elections

first of all....i just need to say CONGRATULATIONS LYNDSAY AND ANDY!!! awwww....ooooo....ohhhhhhh!!!! and all that good stuff.....i'm missing the squeeling and story telling, but believe you me i'm happy for you!!!

mmm....on to some ugandan news:
tomorrow are the ugandan presidential elections. this is a VERY big deal here. president museveni has been in power for the last 20 years and is trying to prolong his presidency. when he first came to power he promised he would bring stability (which he did) and then train up a new leader and step down peacefully (uganda has never had a peaceful hand over of power), but....last year a parliamentarian motion was passed (through museveni bribing everyone) to get rid of term limits. so museveni is basically going back on his word and trying to stay in power (and keep himself rich). a lot of people are planning on voting for his main opponent, besigye (who i saw at a rally), simply because they're sick of museveni. others trust museveni and want to keep him in power. most admit that even if museveni loses he'll find a way to stay in power (he controls the military).....although besigye himself was once a close comrade of museveni when he was overthrowing the previous president, so he probably could sway people to fight for him if he wanted.....plus there are several rebel armies in the bush of uganda and the congo. basically, no matter who wins there will be violence....riots if museveni wins and probably a civil war if besigye wins. don't worry....ucu is probably in the safest part of the country (out of the city and away from riots and in the 'burbs enough to miss guerilla action).....plus we have a contingency plan if anything goes wrong.....BUT.....nonetheless.....please pray for the country and the people at this violatile time.

hmmm....racism is interesting. i really thought i would learn what its like to be a minority here like other minorities in the US, but it's totally different. yeah, i stick out like crazy, but pretty much every where i go i stick out and am given preferential treatment. grrrr....i'm not even going there now. a few weeks ago the US embassy came and showed a movie about rosa parks and had a q&a time. it was pretty interesting and at times hostile. people brought up slavery, hurricaine katrina, AIDS, visas....it was pretty much we hate the US time.....some of my friends were really offended and left. i stayed and hung out w/ my friends and watched "to kill a mockingbird." MAN....i hate how a movie ruins a book. anyway....after the movie i was walking back to my dorm w/ a friend and we were chatting along when all of a sudden she flipped out i gand started screaming at these guys. eventually i got her calmed down and she explained that they were harassing at her and basically said she was too good for them now that she has white friends....did she expect us to take her home w/ us? she was really upset....and so was i....more so that the racism i encountered hurt my friend more than it hurt me. i don't get it.

haha....ok, that was heavy....let's end on a light note. here are some random facts about uganda:
--boys hold hands here (yup, people are pretty much just more touchy in general....i love it!)
--besigye's wife used to be museveni's lover
--birthday's are called "bathdays" as a joke....and they soke you w/ water
--boobs are not a big deal here....

aight....gotta run. it's my roommate's birthday. we made ice cream! :-D

ooooooooo yeah.....i joined a ministry that meets like 4 hours a day....hahaha.....shocking, i know. :-p makes me miss FOOT! i love you guys tons!! i'm praying for you!

oh yeah.....one more thing. thanks for the letters renee, natalie, and dad!! :-) i heart mail.