Joyfully content...

23-1-09
I cannot believe that there is only a week left in January! I have been here for two weeks, almost. It seems so crazy! There have been so many new experiences and so many emotions that will never get the justice to be remembered. This week has been a whirlwind of emotions. Right now I am staying with a family until next Friday, but at first I hated it and couldn’t wait til it was done. I do not hate it anymore, but I am glad that I choose to stay on campus for the semester. I am beginning to know what it is like to be a Ugandan family in a developing country. These people are so joyful and thankful for all that God has given them. They do so much work and it just part of life to them. I know I will not complain about doing laundry anymore in the states. I won’t say I will never because I am sure I will at some point, but I will be thankful for the button I have to push instead of the ‘getting the water from the well, getting buckets, washing and scrubbing with hands, rinsing with hands, hanging dry, ironing because of bugs’ type laundry. Running water is such a luxury that I take for granted everyday of my life. I am kind of a sanitary person and for me to eat at a dinner table with ants crawling all over and perhaps on the food is a big strech for me. Back home, most people would describe me as a picky eater but I think you would be shocked what I have eaten here. Lets make a list: onions, carrots, french beans, cabbage, all kinds of bananas (some not so good), peppers, papaya, jack fruit, MANGOS!, pineapples, watermelon, avocado, and rice and beans! Haha…I actually enjoy rice and beans. I think I will be vegatarian while being here because the meat comes out of a little shack with no refrigeration. Plus the meat is chewy and just not great. So I want a big steak when I get back parents! ;)
There have been somethings that I appreciate in America, besides running water and real toliets. Here pedestrians do not have the right-a-way; it is every man/woman for themself here. I like the time we eat supper because here we eat at 9:00 p.m. or later and then you take a bath and go to bed. I love that we have huge breakfast, they do not. I would be so fat if I ate late all the time. One thing I love here is the community environment. People that I do not even know call me sister and there is just such an emphasis on family. It is not individualistic at all, but communial (sp?). The disadvantage to that is there is never any alone time. I need that, but here it is almost strange for a person to want that. People know no stranger. Neighbors are friends, families are golden, and strangers are always welcomed. It is so funny because they always say, ‘ You are most welcome’ meaning as in welcome to our land, but someone asked me why they are always saying welcome when we do not say thank you…I just laughed. They always ask how your day went, how your night went, and anything in between. I love it! I want my family now and future family to be so community centered with some minor adjustments :D. Well I am going to go eat lunch, rice and beans, then go to Mukono with Tori. I’m so excited because Naomi, mama, and I are going to town tomorrow to look for material for a dress to be made!
I miss all of you and pray for His presence to be with you this very moment. Just breathe Him in.

Love,
katie