Saturday Jan 18/ Sunday Jan 19

Saturday morning I woke up around 9am to our phone ringing. It was the front desk telling Krissy that someone was in the lobby for me. I went down and Justine, my church friend was there to say goodbye! She had brought me a beautiful purse and bracelets as a gift! I still can’t believe this woman. I feel so loved! I can’t wait to stay in touch with her and hopefully help her come visit Utah or New York and the church sites there. I think she would just LOVE it!

We had our last breakfast of the usual scrambled eggs, toast, fresh fruit and passion juice before heading up to our room to pack. Even though we had about 4 hours to pack we actually ended up needing every minute of it. Krissy and I kept starting then stopping to relax and talk about our experience. It was as if we were avoiding the task of packing because we didn’t really want to leave. Brian showed up with a horn trumpet for me to bring back for Mabingo and a bag for my drum. We were all bouncing between each other’s rooms lying on each other’s bed, looking at photos all morning not wanting to leave.  The time came though and it was finally time to go. We packed up the bus and said goodbye to the Fang Fang.

We headed up toward Entebbe and stopped at the Zoo for a few hours. Our flight out of Entebbe wasn’t until 1am so we had all afternoon to burn. The zoo was unlike any zoo I’ve been to in America. What little fences were there did not look very stable. Also some of the animals weren’t even behind a fence at all! There was an adorable baby elephant walking around with a zookeeper, also a camel was just chillin on a hill with no one around. It was insane! Also, the zoo is right next to Lake Victoria so the scenery and temperature was gorgeous. We stopped and grabbed a snack at the restaurant on the way out and had a full view of the lake, which spanned all the way to the horizon.

We then headed to dinner at the Lake Victoria hotel. It was another beautiful hotel with a beautiful restaurant out by the pool. We all had our last meal and spent some time wandering around the lobby relaxing in the fresh cool air off the lake before we had to head out to the airport. Kim, who is amazing at the piano started playing the one in the lobby and before you knew it we were all singing and dancing along revisiting some of the dances we had learned.  I was getting pretty tired and ready to head to the airport by the time we left. Luckily the airport wasn’t far, but then it hit me again that we had to say bye and this time our final goodbye. Grace, Brian, Denis, Moses, and Herbert were with us to say bye at the airport. It was so sad to say bye to them and give them hugs and watch them walk away as we waited to enter the airport. I’ll really miss all of them.

The airport was an experience. Well first they make us exit the bus and walk on the road about 30 feet while Moses drives it through the gate with no one in it. Then we got back on and drove the rest of the way to the parking lot. Not sure why, but bizarre. Once we got out of the bus and took our luggage to the entrance the guard with the riffle had us line up our bags in a single file line with all of us standing 3 feet behind our bags also single file. Then he pulled out a scary German Sheppard from a dog kennel and walked back and forth sniffing our luggage. The dog really liked the smell of our fresh cow hide drums haha. Once that was finished we were then allowed to enter the airport and go through more security. None of it really made any sense. They had big signs saying that our bags couldn’t be more than 32K, mine ended up being 30, yet they still made me pay extra even though it was below the weight they had posted. At this point I was just ready to do whatever the guys with the guns and the power to let me through security told me to do. Hopefully my luggage arrives in NYC. We all got through with little hassle and were soon on our way to London.

The first flight was supposed to be the longest. I fell asleep shortly after take off and woke up when they started to serve breakfast, about 40 minutes before landing! It was the best flight I’ve had in a while, despite the screaming babies a few rows behind me. The earplugs and eye covers really come in handy, thanks again British Airways!

We arrived in London early and while traveling to my next gate was able to see the sun rise. I left about an hour before the group, since I booked an earlier flight home. I saw there was an earlier option when I was booking my flight and jumped all over that. I am so thankful I did since I am so ready to be home and don’t need to spend an extra two hours at Heathrow airport. I am now on the plane from London to NYC and according to my little TV have 5 hours and 8 minutes left. I think this will be the longest flight since I know my favorite city in the world and favorite person is waiting for me when I land.

What an incredible journey this has been. I have loved Uganda despite loosing my phone, some money, and getting a small cut on my foot. All of those things can be replaced and heal but the memories will never go away. I am so happy I have had this unique and incredible experience. I have learned so much about teaching, dance, and myself among a million other things. This trip has also made me travel hungry and I can’t wait to start thinking and planning another place to go to learn and work with people.

As they say in Lugandan: Obulanu Bulungi

Translation: Life is Good

Friday Jan 17

This morning we had to get up early and be on the bus by 8:30.  We were headed to the National Theater to have our full day of dress rehearsals before our show at 6pm. We did a quick walk through of all of the dances before lunch. During lunch Krissy, Denis and I created/finalized our tap dance battle piece. It was insane to be creating a dance hours before it was so be performed. Also during lunch Tacha I went back to the National Theater Market right behind the theater to pick up a small gift for our co-teacher Brian. We found a beautiful painting of a lot of different instruments that he has been playing during our rehearsals. Brian is an incredible drummer and also plays the adungu (a harp instrument) so the picture was perfect.

Once lunch was finished we did a full dress rehearsal from start to finish. I have never had so much fun being as gross and sweaty as I was. The costumes they brought for us to wear during our two Ugandan dances were beautiful! I can’t wait to get some of the pictures from Brian’s camera from that day. I had most of my valuables locked in our dressing room all day. I didn’t want to risk loosing anything else on the last day here.

After dress rehearsal we had about 20-30 minutes before show time. Usually this is when my nerves kick in. It’s funny no matter how many performances I have I still get so anxious and the waiting and anticipation before a show is the worst. After our dress rehearsal though I had no nerves at all. It was all excitement! This is HUGE for me. I just couldn’t get enough of everyone’s energy especially our NYU group. We were so excited and happy to be about to perform. Also toward the end of our dress rehearsal people started to file into the theater so we had a little taste of the audience. Before we knew it, it was time to get to our places.

We actually started off stage in the aisles of the audience. We entered singing and walking up to the stage. When we were waiting in the aisle about to begin my friend Justine from church came up and said hello. Again, seeing people I know in the audience before a show usually kicks up my anxiety, but this time was different. I was just more pumped to have support in the audience that was there for me and me alone. I felt so much love! The fact that I met Justine at sacrament meeting almost two week ago and yet she remembered my mentioning of the performance and made the effort to come and say hello was incredible. So much love. 

The show was a whirlwind of emotions. We had pieces of high energy and super fast and also pieces in memory of teachers that have passed that brought out emotion in all of us. It was a beautiful performance. I don’t think I have ever been in so many pieces in one performance. There was a point I was in 3-4 dances in a row. I came off stage, put on my tap shoes, went back on to tap, walked off to kick off my shoes and walk back on for a different dance, I loved every minute of it. I can’t WAIT to see the video of the show! It was a solid hour and a half of dancing and drumming on stage under the hot lights. The audience was the best audience I have ever had. Their reaction was so energetic. No matter how tiered and out of breath I was their cheering kept me going. I couldn’t stop smiling! It’s crazy to have as much confidence on the stage as we did considering we had finished most of the dances the day of or the day before. The fact that we pulled together the show in 4 days still blows my mind. We ended the show with a revision of “We are Family” and at the end walked to the end of the stage and motioned for the audience to join. The lyrics we had were “We are Family,

I’ve got all my dancers with me,

We are family,

Get up everybody and Sing.”
Everyone was out of his or her seats by the end. It was incredible. What I would give to relive that moment. Absolutely incredible!

After the show I packed my things in the dressing room and rushed out to say hi and goodbye to Justine and my girl Jocelyn. I was able to snap some photos and tell them how much they meant to me promising to keep in touch. Also, I was able to speak with Sylvia who helps bring sponsors into the village to support the children at Jjemba’s village and I hope to be in touch with finding how much it will take to support Jocelyn and her school fees. Also, I saw Peter my friend from BPU. I wasn’t able to see him on Wednesday when we went by BPU, but I left him a graffiti sketch I made of his name like I promised I would when we first met at the screening. Anyway, Abramz gave him the sketch from me, and so on the night of the show he showed up with a graffiti sketch of “Huish”. It was so awesome for him to remember and bring it! He also remembered me mentioning when we first met how much I am loving the soda called Stoney. It tastes like Ginger Ale but much stronger ginger flavoring. He put the Stoney bottle in the sketch! How thoughtful! We are also staying in touch via Facebook. I also met Mabingo’s sister after the show. How fun it was to meet her since I know Mabingo so well. It made me really miss my brothers talking about hers.

After the show we returned to the Fang Fang for our cast party. All of the Ugandan teachers and us NYU teachers had a buffet of Chinese food and drinks for several hours. Us NYU students reworded the lyrics to “Let it Be” by the Beatles and sang it to our teachers including their names and what we will miss about them. After the second line Mama Judith was in tears. Everyone kept saying how we were the best group they have had in a long time, but that last night I actually believed them. Saying goodbye to most of our teachers was really hard. I can’t believe how close we have gotten in just two and a half short weeks. Oh, and how could I forget haha, the people from Fang Fang brought out a carved watermelon for Deb to celebrate her birthday. They had carved out the words “Happy Birthday Debulah” instead of Deborah, so funny and so thoughtful and so awesome. Gotta love the Fang Fang!

We all stayed up much too late talking and reminiscing and avoiding sleep. It was sad to go to sleep knowing that tomorrow we leave, but around 1am a shower and sleep just couldn’t wait anymore. It was such a long, emotional, and successful day. 

Me and Bagonza

Krissy, Gaspare, and me

Sorting out the kids certificates

Happy Birthday Debula! (Instead of Deborah)

Graffiti art

Thursday Jan 16

Today was our last day teaching the kids at the Queen’s Ballet and Modern Dance School. Michelle, Grace, and Kunal taught in our studio. Michelle taught most of the time and their theme was all about a storm focusing on thunder, wind, rain, and lightning. I helped lead the wind group during the class. It was a long class since we were all tired with it being the end of the week, but the dance came out good.

After class we walked back to Nakasero again as usual for our showing of our dances and snack with the kids. Today we also showed the kids the two dances we had learned last week. They were blown away to see their teachers dancing! It reminded me of what it felt like to see Michael and his students at Afrique. They couldn’t stop smiling just like we did when we saw him dance. He was so proud and confident in his work, and I think we were too. They burst in applause when we finished, which was awesome. A great run through since our performance is tomorrow.

After lunch we had the afternoon free to do any last minute errands or things we wanted to do before meeting for a group dinner and reflection. I decided to shower and nap for a bit before dinner. It is Deb’s birthday today so we decided to all get dressed up and take cars to the Serena hotel. It is a STUNNING hotel with a beautiful restaurant and gardens. I still am not used to going through security everywhere we go with guys with shotguns and riffles searching our bags and walking through metal detectors. We sat at a table outside alongside a pond with goldfish, frogs, and beautiful greenery and flowers. We all chose to have the buffet dinner, which was Indian food and it was amazing. We were so excited to have fresh fruit, cheeses and bread, and the dessert table was to die for. I started to feel sick I was eating so much and such rich food than I’ve been eating for the past two weeks, but it was worth every bite. We also told the waiters that it was Deb’s birthday so they came out and sang with a cake.

We had our group reflection at the table after everyone had finished eating. It was nice to hear what everyone’s final thoughts were. Also, Jill, the program director was able to join us, which was nice. Jill originally came to Uganda on a Fullbright scholarship about 12 years ago and decided to stay and is pretty much the reason why this program exists. It was good for her to hear everyone’s thoughts on the program so she can hear first hand how great the experience was for everyone.

I tried to think of three things we did that really affected me and viewed as important to keep for the following years. There was no way I could narrow it to three though so I had four. They were:

1.     Ugandan Heritage Group- I loved hearing Ronnie’s story at UHG. We had a lecture about this place from Jjemba earlier in our trip, but to go to the center was a completely different experience. I loved hearing Ronnie’s story and was so moved at what he has done with his life and how he has supported so many children. I really hope to continue to stay close to him and help support his programs.

2.     Jjemba’s Village visit- Going ot Jjemba’s village was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. It was incredible to go to where the children we were teaching live. They greeted us like royalty with providing us with the best fruit and food and dance performance. Also, this was where I met Jocelyn. She kept grabbing my hand and pulling me onto their dance space to teach me different moves. It was so fun to see her laugh at me trying to learn her steps and then finally hear her say, “Yes! This is correct!” was incredible. We laughed so much together, which was insane since we had just met. She just melted my heart. I loved meeting her in the first week too, because then when I saw her on the first day of teaching we were able to run to each other and hug like we have been friends forever. Ugh, that girl gets me every time.

3.     Breakdance Project Uganda- I am OBSESSED with Abramz and his whole project of BPU. The more I have spoken to Abramz the more I respect him and understand the project. It isn’t created to benefit him or make money or gain publicity, it is all to help the kids. He told me Kenya wanted to start a Breakdance Project Kenya, which he supports and encourages, but told them they don’t need to even have the same name, and to do what is best for them. He isn’t about trying to make his brand big or special it is all about supporting people building safe communities where kids can go and use hip hop in a positive way. It doesn’t matter who starts it, what its called, or where it happens. Also, the guys and girls I met at our two visits to the center and the screening of Bouncing Cats are incredible. Luckily, most of them have a Facebook so we can keep in touch. I really hope to collaborate with them somehow in the future and use YouTube and the Internet to either have Skyping “breakdance battles” or share choreography via the Internet. Abramz was all about that too, which I’m excited about.

4.     Life of Africa- Life of Africa was incredible. I loved learning how to make paper beads from the women at this center. Also, buying their jewelry from them and knowing that every cent was going straight to them was awesome. It felt great to buy such beautiful jewelry for such a good cause. It was crazy how inexpensive it was, yet how much that little bit helps the children and people that benefit from that foundation in terms of food, electricity bills, and school fees.

After our reflection dinner we went back to the Fang Fang and tried to get some sleep to get ready for our big day.

Wednesday Jan 15

Today I was finally able to teach a class! We have been rotating teaching groups with all the students who came from NYU so we all are only given one opportunity to teach. We are paired up with one Ugandan teacher to help us teach as well, which was useful in terms of translating directions and explanations.

Our class was themed around the rainbow. We had our first hour to introduce the theme and lead different warm up songs to get the students thinking about colors and rain. We used the songs, "the itsy bits spider", "rain, rain, go away", "if all of the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops", "yellow duck", "once there was a snowman", and a Ugandan song titled "enkiba etonnya". We also played a really fun color game. All of the students stand in a line and you designate one side of the room to be things that are red and the other side of the room to be things that aren't red. The teacher stands at the front of the line and says different things and the line has to either move to the left or the right depending on if they think the item is red or not red. We rotated through all different colors as well as land and water, which was really fun for the kids and got them thinking about different items and what color they are.

Class Description: (Mostly for me to have a record of my lesson plan)
We separated the class into five different groups for the colors red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. As the teachers Brian, Tacha, and I modeled what we wanted them to do using indigo and violet. They were given different papers with their color already written on them and had to brainstorm different items that were their designated color. Then they had to choose two things that were the groups favorite items. After that they had to use those two items as inspiration for movement and create a short phrase together as a group. We pieced all of the groups together by entering the stage making different rain noises with our hands, feet, and mouths using snaps, claps, stamps on the floor, patting your shoulders, or even clapping with a neighbors hand. Then each group was able to go out of the rainbow arch and into the center and perform their phrase. Once every group had performed their phrase we ended by singing "If all of the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops", then exited the stage making the same sound noises slowly getting quieter as we left the stage. I think class went overall pretty well. Our feedback was that we all worked well together, were very calm with the students, and clear.

After class we went back to Nakasero again for snack, lunch, and our afternoon class. We ran through our dances again, learned more of Deb's western dance, and practiced some songs as well. Also, today I got the other drum I was wanting to get while I was here. My Ugandan professor at NYU, Mabingo, uses this type of drum in class all the time and I've been dying to get one for when I teach. It is absolutely beautiful and the sound is incredible. I can't wait to use it with my teaching.

We barely had time again to run home and drop off our drums then head back on the bus. Tonight we went to an art studio called Art Life. Our friend Bukenya makes nice jewelry in order to fundraise as well as take photographs, make masks, clothing, and bags. I bought one necklace from him for less than $20 and was able to speak to him all about the stone, a Florentine, and the process of making it and keeping the stone's energy. It is best to leave it outside for 24 hours when there is a full moon in order to "recharge" the stone's positive energy. The necklace is beautiful and the stone is a blueish green.

There was a Mexican restaurant right next to the art studio so I was able to pick up a cheese quesadilla, and others got dinner as well. We had to eat in the bus so we could get to Breakdance Project Uganda to say hello before it got too late. We stayed for about 20 minutes and said hi to all of our friends, as well as picked up our Breakdance Project Uganda t-shirts. It was a lot of fun to go back to the center and see all of the boys and girls learning breakdance. It was also awesome to see Abramz, the founder of this group right there mixed in with the rest of them. I feel like it is so unusual for people in his position who have gotten so much publicity from his film Bouncing Cats, and could be in so many other places fundraising and meeting with important people but instead chooses to come to their sessions every week. It is a true testimony of what kind of a person he is and how much he believes in his project. He told us at the screening of bouncing cats last week that Nike tried to sponsor them, but he denied their funding. He said Nike wanted to use the money on things that they didn't need the funding for so he refused to accept it. Now THAT is incredible. I love Breakdance Project Uganda. I hope to collaborate with them sometime in the near future.

When we returned back to the hotel Krissy and I went straight to our room. We ordered a little bit of room service since we didn't want to leave our hotel room. It was an exhausting day since we both had to teach and just keep going all day long. Luckily we were back at the Fang Fang with enough time to shower, blog, eat, and relax before it got too late. I am hoping tomorrow I will feel very refreshed for our last day of classes.

Teaching class:

Bukenya and Me with the necklace I bought that he made, such a happy guy! He is also going to be our photographer at our dress rehearsal on Friday. He is an incredible artist!

Tuesday Jan 14

Today was our second day of workshop with the kids. Things were a lot smoother today since the teachers and kids knew what to expect. Everyone met again in the downstairs studio for a quick warm up and morning meeting, got their name tags and were given a folder. Kelly had a really fun warm up song this morning with the kids using the words, "Alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic".

Dana, Alana, and Jjemba taught class in the downstairs studio today. Their theme was all about landscape with focus on the sun, mountains, rivers, clouds, and birds. The dance ended up being pretty lengthy and detailed, but is good.

After class we came back again to Nakasero and showed our dances again and gave the kids a snack. I ended up ordering a veggie burger from the ballet school for lunch. It was very different than our frozen garden burgers in the states so I actually went over to the Fang Fang for lunch and joined Krissy and Gaspare. Before I walked over though I realized I had my iPad. I pulled it out while I was talking to one of the girls and asked if she wanted to see any videos of me dancing. She was really excited and so we spent the next 20 minutes watching whatever videos I had on my iPad. I ended up having a lot of dance videos from the semester, videos of me and Mabingo, and videos from when I went to the Taylor Swift concert, which they loved. By the time we had finished viewing all the videos I had about 8 kids around me all trying to see the iPad. It was awesome.

After lunch we ran our two dances and practiced our drum circle again. We also learned a new dance from Grace and practiced singing "We are Family", which will be our finale song in the show.

After our rehearsal we had maybe 10 minutes to come back to our room, drop off our drum and get back on the bus. This time we were headed to Uganda Heritage Roots. This is a center that has helped bring kids off the street and get them to be acceptable citizens in society. We met a man named Ronnie, who was one of the originals in the group. He shared his story of how he became a street kid at the age of 6, when his parents died. He said by the time UHR picked him up he was a "general" of the street, meaning he was the leader of a part of the streets in terms of the street kids. He was actually sent to UHR by a court order. He went for 15 days as the first time and had been told that if he comes back to the program he would have an opportunity to get a Visa and travel to America. The group had taken some kids to America and seeing that really changed his mind about the program. He decided to start coming since he wanted an opportunity to travel and learn drumming and dancing.

Ronnie also had his story printed in the Greenwich Gazette in Greenwich Village, NYC. One woman from NYC read his story and was so moved she decided to come to Uganda to meet him. She is a professional photographer in NYC and wanted to bring all of her cameras to document his life as a kid on the street. He toured her around and said because he was so respected by the street kids, no one messed with her or her things. She was able to photograph his "home" life as a kid on the street and actually gained a strong relationship with Ronnie. She ended up adopting him so now he has an American family that he can come and see, making it easier to travel freely to and from America. He spent time doing volunteer work in Massachusetts one summer on a farm to learn the skills of farming and tending to animals so that he could bring that knowledge back to the children at UHR. It turns out now Ronnie is 31 years old, and has 15 kids living with him. He feeds them, pays for their schooling, and has them stay in his home. He is literally the father of 15 boys between the ages of 4-12. It's like a real life peter pan and the lost boys story. So inspiring. He also has his own programs that he has received some funding for from the US including an outreach program. He and his kids go back to the streets and bring food, supplies, and advice to the street kids. It is unbelievable what he has done in his life. The people that come out UHR are not ashamed of their past. They are proud to say look at where I was and where I am now. I loved meeting Ronnie and hope to support him and his programs more.

After UHR we came back to the Fang Fang, cleaned up, and walked up to the Sheraton. Me and my roomy have been having upset stomachs every once in a while from all the different food here so a trip to the sheraton was very needed. I had a salad and pizza. The salad was amazing! It is so good to eat something fresh since most of the food we have been eating here has been very starchy or fried.

I am teaching on Wednesday so I should try to get focused on my lesson plan so it all runs smoothly.

Obulamo Bulungi! -which means, Life is Good!

Uncle Milton: The founder and director of Ugandan Heritage Roots. Just hearing him talk reminded me a lot of my dad in the sense that he is so smart, full of ideas, implements his ideas, and in love with education. He said his next degree will be in some type of therapy. He already has his Bachelors in Music and a Master's in Dance. 

Monday Jan 13

Today was another exhausting day. I am running out of ways to start these blog posts because every day is amazing and exhausting.

It was our first day with the children at the Queens ballet school and it went really well! We all met at the school around 8:30/9ish and passed out name tags for the students to decorate. I was SO happy to see my friend from Jjemba's village to be there. Turns out her name DID start with a J, it is Jocelyn and she is wonderful. We split the group of students into two different studios I was left with the downstairs studio and Jocelyn was too!

We took class from Mariana, Priscilla, and Jemba today for two hours. Their lesson had us traveling to Uganda, Egypt, and France with different dance moves and then combing our groups to make a dance by the end of it all. It was great to be creating dances with these kids. They were a little timid today, but that is understandable since the space and people are new to so many of them.

After class we all walked back to Nakasero, which is the primary school we were taking class in last week. Each group showed their dances, the students had their snack, and then left. It was great to be able to take the time to go around and talk to some of the students as they ate. It was interesting to see the difference in children depending on what center they were coming from. Some of the students who came that are students of the ballet school had more confidence in their dancing and ideas than some of the others because they are privileged enough to be able to afford ballet classes.

Once the children left we stayed at Nakasero to rehearse the dances we learned last week as well as practice our drumming. Kelly and Kim (the singers of our group) taught us a revised version of "We are Family", which we will be singing as our finale in the show.

When we finished learning the song and rehearsing we hurried home to the Fang Fang with only enough time to wash our face, drop off our drum, and meet on our bus. I decided to leave EVERYTHING in the hotel tonight for our trip to Life of Africa and took a break from taking pictures. I kinda regret not having the camera with me, but feel like I had a better experience not worrying about trying to capture everything in a shot. Life of Africa is a center where children and women were welcomed to live and find support from being displaced after the war. They make their money by making jewelry out of magazine papers. It was incredible! They are called paper beads. The cut the paper into strips and roll the strips up tightly on a tiny stick and then glue together. They end up looking like beads in all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Their average bracelet cost 1,000 UGS or about .50 cents. I spent a good amount of money here in terms of UGS. It was great to spend money at the center knowing that every cent is going directly to the people making the jewelry. The money supports their bills for electricity at the center, their laptop, food and school fees for the children. I was able to speak with some of the women who were making the beads and had them teach me how to do it. It was awesome to just sit with them and ask them about their families and technique of bead making. I am SO happy I was able to support them and attempt to learn their trade.

The children were so fun too. There were so many of them all SO excited to see us! As soon as we pulled up into their neighborhood they started chasing the bus screaming, "Mugunzu!" a.k.a. "white person". We were able to play games, draw pictures on paper that Tacha brought, and talk to the children for a few hours while everyone finished up their shopping. It was incredible how connected we all felt again to these children. When we were leaving one of the little girls (maybe 1-2 years old) started crying with Kunal had to set her down. She just wanted him to keep holding her. When we were leaving on the bus they started chasing it down the street again waving and saying bye with the biggest smiles ever. I don't think there was a dry eye on the bus as we left. The conditions that these children and women live in, yet the joy they have to see us and play and speak with us is incredible. It really hit home.

After returning to the Fang Fang Krissy and I had dinner downstairs at the Fang Fang. It was such a physical and emotionally exhausting day we had no energy to go elsewhere. We invited our professor Deb to come join us for dinner, which she did along with Kunal and Mariana. It was a great dinner with great conversations about the day and trip so far.

Here's to more great days of teaching and learning from one another!

One of the children from Life of Africa sharing his drawing with me

The generous women that taught me how to make paper beads, LOVED talking to them

Learning how to make paper beads!

A cluster of my new paper bead jewelry collection. Did I mention each bracelet is about .50 cents and necklaces are a little over $1?!

Can't believe this is made from magazine paper strips