80's Prom:
Coming up on three weeks ago, we had prom here in the Roadie house. The interns were invited, we all got in costume, we had DJs, and we had incredible food. We know how to throw a party. But the coolest thing about this was the reason it was "prom." Two of the sweetest people here graduated high school early, so they aren't getting a traditional senior prom. So we had the Invisible Children version, and they were our king and queen. Seriously fun stuff.
Ugandan Roadies Arrive:
Last Thursday, our Ugandan teammates got here!! Before that, I was already having an emotional day. I'm lucky enough to have a friend from home here with me, and his sister came to visit. Then, I got green chile in the mail because love is real, and my friend Val is awesome. So I was already fairly tearful throughout the day. I already expressed all my feelings through crying when I got here, but now it's at a whole new level. Someone says something sweet, I am reaching for the tissue. I feel inspired, my eyes aren't dry for long. Needless to say, I have invested in waterproof mascara. By the time we got to the airport, I felt incredibly nervous. I was bouncing up and down, staring at the escalator where our teammates would appear. I had seen so many videos of Roadies greeting the Ugandans, and there is always this moment where music starts playing as the screaming begins and it's perfect and the camera cuts to different teams embracing. In my head, I kept waiting for the music to cue me so I would know when to start cheering, so I would know when it was real. Then I would remember that the music has to be added later, so I wouldn't blink because I didn't want to miss a moment of this. After what seemed like hours, they were there. We were all screaming and jumping up and down and laughing and crying. My team and I found Lawrence and started talking to him. We all knew right away that the Invisible Children HR department had worked their magic once again. When I got home that night, I was physically exhausted from all the emotion. But this all became real. I always think I understand why I'm here. I always think I've reached the capacity on empathy and love and understanding. But meeting Lawrence and the rest of our Ugandan friends, that was a paradigm shift I can't explain in words. These are the faces of my brothers and sisters that I've been trying to love for the past year and a half. Now, I actually can understand the love because I get to talk to them and laugh with them and know them. It's incredible. And the blessings keep going- just yesterday, Lawrence told us that he is so blessed to be on a team with us. Of course, I shed a couple more tears.
Branches:
Saturday night, the indie folk band Branches gave our office a private concert. That in itself was incredible. I love the music, and the band members are amazing. They sent all of us home with their new album. The coolest thing that happened though was God moving. I had really just bonded with one of the girls here the day before, and we had talked some about faith. Branches played a song, and we were all sitting down. I was next to this girl, and she turned to me and said, "This song is about me. It was written for me." She looked so awestruck, and then she was just so full of joy that she jumped up and started dancing. After that song, she slipped out for a few minutes. She came back in and grabbed me and told me she had just decided to follow Christ. It was by far the coolest thing I've ever seen. Every day this week, when I've felt discouraged or lost sight of what matters, I've just thought about that moment. No matter what, God is still moving and still saving people. It's such a beautiful thing. And I'm so excited for the beginning of my friendship with this girl. I have a feeling it's going to only grow to be more incredible.
Valentine's Day:
It's super weird to me that I have something positive to say about Valentine's Day. Anyone who knows me knows that I can't stand it. I'm always irritated and cynical. It is a day that makes me angry. Fortunately, this year was not like all the years before it. The night before, I sat up with my teammates while we made Valentines for the guys on our team. We had our first screening in the morning, and I was speaking for it. We went to the office, and I sat in the van practicing what I was going to say. I also got to set out the Valentines for Lawrence and our team leader, Andrew. We did our screening, and it went pretty well. It was so exciting because in a week, that is going to be our life. Just the five of us, in our van, presenting to people. It's actually insane. When we got back to the office, I walked to my desk to find flowers. My perfect friend, who I think of as my sister, sent them to me! The card said Happy Galentine's Day in reference to Parks and Rec because we are Leslie and Ann. (If you don't get this, please just watch Parks and Rec and laugh at how I am Leslie Knope.) Definitely tons of tears from that. It was so overwhelming.
Basically, all this to say I'm extremely blessed. When I started this blog, I honestly thought that there were going to be days when I couldn't find anything beautiful. And I really thought they would surface immediately. Instead, God is at every turn, showing me things I could have never imagined. I've learned more here in the past month than I think I've ever learned in my life. Not just about Joseph Kony and the LRA, but about myself, about God, about love, about working with others. It's so cool to see people starting to really get comfortable and close, but so sad to know that we only have another week before we split up and then only one week back in the office. The love here is crazy.
I am so excited to get on the road and stop in Las Cruces in one week!
Also, I think the best way to close out this post is by casually mentioning that yesterday, I was actually required to learn two choreographed dances. Yeah, I work at Invisible Children. It's kind of the greatest.
