Isaac's Hair

We haven’t gotten Isaac’s hair cut in over 6 months. It’s long. Jesse and I have had a long standing debate on what to do with it. Jesse wants to braid it or have locks (dreads) put it. I’ve loved his curls, but now that we are here in Uganda, have felt like we just need to shave it off again. The men here all have shaven hair. & I get a little tired of getting dirty looks when people ask if Isaac is a girl or a boy and i tell them a boy. But I decided to go ahead and try to get his hair done...and hey if it looks terrible then we can always just shave it off, right!?

(a picture to show you isaac's hair)

So off to the salon. We go in to ask how long it would take to get what we want. They say an hour and a half. (we had brought our little movie player with us). We say great. They tell us that they guy who is going to do his hair has about 5 minutes more with his client and then we are up. Since we are at the salon, Rachel and I decide to go ahead and have pedicures done.


Now you might think we are really spoiled to have this done, but trust me our feet get really really disgusting here. We wear flip flops everywhere. and there is dirt and mud everywhere. It’s fine, but it is nice to have them scrap at least the first 10 layers of dirt off. I would put up a picture of our disgusting feet, but I don’t want to scare off any readers :) (especially you Ryan & Candice).

Well anyway so we are getting our toes done, and Jesse is just waiting with Isaac and Levi. and he keeps waiting and waiting. We actually get done, 45 minutes later, and Isaac is now just getting in his little chair. The guy looks at his hair, and proceeds to tell us that b/c his hair is so fine it’s not long enough, and we would not be happy in 3 days when it all falls out. Bummer. I’m glad he was honest with us, but I do wish he could haven told us that right when we got there. So now we don’t know what to do. He said it needs to be about an inch longer. So do we wait it out to let it grow that long, or do we just shave it? I know such a dilemma. : )

Freedom

We got a car! Jesse has been searching since he’s arrived, and we finally got ours this past week. It’s been a long hard search for him. As he told you all earlier it’s not been an easy task. In fact even with this car we now have, we were told we could pick it up Wednesday June 3rd, then the 6th, then the 10th, then 15th, & finally the day we got it the 18th!


I didn’t realize how much freedom I would feel from having a car though. But this past weekend it was so great to just be able to hop in our car and go wherever we wanted to go. And when we were done at the grocery store, to just get in our car and go home, with not having to wait 30 minutes for a taxi to come get us.

If we didn’t have kids it wouldn’t be as much of a big deal. Most people around here get around on Bodas (motorcycles). It’s how Jesse gets to work. I have not rode one yet, which Jesse gives me a hard time about. Honestly, i’m a little scared. If you saw the driving here, you would understand. But besides that, there is no way with three kids that I can get around with them on a boda. Now I have seen 3 kids and 2 adults on one before, but I know we are not that talented. So we’ve been tied down to using Taxi’s. But they aren’t all over, like tuk tuks were in Sri Lanka. So you have to usually call to have one pick you up, hence the long waiting.

So I love having a car! :) I drove quite a bit this weekend, b/c Jesse could be in the passenger seat telling me where to go. & only once did I almost hit another car. I find the driving kind of fun, b/c really anything goes. It is weird driving on the other side of the road, but luckily there are usually lots of cars everywhere so it helps remind you what side to be on. My biggest nervousness about driving is not knowing where I am going. There are no street signs, and the roads curve here and there, up and down hills, so even looking at a map is not always helpful. So hopefully I will be able to find my way home!

Classic Oversteer

When I was twelve or thirteen, my dad taught me how to drive.

The good thing about learning to drive in Nebraska is that there is no traffic to worry about. The bad thing is that your first few times behind the wheel come on gravel roads. For those of you who have never ventured to the great state of Nebraska, the land is flat, the corn is tall and the roads are gravel. That is to say that the driving surface is not paved, but rather is hard packed dirt covered with about an inch of loose sand and gravel. In the American-built, rear-wheel-drive vehicles that most Nebraskans drive, the surface initially feels somewhat like loose packed snow or black ice on a paved highway.

On a fateful Saturday afternoon in June, my Dad and I had just finished pulling a heavy, horsepower-laden engine from an old Ford Mustang and installing it into my Dad’s lightweight, rear-wheel-drive Ford Courier pickup truck. We had worked all day and were pretty proud of ourselves, but it was time to go home. My Dad climbed into our full sized Chevy pickup, and told me to follow him home in the now-supercharged Ford Courier. I couldn’t have been more excited.

About two miles into the trip, I experienced (or more accurately, engaged in) what I like to call “classic oversteer.” The truck started to get away from me a little bit, but I stayed on the gas, determined to fight through. I pulled the wheel to the left to correct my course, and the back end swung out to the right. I pulled the wheel to the right to correct my mistake, and the back end swung even further to the left. Soon I was fishtailing back and forth across the road that I was careening down. Fortunately, the fishtailing only lasted a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, it ended nose down in a culvert at the bottom of the valley. That’s right, I dumped the truck over the steepest bank I could manage to find, and totaled the truck, new engine and all.

I tell this story because learning to drive on gravel is a lot like learning to lead a team in Uganda. You get into the truck excited and ready for the challenge, feeling like a grownup with the new responsibility. You have way more horsepower than you have any business handling. You start down the road, and it is a lot of fun. You get into deep gravel, and get a bit out of shape. You make a few mistakes and you overcorrect for each of them, making even bigger mistakes. If you are not extremely careful, you can find yourself jerking the wheel back and forth, overcorrecting for every misstep, and praying that you don’t run the whole thing into the ditch.

I have an amazingly talented team of twenty-two professionals, including four Americans, one Australian and seventeen Ugandans. We have eight attorneys, four social workers, two investigators, two pastors, six administrative professionals, and me. For some reason, I have been chosen to lead this team in our efforts to bring legal relief to widows and orphans who have had their homes stolen from them by opportunistic thugs, who often happen to be their former in-laws. We receive case referrals from churches, non-profit organizations and our own legal training seminars, hearing horrific stories of defenseless women and children being thrown from their homes in their hour of need by the very people who should be protecting them. We meticulously investigate the facts of the cases to determine if the law has actually been broken. If it has, we represent the victims in legal proceedings, which may include negotiations, mediations and/or civil and crimination litigations, all designed to re-claim the properties that were stolen. And finally, we work to reintegrate the victims by providing for their basic needs for food, shelter, medicine and psychosocial support. The team was doing really well before I got here. In the first five months of 2009, we educated hundreds and hundreds of people on the laws protecting widows and orphans, recovered the homes and property of over 40 victims and secured the arrest of four perpetrators.

I just pray that I can keep this truck moving down the road as I take the wheel. The problem is that my natural tendency in a new situation is to over steer. I come in focusing on praising the team for its accomplishments on Monday, focusing on our shortcomings on Tuesday and back to the hope for tomorrow on Wednesday. I want to be everyone’s friend one day, I feel the need to exert more authority on the next, and on the third day I want to play around again. I want to let people find their own way on Wednesday, I am micromanaging on Thursday and have resolved to strictly “measure by results” again on Friday. Back and forth, left and right, each time feeling the back end of the truck swinging wider and wider.

While this is my tendency, I continue to work, hope and pray that it will not be my destiny. The first step in getting through an oversteer situation is to just relax. The second step is to stop trying so hard to correct your last misstep. Just keep moving down the road and measure your responses to your own failures. Let the horsepower work for you instead of against you. Stop correcting and start driving.
I imagine that as time goes on, I will start to feel a little more relaxed and will be able to stop correcting and start driving. If I can, the horsepower in this office has almost limitless potential, and it is going to be a lot of fine to drive.

P.S. - For those of you who have never driven on gravel, ice or snow, and thus can’t relate, imagine the first time you played Mario Kart, and how you repeatedly drove Yoshi into one wall after another as you frantically searched for the center of the road.

P.P.S. – Mom, I believe I already came clean with you on the truck incident, but if this is your first time hearing the story, sorry I never told you.

Top Ten Things I've Learned In My First Month In Uganda

• Grasshoppers Make a Tasty Treat
In Kampala, there are street vendors everywhere. Men and women who stand along the side of the road and hawk their wares to anyone who happens to drive by (if you’ve seen the ladies who walk between the cars selling roses along Frying Pan Road and Route 28 in Virginia, imagine that times 50 on every street corner and you get the idea). Recently, there have been guys carrying Tupperware buckets selling little tin foil boxes. I asked one of my co-workers what they were selling, and they said “grasshoppers, they’re a delicacy.” Now, I was thinking she meant “string hoppers” - like the Indian food – but I was mistaken. She meant the little six legged critters with the big eyes that squish bigger than life on your windshield as you drive down the highway on a hot Nebraska summer’s day. I confirmed the meaning a few days later when one of the staff brought one of the tin foil boxes to the office. They heated a bowlful of delicacies up for me in the microwave, and waited for me to flinch. I didn’t. They actually were pretty tasty. Kind of nutty, and kind of crunchy. They remind me of something I’ve had before, but I can’t think of it. If I remember I’ll let you know.

• Riding Two Dudes on a Motorcycle Does Not Mean You’re Gay
There are a few ways to get around Kampala if you don’t own a car – Hire a special hire (what we would call a taxi cab) – Take a taxi (what we would call a public bus). Special hires are expensive and I’m not nearly smart enough to figure out the taxi routes. That leaves me with one inexpensive and pretty straightforward option, which is taking a boda boda. A boda boda (or “boda” for short) is a motor cycle taxi that you can find on about any street corner. It is actually a cartel system of young men on beaten up 250 cc motorcycles, who will drive you almost anywhere for almost nothing. At first it felt a little awkward climbing on a motorcycle behind some guy I hardly new (I really don’t think knowing the guy would have made me feel any better). After I learned that you hold on to the back of the bike and not the guy’s waist it seemed less awkward. Now I don’t think twice about it. I still think twice when someone suggests that I share a boda ride with another guy. Three guys straddling the same short framed motorbike??? Even I have my limits.

• Plumbing Conducts Electricity
As Amy has already posted, we are living in a wonderful guest house owned by a wonderful family, and we couldn’t be more blessed. That being said, the place has its quirks. One of those quirks is that the hot water pipes somehow manage to conduct a small charge of electricity. Not enough to kill you, or really even hurt you very bad. Just enough to freak you out when you’re standing in the shower and you reach to turn the hot water up and experience a shock somewhat similar to five times the shock experienced by licking a nine volt battery (if you’ve never done this, don’t – if your brother or sister has never done this, I highly recommend it). It also shocks you when you run the hot water while doing the dishes. Now, both my experience with the phenomenon and my host tells me that it doesn’t really hurt and it isn’t that big of a deal, but something deep down inside says electricity and water are not a good combination.

• The World Really Sees Us Through the Eyes of Television
I am really trying to spend a lot of time getting to know my staff, and part of that is just sitting around talking about nothing. In all of this mindless chit chat, I have really seen the power of American television, and how it shapes the way the rest of the world sees life in America. One of my African co-workers told me that she thought if you were black in America, you were likely in a gang, and if you were in a gang in America, you were definitely black. In another conversation, she commented about school shootings and how they were such an everyday occurrence in America. The source of both ideas – American television. What really got to me thinking about the second media-induced stereotype was that the day before she made the comment about school shootings, a Ugandan police officer got into a disagreement with a woman in a bar and opened fire, killing eight people. The story didn’t even make the front page of the paper here in Uganda, much less the American press. If that had happened in the U.S., it would have been a huge anomaly and it would have run at the top of every news cycle for six months. And the rest of the world would believe that all Americans live in fear of a dangerous and malicious police force.

• My Wife is a Sickly Saint
Whenever you travel with someone, you learn something about that person. When you move overseas together you look somewhat deeper into their soul. I’ve learned two things about my wife in our recent move. First, I learned that her immune system is not built for travel. She is recovering from her fourth major illness in three weeks. Upset stomach, fever, cough and cold – you name it, she’s had it. Second, she is not about to let a severe fever and stomach cramps get her down. Through all of her ailments, she has kept a really good attitude. Only once that I can remember has she said that she is ready to pack it in. If I was as sick as she has been week in and week out, and if I had been forced to be locked in a guest house with our three lovely, innocent, well-behaved, obedient and ever-joyful children, I wouldn’t have just talked about packing it in. I just hope all the bacteria (and my kids) give up before she does.

• People Eat the Entire Goat
The major staple in Uganda is matoke, which is a pasty substance made of smashed bananas (not the sweet ones that you and I are used to). It isn’t that good, but what is good is the rice and stewed meat that you get with it at most Ugandan restaurants. Given how tasty the stewed goat was at a local restaurant, I was pretty excited when we ordered takeout goat (I realize that just sounds really strange) for the office. I was less excited when it arrived. Apparently, there are two types of stewed goat that one can order from this particular establishment. The first is just like any stewed meat – bite sized chunks of meat similar to cubed roast cooked in a really tasty broth. The second, which is what I received on this particular date, was something else. Now, I’ve grown up around the farm, I’ve been involved in a lot of butchering and I’ve field dressed a deer, and I’m pretty sure that what was in that bowl, simmering in a tasty broth, is found among the parts that we generally left in the field. I want to say pancreas or gall bladder, but who really knows. Clearly, I had ordered poorly. The broth was good.

• Mother Nature Will Take it All Back
Discovery Channel recently ran a program about what would happen if man ceased to exist, and concluded that Mother Nature would wipe all evidence of man off the planet in about 1000 years. In Uganda, it would take about six months. If you drop your pizza crust from the table, in five minutes an entire army of ants is already dismantling it and carrying it away. If some unfortunate critter fails to make it across the road, a pack of stray dogs is carrying it away within hours. If the City paves a road in December, it is back to dirt in late February. If your sidewalk gets dirty on Monday morning, it is sprouting some sort of plant – if not a tree – by Thursday afternoon. For the latent environmentalist in me, it is good to see that in a place as polluted and nasty as Kampala, Mother Nature is not willing to just lay over and die.

• I’m Not as Good of a Dad as I Wish I Was
I always kind of felt bad for parents that are perpetually telling their children, “no.” You know what I’m talking about – “don’t touch that Billy, Sally stay away from the edge. No, Johnny, you can’t hit the dog, No, Don’t, Stop, I’m going to count to three….” With Rachel, I never really had to do that, and I often felt pretty good about myself as a parent. Pride cometh before the fall. With Rachel, Isaac and Levi, cooped up in someone else’s house with a yard filled with treacherous cliffs and strange bugs, I find myself saying “no” constantly. The worst part is that, the more I say “no,” the less my kids listen. I know this, and yet the number of “nos” that proceed from my lips seem to multiply daily. And if that doesn’t work, I add meaningless threats or a raised voice, which only serves to make me look stupid, to ensure that my kids have no respect for me whatsoever, and to absolutely guarantee that my kids won’t listen when I say “no” to something serious. Man, I suck at this.

• Shaggy’s Not That Great In Concert
The other night Shaggy (the rapper, not the Scooby Doo sidekick) played Kampala. We happen to live a couple miles from the venue he was playing, and there are apparently no sound restrictions in Kampala. I never really wanted to hear Shaggy in concert, but now I have. He may as well have been playing in our living room. While the music wasn’t that good, the concert was entertaining. The most entertaining part was listening to Shaggy do all of the mindless flatteries of the audience that have become standard for every concert (you know what I mean, “I’ve played a lot of places on this tour, and I’ve got to tell you, nothing – mean nothing – beats Dayton, Ohio on a Tuesday). In the instant case, Shaggy came out a spirited version of "Angel", and during the bridge, he delighted the crowd with, “Last night I played a crowd in Batswana, and I told them that the party is in Kampala.” Now maybe the party is in Kampala, and maybe it isn’t. In any event, I couldn’t help thinking that what he really wanted to be yelling was, “What the #$$I**@! I sold out Madison Square Garden five years ago, and now I’m barely filling the stands in Kampala at 15 bucks a head.”

• I Miss My Friends and Family
Every time I have a new experience here in Uganda (and that is about every time I take a breath), I think to myself, “man do I wish ____ was here to see this,” or “_____ would love that.” Worse yet, every time I have an “African time” or a “Ugandan promise” experience, I think to myself, man I wish I was sitting down at Five Guys with _____, or at the basketball court with _______. I can’t tell you all how much Amy and I miss everyone back home. Thank you for your prayers. We really, reeeeaaaaaalllllyyy need them.

Fun With Water

On Sunday we went to one of the churches we have been visiting. After the service they were going to serve lunch and have a giant slip & slide for the kids. They weren't kidding. It was HUGE!


They also had a small little pool out for the kids.


Rachel & Isaac ran right out to play. At one point in the afternoon I look down at Isaac, he has someone's dirty shoe and is filing it with water from the pool and then proceeds to drink it. Just in case you're wondering, no we are not supposed to drink the water here.

Today (Tuesday) we were taking a taxi to a friends house to let the kids play a bit. We are about 5 minutes from home, when Isaac begins to throw up all over the cab. I have to tell the guy to turn around b/c "sorry but my kid is yacking all over the place". The driver was very gracious, but it was disgusting. After helping the guy clean out his car, I go put Isaac in the bath. He's playing fine, and then leans down in the bath and starts lapping up the water... will he ever learn?!

Transactions Without Truth

There are a lot of things that make you tired about moving to Africa. You get tired because you never really know where you are and none of the streets are marked. You get tired because, even though everyone speaks English, you can’t understand a single thing that anyone says. You get tired because your kids are up sick in the night on a pretty regular basis. You get tired because things that used to be easy, like taking a warm shower, may take twenty minutes of planning and a master’s level feat of engineering.

There is, however, one thing that makes me more tired than anything else - dishonesty - consistent, blatant, unrepentant dishonesty. The honest truth about Uganda is that honesty is an extremely rare commodity. Everyone here lies. And the crazy thing is that no one seems to care - or really even notice - when someone is lying to them.

Now, there are small lies, there are big lies, and there are silly lies. Small lies are told by the taxi cab driver who says he “will be there in 10 minutes time,” when he really has no intention to arrive for over an hour. Big lies are told by your internet service provider who charges over one thousand dollars per month for “broadband service of 256 kbps” when the monitor on the router demonstrates that less than 50 kbps is actually flowing through your modem (for comparison purposes dial up in the U.S is 56 kbps). Silly lies are told by the same internet service provider when you show him the printout and he tells you that the problem is not that he has failed to provide you what was promised but rather that you failed to buy the more expensive package.

This seemingly accepted practice of systematic dishonesty makes commercial transactions nearly impossible. For example, Amy and I are desperately searching for a vehicle to purchase on the second-hand bulletin boards (imagine Craig’s list on the wall of a grocery store). Last week, I find what appears to be an ideal 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser. The price is a bit high, but it says it is negotiable, so I give it a shot. I call the number and talk to Sam. Sam tells me that he has the vehicle at his office, and that I should come to see it (lie #1). I arrive at Sam’s office, and he says that the vehicle actually isn’t there, but it is on its way (lie #2). He talks with someone on the phone and then tells me he’ll just bring the vehicle to my office later that afternoon (not quite a lie, but not necessarily true). He hands me a copy of the flyer with a picture of the vehicle and its identifying details, and I go on my way, having wasted an hour and a half of my day.

Later that afternoon, I get a phone call about the vehicle I wanted to see. I am told that the vehicle has arrived and that the caller, who I assumed to be Sam, will be over in a couple of minutes to show it to me (lie #3). An hour and a half later, two men show up in a Toyota Land Cruiser. Neither is Sam. I instead meet Richard. I pull out the flyer, show it to Richard and ask him if the car he brought is the one in the picture. Richard looks me square in the face and says, “yes it is” (lie #4). I point out the fairly obvious fact that the photo is of a vehicle with the word Prado painted prominently on the doors, and the vehicle in front of me bears no such markings. Richard is unphaased. I ask Richard what happened to Sam and the vehicle in the photo. Richard says, “Sam actually sold that particular vehicle this morning and asked me to bring this one instead” (lie #5). Moments later, Sam calls ready to show me the car we discussed this morning. He is somewhat upset by the fact that someone has tried to beat him to the sale. Richard, tells me that the caller must be an imposter (lie #6).

Intrigued by the drama, I go ahead and inspect the vehicle. I pop the hood and immediately notice that the second battery (turbo diesel engines have two batteries -who knew?) is missing. I ask Richard why there is only one battery and he says, “this is a different model - the model with two batteries has a lot of mechanical problems - one battery Land Cruisers are better.” (lie #6). I decide it is not worth pointing out the gaping hole with two now-empty connector cables where the missing battery should have been. I walk around to the side of the vehicle, and look at the insurance sticker, which prominently states that the current policy period commenced in June 2008. While standing directly in front of Richard and looking directly at the sticker, I ask “when was the vehicle imported to Uganda.” Without blinking, Richard says “three months ago.” (lie #7). I point out the sticker’s date, and move on. I look at the old school odometer and notice that the vehicle has significantly less mileage than my old 2002 Volkswagen and that the mileage of this vehicle is amazingly within 100 kilometers of the mileage listed for the vehicle in the flyer (lies #7 an #8). I ask Richard somewhat jokingly about whether his boss rolls back the odometers himself. At this Richard gets very earnest, and says, “it is not possible to tamper with such an odometer, as they are completely tamper proof (lie #9).

I just laugh and join in the fun, telling my new friend Richard that even I know how to roll back a fourteen year old odometer (lie #10).

FINALLY

Here are some pictures of where we are staying. The front entrance.


Our Living Room


Our Dining Room


Our Kitchen


Our Bathroom


Our Bedroom


The Kid’s Bedroom



It'll do for now : )

Bugs, Bugs, and More Bugs

I’m not a bug person. I don’t mind them outside, but inside the house...they really bother me. I’m starting to wonder why I said I would move to Uganda. : ) We have ants everywhere. And really big ones. Rachel was showing Isaac how to step on them the other day, but Isaac realized that sometimes he would miss, so now he just uses his fingers to squash them. yuk! Today he brought me one in bed.

There are also spiders. Thankfully I haven’t seen any big ones yet! But we do have those jumping spiders...which for me are just as bad. I had a traumatic experience with one back in high school (remember that mom?!).

Today I picked up the bath mat in the bathroom to hang it up to dry, and look what i found.



Yes millipedes. I don’t know why these creep me out as much as they do, but they do. and it really grossed me out b/c i could have easily stepped on them. I had seen two by our front door before but Jesse was around to get them out, this time he was not. So I had to muster up some courage and try to get them on a piece of paper so i could throw them out. By the time I had found a big enough piece of paper one had already crawled under Isaac’s car seat (which was just sitting on the floor). I moved the car seat, but as I did I accidentally cut the sucker in half! Both halves were still moving. That’s just wrong! Needless to say, I finally got them both out of my house, and we now make sure we pick up the bath mat as soon as we are done taking a shower.

We’ve had one more bug bother the Rudy household... the stomach bug. Poor Levi had a temp for about 24 hours and started throwing up. I then got it the next day. Thankfully I am feeling better today. Just really weak, but at least it’s not malaria. Hopefully no one else comes down with anything!

There is one good thing....


at least we have him to help us out! (just in case you can't tell it's a lizard, i tried to get a closer picture but that just scared him away)

The Lorenzens'

This is who we are staying with. They have an incredible ministry here. They are not themselves working with a mission group. Jim is working with a company here. But that does not mean they are not doing ministry. They found a great big house (for actually less then everything we are finding) and they basically run a guest house for missionaries, who need a place to stay but can’t afford to stay in hotels. Most people stay in the main house, they are graciously letting us stay in a small apartment that is in the basement part of their house. It’s 2 bedroom, living area/dining area, small kitchen, and bathroom.

They have new people here every night. It's been really fun to meet people and here what they are doing all over Uganda.
We can have dinner with them every night M-F, which is wonderful, since I’m not comfortable yet, with figuring out how to make anything here yet. & let's be honest anytime i can get out of making dinner I will. : )

Esther (the wife) has a wealth of knowledge to give me. She is completely a type A person, and is sometimes a little overwhelming for me, but I know in the long run it will be great. For example, she already has set up for me to interview house help on Thursday!?! I don’t even have a house yet, but she thinks it will be good to have her start now a couple days a week just helping with the apartment, and then I’ll know if I would want to keep her on or not. But there is still an interview! I have no idea what to ask this dear lady? Can you clean? okay great ; ) I know I’m an idiot, but it’s quite overwhelming to me.

I am just really ready to get into our own place. It’s just really hard for me to have to be in someone’s else’s space with 3 young kids. Again they have been wonderful, but it's always nice to have your own space.

I will try to post pictures soon, but I haven’t found my cord that connects my camera to the computer.

We Are Here

I arrived Friday morning. My flight from London was a night flight, and overall went very well. The kids both watched a movie and then slept the rest of the way until about 1 hour before the flight landed! I didn’t sleep but maybe about 30 minutes, there’s something about being the only parent on a flight, I just couldn't’t let myself nod off.

We arrived at about 7:30am. The Ugandan staff was wonderful. They helped me off the plane, took me to the front of the line going through passport control, and then had me sit while they searched for all my bags. Of course that meant I was the last one to leave the baggage area, but there was no way I could’ve done it by myself. Once we finally got out of customs, I saw Jesse! Wow it was great to see him! I wanted to give him a great big smooch right there, but in the back of my mind I’m thinking “you can’t do that, that would be very offensive to the Ugandan culture." I probably would’ve done it anyway, but there were 3 people from Jesse’s work who were also there, so I decided instead to just live with a long hug.

It was pouring outside-first rain they’ve had in weeks I guess. We waited till they tried to pull up the vehicles so we could load them up. And yes we needed all 3 vehicles! I had 7 suitcases/Tupperware bins, 3 car seats, 1 pack ‘n play, 1 stroller, diaper bag, laptop bag, backpack, rachel’s carry on, and of course the 3 kiddos : ) We fit everything in, and then divided up and took off for where we were staying. The kids of course wanted to ride with their dad, so I rode with Ida (the office administrator).

I was so tired so i don’t remember much of the trip, but Ida was very nice pointing everything out, and giving me tips on where I should buy fruits/clothing/furniture. It took us about 1 hour or so to get to where we were staying.

My first impressions of Kampala were very different then i thought they would be. Yes, everything is very green, and it is very hilly. But things seem much more spread out then I was thinking. The city is in one area, and then the rest is much more residential. Very different from Sri Lanka. Although this is nice, it’s also hard for me now, b/c I feel much more trapped where we are staying. I’ll write more later about where we are staying, but wanted to let you know that we are here, and so far so good!

NEGATIVE ON THE SWINE FLU

just in case anyone was worried

Look We Made the News!

Swine flu cases confirmed in UK
Nicola Sturgeon says the pair are recovering in a hospital in Airdrie

Two people admitted to a Scottish hospital after returning from a holiday in Mexico have been confirmed as the UK's first swine flu cases. Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said both individuals were recovering well in a Lanarkshire hospital from mild cases of the virus. It comes after Health Secretary Alan Johnson told the Commons 25 possible cases had been reported in the UK. Nine of those have proved negative, while 14 are still being investigated. Those 14 individuals were well enough to be managed in the community, Mr Johnson told MPs. The pair receiving treatment in Scotland are from Polmont, Falkirk.

***********to read whole article click above*************


Mexico suspected flu toll soars
Q&A: Swine flu
He added: "If a new pandemic does start as a result of this outbreak in Mexico and the United States, we can't make it go away, but what we can do through our plans, particularly our stockpiles of anti-virals, is mitigate its effect." Foreign Secretary David Miliband said it was "right that we put the issue of swine fever on the foreign ministers' agenda" because there needed to be "maximum European co-ordination" on the issue.
Agency procedures
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has a procedure for confirming whether or not a patient has swine flu. If a patient rings their GP or NHS Direct to report symptoms, they will be told to stay at home, not to visit a surgery or hospital. The HPA has prepared an "algorithm" - in essence, a flow chart - for suspected cases. On the phone, or possibly even face to face depending on the circumstances, the patient's GP or NHS Direct will take the patient through the algorithm. If the answers to the algorithm lead the questioner to believe the patient may have swine flu, a sample will be taken that will then be sent to one of the HPA's network of regional labs for testing. WE WERE NOT ASKED ANY QUESTIONS...ONLY ARE YOU FROM THE US?
If the sample is confirmed as influenza type A, it will then be sent to the HPA's Reference Lab at the Centre for Infections in Colindale, where they will carry out genetic typing on it and establish whether it is a confirmed case of swine flu.
There have also been cases of swine flu reported in Canada and a suspected case in France.

But I Just Wanted To See A Doctor!

Poor Levi has been sick for the past 9 days. It started out as a high fever (which he is very prone to get), but just seemed like a cold. He was eating fine, and the temp went down after 2 days. He seemed great, except for a cough. When we arrived here in England, Isaac started getting a runny nose and cough, but no temp. Again, he was overall acting normal, just a cold. Well 2 days ago, my mom and I came down with it as well. We had a really high temps., very sore throats, and bad coughing. Rachel woke up this morning saying her throat hurt as well. I finally decided to see if we could get in to see a doctor, since we leave Thursday for Uganda. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't turning into a nasty infection. My mom called her doctor, and they asked where we were from and that they would send someone out. Wow! I thought, how nice is that the doctor makes house calls! So much better then getting all three kids in the car to take them to the doctors. The doctor called on his way, and said that he would be wearing a mask, so tell the kids so they are not scared when he comes in.

About an hour later he arrived, comes in not only a mask, but a whole protective outfit. Had a plastic apron type thing, a mask, and of course gloves.


It finally clicks that he thinks we might have the swine flu.


He explained that since we were from America and there has been a breakout of the swine flu that he had to call Britain's form of the CDC, and they wanted to him to get samples from us. So he does a quick examination of us, says that he thinks we all just have a bad cold, but other than that we seem good. Then proceeds to pull out long Q-tips to take cultures, which Rachel sees and proceeds to freak out. I mean throws a HUGE fit. She is crying uncontrollably and hides behind a chair. She really doesn't like getting her throat swabbed. : ) I ask him if this is really necessary. He says if it were up to him, he wouldn't do it, b/c he's pretty sure we don't have it, but that since we are leaving we need to get it done. So we line up and get both our throats and noses swabbed. Never had my nosed swabbed before and I really hope I don't ever have to again.

Not quite the doctor visit I was planning on!

Sheep Farm

It's Lambing season right now in Northern England. It is quite amazing to see how many lambs there are. My parents had looked into different things to do with the kids while they were here, and my dad found that you can stay overnight at a sheep farm. So we packed our overnight bags and headed south. The drive was beautiful! Green everywhere. We got to our sheep farm bed and breakfast just before dinner, so we dropped our bags off, and then headed to the nearest pub to get some dinner. When we got back, my parents talked with the woman who owns the farm. They found out that their cow had kicked her husband just last week in the leg. (owwww!) He's okay but can't get out of bed, and she was running everything herself. They asked if we would be able to see any sheep real close up or even be able to pet them, she said we would just have to walk along the fences to see if we could see any close up, but she would have to catch one for us in order to pet it. & since it was just her, she really didn't have the time. So although the sheep farm turned out much different then we were anticipating, it was still neat. We were hoping for more of a tour or at least more info, and normally you might get that, but for obvious reasons it just wasn't going to happen.

This is where we stayed. It was built in the 1600's!

So we started walking around, and found many, many, many sheep. We even found one that was probably on 1-2 days old. Rachel & Isaac were so excited.



From there we drove closer to the coast, but we had to go over the "mountains". The road was crazy, it was only big enough for one car, and it wound and wound itself up this pass. Again beautiful views.


When we got to the town we got to go on a train ride. It was so fun. It was a small train, that you ride 40 minutes each way up into the fells (hills). Again the kids were beside themselves. After that we headed back home. This time on the main highway, so we didn't have to go on the crazy rode again.




My parents have been wonderful. I have come down with what i think (hoping) is just a cold. So I've just been laid up the last 2 days. My parents have been entertaining the 3 kids, which is exhausting. Levi & Isaac both have a little cold too. Please pray that we can all start feeling better soon. I hate missing out on my time here with my parents.

Jesse is still doing good. He has started house & car shopping. It looks like housing is a little more then we thought. But it looks like there are some options. I can't wait to go and see for myself. Other than that he is just getting to know a lot of different people there. Which he has informed me are awesome. Thanks for your prayers! love you all!

We Are Here & There

Jesse is in Uganda. Myself and the kids are in Carlisle, England. It's hard to be apart. Got an email from Jesse, i'll post some of it for you....

"So, I'm staring out the window at Kololo Hill, which overlooks the city. It is lush, it is green, and it is not nearly as dirty or loud as I would have expected it to be. Overall, I have to say that Kampala is a cleaner, quieter and more scenic city than Nairobi or Addis, which has been a pleasant surprise.

I just finished my first day of work at the office. I would have written earlier, but my Internet connection was down at the office (and actually the power was out for a good bit of the afternoon), which was not a pleasant surprise. ... The food was good, but it is pretty bland (we probably should have packed some redhot sauce to keep our tastebuds awake).

...I slept on all of the flights between Heathrow and here, and even in some of the airports, but I don't think I slept for any stretch over 90 minutes throughout. I'm dragging tail."

I also got to talk with him on the phone last night. The connection was pretty good! He is tired, and feeling a little sick, but is really excited about working with the people there. We are having a great time here with my parents, but it is weird thinking that he is there experiencing Uganda without us. He even went to a movie last night, and is going bowling tonight.

We've been taking it pretty easy here. Yesterday we went to Hadrian's Wall.

Today we are leaving to go stay overnight at a sheep farm. The kids are so excited. Isaac keeps shouting "baa, baa". Levi is still battling a pretty bad cold. He's not sleeping well and coughing quite a bit, and yet still smiles all day long, what a trooper! Rachel is loving playing school with her Oma, and has entertained us with singing Christmas songs over and over again.

It still hasn't hit me that we have actually moved from Virginia. It just feels like we are on vacation, and will be back soon. I'm waiting for the day when it really does. (poor jesse, when it does)

And We're Off

Our flight leaves tonight! Can you believe it? I know I can't! Where did the time go?

We've been out of our town home since Monday, staying with my sister & brother-in-law. We are almost completely packed.

We've started saying our goodbyes, which is always really surreal for me. But as we get closer to when we are actually leaving the harder it gets! Our flight leaves at 10 tonight...hopefully the kids will sleep the whole flight (i know wishful thinking). We will arrive in London Monday morning, then Jesse has about a 6 hour lay-over, and then he is on to Uganda. The kids and I are getting to stay with my parents up in Carlisle, England for 10 days before we head on down to Uganda.

I'll update more once we are in England, but just wanted to write once more before leaving. Thank you for all your prayers, we really appreciate them!

Global Prayer Gathering

This weekend is IJM's annual Global Prayer Gathering (GPG). I look forward to this every year. It is truly a time to come together with others who are passionate about justice and call out to our God. This year is a little different for me though. We are going...we are going to be doing this work?! In the past I've been able to go and really pray for others and be amazed at what God is doing all over the world. This year i think it's hit me even harder. I can not tell you how humbled and blessed I felt as i was sitting in the Uganda prayer room, and just listened to people call out to God to do mighty work in Uganda, and know that we are going to be able to have a front row seat to what God is going to do. WOW! amazing. I also felt convicted. Just before I got there I was home, worried & stressed about how was i ever going to get everything done before we have to leave. And then as I was walking out the door, found this...




Yes, Isaac found a permanent black marker and decided to color on our new carpet, our desk, and one of Rachel's shoes. So as you can imagine I was not in a very good mode when I got back to the GPG. But how quickly I was reminded of what others are going through, and how lucky i am to even have a house to even have carpet in. Why is it that I am so easily distracted with my own petty needs?

Bulletin Bloopers

Okay, I got this in an email today...& actually died laughing. It could be b/c I'm completely exhausted, but hope you get a good laugh too.

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Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Thank God for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences (with all the BLOOPERS) actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:

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The Fasting &Prayer Conference includes meals.
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The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.'
The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'
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Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
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Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
Smile at someone who is hard to love.
Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you.
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Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
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Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
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For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
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Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
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Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church.. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
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A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
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At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
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Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
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Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
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Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
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The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
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Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM- prayer and medication to follow.
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The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
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This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
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Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B. S. is done.
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The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
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Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
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The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare' s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
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Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
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The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.'

BIG NEWS

Nope we aren't expecting again :) We are MOVING here...



As most of you know we did a short term stint in Sri Lanka with International Justice Mission(IJM) about 2 years ago. I think at that point we knew that at some point we would go back more full time, we just weren't sure when. We've been talking with IJM for a while, and actually thought we would be going somewhere else, and then all of a sudden they called and said we want you in Uganda! I love Africa, so this was an answer to prayer. (although I was hoping Ethiopia...but that would've been hard b/c they don't have an office there-maybe someday)

We are scheduled to leave April 20th! Yes 6 weeks away! So needless to say we've been a little busy. We have to get out of our place, try to rent it out, sell our cars, get rid of a whole lot of stuff, and take care of some medical stuff. But unbelievably I have felt very much at peace throughout all of this. So we'll try to update as we go, but just wanted to let you in our new news!

Reason #27 - Why Rachel loves it when grandparents come to visit