Off Tu Weekend...

Caitlin and I spent the weekend at our favorite place in Uganda: Off Tu Mission.

Friday Night:

We got to Off Tu, drank tea and played with our favorite four Ugandan girls (Martha, Lovis, Anitah and Allen...if you are a regular on my blog you've seen pictures of them before) then headed to the home of Off Tu's founders Catherine and Johan. They are a German couple who started Off Tu about 17 years ago. They have a beautiful house at the mission and three great kids; Claudy (15), Friedham (13) and Caleb (11). We got to eat dinner with the family which was wonderful! First because we have not had sausage, cheese, homemade bread, and raw veggies in a very long time. Second, because we are so immersed in university life that we rarely get to enjoy family time. Also, Ugandan families typically don't talk while they eat, nor do they all sit at the same table while eating. We all told funny stories and laughed a lot and it reminded me of eating dinner with my family at home. Then the girls (Caitlin, Claudy Leez and I) headed up to Leez's room and watched movies. We also learned how to wrap a scarf like a sudanese women, where only the eyes are allowed to show. I scared Leez dressed like this! Don't worry, I will teach you all how to do it when I get home :)

Saturday:

In the morning Caitlin and I woke up early and cooked french toast for the staff and children who live at Off Tu. Though I ended up with several oil burns the french toast turned out great and the kids loved it. Then we went to an introduction with the staff of Off-Tu. One of the female staff members is going to be married in January so it was time for her introduction! An introduction is a ceremony in Uganda where the the families of an engaged couple formally meet. It is held at the bride's home with the family of the groom being introduced to the family of the bride. It is a really special ceremony as it is an opportunity to honor the Bride and the Groom individually as well as their families. It was really sweet to see how excited each family was to be accepting a new member. From the time we got there and sat down until the time we got to get up and eat it was about SIX hours! Caitlin and I were super hungry and very uncomfortable in our Gomesis (traditional Bugandan women's dress) but it was a great event to see and when we were bored we just joked around with our Ugandan and German friends from Off Tu.

Caitlin and I really feel like family members at Off Tu (how could we not when the kids call us Auntie!) and we know that Off Tu is going to be what we miss the most when we leave Uganda :(

Ugandan Proverbs

A few Ugandan proverbs I found while writing a paper for my African Traditional Religions class:

• A child does not laugh at the ugliness of its mother
• A full stomach does not last overnight
• A stick which is far away cannot kill a snake
• Feces is the food of flies
• People get fed up even with honey
• Two friends share the white ant (people here actually do eat white ants)
• Whoever comes last drinks muddy water
• He who has diarrhea knows the direction of the door without being told (my personal favorite)

:)

Soroti

So we got back from Soroti on Sunday...it was a great week.

Things I did in Soroti that I have never done before:

*Slept in my own mud hut
*Milked a cow
*Carried water on my head, and on a bike
*Slaughtered chickens (one on my birthday and one on my last night)
*Farmed: uprooting cassava and sweet potatoes which I then peeled
*Carried a baby on my back like a real village woman
*Helped my little brother make charcoal and make mud bricks
*Shelled ten pounds of ground nuts
*Peeled and ate sugarcane
*Cut down speargrass with a scythe

I have pictures of all of these things...bet you wish you could see them :) Too bad I can't upload them now...

Anyway, I also visited the school where my papa teaches, went for walks, enjoyed gallons of milk tea, held my baby brother miracle, played in the rain, explored a fruit farm of pineapples, oranges and tangerines, had dance parties with my mama and brothers and spent time just thinking and praying and reading "Letters & Papers from Prison" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (my thoughts on that book will result in their own post later, when I finish it.) It was a wonderful week and though I really missed family and friends and all my USP friends I really enjoyed my week and could easily live in that little mud hut forever...if you all lived in neighboring huts :)

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I would like to briefly offer some thoughts/shout-outs to my home life and people (homies, if you will)
1. The Phillies were in the World Series and I didn't get to see any of it. Disappointing. My friend Redmond and I attempted to get our director to let us watch a game on his satellite tv but he wasn't going for it, especially since the games started at 4am Uganda time.
2. On another sports note, OSU is playing penn state this weekend and I am really hoping for a win. Praying, actually. (Lord, please give Jim Tressel wisdom, give Terrelle Pryor skill, and give the entire defense strength, Amen.)
3. Congratulations to Adriane and Mike on getting engaged! Adriane: you are gonna be a great wife. Mike: You are a lucky guy :)

Okay, that's all. Love from the pearl of Africa!!

Headed east

Tomorrow I leave for Soroti, which is in eastern Uganda and is much more rural than where I live now. The family I will be living with will not have electricity or running water and they will have a latrine (most likely far from the home) and will eat with their hands. I am really looking forward to not only the new experience but also the break from classes and writing papers.

I will not have any contact, phone or internet, with anyone besides my family for a week and I will be away from UCU for ten days so this is my last post for a while.

Please pray for our safety while traveling six hours to get there, that I get along well with my family, and that I handle the language barrier well as it is unlikely that most of my family will speak English.



(This is me with some of the students of Off Tu Academy)

Praise the Lord!

There is an endless song,
echoes in my soul,
I hear the music play,
and though the storms may come,
I am holding on,
to the Rock I cling,

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives

And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing 'cause You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne

Praise the Lord:
-I went to the doctor today and though it was painful, my ear is now cleared of all fluid and junk and I can hear!
-Tonight is worship and watching the office: two of my favorite things to do :)
-Tomorrow I will be at Off Tu all day

Off Tu girls

This is a picture of me with three of the girls who live at Off Tu's children center. Their names are Anita (5), Martha (5), and Lovis (6). This picture was taken by the fourth girl who lives at the Children's center, Allen (5). Caitlin and I really like playing games, eating dinner and sharing brownies with these girls. They love the game "Monkey, Monkey, Lion" (our version of Duck, Duck, Goose) and they call me Auntie Faith!

Highs and Lows

So, this has been an emotionally low week for me. I have had my fair share in the US but I have definitely found it harder to handle here, being so far from those who love me the most and know me really well. If you would like to share a verse with me I would love it as I am trying to soak up all the spiritual encouragement I can. :)

I feel like there is not much new to share. We are settling into a comfortable routine here; classes, internship, eating dinner, occasional movies and viewings of "the office". It has all become normal, though I am missing a few things about American college life: Ohio State football games, leaves changing, wearing sweatshirts, powderpuff football games, and coffee dates with friends.

On weekends we like to travel into Kampala, the capital city, because there is not that much to do in Mukono. This requires us to walk to Mukono and get a taxi. Taxis here are actually 15 passenger buses that stop frequently to pick up and drop off passengers. Taking a taxi usually means having to sit veryvery close to strangers (some of whom smell), a trip that is sometimes twice as long as just taking a normal car, and not being 100% sure that you will end up at your destination. But, if you go with friends it can be fun and it only costs about 75 cents each way. Anyway, last weekend we went into Kampala on Saturday to shop and eat American food and on Sunday we went to go to a pentecostal church...and eat more American food :) Tomorrow (Sunday) I am going there to play ultimate frisbee...a few of my friends go and though I have tried to convince them that I am not good, Angela is dragging me along anyway.

I also went to Kampala on Thursday (tho not by taxi) to see a doctor about my ears. They got a lot of water in them when we went in the Nile and have been getting painful since then. Well, the doctor gave me eardrops which have actually served to make my ears more painful and completely clogged so I can't hear very much right now. Hopefully, you all will have some sympathy as my friends here have enjoyed laughing at me asking, "What did you say??" all the time.