Independence and a Zoo, Too

Blog Post About June 2021

The day we arrived back at our base, some of my sweet friends had planned a dinner party for me. These ladies still connect with me every other week over zoom to study the Word together.

One funny thing about that night is that I was having trouble finding out why one of my flights had been cancelled, and before the party I had been on hold with United for TWO HOURS and FIFTEEN MINUTES!  

I really do not like United, but that's a discussion for another day. 

When one of my friends saw me and hugged me, her cheek hit my earbud and disconnected my call. It was actually a blessing because it allowed me to enjoy my friends and stop being concerned with my flight for a little while.

The next day, I got a ride to meet my parents an hour away because they were bringing me a car to use for the rest of my time in America. Some sweet friends had already let me use their car for the first week I was in the States.

Two days later, we took off for Mississippi with Karis driving the whole seven hours.

The next day, we checked her into dance camp where she would stay for the next four weeks, and after one more night of sleep, we headed to a river camp with some friends to spend the Fourth of July. 

We had the best time!

Kylie had a week off as well, and she went to Ohio see a friend she had met at ballet camp years earlier.

Keira and I drove back to Texas to my parents' house on the 5th of July, but instead of taking us 7 hours, it took TEN.  Traffic and weather slowed us down considerably.  It's a good thing Keira is such a good traveler.  She talked to me the WHOLE ten hours ;)

We spent three nights with my parents again, and then headed to Doug's parents for three more nights with them. On the 9th, the weather was amazing, and we decided to go to the zoo.  

Keira has "Kenya" on her birth certificate, but she never got to experience the beauty of the wildlife there because she was so young when we left, so she was soaking it in (AND we got to see the big 5).

The giraffe with her giraffe shirt.

Happy birthday to Caleb today!

 

First Things, First

Blog Post about Summer 2020

I drove by myself to Dallas to pick up the crew when they flew in, and their flight was delayed just like ours had been. 

Since I had a lot of time to kill, I called my brother and his wife, and asked if I could hang out with them for awhile. We ended up going out for a great dinner and devised a plan of surprise.

My sister-in-law, Jen, and my nephew Nolan would come to the airport with me and hide while I videoed them disembarking. Caleb and Nolan are really close, so that was a special reunion.

Also, since it was now WAY too late to drive back the two hours to College Station, we all crashed on their floors and couches for the night while Karis was back in College Station with Keira, and she said they were fine.

Very quickly, the next morning, a plan came together to leave Caleb in Dallas with my brother's family for an untold amount of time. I was a little apprehensive because Caleb had grown so much, and I knew he really needed to go clothes shopping immediately. I didn't want to put that burden on my sister-in-law, but she took it on like a champ.

I got pictures in the stores and from their house of all of his new purchases, and I really can't thank her enough for all the places she took him to get him outfitted!

July 1, 2020

And then, they took him out and fed him well!

Nolan & Caleb, July 1, 2020

Then they entertained him and showed him a good time in America.

And can you believe, we didn't see him for another MONTH!

In the meantime, we were all in College Station getting over jet lag.

Karis and I took Keira with us one day to get coffee at this little shop downtown.

The picture of it is below, and when we walked in, Keira said, "Wow! They really need to fix this place up. It is falling to pieces."

I guess this look isn't for everyone ;). Keira was a little nervous about walking in.

July 2, 2020

We celebrated the first Fourth of July Keira could remember at a subdivision outside of town.

She was definitely not impressed. 

The fireworks were okay, but she couldn't get past the loud noises, so she ended up covering her ears the whole night.

Funny enough, one year later, in 2021, she and I celebrated the Fourth in Mississippi on the Bogue Chitto River, and we didn't last 3 minutes outside, before we went inside the cabin to get away from the noise.

Anybody else have kids like this? :)

Karis and her friend Emma reunited.

Emma flew overseas to see us February 2019.

Meanwhile, the messages on instagram from back home read: "Government offices will reopen at 30 percent capacity on Sunday to Wednesday from 9am to 1pm, with strict health instructions. This decision does NOT include the health department, police, Asayesh or security apparatus and service departments.

Other places including language teaching centers, public and private parks, children playground areas, cinemas, party halls, night clubs, bars, shisha venues, gyms, swimming pools, massage centers, and public baths are also to remain shut.

New measures are imposed until July 11 midnight."

I had no idea we had public baths.  Hmmmm.

A Different Looking July 4th (part II)

“The party” was starting at high noon, but we didn’t think we needed to be there right away.

Lemech, the man whose wedding I attended my second day in Arua (see Wedding on January 22), and the owner of the Lugbara grocery store in town, had a “going away” party of-sorts for our two journey guys, Evan and Trevor.

At 1:30, Doug received a call from Lemech asking where we were. We told him we were leaving in a few minutes. The truth was I needed a load of clothes to get finished washing (by the way, have I told you that the front-loading washer we brought in the crate is fantabulous! It only takes a TINY bit of water, which is great when you have no water pressure, and it only takes about 5 minutes to fill up with all the water needed to run it). Plus, it was looking cloudy, so I knew I would have to hang up the clothes in the house instead of outside, and they needed to get dry because Caleb needed his sheets that night.

Anyway, we did leave very soon and headed out to his house. He said we would know it by the big white tent outside that he had rented.

When I saw all the trouble he went to, I know a lot more people were supposed to come, but I think the weather kept many away. He had rented a DJ and had asked about 6 women friends to come help cook and prepare the meal.

The DJ supplied us music by Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Eddie Arnold, Conway Twitty, Kenny Rogers, and such. I’ll bet you didn’t have that kind of concert for your 4^th of July. And it probably doesn’t surprise you to know that I knew the words to most of the songs that day.

When we arrived, we were each given a bottled soda of our choice and a loaf cake wrapped in saran wrap. I didn’t realize until later why. It was 1:45 when we arrived (some people had already been there for an hour and 45 minutes), and it was 4:00 before “lunch” was served.

There were only 15 people who attended, including my three children, and believe it or not, the Sarah I met at church that morning, who helped me get a Bible, was one of the guests. In fact, later, when we each got up to give greetings and say speeches, she mentioned that it was a great day because the Lord has brought me into her life twice, and she was so glad we were friends now.

Lunch came out a pot at a time; eleven of them, plus two fruit trays and one vegetable tray. I don’t think we put a dent in the food at all. There was enya, greens, rice, potatoes, goat, an unidentified meat, chicken, sauce, cabbage, chapattis, and something else I’m forgetting. The women kept bringing them in from the smoke house, through the rain. It was pouring by this point.

My family had all put on their rain jackets to try and get warm, and I started living 40/40 all over again. I took 5 trips to the “latrine”, in the rain, with kids during the time we were there (remember the sodas? Yep. Straight through them). I was even attacked on one trip.

There was a huge Tom Turkey strutting around trying to get the attention of one of the females.

I was holding the door slightly open for Karis, when the tom came over and started to gobble loudly and act like he was going to eat my toes. I squealed a little and jumped away as he pecked. When I did, I jumped back, with the door in my hands, exposing Karis. She yelled, “Mom!”

At this point, one of the cooks came over with a stick and started chasing the turkey, who was a little reluctant to leave me, but she finally managed to chase it away. Karis wasn’t too scarred, and I decided bats in the choo aren’t so bad after all.

At 5:00, we began the process of introductions and speeches, and at 6:00, we were told the “program” was over.

It was a long day, but the kids were great, and we made some great new friends. When I got up to make my speech, I said, “My name is Kathryn, “ and Sarah, across the piat (the round, mud hut where the party was held) said, “No, you speak in Lugbara.” So I introduced myself in Lugbara, and they all laughed and enjoyed it. Three ladies came up to me afterward and asked for my phone number. I found out where each one works in town, and I am excited to go and visit them the next time I go.

I attended my first Lugbara church service and a party, not in honor of America (the nationals were not even aware of our holiday), but in honor of friends. I did not consume any hot dogs or hamburgers, I didn’t see any fireworks, I listened to outdated country music, and I ate Ugandan food in the cold, rainy weather. So even though it was a 4^th like no other, it is one I will always remember.

Happy 4^th (in honor of Doug’s grandfather who was one of the many who fought for our freedom in WWII).

A Different Looking July 4th (part I)

We got the news on the 3^rd that Doug’s grandfather had died, so after a very late night for Doug, with not a lot of sleep, I asked if he would stay home with the kids so I could try out a Lugbara church service in town.

There is only one Bchurch close to town, and a different language than Lugbara is spoken there. I have gone to several other churches, but most are in English, one was in Swahili. So, I have resigned myself to the fact that I need to go to an Anglican church where they have a service spoken in Lubara.

I walked 30 minutes to church, and when I walked in, I started helping a lady named Sarah stack chairs. She wanted to know if I was attending the Lugbara service, and if I, in fact, knew that it was the Lugbara service. I assured her that I knew, and I told her in Lugbara that I was learning the language and I needed more practice.

After conversing a bit, I told her I had forgotten my Lugbara Bible and my Anglican Lugbara songbook (I purchased one in town last week). She immediately took me to the room where the pastors wait between services and asked if I could borrow a Lugbara Bible. One of the pastors handed me his with his name engraved on it. She asked the female pastor if there was a songbook I could borrow, but there wasn’t one at the moment.

Right before service started, a lady named Beatrice came over and handed me her songbook. Within 5 minutes I saw who Beatrice was…the praise and worship leader for the service (beautiful voice, by the way).

The numbers in Lugbara are looong, so every time someone would say what page to turn to, I completely missed it. I was looking around to see what everyone else was doing. One lady behind me started whispering the page numbers to me in English.

It was obvious I was out of place. I was the only one with light skin in a room of over 200 people. Nevertheless, I understood some of what was going on. When the lady behind me told me we were reading out of Genesis 22, I quickly turned there, but for verses and verses I couldn’t find where we were.

The lady next to me finally tried to help me figure out which verse we were on when she realized that I was in Efuza (Exodus) when I needed to be in E’doza (Genesis). Honest mistake, right?

After the scripture reading, Beatrice left the front and came and sat with me to help me! She let someone else lead the singing the rest of the day. I felt so humbled. Everyone went out of their way to make sure I understood or had someone to ask questions about words to. It was amazing!

After the service, I had several people come and speak with me. I thanked Beatrice immensely for her help, and then I went back to the pastor’s break room to return the Bible. I spoke with them in Lugbara as much as I could, and they said I was doing very well. I told them I would be back the next week, and they welcomed me graciously. I felt very loved. Usually, I feel like a movie star, of sorts, anyway (I’ll explain), but this was a different kind of attention. It was nice.

The other kind of attention is what I feel every other day. When I’m riding a piki, walking through town, shopping in the market, going to language, etc. Everywhere I go, people stare at me. People walking down the street, turn and walk backwards so they can see me. Men on bicycles crane their necks when I ride by on a piki. Little children ALWAYS yell, “Mundu! Mundu!” when they see me. And of course this isn’t just me, it’s anyone with light skin. I won’t know what to do when I go back to America and no one pays attention to me :)

I walked 30 minutes back home, reflecting on the morning and prayer walking, got lunch ready, and the family got ready for adventure #2 (coming). Also, the kids will attend the Lugbara service with me next week. That ought to make for another fun story.