Blogging & Pictures

Blogging & Cameras, two things I am forgetting constantly. I have never carried around a camera before this trip and so I am leaving it out in very discreet places....and still forgetting it. As for blogging, please bear with me and please post comments! I would love to hear from you.

I will try to have a real post up on the weekend. So try back then!

Ugandan Rain + Technology = Lack of Updates

So, when Scott casually mentioned that it would rain maybe once a day for an hour here I thought nothing of it. However, I have since learned that April is especially wet and it has rained for half the day most of the days I am here. As a Canadian, I shouldn’t be concerned except that excess rain + dirt roads + hills = cars in the ditch and any rain + businesses = closed.

This has led the no internet. I braved the elements once and walked down the hill to the main road, soaking wet. I then proceeded to take a motorcycle to town only to find out that the internet “café” was closed. Never again. The next day I went into Kampala (the main city & capitol) with Jay Duncan only to find out the internet was so slow I couldn’t even load blogger. So, I apologize to those whom I told via email to check the site.

Here are a couple of plots thickening on my end:

The ants are taking over my residence. Every night it is an experiment/challenge to see if it is possible to not have any ants crawling around the kitchen in the morning. The one rule is that I cannot use any poison. It has been hard as any piece of bread or any drop of juice leads to hundreds of ants as the following pic attests to:




Last night I had my first mac and cheese comfort meal. I had the leftovers late and left the dish in the sink, filled with water. I thought the water in the sink along with the water in the pot would deter the ants. However, they somehow found a way down the drape, dug a couple pieces of mac out of the pot and when I woke up I found this:




The battle continues.

This afternoon I had to play the part of the excited/disappointed father for 40 orphans. It is the end of the kids first quarter of school and I thought I would watch as their report cards were handed out by Frank (a female worker here) to learn more of their names. Well, next thing I knew she decided to make all the kids, once she read out their results, bring the report to me to look at and let the child know what I thought. So, I tried the best I could to look disappointed for the kids whose marks went down since last year, excited for the kids who have done well, and encouraging to the kids who struggle. It was hard as I was trying not to laugh, especially when one of the kids would come over to me distraught, probably having just been berated for not reading English well.

I will try to post some pics of the kids next time and explain how my work is going. Off to play futball…

A Weekend In

I’m here! After another 8 hour flight I arrived in Uganda at 8 am on Friday. I had a scare that only half my luggage would arrive (especially after what is happening with B.A. at Heathrow) but after some waiting I spotted my second box.

Jeff and Shannon (link) picked me up and took me into Kampala, the capitol and largest city. They showed me around a bit, took me to the only mall (Garden City), and I bought some food for the next day or two. We then dropped Shannon off at an orphanage that she volunteers at and headed to the ten acres, where I would be staying. The car ride from Kampala to Mpigi is about 45 minutes.

After I got settled, Jeff, the boys and I took motorbike taxis into town. I was shown the market, the supermarket, and we met up Jay, a friend who has a guitar workshop there. We came back, had some dinner and I slept very well for my first night..

The rest of the weekend consisted of going back to Kampala to pick up supplies for the team that is coming in a couple of weeks, meeting people around where I am staying, going to church on Sunday, actually preaching at church on Sunday, saying goodbye to Jeff and the kids, and spending the afternoon eating and talking with Michael, who started the church and the community projects here.

I realize that this description is very vague. I have trouble spending any more time on it. However, I thought I would, instead, give some impressions and tell a couple of stories.

The first think I noticed after leaving the airport is that everyone is outside, walking at the roadside, in open air markets, and it really gives a greater sense of community. When I tell people here that most people spend their time inside in Canada they don’t believe me. The closest thing I can describe it as is Granville Street on a Saturday night (minus, of course, the alcohol and the police). It is just that feeling of people everywhere. I will try to take a picture next time I am in the city...



Another thing I am getting used to is the concept of time. Everything is much slower here. Jeff was shocked when a local plumber came the next day to fix a leak in the sink. When I asked someone about when we should meet, they said, “Monday afternoon.” I wanted to clarify. I replied, “When Monday afternoon?” He said, “Monday afternoon.” Well, alright. Monday afternoon it is.

I am overwhelmed by the children. There are over 50 orphans here and they are consistency curious about everything that I am doing. Some are beginning to learn English. However, most cannot say more than their name. But, they rarely have any time with adults. So, although we cannot communicate, I am beginning to realize that just being with them is enough.

I will try to post more pics next time (I always am forgetting to take pictures). Here are a few of the 10 acres and my residence.





More to come…

Switzerland

In the business leading up to my trip, what I needed was some time to relax, think, pray, and just, I guess, BE.

This is exactly what I was able to do in Switzerland. I went and visited the Russell’s who I had gotten to know through house church and have been living over there for the past two years. They were extremely generous hosts and I felt part of the family as I lived and traveled with them for just over a week. Most of my time was spent in a small town just outside of Basel, right on the border between Germany and France. It was relaxing simply being part of their everyday routine, taking the kids to school, having coffee in the morning, going for walks in the afternoon, and sitting around the dinner table at night. I did do a few “touristy” things, going on a walking tour of basel, visiting a couple of museums, going to a stunning church, but stayed away from it for the most part. Here are some pics that Karlin took (sorry that they are unedited):














The weekend I was there we went to the Alps. The Russell's have a flat on one of the local mountains where we stayed and went skiing on Saturday. A quick side note: I had to be fairly apologetic as a boarder as they seem to have a bad rep. on the local mountain. People were almost disappointed when I mentioned that I didn’t ski. Anyways, there was actually new snow in April and we were able to find bits of powder most of the day! That night we celebrated the last ski weekend with some other families at a local pub. On Sunday, Charles and I watched a famous one day bike race (its name escapes me). It gave me a new appreciation for the sport as Charles is very knowledgeable and knows many of the riders.





A couple of things I noticed in my time there:

Apparently many (not all) of the Swiss people are very strict in the ways and do not like outsiders. Charles, Karlin, and the kids told me many stories about being told off for doing pretty non-consequential things. However, I never got yelled at and near the end of my stay it became a bit of a joke. I never got up the courage to run around in town, put my feet up on the bus, take my time checking out at the supermarket, or pee standing up after 10:30. I am regretting it a bit…Here is a shot of the "gang" loitering around town:



The strictness might have something to do with the fact that it is really very quiet and peaceful there. There isn’t much noise, even in town. The kids, even in kindergarten, walk to and from school by themselves. I noticed a cardboard clock in a window of a car and asked Karlin what it was for. She explained to me that when you park you set the clock to the time that you left. That way, if a ticket person comes by they know if you are beyond the limit. I really don’t see this working in Canada…
Some people that have flats in town have little plots of land just outside of it. There are one room cabins, gardens, and fire pits there where family and friends can get together outside. I don’t know how this would work in South Surrey but how great would that be!



My second night there I mentioned to Karlin that I had been watching the second season of Arrested Development on my flights (thanks sis!). Karlin said that the people that lived there before them had left the first season behind. So, every night we watched a couple of episodes while drinking a glass of wine. That show is one of the smartest comedies to come out in a while. Every character cracks me up…


Anyways, I am sitting at Heathrow with a 8 hour layover until my flight to Entebbe. My boarding pass is securely on me (so far) and I am looking out over the runway while typing….more to come…

London

I met up with my Father in London and stayed overnight. Dinner was great (classic sausages and mash) and we wandered the streets. He had to leave early in the morning and my flight wasn't until later so I was able to spend the day in the city. I ate breakfast sitting in the sun outside of the national art galley. I discovered that the gallery wasn't open until 10 so I wandered down to Buckingham palace. I enjoyed the walk in the park more than the palace itself! The impact of the beautiful gardens with the historic buildings in the background was something I never expected.

The Art Gallery was interesting. I spent most of my time looking at the Rembrandt paintings, especially Christ and the Woman Caught in Adultery. It was said that when it first debuted people took off their hats before it in awe. The detail in person is astonishing.

After the Art Gallery I wandered up to the British Museum. The highlight there was seeing the Rosetta Stone and holding some old Roman coins. They are beautiful and heavier that I expected. Also, I had never seen a mummy before, so that was exciting. From here I wandered back to the hotel and got on the tube to the airport. I have myself lots of time (2hours) until my flight. But, of course, something went wrong at the last minute. I somehow lost my boarding pass and kept my receipt instead...I ended up being the last person on the flight as they couldn't find someone to print me a new ticket..

However, I wasn't as embarrassed as the woman who stood up to get a bag after the seat belt sign was put on. There was a delay and the flight attendant made sure to tell the woman, and everyone in earshot of her, that it was her fault for the delay. I guess it is policy if someone gets up for the attendant to call the pilot and, in this case, we lost our place for takeoff and we had to wait 10 minutes. Well, the woman was so embarrassed that she moved to the back of the plane. So kids, now you know what happens if you think your more important than the seat belt sign!

I am here in Switzerland with the Russels. They live in a quiet town just outside of Basel. Hopefully I can get over this jet lag tonight...more to come...

Lucky Guy

Well, the first leg of my journey here has begun. I was supposed to fly out of Vancouver Sunday evening except the plane had a 4 hour snow delay in London. So, actually, we didn't leave until 12:15 or so. A funny story...

When I was booked in by the travel agent she must have placed me in the emergency aisle to give me more leg room. I didn't know this so when I checked in the person behind the counter had a strong accent so I thought they were asking if I knew the emergency procedures. I thought it to be strange but went along with his questioning and was about to explain that I have read those plasticised cards several times when I realized he was asking if I was willing to help people since I was sitting in the isle. I felt like an idiot. Well, he was so impressed that I did get an emergency isle seat that he brought it up several times. He also gave me a food voucher due to the delay.

Anyways, I made it through security and got something to drink using the voucher. I then was talking to Richard Barcaly (who just happened to be on my flight and was the person who actually bought the land that the church in Uganda built upon, but that is another story) and he asked me what seat I was in. Well, I pulled a ticket out of my pocket and it read $10 food voucher. I had given the vendor my boarding pass! Long story short, I got the pass back by cutting in a large lineup and once again bumped into the ticket agent who was impressed by my seat. He took my ticket while saying "oh, its the lucky guy"...no kidding...I was on my way

Send Off Bash

It is Wednesday night before the trip and the reality of leaving is beginning to set in. I am still coughing up green globules but feeling much better after being under the weather the last little bit. Hopefully things continue to look up.

This Friday at 7:30 my family is throwing me a going away/birthday bash at my place here in Surrey. Should be a great way to say goodbye, if only for a season. If you read this and I have not had a chance to speak with you about it, please feel free to come by! I would love to see you before I go.