Final day!!

Hey friends! Mallory again. I'm back at the mall, trying to kill some time. We had to move out of our flat today, but our flight doesn't leave until tomorrow night. We're staying at a very sketchy hotel until then, so I'm not sure what we're going to do to occupy ourselves given our very little money remaining. We're going to see another movie ("I love you, man" which i've already seen once!) and that should be good.

After spending a month here, I am certainly ready to go home. This experience has been one of the most challenging and eye-opening things I have ever done, but I am more physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually tired than I have ever been in my life. I think after awhile you get saturated with everything and you just can't hold any more: the HIV+ patients and orphans, our favorite waitress who works 16 hours, 7 days a week for only $2 a day, the lack of reliable electricity (ours went off twice yesterday and we're in the nicest part of town!), the constant stares and drama of being a white person in this town/country/continent. I'm not looking forward to the crazy flight home (Entebbe to Nairobi to Brussels to Newark to Columbus!), but I AM looking forward to seeing my family, Tyler, sleeping in my own bed, having a hot shower, and eating soooo much good food.

Our last day at the school was absolutely amazing. It was obvious how much of an impact we've been blessed to have on the kids. More than our teaching, the kids were touched by our willingness to come to Uganda and care for them. So many of the kids here are one of many (average household has 7 kids!), many are orphaned, and most are put to work as soon as they can walk to the well to fetch water. Our ability to dole out hugs, bring them balls, and give them time to make story books with colored paper and crayons returned a sense of childhood that most of these kids had given up years ago. I think the simple fact that they know we care about them is really important in this "every man for himself" kind of country. Arafat, the boy we are sponsoring, started crying as we left. He is 12 and hasn't seen his parents in 2 years. It feels good knowing that, more than anything else, our presence has given the kids hope about Americans, and a renewed sense of why it's important to do well in school.

Yesterday we went to a birthday party!! Brian Derek, who is Centurio's son, turned 6 years old. We arrived and he was dressed in a little pin striped suit!! It was PRECIOUS!!! There was eating and drinking and dancing, and it was such a great finale to the trip. Seeing Brian's excitement upon opening his gift was amazing. Most days, Brian runs around the school with the wooden stick to push around a bicycle tire. Deepa, Ally, and I got him a race track from the mall which has a few battery-operated car. I don't think I've ever had the experience of giving a gift to a child to who has never had an actually toy before. His face lit up brighter than anything I've ever seen. At $25 US dollars, his gift was FAR more than anything he would ever recieve otherwise, and his excitement was vibrant. It was a really happy moment.

I had a very interesting meal the other day that the teachers made me at school: 8 or 10 unripe bananas covered in kidney beans! Eek! I ate about a 1/4 of it and had to quit.

On thursday we had a big end-of-project party where we got to invite all of our favorite people we've met. Deepa and I invited Centurio (the project coordinator who works at Kibuye school), our favorite waitress Doreen, another teacher Mzee Zeddy and his wife, and Peter who was our fearless tour guide for the first week. It was SUCH a good time. Being able to sit back and think about the relationships I've formed and how far I've come was awesome. Without a doubt, God has blessed me with courage, strength, and patience for this journey, and I am infinitely thankful for the experience I've had here. You guys have been a great support, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Welaba!! (Good bye!)