Category Archives: Fun

Henry V at Washington, or a Letter to the Resolve Fifteen

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This is an open letter to my fellow advocates and dear friends with whom I spent a lot of time (and at the same time not enough) in DC. It’s on this blog instead of an e-mail because what I experienced this weekend really should be on the record. If you want to know why we were there, click here. If you want to see what I did with my own time, click here.

To Whom Advocating for Peace is the Most Paramount Task,

In Lawrence Weschler’s Vermeer in Bosnia, he uses a scene of human rights abuse in Shakespeare’s Henry V to analyze the massacre at Srebrenica. Since we were all in DC as a part of our advocacy against mass atrocities, I thought it was fitting that I thought of a wholly different part of the same play. What we learn from Shakespeare is that, on St. Crispen’s Day, Westmoreland wished they had more troops to fight, to which the King responded – at length – that he would rather die with those who were around him: “we few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”

There were only a few of us that were able to make the trek to Washington this weekend. I boarded my plane knowing two friends would be there, alongside a few who I only knew over the phone, and a handful of strangers. I left with over a dozen friends with whom I can share this experience. And it’s not just an experience of being able to say “I got to see David Plouffe speak” or “Holy crap I just saw Bo in the hallway,” it’s much more than that.

Half of the gang on Pennsylvania Avenue

It’s the fact that I can say that not only did most of us meet for the first time at State Place & 17th Street in the early morning on Friday – and proceed to spend almost all of the next 48 hours together – but that we made true friends and learned a lot from one another during that time. It was with this group of new friends that I learned about the Fourth Estate (which I sadly missed and sounds inspiring) and shared my thoughts on America’s LRA strategy (thanks for listening, Adam). I experienced my first poetry slam at Busboys and ate the greatest sweet potato fries. I met four people whom I could never thank enough for helping me over the years via phone calls and e-mails, and I had three people bear witness to the hostel at which I stayed.

Eugene tells a story. Laughter ensues.

More than learning about USAID’s programs around the world and seeing the White House’s outreach efforts first hand, I got soaked in rain with friends – twice – and got in more than one conversation about the attractiveness of a certain former Director of African Affairs at the NSC. I talked about the ICC, heard about conflicts in the CAR, and learned about crisis mapping in the DRC. But I also learned how not to use Camden Yards as a slip’n’slide, was compared to the sorcerer Jafar, and laughed uncontrollably at somebody saying “K as in knitting.”

I am truly humbled by having the chance to meet you this weekend. We all traveled to DC, some of us flying across the Great Plains while others took buses up from the South, to hear what the White House had to say and learn from it. I have been involved with this cause for a long time in my life, but I got involved my senior year of high school. I am only 21 years old and I just barely finished my undergrad, and yet I wasn’t out of place. Some of you are still in high school and are already raising thousands of dollars and lobbying your senators and representatives for this. Some of you have been done with school and are already forging ahead into the real world, blazing the trail for advocates. You all are superstars.

While we were able to raise our concerns with several officials (spitting fire while we did it), we did even more. We solidified our place as advocates with more than just an issue or a cause, but with a passion. As I told some of you, I’m at sort of an impasse in my life where I’ve stopped cheering for Enough and I haven’t fundraised as much for IC as I used to, but I can’t stop, won’t stop, advocating for peace and justice through Resolve.

To each and every one of you who joined me in any of these escapades, thank you. We raised our voices and delivered letters, we definitely made a difference. But I sure as hell made some great friends too.

Guns Blazing

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On Sunday, David treated me to a bachelor party.  Given two facts – David being my only guy-friend and me being pretty androgynous when it comes to doing manly things – we did not round up the dudes and go to a strip club. Plus, that’s weird and icky. Instead, I learned how to use a gun.  Six guns, actually.

David and I rolled out with his dad and two brothers to Florence Junction, where we parked in a secluded area by a moderately sized cliff-face.  David’s dad went over gun-safety with me while his brothers set up some cans, and I put on some glasses and earmuffs.  I’ve never held a real gun, let alone shoot one, so I was pretty green to this whole scenario.  I should preface the following sentences with the fact that I’m probably getting some of these names wrong.  But anyways, I took a couple of pot shots with a 22 and actually hit my target the first two times (big surprise, let me tell you) before playing with a Glock 17 and a Remington (pistol and shotgun – I’m learning!). When we set out to reset the cans and find some better targets, I found two shot up computer monitors and couldn’t resist. By the end of the day I also fired off an AR-15 and a SOCOM, of which the latter had its own shockwave that we could feel several feet away from the shooter, and which gave me a bruised arm.  As we wrapped up, I fired a few rounds out of an old-fashioned revolver, which made me feel very much like I was shooting in the Southwest.

All in all it was a lot of fun and something I had never done before.  I’m not exactly signing up for the NRA, but I definitely wouldn’t be against going out again.  It was pretty interesting to learn about the different guns (David’s dad is an instructor, and all the guys knew at least something about guns given boy scout experience and whatnot) and to play with some big boy toys.  That, mixed with a little bit of video-gaming and some delicious In-n-Out Burger, made for a very nice bachelor party.

Lira does Kampala, and Europe does Prom

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Saturday morning the ILF house slowly stirred.  After going to bed at 5.30 in the morning as the night finally wound down, I heard Rehmbo and Ben leaving around 8.  I got up and helped them close the gate and then did some lounging until my phone rang. Alison’s missing phone was calling me.  Normally, when a phone gets stolen here the thief gets rid of the SIM card right away and replaces it or sells the phone.  So, when I answered the phone I was a bit confrontational, and the guy who took the phone was talking about maybe bringing the phone back and then he hung up on me.  At this point Alison heard me talking and came in and we discussed how weird this whole situation was.  He called back and Alison talked to him and he said he was willing to bring the phone back but was worried he would get in trouble with the law, so she tried to assure him that she just wanted the phone and that’s it.  When Ben came back all three of us were talking to the guy and arranged a meeting down the street – but he never showed.  Out of time and patience, we got ready for the Kampala trip sans cellular.

Back at the house I finalized my packing and withdrew some more money for the city.  I said goodbye to everyone and even bid the goat and chickens farewell.  The ILF car rolled up and I plopped my things in and we were soon on our way.  A good five hours later we meandered through traffic to Old Park and dropped Alison and me at a fancy glass tower amidst the crummy chaos – our hotel!  This place was a really nice hotel in the middle of the city center, and we were greeted by a giant bed, a TV, air conditioning, a nice shower, and even a balcony!  After checking in and relaxing a bit, we went out and I got my first taste of mizungu Kampala – Lotus Mexicana!  I had a delicious meal of Mexican food in this African capitol before heading to a rooftop bar in Bukoto for – yes – an “American Prom”-themed party.

In the circle of the UN, a guy named Stijn has (sort of) never had a birthday party.  Since all of these Europeans had never had a Prom either, they decided to have a prom in honor of Stijn’s birthday.  A few weeks ago Lisa approached Alison and me to be the prom consultants since we were the only ones who had ever attended one.  In Lira I found the best possible shirt – a shirt from an American high school’s After-Prom Luau! I mixed this with purple trousers I found in the market and a coat I found in town.  But this fashion had nothing on some of the guests at this place.  Lisa was in the most amazing dress ever bought in Lira.  Ilaria was in a white tuxedo.  The birthday boy was in a dazzling silver shirt that shined amidst the lasers and lights at the party.  The party was really fun and it was a great welcome to Kampala.

The next morning, Alison and I boda’d our way over to Cafe Javas to have a grand goodbye.  Our commute was sprinkling, but right after we arrived it started pouring and we ended up meeting with a drenched Debs, Lisa, and Ilaria for lunch.  After trying to make sure everyone was dry and warm, we had a good meal and talked a lot before bidding farewell to our Lira folk.  That afternoon Lisa, Debs and Ama all headed back upcountry, so it was good to see everyone off.  From there I met up with Morris and George in Wandegeya to catch up for an hour or two before going craft shopping.  I ended the day with a solo trip to Ndere Center which was really cool, but it deserves its own post so you’ll just have to wait.

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Lira, from A to “Zed.”

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Typed on the morning of the 9th of June at Sankofa Internet Cafe

Today’s Hero’s Day, so I’m enjoying my day off at the cafe and typing up a blog!  Anyways, yesterday was my second day of work and I did very much the same thing. I sat for a bit.  Took tea. Sat some more.  But Steven and I were talking and we’re trying to think of ways to be more proactive.  I also asked for proposals of the projects so I read a lot about NACWOLA’s field projects in Lira.  Now hopefully I can go out there? Called it a day early again, and I went into town to inquire about some portable modems.  Stopping here at Sankofa for a couple hours a day will cost me about 180,000 Shillings, plus I use my phone to call back home some.  Having a modem would cost more but I’d have internet more often and maybe cut down on phonecalls as well.  So later today I’ll go take another look and probably get one.  Yay!

Yesterday evening I went with Erik, Annett and Martin and we played badminton for about an hour and a half with some bad shuttlecocks (stupid other English).  It was fun though! And it was nice to get a little bit of sport in as well.  From there, we went to a party to see off some mizungus that were leaving Lira.  It was quite a gathering of people at the International Lifeline Fund.  I got to meet a lot of people!  The farewell was for Hoi, a Vietnamese-Australian who now lives in the U.S. and is going back to his pregnant wife after spending some time with ILF and Marco, an Italian who was moving to Kampala – they were also welcoming Amandine, a Frenchwomen who has lived in Uganda for eight years and is now the director of ILF.  Also also, I met an American named Alison and guess what – she was in Masaka with FSD when Heidi was in Jinja and they know each other – small world I guess.  Also small world, ILF is working with Invisible Children on a project?!

So!  After meeting all of these people and eating a bit of dinner, some music started playing and I got to just hang out with everyone.  I got to know everyone and heard a lot of fun stories.  One thing I did learn, speaking with an Australian, a Brit, and three Germans who learned British English, is that I will never not be surprised to hear the letter Z pronounced “zed.”  Also I was forced to dance a few times, and I don’t think dancing will ever not be awkward for me.  Ever.  Anyways, enough talk! Enjoy some pictures.

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Global Students

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This Wednesday, I took my German final (and finished my semester!!) and then met up with some friends at Cartel Coffee Lab.  Talking with friends from the Global Studies program really confuses my brain, but it makes me realize how insane all of this stuff is.

I always thought it was crazy cool that I had been to Europe once on a tour.  Meeting people in Global Studies has been humbling and inspiring because I hear about all of these cool things people are doing and I can’t wait to do my own stuff.  Our two tables at the coffee house were meeting for one last time because we’re all dispersing around the world this summer, and it’s always been fascinating to hear what everyone’s doing.

That table included people going to work in a total of four continents (and if Kevin made it it would’ve been five, but he’s already in Brazil).  It was really interesting to hear about what everyone would be doing and I got advice from two people who had already worked in Uganda for extended periods of time.  Even though most of us will only go a couple of months without seeing each other, it was saddening to see everyone for one last time.  Alli already left yesterday for Bahrain and won’t be back until the beginning of school.  Haneen and Yousef are departing next week to Palestine and Denmark, respectively.  Heidi’s going to Colorado for a summer job before joining up with the Peace Corps.

The whole idea of me going to Uganda in two weeks and staying there for two months is still hitting me slowly.  I’ve never done anything like it.  Unlike some internships, I’ll be the only foreigner in my group and I’ll be doing work with which I’m pretty unfamiliar.  I’m still figuring out the logistics of where I’ll be staying and what I’ll be doing.  All I do know if that I’ll be in Uganda for nine weeks, and that part will be very exciting, even if I’m totally unprepared.

Team CoCo

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So this post is way late.  Busy times call for blog delays, but I’ll try to make it up to you in a short amount of time, but that’s for another post.  With nary another delay, I present the Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour.

Kim and I went to CoCo’s Show-Show on Friday the 30th at Dodge Theater.  When we got there it was hella packed, and as we walked in we saw Pender out talking to people. Totally cool, right?  We went in and got situated in our seats, fairly central to the crowd and with a decent view of the stage. Also to note, there were several bars in the lobby area of the theater – totally normal – but there was also a bar in the theater.  Like, exit stage right.  I haven’t been to too many theaters before, but I thought that was pretty different.

The opening act for the show was Reggie Watts, who was a very interesting dude.  He was a pretty funny guy and will be on Comedy Central soon (if not already).  His routine included a number of really good accents and he did a lot of music as well.  The cool thing was that he was mixing music on stage, which I’ve never actually seen anybody do so it was pretty neat.  His songs, just a disclaimer, are not songs to play for your grandmother. Doesn’t make them any less awesome though!

Then! The Legally Prohibited Band showed up!  They played some great music right off the bat, and the three men on brass went into the crowd. One thing I learned that night was that Mark Pender can hold a note like a champ.  The screen then showed a short story about Conan between getting fired and starting the tour – including massive beard and pot belly.  And then Conan came out (less beard and less belly) – in a Phoenix Suns jersey! It was pretty awesome.

Conan addressed recent happenings with NBC and the Tonight Show, obviously. He explained a bit about how he’s been doing since, adding lots of comedy but some definite statements in there (when going through stages of losing one’s TV show, he said he skipped passed blaming himself because “what the Hell did I do?”) but he moved on quickly to music, with the CoCo-ettes dancing at his side.

The show overall was a great mix of music and comedy, including a number of tributes to Late Night fun like the Chuck Norris lever and…. shudder…. Triumph.  They also had some fun random things like the bat out of hell and Andy Richter riding a horse.  Conan even sang a song about his childhood.  Also he wore a paisley suit, which I do not condone. For anyone.  But! In the end, Conan ran out into the crowd while playing guitar and actually came pretty close to us, but he was running so fast with those gangly legs that I couldn’t get a decent picture of him.  Alas, I’m going to stop talking and let you look at pretty pictures:

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