The Wall Bloggers

Wednesday, May 15 - Friday, May 17, 2013 After Monday and Tuesday at the passport office, we also spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday there. As I prayed for our passports Monday and Tuesday, God revealed to me that we would need a mighty work of His hand for them to come to fruition, and that I should pray for Him to receive the glory. We kept our routine of sitting in the tea tent until after lunch time, and then headed for the shady grass by the bathrooms.  Occasionally, we would be asked to leave the grassy area by an employee, and we'd return to the tea tent for another soda.  Our children were little troopers with the minimal toys we could bring.  And W-- got several naps on my lap, as my hind side fell asleep at our concrete sitting spot.  We'd leave in sheer exhaustion, ride home in near silence, have dinner, put our kids to bed, and prepare to return the next day.  Thursday night, I spent extra time in prayer, asking God if we could ...

Tuesday, May 14, 2013 W-- and I, (as well as the other families) faced exhaustion from Monday.  After breakfast, when W-- threw a tantrum over not wanting to share a toy with the other girls, I angrily carried his screaming body into our room.  We sat down on the bed together and cried.  And I cried out to God, letting Him know that I didn't think I could face another day like Monday, with those unforgiving benches, the heat, the squirming child on my lap.  It has become so clear to me while I've been in Africa that Americans are raised in comfort, expect comfort, and become angry without comfort.  Africans are raised most often in discomfort, they are accustomed to discomfort, and do not even find discomfort worth mentioning.  I do not know how to get past my cultural upbringing to find myself at a place where I can easily overlook it.  So I cried out to God about the dread of another day of discomfort.  And He is so kind.  ...

Monday, May 13, 2013 After being woken up from 4:00-5:30 by the ministry group leaving the guest house, we set out for the passport office by 9:00 am. On Friday, we had been told to come pick up our passports for our children Monday.  So, like Americans, we all set out with the impression that we would pick them up after maybe an hour or so of waiting.  Rashid led us back to the tent we saw last week when we first dropped off our papers at the passport office.  It is the only shade in the large courtyard, where when the sun is unencumbered by clouds, it is quite intense.  There was also the large shade tree, but anyone who stopped there was shooed away by angry officials.  So, we squeezed into the shadows by the edge of the large tent.  Under the tent were rows of wooden benches, crowded with Africans waiting for their various documents.  We waited with the expectation that it would soon be our turn to receive our prized passports.  But aft...

Sunday, May 12, 2013 Mother's Day.  But not much sign of it around here.  A few mentions of it.  Rashid's comment Saturday, "Oh, isn't Mother's Day sometime soon?" We ladies and our kids were blessed to attend Joy's church again.  W-- did his usual nap, falling asleep during the amazing and loud worship time, and remaining asleep through the end of the service.  After the service, Joy took us back to the "mzungu" ("non-African") shopping mall, where we bought W--'s shoes last week.  I was grateful to return, because those bargain priced kids Crocs were nagging at me.  :)  So that was my Mother's Day treat: buying a few pairs for the kids. The second part of the treat was getting to Skype those little people who those shoes were for.  I talked to Adrianna and Abel, with W-- at my side, at about 5:00 pm Ugandan time, 8:00 am their time, as they were eating breakfast before church.  As we Skyped, I got to watch Scott tryin...

Saturday, May 11, 2013 Early in the day, I got to Skype Scott as my father-in-law drove him home from the airport.  What a blessing to see him on the other side.  It was close to midnight there, and I'd had two nights of sleep while he traveled home.  Whew, that's a long journey. We also heard that Ivan, our paperwork man, had been back to the passport office to check on our children's passports, and they hoped that they would be ready Monday.  That was hopeful news for keeping our timeframe here.  Rashid's wife, Joy, invited the three families to her house for a traditional Ugandan lunch.  Joy took Mike and Melissa to the store so that Mike could get the supplies to make chicken enchiladas, so Joy and Rashid would have a taste of our traditional food, as well. In the meantime, Lisa and I waited at the guest house with our kids.  Lisa and I are getting lots of down time here.  In many ways, the rest time is a ble...

Friday, May 10, 2013 Scott's first day gone, and W-- and I were woken at 6:00 a.m. by the enthusiastic singing in the seminar above us.  W-- asked to go to the bathroom, and I feared that that was it for his sleeping.  Thankfully, I tried setting him back in bed, and he just whimpered for a few minutes before returning to sleep.  Whew. Later, W-- and I headed out to eat breakfast with Lisa and her daughter.  I thought it might be nice to make tea with a little ginger, like the Ugandans do.  Apparently I momentarily forgot that the only other time I had tea with ginger, I lost my breakfast.  I drank a few sips, and realized that it was not sitting well.  I tried finishing breakfast, and then convinced W-- to come into our room.  I grabbed a plastic trash bag in time, as W-- laughed at my sickness, not knowing what it was. I collapsed on our couch afterwards, wondering how I was going to conquer this single parenting thing.  I showed W--...

Thursday, May 9, 2013 I knew it was going to be an emotional day.  Scott's last in Uganda.  My last with my sweetie for over two weeks. Lisa and I told the guys that we needed to be included in the day's outing, as another day at the guest house sounded a little confining.  So Lisa, her daughter, Mike, Scott, Rashid, W--, and I all squeezed in Joy's car (a tiny Toyota sedan, similar to a Corolla), as Rashid's Land Rover was in the shop.  We headed to the lawyer's office to pick up our court ruling.  Alas, the court did not have all of the paperwork completed, but they had one part of it, which was enough to take to the passport office.  So, we of course headed for the passport office.  We waited for ten minutes for a parking space on the street in front of the office, while Rashid chatted with the parking attendant.  He explained to us that the attendant had been working in that job, in the hot sun, up until she was read...

Wednesday, May 8, 2013 The day felt like perhaps one of the longest since our arrival here.  After breakfast, Scott and Mike saw Rashid outside, and went out to talk with him.  He took them on a walk around the property.  And then Mike came back to tell us that they were going to Kampala together.  I was disappointed that Scott didn't come to talk to me about it, but I sent a water bottle and Trio bar for Mike to take to Scott as they headed to town. W-- and Bridget played with play dough for a while, before W-- started getting nasty with her about not wanting to share his play knife.  That should have been my first indication that a nap was necessary.  By the time I got him into a nap a little later, he was screaming and fighting it.  He did, finally, get some much needed sleep -- after many tears -- and woke up in time for lunch.  After lunch, I was the tired one, and wondered just how I was going to keep the little guy entertained unt...

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 After breakfast, Scott, Mike, W--, and I turned an extra bed into a couch and pulled out our laptop for viewing a couple episodes of Seinfeld.  For a moment, life felt like we were in America again.  :)  Then we set out on a walk, with Mike's goal to see monkeys.  We went past the same tree where Scott and I saw the monkeys before, and there they were, three of them showing off for the crazy people coming to see them.  We continued walking farther than Scott and I had before, and ended up connecting up to the main "highway" we use to drive into the city.  We were pretty sure we looked like some silly Americans as we hiked back along the highway to the turn off to the guest house, with "bota botas" (motorcycles) dodging around us as we went.  We made it back to the house after our hour of meandering, with the men dripping sweat (they had taken turns carrying W--). We returned to court at 2:30 for our co...

Monday, May 6, 2013 We needed to return to IOM to have W--'s tuberculosis test on his arm read.  We had a little hint of anxiety about the medical check up, with W--'s ankle still looking a little yucky.  At 6:30 a.m., amidst the Ugandan downpour, we sloshed through the mud to Rashid's Land Rover.  Scott, W--, Lisa, her daughter, and I all slid into the car, drenched and covered in mud.  It was such a blessing, though, to arrive at IOM before the masses of others poured in.  We were the first ones in the door, and even the receptionist and the staff were not yet in their places, though the door was unlocked. The sweetest African doctor sat before us to check W--.  "I'll need you to take his clothes off, and set him on the table," she directed.  As we started to take his clothes off, he screamed.  "That's fine," she said kindly, "He can leave his clothes on."  We went to take him to the table.  More...

Sunday, May 5, 2013 Most buildings in Uganda are made of the bricks from the beautiful red clay.  Those vibrant red bricks contrast so beautifully with the lush green of the surroundings.  Everywhere I turn in Uganda, it looks like a screen with the colors adjusted incorrectly -- there seems to be no way that the natural colors could be as alive as they are here.  Joy, Rashid's wife, blessed us by taking her church.  There it was, in its red brick -- not entirely finished -- but so lovely in its natural essence.  Sunlight filtering through the open bricks in the walls.  Plastic, stackable chairs arrayed in semi-circle around the pulpit.  The children's section full of little children on the right side. The service felt like home, and spoken seamlessly with a speaker and translator, English then Luganda.  Most of the songs were ones we knew, but with voices unlike those we know.  The choir was made up ...

Saturday, May 4, 2013 Mabel arrived at the guest house, soft-spoken, asking for the group wishing to tour the school.  "Oh, that's us," I replied, and introduced her to the two other families finishing breakfast. Rashid set us up with this sweet Ugandan lady for a tour of Mabel's primary school.  After a seemingly endless trip with her through Kampala, with turn after turn through bumpy, muddy roads, we arrived at the Perfect Stars Primary School.  So far, it has only two classes of children, aged four through six, but Mabel hopes to expand it through the years.  She sees it as her ministry, and doesn't turn away families who cannot afford the fees.  She walks in faith, trusting God's provision to meet the needs of the children in her care. She called them back to see us.  The children had been released on "holiday" to return home for a school break, but after she heard of our coming, she notified the children to return to schoo...

Thursday, May 3, 2013 More than usual rain during the night lead to roads even muddier than usual.  In one side road, there was even rushing water.  W-- even pointed out the van window saying, "Amazi?!" the Luganda word for, "Water."  We're amazed by how much rain the beautiful red clay dirt that abounds in this country can hold.  It's been raining almost every night, and by morning, usually ceases.  The red clay roads tend to be wet in the mornings, and nearly dry by afternoon.  Amazing for the amount of rainfall from the nights. All three of us families trekked to the IOM for our children's medical clearances.  W-- had to get a TB injection (with tears, of course), which will be checked on Monday.  The IOM office was crazy-busy when we left, with all 30+ chairs filled, and extra people standing. Ivan, the paperwork man for the orphanage, took us to a fun touristy coffee shop after IOM.  W-- got mango juice, which he loved, and he f...

We started at 5:00 this morning, ready to leave by 6:00 for the American Embassy in Kampala.  By 5:55, my stomach was so upset, I stepped outside, and got sick over the side of the porch railing.  Ugh. Thankfully, I felt so much better after that, I was ready to go by a few minutes after 6:00.  We dropped Rashid's kids off at the nice school in Kampala, as Rashid commented about the amazing lack of traffic.  He gave us directions for what to do at the U.S. Embassy, and left us to do our American thing on our own. We waited for maybe an hour, and then had to convince the officials to help us get into the office to get the one form we needed.  They thought we should come back Monday.  By God's grace, they finally agreed for us to come back at 2:30.  That sounded a lot more reasonable. We returned to Rashid, went to a coffee shop, and talked with him as he planned out our revised course of action.  There ar...

Catching up from the last few days...   Monday, April 29 Trip to King's Palace. Lunch at Chicken Royale and delicious chicken and "chips." Resting afternoon at guest house. Attempt to walk in the grass... covered in bugs. Waiting for Mike and Melissa to return from court.   Tuesday, April 30 Long morning of waiting to be picked up for court... Ride into city with van full of W's grandma and aunt and other family's birthmother. Making it into courthouse by 2:00. Waiting in room full of people (12 others, maybe?).   Very hot to begin with... Imagine a five story building, being on the fourth floor in 80 degree weather, with no A/C, in a room full of people dressed in their court finery.  A little warm.  And then Rashid turned on the two fans for us and we stood by the windows, while W-- gave us a description of the city (especially focused on the cars and motorcycles), and we started feeling quite comfortable.  We stayed in th...