The Nsimiire Family

I read somewhere that joy runs deeper than despair. Over and over again, families like the Nsimiires keep reminding me of that here. The suffering that they experience is deep -- you can see that in their eyes. But behind that there hope --twinkling and shining in the darkness.

 

rookie mistake

I just added pictures to Facebook and the nifty, new tagging feature confused this dear adolescent Ugandan girl with my dear American friend, Anna Benson. I make the same mistake all the time...

jesus is a wiener, man

more properly translated, "jesus is a winner man." a ugandan favorite.

Eryn Hannah Roberts MANNING

Fall of our junior year of college, our best friend Hannah starting hanging out with a boy named Marc. Every day.

"We're just friends," she would say.

Please.

Soon, Hannah figured out what we knew was happening all along. Between classes we would often sit on campus at the benches outside Spidle Hall and each lunch, and I remember every detail of the day Hannah told me she thought she loved this boy. I put down my sandwich, took Hannah's hand and thought to myself, you need to remember this moment so that you can retell it in a toast at Hannah's rehearsal dinner one day. We hugged. I cried. It was a tender moment.

Han, two and a half years later, we are dying to not be giving toasts at your rehearsal dinner tonight and to not be standing beside you at the alter tomorrow. We are there in spirit! Quite literally. We haven't stopped thinking about it since the second we got out of bed this morning and don't plan on stopping until Sunday when it's all said and done.

For memory's sake, let's take a look at some of the good times.

remember when we found this turtle on the side of the road and picked it up with a towel?

your first kiss

your previous life as a middle school P.E. coach (and meagan's as.........)

snow days in Auburn!

I don't know what memory this is, but it's a cute picture.

getting stuck in traffic for 3 hours on the way to Knoxville and howling like wolves

Hannah, we are SO happy for you and love you and miss you and wish you the happiest of wedding days! 

And since we are missing your wedding day, we decided to make up for it by coming on your honeymoon. See you there! 

thai peanut wrap: wake the neighbors

this afternoon we accidentally created the best meal i've ever eaten. it takes a bit of prep--but holy cow--SO worth it. 

if you dont like flavor explosions, then don't make this. keep eating your cheerios and chicken nuggets--by all means. but, if you are among the refined eaters of this world, then you'll want to nosh on this thai peanut wrap every day for the rest of your life. 

here are the makings:

wheat tortilla, peanut sauce, brown rice, sliced cucumbers, sliced mango, grated carrot, chopped green onions, fresh basil leaves, fresh chopped cilantro.*

the scoop on the peanut sauce: use 1 part peanut butter, 1 part coconut milk and 1/2 part soy sauce. I'm exactly not sure about this though. play around. we started with half peanut butter, half soy sauce but it was gross so we added coconut milk and peanut butter until it got better. trader joes probably has some kind of tasty peanut sauce that would be even better and way less work--if you're among the fortunate few in its vicinity. 

time to get down to business. 

and one more thing. remember, THIS IS A FLAVOR EXPLOSION, people! don't skimp on the ingredients just because you "don't like cilantro" or something.* every flavor counts.

including srirachi, obviously. 

*if you're a boy--or a meat-loving girl--you could definitely beef it up with some chicken or shrimp...or beef. 

**which i have a hard time believing in the first place. don't get me started about people who "don't like red sauce/maple syrup/tomatoes/etc." it's mental--get over it and expand your palate.

sunday book club

it wouldn't be an african gathering if it didn't end in a dance party!

about a month ago we started a children of grace book club with this bunch and it has definitely become the highlight of our weekends. we're plowing through the boxcar children and it's so interesting to hear their responses to the issues that come up in a story about orphaned children. 

it has also been so encouraging to see their excitement for reading and learning. some of the things we've seen in uganda seem so irreversible, so confusing and so complicated, but sunday afternoons have become a reminder that there is hope here. something as simple as an afternoon under the trees with these five strong, intelligent, and high-spirited students is so meaningful--not for them (well, maybe for them), but for me. i'll never forget this time that i get to spend with the students who will one day change this country.

senses

it's been too long! since our last update we've been busy combating various intestinal parasites (yum), yelling obscenities at jillian michaels and taking sunset strolls along the river nile. here's the breakdown, sensory style. 

watching: parenthood. (almost) every night for the past two weeks has ended with our bootlegged dvds following the braverman family drama. we've laughed, we've cried, we've witnessed the ressurection of lorelai gilmore.  

listening: 'tis so sweet to listen to chelsea moon 

tasting: crack. we've consumed almost an entire large bottle in record breaking time. pizza, crepes, tacos, and of course asian stir fry which we make on average three times a week.  

touching: american boys. but not like that. but kind of like that. it's a big day in the life of this blog! we've never talked about boys before, but the words out. we both have boyfriends and they both came to visit. it was kind of like this, except they didn't come at the same time.

smelling: burning charcoal/plastic , african body odor and bonnie's homemade wheat bread. two steps backward, one step forward. 

and let us not forget the sixth sense! our intuition is telling us that this girl just might change the world--or at least rwanda, there's a 13.1 mile stretch on the pacific coast needs the love of our sneakers, and on may 9th we'll be eating chickfila for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

these are exciting times.