so much to say.

today is a low day. i'm sick...the cold (or flu as mama robinah calls it) is still lingering, at a climax i hope...lots of coughing and sniffling still. i just want to sleep and have a sick day...but I can't because time doesn't much allow it. bum. hadn't anticipated sinus-lung junk...only forethought stomach issues (which have been nonexistent).

News flash, announcement, attention...there are ordinary days even in Africa. Didn't much suppose that bit either. There is routine and monotonous school just the same. wake up. shower with my orange bucket and boiled water. drink my tea/hot chocolate. walk to school. classes...home for tea, socialization and a late dinner right before bed. School is very interesting, but with very limited time to actually study and prepare, I find myself overwhelmed...pray that I can even pass my classes (oh and i fear losing my academic scholarship), pray that time is maximized for study when available...and i don't even want to study because motivation is lacking, even my politics teacher today was mentioning how it is strangely difficult to focus on academics when it is so wonderful outside...or for me when there is so much to experience and take in, people to meet, and things to try...sitting down with a book seems almost irresponsible. enough whining...let me recount some wonders to you!

*the other day, some young gisu boys were dressed in their tribal wear, dancing to drums for the public to raise money for their circumcision celebration (or money for the medication after the fact)...it is the even year you see...a year of manhood for so many. I might even get to see one such ceremony for my religions class....

*had a dance party with my family a few nights ago. i wonder if i could ever shake my hips as they do. much laughter to say the least. I love the african dancing...so wonderfully rhythmic and strong. i love watching children dance and sing in church--purely magic.

*have been learning how to make some ugandan delicacies. ground nut sauce and samosas...delightful. oh how i love to savor the flavor of avocado, pineapple and mango..

*went to jinja this past weekend.
Went to meet some missionary folk...but we also were able to see the source of the Nile out of Lake Victoria (rode around in a lil' boat for a bit)! It was an interesting trip...we saw an industrial area (called "ting ting" for all the clamor and hammering) where men were busy turning junk into some profitable, earning maybe a few dollars a week, and we visited for a few moments the local hospital (the only public hospital for the entire district of some 2 million people). The hospital...oh the hospital!!! I was able to pray with some TB patients...(for only such a short time....) and my heart was wrenched to leave. Every time I cough now (and I don't have TB...all is well...and I really don't think I infected anyone either), I'm picturing George, a prisoner chained to his bed, his family waiting outside the window, a weary man with whom i chatted a bit about God's power. I can't even describe it...the two nurses in their pink uniforms, entire families waiting with their loved ones, people waiting to see a doctor out on the grass (sometimes up to months we were told, with no saying whether they will be able to afford medicine), patients wasting away in their beds, without even a glass of water brought to them by the nurses (all is provided by the family). So it was a trip of contrast, finishing up saturday with a fancy dinner...so many more thoughts on it all...
Sunday was glorious and refreshing...blessed by the congregation we fellowshipped with, by their praise and joy in worship! I helped out with sunday school...we were thrown on the spot to lead a children's program. I have done such so many times...but oh not in english...my mind kept bringing up spanish songs....it turned out great...acting out david and goliath. Johnson, the wee lad that played david was my new friend for the day, a precious lil' lad was he.

*las night's sunset was the first time that has been as I had once imagined it would be every night in Africa. The sky burned in flamboyant oranges and reds...

*my host sister was down with malaria this last weekend...no big deal was the impression i received. she was back on her feet again to greet us by the time we returned...cooking away at the fire...a fighter, resilient and strong is my sister Eva.

*my american sister is sick again too...please pray for her...she was doing so well, regaining her strength from the first blow until an unexpected relapse today. her name is betsy.

*climbed a hill near school yesterday and found the campus monkeys! how i dream of diving from one tree to another without fear of falling!

There are countless things I want to do here! Possibly walking further up monkey hill where there is apparently an orphanage and a center for people with disabilities, and hopefully volunteering at a local clinic my mama knows of...playing football with some local lads, and marketing frozen chocolate bananas to name a few...but i'm stuck until my lungs return to me...

Thanks for reading this note. Pray when you think of it and know that my thoughts are with you.
My love to you,

guess what....

chicken butt...
i saw our sunday chicken get its head chopped off (we named him mr. white)..maybe i'll get to do it next time?? oh and a lil' tidbit for you, the word for chicken in luganda is nkoko...just like the sound a chicken makes! i've been learning lots of luganda phrases (one of the many bantu languages here, spoken mainly in the central part of uganda, an area known as buganda and spoken by the baganda people), and find that in trying to respond in luganda my mind goes spanish! i love languages, so much fun! my sister eva is a very good teacher, reinforcing vocabulary daily!

on saturday we went to a wedding. the wedding itself wasn't too eventful...rather traditional i might say, but the thrill was wearing the traditional ugandan dress, called gomez, walking through town and having everyone comment, clapping, giving thumbs up signs, hollering "you are smart" which means well dressed and classy. the dress is very extravagent mind you...comparable to the japanese komono, bright colors and a big long belt. many excited faces at our sight, asking who we were, to which we informed them of our ugandan names...which i know now to be nakadu. the mayor of mukono even picked us up and took us to the cathedral so we didn't have to walk the rest of the way. the wedding singers were wonderful and we were seated with our mama, who was one of the special guests, so we were given a Fanta and were up close to the m.c. folks who were talking through the reception like it was one of those fancy award shows. oh and the cake was HUGE...small ball like cakes, of which there were at least a dozen. oh fun..and the comments on the way home were louder and more obnoxious...mama was laughing her head off.

very settled at home. love it. love how people come and go all the time. love how the old crippled dog they have is called grandpa. love their laughter and eva's enormous smile. love the little geckos that scamper around the walls. love it when the power goes out and we have conversations around lantern light. food is so good, rice, matoke, kipatti, irish and sweet potatoes, oh how i feast! took a long walk yesterday through the more village like part of my neighborhood...i saw an abandoned medical clinc....oh the dream. saw a sweet lil' house down the way....oh the dream...and then a small boy walked out of the house! My heart flies here! The sky is so pure and alive here! I might just move here...

i'm here...a few random notes.

after a long flight, and only a few major butt cramps, I landed on the other side of the world. uganda is absolutely beautiful, breathtakingly green, with a constant symphony of birds and creatures. met my family yesterday and had my first class today--still settling into the swing of things, might take awhile. love my family and the casual, joyful atmosphere. i was initiated into the family, given a name and everything...I just can't remember it at present. my mama is great, talked with her for hours about culture, and had my first lesson in luganda! my mama said she has 19 children, but pretty sure that that includes in-laws and nephews, my brother william is at home for a few more weeks, then it will just be me and my mama and my sixteen year old sister eva, and a few nephews too of course. another usp student will be staying with me, but she has been sick (since before we landed :(. it was difficult to understand my professor today (girls, more difficult than dr. lin). so.. politics is going to be challenging to say the least, with lots of papers to write (and i'm more than a bit rusty). excited about learning though! i haven't met many ugandan students yet since i spent most of yesterday with my family, and most of my classes are with the other exchange students, hoping to make some relationships. erin, note to self, it is only the first real day. classes started here a week ago, so not so sure about what my old testament class is going to be like (since it is the only one has really started). have somewhat of a cold right now. lots of sniffling. bum. tried the traditional dish, matooke, mashed platains, my mama calls it food, so that for dinner we had lots to eat, but no food, probably have food tonight. love tea time. sweetened black tea is delicious. oh, and last night there was a terrific thunderstorm, more powerful than i've ever heard, and it isn't even rainy season yet.

Please pray:
for relationships with my family and ugandan students.
for open ears that understand (even with accents), to really hear what ugandans have to say.
for health, to kick this cold in the hinny.
for my usp sister, that she gets back on her feet again.
for my classes, that i'll learn how to do school, with papers and lots of reading, and getting work done before my walk home at six.

a prayer

i am quieted tonight. a peace has settled down upon me. these last couple weeks have been a strange time of retreat, a form of willed seclusion from the world...it has driven me crazy, yet it was probably needed...a time to clear out the clutter of my mind, to remember the sweet goodness of my Abba.

Lord, thank you for these odd weeks of rest, of preparation, of uncomfortable solitude. Prepare me yet these next few days, even the last few hours on the plane before my feet land upon africa's soil. i don't want to miss a moment while i'm there...i pray that with every sunrise i will wake to live the dawning day fully, without regrets. help me to move, speak, and act carefully, without selfish-ambition, without vanity or conceit, open my eyes, my heart, and my hands to humbly love those around me, to take on the role of student even outside the classroom, to embrace the opportunity to be a learner. move in me and through me. i praise you for this blessing. i delight in the knowledge of your sovereignty, that neither this adventure, my story, my life, africa, nor the world lie outside the scope of your loving care. as i move forward now, guide me with your hand, that i may discern what steps you would have me take as i am led by faith into unfamiliar waters. hold me fast. may you be wholly glorified.

A NEW YEAR

2008 is gonna be great. I've just woken up late. I have several things I need to check off my to do list...and that I've needed to do for about a week now. Maybe I'm too relaxed? Maybe I'm somewhat anxious about these fast approaching changes..in only 10 days now I will be flying across the world. I honestly don't know if I'll ever be 100% ready. I'm excited though! So many questions. Will my computer die and leave me scrambling to finish my homework? Will I be humbly challenged in academics like I've never been before? What will my host family be like? Who will my friends be? What will I miss most from the U.S.? anything? Will I get sick? What will my neighborhood be like? Will I be able to help out in an orphanage or hospital at all? What will church be like? How will I be stretched in my faith? How is Africa going to change me?