Home Sweet Home...

The Wrights, Amy, and I got back a little while ago from Mbale (the whole mission went down to see Nolan and the Okkens off, but we stayed an extra day). Normally during this rainy season, the trip back takes about three hours. Today it took more like five. Bob picked up a box truck in Jinja, so we couldn't go very fast traveling behind him anyway, but the roads were also in pretty bad shape. Bob got to pull the Gateway bus out of the mud, though, which was pretty exciting. We all piled out of the van (and sloshed through reddish mud that was about like glue to the bottom of our flop flips) to watch. It was a total "scene" as Martha says. The Gateway has a lot of people on it... Anyway, it feels really good to be back here now, dressed in clean sweats and t-shirt and just sitting on the couch, hanging out with Amy and the Tricarico girls. :) And I'm drinking tea with lots of sugar and milk in it...mmm! (When I get back to the states, Dad, I'm already planning to buy milk every week for the fridge at work. I'm sure it will help me more productive!)

By the way, I am NOT looking forward to having to take another trip next week, but it should be fun when we get there - the plan is to stay at the ARA, and I think Amy might get to come with us, which will be cool because she's never been to Kampala just to hang out.

Okay, the trip to Mbale was just alright (I was tired), but the days before were fun so I'll give you a quick summary: on Saturday it rained hard in the afternoon, so us girls ran outside in our clothes to wash our hair in the rainwater pouring off the gutter. It was colder even than regular showers, but got our hair nice and clean. (Craig got pictures!) That night we had a going away party for Nolan, complete with pizza. We were a little worried he was going to miss it, though - he'd gone with Bob and some of the other guys to work on a windmill, and got caught in the rain. The next day it poured all afternoon, and we had to cancel the afternoon worship service. Bob pulled a few trucks out of the mud, only to have them get stuck again. The next morning, Amy, Nolan, and I got up early to hike the hill behind the clinic. My flip flops got completely slippery from the mud and so I had to climb barefoot, but missed all the thorns so it was actually pretty nice. And the just-past-sunrise view from the hill is SO beautiful! We left later that morning for Mbale, and ate a really good lunch at the Oasis of Life restaurant. I tried some of Rachel's crocodile kebob - it tasted kinda fishy, but was somehow okay.

Nolan tried not to think about leaving, and I'd sort of like to do the same. It's not that I don't love Billings, and really love you guys, but Karamoja is like the only other place that I'd really want to live! But I'm pretty confident God has called me to be in Montana, so that helps. I just REALLY will miss people here and it's completely a bummer to think of leaving them for who knows how long (if I ever see them again). Still, it is great to have these relationships with people now, and I'm very thankful for them.

Sandals and Malaria

Update from Amanda:

Today Amos, the translator, sold me a pair of Karamojong sandals made out of cowhide. They're very boss, as Bob and Martha would say! The sandals are cut of a very thin piece of leather, with leather straps (like flip flops, except a strap also goes around your heel). Amos says this is what they used to wear before the heavy-duty ones made from tires were introduced. Now only the men wear these sometimes, apparently, but I figured it won't matter since I'm a "mazungu"...

Bob laughed today when he found out I had malaria. :) Last year I got it after eight days, so this time I think I'm doing pretty well to have "held out" so long. It's not so bad. I'm tired and feel somehow sick to my stomach, but that's it. Today I'm not wearing a sweatshirt, so that's a good sign!

Tuesday night, Bob was gone and so I had a sleepover at the Wrights' house. We were all feeling a little tired, but of course Rachel and I stayed up talking for a while so it was a successful slumber party. I can't really think of what else has been happening: just little things, I guess. Yesterday I spent the morning at the Wrights (doing a little bit of nothing), then visited the family of Segal David (the head nurse at the clinic) for a little while, then went to Martha's writing class with the older girls, then hung out at the Wrights' some more. We had beef from the Namalu market for dinner - it tasted SO good! I just didn't think what it must have looked like at the butcher's. The new group of visitors arrived last night, so we got to visit with them. They brought a ton of great stuff for the missionaries here. Oh, and it was Amy's birthday, so we had cake and she got to open some birthday packages.

OK, time to go teach a class on To Kill a Mockingbird... sorry this is not more exciting.

Goat Roasts and Cobra Snakes

If you got here looking for pictures or info on cobras, you might try this page at Wikipedia...

Update from Amanda:

Yesterday Pastor Al brought my stuff from Kampala. It's been fun borrowing clothes off the other girls, but getting a bunch of my own stuff suddenly felt sort of like Christmas. :)

Today I taught science to P4 (we're studying electricity) and P1, and the older girls and I discussed To Kill a Mockingbird. For p4 we made these cool contraptions with a battery, foil wires, rubberbands, a penny, and light bulb that you can use to tell whether a small object is a conductor or insulator. I think we all had a good time...

So far I've missed all the snakes here - Amy, Nolan, and Rachel found a cobra at Joyce's house in the village, and then yesterday or the day before there was a small python on the compound (I was really bummed about missing that one, but will try to get pictures from Amy).

Tomorrow is a goat roast in honor of Pastor Dave - I'm looking forward to it!

My learning Karamojong is not coming along very fast, but I do have a favorite word: aki-mobilize. When Rose is going to tell everyone in her village to come for a Bible study, she is aki-mobilizing. :)

Sorry that's not much; I can't think of anything else right now, which is too bad...

Ejoknooi! - Letter from Amanda

Amanda was able to email us yesterday from Mbale, so I thought I'd post it for all to see!

Ejoknooi! Sorry I haven't been able to e-mail yet - don't be too disappointed. You can trust God that I am doing just swell. ;-) Anyway, in Karamoja I'm staying w/ the Tricaricos in the big house - sharing a roomwith Katie, Emily, and Maria. The whole family is very nice. Sat. was Kipsy's b-day so we had a party at the Wrights, and I've been able to spend quite a bit of time hanging out with Craig and Kris and the Wrights, which is GREAT! The schoolboys are home on vacation, too, so I had a big welcoming committee and am already getting to know lots of the little kids around here(I held Joyce's son Matthew, who was a baby last year, for most of Sunday School and the Segal's baby, Chillun [short for Achilla, I think], who goes naked except for a shirt and string of beads around his middle. They're all pretty cute.)

Rachel and I are having a good time on this little trip to Mbale (for the monthly missions meeting 0 I just hung out at the pool with everyone and then watched Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban w/ the Tricaricos and Nolanduring the meeting while the Wright kids were at other friends's houses.) Bobby, Rachel, Bob, and Martha and I all stayed at the CURE guest house last night.

Right when I came we started getting some good rains in Karamoja, so praise God for that. Hopefully the akiru will come coming down like this, so there will be a good sorghum crop this year.

Tomorrow I'll start teaching classes - To Kill a Mockingbird w/ the 3 oldest girls and a unit on electricity to the P4 class (Anna, Bobby, and JamesTricarico). Also, I think I'll be teaching at least one class either in the village or for Sunday School using the Walk thru the Bible material.

Anyway, I was initially anxious about how to fit in with everyone this time, but it's all working out and I'm delighted to be here. Mark Bube of the OPC Missions and a film crew are here and coming up to Karamoja this week so I might be on camera (ugh!). I was already in a group shot of all the missionaries this morning. (But I guess I'm already "famous" because Bob andMartha used me and John Stafford as the "stars" of their last power point presentation. ;) )

I love you guys very much and am praying for you every day. DON'T WORRYABOUT ME!!!! =) I hope everything is going well with school and the business and new website, etc.

Love, Amanda


Edit from Anna:
Here is a picture of Amanda with the Wrights (all except Martha are in the picture) and some of the Proctor kids taken while she was there last year. I believe this was taken in Mbale, probably someplace similar to where she was talking about above.

Amanda's Status

Amanda's friend Melodee here:

Amanda arrived safely in Karamoja. (She had a great time in London on the way, visiting the National Portrait Gallery.) Unfortunately, the ham radio e-mail system on the mission compound is not working, so Amanda is unable to post to this blog. She can't receive e-mail right now either. Hopefully the e-mail will be up and running sometime soon. In the meantime, please keep her in your prayers!