So Much The Same...

Kulikayo - Welcome back. Amazing how time changes things. It hasn't even been two weeks but wow...what to even say now.

Some random thoughts from my journal in the past week or so:

"This is people's lives here. No joke. Not for a vacation, not for a few weeks or even months. People live like this. For their entire lives. Birth to death. This is what they know - and usually all that they know. They don't know what washing machines, or pizza places are.

I had this revelation while bathing tonight, missing the convenience of showers, and wondering when - if ever - this will start feeling normal. Hmm. Only time will tell. I'm up for it though. Game on."

"I feel like I am in the beginning stages of a plague. Egypt style for real. There are bugs falling all around me. And I am supposed to be reading Politics homework?? Yeah right."

"We bathe with the amount of water equivalent to maybe 5 or 6 seconds of a shower. Try it sometime. Let me know how it works for you or if you find a good way to do it. :)"

"The director's wife talked to us today about expectations of the trip and of ourselves. She said that if we learn one thing about ourselves this semester it would be a success...which was kindof a relief. I don't know what kind of pressure I have been putting on myself - but it was nice to hear that and begin reflecting on what that's going to look like for me..."

Inspired by Chris Reid here are a few haikus I wrote the other night:

many crickets sing
a soft wind blows by my face
the night is so black

sitting on the porch
anooke saying "motocah"
elijah singing

trying to process
all these things that are different
brothers and sisters

new conversation
they have such joyful laughter
i don't understand

such differences
yet I wonder, how alike?
I am still learning

"I am so thankful and filled with joy to be here. Tonight I was sitting on the mat out on the porch nestled between Rebekah and Deborah with Anooke on my lap just talking and listening to Elijah sing and "call upon the name of the Lord." All as Megan was out bathing with the "night dancers" (people who come get you at night...according to our sisters). What a great family."

"I have been very impressed with how much Ugandans want us to enjoy our time here - they love their country and hope we feel the same way. Charles, on the bus, said "We are so glad you chose Uganda for your studies. How have you found your time here?" Why are we not like this in the US...I feel like we could often care less about the impression people get of the US...?"

"Discovered today that there are squirmy little mosquito larvae in the water we use for cooking, washing clothes, and other stuff. Delicious. :)"

"Last night was wonderful - for the first time I laughed genuinely really hard and felt 100% comfortable. Dance breaks so many barriers. So Krista and Lily (two girls from USP) are on their 2 week homestay now and are staying with our neighbors. The family they live with owns the cow at our house - so they are over every night to milk the cow and such. There are 4 daughters I think, and a brother. They all came over and we had the most marvelous dance party!! They started teaching us African dances...like "The Cleopatra" and "tingisha, tingisha". I wish I could show you now. Anyways, they laughed super hard at our impressions of them. Then we taught them the sprinkler and the chicken dance - it was hilarious!!! They were SO into it. And then we pretended to be super models walking up and down the "runway" or our yard. Oh, it was great. :)"

Some of the "little joys" that we are supposed to be taking time to celebrate amidst any culture stress that might be getting us down...
-getting to help prepare dinner finally (they treat us like guests for the first week and then let us start helping out around the house! yay!)
-rebecca and imme feeling comfortable enough to come hang out in our room at night when we are doing homework before bed - feels like a big sleepover
-devotions with the family after dinner - getting to see an up close picture of what Christianity looks like through African eyes...surprisingly (or not) its so very much the same. At least with our family. I mean after all God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. (And in the US, Asia, and Africa)
-being asked to say the nightly prayer after dinner


Ok one more story before we go - this week we have been planning Megan's wedding with our neighbor, Ivan. He's about 20 and from what we hear has various other girlfriends or interests at least...but one night he told Megan that he had 100 cows and 50 goats - and would that be enough for her hand in marriage? So funny. So we sat on the porch (also with his sisters) writing out all the things Megan required before she would marry him. (joking, obviously) The list became pretty intense...involving 500 goats, 300 cows, 10 TVs, 7 airbuses, 10 rooms in the house, 7 workers (myself included...I am the maid), and on and on. Then Deborah took the sheet and said she would take it to their dad to calculate the money and bring it back. And she did! They estimated how many shillings everything would be worth...and oh man, it was alot. Haven't done the final math yet but it was millions and millions of shillings. Ivan's dad said he would be more than willing to pay it all, as long as Megan loved Ivan. haha. Our dad came home towards the end of the negotiations and thought it was hilarious! He said that Megan's dad would kill him for letting this go on! :) It was such a good time - we laughed so hard.

Ok I'm outta here - please take care, God Bless and keep updating me on your lives!
Love and miss you guys!!