Where do I begin??

Hello dear family and friends!!!
There is so much to tell I'm not sure where to start. I'm sure this will be a long post, so I'll try to break it up into sections in case you don't have time to read it all. So much has happened and I feel settled in already; it's hard to believe I've only been in Mukono (where Uganda Christian University is located and where I live with my host family) for less than 5 days. Things are incredible here!!! I moved in with my host family on Sunday afternoon. They are such a blessing from God and so far the highlight of my experience and my biggest exposure to Ugandan life and culture - which I'm sure will remain true throughout the semester. My father is Musumba Henry - meaning Reverend. He pastors an Anglican church right outside the campus gate and very close to our home. He graduated from UCU a couple years ago, and presents himself as a very well educated man. My Momma, whose name is Irene, is a nurse. They are incredibly gracious people who love the Lord so deeply and, I can already tell, understand His grace and kingdom in such a deep way. I'm soooo grateful and excited that I have much to learn from them!! Their only biological child is Enoch, an ADORABLE one-year old who hangs on me constantly and finds no greater joy than when I play peek-a-boo with him (a game which, I might add, he NEVER tires of and so we could play for hours). Babies here don't wear diapers - except for, maybe, at night, but I haven't scoped that fact out yet. I quickly dicovered this when I arrived Sunday when I was handed over Enoch, who was already wet and then later peed on me. I observed the way Musumba and Mamma Irene reacted when peed on, which was to not react, so I did the same. (I did change my shirt after holding him, but then was peed on again, so decided I didn't have enough clothes and now I either try to determine when he's gonna pee again or just suck it up). I also have a sister Ritahh, who is 18, and a brother Stephen who is 16 and a brother Elisha who is 15. These are not Musumba and Mamma's biological children, but here in Uganda it makes no difference - they are treated just as if they were their children. They are living with us because they attend school close to our home and their families live too far away from the school for them to walk. They are lots of fun too, though I haven't yet met Stephen - he is away visiting his family for the week as school is out for holy days. Ritahh left on Monday to visit her family as well, but we got to spend Sunday with her. I'm sooo excited about having a sister here that is my age! I got to bond with her a lot, and I think we will get very close. All of their English is very good, and they're slowly but surely teaching me Luganda, but I feel like unless I write the words down I won't retain them very well. I have not had trouble adjusting at all, which has been great. Though I'm also beginning to wonder if I'm really that flexible, or if subconsciously things are building up within me. I don't feel that they are, I guess I'm just trying to be very cautious to watch out for my mental and emotional health. I don't yet have pictures of my host family - I'll post them when I do. I wanted to get to know them and begin to develop relationships with them before I snapped their pictures!

Oh, I haven't mentioned yet that I'm living with someone else from the program! Heidi goes to Messiah, and we get along great! It was fun getting adjusted to our new home together, though I definitely have to say adjusting was much harder for her than for me, and she's repeatedly told me she's really glad to have had me to lean on. We make a good pair. However, Heidi hasn't been with me the past two nights because she's been very sick. Two days before we left the States she totaled her car. She stayed overnight at the hospital and they told her everything was okay, but she's had a huge bruise across her lower stomach and upper chest from the seat belt. The first couple days at our home were very rough for her - she could not eat without getting very sick and so was not eating much (which was made worse by the fact that here in Uganda, eating lots of food is a sign of accepting a host's hospitality, and they are offended and think you did not like the food if you do not eat a lot. More on that later, but Dad-in reference to your comment that I'll lose weight, I'm certain that won't be the case!) Heidi's pain was made worse because she had to squat to go to the bathroom. She didn't get much sleep at night and I stayed up with her - she shook uncontrollably for much of the time. I kept encouraging her to get to a doctor, which she finally did on Tuesday. The doctor's initial diagonosis was very bad - they thought she had multiple blood clots and that her kidneys weren't functioning properly and were talking about sending her home. However, she went back yesterday and they told her she's severely dehydrated and has a yeast infection in her kidneys (which I didn't know could happen?!?). Praise the Lord that it's less severe! Please pray for her quick recovery.

Life here is certainly very different! I guess I should tell you about our house. I believe our family is fairly middle class, as we have our own compound and a from what I observe a nicer house than the shanties that are along most of the sides of the road. The house is all concrete, as well as the floors. There is a living room in the front with a couch, 4 chairs, and a table. In here we eat, hang out and talk, and iron clothes on the table. To the right is a one-car garage and a back room with two beds on the floor where Elisha and Stephen sleep. To the left is the preparation room, which has a table and a nice cupboard like we would have to display things in a dining room. To the left is Musumba and Irene's room and the bathroom where we bathe. Heidi and my room is to the back of the house, off the living room. We have the room to ourselves. It's not huge, but big enough for us. It has just our two twin beds. We stuff our suitcases under the bed and live out of them. I feel somewhat embarressed to have my things left out, since I have so much clothing and so many things compared to them. So I do my best to keep things away and under the bed. The kitchen is out the back door and under a covered bulding. It really is just a kettle which they use either coal or wood to cook with. Around the kitchen, a few hundred feet from the house, are the toilets, which consist of a concrete structure divided into two seperate "stalls," which each have a rectangular hole in the concrete. Anddd that's where I'll be doing my business for the next 4 months. I really don't mind that much. However, I have to remember to always go right after dinner, as it's not safe to go out late at night (after 10) becaue there are thiefs and other sketchy characters wandering at night. I bathe both when I get home from school and when I wake in the morning, which is part of the culture and is expected of me. Cleanliness and having a sharp appearance are very highly valued in the culture. I certainly don't mind bathing twice a day-with how dusty and sticky I get it's nice! Bathing out of a bucket didn't take much getting used to, though washing my hair out of a bucket was a bit of a challenge. I'm not sure I got all the conditioner out! I'm sure I'll get better at this as time goes by. The food is very good; I've really enjoyed everything I've eaten so far. We have meat more regularly than I had expected, a sign that encourages my belief that my family is middle class. We've had pork twice and fresh fish from Lake Victoria one night. Momma told Heidi and I that when we've really gotten to be part of the family we will have chicken, which is a delicacy here, and Heidi and I will eat the gizzards if we want (in Uganda this is the best part of the chicken and is reserved for the person of most honor). We've had a lot of rice, potatoes, and matoke - which is smashed bananas (not the sweet bananas, but a different, green banana), and is a staple Ugandan food. There is always tons of food, and I must tell Mamma that I am full and this is why I'm not eating more, not because I don't like her food. Most of the vegetables are grown in Mamma's garden in the backyard. We also have fresh-squeezed juice every night, which is incredible! We had fresh avacado last night for supper, which was great. They eat supper very late here - we usually eat around 9/9:30, which from what I hear from the other students living with families is one of the earliest times. The culture is so communal here - much different from our American focus on individuality!! Also, efficiency is not valued here as it is at home. Rather, the value is on relationships. So, sometimes I struggle about whether to take the time and engage in discussion someone who I walk past and who speaks with me and therefore be late for class, or take the risk of offending them and be on time. I'm learning to take every situation as it comes.

Power here is on for two days and then out for one. When it rains, which is infrequent and for a very short time (only 10 minutes or so), it POURS!!!! It's huge drops and soo loud-we can't hear in the classroom! I've seen a couple monkeys in the trees, which is cool to see when walking by! The monkeys I've seen have tremendously long, red tails - 1 and a half times their body. They're cute. The program staff is great. Mark, the program director, and his wife Abby, are wonderful people and really helpful. They're expecting a baby girl in November - they already have Daniel, who is 3. Abby's father is the vice-chancellor of UCU, which in the British system is equivalent to what we would call a President. He has been here 7 seven years-he previously taught and had a higher position which I don't remember now for 22 years at Trinity Episcopal Seminary in Pittsburgh (Flip, I told him you were applying there and they spoke very highly of it). They weren't kidding when they said packages are not good to send - yesterday a package came for a girl who did the program 2 years ago!!!!

I have a 20 minute walk from my home to campus. I'm used to being stared at by EVERYONE and hearing children scream "mzungu" (white person) and run after me. It's striking to drive down the road and see that everything is done outside here - buying and selling, even furniture is all set outside on the dirt. We've been busy all week with orientation and beginning our Faith and Action in the Ugandan Context course, which is the main course here which focuses on processing our experience and exposes us to many contemporary issues here in East Africa, among other things. Our other courses begin September 10th when we return from Rwanda (which here is said without the w). I'm taking East African Politics Since Independence; African Traditional Religions, Islam and Christianity; Law and Christian Political Thought; and the Missions course which is a part of my Intercultural Missions and Ministry Emphasis (only 10 out of the 39 students are in this emphasis. The 10 of us live with host families the entire 16 weeks, while the other students live in dorms on campus with UCU Honours college students and live with host families for only 4 weeks). We will not purchase our own textbooks here but will have a class copy, and we've learned that classes here are typically mostly lecture due to the fact that books are not easily available so professors can't assign much reading.

I got to talk to my family and Flip on the phone yesterday (ahem, Janelle, I hope to get to talk to you soon ;) ). The 2-3 second delay took some getting used to and was sometimes a bit frustrating, but it was worth it to hear their voices.

I'm adjusting well and having an incredible time here. I'm excited to go to Rwanda - we leave 5:30 AM Saturday morning (Sept. 1st), and return Sept. 10th in the morning. I'm anticipating learning much from my family, classes, and other Ugandans I'll encounter and growing tremendously this semester. This is a beautiful place with such a rich culture and a beautiful Christianity. Thank you to everyone who's sent me e-mails and posted comments - you bring a smile to my face, remind me I'm loved and prayed for, and help in my adjustment by making me miss home less. I hope all is well at home!!