#hostsisters

Row Row your boat, didn’t have to row this boat. Rainy season is here but that doesn’t stop us for an afternoon river boat journey. #iamsalt#mccpeace#hostsisters#boattravel#rainydays https://www.instagram.com/p/BycsctPlO3T6SnAYyXVMN5MAUFu2t9BTZS6Ntw0/?igshid=1qw65lv40ywyu

My new sisters for the next month! Meet Coco and Emily! ❤ #Ffgyc #hostsisters #Family #ChineseSisters #exchangestudents (at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW))

Reunited after 6 years, missed your vibes pretty lady 🌠 #hostsisters

Yesterdau night at Tom Jones concert with the girls!

Yesterday night at Tom Jones concert with the girls!

First two days. I'm gonna write something about just when i have time ahaha :)

Last week was exciting! I spent 3 days at my internship and was able to learn to write the entire alphabet in Braille without looking and start working on being able to read it with my fingers. I was able to start working on some of my own projects at the pottery studio which I can't wait to see how they turn out. The children at CHAIN have really started opening up and becoming more comfortable in my presence and I've started feeling more comfortable there as well. It was fun to have my own Ugandan family to come home to after school, and practicum. I was really able to start connecting with my family here even more. Coming home just before dark and helping finish cooking dinner over the charcoal stove while they teach me words and phrases in Luganda. Which I'm starting to become pretty good at, if I do say so myself. My favorite part of the week with my family was when the power went out, which happen about 3 times. So we pull out the candles and grab some tea and sit in the living room and just talk. I enjoy just sitting and enjoying the company even though it's dark. However, bucket bathing in the dark.. Well that's a whole different story. The weekend was extremely busy. On Saturday my host sister and I had the opportunity to travel with another USP student and her host mother and some other members of the church that I've been attending to an introduction ceremony. We were able to wear the traditional dress called a gomesi and experience a wonderful thing. It's kind of like an engagement party back in the states, but not really. Just the idea. When we got there all of the friends and family of the groom which is who we ewe there for were to enter while the sisters of the bride came out dancing to their upbeat African music (which I'm in love with) to pin ribbons on us to greet us. After we sat down children girls and boys, teenagers, each age group and all of the close friends and family of the bride came out of the house in sections all dressed in gomesi's dancing to greet the grooms people. This was super interesting to see. They were all so happy and excited to welcome and greet each other. After all that is the whole point of the ceremony. At one point the middle aged women of the bride's family and friends came out and they called the men from the grooms side to come greet them and give them flowers. After that, they singled out the Mizungu's. The men our age had come out and they asked the 3 Americans to step forward and greet them. We were to choose between about 9 or 10 of the men which one we thought was most suitable and greet and dance with them. As I stepped forward I was so embarrassed but when they told us what we were to do I was just like, well, I'm already up here and just went for it. No shame, no shame. It was fun. After the greetings were mostly over the grooms family and friends were to go get the gifts for the bride. So we went back to the cars and with about 50 of us and 3 trips we brought baskets and boxes of mostly food of all different kinds as well as other gifts, huge bags of rice, a whole leg of a cow, a basket of roosters, and other things that I don't remember were placed in the center for the bride and her family. I was astonished by the amount of things given as gifts, and these were gifts, not even the bride price. After that was over we were to all sit down for a huge meal to celebrate the bride and groom to be. I loved being able to take part in this introduction ceremony and it makes me kind of wish we did things like this in our culture. It was so cool and fun! On Sunday we went to Kampala to visit my little host sister Liz at boarding school. When we got there we pulled into a parking lot with a ton of kids just running around playing. Once Liz came to the car she greeted me right away and wasn't scared of me at all, which I wasn't expecting, as this was the first time we were meeting and most of the children here are really shy or scared of me at first. Afterwards we ate lunch and she was giving the food we brought for her to her friends. It was funny. And she kept taking my phone and just kept taking photos upon photos of her and her friends and the school and just anything. It was adorable. Her mother brought her shoes and school supplies and a few clothes. I was really humbled by this visit because she was so excited to receive the shoes even if they weren't the cutest or the nicest; in her opinion they were. And her mother was so excited to give them to her. It just shows how hard she is working to make sure her daughter has what she needs and has a good education, but she still visits and misses her. I just loved the experience and really wondered how hard it must be. When we got back my host sister Lily and I went to the store and bought ice cream!!! It was sooo good! And just what I needed! And then she wanted to watch a movie. Which is one of her favorite things to do now. Just about every night we watch an American movie. She's really into the step up movies right now, which I'm okay with. I'm loving living with Ugandans it's pretty cool.