Uganda-The Pearl of Africa

I know it's about 6 months after the fact but I am finally ready to write about my experiences in Uganda! I was able to travel to Uganda last November with a group called International Medical Relief to provide medical care to the people of Uganda. The experiences I had and the people I met were both educational and humbling and I would like to share with anyone who wants to know!

I have a good friend, Michelle, who is a nurse practitioner, who does a medical mission trip about once a year. I heard a lot about her experiences and decided that it would be really cool to accompany her on a trip, especially since my circumstances in life allowed me to afford the money and time it would take. It would also be more comfortable for me to go with someone I know, plus really fun to travel with a buddy! Last year Michelle decided that Africa would be her destination and I decided that now would be the time to go. I applied to go as a non-medical volunteer and I got accepted. Preparations included many vaccinations, learning as much as I could about Uganda, weekly conference calls to learn about the trip and lots of errands to pick up supplies. Before I knew it, Michelle and I were hopping an airplane to fly across the US to meet our team in DC where we would fly Ethiopian Air on a 13 hour flight to Ethiopia and then another 2 hour flight to Uganda.

One of the first things I learned about was "Africa time." Our flight from Ethiopia to Uganda didn't leave anywhere close to on time. It's pretty normal for things to start/leave late and I realized how "American" I am for wanting things to start and leave when they are supposed to! This lead us to arrive in Entebbe, Uganda about 3 hours late, we still had to travel to Jinja by bus, that took us another 4 hours so I was exhausted by the time we got to our hotel. Even though I managed to sleep on the bus with all the potholes we were hitting I still slept well that night thanks to jet lag.

Our Team-the team consisted of about 7 practioners (doctors and ARNPs), 10 nurses, 1 dentist and about 5 non medical volunteers. We also had Jean, who was our team leader from IMR and another gal who was her "assistant." On top of that we had a bus with a driver (Moses), about 6 translators and Pastor Frederick who was kind of our African guide.

Clinic-For five days we packed up all our supplies and headed to a different village each day. Once there we would set up an area for the doctors to see patients, an intake/triage area, a pharmacy area and our dentist would set up another area to see dental patients. It was tough the first day figuring things out, and each day depended on what kind of buildings/rooms we had available. By the end of the week we finally had a good system down and knew what worked and what didn't. Too bad it was the end!

Day 1-Massese
The first day of clinic we went to The Help School in Massese. We had gotten in so late the night before that we didn't have time to go through all the supplies and organize them. So that was a big job to do that morning. I worked in intake that day, I took down the people's names, ages, what their complaints were, and tried to weigh them, with the help of a translator. They also got their temperature and blood pressure taken. We saw so many people! A good majority of the patients we saw were children. Something like 60% of the population of Uganda is 14 or under. Because of AIDS a lot of the middle aged people are dying off and the kids are looked after by grandparents. And they have a short life expectancy, so 50s-60s is old for Ugandans. It was an interesting day because I was just thrown in with all these people in a place on the other side of the world, not speaking their language and not knowing their customs. I learned a lot. It was so much fun to play with the kids. You became their instant BFF if you took their picture and then showed it to them. And then "Selfies"? Their minds were blown. An opportunity we had that day was to help the albino population. The albinos are treated like lepers in Uganda. People think they are of the devil and they are shunned. They are interesting because they have the same ethnic features as the other Ugandans, but instead they are white with blond hair.There was a small population near where we were so the word was spread for them to come to our clinic. We had a room just for them so they would feel comfortable and not be stared at by everyone else. It was amazing because some of them hadn't been around other albinos before and it was especially good for the kids to know there were others who looked like them. Their needs included chapstick, sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses because they are so susceptible to the sun. I only wish we had known because I would have brought them a ton of that!! I was not one of the team selected to help the albinos but I'm very glad we were able to help. I think they may start a group or community of some kind for support.

 

 

Day 2
We learned another lesson about "Africa time" this day. We were told that the village we were going to was half an hour away. 3 hours and a somewhat painful bus ride later we finally pulled into the village. Not to mention a potty stop at the side of the road where a random African came up and started playing us a song on his homemade violin and singing to us. But even though we were late the kids were so excited to see us-what a welcome!

Because we were late there was already a meeting going on, something like the UN was there educating about Jiggers (a nasty bug that infects their feet when they don't wear shoes) so we had to wait for that to get done. Which meant we could play with the kids! Bubbles, photos, soccer balls, and they sang a song for us. The kids were so happy and energetic!

We still saw a ton of people that day. I was able to give some education on Oral Rehydration; I learned how hard it was to teach something and then have to have it translated. I hope someone understood it! I saw some tooth extractions in the dental area (Our dentist wasn't able to do much else because of equipment and supplies, so if something hurt or was infected, out it came!), and I was able to have a good playtime with some kids. It was actually one of my most favorite memories of the whole trip. I had a group of kids following me so I decided to try to play a game with them. I did a version of Simon Says for a few minutes and then running out of ideas started taking pictures with them. They loved "selfies" and kept trying to touch themselves on the camera, which meant I got a lot of fingers in the pictures but that makes me love them even more. :)

 

On the way back to Jinja our driver took a "shortcut" only to be stuck behind a semi truck that had gotten stuck in a ditch. This could have been disastrous but the truck was able to get out and Moses drove the bus expertly and didn't get stuck. The "shortcut" must have worked because the ride back was a lot shorter. It started raining on the way home and yes, I did "Bless the rains down in Africa."

Day 3
Another long bus ride took us to a different village (we passed so many, we often wondered how/why a particular village was chosen for us to come to). They greeted us in their church with song and dance. It was so cool!! I really felt like I was in some kind of National Geographic episode. And those kids can move! Then they took us to their school where we set up clinic again to see patients. I was kind of a runner/crowd control this day. (Not my best day, I got frustrated with people and didn't feel very helpful.) We had another albino show up and he was so overjoyed to see other white people. I think he also might have been a little mentally handicapped. There were a few kids who held my hands for a few minutes and I think they would have held on all day if I let them! I also saw a little boy who must have had polio, his legs were so crooked. I spent a lot of the day in the sun, and I was very dehydrated so I didn't feel well that night.

Day 4
Clinic as usual again. I tried sugar cane, you just chew it and the sugar comes out. I worked in the pharmacy and felt better about my usefulness. I filled Rx orders for the docs and helped keep things organized. It was fun being in the same room as the doctors because I got to see how they examined the patients. Dental took place outside under a big tree, no big deal. I saw a kid with a BYU t-shirt on but didn't see him until we were driving away so I got a picture of him, but I wish I had seen him earlier so I could've taken a picture with him.

Day 5
Our last day of clinic. I was exhausted by this day and wasn't sure the end would come. But at the same time I didn't want the end to come. This time we literally pulled of the side of the road and set up clinic in a corrugated metal shack. It was a shorter day because we were exhausted but also it was Thanksgiving and we wanted to get back a little earlier. I worked in the pharmacy again, we were starting to run out of supplies. For a minute we were handing out meds in rubber gloves with instructions written on the finger-you have to get creative! We were also working with fewer meds as we had run out of things like children's Tylenol, but we tried to send everyone away with at least some vitamins. After clinic we went in search of baboons-there is a stretch of highway where the baboons know to come out in the evening and sometimes people will throw them bananas. They aren't afraid of cars because it means food. We pulled up and started chucking bananas and eventually they came. The baboons were so cool to see, they were exotic and not in a zoo. I even saw a baby riding on its momma's back. They also told us we were about 10 Km from Kenya! The bus driver also took us to this hidden side of the road memorial where a group of students were gunned down by Edi Amin's soldiers back in the 70's. It was sad, and the memorial is hidden and not well taken care of. But I guess they don't have money to spend on that kind of stuff.

Thanksgiving
We had one bang up of a party for Thanksgiving. We ate chicken and mashed potatoes, as well as pineapple, watermelon, and this banana-potato starchy combo called Matoke. And then we danced. All. Night. Long. It was epic. The African women came in their traditional dresses and they enjoyed celebrating our American holiday. I loved being able to celebrate the end of our hard work with the African friends we had made. Speeches were made, thanks was given, and friendships were celebrated.

 Me and Rachel, one of our interpreters, she was an amazing lady!

Coming home
We had one touristy day in Jija, we went to the Help School and watched their end of the year program. We also bought necklaces and bracelets from a group of women who make these paper beads out of magazines for their business. The jewelry is very pretty and it was cool to meet the women who actually made it! Then we went to the Nile River (!) and took a boat ride out to where Lake Victoria meets the Nile and saw the source of the river. Then back to Jinja where we picked up some great souvenirs and savored some ice cream. The next day we started our journey around the world in reverse, 15 hour flights, ugh.

Health Issues-My inner Public Health comes out
We saw various ailments and diseases in clinic each day-here are a few.

Malnutiriton and Dehydration-a lot of their pains and aches stem from this. Many patients told us their chest hurt, joints hurt or had a headache. They just can't drink enough clean water. They also have very poor nutrition. Almost no protein so we saw many kids with distended stomachs (Kwashiorkor's disease). Many had diarrhea. We tried to send everyone home with vitamins.

Jiggers-mentioned above. The thing is that a simple thing like shoes is what's needed to prevent this infection. We did see the Toms shoes on day 3 and I was happy to see the business actually worked.

AIDS/HIV-Very widespread. The people become sexually active at a very young age, like 12-14. The young parents die and the kids have to be taken in by their grandparents or other relatives. I think better education would help, I think a lot of myths and "traditions" are common which doesn't help the prevention of this disease.

Fungus-the people don't bathe very often so fungus like ringworm is common. One nurse had to remove it from a toddler girl's head and she screamed and cried the entire time. A lot of kids were sent home with anti-fungal cream.

Cataracts-this was hard to witness because these older people were blind from cataracts and a surgery could help restore their vision, but they just don't have access to that kind of medical care. We couldn't really do anything for them.

Malaria-didn't see too much of this as it was not rainy season, but it is widespread and a serious disease. Stupid mosquitoes.

Maternal care-one interpreter told us that sometimes the mothers just go out to the bush behind their huts and have their babies solo. Then when it's all over, they go back inside and get on with life. They usually don't have a proper tool to cut the umbilical cord and tie off blood flow to the cord so that is why all the kids we saw had "outie" belly buttons. The people of Uganda need better access to maternal care, better education of providers (they use outdated and archaic labor and delivery practices), cleaner environment, etc, etc. The moms are good at breastfeeding though, 'cause that's all they got.

Vaccinations-I'm pretty sure the children get vaccinations through the government (potentially sponsored by something like UNICEF or the WHO), though how well they are being administered is unknown to me. I did see one little boy who was walking around on twisted and crooked legs. I'm pretty sure he had polio and it broke my heart. That disease should be eradicated and I am so thankful that it is not a worry for the mothers of my generation here in the US. But it still has a ways to go. (My mom remembers getting the oral vaccination on a sugar cube in elementary school.)

Ebola-there was an outbreak of this that was declared "ended" a few months before I went to Uganda...so that's cool.

Worms-most people got "de-worming" meds, their bodies are used to them a little, but it's good for them to get cleaned out every so often. I just would not have to go through that. It would be so crazy. Let's just say the worms have to come out any way they can...

Michelle saw a little boy who had hydrocephalus, he'll probably not live as long as he could with good medical care.

And then there were things like the common cough and cold which things like Tylenol and antibiotics works wonders because they aren't used to those drugs.

My little public health heart would love to get the Ugandans better access to clean water, better nutrition, better education, and better maternal care. So much would be helped by that!

Thoughts
So I saw this thing circulating the internet about "voluntourism" stating that people who go on trips like mine don't really do any good and that it's more about tourism than effecting change. I agreed with some of it, but disagreed with more. Yes, it would be more effective to educate the people we were trying to help, or other leaders so that the knowledge would be passed on and spread around. And we did try to do some of this with our health education. And I would agree that there was part of me who wanted to go because I wanted the tourist experience. But the money I spent there is going towards the local economy. But I believe we did do some good and help some people. From the drastic: we saved a few lives, to the simple: some of those children just needed to be shown some love. It also changed my life and my world-view and made me more aware of the needs of others. I'm glad I went on this trip. Michelle and I talked about how this is like the story of the boy who was throwing starfish back into the sea and how for each "one" it had made all the difference. I don't know if my trip was as dramatic as that, but I know I did some good.

Because of how I traveled I was able to go to places in Uganda that I never would have as a tourist. Literally out in the middle of nowhere in a small village made of mud huts. It was crazy to think that I was halfway around the world. I also got to see how the Ugandans lived and witness how much joy they have in their lives.

I wasn't expecting to, but I made a lot of new friends, both American and African. I'm glad the translators rode with us on the bus because we got to learn about Uganda from them.

I learned that the Ugandan people are very happy. They genuinely enjoy life and are pretty easy going for the most part. They are also very humble. Every village we went to we were treated so well and they thanked us so much for coming. Ugandans also love their country and want it to succeed.

We had a chat as a team before we left Jinja to take our flight home. Our team leader talked about how it would be hard to go home and not ask "Why?". Why do we have so much and they have so little.Why is my life so easy and theirs so hard. And as I sat thinking I did wonder a little at why I am so fortunate to live the life I do and have the opportunities I do. But I also felt very strongly that Heavenly Father is aware of all His children, including His children in Uganda. He is aware of their challenges and sacrifies in life and that the Atonement of Jesus Christ will make everything alright in the end. They are watched over and looked after and part of that looking after was my being able to help my brothers and sisters in Africa.

It was a trip of a lifetime and Uganda will always have a little piece of my heart! Jambo!
-Meagan

 

PS.
I was told that you can find jewelry like the stuff I bought online. I didn't find the exact group that I bought from, but I found another website that I think is doing important work. It's called 31 Bits and it is located in northern Uganda where there is a war going on, children being kidnapped and forced to be soldiers, and a ton of refugees from the civil war in Sudan/South Sudan. The organization employs the women to make beads and then sells the jewelry for them. The women are taught business skills, how to read, given meals, access to medical care, and many other things. After their allotted time many start their own businesses with their earnings or buy land and are able to provide for themselves. I plan on supporting it soon, plus the jewelry is so pretty as well!

Also, if you have interest in doing something like this yourself, let me know and I can tell you about my experience and preparation.

topical

While watching the Gweneth version of "Emma"-
Mr. Knightley walks up to Emma and Dad goes, "Look, it's Mr Wingley!"
Me-"...Mr. Wingley? You mean Mr. Bingley? Good try, Dad, but this is Emma, not Pride and Prejudice."
Dad-"Well, Mr. Bingley is the only one I can ever remember and they're all the same to me!"

Mom-"Emma wears a different dress in every scene of this movie. This green dress is my favorite but Mr. Knightley yells at her in the scene so I don't know how I feel about it."

While at Target talking to Mom on the phone, I went to purchase the movie "Frozen"
"I think you should pick up two copies of 'Frozen' otherwise we'll be short one and then they'll put it in the Disney Vault and we won't be able to buy it for like ten years!" (I bought two copies)

I had a conversation with Dad about creamy and chunky peanut butter. He remembers when Chunky was new and a big deal at his house. I was a little surprised they had Chunky way back when...and then I thought about how I can tell my kids that I remember when there was Tan in the M&M package and I also remember when Pluto was a planet. Which made me think of in Psych when Gus' pick up line is "You hear about Pluto? That's messed up, right."

At least we entertain ourselves. :)

twenty-seven

Yuck, that sounds old. Anyway, for my bday this year I planned an Arizonan weekend extravaganza that made it decidedly the best birthday I've had for awhile.

It started with leaving in the first snowstorm of the year and landing in 60-70 degree paradise.

Then led off with seeing Bub and Mike for the first time in a little over a year!!! Bub and I had a ton of catching up to do (I knew we would) so we got a somewhat later start on our first day.

We went to the Phoenix Museum of Art (we like to be artsy fartsy sometimes) and saw some good stuff including a Monet and a lovely American impressionist Louis Ritman. There was also a painting of a gladiator fight that inspired the movie, a famous painting of GW and a huge chalk pastel of a girl in a white dress that was cool. Also saw a collection of mineature rooms (not really made for dolls) that were decorated in various styles, French, Georgian, etc. And what is a museum in AZ without a few desert landscapes and cowboys.

Then we went about three blocks and I had some delicious tacos that had all sorts of new and different things on them. AND we ate outside. In the sun. In February. Belissima.

Then we went home and did preparations for Olympics, Bub made pizza, Mike made his famous homemade guacamole and we had tons of treats. We started the Olympics a little late because we were mixed up on the broadcast time (AZ airs tv like Mountain time does) and then the antenna was a joy to wrangle. Poor Bub and Mike, they only got NBC by putting the antenna on the couch with Mike holding it up. Which he dutifully did the entire first night. We loved the Opening Ceremony and got super hyped for the next two weeks.

Birthday morning arrived and Michael generously made me a scrumptious birthday breakfast. He made crepes for the very first time and did a superb job at it. Topped off with strawberries, blueberries and nutella it was the breakfast of champions.

Next came a hike so that I could enjoy the warm weather, see Arizonan flora and fauna, and just generally be outside for more than ten minutes. I got to see some cactus and I wore shorts on my birthday. Because I could. Because it was warm. (sensing a theme here?).

After the hike we got ready to go see the Gilbert, AZ temple at the temple open house. We stood in line for an hour but it was worth it. That temple is so beautiful!! I think it's bigger than Draper or Oquirrh Mountain. They used the symbol of the agave plant all over the temple. The way the plant grows, the older leaves are on the outside and they support the newer leaves on the inside which could be like generations of a family with the older ones supporting the younger ones and showing them how to grow. The Celestial room has the biggest chandelier I've seen in my life. The sealing rooms are on the top floor and there are many of them, the biggest is supposed to hold 70 people! The outside grounds are quite delightful as well with palm trees and a descending pool that will be perfect for family pictures. We left just as the sun was setting so we got some great pictures.

Birthday dinner was attempted at Oregano's (I've heard great things!) but the wait was too long and we had some Olympics to watch. So I chose Zupas (a wonderful alternative) and we had a picnic on the floor while watching some great Olympic competition. Also, can I just say it was nice to watch with people who are just as nuts about it as I am?

And then we had birthday cake, which was DQ ice cream cake, that Bub and Mike got the Sochi Olympic logo on. OMG you guys, they are so good to me. And Michael tried DQ ice cream cake for the first time in his life and was converted.

More Olympics rounded out a great birthday.

The next day we played Disney Scene It (Bub won) and went to church and then Michael took me to the airport and I flew home. I really didn't want to.

So, No. 27 was pretty awesome. I got out of town, got some sun, saw Bub and Mike, saw Arizona and generally just partied all weekend long. I may need to make this an annual event!!!

Sochi Olympics-week 2

Hey, hey, hey! Another week of glorious Olympics is over-as always, there was a bit of Olympics fatigue in the end, but now I don't know what to do with all this free time. JK. Anyway, here is the second week of Olympic competition as recounted by me:

Day 8
Didn't see a whole lot. They showed a cross country relay that was really long. I went and saw a movie, The Monuments Men, with my friend instead of watching primetime. (Excellent movie, btw). A USA guy, Matt Antonie, won bronze in skeleton.

Day 9
Men's 2 man bobsled. USA Steve Holcomb drove to 3rd place after 2 runs. 2 more to go.

Women's snowboarding cross. So exciting and so crazy. Lindsay Jacobellis was the favorite to win but didn't even make it to the finals. What a heartbreaking sport.

Bode wins a bronze with a tie with another guy. First medal for these olympics and becomes the most decorated alpine skier of USA ever.

First night of ice dancing. Meryl and Charlie got the highest score ever and beat their Canadian rivals for first place. They are just a cut above the rest. I hope they win.

Day 10
Bob is back!!!!!!!! His eyes look a little worse for the wear. Bob thanked everyone for their concern and he apologized for taking the attention away from the athletes all in normal Costas witty fashion. What a thing to have to go through in front of millions of people and become a trending topic on twitter. SO GOOD to have him back though. Just wasn't the same.

Mens' Arials-USA kid who originally wasn't going placed 5th. I think he was 18 and this was his first or one of the first international competitions of his career. What a debut! A Belarus guy won and made it so a Belarusian won in each event both men and women.

Steve Holcomb drove USA two men bobsled to a bronze medal finish. Those BMW sleds must have paid off. And apparently the Germans are mad that their government sponsored sleds are not doing the job in a sport they are known for. Having the German made sleds driven by the Americans are no doubt driving them crazy!

Finals for ice dancing. Russian pair did excellent playing to the home crowd picking Swan Lake as music. Dramatic music and moves, very balletic.

Canadian pair did well, nice job

Meryl and Charlie!! They actually dance on the ice. They are so good and help me actually like ice dancing. Their program was the story of Scheherazade and was also to Russian music. Smart. It was lovely, balletic, and interesting lifts and made it look effortless. They won the gold for USA and I was excited for them!

USA is tied with Russia for medals

Day 11
Women's bobsled-USA has two track stars who have come over from summer Olympics to push for USA. USA 1 is leading after two awesome runs. They are looking to head into tomorrow night, get two more and get the gold. The other USA sled was in third place and could be in contention for a medal as well.

Women's Super G-saw Michaela Shiffrin's Olympic debut-she did well, ended up in 5th, great job for the 18 year old. She is bound to be a phenomenon someday. Julia Mancuso did not win a medal. Tina Maze of Slovakia won another gold. The weather conditions were terrible, rainy and snowy.

Saw the debut of men's ski halfpipe. We had a ton of USA men in the competition. David Wise ended up getting gold in crazy conditions-he did a great job.

So far USA has won a medal every day of the Olympics, hope they keep the streak up.

Day 12
Men's ski cross-France takes gold, silver, and bronze.

First night of ladies figure skating. Yuna Kim does an amazing job but young Russians threaten to take the gold from her. The Americans do ok.

Ted Ligity finally gets his gold in Giant Slolom. He beats the field by more than a second going into the second run. He won and finally won his gold medal in the discipline that he feels is his best.

Day 13
Women's ski halfpipe-was an emotional competition due to the passing of Sarah Burke in an accident in 2012. She was integral to getting the sport included in the Olympics. There were four Americans in the competition and the girl Maddie Bowman, from Lake Tahoe won the gold and did a great job for team USA.

Second night of ladies free skate-just as emotional as the first night. Yuna ended up getting silver, she didn't have enough elements in her skate to beat the 17 year old Russian Adelina who packed the points on with all her jumps. Americans ended up in the top 10 but none were able to medal. Better luck next time. Yuna Kim will be missed in 2018 in her home nation of Korea though.

Day 14, 15, 16 (Closing Ceremonies)
I don't really remember much from these days. More Dutch dominance from the speedskating track. USA gets their one and only medal in short track speedskating in team relay. A silver, because two other teams in the final crash. USA four man bobsled get bronze and they are happy about it. Russian guy gets gold. I think we saw ski cross men's and women's. Just as crazy as snowboard. This sport is maybe just as much about luck as it is about skill. USA women lose to Canada in hockey for silver. They were leading until the very last minutes of the game. USA men lose to Canada in hockey, play for bronze and lose to Finland. Canada beats Sweden for their second straight gold in a row. They showed a 1.5 hour piece on Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan and the 1994 scandal. Holy crap. What a mess. I don't remember a thing about it even though I was alive. Oh yeah, Mikaela Shiffirin got gold in the slolom-she was excellent and led by almost a second after the first run. She bobbled coming down and was able to recover and still win the gold. She will totally be winning more medals in her career. I really enjoy her.

Closing Ceremonies-that projection screen again! What technology. Koreans give a presentation that makes me excited for 2018. More Russian Ballet!! Although I liked the stuff in the opening ceremonies better. Russians poke fun at themselves for the gaffe of the unopening olympic ring in the opening ceremony by re-enacting it. Tribute to Russian writers, and I'm pretty sure NBC edited out some grand piano playing of Russian composers. Tomas Bach, IOC President declared it the Athletes' Games. Misha the bear, as a blow up balloon and his friends, the hare and the leopard, blew out the olympic flame to end the games. The bear was a throw back to the 1980 Moscow games and they even used the same music. It was interesting to get a better feel for Russian culture, pride, and history and was pretty good for a closing ceremony.

Thoughts:
I wasn't as sad to finish the Olympics this time. I wonder why-the winter games don't get me as rilled up as the summer ones do. I also got to watch a lot more of these games because I was by a television.

There are and always will be the naysayers at the beginning of every games. Trying to make everyone freak out about security, unfinished infrastructure, political scandals, etc. Remember how London 2012 was making everyone afraid they hadn't hired enough security?...It's totally the media. They want the news and most likely blow it a little out of proportion. (It does make the country look good though when things go more smoothly than we expect). I don't think this will ever change. From all accounts the games went very well, security was good, the venues were nice, and the Russian people were very hospitable. Good for you, Sochi!

The Medals count-Some people whine that USA underperformed at these games. I have several thoughts on this: I do agree that there were a lot of returning medalists/athletes that we expected would medal but didn't. This just further shows how hard it is to medal, and the crucial fact that one needs to peak in their athletic performance at the exact place and time, which happens to be the olympics. Such a gamble and these people spend so much time working towards it. I also think we need to realize that the winter sports are very much more a country dominated sport. The Dutch and ice skating, Germans and sliding sports, Finland and ski jumping, USA and the extreme sports (halfpipe, etc), Norway and cross country skiing, Austria and the Swiss in Alpine skiiing. I think these Olympics in particular were very much won by the countries that are known for that specific sport. USA has to be grateful that we had so many new sports to compete in. Ha ha. Also, we don't have swimming to rack up our medal count in...It was disappointing though that speedskaing in particular did so poorly. I hope they get back on track. Something is wrong when NO ONE is medaling. Also, we finished second so cool your jets. And lastly, there is something to be said for being the host country. There is just something there that helps/makes it so that the host country is usually in the top three in medals. Team Great Britain did it in 2012, Russia was first in medals and they were predicted to be around 5th. It just happens that way. I think Team USA did a great job and had a lot of new faces as the winners. Yay! That just means they will all be back for more in 2018.

Yuna-Have you ever witnessed something so moving that it made you cry? Heard a song or saw a performance so beautiful that you just had to weep? This was Yuna's performance in her short program for me. She skated so beautifully and effortlessly. Her skating was quiet, delicate, ethereal. The jumps weren't huge explosions of energy but she still showed a controlled power and made it look like they were nothing at all. Ballerina arms and artistry as she moved over the ice. The music was soft but melancholy. Send In The Clowns. I was just taken in during the performance and forgot about everything else. It was so amazing that I was almost in tears at the end. I hardly noticed time passing and wished she could skate forever. It was so hard to explain to my dad who had missed the performance why everyone else was talking about her. She really does deserve the name The Queen.
PS. I also cried at the broadway version of Lion King at the Circle of Life number where all the animals come out. Go see the show. It's awesome.

If I couldn't have Bob's job I'd do Mary Carrillo's. She gets to tour the country making the special interest pieces. It would be so much fun. She got to go to the Russian Ballet and also see how they make the Russian nesting dolls.

I can't wait until Rio. The Olympics will only be 3 or 4 hours (actually it's 5) ahead instead of 12. Then maybe I can watch them live. I did do pretty well on my goal of no social media until after the broadcast. (I really don't want to know the results before I watch, otherwise, what's the point in watching?). I only knew a few of the people who won before I saw it. Although fitting in all of my interneting after 11:30 pm was very tiring.

Saddest USA story-Shaun White. I wanted him to win. I hope he's doing ok. Also the USA women's hockey team. What a bummer. Best USA story-Noelle Pikus Pace winning silver in skeleton. She seems like an awesome lady. Also loved Alex Bliodeadu and his brother. THAT is why I watch Olympics.

I Love Bob Costas.

The Finish.

Sochi Olympics-the first 8 days

Bet you thought I wasn't doing my normal Olympic blogging this year...well I haven't been writing blog posts but I did write notes on my phone each night so now I will post my thoughts/what I saw for the first eight days of competition including the Opening Ceremony. Some posts were written with my microphone so that's why things may be misspelled. 

Olympics opening ceremonies 

                             

-Kudos to Russian technology-that projection display was amazing.  

-I don't know very much about Russian history  especially pre-communism 

-The Russian ballet-we never miss it-no really, I loved the ballet in the War and Peace section  

-Snowboarders are like the surfers of the mountains-gnarly dude! "I liked the ballet, I've never been to a ballet before"

-I bet they aren't going to bring up Anastasia...

-Have you heard there's a rumor in St. Petersburg? 

-Who was the blonde next to Vladdy?

-Where is Bob? 

-Canadian team, always classy

-Bermuda shorts!

-Again with the projection screen!

-Mutha Russia 

-Russian military sing "get lucky" 

-Men's choir sings national anthem and reminds me of hunt for red October 

-Team USA sweaters look like the yarn exploded-not a huge fan but I don't hate

Olympics day 1

Sage Kostenburg wins snowboard slope style coming out of nowhere being first American man to win this event. He's 20 years old and his style is just make it up as he goes 

Snowboarders really are the surfers of the mountain they are always so laid-back and informal

Why are the 15-year-old figure skaters always so good? looks like we can have another upset on our hands by a 15-year-old Russian-Watched some team figure skating Meryl Davis and Charlie White are very good at their sport make me want to watch it when it's on TV

I feel like this isn't enough but I think they space the sports out over more days since there are fewer than the Summer Olympics

Also the three sisters (Dufur-Lapointe) who did moguls two of them made the finals and ended up winning gold and silver they are from Canada-so cute

DAY 2

Saw some speed skating- the Dutch are famous for being good at this-because speed stakin started when they skated on the frozen canals 

Jamie Anderson wins slope style Snowboard an awesome American athlete!

Bodie Miller does not make his gold-medal dreams come true. The course looks wicked hard!

Team USA wins bronze in the team figure skating event! Russia wins gold.

I'm starting to like ice dancing...? But can we rename the "twizzle"?

Meryl Davis and Charlie White are great ice dancers I'm starting to get more into the sport 

So much Russian music going on at these Olympics. 

Yevgeny Plushenko wants to think our dear Pres. for bringing the Olympics...yeah comrade 

Olympics day 3 

The flying Dutch men take 1,2,3 in 500 m with a pair of twin brothers taking 1 & 3-how cool

Alex Bilodeau won Canada's first gold at a home Olympics-saw story on him and his brother who has cerebral palsy and I became a major weeper. Alex was able to come through on the final-round deliver an awesome run and won his second gold-medal with his family there to support him he really is a class act.  

Julia Mancuso takes bronze in women's combined she was so excited to win a medal even though the solemn is not her best sport 

Short track speed skating was as exciting as ever! The American JR Selski was not able to medal and there was also a Korean who gained Russian citizenship so he could compete at the games it was an odd thing to see but the short track speed skating was intense as always

Day 4

Tonight started with the first slope style skiing competition Devin Logan American took silver medal in the something she did a great job

First night of pairs figure skating the Russians crushed it Americans probably don't have a chance of winning

Erin Haemlin takes bronze in women's luge for the first singles luge medal ever for the USA

Mens halfpipe snowboarding tonight unfortunately Shaun White was not able to three peat iPod from Switzerland took the gold with an amazing run

The half pipe had some issues the snow was rather slushy and bumpy could've factored in to his run try to do something trick but was not able to do it feel so sad for him but probably had a lot of pressure on him

Bob Costas was not commentating tonight the first time in 20 years of Olympic broadcasting for him. His pink eye had gotten so bad they finally took him off the air to give them a day recover Matt Lauer stayed in his place hopefully he'll be back tomorrow night

Day 5

Kaitlyn Farrington wins US half pipe gold women's half pipe she beat out three other former gold-medal winners to take the first place she beat Kellie Clark, Hannah Teter and Torah Bright of Australia to win the gold what an amazing event! 

Julia Mancuso was not able to win gold in women's downhill it did and rather crazily when Slovakian and a Swiss tied for first-two gold medals were awarded

Russia one pairs figure skating gold with the team that dominated both nights they did amazing were able to do amazing tricks and dominated the rest of the competition

Bob Costas is still out with his eye infection 

I didn't see any coverage of women's ski jumping last night wonder if they showed any at all because no one Americans did super well still would've liked to seen on TV as it was a momentous occasion for women’s ski jumping competing for the first time in the Olympics

Day 6

First round of women's skeleton to USA women are doing very well and hope to finish on the podium

First night of men's figure skating Yevgeny Plushenko had to drop out because of injuries. So sad to see him go but at least he helped his team win gold in the team event

Jeremy Abbott fell unfortunately, and Jason Brown did a good job but is still young and lacked experience. Patrick Chan did a great job and a guy from Japanese is leading after the end of night one

The biggest story of the night is USA sweeping the podium in ski slope style there is so much talent and America definitely deserve to go 123

Still no bob costas 

Day 7

Noelle Pikus Pace take silver in women's skeleton comes up big after having an accident eight years go missing the metals in 2010 coming back out of retirement and taking silver in this Olympics it was heartwarming to watch, how excited she was and how she excited she was to share it with her family. Another American took fourth just off the podium it was awesome to watch 

Watch men's super combined neither Bode Miller nor Ted Ligity for able to get to the podium. Sad day but they'll have one more chance later on. A Swiss ended up taking first

Men's Long program for figure skating.Neither American was able to medal in this event either. Jason Brown got close but need lacks the experience and the quadruple jump needed. Patrick Chan, my favorite, ended up getting second again. He bobbled a few times on his program that guy from  Japan ended up winning because he is such a strong program on the first night there, had a record score of over 100. There seemed to be trouble all night long. The long program was taking people down. I think people were getting tired also having to compete the next day after they had just on the short program

Also, the commercials are pretty good. My favorite are the United Airlines and TD Ameritrade? (the one that shows the miracle on ice, and Kerri Strug). However I did see a heartwarming commercial by Samsung on youtube that is probably my favorite.