Uganda makes me want to watch the Lion King

So I made it! After two days of travel and over 20 hrs in air planes, I stepped foot into Rwanda. It was amazing to fly over parts of Europe, like Italy and Germany. Not long after I made it through customs and got my visa, Entebbe welcomed us by shutting off the power at the airport. But it gave me my first real chance to see the Ugandan sky at night. The stars are amazing.

On my first whole day in Uganda I got dropped off with my host family. They packed 6 of us in a tiny van with all our luggage, our jari cans, basins for washing, mosquito nets, gum boots, and trunks. As we wobbled us the red dirt roads to our homes I started to panic a little and started praying fervently for a roommate and sure enough I got placed with a girl named Denise with our program.

As we got out of the van I was greeted by my mom, Edith and my brothers and sister. They quickly carried in all our luggage and we were pretty much on our own. We had our first homemade Ugandan meal of rice, matoke (cook bananas that taste nothing like bananas), noodles, beef, fish, and pineapple.

I asked my mother how many children she had and I pretty sure she didn't understand me b/c she responded, "I don't know." My sister then asked her in Lugandan and she responded 10 and I was shocked. Turns out I only have 1 sister named Judith and 3 brothers named Mark, Brian, and Simon. Cousins here are called brothers and sisters. My dad came home late that night from school meetings- His name is Julius and he's the headmaster of Mukono High.

The house is pretty great. It's simple, but they have a tv, dvd player, bootleg dvds, and a computer. Here the bathroom is where you shower and that's a concrete room in the house. You was out of a shallow basin....I still haven't figured out the art. Outside is the kitchen with wood/coal/charcoal burning stove. The toilet is also outside. We have squatty potties here and it's pretty much just a hole in the ground. My first night there I went to use the squatty potty and when I opened the door a rat ran into the hole. I made the mistake of looking down into the depths w/ my flashlight only to find huge cockroaches. I decided to be brave and let's just say during the process the rat ran out btwn my legs into the squatty potty where Denise was. I didn't scream, it was a proud but terrifying moments.

I also got to watch my cousin Lamula and the maid Prose slaughter and butcher a chicken...oh my word. Poor chicken. Aunt Becky, if you're reading this, I still love meat :) They cut that thing's head right off and the chicken twitched really hard. Then they put the decapitated chickens into boiling water and pulled the feathers off, cut them open, pulled out their insides, cut them up, and cooked it. Crazy!

Well my battery is dying. I'm headed to Rwanda tomorrow for 10 days. It's a 15 hr ride.

Peace out girl scouts!

9 days until I'm on a plane to Uganda....oh....my....word.....

So much to do and so little time!

Ok so, I love the show So You Think You Can Dance. I wish I could dance half as well as the people on the show, but I'm pretty sure I'm missing certain muscles and levels of coolness to ever do that, haha. Anyways, as I was watching a few weeks back there was a dance done about addiction. I thought the dance so great in the way it portrayed the way people become enslaved to addictions and sin. Sin entangles you, breaks you, clouds your vision, draws you in, seems to take control of you, and tears you down. It's crazy that we know it's dangerous and still choose to go to it. I know in my own life I wonder that all the time. And the more I give into a sin the more I become enslaved and numb to the severity of the reality of it all. Watching this dance made me think about my own struggles and how it truly effects my life and those around me. Once you get in so deep it can seem impossible to break free and thoughts of just totally surrendering to it can feel like the easiest way out. Been there, tried that, and it's not the right path. God's gives us freedom and it takes surrender,humility, vulnerability, and complete reliance on our part. I'm so thankful that I serve a God of hope and freedom.

Here's the link to the video, it's worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lLWJboraJw&feature=related