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Ellieeeeeeeeee
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Name: Ellie
Country: United States
State: Michigan
Metro: Ann Arbor
Gender: Female
Expertise: staying in bed at least a half hour after waking up.
only packing a backpack for a 3 week trip (and i'm a girl!)
Occupation: Student
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
2/19/2005
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| Anklets.
I have several cool necklaces from Uganda. They are lightweight and delicate. I have a couple that don't fit as well as necklaces though so I was thinking about giving some away. I also had an idea.......what if I spun them around on my ankles and make an anklet?!
I tried it and it looks (in my opinion), cool.
I think the last time I wore an anklet was in like 3rd grade. so now i have a question. are anklets fashionable at all these days?
I looked it up online to see what i could see. I found this little article (my necklace looks a lot like the one in that picture except with more clear space between each rock/shell thing!):
http://www.indiculture.com/fashion/2008/01/31/never-fading-charm-of-anklet/
Basically, it says they are classic fashion and it never goes out of style. But..... the website is all about indi. So...... can indi fashion ever be "classic"? hm.
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| yay xanga! since I've been in Africa, the internet has encouraged me to read as little webpages as possible. That's why I haven't updated this--we (well, mostly john) has been updating our gmail blog regularly. So, you should check it out:
http://collmanuganda.blogspot.com/
I haven't updated about our awesome dinner at Katie and Liz's. They are here in uganda for short terms (Liz is a year, Katie is 18 months I think) doing different things though.
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Katie graduated two years ago from
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo. It was great talking with her because she grew up on Catalina Island. Apparently that is where (or near where) Campus by the Sea, IV's West Coast camp is. She worked there during high school and went to her uni's IV for a while. She talked about how the Los Angeles Urban Plunge helped her know more about what she wanted to do in the future, and even helped her get to New Hope right now. It's so fun to hear people's stories. And I'm grateful for InterVarsity's work on campuses all over the place. Urban Plunges are pretty awesome.
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| Today is the day! we're leaving tonight at 9:30. crazy exciting! i've become much more excited now that we've been packing.
some facts/advice i've been given so far that i wouldn't need in Michigan:
- Uganda only takes debit, not credit
- wash all fresh produce in bleach water before eating it
- put moth balls in all drains and cabinets/cupboards --it will keep cockroaches away
- don't bring a lot with you from the US to donate, instead, buy stuff there; it gives locals business and it's better suited for the people you're giving it to anyway.
- raisins are few and far between in Uganda
- the concept of "personal privacy" is on a whole new level. Be ready to redefine it
- don't accept anything, especially candy from anyone on public transportation; it could very well be poisoned (which also leads me to stay awake at all times while traveling on bus/taxi!)
- don't clutch your purse/wallet close to you while walking around potentially hazardous areas for pickpocketing; the closer you carry it to your person, the more tempting you are to steal from
- be flexible in everything, with everything.
On a side note, I had yet ANOTHER dream with Dave Collins in it the other night. I think between John and me over the years, we've probably had about 100. ok maybe not, but a lot. This time he was in a lab coat and a small group of us were in his cubicle and he said, "OK, since none of you are excited about this procedure we have to do, I decided that the one who volunteers first will get a free piercing wherever they want on their body". And then I volunteered. So I guess DC is now a specialist in nose piercing. Pretty cool.
Goodbye everyone! have great semesters wherever you are!
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| i love england. it's hard to believe i'll be going back there in 5 days! i've never been to John's grandma's house but apparently it's what used to be the parsonage of the church it's connected to. The church is 900 years old! if only the house was too. that would be awesome, but probably drafty.
After a week there we're headed off to Uganda and then take a 10 hour bus ride to Rwanda.... I'm the most nervous about this transport of all the travels of this whole trip. i won't go into details because it will make me even more nervous, but the bus trip can be dangerous to say the least if the driver is not careful. My missionary friends in Uganda say it's good to do it though because it will "do wonders for my prayer life"! AH! not sure how i think about that!
i also don't feel prepared to go to Africa, physically (because of all these stupid meds/vacs i need that are messing with my system) but also spiritually. i feel a little better than I did a month ago, or even a week ago, but i don't feel at all like i did the first time i went --thrilled, prepared, God speaking to me, developing overwhelming love for the people there, anticipating diving into the new community/team I was going to spend my time with, practicing the gospel points, learning how to deal with cross-cultural conflict with vigor, learning how to deepen conversations with people in that culture, etc.
Now, I don't feel those things very strongly as I did in 2003 when I went the first time. I wish i would have done a "refresher" MAC course or something to help me out. i feel like i am just making some progress with my community here and really don't feel like cutting it off and starting from scratch with another one, and strangely, over the past couple years i feel like socializing and talking to people one-on-one is not my strong suit anymore at all. This is the weirdest part because i used to be quite good at talking to people and being open with them--at least transparent if not vulnerable. I was looking at some old emails of a friend who I met in Uganda and he said I was really good at connecting with people socially and emotionally and he wished he could do that himself but he felt like he built up too many "walls" around himself that didn't let people in his life easily. Now I am feeling like he did. I think this is tragic. And I feel like i haven't used my spiritual gifts in such a long time, i feel at a complete loss to do use them successfully without months of practice and re-training.
I feel like an athlete who stopped working out for 3 years and then thrown into the Olympics from the couch. How do I expect to win at anything?!
But, good thing is that I know 100% that God wants us to go here. I have had many doubts since the time I suggested the idea but it was extremely clear that God had said, "GO. IT IS TIME". So I am leaning on that word right now. Also, I was looking back at my journal that I wrote in while in Uganda and post-Uganda in 2003. WOW was I immature. I look back practically embarrassed at what I thought and said as a Freshman in this other country. I had a lot to learn. This is actually a comfort for me because I now see that God can use even a small, immature, ignorant Freshman like me for his purposes, even bless others. I have grown up a lot since then so even though I do not feel spiritually "ready" (who is ever anyway?) I know God can still use me and teach me his ways even though I may be stubborn and weak.
It also reminds me of my friend's story. She felt called to the ministry in Africa and her dream was crushed with breast cancer. She felt weak and tired and then in the middle of it all, God told her that her calling was still there and "now was the time". So she went almost dead to Mozambique because she felt called. And once she got there, she was called to the ministry because the ministry there prayed over her and she was healed 100% of her cancer immediately and still lives cancer free today. She became a living testimony to the Mozambicans and to her community at home. Then she came home! That's an example of physical healing to the place we feel called, which gives me joy and hope to know that God can call me to Africa right now, not just to minister, but hopefully be healed in whatever way I need it. So, I go with hope and anticipation, knowing God has a plan.
I could expound on this a lot more, but this is way longer than any post I've written in a long time. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. It was from my "bowels" as the Bible would say!
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| Someone is giving away a 4 year old DONKEY on freecycle.org in the Ann Arbor area. I want it, but John says we don't have room for it in our apartment. I can't believe someone is giving away a donkey. But there have been stranger things offered there before.... like a 20 year old bathrobe, some holes, worn thin, some moth wear. ick.
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