Civilization

April 17th

After a long long 24 hour travel day, we have arrived here at Annemarie and Justins about 45 min outside Amsterdam. We took a nap while Justin went and got Annemarie from a different airport. It is very strange to be back to the land of credit cards and burger king. Seveal small things that strike us right away-
1. no tropical diseases- while were we were on the plane, we both seperately felt something touch our leg, and immediately started to try kill whatever it was that was crawling on our leg, because we didn't want to go to the hospital with a deadly spider bite, or get malaria from a mosquito. After a few seconds, we realized that we were on the plane, and we could relax.
2. You can brush your teeth in the sink with the faucet, not bottled water.
3. No mosquito nets.
4. Food left out on the counter doesn't immediately have 4 millions ants after 4 minutes.
5. Smooth roads with law-abiding drivers. very strange.

We're off to go grocery shopping to buy food for dinner.
--

oh my goodness, talk about reverse culture shock. we just bought food for dinner, and I'm drooling already. It's not like there weren't supermarkets in Uganda, because there were a couple western-style supermarkets in Kampala. I think it is the variety of food that is staggering. the cheese alone blew me away. Ellie and I both love cheese, and there is pretty much only one kind in Uganda, and it's fairly bland. Of course in Europe the cheeses are wonderful and varied, and seeing 5 whole shelves with just cheese made me drool. Gruyere, cammonbert, cheddar, brie, i could go on.
Anyway, Ellie and I decided that she isn't allowed to go grocery shopping for a while after we get back home, because she will impulse buy anything that a)looks good b)she hasn't had in a long time. It's the more extreme version of going shopping while hungry.


April 13th

Today was our last day at church. Of course, they brought us up front and thanked us and prayed for us. It was kind of interesting, because most people had no idea who we were. Some did, of course, and there was clapping and yelling. I don't know if it is an accurate feeling, but I feel a bit like we slipped in under the radar, and now we are sort of slipping out without many taking notice. Or maybe they are taking notice, but it's the sort of " Oh, they've been here this whole time, and now they're leaving? Huh." kind of vibe. I kind of prefer it that way, actually. The people who I have become close to are giving individual goodbyes, which is more my style. Goodbyes i'm not very good at anyway, at least not to the satisfaction of others. I just smile, give a hug, say bye, and walk away. No tears from me. It has been particularly difficult here at New Hope because they know that people that are at the institute are often considering coming on staff, so they assume that at very least we're coming back, if not permanently. In their eyes, our skills and personalities are such a perfect fit for the ministry here, they can't imagine that we wouldn't come back. So it is hard to answer "when are you coming back?" with "I don't know, when the Lord wills.", because their face falls. (it's better than saying "we're never coming back probably") Florence was saying that she loves the coming part, but she hates the leaving part.

All the Ugandans got a big kick out of my efforts to learn Luganda. Many said things like "if only you were here for a year, then you would leave not knowing english and speaking Luganda."

Luganda words

Mukisa- blessing
Oliotia - how is your day
Wasuzotia - how was your night
linda- wait!
genda- go!
muchala wange- my wife
leita- bring
m'pa- give!
wabale- thank you
m'pa ko kemu- give me one of those/that
nanaz- pineapple
echisumuluzo- key
jangu- come!
chicopo- cup
chicopo change
sente- money
sente zange - my money
chupa- water bottle
amaaazi- water (don't do like I did and say amazzi, that means poop. Sounds almost identical; slightly different stress )
mugati- bread
kali- Ok, thank you, you're welcome
katono- little
katono nnyo- very little
nnyo- very much.
Katonda- god
Mukama- Lord
Mutukuvu- Spirit
ssebo- sir
nnyabo- madam
jendi- good
bulungi- good
boda- motorcycle

emu, bidi, sato, nya, tano, mucaga, munana, musamvu, mwenda, kumi - 1-10 numbers.


Here are a few more pictures for your enjoyment.




















I like this one.