So after today, we litterally wanted to pull our hair out.
Okay so the reason for this terrible attitude is we got our hair braided today. We sat through 12 hours of intense braiding and weaving only to find that it is not finished and we have to go through 6 more hours the next day. What we thought was only going to take about 6-8 hours is now taking almost twenty!! :-)
Stacie got hers braided in tiny braids which was not very painful because they are braids. She sat listening to nothing but the hair stylists speaking in Lugandan, not having anything to eat so she was starving, from 8 in the morning until 7 at night....just sitting. Then the stylist had her tilt her head back the opposite direction it is supposed to go so for 45 MINUTES!!! Just so that she could get the top part finished. Joan, I am sooooo sorry for what you have to go through. I will never sit through that again.
AmyRose on the other hand, sat from 9 in the morning until 9 in the evening, getting her hair twisted. It was super painful because they only twist seven strands of hair in with the weave and so basically it feels like you are getting all of your hairs plucked from your scalp. Then around lunch time they offer food which was amazing since the granola bar she packed with her got forcefully shared with everyone else in the room once she busted it out. So she looked at what it was and was so thankful. Pork. She popped it in her mouth and realized the texture was awfully chewy and tough. Oh it was not pork, but Cow intestine. She kept praying, Lord do not let me gag.
The hardest part about the whole situation is that we were not able to be together. We had to be in different salons so we had no idea what the other person was doing or how each other were feeling. Since we have been here, we have had it pretty good so far. Everything has worked out well and and we have had really good food and have been living well. After discussing how terrible it was today we realized that we are not always going to have it good...which is good because we learn the most in difficult situations and if sitting through hours of getting our hair...then I think we are going to survive!!
Friday, January 16, 2009
A Phenomenal Painting Party Project!!
Okay so we have painted the rooms of Abba House!!! It was a lot of fun and a lot more work than we thought it was going to be but from the smiling and appreciative faces of all the kids, well worth all the hard work!!
First off, even though Stacie said that she had painted before, the only thing she has ever painted was a piece of pottery...That's right she had no idea how to paint...but it was her idea to paint the rooms at Abba. AmyRose, on the other hand, had painted several houses so Stacie thought that with AmyRose experience and Stacie's confidence, that they could get it done in no time.
The walls are lime stone. So we couldn't just start painting like we thought in the first place. We had to sandpaper all the walls which took forever because we were given a 6"by6" piece of sandpaper to use. The limestone was going everywhere and making it difficult to breathe and see. But after 5 hours of sanding, we were able to apply the undercoat. We applied the undercoat and then left for it to dry. The next day we went to paint. We chose light blue for the rooms and as we were applying it, we laid down newspaper for it to drip onto that way it wouldn't get everywhere. Well they kids kept walking on the newspaper and trailing little blue footprints everywhere, so we trashed the newspaper and now have light blue cement floors as well as walls. :-)
A two day project has now turned into a two week project...but this is Africa. You can never get anything done in what we would think and efficient amount of time...
Which leads me to the next blog...
First off, even though Stacie said that she had painted before, the only thing she has ever painted was a piece of pottery...That's right she had no idea how to paint...but it was her idea to paint the rooms at Abba. AmyRose, on the other hand, had painted several houses so Stacie thought that with AmyRose experience and Stacie's confidence, that they could get it done in no time.
The walls are lime stone. So we couldn't just start painting like we thought in the first place. We had to sandpaper all the walls which took forever because we were given a 6"by6" piece of sandpaper to use. The limestone was going everywhere and making it difficult to breathe and see. But after 5 hours of sanding, we were able to apply the undercoat. We applied the undercoat and then left for it to dry. The next day we went to paint. We chose light blue for the rooms and as we were applying it, we laid down newspaper for it to drip onto that way it wouldn't get everywhere. Well they kids kept walking on the newspaper and trailing little blue footprints everywhere, so we trashed the newspaper and now have light blue cement floors as well as walls. :-)
A two day project has now turned into a two week project...but this is Africa. You can never get anything done in what we would think and efficient amount of time...
Which leads me to the next blog...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
"Nakabuye and Muhumuza"
AmyRose had her first experience with Ugandan food. What she tried was a tasteless potato-like yellow blob called Matookie-(Muh-toe-key) They eat it with everything. She was not so much a fan of it. But choked down as much as she could stomach so that she wouldn't offend the ones who were offering it to her...
AmyRose now has a ugandan name called Muhumuza...meaning Comforter. Stacie is actually quite sad because she has found that the meaning of Nakabuye, her Ugandan name is in the line of "Enchima" which is monkey in Luganda... However, they did inform her that it was a wonderful name and is respected. :-)
We went to visit Abba house on Saturday. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Abba House, a few of our friends came to Uganda in July of 2008 under an organization called House of Friends and built the foundation for an orphanage. The orphanage, Abba House, is now complete and is housing 29 children. The children heard that we were coming about two weeks in advance and they had been anxiously awaiting our arrival. We had taken with us a bag full of "sweeties" which were tootsie roll pops (Thank you very much Cynthia for all the candy donations...they are being used well :-)) and smarties and the sweeties were devoured instantly.
While visiting Abba, we both felt like we should do a project there. So we have decided to paint all the inside walls of the house. There are three rooms for the children, one room for the aunties, a storage room and then a living room. We are really excited to begin getting hands-on and start painting.
FYI Harry, Reuben, Bethany, Emma, and Johanna...You all have left an everlasting impression on these kids because they are ALWAYS asking about you and asking when you are coming back!! Johanna, they kids have named their dolls after you :-)
Well I guess that is all for now...Hope you have an awesome time back at home and keep us in your prayers!!
AmyRose now has a ugandan name called Muhumuza...meaning Comforter. Stacie is actually quite sad because she has found that the meaning of Nakabuye, her Ugandan name is in the line of "Enchima" which is monkey in Luganda... However, they did inform her that it was a wonderful name and is respected. :-)
We went to visit Abba house on Saturday. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Abba House, a few of our friends came to Uganda in July of 2008 under an organization called House of Friends and built the foundation for an orphanage. The orphanage, Abba House, is now complete and is housing 29 children. The children heard that we were coming about two weeks in advance and they had been anxiously awaiting our arrival. We had taken with us a bag full of "sweeties" which were tootsie roll pops (Thank you very much Cynthia for all the candy donations...they are being used well :-)) and smarties and the sweeties were devoured instantly.
While visiting Abba, we both felt like we should do a project there. So we have decided to paint all the inside walls of the house. There are three rooms for the children, one room for the aunties, a storage room and then a living room. We are really excited to begin getting hands-on and start painting.
FYI Harry, Reuben, Bethany, Emma, and Johanna...You all have left an everlasting impression on these kids because they are ALWAYS asking about you and asking when you are coming back!! Johanna, they kids have named their dolls after you :-)
Well I guess that is all for now...Hope you have an awesome time back at home and keep us in your prayers!!
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