to eat, a gym, and many great teachers. It will be great for the two years that we are here.

The Ugandan Power System

Luckily, the US government considers our dad important, otherwise, well...there would be power only about 50% of the time. The government provides us with many things, including a house, education tuition, and, of course, a generator. It's almost like a schedule. Almost every other day, especially in the rainy season, the power is cut off, and everything that you were doing at the time, just goes off, and doesn't come back on.
At night, our guard always turns on the generator right away, because he has to have complete vision of the plot to protect us. However, during the day, we usually have to tell him, and then the power will come back on full force, and restore our electrical devices. Most people at ISU just have to live with it. For example, they do simple things like keep the refrigerator shut, make meals early, etc.

The First Thanksgiving in Africa

Well, gpops, we actually didn't stuff an elephant.

I know...huge surprise!

In fact, we went camping at some crater lakes, which were amazing! Believe it or not, we were actually swimming with a hippo, but the pictures came out terrible. It was sooooooooo cool!

But, it technically wasn't for Thanksgiving. At ISU, we don't get off for Thanksgiving, since it is only an American holiday, but we did get off for Thanksgiving week for CHOGM, which Matt has already explained (click on Sipi Falls title). The meal was excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When we went camping, with four other families, we tried to stick to our US traditions. We had a huge turkey, stuffing, African roasted corn on the cob, baked potatoes, pumpkin pie, and brownies. It was all delicious, especially since we cooked it all on the fire that the older boys and my dad had been tending to all week. It was really homemade, but we still miss the big dinners at Woodloch.

We'll try to keep the posts rolling as often as possible.

Matatu

Everyone: make it a habit to click on the title to follow the attached link.

Another "famed" Ugandan vehicle is the matatu. It is basically a cross between a taxi and a public bus, and is probably the most used form of transportation.

The reason that I said that it is a cross between a taxi and a public bus, is because it holds 15 or more people, like a bus, but doesn't follow a scheduled route, and stops for individual people like a taxi. It is extreeeeeemely cheap, and will take you just about anywhere.

And check out the new poll...who's gonna win?

How to...Manually Start a diesel car in Africa

Yesterday, our 1990 Mitsubishi Pajero completely died on us, and the old piece of junk...I mean the fantastic car... refused to move. We knew it was coming, since before this it took numerous tries to get it started, but this was terrible. We couldn't do anything for the rest of the day, and had to get a USAID mechanic to sort out the problem. My dad and I went to get some motor oil at a local gas station, and the mechanic showed my mom how to manually start the diesel car/truck(get moving, pop the clutch, and vroom, usually), who was very happy when she got it right. We found that we simply need a bigger battery to start up the huge mass, but it took a while to figure out. Until we find a bigger battery, we are parking the car on the downhill (facing out).

Poll Answers/Results

Well, after the poll, you guys thought that Jack was the most likely to have an entire village on his back. Well...YOU WERE RIGHT!!! When we went to Sipi Falls, we encountered several villages, almost all of which, Jack had wrapped around his finger and under his command. It was hilarious! He had them included in dances, songs, and everyone was laughing. Anything that Jack did, most of the kids were right behind him.

Sipi Falls

Even though we really like our house, we decided to go on a tiny safari to Sipi Falls. It is one of the waterfalls in Uganda that produces some of the water we drink. When we went there we went on a hike, through caves, waterfalls, and a lot of villages. Even though it was a five hour drive, it was worth it. Now that CHOGM is coming we are thinking that we should go on another trip somewhere. We are still not sure yet where we are going to go (if we go). We will let you know if we go, and where we went.

Monkey Attak

Hey, everyone! We know now that we're definitely in Uganda, with all its fantastic wildlife, because, as many of you have already found out.......WE GOT ATTACKED BY MONKEYS! Matt took a couple of these great shots, and these are super! However, the monkeys were in a good mood at that point.

So, we had heard from our dad that there was a pack of monkeys living at the top of our road, or "close" as they call it in Uganda. Just me and my brother went out during the afternoon, thinking that it was all just a joke, when we see no less than 10 monkeys, and little baby monkeys! Matt whips out the camera and starts snapping away (these are the best of the pictures). Then, the monkeys start getting closer, and then, I, by mistake took a picture with flash. The monkey froze for about 5 seconds, then bolted up the wall. At that point, we didn't really notice, but the little devil was cooking up a plan. Then, I threw a piece of this potato that was lying on the side of the road to two monkeys (STUPID!), and Matt had the clever idea to take a video (you've gotta see it). The two monkeys fight over it for a while, and then Matt and I feel a WHOOSH! go past us, and a thud of a rock on the ground, and Matt saying "O, Gese!!!" We look up, and what else but the monkey who I took the flash picture of was standing on top of this rock face, with his arm elevated like he just threw a rock. We bolted home, and didn't stop until we were safe inside our house, laughing along the way.

We think that the monkey was just playing, but still, a little bit better aim and it could have really hurt Matt.

And, we went scavenging later on and found the exact rock that was chucked at Matt, that you can see, if you look closely enough in the video. Check out the picture.

Boda-boda

Once again, it's amazing here! The main thing we realised was that here instead of motorcycles, they have boda-bodas. The reason they are called that is because it is an onomatopoeia because when a motorcycle runs it goes bodabodaboda. So that's why it is called boda-boda.

And what they can do on these things! IT'S INSANE! They are used for transportation, and are much like taxis. You can hail them, and they are everywhere. However, the drivers almost never wear helmets, and, in order to get a little extra cash, they put on a dangerous amount of people. The most we've seen is 5 plus the driver. Not only this, but the cool bikes that they have here they put huge amounts of sugar cane or other crops/objects on to save time.

Chillin in Uganda

We're finally there! The never-ending problems finally came to an end, and here we are. The family flew on KLM flights, on which we first stopped in Amsterdam and spent the afternoon and night there. Then we just got up really early again, and went to Entebbe. We met up with some people, and were driven to our house, which might even be nicer than our old house. It's great!
And there's this sweet place called the American Recreation Association (ARA) that makes you feel like you are in Hawaii, especially with the PERFECT WEATHER here!

A Prelude to Uganda

I know that everyone is sick of hearing about how close we are to moving to Uganda, but there hasn't been a new post on the blog for a while. So, here comes another.
We'll almost definitely be leaving for Kampala in two weeks. However, jdc decided to take advantage of rural PA and give the family "a prelude to Uganda". As you can see from the pictures, there's beautiful scenery on the hike we took, and this is how we hope Uganda will be.

Would you like it there if it looked like that...?

Then COME VISIT!

Poll results

The results are final! The majority of you all say that we will depart from the United States for Uganda sometime in October. Well... you're wrong. It was just a big joke. Africa, who do you think we are? PSYCHE! We hope that sometime in October is right, preferably the beginning of October. That's the latest. Get jdc to tell you more, 'cause I can't squeeze it out of him.


Did you like the poll?
I thought it was cool and would like to do another. Any ideas?

The Little Antique Car Show

On Friday after school, we decided to meet Grandma and Grandpa at an antique car show in downtown Hawley. The cars were amazing! We saw many different kinds of cars. Thomas and I saw a few of our friends (from Hawley). I love these two, and the low-rider had some sweet hydraulics!

The Latest News

Now... what do we know? SOMETHING! Finally, we are arriving at a better idea of when we are departing from the USA, which will hopefully be from the beginning of October to mid-October. In the meantime, we will have to, annoyingly, go to school in Hawley, PA. I guess we'll be saying goodbye to sleeping in and relaxation at our so called "Vacation" house. This will be my fourth school in three years, and soon it will be five in Uganda. I might be able to hollar at some of my friends close by to my now rented housed, since I am returning there in a little while.

Wish us luck in school!

Another Member to the Family

We now have a new uncle kids, Uncle Dave. Yes MariPat married Dave and everyone that was at the wedding would agree that it was a blast. The food was great, everyone was happy, and I could go on and on and on about the party. As the family tradition we sang zippity doo da and the theme song from Laverne and Shirley which was set in Milwaukee.

Oli otya?

How is everyone? That is what Oli otya means in Luganda, the native language of our living destination, Uganda. I hope all of the Campbell family's readers are doing well. We're doing okay, and don't get me wrong, Woodloch is great, but.....

here is a picture of what Matt and JT are doing about 75% of the time.

(This includes sleeping, eating, etc.)

Okay, well I'll talk to everyone later, probably on my next post or at the get-together of the Campbells at the wedding.
P.S. Get more Luganda phrases on my "Learn Luganda" link on the front page.

Finally, will all of my friends please comment so that I can talk to you without the blog.

Life at Woodloch

All of our uncles, aunts, and cousins would agree that when everyone is at woodloch it is very memorable every trip. But when you live with only your own family it's a whole different story. Since no one is there we can't go to the pines (a resort with all different kinds of games) as often. The good news is that some of our relatives have decided to come and visit us. We appreciate that everyone is coming to see us one more time.

Great comments!!!

Thanks to everyone for the excellent comments, and for so many of them. The blog will soon turn into a chat room at this rate! And to think, only about 5 posts ago, I was yelling at people to comment more, when now I could be no happier... Except for 1 thing. If any of my friends or their parents are reading this, please leave a comment. E-mail my mom asking for my email, and I'll get back to you, as well as give you ways to contact me through email, im, etc. By the way, DO YOU LIKE OUR BLOG??!!

now, what do we know? NOTHING!!!!

We are probaly the only family that doesn't know when we are moving, when our plane is leaving , or where we are living. Althogh, there is a definint promise that we are moving. We also leave hope that we will sometime in august.

"The Move"

In come the movers, and OUT GO THE CAMPBELLS!!! Finally, the day has arrived for the movers (well, really the storage guys) to clear our house. Literally. Basically the only thing left is the computer that I'm typing on (No, the movers didn't crash into our house, yet). Honestly, though, there's only a small amount of things actually being transported overseas to Africa, and furniture is not part of that selection. As for the "out go the campbells" part, my family and I are leaving our house by this FRIDAY! The suspense preceeding the move is mounding.

Japan's Wonders

Thanks so much, Grandma. You're the best:) Everyone, this amazing person took us (my cousin, brother, and I) on the trip of our lives to Japan. That wondrous experience, her comfort, and the beastly sightseeing lasted for a whopping 10 days: on the other side of the world. We did an uncountable number of activities, including seeing the Emperor's Palace, climbing the Tokyo Tower, eating at the Iron Chef's Restaurant, and going up the Japanese Alps, as well as bathing in the soothing hot springs there.

Welcome to our newest WRITER/PHOTOGRAPHER!

Mattster (like master) HA HA!!! is our newest addition to the blog. tmoney's brother, the mattster, loves to shoot photos, and will hopefully enhance your experience in reading this blog. Please welcome him with many encouraging comments.

Final Family Get-together

Thank God for Woodloch! The perfect punch to our last summer vacation in the United States, this resort brought the entire Campbell family together. Everyone had a blast! Grandpa (or should I say g'pops): Thanks-a-million! You must sacrifice so much precious time to ensure a great vacation each and every year. You're the best!
Right now, however, I'd like to hollar out to all of my cousins. You guys can always find something to do, and it USUALLY turns out great.