jessenewton - My First Photo Blog!

The internet decided to work well today and I was able to upload some pics. So these are my fellow Real Life leaders (from left to right) Tana, Me, Becca, Erin, Blair, and Brittany. This was taken in Texas a week before we left for Africa. Becca and Blair are leading teams in Swaziland and South Africa. Brittany and I are leading together in Uganda.

On our way to Uganda we had an 11 hour layover in Dubia, U.A.E. So we decided not to stay at the hotel and went out to see the city. It is crazy to see a city filled with skyscrapers (one of which is now the world's tallest building) in the middle of the desert. Oh the things you can do with unlimited funds (thanks oil reserves).

On the left is the Atlantis Hotel, it is located on Palm Island (the largest man made island in the world and it just so happens to be shaped like a palm tree). On the right is a giant aquarium located inside the hotel (it had a whaleshark in it!).

This is just some crazy looking hotel that is shaped like a sail. Apparently, the cheapest room is $5,000 a night. We were told that President Bush stayed there for a couple days. Another fine example of our tax dollars hard at work!

So, now to some of the fun things we are experiencing here in Busia, Uganda!

So what we got here is one of the lovely made in India bikes that we have the get to use as our main mode of transport. Fortunately, only one or two parts fall of during an average trip. They keep breaking, I keep fixing. One of my Ugandan friends suggested that I move here and open a bicycle repair shop:) And this is how we do laundry. A bucket full of water, some soap and a lot of elbow grease (this is the reason we wear our clothes not until they are dirty, but until some one makes a friendly comment on how they smell). And last but not least, these are our toilets. We call them squatty pottys, of course because of the fact that you have to squat to use them (sitting would just not be a good idea, although I do know of a few individuals who tried it out in Peru:(