ISU Family Fun Day (Carnival)

Every year, ISU holds about 2-3 "Family Fun Days" for anyone who would like to spend their afternoon on a weekend at school. The most recent fun day had a carnival theme. There were many little carnival games, as well as cotton candy. The games each cost 500 Ush. Also, the school provided pretty decent Chinese food (which is hard to get out in Uganda) for 9500 Ush, which is about $5.50. It is never the most fun thing in the world, but always a cool time to socialize. This time, ISU held a costume parade, in which anybody could dress up under a topic of history and parade around. If you were voted to be the best in your age group, you won candy or other prizes. Also, there was a statue contest where the entrants have to stay still for an entire hour in a cool costume, but no Campbell boys joined (an hour is just a bit too long). The pictures are of Jack and JT dressing up for the parade. Sadly, they didn't win the best costume award for their age group.

Becoming less picky

This is a bit of an odd post, but I am sure that the entire Uganda-contingent would agree with me when I say that the time that we have spent in Africa has created a less picky atmosphere when eating meals. We care much less about exactly what we eat, and instead just eat it and try to like it, even if we don't. This is probably because of the lack of certain condiments/meals/snacks that we used to love back in the States.
And, in a bit of a twist, everyone has started to wolf down the food at dinner, and Matt is the one who will usually eat the least (except for Jack). Even JT out-eats him!

Sorry no pix!

The USPCA

The USPCA (Uganda's society for protection and care of animals) is a animal shelter for mostly cats and dogs. I go there every Wednesday right after school. This place is AMAZING if you want to adopt a dog for FREE!! Ever since I started going there I always wanted to go everyday.

JT went once but wasn't allowed again because he still hadn't got his rabies shot because Mom was overprotective, even though the dogs have their rabies shots. Thomas still hasn't come.

Thank you from the whole family for the great presents!

Thank you from the whole family to anyone who had a part in sending all of the great presents/snacks. It is much appreciated.
I also think that the family feels very thankful that we've posted this same type of post like 5 times. Thank you for helping us out so much!

Akon and UB40 Concerts

I am beginning to think that Uganda is a popular place to hold concerts, because in only the 6 months, or so, that we've been here, there has been an Akon concert (which cost 125,000 Ush) and a UB40 concert, which was their last concert ever. They are now retiring forever.

Another cool thing is that after the concert (which Akon canceled twice and finally came the third time), he went to a bar owned by a kid's father. The kid goes to ISU, so many people got to meet him personally at the bar. Pretty cool, huh?

Ugandan Traffic

This post is in response to Aunt Eileen's comment. It's true that we have lots of fun here, but it's not all fun and games. Traffic here is one of the things that drive my parents crazy. Sometimes, after going through downtown Kampala, Mom or Dad come home in avery bad mood. The traffic here is much like in a big city, but there aren't nearly as many roads, and no such thing as a subway. Just like in Manhattan, a drive that should be about 10 minutes, lasts 30 minutes to an hour. I think everyone can relate to this, but not in the same way. Besides just the traffic jams, there are so many crazy drivers who make very aggressive moves in and out of traffic. These drivers are usually on bodas or driving matatus. There are also these taxis parking in random spots on the road, bodas swerving, cops who stand there doing nothing, and annoying salesmen walking through traffic. Sound fun?

Staff Party

Recently, we had a party with all of our house staff, including our US Embassy guards. It was tons of fun, and each of our staff brought their whole family, including kids, so it was a packed house. I'd say that there was about 40 people in one room as they danced the afternoon away. And when time was up, we concluded with a very meaningful prayer. Also, the lunch that was served was delicious, and just about every dish was wiped clean during the feast.



Some people think that it isn't safe to let your staff that work for you to have a chance to steal anything of yours. But we decided that we trust them, and just hid everything that would probe opportunity crime.



Sorry, no pictures.

Ugandans love their football (soccer)

Here, the Ugandans really care about their football, and will do anything to watch any possible F.A. Premier League game. You should see the bars on game nights. Literally, there isn't space for one more person. And for those who can't afford to get into the bars find the cleverest ways to watch from outside the bar. When the games are on, the bars are packed and the city is pumped with enormous amounts of noise. Does anyone support a team, or does the Campbell family not care for soccer?

(this just seemed like a cool post...)