Merry (late) Christmas

Life has been crazy and hard here this past month. It's honestly quite hard to write when I'm struggling with culture fatigue (I think that's a real term). So now I feel as if I'm out of the slump for a bit and you all deserve to see some of what has happened in the past 3 weeks or so.

First, we had a visitor from Australia who serves in Southern Sudan. We met Craig our first few days in Africa and Joel has kept up with him ever since. He came down and spent about 5 days with us - it was a nice time and we all enjoyed his company.

Our next visitor was Jenny. She flew to Africa with us way back in July of 2009. She teaches at the missionary kid school (Rift Valley Academy) in Kenya. We had a nice time with her too and did some Christmasy things. We made snowflakes and decorated cookies. She brought M&Ms with her as a gift for all of us. I had to bite my tongue when I saw how many ended up on Dade's cookies. I had to remind myself that M&Ms are made to eat and enjoy - but I wanted to make them last until we get more (which won't be for some time, I'm sure). Needless to say, Dade was very happy.

Even though it's Christmas time, the weather here doesn't change much. In the afternoons it gets quite warm - especially since we're nearing the end of our rainy season. So the last playdate before the Christmas week, we had a water party at our house. We pulled out the tarp and placed it on the slope in front of the house. The kids had a blast - especially when we added soap!

After most of the kids went home, Jenny joined in the fun. I think her goal was to try and prevent Dara and Dade from making it to the top of the tarp - she's quite good.

After Jenny left (Dade could not stop talking about her after she weant back. Several times a day for the week after she left he would say, "I miss my Jenny"), we began preparing for our Christmas here.

Ruth, Dara, and I made chocolate covered cherries. It was surprisingly simple (only because I found a jar of cherries in Kampala) - otherwise it'd be impossible. Ruth didn't even know what a cherry was. I tried to tell her that fresh cherries taste very different than candied ones, but as of now - she's a cherry lover.

Here is the finished product. I read that they are better if you wait at least 1 week to eat them - maybe that's how they get to be juicy in the center. I don't know, but I do know that I have eaten 2 and they are delicious. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that we didn't share them with anyone - since we're waiting for them to "ripen". Not sure yet if we'll share them once they do. :)

Since it isn't cold here, it's not so easy getting into the "Christmas spirit" but we try. Here's our tree which we bought from a missionary family leaving the field. We had a hodge podge of gifts for all who would be celebrating with us. Many were still in the packages sent from America and the UK. Some were wrapped in walmart-like shopping bags, some in wrapping paper my mom sent us last year (but it arrived in February - which worked out great for this year) and some in Ugandan wrapping paper which is very thin and slippery. It was wonderful.

Even our stockings were hung by the bookshelf with care. We do have a chimney but the nails weren't going into the concrete very well so the bookshelf worked better. I made 5 new ones for the singles who spent Christmas eve night with us and Christmas day. In order of stockings: Ruth, Zillah, Seb, Stephen, and Lara.

Now for their faces, so bright and cheerful on this early Christmas morning. It really wasn't too early (7am) since we made the kids wait until then. From left to right - Stephen, Zillah, Ruth.Seb and Lara

Here's Ruth in the dress we bought her. She is so pretty!(I'd show pictures of the kids opening their gifts, but I have so many in this post - I'm trying to be picky. These pictures were so much more interesting.) Because Zillah and Seb are British, we had some new "traditions" added to our Christmas day.

One of these was "crackers". Apparently it's something they do before lunch. We all crossed our arms and held onto an end of a cracker. We counted to three and each pulled. There was a sound when the packages tore (but not necessarily a "crack"). Inside each cracker was a tissue paper crown, a joke, and a cheap little toy - like a top. You're supposed to wear your crown all day, but Kate and I took ours off after lunch (I think Dara had her's off before the meal was over). It was fun.

We listened to the Queen's speech in the late afternoon and we played the "chocolate game". This is the goofiest thing I've seen in a long while. You begin with a bar of unwrapped chocolate, fork, knife, and a silly chicken costume. Everyone rolls the dice one at a time. Once someone rolls a 6, that person dons the chicken hat, mask, gloves on the their hands, and a scarf (we ended up leaving off the chicken mask because we were making no progress). The person wearing the costume must tear into the chocolate using only the fork and knife. It took what seemed like forever because as soon as one person makes progress on the chocolate bar, someone else rolls a 6 and you have to give the costume to them. It was crazy. By the time we had half the bar left, it was my turn and I was tired of playing. Sowhen I rolled a 6...I put the last 6 squares in my mouth all at the same time - ending the game. I didn't actually eat all 6 squares, but I did eat 2 of them. It's a fun game but not one I'd want as a tradition. Here are the kids as best I could capture them. We missed home so much this month, but I'm so grateful God saw us through. He has blessed us with friend here who are as close as family in many ways. They'll never replace - of course, but they are an encouragement and blessing to us. I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours.

Catch Up

Okay....just realized how long it has been since our last post. Wanted to at least give you a quick update.

When we first arrived in Kenya, we met a young man named Craig, from Austrailia, who was serving with AIM in South Sudan. He was on a team with our friend Kim, who is currently serving with Wycliffe. Craig and I immediately hit it off and we have kept in contact since. South Sudan is part of the Central Region with AIM, which is also the region we serve in. We get to see Craig often (at least often for Africa) at conferences and at AIM's guest house in Kampala. I've been asking him to come and visit, but the timing has never worked out until now. He is about to head back to Austrailia for a much needed home assignment and decided to come down to Mbarara before he left, to stay for a week. We enjoyed making him part of our family for a week and letting him rest a little before his trip home. He even helped me fix the fences at the farm while he was here. It was really a joy getting to spend some time with him and getting to know him better. You meet people out here and bond quickly because of the environment, but very rarely do you get to just sit and spend time with people outside your team or city. So, when you get that chance you truly appreciate it.

On that note, we dropped Craig off in Kampala this past Sunday (and got to see the new Narnia movie while we were there!) and picked up our friend Jenny! Some of you may remember Jenny from our early posts when we first arrived. She was one of the single ladies that traveled with us from New York, our first time out. She was such a huge help to us (along with Hannah, Jennifer, and Margaux) and bonded so quickly with the kids. It made the initial trip so much easier. We have been hoping that she would be able to come and visit sometime and it finally worked out. So we picked her up Sunday night and headed back down to Mbarara. It has been a joy having her around again. There are just some people that feel like family and she is one of them.

When you have guests come, you realize how boring our life must look to people. The university students have gone home for Christmas, the pastor's training class is over, secondary schools have shut down for the holidays, and there's not a whole lot going on at the farm. There is a lot of planning to do, curriculum to write, meetings with administrators and faculty - and sometimes we think that looks boring to those around us. When we have visitors, we realize how much the "fun" we have here is based on getting together and playing games with teammates, meeting with students and just having an off night as a family. Even in Kampala there isn't a lot of exciting things to do - although Jill and I find that shopping in stores with variety on the shelves is quite fun! I guess it just makes you realize that this is your life now. Walking to town for groceries, negoitating on prices with local businessmen for hours, constantly writing (and re-writing) new Bible Study material, 3 hour meetings that would only take 30 minutes back home.....those are the types of things that make up our new routine. It's not exciting, it's not adventurous, it's not even fun much of the time, but it is life for us now (and for the next year and a half). We embrace it and love it and see the work God is doing through us.

Rwanda

As you've all read, Joel was so sweet to teach the kids for 2 days and let me travel with some friends to Rwanda. At first the kids had no issue at first with the idea (which surprised me at first - I was selfishly hoping to be missed a little). When Thursday morning arrived, they both shed a few tears but recovered quickly and off I went. By the time I arrived home, they were waiting at the gate - you would have thought I'd been gone for weeks. It was nice.

Ruth, Zillah, and I hired a driver to take drive us there and around town once we arrived. Zillah would have been happy on a bus, but I don't travel by bus unless there's no other option. Dennis, our driver, is delightful and trust worthy.

Rwanda is called the country of 1,000 hills for good reason. It was beautiful! The grass is lush and the farming is done up hillsides (like I imagine Italy would be). There were miles of tea fields and houses built on the sides of the hills in the most creative of ways. I can't imagine how they were able to even get the supplies up to some of those places to build the houses.

I wish I had the pictures to show you. I took so many, but they didn't come out well since I took them from a moving car. :)

Even in the city of Kigali (which is pronounced Chi-go-lee(short i & o sounds)) the houses were built on hills.

While there we also went to the Genocide Memorial. It was very well put together and included the histories of other genocides like the holocaust and the genocides of Namibia (1904) and Albania (1999?) (and others I can't recall at this time). It's hard to walk away from an experience like that. It's so sobering. Why does God let it happen? So many, many people killed just because they were different. Friends killing friends, babies and children murdered in brutal ways, families ripped apart, 1 million people killed.

It's too much to comprehend or absorb. I left filling rather numb. I came home to Dade repeatedly saying, "I love you. I missed you." He followed me around the rest of Friday and most of Saturday. And I thought to myself, "How would he be able to cope if I had never returned? How does a child heal from the loss of a parent in a tragic way?" It's too much.

Please pray for the healing of the millions of people, probably the entire population over the age of 16, effected by the genocide. The government is working diligently and stringently to unite the people of Rwanda. May God guide their efforts.

Home Alone

Well....for the first time in who knows how long, I am home alone with the kiddos. Jill had an opportunity to travel with two of our teammates to Rwanda. Have to admit, I'm a bit jealous. Rwanda is one of the countries that first led me to know that God was calling me to this continent. As a young college student, the horrific events that happened there, helped me to see the desperate need for God on this continent. Many have said lately that the same struggles I have been describing in our monthly e-news updates aren't that different than America. While I do agree with that, in this day and age, I don't think many of us can imagine what happened in Rwanda. Imgaine the US Civil War, except fast forward the technology to the mid-90's with the intent to kill, not just defend. It would kind of be like everyone in Fort Worth, wanting to kill everyone in Waco just because they were different. I won't bore you with all the details right now. I'm sure after Jill's trip to the genocide memorial that she will have much better information and a greater appreciation for it than I do now. Just rambling.

So, how did it go without Jill around? Lonely, cold at night and a new appreciation (again) for all the things she does on a daily basis to help us pull off a 'normal' life here in Uganda. Although, I do think I impressed Ruth. She couldn't believe I was doing school with the kids - guess she just thought it would stop while Jill was gone. She was more impressed that I had laundry folded and dishes put away this morning when she came in. This is not part of their culture at all. If momma leaves, the kids go with her. Fathers would never stay alone with the kids on purpose. Just another way we are all different.

She's coming home tonight and I can't wait! Life isn't the same without her here with us. I've forgotten how much she is my sounding board on EVERYTHING. Guess I always thought the first time one of us would be gone overnight, would be a result of me traveling somewhere, not her. But so glad she got the time away.

Thanksgiving (part 2)

This should be titled, "Let the games begin!" because the second half of our Thanksgiving celebration was filled with games. We made some changes to last years games. Last year we played limbo and had a 3-legged race, but we replaced those games with an egg toss and a sack race.

The sack race was a hit with all ages. Thankfully no one was hurt.

The egg toss was fun, but the pictures didn't come out to well. I have pictures of the egg-and-spoon relay and the other kids/adults in the sack race, but I don't want to bore you with pictures....so onto the snowball fight! It was fun to see the anticipation in those who played last year with us. They were so excited and the rest caught on quickly.

We placed the "snowballs" (which are just panty hose stuffed with flour) in a circle because last year everyone hit everyone vs. teams. So it seemed easier to do it this way.

On your mark, get set, go!

In no time, the air was filled with flour. The next day a friend told me that there were Ugandans walking up to our gate trying to see what all the noise and smoke was about. I can only imagine what they thought if they were able to see... :)

Most pictures require no explination but this one deserves it. If you look in the center above the pole on the right, you'll see the snowball Dara shot at me. It hit me right in the stomach.

She was proud of her shot and went running for more. I didn't stand around to see who was shot next.

Here is my friend, William, after the game was over (thanks in part to Joel - see 3 pictures up). Now for the grand total...Dara and her friend, Judah, counted everyone as they came for food and came up with a number. Six more people arrived later - so we're not quite sure exactly how many we had. I have counted 69 people in our picture (not counting Mike, who was taking the picture), and there were 3 people who left early. I feel like I'm writing a word problem for math - crazy...so onto the sum...

We definitely had 73 people sharing Thanksgiving with us!What an amazing day...definitely one for which to be thankful. God is good!