More and more like family

The last several weeks have been… stressful. Many of us have been sick at some point for several days. Ian and Josiah had to make an unexpected trip to the States for medical needs. Stephan left last week to return to the States after working here for 4 years. We’ve had some visitors come in and some teammates leave for vacation. So much craziness can kind of put some emotions on edge, too. But through it all, I have seen a new side of my teammates, a side that looks more and more like a family. Any time someone has needed anything, someone else usually meets or exceeds it for them before it can even be asked. I am very thankful for the team here, and I know my life is richly blessed because of them. I feel like I have so much more that I need to and want to say about this, but I don’t have the words right now. I’m sure it is something that will continue to grow, which means that I will probably have more to write about again later. Here is a picture of our entire team taken in September:



I feel like I have grown closer to some of my students, too. They aren’t just students and teammates; they’re family. Yesterday Jonathan had his birthday party; tomorrow Emily will have hers. Next week we are having spirit week at school. It’s pretty much just an excuse to dress up; the idea resembles homecoming week, just without the homecoming part. That should be fun; I’ll post pictures of our week and goofy outfits. Here is a school picture we took a few weeks ago:


Speaking of family, I really appreciate the prayers of everyone back home. Our team appreciates your prayers as well. I’ve begun to struggle with homesickness some, but I have no doubt that your prayers are helping me. After I talked with a few people at home and asking for prayers specifically about beginning this stage of culture shock, I have been able to tell a difference in my outlook on things. I miss home, but things are good here overall. I get frustrated with various things here, but I have no doubt God called me to be here this year. I begin to stress about what is next, but I know God will show me when I need to know. Your prayers build and renew that confidence within me. I could not be here without your support. Your prayers and encouragement mean more to me than I can begin to express. Thank you.

Thanksgiving

Clearly I’m a bit behind as indicated by the title of this blog. The last few weeks of November were crazy busy and there was a lot going on. We had Thanksgiving at the Shero’s house. Laura had the place decorated very nicely. We all brought a couple of dishes and a dessert, so we had quite a big feast. We ate most of the typical Thanksgiving foods—sweet potato casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, green bean casserole, carrots… and had many pies and cookies. We did have chicken instead of turkey, though, but it was good. Before we ate the Thanksgiving Day Parade from last year was playing on the T.V. After we ate, some people put together a huge puzzle while others watched an old football game. Later we watched a movie. The whole time kids were running all over the place playing all kinds of games. I think I saw 3 or 4 Spidermen at one point. We had a few visitors, including Julie’s parents, the Longs from Kampala, and two girls from the States who have been finishing up a study abroad program in Mbale. Mostly we spent the day eating, relaxing, and just hanging out with each other; it was a very enjoyable day.

My birthday!

Wednesday was my birthday, and I had a really great day! We went to my favorite restaurant in town, Dawat an Indian restaurant. Everyone on the team was invited to come. Even though I really didn’t expect them to all come, pretty much everyone on the team came, which was really cool. After that we went to the Tylers’ house for devotional. We sang a few songs and then Shawn asked the team to speak blessings over me. It was really thoughtful and very humbling. I was very moved especially since I’ve only been here for 3 months. That was a really special time that I will not forget. After that they brought out brownies with candles in them for me to blow out and they sang to me. Later that night I came home to several voice mails and emails wishing me happy birthday. It was a really good day. Thanks! :)

The Hairy Lemon

This past weekend I went back to Jinja for more time on the Nile. Our team went on retreat to an island campsite called the Hairy Lemon. Unlike the name of the place, the island was indescribably beautiful. Most of our time was spent relaxing, playing in the water, and getting to know each other better. I saw a side of the kids that I hadn’t seen before, and it felt more like a family time. The place itself was very basic, but I liked it. The beauty of it far outweighed not having a normal shower. Most of us ended up washing our hair in the Nile anyway. Sunday morning we had worship on the porch of one of the cabins. We sang of God’s majesty and splendor as we looked out on the ancient Nile River. Ian got up and read a couple of Psalms and red-tailed monkeys joined us. They played in the trees above our heads, and it was so neat. Definitely an African experience. Mary Beth said it was like they came to listen to Ian read the Word of God. As I looked out at various secluded creeks of the river, I thought about Moses floating by in the basket as the princess bathed. Being in Africa I have seen more things that can help me imagine what things may have looked like in some of the Old Testament stories. Last year as I cut rice in the rice field, I thought about Ruth and Naomi. Looking at the river outside my cabin, I thought of baby Moses. On Friday there was a rainbow over part of the river. It was the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. It was so vivid that I could clearly see each color. I wanted to take a picture, but there was no way a picture could do that sight any justice. Behind the rainbow there was a huge, fluffy, white cloud. In front of it little black birds flew freely all over the sky. Beneath it was the greenery of healthy, growing life of the earth. Beneath that, the River Nile flowed steadily along. The sky was that perfect shade of sky blue. It was such a perfect sight, and it left me in awe of the awesome God we serve. Again, I thought back to the Old Testament and thought of Noah and the flood. I wondered if what Noah saw looked anything like what I was looking at, and I remembered and felt God’s promise all represented in that rainbow. The retreat was wonderful… I couldn’t ask for more.

One of the coolest things I've ever done

Last week Julie and I were able to tag along on a trip with some Harding students passing through town. These students have been studying in Zambia this semester. They’ve been and are travelling around Uganda and to Rwanda before they return to the States. On Monday they were scheduled to raft the River Nile. Julie and I thought this was a great time for us to go rafting, so we tagged along. We found out about it on Saturday and scrambled to get everything worked out to leave with them on Sunday. We had to get a private hire (taxi) to take us to Jinja because plans changed with the transport situation and we had to find our own way there. We tried to call the guest house where these students were staying to find out if there was room for us, but MTN (cell network) wasn’t working in Jinja. So we arrived at the guest house to find they were full. Since it was dark by this time, Phillip generously drove us around the neighborhood to find a place to stay. We went to a couple of different places only to find out they were also full. Why there were so many people in Jinja on a Sunday night, I have no idea. As Phillip drove by the Daniel Guest House the first time he said, “Thousand shillings says I’ll be bringing you back here.” Of course, he was right. This hotel was a bit…sketchy, but it was a place to sleep. We had one mosquito net to somehow fit over our two twin beds, so we slept with our heads close together trying not to get tangled in the net. We got up the next day and joined the Harding students for the rafting trip. Julie and I ended up in a raft with 3 guys and our guide, Peter. I think we went through 12 rapids and only flipped twice. I had never been rafting before, and my first trip we went through class 5 rapids. Rapids are classed 1-6. Class 6 can only be done by well-trained kayakers. The class 5 rapids here are “probably the best class 5 rapids in the world,” according to the Jinja rafting people. For the last rapid we had to get out and walk around while the guides carried the boats further up the river. That part of the river was a class 6 rapid. I was pretty much terrified looking at the water we were about to get back into and raft through, and really thought about not doing the last rapid. Of course, I hopped back in the boat anyway. We made it through the final rapid, “The Bad Place,” without flipping, though Julie almost fell out but pulled through by hanging on for dear life. So my first rafting trip ever was on class 1-5 rapids in the River Nile… I don’t think I can ever raft in the States now; nothing will be quite as thrilling. I felt very accomplished at the end of the trip and very proud of myself for making it through flipping only twice. Floating down the Nile between rapids was awesome. I wish I could accurately describe the feeling of being on the Nile mesmerized by the beauty of God’s creation and the excitement of playing in it. Rafting 30 kilometers of the Nile is one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

Trips to Kampala

We weren’t able to work out a trip to Gulu over fall break, but we spent a few days in Kampala. We went to the mall (that has a bookstore!!... guess where I was most of that time), a craft market, and to a couple different grocery stores that have more selection than we have in Mbale. We also went to see a movie. The theatre had comfortable seats and air conditioning… it doesn’t matter what movie we may see, it’s comfy in there. Julie, Jennifer, and I took a bus down to Kampala… thus my public transport insights from the last blog. We had a nice time overall and it was good to get out of town for a few days. We also went to see a traditional African dance troop (Ndere) perform; that was a lot of fun. There weren’t many people at all there, and they pulled us down to the stage area to dance with them—so much fun! All in all, fall break was a nice, mostly relaxing break.
We went back to Kampala a week and a half later for our team’s (New Testament Churches of Christ) quarterly meeting. We have teams in Mbarara, Jinja, Kampala, Fort Portal, and Mbale. It was nice to meet teammates from around the country and learn about the work they are doing around Uganda. I know that if I had written this blog sooner after the trips that I would have more to say, or at least a more interesting way to tell about what we did.
The power went off about 2 hours after we got back to Mbale, and stayed off for 48 hours or so. It went off and on a lot that week; then things got busy. I think some of my teammates (Julie and Mary Beth, I think) wrote more about Kampala and the power outage. Feel free to explore their blogs for more stories about my team here. :)

How I am Finding Life in Uganda

There are some things I’ve noticed that just work differently here in Uganda…
When traveling there are no fast food restaurants to eat at; instead, you pull over on the side of the road and buy chicken on a stick and/or whatever else they are trying to shove in your window.
When taking a bus from one place to another, it doesn’t stop at gas stations for toilet breaks; instead it pulls over at the side of the road and folks just get off and take care of things there.
Traffic laws are more like guidelines.
…except that the bigger object gets the right of way (i.e. a bicycle over a pedestrian or a truck over an SUV)
Remember to get toilet paper from the dispenser on the wall outside of the stall before going inside the stall.
Expect to hear “Mzungu! Mzungu!...” many times when leaving the compound.
Locking the door is a 3 minute process. Deadbolts? No. We use 3 hefty masterlocks. Slam the mini hand door shut and shove 2 iron latches into place using all our might then lock each. Unlocking it can be longer, depending on how long it takes to find the keys and then match them to the correct lock. This is a loud, long, strenuous process.
Greetings are important. A greeting can last 30 minutes. How is you? How is the day? What do you go by? How is your family? Where are you coming from? What are you doing in Uganda? How are you finding Uganda? You are most welcome here. How long have you been? You shall extend your stay? Where are you going just now? I shall escort you. To Africans, this is friendly... not at all sketchy.
Even government buildings can be dark and sketchy. There may only be a sign above the door at the end of a dark hallway that merely says, "Immigration Services"
African English uses more present tense verbs where they don’t really seem to fit. Example: “Are you having any room?” instead of “Are there any rooms available?” or “Are you knowing?” instead of “Do you know?”
In Mbale eating out is a 2 hour process, at least. Yes, even for beans and rice.
Don’t have high expectations. For example, don’t expect to have power so that when you do it is a pleasant surprise. Or, don’t expect the store to have something so that when you get there and they say “It is finished” (“We’re out of that”) there is no let down.
Everything takes longer here. Everything.
Instead of security systems, there will be a person sitting outside the door with a big machine gun. If it’s a really nice place, there may be more guards stationed throughout the store with batons.
Machetes are used to cut the grass.
Thus, seeing huge guns and machetes everywhere daily is no longer surprising.
Imported American cereal costs around $7, if not more.
To do laundry you must factor in weather, power, and time. Is the power on so that I can wash? When does it seem like it’s going to rain today so I can be sure to take my clothes off the line? Even just filling the water in the machine takes a while. It’s kinda like a whole day process.
Make sure the water filter is always full and that the filtered water container stays full.
Going to the mall, movies, and grocery store in Kampala is really exciting.
Make sure to have a flashlight nearby at night. Also, use one when walking from the light switch to the bed at night so that I can get my mosquito net tucked and placed just right.
Planning to go out to dinner involves many plans to make sure we’re not out when it’s dark without a ride.
When going into the bathroom, watch out for frogs. When opening doors, watch out for falling geckos. Also look out for jumping spiders, spiders, roaches, and bugs of all sorts. There is always something crawling on the wall or flying around the room. If it’s big, assume it’s a gecko (or at least hope so).
If you have a fear of bugs, get over it and smash them, esp. mosquitoes.
My roommates and I are so used to not having T.V. that even when we do, we sit and talk or sit in silence staring at a blank screen.
Exchanging money through a barred window in a shop run by Indians that sells… ? (tin or eighteen other things) is no longer shady. It’s normal. And, when the exchange rate goes up, the whole team gets an SMS (text message).
Our team communicates more through text messaging than any other form when not physically together.
Movies purchased in Uganda are bootleg. Despite selling bootleg copies everywhere, the guard at the door of the movie theatre has to take any cameras and store them in another room while you watch a movie. And, even the bootleg copies have a little blip about piracy sometimes…?
Bicycles can be used to transport anything. Need to get a stack of 10 mattresses somewhere? Need to transport a tank (or 3) or petrol? Need to transport a coffin? A family of 4? Yep… anything.
Life works at a different pace in Africa. Slower.
The phrases “That’s so African” or “This is Africa” make complete sense to me and I say them daily, at times multiple times within one day.
“You (Westerners) have watches, but you have no time.”
Uganda is indescribably beautiful. God often reminds me when I look out my window just how awesome He is. I look at the mountains or the greenery or the bright blue sky and think, “I can’t believe I live here.” More often than not, the beauty of the land and the beauty of the people make the above differences feel more like an adventure than an annoyance or inconvenience. It’s not better one way or another; it’s just different. As you can see, I’m adjusting more to the culture here… or at least, learning better how to function in it.

Actually caught up

I didn’t have any excursions this past week, but there has been a lot going on within the team. Several of our team members joined a group from the States for a survey trip to Sudan where they also taught a course (not sure the topic). The group that flew in is considering mission work in Sudan; since some of our team is familiar with that particular area, they guided the trip, so to speak. They are all supposed to get to Mbale Tuesday evening. I haven’t heard much about the trip other than the class went well and they’ve been safe. There is always something going on here, either emotionally with various team members or trips or visitors. It’s never boring, and I don’t think there is ever a “settling down” of things for the team. This week in school is midterm (already?) and the week after that is fall break. All of my students are going to have tests this week (that I need to be writing) and I have things to grade so that I can calculate grades. After fall break I’ll be starting new topics with each class… though I’m not sure what exactly yet for most of them. I am looking forward to break. Two of the teachers and I are hoping to go to Gulu for most of the week. We’re gonna spend some time in Kampala where we can go see a movie and go to the mall (that has a bookstore!). The aunt of two of my students lives in Gulu and works with a few different non-profits there. I called her a couple of weeks ago and she was very excited about us coming. That night, however, her father passed away. My students’ mother hasn’t returned from Gulu yet, so I don’t know what our plans will be yet. When I talked to her we talked about us helping out at a school for orphans (over 1,000 students) and visiting an IDP camp. She said there is an endless list of things we can do there. Whatever we’re interested in there is something there that we can do relating to that. If we don’t go over fall break, I plan to go the next chance I get. I am really excited about going. I know the trip will be extremely difficult emotionally, but worth it. My students’ mother said that everyone should go there to experience first-hand the heart-break and devastation in the area; she said it is very heart-wrenching. The other two I am going with don’t know much at all about the area or the history, so I am doing what I can to prepare and educate them. I’d like to go by the Invisible Children office there, too… but we’ll see. Of course I can’t say for sure, but I doubt this will be my only trip to Gulu. I can’t begin to describe how cool it is that I’ll be able to serve for a short amount of time in the area that re-ignited and reminded me of my passion for Africa 3 years ago. God’s plans are so cool. If we don’t end up going this time, though, I have faith that God will use the week for great purpose, even if it is just rest and a short trip to Kampala.
Please pray for me as a teacher to serve my students with joy the best that I can; pray for my students’ family in Gulu that I mentioned (the Mutonos); pray for our trip to Gulu; pray for us to empty ourselves so that God can fill us with his Spirit so that we may humbly do the work of His plan. Also, I’m beginning to feel a bit homesick. I’m not near the point of wanting to give up and go home, but I am frustrated with various things and I miss home. Please pray for me and the situation. It may sound odd, but I truly do feel the prayers of those who go to God on my behalf and I cannot begin to express what that means to me.

Sunflowers

On Saturday the 4th, I went out to a village with Heidi. Heidi works with the woman’s ministry here and goes out to different villages nearly every day to teach them. I tagged along to see what she does, visit another village, and be around Africans. That particular day she was teaching them about greed, which is a difficult thing to teach here for multiple reasons. There were about 15 women there and that was a pretty decent number. Heidi taught her lesson and Beatrice translated for her. She has different translators for the various regions since there are so many languages spoken around here. I didn’t have much interaction with the ladies she taught because just after she finished they brought us our food for us to eat by ourselves. In some areas around here the custom is to leave the visitors to eat privately so that they do not feel embarrassed to eat as much as they want. In other areas, the hosts will join the visitors… just varies. Although I wasn’t there long, I really enjoyed the morning. The drive out to the village was beautiful… completely indescribable. There were fields of huge sunflowers. Heidi and I decided to trudge through a muddy field with lots of underbrush to get to the field that was just across from the church. I fell, walked out of mu shoe because it stuck in mud, and we were both covered in needles from one of the plants in the underbrush we trudged through. Pretty much it was all for a picture, but it was fun. We definitely provided entertainment for the Ugandans that watched us wondering what the mzungus were doing. It was also a great morning getting to spend time with another teammate and get to know her better. Relationships with team members are beginning to deepen and I am very thankful to be part of a really great team.
More falling geckos… last week at our community ladies’ Bible study two geckos suddenly fell from the wall and landed on Melissa’s head. She immediately jumped up because she didn’t know what it was. One of the geckos clung onto her long hair as she swung it around trying to get it out. Eventually they both scattered away and we refocused on our study. You never know what’s gonna come falling down on you or flying at you or crawling on you or what you’re gonna step in here… kind of a metaphor for life here, too.

Like cold water to a weary soul

Sunday the 28th I went to church with Ian in one of the villages outside of Mbale. It was the first time I’d been to a village here. Much like AIDS orphans day I felt very at peace sitting in church with the Africans. Our church in Mbale is great, but it has a lot of Western influence. An African couple and a Kenyan man that is a student at MTI went with us. The Ugandan woman sat next to me and translated songs and various other things for me. That was nice to know what they were singing, even though I couldn’t sing with them. It is so beautiful to listen to people praise God in a foreign tongue (or several as is the case around here) and look out beyond a church building that is nothing more than a thatch roof and supporting logs to focus on God’s beautiful creation. One thing I must say about Uganda is that is a very beautiful land. I try to keep these things in mind and remain aware of God’s awesome presence when I get fidgety sitting on a wooden bench a couple of inches off the ground because the service is so long and half in a language I don’t know. This particular Sunday was a special day. We had a few boxes of bibles from the World Bible Translation Center to give out and a few churches had gathered at this church to receive new Bibles. It was such a humbling experience to be a part of. The people were so grateful for new Bibles. The preacher at that church really needed a new Bible; sections of his blew away as we were sitting in church. Many of the people either had no Bible or had one much like the preacher’s. They were so grateful. I have 3 Bibles that I brought with me… we all have many Bibles at home and they are so easy for us to get. Here, people in general don’t have that kind of access. It was humbling. One lady even did the excited yell thing that Africans do (I don’t know how to describe it for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about). I love to hear them do this. I said I was going to learn how to do it before I left Mozambique, but I didn’t. Though it won’t be the same at all as hearing an African, I still plan to learn how to do it. The day was not a typical service at all (I was told), but it was still so great to go out to a village and worship there. After church, they feed all the visitors (including the visiting preachers) a really nice meal that was actually quite good. It was a good morning. “Like cold water to a weary soul / is good news from a distant land.” Pr 25:25

de Nile

On the 15^th of September some others and I went to Jinja for the day. We took a private hire taxi to get there (took about 2 hours or so). We went mainly to get out of Mbale for the day and go to the craft market there. There is a much better craft market in Jinja than in Mbale. We ate at the Source Café, which is run by the CofC team in Jinja. There is so much more craft stuff here than what I saw in Mozambique. I didn’t buy lots of things, but I did see a ton that I want to get before I go home. For the most part, the afternoon was rather uneventful and it was nice to get out of Mbale for the day. On our way back we decided to go to the source of the Nile River. It was overcast and started to rain while we were there, but it was still beautiful. Julie and I are planning on rafting the Nile at some point… kinda scary, but should be fun. As of now, we don’t know when we’re going to do it. We want to find more people to do it with us and most people on our team or that we know in town have already done it or just don’t want to. I don’t have much to say about the day, but I wanted to at least mention it. It was way cool to go to the source of the Nile. And, it will be way cool to say I’ve rafted the Nile. On our way back, it was raining very hard. The a/c unit in our taxi didn’t work, which meant that the defrost was useless. The windshield stayed fogged up most of the way home. I tried to wipe it off with a conga pretty frequently, but it didn’t seem to help much. I was very thankful when we the sun came out a bit and we could see through the windshield. The driver didn’t slow down much at all for the rain (and lack of vision of the road). I’m pretty sure we were all praying very hard silently that God would get us safely back to Mbale. Our driver decided to stop and buy dinner for his family on the way back. He got some fish. This isn’t too odd, except that he hung it from the front of the car on the way back… at least we didn’t have the fishy smell in the car.

Pictures from AIDS oprhans day

One of the children sponsored by our program waiting in line for school supplies.

Giving out school supplies.

The well outside of Messiah Theological Institute (MTI)

Stephan giving instructions.

A breeze in Uganda

I’m a bit behind…
On the 13 of September I went to Mbale Church of Christ for an AIDS orphans day. One of the ministries our team does is sponsorship of AIDS orphans. When I got there Kimberly was teaching a Bible lesson using tea bags… I think it was something about how God has cleansed us from our sins, the dark stuff inside of us. After her lesson, the kids went out to the field to play soccer. There were 2 soccer balls, so the boys played with one and the girls with the other. I walked over to the field with them and sat on a wall watching them from a distance. I felt so at peace and so happy to be in Africa. Even though I live in Africa, I spend more time around ex-patriots from all over than I do with Africans. As I sat there, a light breeze passed by. A few years ago I went out to a quiet place overlooking a lake in Tuscaloosa. I had gone there to pray and spend time with God. As I was talking with Him, a gently breeze would pass occasionally. Since then, I am always reminded of God’s presence through something as small and often unnoticed as a breeze. So, feeling this breeze brush over me as I sat and watched African children playing so joyfully brought a deep peace to me. I finally felt like I was in Africa. Then a lady from the church walked by and said “Why don’t you go play with them?” So I did. I kicked off my flip flops and ran over to the girls. Who would’ve thought that playing soccer as a kid would actually come in handy? I think it’s way cool how God uses even the most random experiences of our lives to glorify Him. I had a lot of fun kicking the ball around with those girls. Btw, trying to play soccer in a skirt can be tricky, especially if it’s not a flowy type skirt. After soccer, we gave out notebooks and pencils for school and Bibles to older kids. Then we gave out coats. After that, we ate and then everyone went home. It was a good afternoon.
Here’s another “welcome to Africa” story:
Nicole and I rode bodas to the church (it’s quite a long walk). This was only my 2nd time to ride one. We started on a big hill… which should’ve been a sign in the first place. I couldn’t even get on because the bikes are so tall and my legs are so short. Once I finally hopped on, my bodaman had to get another bodaman to give him a push to help him start. Once he gets going on his own, my flip flop falls off. So the guy that was pushing us ran and got it and stuck it back on my foot for me. In the meantime, we ended up stopping, which also meant that he had to push us off again. We get to the top of the last hill and turn onto the main road in town and my flip flop fell off again. I had to tell him a few times what happened, then he finally saw my barefoot and stopped, again. He ran to get my shoe for me. This time we had stopped at a sidewalk so I could hop back on much easier since I had some added height standing on the sidewalk. When he came back I took my other flip flop off and put them into my bag. This road was flat, so he didn’t need help getting going… he went quite fast actually. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to figure out just where to hold on. I don’t understand how these Ugandan women can just sit there no problem and often hold a sleeping child. As we approach the big traffic circle in town, I’m praying that I won’t die… it’s a really busy part of town and bodas often almost run into cars (general traffic rule here: the bigger object always has the right of way) or pichis (motorcycles) zoom by and there are people everywhere. Thankfully, we made it fine. He made it to the road I told him to go to but he didn’t know where to turn, and I had to remember where that was. I saw the road and pointed ahead saying, “You see that road there? That is where I need to go.” He turned in to the gas station just before the road instead (all of this being on the other side of the road from the direction we were coming in). I couldn’t remember how far it was down the road to the church, so I didn’t want to tell him to just stop there. We then headed against traffic on the wrong side of the busy road. After waiting a while and trying to pedal up to the road he finally asked if we could just walk there. So, we walked up to the corner where I again hopped back onto the bike as many Ugandans were saying, “Mzungu, where are your shoes?” It’s weird for a white person to be barefoot… even though many of them don’t wear shoes all the time. We again set out for the church. I saw Nicole ahead and told him to stop where my friend was… he said he didn’t see her… the only white girl standing anywhere around. But, he eventually saw her and peddled over. I finally made it to (well close enough to) our destination. I paid him well saying it was for all the trouble. Since I caused pretty much all of it, and I did arrive where I wanted to unharmed, I thought he deserved it. One lesson learned: next time I’m not wearing flip flops on a boda or I’ll at least take them off first.

My house

My room
Living room and dining area
Kitchen

Falling geckos

The last week has been so busy. The power was off most of the day Saturday and Sunday. School started on Wednesday, so I spent Tuesday afternoon (after team meeting) trying to get my lessons all prepared. The first day of school was good overall. I spent my off periods scrambling to get ready for my next classes. I’ve been told that the boys in my middle school class are afraid of me. They haven’t had a teacher like me in quite a while… but they are doing ok, no big issues yet. The 3^rd grade class is a bit difficult for me since it is elementary level and I am figuring out what to do with elem. kids and what to teach them, etc. British lit. is good; I’m excited about that class. I’m taking more of a college prep approach to it since it is Lelia’s senior year. Overall school is good. It has just been difficult for me personally to adjust to the structure of school here and figure out what to leave and what to change. But, I know I will work through it all as I get settled in here. Again, it’s just more adjusting…

The team here has many things going on all the time. Tuesdays we have team meetings, Wednesday we have team devo, Thursdays we have community ladies’ Bible study with other ex-pats in Mbale, Fridays we have a prayer breakfast for the women on the team and a pancake dinner with other ex-pats at night, Saturday nights a group gets together to play volleyball, Sundays we have church and a community Bible study at night, and Mondays are our days off (which are often used for swimming, sleeping, and running errands. This is all in addition to school. Sound hectic and overwhelming? It is. Being the introvert that I am, being around such large groups of people exhausts me, especially after teaching all day. So far, I have gone to most things. Soon though, I’m going to have to decide what night I am going to reserve for phone calls and resting. It is good that there is such a sense of community here and much to do together; I am thankful for that. I just get exhausted from it. I would appreciate prayers for wisdom about how to manage my time best.

Since my last blog I have thought of many stories to add, but now I can’t remember them very well. Nancy and Sam Shewmaker were in town for a couple of nights. They have served much of their lives as missionaries in Africa. They work with Missions Resource Network and are preparing to begin work in Rwanda. They have mentored many of my missionary mentors and it was nice to spend a little bit of time talking with them. Julie arrived in town on Monday. Her birthday was the day before, so we cooked dinner and a cake and had the single folks over for dinner that night. At the moment, the whole team is in Mbale. Shon leaves tomorrow afternoon to begin a trip to Sudan with some others he’ll meet up with in Kampala. I know he’d appreciate prayers for his trip. If I remember correctly, this trip is for the SEE ministry. There is always so much going on here it can be difficult to remember who is doing what when and with whom.

On a final, random note… I opened the door from the laundry room to outside to hang up my laundry earlier this week. Something fell on my head when I opened the door. It was a gecko. I kinda like them since they eat mosquitoes. Anything that eats mosquitoes is fine with me, as long as it’s not suddenly falling from somewhere (like my head or thudding into my dresser drawer). Until next time… I miss you all and pray that you are all doing well. I added a list of prayer requests to the side. I will try to keep that updated with specific requests. :)

First Trip to Market

Today I had my first trip to the market. It’s quite different here than in Mozambique simply because they speak English so I can bargain with them instead of relying on Coulter’s Span-uguese (his attempt at speaking Portuguese by speaking Spanish with a Portuguese accent). I don’t like having to bargain; I’d rather just pay, but it’s just part of life here. It doesn’t help that they always overcharge the Mzungu (white person). It wasn’t too bad, though. Jennifer is my only roommate that’s here and she’s been trying to show me around and help me get things. But she said she only went to market a handful of times last year and that she’s not the best person to show me around. It’s alright though; at least I’ve got someone to try. We took a Boda Boda (bicycle taxi) back to our house from town. It was nice that we didn’t have to walk quite so much. I felt like I was going to fall off the whole time and I couldn’t quite figure out where exactly I was supposed to hold on. Our house is on a hill with a road full of potholes and I felt certain that the guy was going to hit a pothole just wrong as we were zooming down the hill and that we’d both go flying over the rails. That didn’t happen though. He pulled over at my house and tried to charge me almost double from what Jennifer paid her Boda man. He said “But this one is very heavy” trying to explain why it was so much more. That’s a great boost of confidence right there. I, of course, did not pay the first price he quoted me. I paid the same that Jennifer did.

Yesterday I rearranged my room and unpacked most everything. It feels much better than the nasty cement room I came into when I first arrived. I had a lot of cleaning to do. I don’t think anyone has cleaned the room over the past 2 years. I have some more organizing that I need to do. When I got here 2 out of 3 trunks came with me. The 3^rd arrived yesterday and my teammates will get it from the airport when they pick up some of our returning teammates tomorrow. So when that gets here I’ll have some more unpacking to do.

I went over to the school today. The rooms are tiny, but I guess they don’t need to be very big when I don’t have very many students. I brought over the binders with my curriculum in them, but I haven’t looked through them yet. I have a lot of planning I need to do. I’ve got to figure out my classroom rules and things like that along with scheduling things. September 3 is our first day of school, so I have a bit more time to prepare. I’m teaching 3-12 reading, grammar, and literature and then one study hall. It’s going to be so different from anything else I’ve done. I hadn’t even thought about needing classroom rules until I met some of the boys a couple of nights ago. It’ll be an interesting learning experience full of trial and error.

Tomorrow we’ll go to church at Mbale Church of Christ, then out to lunch somewhere, and later that night have a community bible study with other expatriates around here (and there are a lot!).

I’ll try to post some pictures and videos after I get settled in some more. :)

Set the World on Fire

This is a note I wrote when I began to hear God's calling for me to return to Africa. I wrote this in February before I had any idea of where or when or how I would be going.

I wanna set the world on fire
until it’s burning bright for You
it’s everything that I desire
can I be the one You use?
I am small but
You are big enough
I am weak but
You are strong enough
to take my dreams
come and give them wings.
Lord with You
there’s nothing I cannot do.

I wanna feed the hungry children.
and reach across the Father’s land
and tell the broken there is healing
and mercy in the Father’s hands.

My hands, my feet
my everything
my life, my love
Lord use me.
I wanna set the world on fire

Take my dreams
come and give them wings.
Lord with you
there’s nothing I cannot do

I’m gonna set the world on fire.
set the world on fire....

Abridged version of BRITT NICOLE's "Set The World On Fire"

So what's the deal with the lyrics? They say exactly what I want to do. It's my prayer for my life. I'm writing this note for two reasons:
1. To let you know that I am seriously considering going back to Africa after I graduate. The idea is to go teach for a year and then come back here for a while before I commit to the long term thing.
2. To ask you to pray for me in all of this. I want to go where He is calling me to be. I need to hear Him clearly and for all the doors to start opening for this to happen if I am going to teach in Africa after graduation, which will likely be as early as August. That means a lot of things need to work out for me to go this year.

oh and 3. Let me know what you think, advice, etc. Also, let me know if you have any connections for me to teach in Africa. I need to start networking a lot more.

I know your prayers will help guide me and they mean a lot to me. I love you all!!

I thought the first note should reflect the beginning of my present adventure. I still need your prayers. I am confident that God has heard them and that prayer has gotten me to where I am. Advice/ comments are always welcomed. And the lyrics are still the prayer of my heart... I don't think that will ever change.