Welcome to Uganda! It has been an interesting few days. There isn't much to say about the flight except it was LONG! All went smoothly and we purchased the all important stroop waffles in Amsterdam...they definitely lived up to their reputation! We got into Entebbe, Uganda about 10:30 Wednesday night. We stayed in a beautiful guest house and got a good night sleep.
Thursday morning, we got up and headed toward Kampala. We exchanged money there, bought phone minutes and wifi access, had our first unsuccessful trip to the embassy (no adoption business on Thursdays), and went grocery shopping. We then headed toward the orphanage. We stopped once at a nearby market for vegetables. I think this is a must when traveling to Uganda. We sat in the car while a mob of vendors swarmed us with their goods. Claudia was amazing...evidently having LOTS of experience in this area. Which was a good thing, because I truly believe I would have ended up somehow purchasing the whole market!
We arrived at the gate at GSF and were welcomed by singing, dancing and drumming. It was here we were privileged to meet our sweet girl for the first time! She was a bit shy and not sure about us, but we did get a smile or two out of her! We tried a fresh, organic pineapple that was amazing and I had my first ever mango (I know, I am sheltered)...it was not yet ripe and not so amazing, but I am told that I HAVE to try again when they get a ripe one. We have also been told that it is grasshopper season in Uganda and that we cannot leave the country until we have tried one. They have assured us they are delicious!
Thursday night we got settled in and went to one of the missionary's houses for dinner. Then we headed back to the guest house for bed! We slept in Friday morning and took a nice FREEZING shower because we are not smart enough to figure out how to get the hot water heater to work! The
bathroom is the epitome of the Ugandan experience because not only do we get to enjoy freezing showers, there are some "pet" lizards that like to hang out behind the toilet. Every time you flush, one of them jumps out and runs up the wall. I know it is going to happen every time and it still scares the begeebees out of me!
Yesterday we walked around and toured the orphanage and spend some time with our princess in the toddler house. There is really no way to describe the toddler house. Think of the scene in Toy Story 3 when the kids come in from recess and find new toys. That is about as close as I can get to the experience of a muzungu (white person) entering the room. The kids go NUTS! They crawl all over you. They love Chris' bald head and they love my long hair...what is left of it after they have taken the "necklace" (rubber band) out of it and "washed and fixed" it for me. Believe me, a part of me IS staying in Africa!
We also got to eat lunch on the porch while watching monkeys jump and run from tree to tree...amazing!
Today, our girl is sick! She is running fever and not feeling well. One of the aunties in her house had all of the other toddlers sing to her and pray for her. This afternoon, we are going t o help get a building ready for a church plant that some people from the orphanage are starting.
Next week, we will have our first court date and we are going to start helping at the orphanage. I am going to be he helping to home school some of the missionary kids and I may get a chance to teach some classes in the primary school and Chris is going to help get a mentoring program started.
We will try to keep posting but the Internet here is very temperamental so it may be several days
between posts. Thanks for the continued prayers!
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