The Village

Today was the best day of the whole trip. We went on what they called the "the rural visit". We took the bus out to the village that Prof. Senteza, who's is actually from Uganda, grew up in. The area is predominately agricultural and we had the privilege to tour one of the more prominent farms there. I mean he only had 7 acres but there must had been 9 different crops - pineapples, peppers, cocco, coffee, banannas, things I can't spell.

I got to tell you though this is the first place I felt I understood what they were doing and where their future was going. Some of the places in the city just seem so screwed up due to a lack of resource both material and intellectual and on top of a government that is so backed up in corrupt political bullshit.

This made sense to me though. The way they planted the crops, the fertilization and irrigation they used, the use of crop variation to maintain soil quality it all had a understandable purpose.

The farmer, Abraham, was 70 years old and nicest, old-school grandfathery type guy you ever met. After having us touring his farm he took us back to a residence in town were his grandchildren performed a whole routine of songs accompanied by dance. It was so incredibly hospitable.

Even the smells were better. Natural smells. The air out in the rural areas is clean and everything is so beautiful. I mean the village is still devasted by poverty like everything else here but there isn't any smog or piles of burning trash that you find in the city. You can pick fruits right off the tree and eat it. In fact at one point in the afternoon they cut down a jack fruit which looks like a giant torso-sized hedge apple that looks like pineapple inside with alot of seeds and everyone got a chuck.

It's just really beautiful out here in the country.

Travel Workouts

I am a very big workout enthusiasts and whenever I'm away from my gym or a set of weights I have a little miniature panic attack inside. So I have listed below excellant bodyweight workouts for those traveling without access to a gym.

Deck-of-Cards

Basically you get a deck of cards, shuffle up, go through the deck, and the cards dictate the exercise.

Spades are push-ups (I like to circulate the pushups among a set of four kinds of pushups as I go through the deck: regular, spread (spread out your arms and legs), diamond (keep you hands directly below your chest, spread your thumbs and index fingers to meet up making a diamond), and claps (you pushup and clap))

Hearts are V-ups (You lay down and simultaneously bring your arms and legs up straight and joints locked to meet at the top)

Clubs are Mountain Climbers (Post your hands on the ground positioned below your shoulders bringing one knee at a time to chest and alternating as you kick your leg back)

Diamonds are Hurls (From the standing position squat down posting your hands on the ground slightly infront of you, kick your legs out in a simetaneous motion, then bring your knees back to your chest and jump back to the standing position)

Numerical Cards = the number on the card is the number of reps

Jack = 11 reps

Queen = 13 reps

King = 15 reps

Ace = 21 reps

Day 4 Uganda

Okay it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to post any of the pictures until I get back but I will be able to post a little hopefully from time to time. It's been pretty crazy here. Some times I kind of forget I'm out of country and then you see a neighborhood of people in shacks with metal siding for roofs or a line of barb wire or broken class on guard walls.

We went to a market today. Dear God! There are over a thousand shops arranged in this endlessly intricate laborith of dank filth selling absolutely every second-hand thing you could imagine. Shoes! Thousands and thousands of shoes, shirts, underwear, wallets, cellphones. The people have to stay at the shop (which is maybe 5 ft by 6 ft) all day from 6 am to 7 at night. They have their kids there, they eat there, sleep there begging the question of where they go to the bathroom until you see the open sewyer drains.

I don't really how to handle how shocking it all is.

Uganda

Okay currently I am in Uganda and will be until June 11. There is internet but it is not great and is on high demand so I feel like a bit of a jerk using it too long. I got a lot of good pictures and will try to get them on the blog as soon as possible but if I can’t I will just have a ton of posts when I return. So far we just kind of got here and looked around alittle bit. The flight was like 22 hours which was really confusing as to whether it was day or night or Friday or Thursday what with all the time zone changes.

We're staying at the red chili which is this like bouheimian hostile place. There's like chickens and monkeys and goats and fat german sherpards that roam the grounds. Pretty cool. Its not too different here I guess. Reminds me alot of the South; like South Carolina or something, except there's alot of barb wire and all the "security guards" have rifles. Not a bad place all in all.

Crazy Teachers

You'll definetly have at least one. The fact is tenure sucks and some get by under the radar. For example I did not have an all great experience with my FYS. My teacher was a poetry professor and not really a great one at that, while the class was a based on pyschology, which she of course had no knowledge of nor did she necessary believe in the validity of the science. I hated her. Luckily as part of some devine, karma-esque retribution she was arrested the next semester for assaulting her ex-fiance. In the words of Nelson Muntz, "HA-ha".

Now that is a very extreme example and will likely not happen to anyone reading this, but the point is your not going to get along with every teacher or agree with their teaching methods. It is important that you be able to handle these situations so that it does not end up affecting your academic standing.

First no matter how crazy they are try your hardest to treat them with in the least an appearance of your utmost respect. This is alot easier in lecture class as you only have to offer a little eye contact, smile, and occasionly provide one word answers to questions to show you are paying attention. With a class that is heavily discussion based, such a situation with such a teacher will likely result in a large-scale philosophical arguement. It is important, while understandably difficult, in this situation to maintain your cool and emotionally detach yourself from the arguement, otherwise it will inevitably result you losing control of the debate and shouting profanities at the teacher.

One option that is somewhat risky though quite viable, is to take a kind of home schooling method to the class. Basically you would spend the time that would otherwise be spent in the classroom in some space where you can really get some hardcore studying done and learn what would have been learned in class that day. There several factors that must be taken into consideration before doing this of course. This obviously will not work for a course where in-class discussion is factored into the grade. It will also not work in a class with a crappy textbook.

The basic issue you have to weigh is how beneficial is the lecture the professor is provide to your understanding of the material and do you have the responsibility and means by which to do a better job. Most people don't and should NEVER try this. But there are those who are responsible enough and just have the misfortune of failing to connect with their teacher.

End of the Year

It's the end of the year as the title kind of hints at. Leaving tommorrow, but it's really weird. I sort of don't want to leave. I'm looking around and this is a really great dorm. My roommate moved out Monday, not that he was ever any kind of bother, but now I got a whole double. I have computer, tv, couch, books, clothes all within a few feet of each other. I have an excellant home back in Salina, but it just bit of a down-ground to being so independent and in control here with the ability to do whatever I want at whatever hour to back in Kansas where I have to explain myself every time I step outside. Ah it's not going to be that bad. I just really had a good year and would rather it didn't end.

Brandon Daley - BEST HI EVER!

Brandon is from back home and he is a freaking genius!!! This is his HI for forensics and it is going to kick the ass of every pitfull person who dares to go up against him. For those of you who don't what forensics is except in terms of what you see on CSI I apologize because this whole thing will be completely out of contex for you. Basically what you need to know is forensics is a nationally recognized competitive public speaking event that takes place primarially throughout the Plains, Midwest, and East Coast, and all these dramatic physical changes in character Brandon's doing (called "pops") are kind of a big deal.

Oh also you really have to turn the sound up. Kansas schools have notoriously low budgets especially when it comes to sound equipment.

I WANT TO SEE THIS

This movie looks awesome!!! It's said to come out maybe August of this year. It just looks like one of those films that gets you totally pumped up and lets you live out your military fantasies without actually having to deal with the whole pain in the ass boot camp can be. Brad Pitt always does great crazy guys and this just looks like another great character for him. It's going to be awesome.