Another Monday in Kampala. But it will be the last one for a little while. Tomorrow morning I am heading to Soroti with another staff member. We will be traveling the whole day. Then Wednesday morning I meet up with the team from my church in Oregon and am with them until the 8th or the 9th depending on how plans with Alice go. I am super excited to see them. I was right a month ago when I said they will be much needed familiar faces for me. I've been doing really well not getting homesick but the last couple of days have been a little rougher for me. Their arrival is coming at a good time. I will be in Soroti until the 12th and then Alice and I will travel back to Kampala in time to leave on the 13th for Masaka. We will be meeting up with some potential partners from a US organization Send the Cow Project. We'll then come back to Kampala on the 17th and I'll have just 2 1/2 weeks until I fly home. It will go by so incredibly quickly. Probably much more quickly than the past 3 1/2 weeks sitting in an office 10 hours a day. Looking forward to traveling around the country, seeing some of TERREWODE's programs in action, getting to work with friends from Oregon and play with kids at the retreat...so much to do!

This weekend was really nice. The first one not spent in the office. On Saturday I got up and finally had the courage to go running. I had slowly been getting people used to seeing me…the first week I was here I barely walked around the area I'm living. Then I started going on short walks. Then they got a little longer and I started to walk around this certain loop/area. And Saturday I began to run. And man was it ever nice to be able to do that. I was never meant to sit still. Anyways, Saturday I was supposed to go with another member of the staff to meet a girl we are working with on a jewelry project. The Fistula Foundation wants to give out Ugandan jewelry as their dignity gifts to their donors this upcoming year and so TERREWODE has been working on designs. I was chosen to go meet with the girl because I'm an American therefore I will know what Americans will like. Boy was that difficult for me. I kept trying to explain that people are so diverse and everyone has different styles...but we'll see how it goes I guess. The other girl from the staff didn't show up so it was just me representing TERREWODE and the entire American female population. I'll let you know how that one turns out.

Later on Saturday we were supposed to go the museum (I think it was a history museum) which would have been interesting but I can't say I was enthusiastically looking forward to it. We ended up running out of time but we did get to go to one of TERREWODE's board member's houses to see her new baby. Alice had been saying since I arrived in Uganda that we were going to do this. And every time she would call Grace and tell her she couldn't make it that day. But, we finally went. And it was great. Grace and Isaac have 5 kids ages 1 month to 9  years. At first, Alice's kids were just sitting wanting to watch tv and Grace's kids were wanting to play but being shy and so it was kind of everyone just sitting around with Grace and Alice chatting. But then everyone started to get a little more comfortable and we were all playing. I hope it was ok that I preferred to play with the kids than sit and talk to the adults...I tried to do a combination of each. And then one of the girls and I just sat and read books together. She was super cute. Adopted...which I didn't know for the longest time but I kept looking at her and trying to figure out where the heck she came from because all the other kids looked like the mom. So I was waiting for Isaac to get home to see what he looked like. Anyways, in Uganda, as in Kenya, you don't leave when you're ready to go, you must ask the host if you are allowed to leave. Alice asked. 3 times. And each time the answer was no. So we ended up staying til pretty late at night and eating dinner with them even though Alice kept insisting we had to go home. I'm glad we stayed though. It was enjoyable. Except Isaac brought my a 500 mL bottle of beer and poured some in a glass...I drank it slowly then kind of hid my glass because I wasn't really desiring more. And he comes into the room a little later and says, are these ladies not taking care of you? What is happening here? And grabs my glass and pours me more. And it happens until the bottle is now all in my glass. So finally realize that I have to stop drinking for him to stop pouring because finishing something is showing you want more (somehow I failed to remember this from Kenya days and food). Before I could stop him he popped open another bottle. I hope he was thirsty because I didn't even begin to touch that one.

Sunday we were an hour late to church. And it was packed. And we passed by some seats and I thought Alice motioned me to sit down. Well, I sat down and they kept going. So that was awkward. But not nearly as awkward as when I realize I had sat down in the middle of a family where some members had just gotten up to get something. So, I ended up sitting next to a girl with a baby, the mom, then me, then one of the kids, then the dad. And the other two kids just kind of ran around in the nearby floor space because I, apparently, had taken their chair. I was feeling pretty uncomfortable and a little embarrassed. Until through the course of the hour we were there I had 3 different people with kids up and down next to me. Apparently no one really has seats because no one stays in seats for very long. I didn't feel so bad after that. We were supposed to head to the zoo later that day but never made it. When I found out we were possibly just going to this playworld type place I asked to stay home. Alice wouldn't have it. She said we would just go get food and then come back and not go there. I felt bad because the kids had wanted to go but she told me it wasn't about the kids. So, I went along and we ended up going to "the beach." We sat at a picnic table on Lake Victoria and ate at a little lodge type place. Which basically meant there was a window out of which you ordered food and then were served at the picnic tables. So we walk up to the window and there are just these mountains of foot long or so tilapia...and we ordered 3 fish, some chips (potato wedges), and cassava. And they take it and fry it all for you. And so we had fish. Eyeballs, fins, scales, skeleton, brain and all. And it was delicious. Maybe I was just hungry but it tasted so good. I think it is a must do if you are in Uganda. The whole experience was just nice. And refreshing. I had wanted to stay home because I was feeling I just needed to relax and have some moments of peace, and here I end up going and getting to sit on a woven mat by the lake, feeling the breeze against my face, and watching the kids play (Alvine, Emma, and their friends Mimi (6), and Kiki (3))...it was just what I needed.

We then took Alvine and Emma back to school and Mimi, Kiki, and I continued with Livingstone and Alice to Livingstone's sister's place for a "quick stop." His sister is a police woman and apparently all police officers (unless they're the bosses) live in police barracks. Which are just slightly better than slums in my opinion. I was pretty shocked at the conditions and that all police had to live there. While sitting there Alice told me they had gotten a call at 5 am that morning that Livingstone's cousin had died in childbirth. She was 22. Having twins. One survived. She was at the hospital. I asked Alice what happened and she said most likely she had gotten to the hospital a little too late and also Mulago Hospital on a Saturday is a mad house and near impossible to get in treatment or care. It was so sad to hear. I can't even imagine. That just shouldn't happen. It's heartbreaking to hear that and it brings all the theoretical discussions in class to a more emotional place in your heart and mind. Anyways, it was interesting to go and meet some more family and to see the barracks. We stayed for dinner and then the kids and I were sent home with Mawanda. And we didn't have the kids' dad's phone number so they just came and hung out at the house for awhile until someone finally came for them. It was enjoyable. Talked to Phil for a few minutes...unfortunately air time ran out mid sentence...I don't think it gave us nearly as many minutes as last time. Oh well, overall...good weekend.

So like I said, it's now Monday. Lots of work to do and apparently not getting it done because I'm typing this instead. But looking forward to the next several weeks!