Busy Last Few Days

This post is going to contain a bunch of random things about the last few days.  This is something I, Anthony, like doing from time to time.  There are always so many fun cultural tidbits to share, and they don't always fit together.

On Saturday we moved from Kampala to Soroti.  We were worried that our furniture and luggage wouldn't fit in the truck but it made it just barely.  Things were scuffed badly, but most things were still working when we arrived. 

We drove in another vehicle ahead of the truck with Jim and Josephine.  Sara and I drove for 1-2 hours each, but Jim drove through the difficult parts.  It was a lot better than I expected.  Sara even successfully navigated through a couple cows who didn't want to leave the road.  We both grew a lot in our confidence, but both have great fear still of ever driving in Kampala.  In a few days we'll receive the vehicle from World Renew that we will be using.  We'll get plenty of practice as most of our work will be in Amuria and Katakwi, each about a 45 minute drive away when the roads are good as they are now.  During the rainy season it might be a two hour drive.  Below are some pictures from driving to Soroti from Kampala.

On Saturday night we stayed in a guest house with a plan to set up our bed and move in on Sunday. Sunday we went to the PAG (Pentecostal Assemblies of God) Soroti town church.  It's very big with multiple services.  We met some Korean missionaries there and saw our friend Emmanuel, who was a student at Pentecostal Theological College when we taught there in 2009.  Here is a picture with him.  He is now district coordinator of ministries for PAG in Soroti area, an important position.  It's a very nice feeling to run into friends almost everywhere we go in Uganda.

We tried very hard, with Jim and Josephine, to sneak into the back of church and not make a big scene.  That didn't work.  People knew us from our November 2012 trip, and Jim and Josephine are really quite famous in this region.  The church leaders soon moved us to the front, and we also were brought up during the service to re-introduce ourselves to the church, and tell what we will be doing in Uganda.  Here is a picture and video from the service below.  Also, at church we met a man with three sons, named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Here below is a picture of an Anglican church we passed by that morning.  Notice how the church was so packed that people had to listen to the service from outside.  You don't see that too often in the US.  On a similar vein, it was interesting to watch a segment on the Ugandan news about an 80 year old woman going to primary school in order to learn to read, so that she can read her Bible.

After church on Sunday we spent all day unpacking and setting up our home.  It was quite overwhelming at first.  Sunday night we went with Jim and Josephine to see Steve and Tanya Tiesenga and their family.  They work for International Teams.  We have already gotten to know some of their other teammates that are around the Soroti area from other trips to Uganda.  The Tiesengas welcomed us so warmly and fed us excellent pizza.  I ate literally something like twelve pieces.  My appetite is all messed up.  I haven't had jet lag sleep problems, but more of jet lag eating issues.  I wake up at night hungry, and by dinner time each day I can eat almost without stopping.  I also very much enjoyed seeing their pet monkey, and having her take leaves out of my hand to eat.

We spent Monday unpacking and organizing and shopping all day.  This is something that always stresses me out and overwhelms me until it is done.  There were frustrations and honestly I had a hard time staying positive.  My bicycle was all messed up from the transport, we couldn't get the stove set up, our phones aren't working right, etc.  But Sara reminded me that we are blessed and helped me to stop complaining and by the end of the day many of our problems were solved and our house was starting to look like a home.  I even repaired my bicycle myself.  We'll do a post with pictures of our house and yard soon.  There is still MUCH to do, to buy, to organize, to set up, hiring of guards, etc.  We will be busy for a while yet.

While out shopping on Monday I bought some parts from a hardware store.  When asked for a cavela (a bag), I said I didn't need one.  The shopkeeper said, "why do all of your people (meaning white people) not want bags?"  I explained that we don't like all the trash and want to take good care of the earth.  This little conversation reminded me of how much small things can make a difference.  We don't think about it, but people notice how we live even in the small things each day.  It was utterly depressing entering Soroti on Saturday night.  You would not believe the amount of trash.  Thankfully it is only really bad in certain areas, but it's just really sad.  Picture 1000 plastic bags and other pieces of rubbish for every twenty feet on the side of the road.  We'll take pictures sometime of the trash, but here are some more pleasant pictures of Soroti.

Monday was also exciting in that we cooked our first meal, sweet potatoes (achok).   While cutting them up, I used our really sharp knife we got for Christmas for the first time and sliced into a couple fingers.  But Sara bandaged me up nicely and by now I'm even able to use my fingers to type this.  (Sara says that I was warned about the sharpness of the knife and should have been more careful!) Today, Tuesday, we had meetings in Amuria with the pastors and Ugandan development workers, and Sara has a post about that.  The next couple days we hope to get much accomplished in our house and get ourselves organized for our new work.  Thank you for your prayers!