Gulu...

I have made it safely to Gulu after spending the first two days in Kampala!! I have much to share with you soon... Invisible Children is doing amazing things here in Uganda. Check them out at www.invisiblechildren.com

Halfway there...

I'm in London, halfway through my eight hour layover. I'm started to get really excited! Because of my inability to sleep on airplanes, I am not able to put together any coherent thoughts. I will write someday soon when I've had sleep (and electricity).

So begins the adventure: Loving & leaving home at the same time...

I've had a few moments over the last couple of days that made me stop and wonder... how did I ever get here? Not just how did I ever embark on this trip to Uganda, but how did I get where I am in my life?

Every year when the ice melts off the lake I yearn to get on the water. The first time out seems so surreal. It's as if I've never been on a boat, never taken to the water, never floated in this mass of liquid. There is something so invigorating about getting the wind in my hair  and seeing the whole valley from a different viewpoint again. I was hanging on tightly to my husband as we raced across the lake. I realized there was nowhere else I wanted to be. This is strange for me because often I am thinking of exciting new adventures to pursue. Here I was, completely here, in the moment. I hope I can be completely in Uganda while I am there...

I was driving home tonight thinking, "This is where I belong." I could see the expanse of the prairie sky and the tree struggling to survive, marking my half-way home point. The sun was so intense on my windshield and I determined one truth: I really truly do live in the most beautiful place in the world.

At my school the other night, I was listening to students share their creative writing. I couldn't stop thinking about how talented the students are! As I listened to them share their stories, their poetry, their hopes and fears, I realized how lucky I am to know and to work with such youth. The emotion, the fear, the courage - how these young writers can express such life experience in their short lives! I felt the evening captured the very essence of being a teenager. 

I see myself in these students all the time. I enjoy talking with students about their futures... it is an amazing experience to relive the excitement and the fear of "growing up" along with them again. How did I know I wanted to be a teacher? How was I so sure?

I was at our awards ceremony the other day and I was thinking - what outstanding kids we have! Athletes, musicians, artists, leaders, volunteers. I hope I always feel this way about the students I work with! It is easy to complain and become discouraged with students and the education system here in Canada. I am hoping teaching and learning in Uganda will provide me with a new kind of perspective...

What do I expect from my trip? In all of my travels, no matter what my expectations were before I arrived, I have always been surprised by the intensity of the experience. Foremost, I expect to learn. I would not be participating in this exchange if I did not expect to learn as much as I share with others. I expect to be challenged. I live a very sheltered life as a North American. Some situations in Uganda will shock me. I expect to see things that like shake me to my very core. I pray these experiences will help me grow. I do not want to live my life in oblivion of the rest of the world.