Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Beautiful, Wonderful, Fabululous Uganda!

First off, I hope this message finds you happy and well! Along with thirty-two others I arrived here in Uganda last Saturday night after a very long trip consisting of stops in Chicago, Philadelphia, Brussels, Kigali, and finally Entebbe! The Peace Corp group is absolutely fabulous and I am so happy to share this experience with them. However, I must say they are very intimidating. These are some of the most accomplished people I have ever met and according to the director we are one of the most talented groups they have ever had. Many have traveled all around the world while others have their doctorate, some have done both. After my journey here in Uganda has ended I hope to posses some of the qualities they do.

The Uganda I have been experiencing is much different than I remembered. I am currently at a compound in Lweza and it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It is incredibly tropical, hilly, and filled with monkeys and exotic birds. The only downfall of Lweza is due to its location near Lake Victoria, making it rather humid. Even with its humidity, I am in love already. Tomorrow morning we will be moving to Wakiso where the Peace Corps training sit is located and we will be moving in with our home stay families. I am incredibly excited to meet the family I will be spending the next two weeks with and hoping that I will learn the language much faster once I am fully immersed in it. For the past few days the other volunteers and I have spent our time at the compound trying to combat jetlag, get to know one another, get shots, learn Luganda, and listen to several speakers explain to us what we can expect over the next couple of years.

I have so much more to write, but I must be going. Thank you all for your wonderful comments and constant support! I am sorry I have not had time to respond to each of your comments both on here and facebook, but I will try to as soon as possible!

Peace and love

Autumn

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Autumn,
Glad to see you made it and we are anticipating photos soon. We know you are busy, so don't getted too overwelmed! We are thinking of you and praying your host family is a great one.
Love You!
Aunt Deb

Tracey said...

Hi Autumn!
I was just checking in on your page and was surprised to see you had time to post a note already. It sounds beautiful. I guess I will see africa thru you cause I know I am not brave enough to ever do what you are doing. You go girl! :)
I hope you get a ton out of this experience and know we are all thinking of you.
While you have the hunidity we have SNOW! GRRR. It had be about 65one day just last week and we had a bit of hope for spring but mother nature is reminding us that it is still not time.

Jay told me he is waiting for his note in plenty of time for him to arrive to go white water rafting with you. LOL

Have a wonderful week!
Tracey

Galloway6 said...

Hi Autumn,
Glad to see you made it safely. We'll try to keep up with your travels from here. I'm sure it will make our daily lives seem boring!
Take care, We Love You!
James, Vickie, Stephanie, Megan, Jacee and AJ

Aunt Di said...

Hi Autumn!!
Hope you are having a great time!!
Jack and I are sitting here in Neveda,donating our share to the casino Ha Ha!! When you return from Africa you need to tour the states some awsome places here. Everytime we go thru Colorado and Utah I think of Ashley she would love it here. At night the skiers come down the mountains holding torches. I love Utah,Colorado,Neveda,northern California. As far as foreign countries I would love to go to Italy or Greece. Tomi loved Germany,Venice,and Swizterland on her trip with her grandma Pat.
Well will close for now, Love You,Will send some pictures this summer when the weather is nice.