African dinner...

This past weekend we had an African dinner at our regional leader's house. Here Sharon, who lived in Uganda for 15 years, is teaching us how to make chapatis (flour, water, oil, salt to make a dough) rolled out into flat cakes and deepfried. After slaving away making the meal, the men got to eat at the kitchen table while the women had to sit on the ground!! Just so we could simulate African culture. And of course we used our hands which is always fun when you are eating rice!

Here are some other people who will also be serving in Africa. James and Billy are preparing "greens" and Sara and Christy are working on the fruit salad full of papya, pineapple, mango,and bananas. I can't wait to get to Uganda and have fresh fruit all year long!

Shots, shots, and more shots

One of the benefits of being a nurse here is getting to give everyone their shots to go overseas. We have had 3 "clinic days" while at orientation. Each clinic day all of us on the med team wear these red shirts that say "Today is a good day" based off Genesis 1:31 "And God saw everything that he had made; and behold, it was very good." Everyone loves the play on words. When the kids see our red shirts they know it is "shot day". Most people get between 3-5 shots each time. I received 9 shots total! Thankfully no major side effects though. Here I am with, Carol, who will be serving in the Southern part of Africa. See, it is a painless experience when I give shots :)

Nearing the finish line...

It's hard to believe that I only have a little over a week left here at Orientation and then will be leaving for Uganda December 6th! My time here has been amazing. I have made so many great friends and have grown so much from the conversations we have had. It seems like I am always being challenged to really think through why I believe what I believe and back it up with scripture. Even though I am so excited about what God has in store, it's going to be really hard to leave these people knowing I probably won't see most of them for at least 2 years. Please pray that I will have peace and know how to tie up friendships made here while trying to go home and pack and say goodbye to family there.

Precious friends

Our leader here at orientation, Elbert, is one of the most expressive people I have ever met. Some of the guys here decided to make iron-on shirts for everyone to wear to display Elbert's famous quotes. Here is one of my favorite little boys here at orientation, Daniel. He even got one of the pictures put on the back of his "onesie". My shirt says, "Don't leave here without that!". I'll explain more when I return home, but isn't this little guy precious. We are all "aunts" and "uncles" to the kids here and enjoy playing with them.

Ethiopian Meal

Here are some of my friends who will also be serving in different parts of Africa. After visiting the Ugandan Embassy in D.C. we enjoyed an Ethiopian meal. I had lamb meat with jalepeno peppers, tomatoes, onions, and the interesting part was the bread. It looked like a sponge with the texture of a pancake and kind of tasted like a mixture of the two! But surprisingly the food was good. Yet another reminder of the many new experiences I will have in the days to come.

Ugandan Embassy

Last friday we spent all day in Washington D.C. Our assignment was to try to find people from our people group as well as embrace the different cultures represented. I was able to visit the Ugandan Embassy and had a wonderful experience there. The girl working the front desk was so excited when I told her I was going to be moving to Uganda; she said it is the most beautiful country in all of Africa! She was from Uganda and is in the states now going to college. Her mother is actually from the town I will be living in and she even gave me her phone number to reach her when I get to Uganda! She also spoke my language; Runyankore and taught me how to say "hi"..."Angandi". Then I spent about half an hour talking with the Ambassador of the Embassy who gladly welcomed us into his office to share about Uganda. Being there gave me a renewed passion for what I am about to encounter. The Ugandan people are so friendly and open to the gospel...I can't wait to see what God is doing there. Here I am at the embassy; the man in the picture is Uganda's president, Museveni.