Keine ahnung.

T

The Wood kids and I on our AIA outing

Yay election week is over! Honestly I am super glad that my Facebook news feed will not be cluttered with name calling and ridiculous status updates about the election. I decided I should live in a foreign country every four years to avoid the drama. First of all, I am not going to act like I know everything about politics because I don’t. I wish I knew more, but politics bore me to death. I tried watching the Presidential debates while doing some push-ups and abs in my bedroom, but it just didn’t cut it. I would WAY rather listen to Lecrae. The last two weeks I have been taking a German history and politic class (in German) because I had to pass a test for the government to pay for my German classes. All in all, I am a German citizen that doesn't know German. The perks of having two identities. J So I am not a big fan of history or politics and learning them in a different language isn't exactly easy. My teacher would always ask about America and what our system is like. One day he says to me, “Elizabeth, who was the President in the late 1980’s?” As you can guess, I didn't know off the top of my head, so I started singing the President song aloud to figure it out, but clearly the other people in my class knew it before I got there. Embarrassing. Oh well. I don’t pretend that I know everything about history and politics. I am probably just as educated now about Germany’s politics and history as I am about America’s.

Teammates :)

Politics are something that people openly speak about here and Germans aren't afraid to ask who you are going to vote for. Most (not all because I don’t want to generalize) Germans wanted Obama to win because they are in favor of Obama care and when I told them I wanted Romney they tend to look at me like I have a third eyeball. I hate discussing politics.

So another interesting story from language class happened on Wednesday after my class. I walk out of the building and this man is standing in front of the door. He says to me in German, “Hi, I am Michael.” I looked behind me to see if maybe he was talking to someone behind me, but sure enough it was the only one around. I looked at him and said, “Hi.” He proceeds to ask me if I take language class here and which class I am in, etc. I realize that his German wasn't that great so I ask if he can speak English, so we switch. He then proceeds to tell me is from Africa and just moved to Berlin from living in Poland for two years. I was somewhat trying to leave the conversation because I had places to be, but didn't want to be rude. As I was walking away, he kept walking with me and I started to say bye as he says, “Well I would like to get to know you better and meet up with you sometime. Can I have your number?” I politely said no, and then he asked if he could be my Facebook friend and I once again politely said no. So then he asked if he could give me his number and I was like okay fine. I put it in a note in my IPhone and then he wanted me to call him (Duh, I am not stupid! Then you will have my number). I told him I will write him never later. He said he wanted to be friends with me and I said how about we just see each other at class, knowing full and well that the next day was my last day and I would never have to see him again. After I left, I obviously didn't text him or call him and thought that was the end of it. I just planned on avoiding that exit the next day. Well I was wrong.

The next morning I showed up 35 minutes (typical) late to class and as I was like 40 feet from the building and he came up and started walking next to me. I was startled and gave him a clueless look, only for him to say, “ Didn't you recognize me?” I wanted to say, “YES!!! Of course I recognized you CREEPER!!” I asked him if he had class and he told me that he didn't and he was just being creepy “getting breakfast”. It would be one thing if he was there at 8:30 because he knew my class started then, but the fact that he was there when I was 35 minutes late is just weird. Anyways, then he says to me as I am about to go in, “You didn’t call or text me yesterday. Can I have your number?” Clearly he doesn’t take a HINT!!! Finally I said, “No you can’t have my number because I am not interested.” He looked at me like I was the rudest person ever, but at this point I didn’t care. He waited 35 minutes for me to come and that is creepy. Good thing it was my last day to ever go to that building!  

Schweiz

Interlaken

Well the last few weeks have been adventuresome to say the least, but I figure we will save those stories for another day. I have been injured and can’t train, so I have had a little more time on my hands than normal. I miss training though and I am excited to hopefully play soon. I was on crutches for the first week and it is crazy how much people move out of your way. Not to mention give you their seat on the train. I think the best part was getting “Preferred Boarding” on the plane when I flew to and from Switzerland.

Switzerland was amazing and SO BEAUTIFUL! It was a bigger and better version of Colorado and every time I looked at the mountains it made me realize how incredible God is. It reminded me of His power and how detailed He created the world. I often just stood and looked at the mountains in complete awe. We went to Interlaken for a day and I don’t think I have ever seen mountains that are so beautiful. It was so refreshing. I got to visit my friend Jessie there, who plays professional hockey in Bern and has lived in Switzerland now for two years.

Standing in the fountain at the chocolate factory
We thought we wouldn't get wet. Bad idea. There is
fountain behind me.

The amazing chocolate!

One minor problem we had was the car situation. Jessie’s teammate let us borrow her car and we were supposed to pick up Michael and his friend, Michael in Zurich early the next day. The only minor major problem was that it is a manual and both Jess and I can’t really drive a stick. We both knew the general concept of how to make it drive, but getting it going without killing it was always the trick. Jess drove first and did pretty good minus the time she killed it in the main intersection in Bern and everyone was staring at us. I was dying laughing. I even squeedered a little (if you don’t know what that means use your imagination). Not to mention I ended up with a little whiplash and a rubbery smell from squealing the tires and taking off so fast. We decided to go practice on a “backstreet”, which wasn’t very hidden because there were LOTS of cars and people. Eventually it was mine turn to see if I could do better. FAIL! I got it going a few times, but then I killed it right by these people and could not get if going for the life of me. The car may or may not have been smoking a little and the people around were plugging their noses and laughing at us. EMBARRASSSING! Yes, people in Switzerland laughing at strangers. Rare occurrence. We decided it was time to park the car (and let it stop smoking) and find a plan B. There was NO WAY we could drive an hour to Zurich in rush hour in a car that we couldn’t get going every time we stop. Train it was! We technically only had to get there because Michael’s friend could drive a stick. But we figured living was more important.

Not all for us. Don't worry

The next day we hung out in Zurich for the day and then stayed at Jessie’s parents. They made Raclette, which is a typical Swiss meal. The machine wasn’t working correctly so we ended up microwaving the food. Still was great though! The last day we went to a Swiss chocolate factory and got to eat as much chocolate as we wanted. It was AMAZING!!!! We definitely were those fat Americans. Two groups came through the tour and we were still standing there eating chocolate. I didn’t and still don’t understand what was wrong with them. FREE CHOCOLATE! Not just any chocolate. TRUFFLES! Then we went to a Swiss cheese factory and saw how that cheese is made. Chocolate and cheese! Does life get any better?  Switzerland was great minus the crutches, but spending time with people that you have known a long time can definitely be refreshing when you live in a foreign country.  Oh and I forgot one of the best parts of Switzerland. They had Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks!!! It was an investment that’s for sure. 8.60 Francs for a medium. Definitely worth it though! If I was rich, I would have bought ten, but clearly that is not the case. I also would have gone sky diving in the Alps. Someday I will. It is on my bucket list. J

Heiß Yoga= Sterben

The impossible move. I can't even wrap my leg behind my other leg.
These people aren't even squatting that low.

So my latest adventure has been hot yoga. I have wanted to do it for a LONG time now and I finally found a friend that didn’t think I had lost my mind when I told her. Hot yoga is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Yoga in a very hot (35 degrees Celsius) room. As you know I like to sweat and I am not flexible so I figured it would be a great opportunity to become more flexible and sweat. There was an offer for 10 Euros for 10 days unlimited.

We decided to attend the 8am class and knew we needed to be there a little early. As you know, doing something new in Germany is always a bit of an adventure. You have to watch and learn most all the time because otherwise you will have to ask, which would mean needing to know the German words and that isn’t always the case in new situations. Soccer words = check, Food words= check, Yoga words= NEIN!  So we stroll in about 30 minutes before the class and sign up. We make our way up to the yoga room and the instructor had told us to pick the spots in the second row so we can watch. Minor Detail: Class is in German. This isn’t too much of a problem for me because I understand most, but Karissa is still learning German and let’s be real even if I did understand the words, the woman spoke so fast! I think that is part of the technique. Regardless, there was a man lying on a mat already so we followed his example and picked the spots in the corner, hoping we were in the second row. Lots of people came in that totally looked like naturals. At least we were dressed appropriately, thanks to Google. We knew to wear spandex material clothing. How embarrassing it would have been to show up in t-shirts and basketball shorts or something. OUTCASTS!! Regardless, we were just lying there like beached whales as the class filled with more people. Karissa and I were trying to figure out if we were in the front or the back of the room because everyone was laying different directions and we just wanted to go unnoticed. That did last long though, because in storms the teacher and tells us that we need to be in the second row and switch spots with the two people behind us. Problem solved! We were in the front row. EEK! Yes, we made a scene and had to make two people move spots and not only that, now EVERYONE knew we were beginners and Americans.

We did this for a minute, I just try to improve on not
tipping over as many times.

So the class begins with breathing exercises, which honestly I have never been great at.  I tend to just breathe naturally and not think about it, but we just followed the motions. I was informed that we were supposed to keep our mouths closed the entire class, as in breathing through our nose. Easy right? NOOO! The last thing I am thinking about is if my mouth is closed when I am tipping over and trying to fold my body into a pretzel. First of all, I was BY FAR the tallest person in the room and most likely definitely the least flexible. Not to mention, after three ankle surgeries my balance is not the greatest. Regardless, the class went on and once in a while the teacher would shout English orders at us. Seriously now I know why you have to get a Yoga license. They probably teach you how to talk that fast at the license course. It was unbelievable how people could balance on one foot on the ball of their foot, while squatting with the other leg crossed over…. Follow me? I think it just takes practice. A lot of it. You are supposed to look at yourself in the mirror the whole time, and I kept getting scolded for looking around the room. It is weird to stare at myself especially when I am trying to do it correctly and watching myself do it wrong in the mirror doesn’t help. Another minor difficulty was being wet with sweat. Your body slips off itself and you can’t always hold the poses. Or so I convinced myself. The hardest part was the last phase where it means you have to sit with your legs bent behind you and your butt in between. I have NEVER EVER understood how girls can sit like that. Then they wanted us to lean back and lay on the ground. Over my dead body. No way could I! I thought every ligament was about to rip in my knees. I improvised though and the teacher said I could sit on my legs. There has got to be a trick about being able to do that. Maybe my legs are too big. I am not sure. But mine just do NOT bend that way. All in all, hot yoga was sweet and it was hard. A different kind of hard. Definitely broke the rule of having a closed mouth, because often my jaw dropped just looking at these people doing the exercises. Probably didn’t catch everything said, but after a little more practice, maybe one day I can cross legs, squat, stand on one foot, while standing on my tip toe, with my mouth closed, breathing through my nose. Or maybe never.

Herbst ist hier.

Throwback family photo minus Dad. Good thing jean
jackets are back in style. Miss them!

Fall is a time when I tend to miss America for numerous reasons. Lately I have missed family and friends a lot and it’s one of those times in life where you just long for a good, long hug. Not a one arm under, one arm over hug, because those are my least favorite and almost as bad as a side hug. I think I prefer a fist pound. But rather an “it’s gonna be alright” hug. I am usually the hug giver since I am bigger than most people, so more often than not I don’t get those kinds of hugs if that makes sense. Plus living in a country where you greet people with a kiss on the cheek or a hand shake also limits the availability. Crazy to think hugging has so many options.

As for things that make me miss fall in America, the first would probably be soccer. Since I was young, fall always meant soccer season. Whether that is club, high school, or college and nothing gets better than preparing for a game under the lights on a Friday night. Soccer has been somewhat rough here to say the least and it makes me miss the days of Drake soccer and getting excited for game days. A close second to soccer though is college football season (and kind of NFL now too). I love Saturdays and just lying on the couch watching college football all day. Not to mention taking a nap to the commentary is the best. I find it lulling for some odd reason.

Oh how I crave one of these

So those are the three main reasons. Family, fussball, and football. Lastly if I see one more picture of a pumpkin spice latte on my news feed or Instagram I am going to die.  I love them and they have a million Starbucks here, but that drink doesn’t exist. I have been craving anything pumpkin, but I only have one can of pumpkin that I need to save for Thanksgiving. 

On the flip side, I am excited for fall because of the clothing and getting to layer, but even though it’s chilly here I am still trying to enjoy my summer clothing because wearing the same clothes for 7 months gets old.

The book I am reading

So as you can see I have been in an interesting place emotionally. It has been challenging because God has been continuing to strip me of my comforts. I have been focusing on just learning about who God really is and what His character qualities are. I guess it is somewhat the beginning of a new adventure and it seems stressful and overwhelming, but I know it will be a worthwhile journey. 

Unglaublich

This post is a random story that happened the other day. You know those moments when your blood is literally boiling and you feel like you are going to explode. Well that was me. Here is the background information. The last ten days we have had a men’s basketball tour here from Bethel University and so I spent pretty much all day, every day leading them around the city and bringing them on bike tours, etc. I got to know two of the guys pretty well. Their names are Quinn and Tyler. On Thursday they wanted me to go shopping near my place with them, so we planned on meeting at 11am by the train station. When I met them they were super flustered and Tyler proceeded to tell me that he got 50 Euros taken from him.

He went on to tell me that there is this man that sits in front of a huge tourist store and he has three balls on the ground and shuffles them around. The person playing the game is supposed to watch the balls and they can win money by betting and guessing under which ball lays the money (except you never win because it is a scam). The man was doing this and Tyler was just standing there waiting for Quinn and the man held out what Tyler thought was 5 Euros that he could win (really it was 50 Euros though), if he picked right. Tyler hadn’t been watching though and didn’t really know what was going on so he just pointed to one and obviously guessed wrong. The man told him that he owed him 50 Euros and at first Tyler didn’t give him the money, but then 6 other men started to corner him and yell at him in German. So Tyler panicked (which I don’t blame him) and opened his wallet and gave him the money. He then realized after he walked away that he given him 70 instead. When he met up with Quinn, he told him the story and they went back and demanded 20 Euros back, which the men gave them.

You see, these guys are con artists, similar to a gang that sit on the street with the most innocent tourists and play this game that is a scam. The men play each other all day and “win”, so all the tourists think they have a chance at winning and then the con artists take their money. All in all, Tyler told me this story after I met up with them and instantly my blood was boiling. I was so angry at these men that they would do this. First of all, Quinn and Tyler told me I was like their older sister they never had, and since I had practically babysat them every day, I felt like they were my little brothers and it was my job to look out for them. Regardless, I instantly said we were going to these men and getting his money back. It was one of those moments in life where you just follow your instincts. I march up to the man and in German tell him that I want my friend’s 50 Euros back that he stole. The conversation quickly turned into shouting and yes, we were on the main street. He yelled at me that Tyler wanted to play and lost. I told him that he is a foreigner and had no idea what was going on and that he stole his money. By this time all the other men were in my face and pointing at me shouting, while I am yelling in German that “You stole 50 Euros from my friend and if you don’t give it back I will call the police.” Did I mention my blood was boiling? My German was just flowing out and looking back I probably should have been more nervous than I was because I had seven gang- like men in my face, but I figured what are they really going to do? I had Tyler and Quinn there to fight. Also, the perks of being 6’1 in situations like these.

After shouting back and forth for a while, we drew quite the crowd and one of the con artists walked up and shoved 50 Euros in Tyler’s hand and continued to use the f-word at us a solid 10 times as we walked away. We created a huge scene and I think they were madder that we ruined their stupid game for all the innocent passerby’s that heard me yelling. We walked away and Tyler was happy that we got the money back, but my blood was still boiling. It makes me so mad that people get away with doing that to innocent people. After we told the rest of the team the story, they all talked about how they wanted to go back and fight them (typical guys). I guess a few days later they did go back (not too fight, just to put them in their place) and the guys got nervous and packed up their game. I mean I would be too if 6 guys over 6’5 approached me. So yes, that is the story. All day I kept thinking to myself, “Did that really happen?”

Boda Boda fahren in Uganda (Part 3)

Visiting the Village 

The kids outside the house

On one of the last days, we got the chance to go with the school children from the village to visit their homes. Each group visited 2-3 families and brought gift bags to each family which consisted of: candles, matches, soap, sugar, and salt. It was such a humbling experience and so heart breaking to see the conditions of how these families live. The first family we visited had about 8 people living in a hut and the grandmother and aunt took care of all the children living there. There were two month old twins that we held and it broke my heart to think that they weren’t going to get the nutrition they needed living in those conditions. We had a translator with us the entire time because most of the village families don’t speak English except the child that attends school at Noah’s Ark. They were so grateful for our gift and in Africa it is custom to always give your best to the visitors, so they tried to give us mangos, but we didn’t take them because we just wanted to bless them. The owners of the Noah’s Ark told us that they would try to insist, but to not take anything because often the family will not eat just so they can provide for a guest or give a gift in return.

Me with one of the twins

The second family we visited was a boy that lived with his grandpa and great grandpa. Peter had come to their house and invited the boy to attend Noah’s Ark for school and he was viewed as so lucky to be getting an education. All of the houses that you see are very small and have no clean water supply, so often the children are in charge of waking up before school and walking to get water. As heart breaking as it was to visit the village, it was such a humbling experience and it gave us a better understanding of where the children come from and what their situation at home is.

Wendy and I with the second family.

Coaching

Harry and I with the boys that I coached every day

I got the privilege of coaching the older boys every day. They made up the school soccer team that plays against other schools in the area. I loved coaching them because they were so eager to learn because the coaches there don’t know a lot about drills and doing speed work with the children because usually they just play. The boys were between ages 14-18 and were so excited to do technical work. We would always play at the end and on Saturday when they had more free time we would literally play for 4 hours. I loved it. Girls don’t play sports often in Africa so they weren’t that great, but it was neat how even when the coach made the girls play, the boys would still pass to them. I was more frustrated with the fact that they were playing than everyone else because they just stood in a big group in the middle and the soccer game actually took place on the flanks. One boy that I really connected with was Samuel. I thought his name was “Somewhere” for the first few days because I couldn’t understand him. He was pretty quiet and super humble, but really good at soccer. He also was so eager to learn and work hard; he asked me every day if I was coming back the next day. I found out he is 16 years old and lives in the village. He plays for the third Ugandan team, which is two under the national team and I guess has a chance at playing for the national team someday. He lives with his mother and often people pay his mother to let him play with them. I just loved watching him interact with people. He would treat the girls with so much respect and always include them.

Henry (in white) and Samuel (in yellow)

Each morning I would wake up and go running in the village. Let me tell you it was quite the run each day because we were running up the steepest hills and the heat didn’t make it easier. On the third to last day, I went running and I saw Samuel walking with water towards me at about 7:00am. So I asked him if he wanted to come running with me and figured we could go for 15 minutes or so and then head back to get to school on time and I could go to breakfast. He wanted to come with, so we went to his house and got his stuff. I told him I was tired and don’t want to run too much longer and not too fast. He agreed and said he could show me where he used to go to school. Samuel claimed it wasn’t that far, but we were running FOREVER and everyone was staring at us and saying things to him because he was running with a “Mzungu” (which is what they call white people) and I guess everyone knows Samuel around town. To say the least I was tired and had planned on going for a light run, but about 30 minutes later we were STILL going. I kept saying “Samuel, how much longer? I don’t see Noah’s Ark!” His response was always we are almost there and let’s be honest I had no idea where I was because everything looks the same. The worst was that I needed to go to the bathroom. After 45 minutes, I finally saw the finish line and I literally thought I was going to wet myself. One funny story was that I always ran with my IPod on my arm and listened to music. So when Samuel came out of his house to go running with headphones as well. They went into his shirt so I didn’t see what he was listening to, but he told me his MP3 player got stolen. I was curious the whole time as to what was on the end of his headphone cord or if he just brought them because I had mine. I didn’t want to make it an awkward situation though. I am still curious to this day though. I didn’t realize how fit he was. He says he wakes up and runs for 45 minutes every morning, then goes and borrows his friend’s soccer ball (because he doesn’t have one) to do footwork at the field. On the last day I gave him a ball, and some gear to equip him a little better so that he didn’t have to always borrow from his friend. This kid definitely has a future in soccer. He told me his dream is to go play outside the country or even at college in the USA. I am still brainstorming ideas of how I can make this happen. He would be baller at college soccer.  All in all, “Somewhere” has a special place in my heart.

Dawn and I at the waterfall

Out and About in Uganda

Two days before we left, the owners planned a day trip to bring us to the source of the Nile (Jinja), eat chicken on a stick and go to a famous waterfall. We loaded up in the van for the outing and our first stop was the waterfalls. It was cool, the tour guide told us all about the different tribes and how numerous rituals still exist today. For example, we saw a cave and supposedly a python still lives in there and people come and worship it. It was really interesting. The next stop was to eat chicken on a stick at this market. Not gonna lie, it wasn’t my favorite.  I felt like a dog eating it.  It was nuts though, when we pulled up in our van tons of people come running up and start shoving food in your windows to buy. It was crazy! I needed to go to the bathroom here, so I asked the owner and he gave me a key to it out back and a roll of toilet paper. I walked through the kitchen and took a trail to this little outhouse. I walked in and the first thing I see is tons of bugs and lizards. It was a pit latrine and I was like, “Ok Liz, you can’t hold it so just get in and go as FAST as possible. I was nervous a lizard would attack or a mosquito would bite my butt or something. It was quite the experience and I couldn’t see anything in there. EEK! 

This is how they attack your van with food

Next we went to Jinja, the source of the Nile, where we took a boat ride on the Nile where it starts from Lake Victoria. We saw a baby alligator, beavers, and some other cool animals. We stopped off at an island for a bit and there was another boat full of Ugandan students there at the same time. Our tour guide came and asked me the infamous question, “Do you play basketball question because you are really tall?” and we were chatting about what I do in Germany, etc. Then randomly this one student comes and asks if he can have a picture with me and I look dumbfounded and caught off guard. I say uh, sure and so we take a picture, while all the other children are yelling “Mzungu! Mzungu!” Sure enough one by one all these students are asking to take a picture with a Mzungu. It was literally like paparazzi and I felt like a celebrity. We probably took about 15 different pictures and it was just a really awkward situation, but ended with a big group photo. I am used to getting stared at because of my height, but when a tall, white girl in sports clothes walks around Uganda, the Stare-o-Meter increases rapidly.

Chicken on a stick

Our group 

The boy that asked to take a pic.

The group picture with the students

In the tea fields

Boda Boda fahren in Uganda (Part 2)

Now that you have a better idea of what Noah’s Ark is like from my last blog, it is easier to write about different experiences and opportunities we had there.

Accommodations

View from our porch

The place we stayed in was really nice and honestly I figured we would have to purchase bug nets, but we were fortunate to have screens on our windows to protect us from malaria carrying mosquitoes. Seeing that we were going to Uganda, most of us were taking Malaria pills and were warned to bring bug spray. I didn’t bring bug spray because I figured someone else would have some and I honestly am not a big fan of the smell. One brave group member didn’t take malaria pills. In all reality, I didn’t even see mosquitoes or ever get bit by one. They are more common in the rainy season.

Our living room

A cool lizard outside our place

Although we didn’t see mosquitoes, we saw our fair share of lizards and spiders. I am not a big spider fan and I have actually become a little better about it. Growing up anytime I saw a spider I just screamed, “DAD!!! SPIDER!!!” as loud as I could. Lizards on the other hand are cute to look at from far away, but the thought of one crawling in my mouth ever since the Parent Trap movie makes me a little nervous. Or I guess just crawling on my in general when I am sleeping. After I had seen one in our room, Wendy (the other American) and I started doing nightly checks, which come to think of it is kind of pointless because even if there is one I am not about to catch a lizard. Good thing, we usually only found some spiders. One night though, we were sleeping and I started hearing some kind of animal or bug. Usually the monkeys were loud at night and crickets, but this time it was from Wendy’s side of the room (thank goodness J). As I was rolling over to go back to sleep I accidently lightly kicked Wendy (because our beds were really close) and didn’t think much of it. About 30 seconds later, she sits up quickly and I say, “Wendy, did you hear that?” and immediately she is on her feet in her bed saying that something just attacked her leg. I instantly think, “EEK! LIZARD!” and jump up as well. Wendy springs to the light and we are looking around the room. No sign of any bugs, lizards, or monkeys. She starts to explain more distinctly what she felt and I then realize that she felt my kick. HAHA. We were laughing pretty hard and probably woke up the rest of our team, but at least we double checked our room.

In our cabin we had a running joke about the different phases of electricity. There were three phases because of the generator and what not. Phase 1= everything works, Phase 2=only lights, no plug ins Phase 3= plugins work, no lights, and Phase 4= nothing works. It made things a little interesting at times, but we managed. On the third to last day, somebody broke the handle on the faucet so we had to shut the water off, and that became Phase 5.

Meals with the Children

The dining hall, as you can see it is somewhat chaos

I once thought that our family Christmas’ were like a zoo, but dinner at NACMU brought a whole new definition to that. All 139 children in one room eating are pretty intense. Not to mention many of which are toddlers and babies. I would usually come a little late because I had been training the village children. I would eat and literally as soon as I said I was done the children would grab my plate and literally lick it clean. I had to fend their hands off my food. At the end of each meal, one of the kids would read a bible story and ask a trivia question and then the children would sing songs. When I say sing, I more say yell the lyrics at the top of their lungs. I loved it though. One of the other fun things that Noah’s Ark does is make each child feel special on their birthday. They get to sit in front of everyone at their own table and everyone sings to them. They make a cake for the child and give them gifts that they open in front of everyone. Each kid gets a piece of cake as well. Let me tell you with 139 kids, that means you are celebrating birthdays practically every day (actually 139 days minus a few for the doubles), but still it made me laugh.

The children and I at dinner.

School Visit

The kids reading "Animal Farm"

One afternoon, Kourtney (my college teammate that visited for a day) and I visited the secondary class. We ended up attending during their English lesson and just took our seats in the back. We tried to sneak in and not distract, but me and sneaking don’t go very well to say the least. Not to mention I was wearing sports clothes and they were all matching. The class was reading good ole’ George Orwell’s, “Animal Farm”. I was supposed to read that back in the day (think I ended up using Spark Notes), so it was somewhat familiar to me. As we were sitting there I looked over at a girl that was near me and saw that she was wearing the same sport bra as me from Target (they don’t have Target, so it must have been a gift). So I got her attention and pointed to mine and exclaimed, “We match!” She didn’t look as excited as I was about the matter and then Kourtney leaned over and whispered a valid point, that I probably just embarrassed her and called her out because it isn’t really acceptable to have your sport bra showing in Uganda. I thought, ”Way to go, Liz. Always thinking before you speak (NOT).” We stayed for awhile and then got a little bored, and “snuck” out.

Boda Boda

On about the fourth day there, Wendy and I were assigned the duty to go into town and get some groceries. This required riding a Boda Boda (motorcycle) there, which goes against everything my mom has ever taught me. Never ride without a helmet. Never get in a “car” with a stranger. Regardless, Boda Boda’s are everywhere and they just pretty much do what they want. It is unbelievable what people put on these things. One time I saw the driver plus a woman and two children. Or 5 mattresses folded in half. Or a washing machine strapped to the back of one. It is incredible what people fit on a motorcycle. So Wendy and I rode on one together with a driver and of course being the big person (like usual), I got demoted to the back seat. To say the least I held on for dear life. Once we arrived in town a storm was coming in, so we tried to shop fast. We went to the grocery store and got everything that we needed and strategically packed so we could ride a Boda Boda home. At this point we had to make a quick pit stop to get some phone credit at this little stand on the side of the main road. This truck, which is like a moving DJ and just drives around with huge speaks playing music and singing/yelling came in front of us and stopped. All of sudden this guy is saying, “Mzungu, Mzungu, can you dance?” to us and like I said in my previous blog, Mzungu means white person. He kept going on about us and by this point everyone is staring at us clearly because we were the only white people around. Not to mention is starts down pouring so we can’t go anywhere except awkwardly stare and look clueless. I thought about busting out the worm or something to give them a show, but vetoed that idea quickly because I can’t do the worm. Eventually they left and we waited the rain out because Boda Bodas’ don’t drive in the rain, partly because everything becomes mud. Once the rain slowed down we went on the hunt for a Boda Boda that might still be going and faced that we were going to get wet, but as long as the eggs got home in one piece that is what mattered. Needless to say, it was an embarrassing, wet afternoon adventure.

This is a Boda boda! 

Boda Boda fahren in Uganda (part 1)

So here begins the blog about Africa. It is hard to know where to start because there is so much to write. First and foremost, I fell in love with Uganda. After arriving in Berlin from Minnesota on Friday, I had two days to unpack and repack for Uganda. I left Sunday evening to Amsterdam, where I had a layover until the next day. Nothing like sleeping in a comfy chair all night. I was looking forward to watch the Germany soccer match, only to realize that I was in the Netherlands and they were playing at the same time. Therefore, I got to watch a small score in the upper corner and be entertained by the mice running around on the floor collecting food. Yummy. When I got on the plane the next day I was pumped because I got the seat with the all the leg room and I sat next to this really friendly Canadian rugby coach.

When we finally arrived, I had thought that Harry (an AIA colleague) would be picking me up so I just scanned the crowd for a group of white people or Harry. I didn’t have anyone from our teams’ number, so I just waited outside. Luckily my new friend, Daniel, was waiting with me for his ride as well. He went back in to check for his people and came back and said he saw a sign for Noah’s Ark Children’s Ministry. Good thing I happened to mention that to him, otherwise I would have been waiting there ALL NIGHT. They didn’t know what I looked like and I was looking for Harry.

Then came the ride from the airport to Mukono and let me tell you it was an experience. Dawn (she was our coordinator and was amazing the entire two weeks) said, “Feel free to take a nap.” since it was really late, but little did I know I would be bright eyed and bushy tailed fearing that I might not see my 25^th birthday. I have never experienced a place with so few traffic rules. It was crazy, it was like everything goes. Not to mention, we were driving in this big 15 passenger van and I thought we were going to lose our engine.  Cars pass each other all the time and they just flash their brights all the time. Seriously we had cars within 50 feet coming straight at us. I weirdly felt safe though. Along with all the vehicles on the road, there are tons of these motorcycle/dirt bikes that are called “Boda bodas”. More about those later.

A monkey outside our place

When we finally arrived at the children’s home, all the others were already sleeping. I couldn’t believe how nice the place we were staying at was. Our view was incredible and we had monkeys right outside our windows at time.

Our bedroom

Noah’s Ark Children Ministry Uganda is incredible and I was blown away with how self-sustaining it was. We went on a tour the first day and saw the entire facility. There are so many volunteers and Ugandan workers that make NACMU possible.  It consists of: 

*Farm with crops and a mango grove (they tasted AMAZING!)

*Animal farm with cows, chickens and pigs

*Nursery, primary, and secondary schools for the children in the home and some from the village

*A medical clinic available to the local community

*Church

*Home for the younger children

*Three home units for children 16 and older

*Housing for volunteers and many of the workers

*Warehouses to build all the furniture used at Noah’s Ark

*Library

Church, but they are in the process of building a new one

They have staff for each task, whether that is laundry staff, cooking staff, farmers, teachers, office staff, security, and medical staff. Noah’s Ark started out in one home with Peter and Peta (the founders from Holland) and fifty children and now houses 139 children and provides schooling to almost300, plus jobs for many people from the local community. Each and every child has a different story of how they ended up at NACMU and many times the police contact Peter and Peta to take in abandoned children that they have found (more specific stories to come later). This ministry is completely support based and has organizations in America, Germany and Holland that help support it.

Our days usually consisted of two different training sessions and then doing some work around Noah’s Ark in between. We also visited the children at school and ate dinner each night with them. Another opportunity we got was to visit the homes of the village kids. This is just a preface of NACMU and my next blog will be more about the details of our experiences and adventures. I am still waiting to get the pictures.

Our team minus Harry (5 Germans, 2 Americans)

Zu Hause ist immer schön.

So it has been almost a month since I blogged last, but I figured that would be the case since I knew it would be crazy busy being back in the States for three weeks. As I write this I am sitting at the airport waiting to leave to head back to Germany. I still can’t believe that it has already been three and half weeks. It seems as if I just arrived a few days ago. Honestly looking back I can’t really say it was a relaxing three weeks, but it definitely had its moments. Culture shock was rough at first and I think the top four things I noticed were:

1)      How many overweight people are in America

2)      How many large vehicles there are (I have gotten used to seeing mainly small compact cars)

3)      How much money it costs to just live everyday life

4)      How horrible the public transportation is. I rode the bus for three hours one day just to get into the city. I swear we stopped at every person’s doorstep. I could have run as fast as the bus.

Instead of writing about everything that I did, I figured it would be easier to just post lots of pictures and write captions underneath. Everyone likes looking at pictures rather than reading words.

Went to Gastov's German pub with some friends. Played high school
 bball with both of these girls

Kevin came in town to visit

Katie got married. She played bball at Drake and these are some of the
other girls that came. I love tall people.

First Twins game in new stadium. :)

Bonfire at Bre's house on Memorial weekend!

Jayna came to see me for the weekend from California

Jason, Dustin and I got some Boba Tea.

Greg's cabin with Laura and Shauna :)

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Got dinner and stayed with old Drake teammates. Miss them so much

Hung out with the Drake soccer guys in KC

We took family photos at Macy's. These dudes are cool.

All the girls at my house for a BBQ

The girls minus Anna visiting my grandma.

Jackson Dennis Benz (Al and Ty's new baby)

grillen, spielen, lernen

At a team outing

Summer is finally here. Kind of. I am so excited that the weather has been warm. Often I literally walk outside and just smile because it makes me happy. It is crazy what a little sun can do for the soul. Life has been super busy though, but at the same time really good. Hence the lack of blogging. Between German class becoming more intense, ministry continuing, soccer training, and support raising; there isn’t a whole lot of spare time. I still can’t believe it is already May and I fly to America in a few weeks. I haven’t even really had time to think about it or get that excited. But I am excited. I will definitely miss Germany though and especially my team. I absolutely love the team I am on. The girls are great and we have had so much fun hanging out outside of training and getting to know each other. Last Saturday we grilled in a local park and just hung out for six hours. I brought an American football with (a somewhat foreign object here) and we played catch for a long time. We also watched the semifinal for the Champions League as a team, and as many of you know being a Wörle, we are huge Bayern München fans, so it was a big game. Luckily, they pulled out the win otherwise Dad wouldn’t have been a happy camper. It was amazing and I can’t wait for the final on May 19 against Barcelona.

My awesome roomie :)

Soccer has just improved overall and I am enjoying playing even though at times the situation is frustrating. When I think about giving up soccer at some point in my life, it breaks my heart. Yesterday at training, it was one of the first times I just played without thinking and felt so free. It’s as if nothing else in the world mattered and when you enjoy your teammates it makes everything that much better. In bible study we have been going through a series on how God desires for us to be transformed into the likeness of His Son and how we can put ourselves in a place to encounter God’s grace and love.  We connect it to sports and learn practical ways that we can serve/love our teammates and use our talent as a platform to reach others. As you may know, soccer has been a battle the entire year and I was just talking to someone the other day about it and realized how much has changed. It is crazy to think last fall I would be terrified for training and literally would bike home almost in tears singing worship songs, and now I get excited for training some days (obviously there are the lazy days though too). Just another way that God has been faithful. In training I have really been focusing on using it as an act of worship and remembering that even if I work hard and don’t get “rewarded”, it doesn’t matter because I am working for the Lord and not for man (Col 3:23).

Lately, I have been just so worn out and tired at the end of my long days that I just want to crawl into bed and pretend that my to-do list doesn’t exist. There are times I will sit down on my couch to have my quiet time and say to God, “Can we just hang out right now and kick it?” I don’t know if you have ever been in that place where reading, processing and thinking seems like the most overwhelming thing EVER. It has been good though because it has taught me to just be with God and sit in His presence, which is something I tend to struggle with. Also trying to be a prayer warrior because at times I feel so helpless and burdened by the hurt and dying world that we live in. There are so many people that need the love of Jesus, but where do you start? I have been trying to trust the. At AJ on Wednesday, we heard a story about a married couple that were missionaries in China (1930’s) and ended up being executed (beheaded). When they were taken away their daughter was left behind, wrapped in a blanket, and someone found her and took her in. Eventually she went back to America and was adopted. With that being said, the mother (Betty Stamm) that was executed had written in her journal two years earlier:

Grilling out in the Park 

“Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes and accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all, utterly to Thee to be Thine forever. Fill me and seal me with thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt. Send me where Thou wilt. And work out thy whole will in my life at any cost now and forever.”

I have been trying to read this each day and make it my prayer. I want to pursue the Lord wherever that may bring me. Betty did that with her life. We all can do ministry right where we are. I have been challenged with this though. Do I truly give myself, my life, my all, to Him? It is easy to give the things that don’t matter that much, but what about those things that are really hard to let go of. And at what cost? Support raising has been tough lately, but I keep asking myself, do I truly believe that the Lord will provide? One time, I heard a definition of faith that I really liked. It is: “Faith is taking God at His Word and believing that what He says is truer than how we feel or any circumstance we will ever face.”

So these are the things that I have been challenged with and just been processing through, but I hope to write more soon.