Fully Alive

Well, I'm finally here. I've been in Mbarara for 2 weeks now, and I have absolutely loved every minute of it, and I'm not just saying that. It's amazing how wonderful this trip has been so far. I know that it's early on in the trip and I'm still on a high of being here, but I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with such a great beginning to this journey. I know there will be plenty of days where I'm not feeling this great and days where I want nothing more than to be home. I know good and well that every day of this journey will not be great or easy, but I'm just enjoying the great days right now and the ways that God is so good to me here in Uganda.

I don't even know where to start to tell all about I've experience so far. All I know is that I've never felt as alive as I do now. Someone told me once that when they're in Africa, they truly come alive. She also told me that she could see that in me. Well, she was right. Mbarara already feels so much like home to me despite the ways that it is so different. I feel God's presence in such an intimate way here...a way that I've never felt before. I can't explain how much I enjoy worshipping with the town church here, singing and dancing (yes I said dancing...this is Africa). Desarae (who, holy cow has been an incredible blessing to me here) and I have talked about this. It's almost like there is a face of God that we see here that we've never seen before. These people help us to see a side of God that we've never even touched before. It's almost like I see God in such a tangible way...like I can reach out and touch him. That might sound so strange to you, but He is just so real here. The Ugandans that I meet have a joy in God that is indescribable. They live in the most run-down slums you could ever imagine. Seriously, imagine the worst area of a town you have ever seen and multiply it by 10. They don't know where most of their meals will come from. Most of them don't have jobs and don't know where their next 1,000 shillings will come from (which sounds like a lot, but is really only 60 cents). Yet, through all of that, they smile and they thank God for the clothes on their back and the meal they had 3 days ago. They shake my hand, hug on me, and thank me for coming every time I see them. Seeing them jump, shout hallelujah, and give God their all during worship, and every day, is truly humbling to me. I learn something more about what it means to truly love God every day that I am here.

God has also shown himself in a big way through the mission team here. The 3 families are incredible, and Desarae and I have become incredibly close to all of them already. They invite us over for meals all the time. Since we have been here, I think we've only been on our own for maybe 5 meals. They have completely welcomed us as their friends before they even know us. The way that they live their lives and the way they raise their children is a huge example to me daily. I love the 9 kids that are here so much already. Plus there just happens to be a 2 year old girl here who is 6 days younger than Kennedy so she fills in as my nieces for the next year. One of the ladies on the team is pregnant and due in September so I'll have another little one around when I'm missing my new nieces and nephews. The kids are really incredible though. One of the neatest things has been building such great relationships with them before being their teacher. We started school 2 days ago and it's been great. These are some of the best kids I know and it is nothing but a pleasure to teach them.

Ok, I feel like I could go on for days about my time here, but I have to go to dinner soon. I haven't figured out how to get pictures on here yet with my internet connection, but hopefully that will come soon. I'm going to end with a list of some crazy things I've experienced so far. Enjoy!

- 40 hours of traveling from Peoria to Mbarara...enough said
- Riding in a car on a Ugandan road where there are absolutely no traffic laws
- Playing a trick on one of the kids here where I acted like I could take off my finger. Then having him ask his dad for his knife so he could do it too
- Eating posho (a cornmeal mush here with random rocks in it) surrounded by all kinds of spiders in a local restaurant
- My landlord's name is Mbaga, which means Party...seriously that's cool
- Going without power every 3rd night from about 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM
- Coming home during our first power outage and realizing we have a generator. What a blessing!
- Trying to cook mac and cheese in our apartment. Trust me, it's an adventure every time.
- Playing the Ugandan game of Uno which is ironically enough called "cards."
- There is a part in that game where you say Pick and Play. Ugandans can't say their L's very well and they sound like R's so me and Desarae thought they were picking and praying for awhile.
- Experiencing my first earthquake...especially in an apartment building that is still under construction
- Eating fried grasshoppers
- Eating goat
- Mbarara had a water shortage and we went without water for 2 days
- Being in the middle of taking a shower and all the sudden the nice, clean water turns to muddy water all over me
- Just not really ever knowing if we'll have water or not
- Realizing that I can't whistle constantly like I always do because in Uganda, a woman whistling is like a sign of distress
- Riding a pici-pici, which is basically just a moped for a whopping 30 cents. We basically do it every time we come home from town.
- Having every Ugandan kid say "how are you?" when we walk past them on the roads. It's the only phrase they know and they don't even know how to answer it when we ask them how they are doing
- Having a Ugandan girl courtsy to me and then reach out and just touch me
- Having a Ugandan man ask if we are single and then giggle excitedly when we reply that we are not married
- Our toilet wouldn't flush for 2 days...sick.
- Then we got that fixed and our toilet wouldn't stop overflowing
- We have no shower curtain and the shower head is 1 foot from the toilet and 2 from the sink...it's quite an experience.
- The paint on our floor is still wet...There are footprints all over our rug.
- Our clothes rod in our closet randomly fell off today.
- We wake up to construction workers outside our door everyday.
- Desarae swears she witnessed an excorsism in the grass behind our apartment yesterday.
- Actually being woken up by a mosquito buzzing in my ear. Maybe I should put that mosquito net back up...
- Having my first African sickness called giardia...it was awful.
- Giving one of my students a mohawk the night before the first day of school
- Watching Ugandans pave a road here. It's really interesting.
- Hearing a bird that sounds just like a monkey and actually running outside to try to see my first monkey.


Ok I think that's all. Uganda is incredibly interesting and always keeps me on my toes. I love you all!