Getting lost in the culture

am so so sorry. I can't believe it has been so long since I have written. Thank you to all the dediccated people who have read my blog. Thank you so much to my parents who are so understanding and who called me while I was at a rhino sanctuary. :) It is amazing, but I am so so busy this year. It has been great! The classroom continues to be doing well, there are always challenges like getting children to participate, but Irene and I are doing our best to engage 80 students at a time. I am especially enjoying two of my student's company named Gloria and Catherine. They have taken me and my fellow teacher Ann under their wing and we visit them almost every day after school. We eat corn, they teach us how to dig and garden and we pump water together. Catherine also braided my hair the other day and I looked like a rapper and a little girl all at the same time. We have been dancing after school and planning like crazy for lessons every day. I have to mark papers all the time, while doing minni projects like trying to finish recording 12th Night for the blind students.
This past weekend our teachers came over and we had a picnic, which ended in a slip and slide lead by Jamie! It was amazing. The little children who came with their parents took off their very nice clothes and slid in their undies. It was great! This weekend we went to a rhino sanctuary with Jamie and our teacher group and stood twenty feet away from the rhinos!!! It was incredible. They got so close in fact that our guide had to tell us to back up because they might charge! AHAHAH! To sum up the amazing weekend my fellow teacher wrote a poem about it and I would like to share it with you all. It was such a peaceful day filled with life changing moments. Here it is:

Fenced into this safe place
we walked into grasses tall
and trees
luxurient with sounds almost friendly.

We came at last upon them:
animals gray, sensual, ancient.

Of course they won the confrontation; we moved back
before they also turned away.
For long moments then we watched them
massive creatures in a vast expanse of open land and silent sky.

Weakly we tried to hold onto this extra ordinariness
but the sweat of our backs
and thoughts of details mundane
pulled us back to mortality.

We left satisfied for our encounter with glory,
and at night
lying among fallings stars,
our questions were our praise.

we asked, we wondered,
we
wondered,
These were our gratitude for such infinite healing silence.

}Ann Heyse

I just love what she wrote and it pretty much sums up our entire weekend. Now I have returned to Gulu and am in my last week of teaching. This morning I had a class and I told them a story about how the turtle got its shell. They now have to write their own fable and then read it in front of the class in English and Lwo their native language. We are trying to incorperate western methods and Acholi culture into the classroom. We shall see how it goes.

Emily my dear friend is coming to visit me on Wednesday! So pray for her safe journey. I am busting at the seams! I can't wait to see her!
Miss you all very very much! I will return July 10th!