The rest of December

Children’s Home
I went to Kitale, Kenya just after we got out for Christmas break. The Tylers lived and worked in Kitale for years before moving to Uganda. They helped start a Children’s Home there. Jennifer, Kimberly, and I joined Shawn and Linda for the trip. On Friday we went to the home and played with the kids. Some of the girls taught me some of the games they play and then they showed me around the compound teaching me various Swahili words. On Saturday we took the kids out shopping for new clothes and shoes, which they pretty much never get to do. Unfortunately I felt pretty ill most of Saturday and Shawn wasn’t feeling too great either; so we left before the kids choir could perform for us. I should’ve written this entry a long time ago. I really enjoyed being there and playing with the girls. Two girls, relatively new to the home, really captured my heart. They speak some Swahili and barely any English. Their parents both died of AIDS. They are precious, beautiful girls. The trip was a really good trip, and I loved being at the home playing with those girls.

Jinja
After we got back from Kitale, Heidi, Julie, Jennifer, Nicole, Kimberly, and I went to Kingfisher in Jinja to relax for a few days before Christmas and Nicole’s departure. It was really nice and very relaxing.

Christmas
On Christmas Eve, my roommates and I cooked pizza for dinner. We made stockings for each other and opened those before dinner. On Christmas morning, most all of the singles met at Heidi’s and Mary Beth’s house for breakfast. After breakfast we went to a service at the church. Then we all went over to the Tylers’ for Christmas festivities. The men cooked out, so we ate hot dogs and hamburgers. Then all the kids opened their stockings put together by the other members of the team. It was a lot of fun to watch them open everything. They left a huge mess all over the floor! The adults on the team had exchanged names for presents. So we exchanged our gifts with each other, taking turns watching one another open each present. Overall, it was a really good day, and not too bad for a first Christmas away from home.

New Year’s Eve
On New Year’s Eve we returned to the Tyler household for celebration. We watched a movie, ate some snacks, and later watched the firework displays of local hotels.

I’m sure I’d have more details and specific stories about each event had I written about them sooner. I do, however, have pictures posted from most of the events on my picasa web album.