Safely in Masaka

Hi everyone!

A quick update to let you know that we're safely in Masaka. Yesterday we had a wonderful time at the hypertension clinic and then had a relaxing afternoon and evening. Today we woke up very early and set out on the road to Queen Elizabeth. We stopped at a crocodile farm and saw crocodiles of all shapes and sizes. Then we went to St. Joseph's Mother and Child Clinic, which is run by our Joseph's mother. His family is amazing and the clinic was so inspiring! Then we arrived at the Danish guest house where we'll be staying tonight before heading out again tomorrow morning to continue on toward Queen Elizabeth. After a delicious late lunch at the guest house, we got to have some fun in the beautiful pool! It was so refreshing, and we all had a great time splashing around. Afterwards, the owner of the guest house brought us to an NGO-run orphanage nearby where they have 24 children. They were eating dinner when we arrived, and were then very excited to run around and play with all of us until it started to get dark. The children were all so adorable and sweet, and we all loved getting to interact and cuddle with them. Right now we are back at the guest house for a bbq dinner and enjoying the stunning view of the sunset over the distant hillz (oppa Ugandan style).

Love, Taryn and Allison and all of the PIGHers

Here are some comments from other PIGHers about how things have been going:

It was a great day today, I wish that every monday (it is monday right???) was like this. We drove through some beautiful country side and visited a crocodile farm. At the farm we saw to crocodiles ages 63 and 52 that were maybe the largest I have ever seen. The older of the two was a known man eater. This was even more entertaining because my family took a trip to Jamaica in late December and saw a crocodile named Mike that was approximately 40 years of age and the biggest I had seen at the time. My little brother's name is Mike so that croc took on extra meaning until seeing these two crocs which were absolutely gigantic. 
When we were visiting Joseph's mother's clinic it was amazing seeing the things that she was short of. They were using medical tape to hold up posters, so I immediately ran back grabbed my role of duck tape and started tapping everything up. Thank you dad for the years of Duck Tape expertise. We then arrived at our Danish guest house and were soon in the pool. A lot of fun, a few cramps due to swimming right after lunch, but all in all the most refreshing experiences in a really long time. 
After swimming we went to a nearby orphanage run by the NGO as the guest house. I met a boy named Sam and I had brought my tablet a long. We together learned how to spell his name on my tablet. I tried to explain the concept of a computer to him but it didn't go very well. It never cesses to amaze me how much fun our group of college students has with kids. All these little kids were amazed by the Big Muzungu as I have become known. My height and size are consistently amazing to all people we met. I have seen a few people taller then me, but not many and only a few bigger then me, but none that had the height and size. I'm mom and dad but I might need help with a plane ticket back very very soon. 
Tomorrow means Queen Elizabeth, which I cannot wait for. I know I promised my girlfriend and parents not to pet the lions, but if the opportunity presents itself......

Jeff "the big Muzungu" Theismann

Funny story time! Yesterday at the hypertension screening clinic, Jeff and I were mainly doing data entry from the surveys others were administering while we were there. During a lull, I got the chance to survey a man and a woman after they had gotten their blood pressure checked. About 15 minutes after I surveyed them, a bunch of us were standing around and talking outside the screening tent when the people I had surveyed came up to me with one other woman and asked me to come with them away from our group to "tell my fortune" (turns out I misheard them and they actually meant "take my picture"). They proceeded to drag me by my arm away from our PIGH group toward a flower bush about 15 yards away. The two women posed on either side of me while the man took pictures and I tried failingly to keep from bursting out laughing while struggling to understand the situation and looking at the confused looks on the faces of my classmates. The younger woman on my right then crouched down to pose and then moved to the other side to put her hand on her shoulder and pose again. When I thought we were done, I tried to walk away, but they pushed me back into place and made me stand there by myself while they took more pictures of just me. The man then motioned for me to crouch down like the woman had earlier and took another picture. Finally it was over, and the younger woman said "Thank you, sister" and hugged me. I still have absolutely no idea what my impromptu Ugandan photo session was about or why they could have wanted my picture, but it remains the strangest encounter I have yet had during our week here in Uganda. It baffles me, and hopefully my picture doesn't end up on some African billboard, but it certainly was entertaining, and we all got a great laugh out of it!

Allison

I really enjoyed the stoke screening yesterday because it gave us the opportunity to talk one-on-one with people as opposed to hearing presentations or addressing large groups.  It always amazes me how many different languages are spoken in Uganda. I learned how to say "thank you very much" in Luganda but so far no one has been able to understand me. I will keep trying though! I also loved both of our orphanage visits over the last couple of days and have a lot of respect for their workers.  It was hard for me to leave after only a short time with the kids.  The drive to Masaka was beautiful today so I am excited for the rest of the drive in the morning (if I can stay awake!).  I can't wait for all of the animals, especially the elephants.

Linnea