Just another week in Uganda

Another week in Mbale has gone by. It is wonderful to be in our own house: sitting having breakfast in PJs on the stoop, getting hands dirty in the ground, lying on the sofa watching TV at night – all good.

Some good things from this week:

· A postcard from Andrew! (Mail obviously travels much faster from Sweden than anywhere else. An empty mailbox is awful! All letters are welcomed and replied to!)

· Garden taking shape: compost pit is dug and I can use it as much as I want! (Some people will understand why this is a MASSIVE delight!), some aloes and wild dagga are in to attract the birds, and lawns are trimmed. This coming week is VEGGIE PLANTING TIME!

· Delightful creatures – wall-climbing frog, massive bat – outdoors, thank goodness!, birds, geckos ; I love all the LIFE of the outdoors!

 

· A wonderful trip up Wanale Ridge this morning – Deon is not working (or should that get its own bullet?) Wanale fills my soul with joy at least 36 times a day! To drive up this morning and see the waterfalls (at least 3), greenness, sheer cliffs and be OUT was magical.

  

· Our health – no sickness when a number of people around us have malaria, or have fallen and hurt themselves badly (the floors here are darned hard) .

· Meeting people in an organisation where I would like to get involved (more will follow)

· Rainstorms most afternoons – these water the earth and cool the climate; besides providing hours of entertaining sheets of rain.

Some frustrations:

· People don’t understand simple instructions which has led to great aloe plants being chucked out, us being locked into our compound from outside the gate, getting ‘roast potatoes’ instead of rosti at a restaurant (small issue but a bit funny) and several levels of exasperations a day.

· Still not having our own vehicle

· People deceiving / stealing/ being mean – from having people come over the back fence and steal fruit and vegetables, to lying to us, to having seen the crowds disperse after somebody was beaten to death after being caught stealing phones in town; we realise that God is not the Lord of this land and people’s hearts need changing.

This is AFRICA – on a whole different level to South Africa.

A bit of evidence of AFRICA celebrations.  We just don’t celebrate weddings is such style, do we? Should have had bells on the front of our car… Oh darn!