Category: Uganda 2022
-
Back to Normal
I knew we were back with USA people when I was standing in the boarding line at Istanbul and a guy barely brushed my shoulder, then apologized profusely. By Chicago, the average weight went up significantly, all gender bathrooms started to appear and there was affordable food every few feet. Signs in customs kept warning…
-
Final Day in Iraq
We left Karbala early ish and headed back to Baghdad. Close to Baghdad we ran into a large thunderstorm. It was totally delightful, hearing the rain pound on the car, seeing the lightening and listening to the thunder. In fact I fell asleep. Baghdad was a flooded mess and men were frantically trying to clear…
-
Holy Day In Iraq
Thank goodness our hotel had beautiful clean bathrooms, as last night was the hour for our first fit of travel sickness. Apparently there’s some Iraqi germs we haven’t encountered before. The hotel had shared bathrooms, but as I was the only lady there I had one all to myself. It was maybe 5×5 with a…
-
Babylon and Ur
In spite of the noisy street and pillows of stone, we slept well. We were sitting in the lobby, munching on Buffalo cheese and bread at 6am while our driver, Hadaifa waited outside. Today we’re off to fulfill a long time dream and visit Babylon. From there we’ll head to Ur and spend night in…
-
Exhausted in Baghdad
Wow! It had been a long time since we had gone to a completely new country, and I am on serious sensory overload. It doesn’t help that the last few nights have been extremely short. Anyway, I’ll try to give you a small picture of Iraq as we’ve seen it. It took forever and a…
-
Traveling again
The plan was to leave the guesthouse at 3:45am but there was the incident of the key. Heath had pulled our key out of the door and had absolutely no idea where he had put it. That didn’t exactly surprise me, as we had been almost looney with exhaustion by the time we went to…
-
Headed back
We left the house at 5:30am and already the roads were full of kids headed to school. It’s a five hour drive from Sengera, Kenya to the Uganda Border and then five more to Kampala. That’s all very approximate in Africa, and the border was a huge unknown. Needless to say we left with prayers.…
-
Sunday
I woke up to the realization that we were almost slap out of clean laundry. Luckily the house had a washer so I tried to throw a quick load in. Turns out nothing is simple here and the washer had no water pressure, so I was stuck hauling bucket after bucket from the outdoor tank.…
-
Cheetah and Other Stuff
The guys really wanted to visit the Masai Mara again. Apparently when you’re young you don’t notice how terrible the road going to it is. Heath and I remembered, but we were enthused if they were, so at 6:30 am we took off for the park. We had no breakfast, no packed lunch and the…
-
Endless Food and Laughter
A $20 room was good enough to have a great sleep! We woke up refreshed and ready to tackle Kenya. Our goal was to make it to the Luanda-Kenya Ferry for 8 o’clock and we weren’t sure how far it was. We made it, and even had time to stand around and listen to a…
-
Sipi Falls and Border Crossing
We all left the house by 7:30 and headed off to meet the other Uganda missionaries at Sipi Falls. We were all packed up and ready to head for Kenya straight from there. The guys had previously done a beautiful 2-3 hour hike to the bottom of the falls, but nobody could remember where the…
-
Kumi Town
Today we stayed around town. The guys worked in the shop and I did laundry and looked for my sunscreen. Occasionally Heath and I would walk over to the shop and dangle around, listening to all the funny people that stopped by. A jolly guy with pants and shirts for sale swung by and managed…
-
Being The Zoo
Imagine falling asleep peacefully under a large spreading mango tree. There are only a couple other people sitting around and a little ways away the guys and Little Isaac are fixing a borehole. The ground is a little hard, but with a blanket to lie on and a purse for a pillow, it’s so comfy….…
-
Fixing Wells
The day started with a fabulous breakfast by Amanda. That girl can really cook! I’m surprised the guys aren’t 200# each. At this rate I’ll have to be upgrading my wardrobe when I get home. One of the main jobs Forrest and Lance do here is repair boreholes that are no longer working. The boreholes…
-
Wherein We Are Introduced
Sunday morning church in Africa; hot, drowsy, and uncomfortable on a backless bench. I leaned against the rough brick wall, hoping to get some respite, when suddenly I stared into the eyes of a massive striped spider. I promptly decided to switch seats. I can’t worship next to a spider. Of course we were late…
-
Reality
Uganda 2022 Three days before a trip I feel it creeping on. It starts as a niggling belly ache, general restlessness and an overwhelming love for all things in my house. Enter, the dreaded trip blues. By zero hour I can hardly swallow, my stomach cramps, and I drive my family mad by alternately sighing,…
It’s a Small World 