Thailand

Been on Phuket island for the past few days in the south of Thailand. Its amazing here. The beaches are incredible and they're all at the base of mountain so all the hotels bungalows are up on the side with views of the ocean and islands.

Getting around by moped. Its less than 10 dollars a day to rent one and makes it really easy to get around.

Not sure how much time we'll spend here, but longer than expected because its so awesome here.

Thai food is also really tasty and cheap so I've had plenty of pad thai.

Thinking of heading to Laos in a few days.

Adel and the Baptism in Cairo

Fr. Michael Calabria, a friar at St. Bonaventure introduced us to his friend Adel from Egypt. Adel has been taking us all over Cairo and even spent the weekend with us down in Luxor. He was born and raised in Egypt and now lives in Giza, near the pyramids. He's quite the character and somehow was responsible for making Lindsay and I a part of a baptism in a Coptic church in Cairo.

So we were visiting a bunch of spots in Cairo as any tourist would usually do and of course in a historic city we made a few stops in some churches. Well when we walked into the Coptic church there was a large crowd that seemed to be just there for a regular mass. What we learned after we sat down is that it we were at a child's baptism.

Adel started telling Lindsay and I to stand up because he wanted to take our picture in the church. He then started to tell us to move closer and closer until we were just about at the alter. At this point I'm about 6 feet away from the child who is now actually being baptised by the priest and is surrounded by family and friends trying to capture the moment on camera.

Adel continues to tell us to get closer until we got so close that the priests and family members actually thought we were supposed to be part of this moment. They grabbed us on stage and started taking pictures, not with the baby, but with us! I couldn't control myself from laughing at what is going on so my eyes started to water up from laughing so hard as if I were crying of joy from this child's entry to the church. I have some great pictures of all this because the whole time Adel is has my camera in the back of the church, himself laughing hysterically.

Egypt

The pyramids were incredible. Cairo is an amazing city and the taxi cab drivers might give the yellow cab drivers of NYC a run for their money.

Tonight I'm taking an overnight train from Cairo through the sahara desert to Luxor Egypt for the weekend. It's supposed to be the most beautiful city in Egypt.

Looking forward to it! Will be back in Cairo for Monday and Tuesday and then off to the next leg.

Last Days in Uganda

Well I can't believe that the time has come so quickly to say goodbye to Uganda. On Friday they had a huge celebration for us at the school with tons of singing and dancing. It was also the end of the inter-house competition where the three "houses" at the school compete in a week of competition in volleyball, football (soccer), and singing and dancing. The three house names are Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

It was very sad leaving all of the children at the school as we became very close to some of the orphans. Over the course of my time here I have developed some very strong relationships and it was very sad to leave. Most of the kids were crying in fear that they may never see us again. We provided them, even for a short time, with a sense of hope that the world does care about them. All they have is each other and a few teachers to guide them along the way. As much as we told them that we'd be back it's still never a definite answer as we are a world away.

On Saturday we made our long drive back to the big city of Kampala where we stayed with a woman from the US embassy. It was nice to be able to take a hot shower and eat some relatively American style food. The cost of living here is so much lower than the US so she has a lot of amenities that would not be affordable in America like armed guards at the gate, gardeners, cooks, cleaning people, etc., but it's very inexpensive to have such staff here in Uganda.

Seeing this sort of lifestyle also made me a little sick to my stomach at first because people just around the corner are fighting to live and eat. It's a VERY weird paradox in this country. You have the majority of the people living in EXTREME poverty and just around the corner you have people living the high life. It makes one really appreciate what we have in the United State of America, the greatest country in the world.

We've been doing some touring of the area since we arrived late on Saturday night which was VERY difficult to take in at first. It was hard to see this other side of Africa where there is development, tourism, somewhat of a regular economy, and money. Our time at Bethlehem and Kyotera was full of intense culture and poverty where we were the only white people anywhere in site. It was hard to see the struggle that most of the people in this country have to go through and then just around the corner there are people with money.

I'm really going to miss the school as it was an experience that has changed the way I look and feel about things forever.

Half of the group is going back the USA tomorrow morning and Zach, Lindsay, and I are catching a flight to Egypt at 4:30AM tomorrow.

We are staying in Cairo for 3 days at the Franciscan seminary with a friar from St. Bonaventure. We are then going to Luxor for another 3 days to tour that city as well.

Visiting Homes

Over the weekend we went to visit both the Fred's mothers homes. Little did we know that Mr. Fred's mom invited some members of her parish including the pastor and the choir. We were welcomed into her home with open arms. She lives outside of Masaka, a city about an hour away from where the school is in Kyotera. After a filling lunch we went out back where there was a large tent set up in our honor with a few rows of seats occupied by several Ugandans. Our seats were in one row facing the crowd.

After a brief introduction of who we were there was a homily prepared for us by the pastor of the local parish that was full of energy and excitement. After the homily the choir sang two songs for us. They were very good even though I couldn't understand the lyrics since it was in their native language, but it was a great experience. We couldn't stay for long because we had to get on the road before the sun went down and we still had to stop at the house where Young Fred grew up.

When we met the mother of Young Fred it was instantly clear where he gets his traits from. His mom was so excited and happy to see is and she spoke a mile a minute just like Young Fred. We only stayed at her house for a few minutes to say hello and then we were on our way.

It was great experiencing a Ugandan gathering first hand at someone's home. In our short time here we have encountered several different authentic events to Uganda, but this was definitely one of my favorites as you could really feel what the people are all about.

I haven't had much time to write lately, we've been really busy this week meeting with new loan applicants. I will try and add more on the blog later tonight.

Teachers Gift from HSBC and Ugandan Homes

We met with the teachers at the Bethlehem Primary School today and presented them with a gift that was given in May from HSBC in Buffalo. Graciously, HSBC has sponsored some of the teachers to help support their salaries. The sponsored teachers have decided to use the money to build a ‘Teachers Quarters’ at the school. This will provide them with a place to not only sleep, but also a space to eat and meet away from the children.

Some of the classes at the school last as late as 10 o'clock at night and most teachers have a long trip home with an early wake-up call in the morning to begin classes again. This new space will provide four rooms for teachers to stay on the grounds of the school. Also as part of the new building there will be common space that can be used as a break room and meeting place.

The teachers were extremely happy and excited when we told them about the donation. They put on their new HSBC apparel as soon as we gave it to them. As part of their donation they sent along two gift bags full of collared shirts, hats, visors, pens, and other useful items. Check out later for pictures, or check out my blog at embraceitafrica.org. I’ll be trying to upload pictures while we are still here.

Tomorrow we are going to several different people’s homes to visit and eat. One of the homes is Young Fred's mothers house in Masaka, I've heard she is a real riot. I’m really looking forward to being taken in by Ugandan families. There’s no better way to really experience a culture than to be with the people. It should be a great time!

Loans, School and More Uganda

The past few days we have met with all of the loan recipients from last year with some good results. Mostly all the traders and farmers from last year did better than expected and were even able to pay for their children to go to school with the extra profits.

We met with each of the groups at the school to discuss how things went and to get some feedback on the program. After the meetings we visited each of their sites to check out first hand the progress they had made. All of the loan recipients are able to apply for new ones this year and their prior performance will be strongly considered in how much they will receive this time.

The next few days we will be beginning the new application process and hosting informational meetings.

At the school we picked up the cement and have already started on surfacing the girls dorm and some of the classrooms at BPS. Bunk beds or "deckers" have been ordered and are being constructed.

Over the past few days i've expanded my taste buds by eating some grasshopper, heart, and liver. All of which were not that bad, but the grasshoppers just tasted like a grill and not much flavor.

The internet cafe near by is an interesting experience. First, there is a cow right outside the door next to the computers and you can hear "moooo" the whole time while you're typing away. Secondly, the connection is rather slow and you have to watch out because the fear of loosing electricity is always there.

It was a bit hard to sleep this weekend because there is a night club below our hotel and you can hear and feel the bass while laying in bed. Sounds like they know how to have a good time!

Uganda is an amazing and beautiful country. The views at every glance are great and there is so much color everywhere. Besides the occasional herd of cows that block the street its pretty nice driving around and taking in all of the unique sights and sounds.

As we drive down the dirt road children all along the street chase our car, yell, wave, and chant "mezzoongu, mezzoongu", what they call white people. Its a pretty amazing thing to witness and they really love Americans.

I ordered a cheeseburger tonight in honor of memorial day... Should be interesting to see how it turns out.

Tomorrow we are working with the students on the pen pal program we have set of with primary schools in Olean and Allegany in New York. Also, we will be starting the art exhibit project where the work created by the students in Uganda will be displayed in a museum in the US.