Uganda Trip - Day 2

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 -

It's December 1st and I woke up this morning in Uganda! I can't believe it! Today was filled with lots of surprises - some good, some scary. Even though I didn't go to bed until 1 this morning, I was awakened at about 6:15 by the sounds of roosters crowing and what sounded like thousands of birds chirping. It was a beautiful, amazing way to wake up. I could say that because I actually felt rested - otherwise, I'd probably be a little ticked off ;-)

I wanted to hurry and get ready so I could see what the outside of our hotel looked like. I couldn't see the night before because it was dark. So I rushed to take a shower - it felt so good, even if it was a trickle of luke-warm water, because it was my first shower in 3 days! Then as I was getting ready, I could hear the sounds of what sounded like hundreds of children laughing and singing. That made me hurry even faster because I wanted to see who they were and what they were doing. When I finally opened my door to the outside, I couldn't believe what I saw. It looked like the Garden of Eden - beautiful flowers draped from rooflines and along flower beds, exotic birds were singing high in the trees, everything was landscaped so pretty! A few of the groundskeepers were working so I went and talked to them. One showed me around the grounds - pointing out various trees, birds, nests, turtles, etc. He showed me how to make this clicking noise with my tongue and 3 huge birds ran up to me. I think they were guineas. I was a little freaked out but it was kinda cool, too ;-)

So there are now five of us on our trip from the States -

* Derk Madden - Pastor of Discovery Bible Fellowship and President of Project Hope Worldwide

* Kelley Compton - Worship Leader at Discovery Bible Fellowship and a founder of Project Hope Worldwide

* Jimmy Russell - a businessman from Owasso and friend of Derk's

* Helmut Schleppi - a producer from LA who makes documentaries for the Discovery Channel, World Vision and other NGO's (Non-government organizations). He has also produced several movies. You can find out more about Helmut here.

* And of course, myself. Plain 'ole mom. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

After a delicious breakfast at our hotel of omelets, bacon and toast, we packed up our things to get ready to drive from Entebbe to Lira. More surprises were found while going through my luggage. I found a large manilla envelope that was filled with letters for me from Steve and the girls - one letter for each day of my trip. They were so super sweet and thoughtful - it really cheered me up because I miss them terribly!

Next surprise - not so great. The drive to Lira. I was warned the driving would be scary and crazy but nothing could have prepared me for the ride ahead of me. I think it's totally amazing that many fully functioning cities in Africa do not have a structured driving system set up. First of all, they drive on the left side of the road so that took a little bit of getting used to. Next, it's pretty much a free for all when it comes to driving the streets. The roads are generally 2-way and narrow; however, walkers, bike riders and motorcyclists have to fit on the shoulders, too. There are usually no paint lines giving lane boundaries and I didn't see any speed limits posted - everyone just drives as fast as they can to get where they are going. And they are constantly passing each other with on-coming traffic heading straight towards them. It's crazy! Kelley and I spent most of our time in the car ducking and praying - did a WHOLE lot of praying that day!

It should have been about a 6 hour drive from our hotel to Lira, but our driver made it in about 4. C-R-A-Z-Y!!! We seriously had about 5 close calls - I just knew I was going to be meeting Jesus soon. Oh well - it's just part of the "experience", I suppose. We did make a couple of stops along the way at a few produce markets. We bought bananas, papayas, corn and mangos. Even though the drive was much more intense than any amusement park ride I've ever been on, I did get to see what life what like in Uganda. There were people and markets the entire way from Entebbe to Lira. The markets and homes were make-shift buildings made of whatever scrap materials could be found. They were so poor, yet seemed happy because they had the company of their friends and family with them all day every day. No time schedules. No business meetings. No e-mail or facebook. I found myself feeling almost envious of their lifestyle, yet so thankful to God for the many blessings I had back home. Sure puts things into perspective.

One of the biggest reservations I had about going to Uganda was my safety in our hotel. A few weeks ago, I had a nightmare that some men broke into my room so I kept replaying that scene over and over again in my head - totally freaking myself out and making me very leery about even going. I know that was my crazy imagination, though, so for the last week or so I've been praying against it and have felt much more at ease. Needless to say, I was still very curious to see what our hotel would be like - fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. We just checked into our hotel in Lira - it's called the Gracious Palace Hotel. We each have our own rooms and so far I feel pretty safe. I'm on the 2nd floor and I have a small balcony off the back of my room. I also have 2 twin beds, an armoire, table and chair. The beds have mosquito nets but fortunately, I haven't seen any mosquitoes just yet. We were told they have air conditioning but their idea of air conditioning here is a very noisy ceiling fan - which is why I am writing this journal entry at 4 in the morning. Hot + Noisy = No Sleep For Me Tonight.

After checking into our hotel, we walked the streets of Lira for a little while then ate dinner at a hotel called Lillian Towers that served spicy Indian food. And what did I have to eat? Pizza. Yes, pizza. Our waitress was so super sweet. I kept watching her watch us throughout our dinner. She was smiling but I didn't know what she was thinking. I spoke to her some but her accent was thick and she was very soft spoken. She saw me taking pictures and asked if I would take one of the two of us. She then told me she wanted to be friends and even verbally gave me her phone number. Of course I forgot it right away but I thought it was a nice gesture.

I wish I could be experiencing this all with Steve so badly. I miss him and the girls so much. My cell phone lost service as soon as we left the states, so I haven't been able to speak to them since Monday. I am hopeful that Thursday I'll get to skype or call. We'll also get to meet some of the orphans that will be living at Calo Me Lare later today. It will be interesting to see what God has in store for us. We survived the drive here so surely God has a big purpose and calling for us. We are His willing servants and are excited to see what He will do today. Maybe I can squeeze in a cat nap before I have to get up in an hour :-) Will write more soon!