Crusade, Dancing, and Bugs.

Hey folks! Before I say anything, I need to say that I am a totally bad communicator.  Here, one of my weaknesses out in the open so you all can know!  I am not good at taking lots of pictures, partly because I get caught up in just living that I forget to pull out the camera.  I am not very good at updating my blog because I am either too tired or too lazy to type something out.  I am not good at quickly emailing back either.  So for all of that I am sorry! However, I am willing to try to change for all of you sweet people:)

Where to start…I never know where to start.  I am sitting here waiting till 11pm my time, 3pm your time, to call my parents.  I have my jar of peanut butter beside me and I am indulging in a generous amount. It’s awesome.  There is nothing like Jiff peanut butter when you haven’t had American food in a month!  It’s comforting to have a little familiarity wherever I can have it, even if it’s just peanut butter. 

Back to Africa.  Two weeks ago a team from the States came and we had a crusade.  Brian and Elizabeth (whom I know) came with 4 other team members.  It was so refreshing to be with some fellow Americans!  The crusade was 5 nights long, which made for 5 long days.  Each night there would be worship (lots of it), then preaching, then more worship.  The last night was the most fun because 2 Ugandan celebrities came and everyone was hyped. By hyped I mean totally whacko.  They are both gospel singers, and people love them.  I got to meet them, which I guess is cool, despite the fact that I didn’t know who the heck they were!  Each night of the crusade had more and more people, but the last night outnumbered them all.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there were over 1,000 people there.  That means that 1,000 people heard about God’s great love.  Many came to know the Lord.  Praise God! 

I am still teaching at Morning Star, but they only have 2 weeks left until they are finished for the year.  That means 2 months of no school! I am going to see what God has in store for me to do with the time off. At the end of every year, they have something called “speech day,” which threw me off because I thought that meant that they were all doing speeches.  Nope.  It’s a day of songs and dances that the students perform for their parents.  I have been watching them rehearse and I love it!  They always ask me to pull out my cheesy dance moves and dance for them.  Whoop I don’t think that I blogged about my dance competition!  Well let me fill you in:)

P7 students are the oldest students in the school, and a few weeks ago they took their final exam to determine if they could go to secondary school.  They wanted to have an end of the year party, and at this end of the year party there was dancing. And a lot of it.  These Africans know how to get down!  Anywho, so I’m sitting there in the back with the teachers when Sylvia calls me and 2 other teachers to come up for a dance off.  I had no heads up and no notice that this was going to take place! However something I have learned here is how to just roll with it.  The music began and I pulled out my goofiest and cheesiest dance moves and just did whatever came to mind.  The children laughed so hard and I am proud to say- I won that dance contest.  How did I win a dance contest between 2 other African women? I have no idea. Probably because I’m white and because the students felt bad for me.  Nevertheless, this is a victory.  This is a milestone in my life.

So, since that dance contest, the students sneak a dance move at me as I walk by their class when their teacher isn’t looking.  They ask me to repeat those goofy dance moves almost every day, and I love it.  The giggles and bursts of laughter fill my heart with joy.  On the other hand, they want to teach me their African hip shaking, booty bouncing dance.  I keep telling them that I don’t think my hips can move that fast, but I know I will be forced to try it sometime soon.  However, my new thinking since being here is, “bring it on!” Another “bring it on” moment was when I ate a live bug.  To be honest, I’m not quite sure what I was thinking, because a month ago I would have never done that!  Some background info- I was outside playing soccer with the kids I live with, when they look over the wall and see people crowded around this pile of white ants, gathering as many as possible.  The kids shriek with excitement and run out to get some.  They pull of the wings and eat it while it is alive.  I was in shock for at least 15 minutes.  It is bigger than an ant and is a white maggot looking bug.  After my shock subsided, I decided that “YOLO” was an appropriate saying for the moment and ate one.  For the record, it has no taste, so in my opinion, it’s not worth it if you are faced with the decision of eating one! Next they want me to eat grasshoppers….

So whether it is eating bugs or attempting to dance like Africans, bring it on!