Black Violin

It's late, but I have time for one short post:

Tonight Maryville College hosted a group called Black Violin and they were amazing! They mix their classically trained violinist selves with hip-hop beats and songs. They are awesome - I love seeing truly talented people. Anyways, check out their website (blackviolin.net) so you can see what I'm talking about: greatness. Good-night!

A Good Day

Today was a good day. I woke up this morning, finished my homework before class. Stepped outside to go to class - and found that the sidewalks were frozen! Dangerous, but funny as we slid to class on the ice. Contributed in class (always a triumph for quiet little me). Ate lunch with friends discussing class and a bit about the Bible. Came back and actually began my homework, cleaned my room and just took care of business in general. I began practicing a piano piece I will be playing this semester - and I love it! it's going to be a lot of fun to play. Later, Sarah cooked us all spaghetti and cookies. Then more friends came over and we played rock band together (Rachel, I can now play the drums on medium). A good productive day with plenty of friends and fun. And, though most people would say the weather today was dreary - for it was gray and wet and rainy all day - I loved it. It was cold but not freezing and tonight it is sprinkling so lightly that it's almost mist and it is just a bit foggy accross campus. Beautiful. Just the kind of atmosphere to spur one's imagination.

(Something like this - only imagine it's dark and the lamp post is giving off a soft yellow glow)

Africa overview

Once I heard someone say that once you experience Africa it gets in your blood and you always want to go back. Not having ever been particularly interested in Africa, I really didn't expect that to happen to me. Interestingly enough, I think it has. All of my stray thoughts seem to turn back to my visit there. And I keep doing little things that they do in Africa - like walking on the left side of the sidewalk instead of the right and I've said things like "even me" or "for me" before a sentence. Needless to say, I am very thankful to have had this opportunity to go to a place I may not otherwise have ever visited. Thanks Rachel!

Still I don't have many pictures to share yet but here we are on our way to the Temple in a matatu - a taxi (and taxis in Africa are small 15 passenger vans that you cram into and they are more like a bus system than taxis that take you anywhere you want to go). Even though both of us look quite tired in this picture I think we both look happy so that's good enough for me.

We didn't actually do a whole lot... like tour Africa and see elephants or gorillas and all that... but we had a lot of fun together. I think I probably preferred it this way - it was a completely relaxed trip for me rather than focusing on getting a lot of things done. The first few days were spent going to the office where Rachel finished up some reports - and we went to parliament to drop off some materials for their library - and then heading to the Temple afterwards to see it and hang out with the youth there. Later days were spent touring Kampala and seeing the local sights and going to some of the markets to buy Ayyam-i-Ha presents for the family. And the final days were spent at an international youth conference held in a town called Mbale that is about 3 1/2 hours away from Kampala. Hows that for a skeleton of an outline?

Meanwhile, we visited the Temple almost everyday - amazing. The House of Worship is absolutely beautiful. The pictures do not do it justice. The colors of the outside are specatular and the sound, the way it echoes, on the inside is just awesome. It is so simple and so wonderful. Plus, I didn't realize this, but the Baha'is own the entire hill, so there is so much land! The grounds are really quite expansive. So, in short, amazing.

In addition to the temple, we went paintballing (unfortunately my team lost, but I did "kill" three people who almost reached our flag and so saved our team from losing that much more quickly), we saw the source of the nile, we participated in some traditional wedding events - the introduction and the engagement ceremony, I learned some drumming (can't remember it now, of course), once tried the traditional ugandan dance.. but gave up very quickly, had choir practice and subsequently sang in the Temple during the Sunday service (wow is all I can say about that), rode boda's (motorcycle taxis), drank tea!!, had a birthday, beat some boys at pool, lost at table tennis (Aqsan, really you are great and I'm impressed), watched fireworks on New Year's eve, but the best part was meeting all the amazing people in Africa. I genuinly loved all of Rachel's friends. Oh, and of course, sharing all of these experiences with Rachel - truly a blessing.

I'm back for the final time

I'm certainly in a rather melancholy mood at the moment. I have arrived back to the Maryville College Campus to begin my last semester in college. (how and when did that happen?) None of my roommates are back yet... soon it will be loud and fun and we'll all be sharing stories from our different breaks... but at the moment I am just thinking about all the people I'm missing and in a few short months even more people I will be missing.

I miss my family in Huntsville who I saw for a total of 3 days this winter break - so totally not enough time with them. But I will see them soon enough.

I miss Rachel. I had such a wonderful time in Uganda - I loved spending almost every minute with my sister. We had plenty of fun adventures... and one or two rather frightening ones ;)... and some simply annoying experiences... some completely African... some closely resembling an outing here in the states -- and they were all spent with amazing people. I'll expand on these stories another day... soon, I'm sure, but another day.

I miss my brother in Haifa, who I haven't seen in way over a year. I miss my other friends who have been in Haifa even longer.

How much I am missing. And yet, honestly, how could I change my life? I wouldn't want to keep from living my life; and I wouldn't want to keep others from living their life just so I could have them always with me. Oh, "if wishes were wings."

I had a rather different new year's evening this year, and thought about making a resolution but since there was no one to share it with I passed it off to be done at another time. I have just thought of it -- because I am missing so much, and will soon be missing more as my undergrad experience ends, my new year's resolution is to learn how to keep in touch with everyone I care about. I am notoriously bad at correspondence.. but that is what I will work on this year. I have enough people to practice with. Of course, this is one everyone can help me with :).