At Last

I find it hard to believe that the we have less than 10 days left in October and this is only my second blog post. I knew the days were flying by but now that they've passed; I'm not sure where they have gone.

The most memorable thing we did these past 2 weeks was go to Queen Elizabeth National Park as a family.

This is a big deal, not only because we've yet to go (most people go within their first few months - definitely within their first year), but because we needed time together more than we realized. Sometimes we forget how good a prolonged dose of family time feels!

We saw many animals and beautiful things, but I think the kids would have been happy to just ride on the top of the car (we took some couch cushions to make it more comfortable and I am soooo glad we did!)

Dennis, a friend of ours was our driver and personal tour guide for the day since we didn't have a clue where we were going. This allowed Joel the opportunity to ride on top with the kids and next time we'll know what to do.

We all agreed that God must have had a blast making Africa and that warthogs make us laugh. They look so funny when they run with their tails sticking straight up in the air as if they're flying a flag.

Apparently there used to be several volcanoes in this area and they've now become craters. Several of the craters have filled with water and the water is crystal clear. I took a picture of the side of one crater and it's reflection. Can you tell which is which?We saw 5 lions! They were a bit in the distance, and I'm not ashamed a bit to say I was thankful for the space between us.

After we drove on the path past this one, maybe a few kilometers or so, there were 3 women clearing the sides of the road! They were just out there with their hoes making sure the road was wide enough for two cars to pass. I wanted to warn them about the lion, but Dennis told me they were used to it, and they'd be okay.

This is how he knew: one time he was out on a game drive and a man clearing the road stopped him to say that there was a lion directly up ahead. The man was not in a panic (as I would have been) and Dennis asked if he needed a ride. The man assured him that he was fine because whenever a lion charges he just stands there facing him without fear. You should NOT run if a lion comes after you (please know my only reference to this theory is only that one man and I'm not sure I'd be able to practice what he preached and I'm not saying this is the best plan if a lion does chase you!).

All of this to say, the women did not seem to be bothered by the fact that all they had to protect them from the king of the jungle was a hoe. One other thought on this is what Ruth told us. She says : if a lion is coming after you, you put a stick or anything long on the top of your head. You hold it there to give the illusion that you're taller than you really are. Ruth says that lions won't attack something taller than them. (Again, please don't make this your contingency plan based upon my story!) So...maybe the women felt safe because of their hoes.

Anyway...the other lions we saw were seen while on our boat ride. We saw them come down a hill and at least 2 of them ended in a large cactus tree.

You'll have to look closely to see the one in the tree - it's looking right at you (we didn't have any sticks but I felt safe in a boat since cats don't like water!)

Also on the boat ride we saw many hippos, water buffalo, a few crocodiles, and birds galore. I was surprised to see how well they all got along.The boat ride reminded us of a very cold boat ride with the Skinner side of the family way back in 2009. We went to DeGray Lake in Arkansas one January to look at Bald Eagles. It was fun but the coldest I'd ever felt. So this picture of a fish eagle is for Weldon!

It was nice and relaxing...

At the resort where we ate lunch (probably the best burger I've had this side of the globe) there lives a herd/bunch/whatever you call a group of mongoose. We tried to decide if the plural form should be mongoose, mongooses, or mongeese. Dara feels strongly that it should be like "moose" and so we choose to say mongoose. Anyway, Dade loved them!

Finally, on our way out (this was a day trip), we saw more elephants close up. We did see some out by the craters but the pictures weren't very clear. This one reminded me of the "Saggy, Baggy Elephant". Does anyone remember that story?One final tidbit of maybe-true trivia: if ever charged by an elephant - you should make as much noise as possible. Dennis instructed us to not fear (the elephant by the crater was close enough to scare the kids but quickly left without intervention) because all we would need to do was yell and bang on the roof and sides of the car. Honking the horn is not enough noise to turn them around, but maybe banging would be?! Thankfully we didn't have to see if this would work, but it's always good to have a plan.

Funny, isn't it to think about the different contingency plans we have in life...what to do in case of a fire...call 911 if there is an emergency when we're in the States...what to do if you get lost at Six Flags...where to go in our house if anyone ever breaks in at night...what to do if a riot breaks out while we're in town...what to do if a lion or elephant charges. We are learning so much!!! :)

Thanks for listening/reading my ramblings. I will try to post again before the month is out to update you on the rest. Please know that in spite of my silence, we are doing well and God is so good to us. Thank you for praying for us and our team here!

Edible Maps

Yesterday, Dade had the assignment to make an edible map of our compound. The dough was made up of peanut butter, powdered sugar, powdered milk, and corn syrup. Medard (one of the business students) was there watching me as I added more syrup because I made the dough too early and it was quite dry. He was overwhelmed at the amount of sugar in the recipe and could only take a small nibble because it was just too sweet.

With Carolyn's help, Dade made a nice map of our home - complete with legend. I'll help you understand it the best I can. His hand is covering the garden, David's house is the circle on the middle left, the rabbits' home is the cracker on the top right, most of the green gummies are trees while the clear ones are the huge boulders in the yard, finally the outline of the house is made from torn up tortillas. You can tell he had a good time!
Dara was not about to be left out of the fun. Since she is learning Texas history, she drew an outline of Texas and did her best to depict where different Native American tribes resided. I do know that major cities are represented by sunflower seeds, the gummy worms (which we can now buy in Kampala!) are the Rio Grande and Brazos rivers, and the cracker crumbs are the Gulf of Mexico. They both had a fun time with their maps. We made them before lunch and I told them they could eat no more than 1/4 of the maps after their lunch was done. I was pleasantly surprised to discover they ate very little of the actual map. Medard was right, it was just too much sugar!

Still Going!

Thanks for your prayers. We had a good time at the pool and a nice goodbye on Tuesday morning. They were able to ship the majority of their luggage as freight which hopefully saved them a lot of hassle and money. They should be arriving soon in the U.S. God is so good to give us friends throughout the world!

Joel made it safely back from Sudan and enjoyed his time there. He told me that I would never complain about Mbarara if I could see how other missionaries live. He's probably right. But since I didn't see it, I was a bit flustered to come home to no water and no power.

Even saying that, it's not entirely true. We have a water tank that supplies water to the bathrooms and David's home. The kitchen sink and Ruth's wash room, sink, and toilet are the ones that have no water. We fill up jugs to wash dishes and flush toilets. Some people walk miles to get water, I really shouldn't complain about having to walk down the hall way.

True the electricity was off, but thanks to a generous gift earlier this year, we have a battery system that allows us to power most things for as long as the batteries can. In a nut shell, this is how it works: when the electricity is on the batteries charge; when the electicity is off, the batteries run most things. The fridge, hot water heaters, coffee makers,and washing machine use too much power so they stay off. This is a huge blessing and I'm truly grateful!

But still I struggle when I know that tomorrow night will begin another 24 hours without power. It looks as if this schedule of 24 on and 24 off may become the norm. According to the newspapers the demand is too high for the systems in place (plus certain organizations are refusing to pay the power distributing company, resulting in their inability to pay for the power, resulting in less power for the growing population to share, UGH!). Please pray I won't complain.

Joel has mentioned that if this continues we'll consider investing in solar panels to charge our batteries which would help. Fellow missionaries who have kerosene-run refrigerators and solar powered electricity are quite happy. Maybe it's the way to go. We'll see.

All in all, by God's grace we are still pressing on. I will rejoice knowing that I face each day with the strength God provides, my strength barely gets me out of bed. :)

One Last Time

Right now I'm sitting on the porch at Matoke Inn, the guest house in Kampala where we're staying. Joel's in Southern Sudan for a leadership conference. Dade and Benjamin are watching "Cool Runnings" in the sitting room. Dara, Micah, and Zachary are playing in the back yard. Kathy and Dale are at the airport trying to get the majority of their luggage shipped as freight which will hopefully save them a couple thousand dollars. We've been anticipating this day for some time now.

This afternoon we'll go swimming for the last time with the boys. I'm praying it doesn't rain. Why am I telling you my plans for the day? Because today is the last day we'll do these things with the Hollenbecks while in Uganda. They leave tomorrow morning to start the next chapter of their life in America. They've lived here for the past 10 1/2 years and it's not easy to move. The boys have only known the U.S. as a vacation/furlough. They've never really lived there. The cultures are soooo different. I'm not sure which will be more challenging to adapt to. Please pray for them.

Please pray for our kids too. The Hollenbeck boys are the ones Dara and Dade have bonded with the most. We lived in their house, been on the same team, and shared tons of experiences together. Last week Dade told me that he'll miss them but not be sad. Yesterday he came up to me and said, "I was wrong. I will be sad." Dara's also prepared me by saying that she and Dade may not be too happy tomorrow. Dara and Dade are acutely aware of the loss of their dear friends. It's part of life, just not the easy part. Goodbyes are never fun and this is no exception.

So, if you read this today, Monday, please pray that the luggage gets worked out, that the weather is great for swimming, and for good "goodbyes" tomorrow. Thanks!

Dara's blog!

NEWS FLASH!!!

Dara has started her own blog! This is her address www.darainuganda.blogspot.com

It will say that I'm the author of the post, but it's all her (she's just not old enough to have her own yet.)

Enjoy!