Madagascar Series: Antananarivo

Antananarivo is the capital city of Madagascar. Because this name is so long, the Malagasi people usually shorten it to Tana when they are talking, which is much easier to say. We spent two nights and one full day in Tana, and got to do many fun things. We visited the local market, which was very similar to Oweno (I have posted on that market before). The main differences from this open-air market to Oweno are the prices. Everything is incredibly cheaper, and often of better quality. The currency of Madagascar is the Ariary, and has almost the equivilant value of the Ugandan Schilling. We also explored the city in search for a good restaurant, and the one that we finally decided on was delicious. It was an owned by a very nice Indian man, and there was excellent Indian food. With regards to cuisine, Madagascar is known for Indian food and seafood. Madagascar was a French colony, so its official language is French. Because the tourism industry from the United States is Madagascar's largest income source, English is also becoming an official language of Madagascar. However, only about 25 percent of the people that we met could speak broken English or better. Therefore, everyone in the family had to use their French to get what they wanted. We all could get by with our French, but after our first word, everyone could tell that we were not French.

This picture shows the restaurant owned by the "hotel" that we stayed at.

Sorry for the major delay. School has been killer! SO MUCH WORK!!!

Madagascar Series

For the Christmas holidays, we decided to take a trip to Madagascar, which was a once in a lifetime experience. We got to see things there that could only be seen in that country, such as lemurs and chameleons.

Because our trip to Madagascar was so eventful in the two weeks that we were there, I have decided to split up the posts on the trip into several sections, which I will post in chronological order. The posts will include our trips to Antanarivo (the capital), Vakona Lodge and the rainforest, Ile Aux Nattes (the beach), and even one on the extensive traveling that we endured to get to these locations.
This trip was definitely one of the best that we've ever taken, and we didn't even see everything there is to see in Madagascar. Things that we didn't see include the spiny forest and the many large mountains.

Madagascar Series: Forest Reserve

After Tana, we made our way up the island, towards the area of Madagascar with rainforests. It was about a 6 hour long drive up to the heart of the rainforest, so we took a stop at a reserve about halfway. This reserve was amazing! It was a bit cruel to the animals that were kept there, but they had the best animals found in Madagascar, and everything could be touched and held. This included numerous species of butterflies, chameleons, insects, geckos, snakes, lizards, alligators, frogs, and lemurs. All of these animals besides the lemurs were caged, but the lemurs were free to roam around the forest. They only stayed because the reserve staff fed them. A guide allows you to see and touch all of the caged animals, and then takes you on a thirty minute hike to reach the lemurs. He calls the lemurs by making a very deep sound that you create in your throat, and holds up bananas. Then, you can hear the lemurs replying, and then there is a lot of rustling in the trees. Then, you can see a group of lemurs hopping from tree to tree, and they move faster than you can imagine. The second that they land on one tree, they've hopped to the next, and the next tree is usually quite a distance away. Once they reach you, you can hold bananas behind your back, and, in order to reach them, the lemurs will hop on your back. They have hands much like humans, except that they are padded and their thumb is abnormally large, so that they can hang on to trees. We had a blast playing with, petting, and feeding the lemurs, and were all very sad to leave when it was time to go. However, this was not going to be the last time that we saw lemurs on our trip... The only two people who did'nt exactly love the idea of lemurs jumping on to you were my mom and Jack. Afterwards, we had a delicious lunch and then continued our journey towards Vakona Lodge in the heart of the rainforest...

All of th pictures from this are in a slideshow on the side of the webpage. It is labeled Madagascar.

Ugandan Independence Day Festival

On Ugandan Independence Day, ISU held a festival, which had any different Ugandans from many different tribes from all over Uganda perform their special ritual dances, which were very elaborate, and quite different from anything that I have ever seen.

Sorry that I'm posting this one so late. Matt just showed me the pictures that he took at the festival, so I decided that I would use them.

Trick-Or-Treating in Jinja

We decided that even though we are living in Africa, we have to keep up our Halloween spirit. So, we joined a group of ex-pats which go to a resort in Jinja (a town outside of Kampala, but in Uganda) every weekend after Halloween. This resort is called Kingfisher, and is right on Lake Victoria, so has a fantastic view. There are about 30 bandas, which are little huts, which were actually very nice. They had running water, a king-sized mattress, and plenty of space in the "living room". In fact, we fit three beds in that space, with plenty of room in between them. And by running water I mean a shower and a flushing toilet! I bet that it doesn't seem that amazing to you, but for us it was a HUGE thing. At the resort there is plenty of space, along with a pretty large pool, but shallow enough that it was safe for kids to play there, a makeshift slide, a bar, and a restaurant. This is very high-class for Uganda. There were a lot of infants, but mostly people around Matt's age there. I was pretty lonesome, except for two other people in my grade. At first I wasn't that thrilled about going, but it turned out to be alright.

Tutoring

Our housekeeper went through a very hard time not very long ago when her sister died, leaving her with two young boys. She already had plenty of kids whom she was trying to put through school, and it was becoming very hard for her to make ends meet; now educating the two boys which she recently inherited. Also, the boys are struggling at school. It's not because they are not smart, but because they have a hard time expressing their opinions in English. Therefore, I am tutoring both of them for community and service. This way, they get one-on-one attention and already I can see improvement in their reading and writing. It is going very well, and I hope that it continues that way. I started on the 20th of August, and have continued tutoring every Wednesday since, missing only about 5 Wednesdays.

Family Fun Day

An event at ISU called Family Fun Day was held on October 12. To Grandma and Grandpa on both sides, and Aunt Annie, it was very similar to the Fall Festival at Trinity. Basically, any family which is involved with the school could attend Family Fun Day. Like the Fall Festival, it was similar to a carnival. It was very social and had lots of food, as well as a few minigames for the kids. Overall, it was okay.

I also performed some Community and Service at Family Fun Day. To raise money for the Senior Prom (which I am allowed to attend this year if I want), the seniors held a car wash. As each family walked up to the main area, there was a stand with a few people surrounding it. As your family passed, one of the students would ask you if you wanted your car washed. If you did, then you wrote down your license plate number and the type of car you had. So, the seniors recruited some younger students to wash these cars, and it counts towards our Community and Service hours. It's a win-win situation; we get CAS hours, the seniors get a good Prom, and the families get a a clean car for a small fee. In total, I washed three cars.

Somebody please e-mail Matt to get him to start taking more pictures! The posts look quite boring without them.

Ugandan Independence Day

October 9th is Ugandan Independence Day. ISU got off school that day, and so did the CDC and the IDI, where mom and dad work. So, we decided to go and do something as a family. The final choice was to go to Garden City, which is really the only mall in Uganda. I go there quite often with my friends, so I knew the place pretty well.
At Garden City, you can do many things, including playing pool, bowling, eating decent food, shopping, and there is a movie theater. This movie theater is very nice, but the movies aren't that recent. Most times, a movie hits the theater here about two months after it begins showing in the States. The only real family movie that was supposedly showing that day was Kung Fu Panda. We had all heard that it was a hilarious movie, so we decided that we would check it out. However, the movie wasn't actually showing, so we decided to go bowling, which turned out to be a lot of fun for the whole family. We also ate a nice American style meal (burgers, fries, steaks, etc.) which tasted great!!

I'll try to keep the posts coming!

Response to Uncle Dan's Comment

Here's the answers from the perspective of...

The Kids:

1. Has your overall mindset of the US changed at all by living overseas?
My mom always told us that when we come back to the US, we would have a "culture shock". When we went back for the summer, we didn't experience anything like that. However, I think that many people in the US spend on things that they don't need to waste their money on, and are very materialistic.

2. Have you become more patriotic?
I think that in general, yes, we have become more patriotic. I believe this because in a society with so many different ethnic backgrounds, you are always trying to prove that your country is the best, has the best accent, etc. In this way, you are supporting your country more.

3. Have you had a chance to speak with foreigners about their overall view of the US?
I have only talked to one Ugandan about the US. He was my old guard, and he said that it was his lifelong dream to travel and live in the US. He also said that I was "so lucky" that I came from such a nice place, and that if he ever had enough money to live in the US, that he would work very hard to become very successful. This made me feel very blessed. However, people for other European countries feel very different. They see the US as a greedy place, with a bunch of fat people.

4. Do US citizens and foreigners talk about the upcoming presidential election?
The upcoming presidential election is not a huge topic, but it is discussed among the adults occasionaly.


5. I never ask on who one is voting for but is there a sense of who non-US citizens view as the best candidate?
The Ugandans clearly see Obama as the best candidate (mostly because his father is Kenyan), and none of my non-US friends ever talk about that, so I'll leave my parents to answer that furthur.

The Parents:

1. Has your overall mindset of the US changed at all by living overseas?
It is interesting how our own problems seem much smaller in the context of the problems that I see daily just living here. My job working with health issues in a poverty stricken country have also magnified this feeling.

Dad, "No."

2. Have you become more patriotic?
I have mixed feelings about the US. On the one hand, our government is providing critical funding for HIV related activities that are life-saving. On the other hand, with the money spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we could have vaccinated the world over with every available vaccine.

Dad, "No."

3. Have you had a chance to speak with foreigners about their overall view of the US?
Many of our friends are not Americans and, in general, I feel that they like Americans for their pioneering spirit, their ability to be frank and straightforward, and their genuine love of adventure and fun. The US economy and politics have such a commanding effect on other countries that they are worried about our policy both domestic and foreign.

Dad, "There is a combination of feelings-- some envy, some resent, some anger at war and 'bullying,' but most Ugandans think highly of the US because of all the goodwill towards them.

4. Do US citizens and foreigners talk about the upcoming presidential election?
We have also been following the election very closely over here. It is fun to see Barack Obama pins all over. I friend of mine was offered a "Kenyans for Obama" pin recently.

Dad, "Yes, they all talk about it, many with great insight into the issues; all want Obama."

5. I never ask on who one is voting for but is there a sense of who non-US citizens view as the best candidate?
Obama,Obama, Obama...
Dad, "Haven't found one person in Uganda who favors McCain."

Response to Aunt Eileen's Comment

Hi to everyone! Again I am really sorry about the lack of posts over the last month or so. The internet has been very unreliable, and high school is killing me!! (P.S. if you haven't noticed, there hasn't been pictures for a VERY LONG TIME, so I'm not the only one slacking off).
Okay, now that I'm through apologizing, I would like to thank Aunt Eileen and Uncle Dan for telling us what they would like me to post.
This post is responding to Aunt Eileen's comment. So, ISU is much different than the public schools in the US. However, it is much like the first school that I went to, Trinity. Both have very small amounts of students per class, and although there are many extracurriculars and school sports available, none are very organized or competitive. As far as the actual school goes, it's very hard to say which one is "harder". The curriculums differ in many ways. For example, math is much easier here, and there are almost no opportunities to excel in it. However, studying a foreign language (at my age that is either French or Spanish) is much harder, and a lot more work, because foreign language is moved at such a fast pace. Also, the curriculums are different, meaning that there are some things that my friends have never seen before that I know like the back of my hand, and vice-versa. Here we follow the MYP program from grades 6-10, and the GCSE program from 11-12.
I have told Matt that he should also respond to these questions, so expect a post from him soon!

Back to School

Sorry, I've kind of been slacking off on the posting for a few reasons. First of all, our internet has been down for a very long time, and secondly, I've just been swamped with homework now that we are back at school. Matt has moved up to the senior school, now that he is in 6th grade, and I'm now in high school, which has turned out just to be massive amounts of extra homework.
I was also talking to my friends back in the States, and they were just starting school as I was on about my 3rd week. Plus, they get off like 3 weeks before me as well in the summer. That sort of ticked me off.
Jack and JT are still doing well, and I will post again soon. Please comment on any ideas you have for what I should post, because I'm running out of ideas, and not many big things have happened in a while.

Sponsoring a Family

Just as we came back, we were assigned the duty of "sponsoring" a new family that is just moving to Uganda. One of my parents' good friends sponsored us, and it is very nice. Basically, the sponsor prepares your home for you, gives you some basic necesseties like toilet paper, soap, and a few days worth of food. They also pick you up at the airport when you land in Entebbe, and drive you to your new home. The people that we sponsored have been all over, so they have a much more interesting story than we do. It is a married couple with two boys. They are the ages of Matt and I.

Summer Break

This summer was fantastic! We got to see lots of friends and most of our family. The whole family wants to thank the all the people who were kind enough to let us stay at their houses for however long we decided to stay. We would have loved to see everyone more, but we had to come back to Uganda, which we now call "home". It was great to see all of the cousins, our aunts and uncles, and, of course, our loving grandparents. We hope to see a few of you soon... here in Uganda!
And for Matt and I, we really enjoyed our birthday presents! So thanks.

With all of the traveling around, Matt didn't want to bring his camera, in case he accidentally lost it (and you know how much of a space cadet he is...), so there's no pictures again.

Lake Nabugabo

Our most recent camping trip was to Lake Nabugabo, and was a nice change of pace. All of our other trips have been with many safaris and so many things to do that we didn't really relax enough. Here, the only thing that we needed to do besides swim in the fantastic lake, is cook, do dishes, and build a fire, which is actually kind of fun (the fire part). We went with many other people, but we had never camped with any of them before, and they turned out to be a lot of fun. This was a nice trip and I got a driving lesson, which was tons of fun.

AND WE'LL BE SEEING EVERYONE REALLY SOON WHEN WE COME BACK!

Crossing the Equator...Again

On our way to our most recent camping trip at Lake Nabugabo (a post is coming soon), the family crossed the Equator again. This is like our third time, but I never posted about it. It's kinda cool, and it's something that you'll never do in the states. It's too bad though that we have never bothered to stop and take a picture of us in the ring, so the picture below is the best I could do.

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...)

Oweno Market

I don't know if anyone back home has ever been to an open market before. Not just a flea market, but a crowded place where merchants are yelling out their prices to passer-bys and where you can bargain for a price that suits both yourself and the merchant.
Well, even if you have, I am sure that it is nothing like oweno. Although it is one of the best places to go if you are looking for cheap clothing, it is jam-packed, and, if you don't know your way around, you could be in there for the entire day, looking for what you want or the way out.
It is basically this huge market (or maze whatever you would like to call it) in downtown Kampala, covering a bit more than a city block. It is definitely for someone adventurous, and not for someone who is looking to get in and get out.
If anyone comes to Uganda, we will take you to all of the great national parks and to oweno. For everyone here at school, if you see them with a new shirt or shorts and you ask them where you got it, they will say, "Oweno".
At oweno, if you want to get a decent price, you have to know some good bargaining techniques.

1. Know your way around oweno
2. Be friendly with the seller.
3. Start at a very low price so the agreement is lower
4. Know the secret of, "I will look around and come back later" or "No, the price is too high, I will keep looking." Then it is almost a guarentee that they will call you back and lower the price and give you there "new" final price. These people really need the money.

Also, if you are ever wondering where all of the great clothing and old shirts, etc. that you give to your church or to Good Will which is donated to Africa goes, it is places like oweno.

Sorry no pix for this one.

I lost my first tooth in AFRICA: A post from JT

I Lost Mi frst tooth . - typed by JT

The tooth fairy came and gave 4000 dollars, wait...no, schillings!

I think that it is very cool to have lost my first tooth in Africa.

From,

JT

Ok, I went to post this, and, when it was done, I was going to take a picture of JT's mouth and the missing tooth, but couldn't find the camera. So, I waited until the next day. But when JT came home, a second tooth was gone! He can't even say the sentence, "Mom, can you make me "soft stuff". So now, "All he wants for Christmas (or when he comes back in the summer) is his two bottom teeth, his two bottom teeth..."

New Car: A Land Cruiser

Guess what??? We got a new car to replace the old Pajero! It's so much nicer, and takes so much less work, according to Mom, who was the first one to drive it because she was the one who found it. Hopefully, this 4 by 4 won't give us nearly as many problems as the Pajero, and it will definitely be our new safari car. And above all...IT HAS A/C!

We're not sure yet what we'll do with the Pajero. If someone is looking for a bargain, we'll sell it to them, otherwise we'll probably just keep it as a second car.

The World Swim Against Malaria

Matt and I are in The World Swim Against Malaria, and we need some sponsors. In this event sponsored by ISU, you swim as many laps as you can in a PE class. Sponsors can either sponsor per length, or a total donation. The rest is pretty obvious, and every schilling made goes to buy a mosquito net for a needy kid.
Skype or comment us if you can help out.
Thanks from Uganda.

Father - Son Trip : Rafting on the Nile

Over the Easter Break our family went to Queen Elizabeth and dad and I went rafting on the Nile! It was awesome! We went with 5 other father-son combos on the trip and rafted on Grade 3s and 4s. Here is a basic outline of our schedule:

Day 1: We got up very early to get all the way to Jinja, and then arrived at the pick-up point. Then, we got suited up and took off to the river (which seems like a name of a water body that doesn't even come close to the vastness of this "river"). We took 2 rapids before stopping on an island to eat a spectactular lunch brought through the rapids by an expert kayaker, and swam through some small rapids. Then we hit two more rapids before arriving at an island where we would stay the night, called the Hairy Lemon. There we played American football and volleyball in the water, and played some games at night.

Day 2: Again we got up bright and early for the next part of our journey, which was by far the best part of the trip and almost definitely the most exciting thing that I've done in Uganda so far! We let our rower do all the work for the first calm 15 km of the river while we swam and pushed each other off the raft. Then, we came to a grade 4 rapid and went through it. We then took an upstream current to an island right by the rapids and had lunch. There, we went boogie boarding on the rapids, but not how you would think. This is going to be an in-depth explanation so get ready...
It was stationary! Basically, the water flowing downstream hits a rock jutting out of the riverbed and is forced to go around. Then, an upstream current is formed when the water fills in the spaces behind the rock. However, the water falls off of the rock and collides with the water coming downstream, making a sort of wave, but it doesn't move. The island that we stayed at was very close to this wave so we just waded as far into the water as possible and leaped into the current. You had to kick as hard as possible so that you wouldn't get washed over the wave, and then, once you caught the wave, you just enjoyed the ride. The only thing that you had to do was keep yourself facing straight. Since there was so much water coming in both directions, it felt as if you were flying at about 100mph, even though you were going nowhere. It was sooooo much fun. Then my 8th grade friends and I got adventurous and waded against the current as far as possible and leaped out so that we got tons of momentum going down the rapids, and then tried to catch the wave.

Aftermath:
Extreme sunburn!

I really want to thank Dad for taking me on this great trip!

O ya, and sorry that I don't have any pictures. Only one dad was smart enough to bring a camera and he hasn't sent the pix around yet. If I ever get them I will definitely publish them.

Babies, Babies Everywhere! A post from mom.

Believe it or not, even a baby warthog is cute. Disney had it all right. Baby anything is cute--baby hippo, baby warthog, baby mongoose, baby elephant, baby waterbuck, baby crocodile & monitor lizard (not so cute). The only issue with baby anything is that the mothers get nervous around anything that they find threatening. The third car in our 3 car caravan risked trampling when an elephant herd with many babies (including a 1 week old elephant) crossed the road behind them. On our walk back from the Mweya Lodge (quite beautiful and where we will put up visitors who brave the trans-Atlantic flight...hint...hint) we passed a mother hippo with her baby and were worried enough to walk in a giant pod with flashlights all turned outward. Spring safari is highly recommended. It was amazing to see all the little ones and worth braving a few downpours during this rainy season.

Yuka

Queen Elizabeth National Park Trip

Our latest trip was to Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is considered to be one of the best places to go if you want to see tons of animals in a short period of time (perfect for tourists in other words). It was about a 7 hour car ride there, plus traffic, and so basically we were on the road and unloading and packing for two of the four days that we were there. At the park, we did multiple game drives at sunrise and sunset, and a cruise on the channel cutting through the park. We camped with two other families that we know very well, the Willisons and the Nobles. The Willisons have 5 kids, and the Nobles have 3. We are close friends, and we saw TONS of game. And literally TONS. We saw hundreds of elephants, traveling in herds of about 10, hundreds of hippos, traveling in pods of about 20, lots of mongooses, traveling in packs of about 10, hundreds of water buffalo, and hundreds of water bucks. All of these animals, apart from the mongooses (yes it is mongooses, we looked it up),weigh extreme amounts, and could tear us and our cars apart easily.
And, since it is spring, we saw the babies of every species of animal that we saw. Mom will be posting on their cuteness.
Also, we saw just about every type of bird imagenable, including fish eagles, hawks, egrets, and weaverbirds.
We were a little bit dissapointed that we missed out on the cats who are supposed to be in the park, such as lions, leopards, and cheetahs. And we had hoped that we would see a hyena.
We had lots of fun and hope to do it again with some family members who are visiting. Wink, wink, cough, cough.
The pictures for this post will be put on a slideshow on the sidebar on the homepage.

Here is the site for Queen Elizabeth:
http://www.game-reserve.com/uganda_queen_elizabeth.html

O ya, and a post is almost ready about the DDR. We just need to take a video and upload it!

DDR: Thanks for the present!

DDR has been great! I'm still confused as to who sent it, but I think that it was from the whole family. Thanks from this whole family. We have really enjoyed it, and, just like with the Wii, many of us are sweating after a hard session. And of course, the "best" dancer in our house, besides Jack, is dancing like there is no tomorrow, and singing the tunes afterward to himself (it's dad). If possible, a video will soon be posted

My Swimming Gala

I just went to a swimming gala which is where you competitively swim against other schools. Since this was my first one I wasn't as good as some people there but I did better than I thought I did in butterfly (which is impossible). On freestyle my time for 25 meters was 17.96 seconds in the gala. I did all the strokes which include freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and an individual medley. Then I was told I was doing the relays next. I had a great relay team but the others were better and so, we got 4th and 3rd place.

Sorry, no pictures of this one.

ISSEA: International Schools of South and East Africa

If anyone didn't know, Dad decided to take a coaching job in Uganda, just like he did in the States. He assistant coaches the ISSEA girls basketball team, and just got back from the tournament in Dar es Saalam in Tanzania. This is the high school team that "travels East Africa" like Mom had said. They came 5th out of 6, but did a pretty good job, considering that one of their best players was out for the tournament in the first game, tearing 3 ligaments in her leg/ankle.

Jack's Neverending B-day

Well, you guys probably read the post about the snacks, and in the same delivery, another one of Jack's fantastic birthday presents arrived. That's actually really very nice. In Uganda, your birthday continues on for the time that your presents take to get through the diplomatic pouch. Jack says thanks so much, as well as the rest of the family, for the great presents that our family goes to the great trouble of getting for us.

Outrageous Amount of Snacks

WOW!!! Thank you guys so much for the great snacks. I know this is weird to say after how we had been complaining, but we almost eat the same amount of snacks here as in the States. I'm definitely not complaining, and thank you so much. How's everything going there? Still snowing for the MA crew? Anyway, thanks again, and the snacks are much appreciated.

Jack's New Karaoke Machine

The entire family would like to thank everyone for the great christmas presents that they sent. We all immensely enjoyed the snacks, and JT went crazy over the hockey set. And Jack has not been able to leave his karaoke machine. HE LOVES IT!!! Every night he's jammin away, singing everyone note that he knows, and quizzing everyone else. Not to mention Dad's enthusiasm. Besides Jack, he's definitely the loudest and most energetic. It works great, and Jack is becoming a personal DJ. He knows every little trick, and he especially loves fiddling with the echo.

Thanks to everyone again, and we're so sorry if our presents haven't reached you yet.

Our Sea Shipment CAME!

The house is buzzing with excitement again because after a long wait, our stuff that was shipped overseas has finally come. There was a great deal of happiness when Jack located his old max in the boxes. We got many things, including board games, bikes, sporting equipment, and our PS2. We'll be having lots of fun, and hopefully the bikes will come in handy.

The Super Bowl in Uganda

Sorry that we haven't posted in a while. This post is about the Super Bowl!
Some sports revelation in Boston, huh! First a long-missed World Series title for the Red Sox, and now a perfect season-to-be for the Patriots. But I'm sure that the New York contingent have their fair share of the glory. If Eli and the Giants pull off some miraculous win, then you guys will have something to brag about, huh? You stopped the perfect season (sorry but it's just not going to happen).
We wish we could share in the fun, but there is no way for us to get the game. The internet blocks streaming video, and the network, the Armed Forces Network, isn't working.

Comment on the score and what happened please!

Bujagali Falls

For our next trip, we headed down to Bujagali Falls in the morning, and came back around dusk. The link below is the site of the restaurant that we ate at. It was great!
http://www.nileporch.com/

For those that don't know, Bujagali

Falls is near the source of the Nile River, which is a convenient hour and a half from Kampala. It was rea

lly nice, and we saw one crazy guy go through the rapids on a jerrycan! (a jerrycan is a medium-sized container that Ugandans frequently use to carry drinking water) The trip was fun and it was definitely an adventure.
It was also Mpolo's first trip, and it turns out that she is excellent in the car.

How To Comment

We have been getting many e-mails saying that people love our blog, but don't know how to leave a comment. It's actually quite simple. It can be done in 4 simple steps:

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Please comment so we know who is getting on our blog!

Murchison Falls

Well, the Murchison camping was great, but we had to cut it short by one day. Because of that, we didn't get to actually see the falls, but we went on two great game drives, where we sat on the roof rack! We saw water buffalo, waterbucks, cob, hartebeests, hippos, warthogs (which lived at our campbsite), Orbei (little antelopes), Maribu Storks (that look like terradactyls), fantastic birds (including many Kingfishers), and tons of giraffes.

There weren't any attacking monkeys, but there was a water buffalo, who figured that he just wasn't going to move for our car. Luckily, we didn't force the buffalo to a decision, and it decided that it wasn't worth it, but supposedly those lone water buffalo are bad news.

At the campsite, we had many warthogs, Maribu Storks, and a HUGE HIPPO! The reason that there was so much game in our camp was because the place that we stayed in, called "The Red Chili Rest Camp", was actually inside the park.

Okay, I know that you're wondering why we had to cut the trip short, and the link below will describe in further detail, but here's my version:

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/605707

Kenya recently had a very corrupt election and was probably rigged. Post-election riots errupted after the election, and it has become so violent that the border to Uganda has been completely closed. We can't get any oil because we are a land-locked country, and the petrol that comes in by sea, can't get to us cheaply without coming through Kenya.

We've got some great pictures for you, but they are on the sidebar. Check them out!