Week 1

Hello friends and family!

I have been in Mbale for less than a week, and so much has happened since I stepped foot on that airplane. The whole travel process went incredibly smoothly. Every flight was on time, every bag accounted for after we landed in Uganda. Thank you to all who were praying for us, your prayers were clearly answered. Callie and I (Callie is my house mate/ work mate/ African mom) arrived in Uganda at 4AM on Monday morning. Our friend Natalie graciously picked us up from the airport and drove us the four hour journey to Mbale. When we stopped for lunch in Jinja, we spotted Katie Davis, founder of Amazima Ministries and author of Kisses from Katie. I've already seen a missionary celebrity! I'm feeling pretty cool.

When we arrived in Mbale, the house that we are going to be living in still had a few repairs to be completed, so we stayed in another house for a few nights. My first "Welcome to Africa" moment was when I took a shower and spotted three bugs. Surprisingly, I was not bothered by this. After all, bugs want to get clean too. I spent a few days getting to know the area and meeting the IChooseYou kids and some other missionaries. (Thanks to dinners at the homes of other Americans, I have had guacamole three times this week. Praise the Lord, Mexican food is not completely lost.) Everyone, both mzungu (the name for white people) and Ugandan, has been very kind and welcoming.

One part of living in Uganda that I was somewhat fearing was transportation. A few places are close enough to walk to, but most of the time you have to take a boda in order to get somewhere. A boda is a motorcycle taxi. It costs between 40 and 80 cents per ride, depending on how far you're going. My first time was not so scary, as I was wearing pants and could sit normally. But the next day came the real challenge: sitting in a skirt, sidesaddle. Good gracious, was it nerve racking. I've taken bodas somewhere around twenty times now, and the fear has subsided. I consider myself a pro now, though, I tell you, nothing in the world could have looked more awkward than me on a the back of a motorcycle for the first time. If my sister had been there, she would have made fun of me for days.

On Thursday we were able to move into the new house. When I saw my bedroom, something cool happened. A couple of years ago, I had this dream about this house that I was staying in, on the ocean. It was a really beautiful, old, white house. In my bedroom in this house were these huge wardrobes built into the wall. A lot of things happened in this dream, but the thing I remember most were the three wardrobes. They were old, but completely beautiful and HUGE. Now, for an organization freak like myself, storage makes me downright giddy. In the dream I was a little girl and I couldn't wait to fill the wardrobes with my American Girl dolls and all of their many accessories. Anyway, when we came to look in the new house here in Mbale, I saw that my bedroom has built in wardrobes, exactly like those in my dream from a couple of years ago. Pretty cool, huh? Thanks for cool dreams, Jesus.

Here is a picture of our house:

I am looking forward to really getting to work next week. I am working on plans for tutoring and Bible teaching schedules with the kids from IChooseYou. I've only met some of them, but I am already completely in love. I also got to meet Sarah, IChooseYou's only employee. She and I will be working in the IChooseYou office together every day. I'm really looking forward to spending time with her and getting to know her better. I am so excited to see what God has in store for me, Sarah, the kids, and IChooseYou this year.  

My other housemate, Melanie (She is completely WONDERFUL. I adore her), said something the other day that really stuck in my brain. She said:

"Living in this place can be really difficult. Some days are wonderful, and some days are really hard. But if God has called you to it, every day is worth it. But that's what it takes- 
a real calling." 

Thank you, Jesus, for calling me. Though hard times are sure to come, I am confident that I am exactly where He wants me to be. He's awesome, y'all.

Thanks for reading. Until next week!

Em