Estoy en Africa!

I can’t believe I’m here … in Africa. I am in Africa! Who would have thought?! I’m sitting in a little café at the hotel where we slept last night. It’s a really nice little resort – there’s a pool, game room, exercise center, two clay tennis courts, I’m using the wireless internet….

I had a breakfast of fruit, tea, and toast. Let me tell you, they really know how to grow pineapples and bananas. I’m so glad to be back in a place with great fruit J. I’ve missed that since Costa Rica! We eat unripe bananas at home – I’m not a fan. But I still don’t like papaya.

I flew out with an American group that is studying at Uganda Christian University through the CCCU’s Uganda Studies Program (I went to the CCCU’s Latin American Studies Program two years ago). They’re a group of 27, and they all seem very nice. It’s too bad that I won’t see much of them, but I’m going to try to visit occasionally. Many of them are from the same colleges as my friends from LASP, so it was fun to realize that I knew some of their friends. My friend from ENC, Greg, is also a part of USP. It was such a relief to have someone I knew as we traveled.

We left on Friday at 5:50 p.m. from Dulles and flew six hours to Amsterdam, had a four hour layover there (I bought Dutch Mentos), and then flew eight hours to Entebbe. Between two time changes, an eight-hour difference, and airplane seats, I didn’t get much sleep. We arrived at Entebbe at 9 p.m. on Saturday (1 p.m. for you all), I said goodbye to the USP students, and Charles Howard (my supervisor for this adventure and director of the hospital) drove to the capital, Kampala, for the night.

I slept for about seven hours last night, but it’s 2:54 a.m. U.S. time right now, which is completely throwing me off. I think I’ll be alright after tonight, though.
I can’t help but notice that Uganda reminds me of Latin America. Obviously, it’s tropical, and I’ve noticed the same flowers the children gave me in Honduras. I don’t want to make overgeneralizations, but so far this similarity has made me feel very much at home. I’m already much more at ease than I was at the beginning of my LASP semester.
Apparently I need to learn Luganda, the second language here. Most people speak English, and it hasn’t been a problem, but I want to learn as much as I can. Oh, and Charlotte, there were Australians eating breakfast next to me this morning. Haha.
Charles is in town right now picking up Aubrey, so I’m here by myself for a bit to relax and get some reading done.

Wow, I am so excited. I can’t believe I actually have this wonderful opportunity to broaden my worldview yet again while pursuing my career. I know that the knowledge will require a lot of me, but I want to learn as much as I can and grow in my Christianity. I want to come back changed, and I know that I will. I can't help looking at myself right now and knowing that I'm going to grow so much, and I'll look back at this and laugh.

Dios les bendiga …