"Blessed are the flexible..." and other stories.

Oh, how time flies. Tomorrow makes three weeks that I've been here, and therefore the longest that I've been anywhere outside the U.S.

The last week I've had limited access to internet due to moving to Suubi. Strange prayer request, by the way: pray for my computer! It doesn't work well off its charger, which makes using the internet even more complicated than it would have been. Its battery life is becoming very short, and I need my computer to make it at least until I get back to the States. I'm going to have it looked at today while I'm in Kampala, but keep it in your prayers. (Oh, the prayers we pray sometimes... lol)

A week ago today, I went to our monthly volunteer meeting, expecting nothing out of the ordinary. I got to meet all the volunteers from each of the Watoto sites, and I even got a picture of the three Louisiana girls:

Hannah, Jasmine, and me- all of us from Cajun Country!

The meeting was full of goodbyes, though, because several of the volunteers are getting ready to go home, some of them after as much as six months or a whole year of being here in Uganda; and then there were volunteers being moved to Suubi or Gulu. I had been told that I would be staying in Kampala until the end of July. There were going to be three people left in my apartment once our roommates moved to Gulu...

Well.

Jonathan (over International Volunteers) pulled the three of us aside after the meeting to inform us that in a sudden turn of events, the landlord was requesting that either we pay an additional three months' rent for one month of lease, or that we vacate the apartment immediately. 

"Blessed are the flexible, for they won't be broken in half!" Exclaimed Momma Marigold Cheshier during my first trip to Africa back in 2010. It's true. In Africa, plans change without any notice, and you can either laugh or you can cry. Either way, you have to deal with it, so you may as well laugh.

And boy, did we laugh. 

Kelly and I were being moved to Suubi, the very next morning. Jaclyn would stay in Kampala at the Nakusaro apartment (only one bed was available and she was about to leave to go home). 

We returned home to our Kitante apartment to pack everything up, only to find that the landlord had already cut the electricity. 

Blessed are the flexible... 

And that's why, at 6:00 AM, these two mzungus were up with the sun trying to pack. 

We arrived at Suubi, about an hour away from Kampala, later that morning. Suubi is Uganda. Red dirt, walking everywhere, no chocolate to be found, singing and dancing all the time. Kampala I've found to be its own first-world country within a third-world country. It's Africa, alright, but a modern, westernized, expensive Africa. So I was happy to return to the rural Africa that I know. 

On Saturday, we travelled down to the children's village and visited with some of the families. They shared a Ugandan snack with us and sang and danced for us (video is on my Facebook page). We had so much fun building relationships with these families! Then we went down to the market, where we bargained with the shopkeepers for good prices on fresh tomatoes, watermelon, and bell peppers. Market is a good 45-minute walk from our apartment... so we took boda bodas home! (Motorcycles with extra room for one or two passengers on the back of the seat- in Kampala they are very dangerous, weaving in between cars even in bumper-to-bumper traffic jams. But in Suubi, there is no other traffic, and honestly only one paved road. Not only was it safe, but so much fun!

Me riding a Boda! (Yes, I took this while the boda was going... lol)

On Sunday, we went to the Suubi campus of Watoto church. There are open doors on either side of the auditorium, and it was a chilly day. (I've noticed my body adapting to the weather here. I'm growing so used to being hot all the time that if the temperature is below 80 degrees, I get cold.) Aside from the weather, the service was incredible. Powerful worship, powerful message. I loved it. We also got to take one of the babies with us to church!

Kelly and a little boy from Watoto, Suubi. (No name for privacy reasons)

We had Sunday lunch with a missionary couple from Britain who are teachers here in Suubi through Watoto. They have been here two years and are staying another ten. They're amazing people and have told us incredible stories about their experiences since being here. 

Kelly, Joanna, Whitney, and me and the view in Suubi.

Today, Joanna, Kelly and I took the day off to rest and come to Kampala for some grocery shopping. (I should mention that Suubi, while having incredible deals on fresh fruits and veggies, has little else. Unless you want to be a vegan, you'll need to travel to Kampala to grocery shop now and then.)

Kelly and me with our twinsies trousers. (You can't say "pants" here. It means underwear. Super awkward.)

And then I get a phone call from Fred (our go-to guy for all things volunteer related). 

Blessed are the flexible.

I'm moving back to Kampala tomorrow. 

And boy, did I laugh.