Monday, December 8, 2008

Back

So we are now back and enjoying our time in America.  The trip as I'm sure you've heard or have read on here was absolutely amazing.  Chris and I are both really excited to see what happens from here.  We are excited to pursue opportunities to help the people and culture that we have grown to love.  I hope that people will continue to check the blog as we are still going to try and give updates on how we are trying to help the community in Masaka.  I also just want to thank everyone so much for their support before we left, the support while there, and now the support and love that we have received by being at home.  

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

How to ride an ostrich

So most people believe that to ride an ostrich you simply hop on and grab the neck. This is not the case!! We know from first hand experience that you hop on and slide back wrapping your legs underneath the huge bird and grab the wings. And yes I have video footage of Christopher Teson, Fr. Paul, and myself riding an ostrich.

-Tim

Riding Ostridge?

Yes!!! Well, the Ostridge experience has come and gone, and I think Tim and I would both say it was better than expected. We spent all day with Father Paul riding ostridges at an ostridge farm last friday. It was quite an experience and surely one we will not forget.

On thursday we spent the day with Father Tamale at Sessee Island. These are a large group of 84 islands just off the coast of Uganda. We spent the day at the largest island and were able to visit Father's old parish. This was another great adventure and one we won't soon forget.

As you can see we have been lucky to take quite a few trips near the end of our journey to Uganda. The priests have been awesome and really made such an effort to see that we have a great experience. We are already trying to line up a trip for a couple of them to visit the states either this summer or next summer. I think both priests (Father's Paul and mutebi) seem very interested and serious about the trip as well. It would be a great opportunity for them to speak at schools and churches in the KC and st. Louis area.

As for fundraising we have already come up with a few ideas, and have already talked to youth leaders in kc and st. Louis about possible events. All of them have given us great responses and seem to be on board. We will definitely talk to everyone about possibilities to "Light Em Up" (refering to getting Narozari parish solar power). Tim and I are looking forward to getting back and getting started on helping the parish, school, and students.

We leave next week and this may be my last post. I just want to thank the so many avid followers of timchris.blogspot.com (should have been christim.blogspot.com). We have so many dedicated followers (18) to our page, haha. Thanks again to everyone and we can't wait to see everyone back home. Please have a safe and wonderful holiday with your families and we will see many of you next week.

-Chris

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Jinja

Chris and I had a simply awesome time this past weekend. We were able to visit Jinja and see the source of the Nile River! We also got to see some really impressive rapids and falls. It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life. Tomorrow we are heading to the Sisse Islands on Lake Victoria. Fr. Tamale used to be at a parish there so he is going to show us around. From what we've seen and Chris has seen on the internet it looks pretty amazing. Then we are going to Kampala for a wedding with Fr. Mutebi. On Sunday we will be visiting the Uganda Martyrs Shrine which looks really cool. Also on Friday ostrich farm!! But anyway we are pretty busy and next week is it. So we will talk to you soon!

-Tim

Saturday, November 8, 2008

3 Weeks

With just three weeks left, as Chris had said our schedule is pretty packed. I know we are both so excited for Jinja. Also we are excited to again attempt plastering the rectory. A week from this Friday we will be traveling to an ostrich farm with Fr. Paul! I think that will be awesome and hilarious. I think you might be able to ride them? If so I'm jumping on for sure. But time has been flying and I'm sure it's only going to go quicker. So we are excited about our next few weeks. I really wish I would be able to put up video but the connection is so slow I never even get close. But we have taken over 114 videos! So we have plenty of footage!

Big Weekend

It's been a little while since our last post, but much has happened over the last week. This weekend was a great time. On Thursday Fr. Paul took us too Lake Victoria. This was our first trip to the lake, and we had a great time. You can see the lake from where we are staying, but seeing it up close was great. We enjoyed a great day eating, drinking, and relaxing on the beach with Father.

Friday was one of the most fun days we have had in Uganda. We spent the entire day with Father Mutebei, Father Paul, and the Deputy at a teacher party for all the catholic school teachers in the area. There were close to a thousand teachers in attendance. The party went from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. We had a great time dancing with so many other teachers.

This past week was our last in the classroom. I gave my students a test over everything we have went over since I arrived. The students did pretty good, but I don't think they are big fans of Mr. Chris anymore. Teaching has been a great experience and allowed Tim and I to really interact with the children in the area.

Tim and I started plastering on of the rooms at the rectory where we are staying. Two of the rooms were finished before we came to Uganda, and we were able to help finish one this week. We have two left to finish and hopefully we can get them done over the next couple weeks. The priests surprised us by telling us they were naming two of the rooms at the rectory after us. They said Chris' room and Tim's rooms will always be open if we make the journey back.

This next week will be very busy as we are travelling to Jinja, Uganda (about 3 hours from where we are staying) with Father Paul. It should be a great time, and he has a lot planned for us.

Tim and I have been talking about what we are going to do upon returning to the states to support the causes here and have a lot of ideas. We also are planning on taking most of the last week here and interviewing and getting all the priests on tape regarding how we can help. If anyone has ideas for us about how else we can raise funds let us know.

-Chris