The Crested Crane (Uganda's National Bird)...there are over 600 species of different birds at this game park more than any other park in Africa! (picture by debbie) 

Hyenas are weird animals. I know this picture looks "double", but it is actually 2 hyenas side by side...isn't that strange! They are on the road right in front of our car...it was hard not to think of "The Lion King" as we saw all these animals. (picture by debbie)

We took a boat ride on the Kazinga Channel and saw lots of hippos, baffalo, waterbuck, and tons of birds....i kept trying to get a picture of a hippo "yawning" but couldn't get one. Hippos are crazy...they hold their breath for like 5 minutes at a time and are some of the most vicious animals. They can actually charge at their prey at speeds of like 18mph..isn't that crazy! (picture by debbie) 

Our night ended with entertainment by traditional dancers and a full course meal...I hadn't been pampered like that in a while...it was like being back in the States! (sort of...I mean we were out in the middle of nowhere with wild animals, but hey) 

Bet this has never happened to you....

Tonight I went out to a village where we are doing some Bible Storying with another missionary, his 12 year old son, a male volunteer from the States, and my friend Debbie who is here visiting. Things started as usual...we were the first ones there. So we waited under the mango tree where we meet for others to arrive. Slowly they came...we greeted them and asked them how they were as best we could in Runyankore. But we happened to get a little more imformation than we had wanted (or at least the guys) when we asked a lady (actually one of our AIDS patients) how she was. I heard her speaking in Runyankore then I looked over to find her raising her shirt showing us her breast where she had been bitten by an insect of some sort. Pretty sure there where at least 15 people around. Bet you haven't had that happen in your Bible studies or Church meetings before!! I didn't even look at the guys faces and poor Jared, the 12 yr. old...he was probably about to die! But that is just another one of those cultural things...breasts are just a part of the body here...like a leg or your arm. Women breastfeed in public (and they don't try to do it descretely either), and when you are seeing patients in the hospital or clinic they begin undressing even if you don't need them too. It's so strange cause back in the states in nursing school we are taught to take every messure to ensure a patient's privacy...here they are like, "who cares it's just our body". No such thing as modesty here! Thought you might enjoy reading about another one of those fun cultural adjustments for me. I sure hope poor Jared isn't scarred for life!

"Empty Me"....

"Holy fire, burn away, my desire for anything that is not of You and is of me. I want more of You and less of me!" (words by Jeremy Camp)

Music has been such a blessing to me during my time here...when I feel like I can't go on or am alone or whatever, I seem to always be uplifted by a song. Could you imagine life without music?! I just wanted to share these words from this song that really spoke to me this morning. It's all for Him!

A Yard Sale to Remember....

This Saturday some of my friends from America here from a different organization had a yard sale. I never really thought about having a yard sale in Uganda (since you can go to the used clothing market and buy everything cheap), but apparently it's a pretty big deal. Of course I am always looking for deals so I was eager to go. The signs posted around town said that it started at 1pm...I got there a bit late (imagine that...i've always been a "late" person and living here in Africa is NOT helping). I had my new teammates' kids with me (a 13 yr. old, 12 yr. old, and 9 yr. old). When we got to the gate of the house where the yard sale was you would have thought it was a rock concert (ok maybe i am exaggerating a bit) but it was like a mob! There was a gatekeeper that was only allowing 5 people in at once! Apparently Ugandans can get pretty aggressive when they all get at a yard sale together (stealing stuff from each other, etc) and there wasn't enough "security" to watch all of them at once. The line was forever long so the kids decided they didn't want to stay (i think they were kind of scared...i don't blame them!). But I needed to ask one of the ladies running the yard sale a question so I tried to push my way through people to yell at her through the gate. All the Ugandans started getting upset and pushing me out of the way cause they thought I was trying to cut in front of them!! I tried to explain to them, but then I just gave up...seriously it was crazy. I wish I had had my camera. Can you imagine having to have "security" at a yard sale...only in Africa!

Party at Kari's...oh yeah Kari can we come?

So Friday afternoon I get a call from Julie (a student from church) telling me the worship team had been planning on having their annual get-together at my house Saturday night but that they had forgotten to ask me. It was only going to be about 15 guys and girls! Once I found out that I wasn't responsible for preparing food (of course I ended up making some cookies) I said sure. It ended up being a lot of fun (pictures follow) but I just laughed cause that is so cultural...to wait to the last minute to plan something. It's something I am not used to cause I am such a planner...but I am coming to find out that some of the most fun times are planned last minute!

The party wouldn't be complete without dancing, of course...hey we're in Africa!  

The girls....Cathy, Mildred, Peace, Sheila, Julie, Mary, Julie, Lillian, and Julie (yeah pretty sure there are three Julies!)  

They had a "modeling" contest and the guys found various props for their show...they're crazy! 

We had enough food to feed about 50 people...Ugandans love to eat and they don't eatsupper till about 10pm! Here are my friends Julie (L) and Lillian (R). Julie is the leader of the worship team.  

Can you believe the guys offered to do the dishes without being asked? I told them they need to teach American guys something...here is Simon, Gerald, and Dennis (from L to R) (by the way..this is not typical Ugandan culture, the students are a lot more Western..and plus they are believers!) 

Now it's grasshopper season...the Ugandans are happy cause they love to eat these creatures, but I am not so happy because they are EVERYWHERE including inside my house!! Now the geckos in my house have friends to keep them company! The other morning I killed 5 in a row and then I was standing in my kitchen and one landed on me...it scared me to death! They're not just small little things...they are big and bright green. I have given up trying to kill them all...it's hopeless but I sure hope this doesn't last long...I guess they have come with the rains. I feel like I can better identify with the Egyptians now during the plagues! 

This woman is collecting bananas to sell in her small duka (shop). There are many kinds of bananas grown here in Uganda. When these ripen they will be kabalagala, these are small sweet bananas (much sweeter than in the states). You can buy a hand of them (with like 12-15 fingers) for sometimes as little as 7 or 8 cents out in the village...insn't that crazy!

As Aloysious and I were walking through this banana plantation to a patient's house during home visits one day he said "Do you know what this is, Kari". I saw about 7 or 8 large piles of dirt with small plants growing on them. I couldn't really tell what they were though. Aloysious said...they are graves. The patient we were going to visit would one day be burried here along with her husband and other family members that had more than likely died of AIDS as well. These patients' days are numbered but pray that they might know Him the giver of Life.

Last weekend I had 15 of the students from church over to my house for pizza, decorating cookies, and a sleep over. We stayed up till 2 am watching "chick-flics" and had a lot of fun. Thanks Aunt Julie for the sprinkles and icing from back home...it was a great idea! Most of these girls are studying medicine at the university and are right around my age. They really are a blessing and I am thankful for their friendships. 

Here's the finished project...I think there were 3 cookies after the night was over :) 

This is my friend Betty, the tailor, who is a new believer. She made me this Kitangi, a traditional African dress. This frabic is comon from Congo and dresses like this are worn all over Africa. Women wear dresses like this everday here in Uganda, but most don't wear the head wrap here in town unless it is a special occasion. Do I look African, yet? Keep remembering Betty as her husband is muslim and does not want to "hear" about her new faith. Pray that she continue to grow in truth. 

Aerobics in Africa?

Watch out Billy Blanks, cause Apollo the aerobics instructor at the little gym above the dance club/bar in Mbarara may put you out of a job! So I have really been missing exercising and going to the YMCA since moving to Uganda. Sometimes I walk here, but I am constantly stared at and talked about in Runyankore..sometimes people will just touch my skin....to say the least it gets pretty annoying at times! Anyways, I was telling one of my Ugandan friends about missing going to the gym and she said that they have aerobics Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings in town. I was like...yeah right, areobics in Uganda where all they seem to eat is startches and fried foods? No one seems to care about staying in shape here (or at least the women don't). But I decided to try it out anyway...hey it can't hurt to meet new people right? So tonight I went along with some other Ugandan girl friends and boy did I get a work-out! I realized how out of shape I was. Of course we had to take our shoes off, cause it's not acceptable to wear your shoes on carpet here, and I kept having to scoot back cause the guy in front of me was practically on-top of me at times (personal space is not really valued here)....but over all it was a really good workout. I think my favorite part was when everyone started running around in a big circle saying "faster, faster"...I was like is this for real? I of course was the only white person, but everyone was really nice to me and welcomed me. Afterwards we had to go and pay (75 cents) downstairs in the "sauna" area....I still don't know how anyone would know if we payed or not cause it was in a completely different area. I was welcomed by the sight of big Ugandan men in small towels drinking hot tea. Only in Uganda would you finish working out and drink a nice glass of hot tea...these people and their chaayi!! (Runyankore for tea) The only way to get to the aerobics room is through the bar/pool joint with the dance club...hope I don't get in trouble with the board :)

This was probably one of the most fun experiences I have had since coming to Mbarara....wasn't quite like the Y...but still a taste of something I enjoy from "home". I would never have thought God would provide an aerobics class for me...but that just shows how much he cares about us...to give us things we enjoy; even the little things that don't seem to matter...they matter to God!