One Sock Short

I don’t buy it. I used to think that washers and dryers were sock eating machines, but yesterday I found myself coming up one sock short as I was laying them out to air dry. Even here in Uganda where we’re washing clothes by hand, we still end up with an incomplete pair! I don’t care what you say, you can’t blame the washing machines for stealing your socks.

I apologize for taking so long to write another update...I think there is a way that stability and routine will help solve that problem in the future. So much has happened in the last few weeks so I’ll try to just give a “quick” recap...we’ll see.

-We celebrated our 1 month anniversary on Tuesday, the 16th, but it feels like we’ve been married a lot longer!

-We’ve booked an apartment in Seeta (pronounced “Say-tah”), the town next to Mukono. We haven’t started occupying it yet because we’re still buying furniture, but we’re planning to make this Saturday our moving day. I’ll post some pictures as soon as I get some! In the meantime we’re staying with a friend of Rev. Henry named Rachel. I couldn’t stay at Reverend’s house anymore because we discovered that the cold/flu I thought I had was actually a result of staying in that house. I’m allergic to something, possibly bats, the furniture, who knows? All I know is that I begin sneezing and coughing almost immediately upon entering the house. So Rachel has been kind and generous enough to let us stay with her until the end of the month. It’s really a pleasure too, because she has a 6 month old baby named Jed who is just the happiest and most peaceful baby I’ve ever seen!

-Last week I applied to the Kampala School of Music to teach cello lessons and a week later I already have the job! I won’t be starting until August 10th but they assured me I have the job. This is definitely a God thing because it was just way too easy! I met the administrator a few weeks ago and talked with him for about 5 minutes. He told me to email him my resume and after seeing it he told me to call him. When I called he said we should meet to discuss a few details, but then called back a minute later and said that the visiting teachers are leaving in August so just come August 10th – that’s your starting date. Way too easy!!!!! Also, they apparently provide housing for their staff, so we may be getting even more help in that area in the coming months.

-I’ll be talking soon with some of the USP staff about ministry opportunities in the area so that I can start volunteering and serving somewhere soon.

-A couple weeks ago we had a family reunion of sorts for Michael’s Mom’s side of the family. We all met in Jinja at Grandma’s house and feasted! We ate in the traditional way of only using our hands, and it was quite entertaining for the kids to see an American eating this way! After feasting there was dancing of course, and I really got a kick out of watching the older folks jump up and dance. I think what really made it hilarious was actually the song that everyone first started dancing to – the new hit song in Uganda that is about bread and butter! The first time I heard it I couldn’t stop laughing because it’s these guys singing to their girls, “You are me bread and me buttah, me bread and me buttah”. Imagine your whole family getting up and dancing to this song...quite entertaining.

It was great to see Michael’s mom again and spend that weekend with her. My baby nephew Okello apparently doesn’t remember me at all from last year because he cries and hides every time he sees me! Hopefully he’ll get used to me as he gets older!













It’s official...we’ve deemed this the picture of the week! On our way back from Jinja we passed someone transporting goats in a most unusual way. He strapped 2 of the animals to himself and even made the boda driver carry one as well! Needless to say, they were ashamed.

Life is still a little bit hectic right now but God is providing for us all the time and I think life will be taking shape more in the next month or so.

Home Again

It’s good to be back in Uganda...I never realized how many little things I missed! Simple things like the natural sounds you hear at night, African tea, the sweetest pineapple on earth, and even Blue Band! Blue Band is basically the only brand of butter here and it’s so much sweeter than ours. Of course, I missed the people most of all. It has been amazing to see everyone here. In fact, it feels like I hardly left even though it’s been a year.

We arrived around midnight at the airport in Entebbe completely exhausted, but excited to be home. The most exciting part about our arrival for me was discovering that my cello was completely intact and even tuned to the same pitch that I left it in! I had heard so many horror stories about people putting their instruments under the airplane with the rest of the luggage and finding them crushed when they reached their destination that I swore I would never check mine as baggage. I was planning to just ship it through DHL but apparently something of that size costs about $2000 to ship that far...not an option! Since we found this out the day before we left for Uganda, we had no choice but to check it with the rest of our luggage and trust that God would get it there safely. Needless to say, God came through for us again! A big “THANK YOU” to all who prayed for it!

After spending the first night in Entebbe, Michael’s sister Barbara picked us up and had us stay at her house for lunch. She has 4 beautiful boys who I am proud to call my nephews. They were fascinated with my “guitar” and also had fun with the camera. I’m telling you if you just give kids here a little bit of trust and lend them your camera, they will take the best pictures. Here is some of their work...I think you can tell which one is Mr. Personality

Later that day I met some more of Michael’s family that lives in Kampala, and finally ended up in Mukono in the evening at my host family’s new house. My host father from last year, Musumba Henry, insisted that we stay with them until we find a place of our own...how could we refuse?! It’s been so good to be with this family again, especially Enoch. Sometimes he can be just as fun and sweet as he was last year, but other times he really lives up to the stage that he’s in...the terrible two’s. He’s talking a lot more now, and his favorite new words seem to be “motocar, vroom, vroom!” He really only speaks and understands Luganda, but he’s very good at copying and mimicking words and sounds – even when I cough or clear my throat he also does it!

So far we’ve been looking around Mukono and Kampala for cheap but decent apartments. There are definitely plenty of good options but it’s hard to decide where to live when we don’t know where we’ll be working. There’s a beautiful apartment in Mukono with a lot of advantages but we’ll most likely end up somewhere in Kampala. Michael’s friends and family have been so great, looking for places for us...people here really take care of you.

Unfortunately I came down with a cold about 2 days after we got here and throughout the week I’ve had it all – runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever, and aches. I’ve been taking more medicine than I knew what to do with and just to make things worse, on Friday I woke up with a very fast heart rate and almost no strength to do anything. I finally went to the doctor only to find out that it was just a reaction to some of the meds I was taking to get rid of the cold. So I guess that’s good news but we spent a lot of money to find out that information and walk away with some basic pain killers and vitamins.

Anyways, we’re really doing fine overall, though still very tired. Michael has been meeting often with his business partners about their travel company, and I’ve been attempting to rest though it’s still not enough. It’s going to take a while to adjust and really recover from the trip, so please pray for rest and strength in these next few weeks while we also look for jobs and housing. God has been so faithful every step of the way and we’re excited to see where exactly he takes us next!

Life comes at you fast...

I apologize for not writing in so long...life has been crazy! We're finally wrapping up the semester and saying goodbye to our families this week Friday. I'm hoping it won't be so hard since Caroline and I are both staying in Uganda for an extra month and will be back to visit our family a few more times in May.

Many interesting things have happened just in the last two weeks. The first weekend in April, our IMME group travelled for 12 hours in a small van over treacherous dirt roads to experience Bwindi, home to one of the largest national parks in Africa. Bwindi impenetrable forest is absolutely gorgeous and famous for being the home of over half of the gorillas left in the world. Though we were lodged at the edge of the forest, we didn't see any gorillas because we you have to pay about $500-$800 to do that and we were just in Bwindi for ministry purposes.

We met some pretty amazing people that weekend, like Dr. Scott, who came to Bwindi about 4 years ago and basically developed a whole health clinic compound out of nothing. His ministry has come so far so quickly and has really been meeting the needs of the people in great ways. We also got to meet and work with Pygmies, helping them build mud houses. It was a little shocking to see the "house" the family lived in before that we were replacing with a new mud house. The old house was basically an "A" shaped roof on the ground, made of sticks and banana leaves with an unattached wood plank as a door. I had to duck to walk in and the amount of floor space was about equal to that of a 3 or 4 person tent. I couldn't believe that it was home to a family of 7.

Church that Sunday was incredible because we just went to a local village church where the service lasted about 5 or 6 hours! Bwindi is home to the Bukiga people who have a distinct drum beat and dance which involves a lot of jumping and stomping, and it made for an unforgettable praise and worship experience. After having lunch we all went and danced with some of the village kids as they sang - so much fun!

Bwindi was great, minus the drive and the salmonella that came along with it. When we went back to school after that weekend 9 out of the 12 of us were sick with diahrea and vomiting - we endearingly called it the IMME epidemic. It was pretty awful...I had gone this whole semester here without really getting sick and here at the end it finally came. A few of us went to Kampala to see a doctor at a place called "The Surgery". It was a crazy experience as we all felt awful and had to wait for several hours. We were actually seen and treated by Dr. Dick Stockley, who plays the part of the journalist in "The Last King of Scotland". He was hilarious and made the whole experience that much better. I developed a high fever that night too, but thankfully the medicine worked for everything and we were all feeling a lot better over the next few days.

So after a crazy week I was thankfully able to travel back to Sipi to visit friends for a much needed weekend of relaxation. It was great to Michael and Reverend Diana again - she was so surprised! She thought for sure I wouldn't make it all the back to Sipi since this program is ending soon, but she was pleasantly surprised to find I had come "home" to Kapchorwa like I promised I would. Some, though not all of you have heard by now that Michael and I have actually decided to pursue a relationship with each other...you know part of the story already, but if you want to hear the whole thing just ask me sometime when I'm back home and I would love to tell you.

I realize not everyone will understand, especially at first, but just know that this is not a shallow fling. It may seem out of the blue to some, but keep in mind, there is a lot more to the story that you don't know. It has been well thought out, talked out, and prayed about.

I actually met a lot of his family this past Sunday as we went to his Mom's house for lunch. I will be staying with her at her house in Iganga district (about halfway between Mukono and Sipi) for most of May, just living there, helping around the house, and also volunteering locally in their community. When we arrived we received an incredible welcome at the local church...I've never experienced anything like it really. As we walked in the doors of the church we found about 30 people from the village clapping and shouting with joy to welcome us. They were just so excited and grateful to have me as a guest in their village, knowing that I would be staying with them for about 3 weeks in May. Michael and his stepdad made a few speeches and also asked me to say a few words as is custom in this culture. Then they all sang and danced in celebration of my coming, and I was just beside myself. The whole thing was totally unexpected and I just kept thinking that nothing like this would never happen in America...Ugandan hospitality continues to floor me.

When we had lunch back at the house, I actually became so grateful for all the intercultural classes I had taken back home in which I learned the importance of food in culture. I was already pretty full from having tea before lunch, but the time came I knew I had to eat and eat well to make a good impression! I don't think everyone there realized that I had already been living with a Ugandan family for the past 3 months and was used to local food like matoke & rice and some kind of unidentifiable meat, so they were worried that I wouldn't like the food. It was so funny because I could feel the stares of everyone the whole time I was shoveling food into my face, conquering the African sized portion Michael had served me. He told me later that the way I ate all of the food really made a great impression on his parents and other relatives and that the conversation they were all having in Lusoga (the local dialect of Iganga) during lunch was all about how well I was eating! Who knew that food could be the major deciding factor of my acceptance into the family!

After a long trip home to Mukono, I was pleasantly surprised to find my family very excited for Michael and me. I was so nervous when I was showing Caroline pictures from the weekend and Musumba walked into the room. Caroline showed him the pictures and said "...Sharon's new boyfriend" to which Musumba responded "Boyfriend? Hallelujah!" I responded gratefully with the usual "amen" plus an extra sigh of relief!

This may be the last post I write for a while as we are leaving for a 10 day trip to Rwanda this weekend. When we return we will basically just be debriefing that trip and the whole rest of the semester, then I'll see my fellow students off at the airport and proceed to Iganga for the month. Thank you all for your continued prayers, I really am missing you all so much.

Prayer Requests:
-For Michael and I of course
-Pray that the details of May would work out smoothly
-Enock is very sick with flu
-Safe travel to Rwanda - its a 14 hour drive across the roads of Uganda

I just can't leave yet

Another good week has gone by...so little time left. It's crunch time now just like any other semester and I am trying desperately not to get too stressed with school while trying to cherish the last few weeks I have with my family. On saturday I spent the day in Kampala with Danielle, Caroline, and Danielle's sister Rebecca. We sort of killed two birds with one stone by spending time with family and studying because we went to this great cafe and had the best time sharing stories, drinking coffee (a mocha frappe!) and even getting some homework done.

Last Sunday we were talking Godfrey about how little time we have left here in Uganda, so he decided he wanted to show us some of the ministries he's involved in. We went first to Besaniya - a children's rehab center. We didn't stay long though because he really wanted to take us out to the school for the blind about half an hour away. We picked up our friend Reverend Esmond and the four of us drove out on one of the worst roads I've ever travelled on...ever. Soon after arriving I realized it was well worth the effort. When you meet these kids and the workers who manage the place you immediately feel so much love from them.

It was one of the most incredible experiences I've had at any ministry in Uganda thus far. These kids are so loving and accepting and really just full of joy. As soon as we met them they started feeling our arms, our hair - anything to get a first impression. It's funny because they are the only ones who can't tell you are a mzungu until you open your mouth and speak! The first few kids we met just held onto our hands the whole time that Godfrey was giving us a tour of the compound, and it made us all want to stay forever. We did getto stay at least for about an hour and join them for an evening fellowship service. Wow, those kids can sing, and once again I was so impressed with the sincerity and passion of their worship. Salama school for the blind is one special place that I think I will never forget.

That was really the highlight of my week. There were some minor excitements amidst the normalcy - Musumba actually sent Caroline and I to the suprmarket after dark for a loaf of bread...we felt so independent, haha! We watched 2 episodes of Andy Griffith last week and it was so funny to hear the heavy southern accents after being here for 2 1/2 months! Mama doesn't like us to whistle after dark because it will "call the snakes," so when she heard the Andy Griffith theme song from another room she was concerned and demanded to know who was whistling!

Enock continues to keep us entertained as he is getting closer and closer to speaking real words. Poor kid - he's probably so confused hearing English and Luganda all the time. He's gettign the tones down quite well and cxan copy almost any sound, but he still doesn't quite form the words. When Mama tells Enock to call for Elisha he copies the exact tone she uses, but al lthat comes out is "aaaya". So for now his vocabulary consists only of 3 words: Amen, Dada, and the Luganda word for hot, it sounds like "jya" or something. He loves to point at my cup of tea and say "Jya!" to make sure I know that it's hot. That kid makes me so happy...I don't know how I will live without him.

It's rainy season now which is good and bad. It's good because we have plenty of water (the tank is overflowing!) but bad because everything gets so muddy. Yet Ugandans work so hard to stay clean and I don't know how they do it! We walk the same roads yet my shoes are covered in mud while theirs stay clean. To me, this ability ranks right up there with their ability to see in hte dark and hear a whisper two rooms awya. Not gonna lie, I'm a little jealous.

Anyways, because it's always so muddy when it pours for hours on end, everything sort of stops and events get cancelled. On thursday we even cancelled our missions class, but since the rain stopped in the afternoon we were still able to have a dessert "BBQ" in the evening as planned. Professor Button and his wife invited our class over totheir house for smores and roasted chocolate bananas! It was incredible, and quite a refreshing taste of America - roasting marshmallows over hot coals while listening to Jack Johnson...praise God for expatriot professors!

As much as I miss home (and I do miss all of you more than you know) I have actually just changed my plane ticket...I love these people and have nothing to do for the next month so I've decided to extend my stay through May 24th instead of May 2nd! I know it won't excite some of you as much as it excites me but I just can't leave these people in a few weeks. I know staying longer wont' make the leaving any easier but I have to take advantage of every opportunity to stay while I can. I don't know the details of what I'll be doing or where I'll be staying for the month of May, but I have a few options and its just a matter of working out the details now. I'll be spending some time in Sipi, some time in Iganga, and some time in Mukono. Besides visiting friends and family in these places I'll be volunteering at some local ministries.

Ugandans are the most hospitable people in the world and a visitor is always welcome, even without an appointment, so don't worry too much about me! Everyone I've talked to so far about staying with them for a few days or weeks was very excited for opportunity to host me and they said they would even be willing to host me for the whole month. So while this will be a challenging experience to be here basically alone, without the school related program, I will still be surrounded by friends and family who love me and know how to take care of people.

Prayer Requests:
-Time management - balancing finals and papers with spending time with my family.
-Getting the details worked out for staying here in May
-Guidance from God about the near and distant future

Happy Easter!

This weekend we went to the Luwero district of Uganda to meet with some ministers and learn about their ministries. We arrived thursday evening after a 4 hour drive that was only supposed to take 2, but Danielle and Erin kept us entertained with ridiculous singing and joking so it wasn't so bad. At one point our van was turning around near a boda-boda park...perfect opportunity to be harrassed. One driver was saying something to us in Luganda about love (kwagala) to which Danielle responded out the window "banange," (my friends) - an expression used sort of like "my goodness". The driver continued harrassing so Danielle said, "tu swala" (you're shaming us) and closed the van window. At this the entire line of boda drivers busted up laughing and clapping for us - it was quite a showdown!

For Good Friday we got to be a part of an incredible program hosted by some of the churches in Luwero. It is an event in which Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Lutherans, and the Church of Uganda all come together for the way of the cross. I've heard of churches in America doing the "stations of the cross" before, but never quite like this. In Luwero, they do a dramatic presentation and actually act out the stations of the cross. The first two were held in the catholic church, and then we all proceeded out into the streets following the actors as they continued to reenact the events. There were about 1000 of us walking as one large mob around the actors, led by a pick-up truck with massive speakers. Some of the bishops rode in the truck and through the speakers, read the scriptures that corresponded with the acting. They also preached a little as we went and we definitely drew crowds around town. It was really an amazing way to take the Gospel out into the community. It was also an unforgettable experiencing that really made the story of Christ's suffering come alive in a new way. Walking for 2 hours in the hot sun in a crowded mass of hundreds of people, following a man carrying a cross and being "beaten" almost the entire way...I felt like I was really part of the crowd walking with Jesus 2000 years ago. A lot of people in the community joined us along the way simply out of curiosity about what was going on, and it made me realize that when this actually happened to Jesus, most of the crowds probably had no idea what was going on. I had thought about this before but it sort of hit me in a new way, being a part of it. We ended the walk at the Anglican church and they "crucified Jesus" to the cross and ended with a closing service.

After the most incredible Good Friday of my life, the day got even better as we met with Father Jerry, a local Catholic priest for tea. This guy has such a heart for ministry and just seemed like one of the most sincere people I've ever met. After meeting with him, we were invited Bishop Kisseka's house for more tea! He is an Anglican bishop and has the nicest house I've seen in Uganda thus far...Bishops are pretty highly regarded here. He has actually ministered in America for some time, so it was interesting to hear about the differences between ministering here in Uganda and ministering back home.

I just can't believe what amazing people I'm meeting here in addition to the families I've stayed with. I am loving my Mukono family more and more all the time. Yesterday we had a huge lunch for Easter...Chicken, beef, pork, irish potatoes, pasta, cabbage, greens, 3 kinds of sauce for each of the meats, rice, matoke (of course), pineapple, and soda. We all ate so much! 3 plates each at least! Even after my 3rd full bowl of food, our friend Godfrey who was over for lunch said once again, "Sharon, you have eaten like a mosquito!" And after telling him I couldn't possibly eat anymore, he said we needed to get up and dance and jump around to make more room for the food! After we had all eaten way too much we all just relaxed and talked for the rest of the afternoon. After all that talking we decided it was time to do something so the rest of our evening was filled with dancing! I know I'm a Wesleyan, but I figure maybe social dancing is okay when its with your family!

The Sunday morning service really wasn't all that different from a normal service except the cathedral was completely packed, we took communion, the liturgy was a little different, and the focus of the whole service was on Jesus' resurrection of course. So even though Easter Sunday wasn't vastly different from how I've experienced it in America, it was definitely not a disappointment. It rained all day but here that is a blessing...you start realize this when your family's water tank is overflowing for several hours! Mukama yeba zibwe! Praise the Lord!

Good Morning, Pumba

Though I haven't written for a while, not much has happened besides our weekend safari. Things are so normal and routine now - I love it! Ever since I returned from Kapchorwa I have felt so at home in Mukono. Everyday I feel like I reach a new level of comfort and openness with my host family. They are continually opening up more and more, so it makes it easy to do the same. I'm really finding myself here finally, feeling like I can be myself in a way that works in this culture. I've even picked up on so many of the phrases and the "Ugandan English" here...I wouldn't be surprised if I talk a lot different when I return to America, and I hope it doesn't get too confusing! There are so many things they say here that confused me at first - some examples:

-Words like "moving", "slopeing", "passing" are all terms for walking. It sort of throws you off when before you leave for a party your mom asks you, "Do you move with toilet paper?" meaning "are you bringing toilet paper with you as we go?"
-"...give us a push" means "can you give us a ride?"
-"it has refused" is said when something doesn't work.
-"Surely?" or "Sure?" means "really?" or "are you serious?
-My all-time favorite is when they stop in the middle of their sentence and say "what?" For example, "Me, I have eaten so much, but you, you have eaten like a what? Like a mosquito."

Anyways, we finally went on safari this weekend to Queen Elisabeth National Park in the Rift Valley - such a beautiful place. You know its gonna be good when you can't reach the main gate of the park because a family of elephants is blocking the road. We took into consideration the fact that there were baby elephants and a massive daddy elephant who was flapping his ears as a warning sign, and we decided to turn back and seek an alternate route. I can just remember the excitement in our bus at seeing elephants, followed by our driver's voice of reason, "Are we safe?" After turning back we found a guard and explained our situation. He laughed a lot but then said it was good of us to turn back because if we had gone forward, "they would have charged and killed all of you."

So we found a different gate to get into the park and thankfully there was someone to open it for us (a.k.a a man in the bushes with a gun). Once we were in we drove around for awhile looking for a campsite and stumbled across a group of Indians from the UN. Feeling intimidated by large group and tent mansions, we moved on to an open area to pitch our tents. My friend Holly did a great job directing our driver to the right area saying, "You see those people who look confused, the ones with the little flashlights? Those are our kind of people." It was actually my very first camping experience ever - quite exciting! I didn't sleep well however because of all the noise, you know, the hippos munching, the warthogs grunting and pushing on our tent. Yes, I've officially met Pumba now.

Saturday we set out for our game drive safari a little late. We didn't see as many animals as we would have if we would have gone early in the morning, but we still saw quite a few...more elephants, waterbucks, Kobs (my clan!), buffalo, warthogs, some crazy birds, mongooses (mongeese?). In the afternoon we went on a boat safari since the animals go for water during the day. This was pretty incredible...I can't really describe the experience of seeing animals like hippos and elephants in their natural habitat, no fences separating you, the Rwenzori mountains as a backdrop...it was awesome. Sunday morning we went out a little earlier and saw a lot of the same but also monkeys and finally, the lion! Sightings are rare in this park, and it was a female so it didn't have the exciting mane, but there's something exciting about sharing common territory with a lion.

Though we had opted to camp, this park had a beautiful high class lodge hotel that we spent some time at during the day just relaxing. I think we all experienced a little culture shock just being in the hotel lobby and other common areas...it was really like stepping back into America for a few hours. It made me realize this is going to be harder than I thought - coming back to America that is. March is flying by and all my weekends are booked from now on with trips and events. I honestly don't think I will be ready to leave my Mukono family in a month...part of me wishes I could change my ticket home to the end of July, but that's not really practical. I miss you all so much anyway.

So other than safari, the only mildly exciting things that happened were preaching at a secondary school last sunday, Enock dropping my phone in the basin of water as I was washing laundry, and getting all the clothes I had washed that afternoon stolen. A humbling experience for sure - having my already limited wardrobe diminished by half. I now have about the same amount of clothing that each of my family members have, and they survive just fine! I think when I go home to all the other clothes I left behind, I will be more than content with them for a long time.

Prayer Requests:
-School as usual (overwhelming)
-Rittah may have malaria
-Trying to make sense of my time here in Uganda - how best to use it since its going so fast

It's only the beginning

Do you know what it is to meet people and feel as though you've known them and have been friends with them all your life? To feel totally content and happy to be with them for hours just because they are such great people? I met such people about 10 days ago in Kapchorwa, and we all agreed as we said goodbye that this was not the end but the beginning of long, maybe even lifelong friendships.

I really wasn't excited at all about my rural homestay, (it's never good when you're the only one out of 12 that they specifically tell to bring a sleeping bag and pillow!) but as soon as they dropped me off at the house, I felt completely at peace about everything. I stayed with Reverend Diana (in her mid thirties) and her cousin-sister Victoria (13). I couldn't believe it but that was the extent of the family living in the home - just 2! Rev. Diana has 2 biological sons Stephen (10) and Asa (8) but they are staying with their Grandparents now during the school year. They come to visit on weekends and they are so great...they absolutely loved my camera, and actually mastered it quite well!

Our house was actually surrounded by tourist resorts/camps because Sipi Falls was right next door! It's dry season up there in the mountains so they are closed for a few months, but usually there are tons of tourists around that area. Since it's their off-season, the people who manage the resorts were not very busy and I became such good friends with two in particular - Whinnie (21) and Michael (26). Since they deal with tourists all the time, I found it very easy to talk with them, and we had a lot of time throughout the week for good conversation.

For example, last monday Michael took me on a hike through the mountains to the first and second of the three waterfalls in Kapchorwa. I've never seen such natural beauty in my life...I felt so spoiled to be living in the midst of it for 10 days. After a day of hiking we came back to Whinnie's camp for lunch, and I had to wait over there all afternoon and evening until Rev. Diana returned from work. I had the best time talking with Whinnie for hours about all the differences between life in rural Uganda and America.

Rev. Diana is one of my new favorite people in the whole world - I loved having her as a mom! We just hit it off right away, and all our conversation just came so naturally. This lady works so hard - she already has her MDiv. and wants to go back for a PhD soon. She teaches 7, yes 7 classes at a secondary school in the village which is actually about a 20 minute hike from the house. Then, she has to come home and cook dinner and keep up the house...cooking dinner here is no easy task. We're talking several hours of preparation and cooking over a fire. I admire Rev. Diana so much!

Working out in the village is hard and never ending. I helped sweep the yard, do the dishes, walk the goats to some grassy areas, cook, fetch water, and even carried some matoke on my head from our plantation 20 minutes from our house! I carried one small bundle and thought I was going to die, while Rev. Diana was of course carrying two bundles stacked on top of each other on her head! One bundle weighs about 15 pounds - no easy task on rough terrain! What I can't understand is how the women carry these kinds of loads on their heads, with things in their hands, through the mountains that I could barely walk through without falling over!

Though I was in the home of a Reverend, I did not have to preach thankfully! I just introduced myself and gave a short testimony and they all loved it. The most interesting part of the service was actually the time at the end for tithes and offerings. Not only did people give money, some also gave eggs and there was even a live hen brought forward! At the end they sort of auction off these items to the congregation...so interesting.

I felt like I really got a sense of the friendliness of Uganda that I always hear about but never quite experience in Mukono. About 80% of Uganda is rural like Kapchorwa so Mukono is not really the norm. In Kapchorwa, everyone greets in the street as they pass, and really if they are not working, everyone goes around visiting each other. On Sunday afternoon we constantly had visitors in and out of our home - I really love that aspect of village life. I have never experienced such hospitality in my life. A visitor is always welcome no matter what and a visitor like me is always greatly anticipated. I wasn't Rev. Diana's visitor, I was the village's visitor. I really experienced this as our whole USP group came together for hiking at Sipi, and we passed some of the villagers working in the valley. Everyone was greeting one lady carrying something on her head saying, "hello" and as I passed I said "Takwenyo" (the local greeting) and the lady said, "Is it Sharon?" I didn't recognize her but there's a good chance she may have been in church on Sunday, and so I just asked her how she was doing, etc. So funny...it really caught me off guard!

Our homestays actually ended on Wednesday and then we met the other USP students in Soroti for a few days, about 3 hours away. Then we all returned to a camp right up the hill from Rev. Diana's house for camping and hiking and more debriefing, so I actually got to hike twice - once with Michael, and then with some of my USP friends. We had an amazing time just relaxing, star gazing, dancing when no one could see us (I think!), praising God under a waterfall, and having a worship service Sunday morning on the top of the mountain.

So when we returned to Kapchorwa from Soroti, I was able to visit my family for a few hours and it was wonderful. I arrived with Danielle and everyone was there wrapping presents for me and my Mukono family! I didn't realize what was going on, but thought it was strange that they had us sit outside for awhile. I thought they were having a party for someone because there were visitors there that I didn't recognize. So after Danielle and I had tea and shared more stories with Rev. Diana, Michael, and Whinnie, they started thanking me for being willing to stay with them and for coming to Sipi and gave me tons of gifts! I felt so honored but also like I should have been thanking all of them for their hospitality.

With less than two months left here in Uganda, I will definitely be making plans to go back and visit these friends in Kapchorwa, or maybe meet somewhere in Kampala or Jinja. This is truly just the beginning, not the end.

Prayer requests:
-Praise God, Rittah is back in school! I don't know the details of how the money came through but God provided.
-We can't seem to keep our house help for Enock...we've already been through 3 in the last few weeks and the one we have now is only temporary till we can find another one. He's just a really active kid and I guess people don't have the energy to keep up with him, but we are in serious need!