On Friday, I celebrated St. George's Day - England's National Day - with a Black Tie Dinner hosted by Bicester Rotary Club to raise funds for a school for children with special needs. Entertainment included readings of Shakespeare and a lovely performance of traditional English folk songs, plus a re-cap of St. George's life. Apparently, he never visited England, but is the country's patron saint nonetheless, best known for slaying a dragon in the Mediterranean.
Then I spent all weekend with John and Gyll! On Saturday I went for a fabulous run through a park and helped the Kirtlington Garden Club set up for a plant sale. Gyll and I had a lovely lunch, then she returned to help with the plant sale while I took a nap (clearly I feel right at home!). After a bit of work, John and I walked to a local restaurant to pick up fish and chips - but not the massive, greasy version from student spots; there was actually fish beneath the batter! So yummy and the ultimate in English-ness. John and Gyll kindly let me choose a movie after wards, so we ended up with the chick flick My Best Friend's Wedding. On Sunday, I did a lot of work on my laptop sitting in the kitchen talking to Gyll - picked up a few cooking tips too! All three of us took a beautiful walk down Mill Lane to see the Bluebells, enjoying the sun. Then after another delicious meal, I had to head back to student life in Oxford. It was an absolutely glorious weekend! I have never started a term so relaxed! Aren't John and Gyll completely wonderful to me?!
Now I am back in the swing of things, doing lots of writing. But.....
Tomorrow it's off to the races!! Ascot Rotary Club is hosting eight of use scholars at the Ascot Racecourse! I am not quite sure what to expect, but I am certain it will be an experience. I'm hoping to see lots of women in ridiculously big hats!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
English Football!
I attended my first professional English football match yesterday, and it was all I had hoped for and more! Brighton and Hove Albion (the Seagulls - can't compare to the Seminoles :) ) vs. Bristol Rovers at Bristol. What made this game so glorious is that Brighton is fighting - with just two games left in the season - to avoid relegation to a lower division. After going down by one, the Seagulls scored two brilliant goals against the higher-ranked Rovers! The away audience went wild!! Jumping and singing - just perfect. Among the various insults thrown at the home team: "You're Welsh and you know you are!" This is funny if you know 1) Bristol is close to Wales and 2) the English look down on the Welsh as backwards farmers. Other interesting tidbits: instead of hot dogs and hamburgers, the concession stand served Cornish pasties and meat pies, and women were easily outnumbered 15:1 - honestly I could hardly believe it. Overall, a very enjoyable evening!
But I am getting LOTS of work done! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and emails. This dissertation-writing process is difficult but immensely enjoyable. And the weather is beautiful, just like a Tallahassee spring, so I am in a good mood. Plus I have football practice tomorrow in the University Parks, then a weekend at John and Gyll's. Life is good!
But I am getting LOTS of work done! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers and emails. This dissertation-writing process is difficult but immensely enjoyable. And the weather is beautiful, just like a Tallahassee spring, so I am in a good mood. Plus I have football practice tomorrow in the University Parks, then a weekend at John and Gyll's. Life is good!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Rainy London
Yesterday - as a mini vacation - I went with a couple of friends for a day out in London. I toured the National Gallery, which is much smaller than the Louvre, thank goodness, so I could easily make it through in an afternoon. I love those little audio things that tell you about the paintings! Makes such a difference.
Then we attended Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, my first West End show! (We bought the tickets in the morning for half price and were seated six rows back!). It was a fabulous production - very dark, but the talent is incredible. Unlike other shows where the orchestra and actors are distinct, the cast provided their own music, moving and acting at the same time they played. Wow!
And today I have begun the very long writing-up process, but I am feeling relaxed and excited! I know you all are praying for me, which means so much. My loved ones are always in my thoughts.
For a weather update, let's just say my winter boots have not made their last appearance for the term, I fear. Can this really count as spring? I am promised it will get better, but I am not holding out for a Florida summer :) Still, the daylight/cloudiness lasts much longer than in winter, so my mood is lifted!
Then we attended Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, my first West End show! (We bought the tickets in the morning for half price and were seated six rows back!). It was a fabulous production - very dark, but the talent is incredible. Unlike other shows where the orchestra and actors are distinct, the cast provided their own music, moving and acting at the same time they played. Wow!
And today I have begun the very long writing-up process, but I am feeling relaxed and excited! I know you all are praying for me, which means so much. My loved ones are always in my thoughts.
For a weather update, let's just say my winter boots have not made their last appearance for the term, I fear. Can this really count as spring? I am promised it will get better, but I am not holding out for a Florida summer :) Still, the daylight/cloudiness lasts much longer than in winter, so my mood is lifted!
Kampala, Uganda
With Vivian and Alison, my wonderful friends!
On Vivian's bed with Mala, a new friend, relaxing on Easter Sunday
Kabale, Uganda
Cooking with Grace in the kitchen
With Liz before church
Kabale town from Rugarama Hill, where I lived
Surprise cake on my birthday!
With Lake Bunyoni and the terraced hillsides in the background
Rwanda
A road-side scene typical in Uganda or Rwanda
Outside the Kigali Memorial Center - a very emotional day
The beautiful countryside
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Back in England!
I am back, safe and sound, and pleased to once again have running water and clean vegetables. Plus, the weather in Oxford is quite lovely - sunny and warmish :)
So sorry for the long delay between posts! Internet access was difficult, to say the least, in Uganda. I spent three and a half weeks in Kabale, in the very southwest of the country, high in the terraced hills that give the area the name 'Switzerland of Africa.' For my research, I interviewed HIV/AIDS NGOs and community members, but my primary focus centered on three secondary schools: a Catholic, a Church of Uganda, and a non-aligned. In each I conducted multiple focus group discussions/interviews with students and teachers, observed classes and assemblies, read textbooks, found myself in fantastic informal conversations, and held a drawing competition under the title 'How do we prevent HIV in our community?' Overall, my aim is to assess the quality, methods, and message of HIV/AIDS education in secondary schools. The research went incredibly smoothly - even better than I'd hoped - and I am excited to begin writing (perhaps in a few days....)!
Thank you all for your prayers for my safety and happiness! It made such an emotional difference living with a family (the headmaster of one of the schools) instead of staying on my own. Plus, being in Uganda for a second time, I was much better prepared for the experience, though nothing will ever make me numb to the poverty. I am also thrilled to say that everything I have learned this year in my courses provided incredible insight - I 'saw' so much more than I did in 2006. What a blessing it is to better understand a country and its communities!
One highlight: I took a day trip into Rwanda with a secondary school from London that was visiting Kabale over their Easter break. Kigali is only about an hour and a half away, though the border check points add about an additional hour. After a driving bus tour through the city, we briefly dropped by the Hotel Mille Colline, from Hotel Rwanda, then spent most of the day in the Kigali Memorial Center, commemorating the genocide. It happened to be the second day of a week-long holiday for the anniversary, so there were many Rwandans at the site visiting their relatives in the mass graves. Truly, this is the part I will never forget - hearing the desperate sobbing of survivors while staring at the skulls and clothing of the victims. For me, too, I had a difficult time looking at anything - a hillside, a clump of trees, the Hotel Mille Colline - and not imagining the violence of those three months in 1994. I'll never know even an ounce of the fear and loss of that time, but I am so grateful to have visited the commemoration center and learned a bit more. This is definitely one day I am still mentally and emotionally processing.
Another highlight - and this one joyous: I spent Easter weekend with Vivian, a friend from my previous stay who has been to Florida to visit my family. We had such a wonderful time catching up, and I also saw Alison, who basically carried me through the first few weeks of my time in the country in 2006. I went back to my little Kampala home, and the shops and streets I remember - it felt like great closure for both this trip and my last. And I spent Easter Sunday in a little village church on the suburbs of Kampala, then helped cook a massive meal for all of Vivian's family. Wonderful!
Now I am back in the UK, ready to work, though tomorrow I think I will go into London for a mini vacation before writing. I hope to get to talk to you all about my trip in more detail. I miss you family!!
So sorry for the long delay between posts! Internet access was difficult, to say the least, in Uganda. I spent three and a half weeks in Kabale, in the very southwest of the country, high in the terraced hills that give the area the name 'Switzerland of Africa.' For my research, I interviewed HIV/AIDS NGOs and community members, but my primary focus centered on three secondary schools: a Catholic, a Church of Uganda, and a non-aligned. In each I conducted multiple focus group discussions/interviews with students and teachers, observed classes and assemblies, read textbooks, found myself in fantastic informal conversations, and held a drawing competition under the title 'How do we prevent HIV in our community?' Overall, my aim is to assess the quality, methods, and message of HIV/AIDS education in secondary schools. The research went incredibly smoothly - even better than I'd hoped - and I am excited to begin writing (perhaps in a few days....)!
Thank you all for your prayers for my safety and happiness! It made such an emotional difference living with a family (the headmaster of one of the schools) instead of staying on my own. Plus, being in Uganda for a second time, I was much better prepared for the experience, though nothing will ever make me numb to the poverty. I am also thrilled to say that everything I have learned this year in my courses provided incredible insight - I 'saw' so much more than I did in 2006. What a blessing it is to better understand a country and its communities!
One highlight: I took a day trip into Rwanda with a secondary school from London that was visiting Kabale over their Easter break. Kigali is only about an hour and a half away, though the border check points add about an additional hour. After a driving bus tour through the city, we briefly dropped by the Hotel Mille Colline, from Hotel Rwanda, then spent most of the day in the Kigali Memorial Center, commemorating the genocide. It happened to be the second day of a week-long holiday for the anniversary, so there were many Rwandans at the site visiting their relatives in the mass graves. Truly, this is the part I will never forget - hearing the desperate sobbing of survivors while staring at the skulls and clothing of the victims. For me, too, I had a difficult time looking at anything - a hillside, a clump of trees, the Hotel Mille Colline - and not imagining the violence of those three months in 1994. I'll never know even an ounce of the fear and loss of that time, but I am so grateful to have visited the commemoration center and learned a bit more. This is definitely one day I am still mentally and emotionally processing.
Another highlight - and this one joyous: I spent Easter weekend with Vivian, a friend from my previous stay who has been to Florida to visit my family. We had such a wonderful time catching up, and I also saw Alison, who basically carried me through the first few weeks of my time in the country in 2006. I went back to my little Kampala home, and the shops and streets I remember - it felt like great closure for both this trip and my last. And I spent Easter Sunday in a little village church on the suburbs of Kampala, then helped cook a massive meal for all of Vivian's family. Wonderful!
Now I am back in the UK, ready to work, though tomorrow I think I will go into London for a mini vacation before writing. I hope to get to talk to you all about my trip in more detail. I miss you family!!
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