Just been sitting here in my room, reading emails,and listening to music when all of the sudden I realized "wow I haven;t written in my blog in forever!!" so I just sat down and opened a word document. So here goes,
So it has been about a month since I have last written… my apologies. hopefully the quality of this blog entry will create a feeling inside of you that forgives me?? And if not, I still love you!
So the month of March was an interesting one for me thats for sure. Let's see, I got the news of my Grandma passing away, that hit me so very hard, especially being so far away from home. It was the first time I realized how far I truly am from my home. The only thing I craved was to be in the presence of my family, although I knew it was impossible, that was the ONLY thing I wanted. I found the comfort in all sorts of different places, whether that be the whole base surrounding me in prayer ( literally they circled me) or having the unexpected visitors that would come and visit my room, bringing gifts. It was great to know that people cared enough about me to come and visit ( when I had told them that I didn't want visitors. But those who know me, know that I need them anyways). So it was a rough week that is for sure. The verse that kept replaying over and over in my head was Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged,for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." It hit me that, God is right there with me ALWAYS. Also, that He is the ultimate father that anyone can have. So while I was wishing I could be with my family, I had my Dad right there with me, without me knowing it. As I mentioned earlier wanting my family and everything I got my wish. My parents came out less than 2 weeks later. God truly does work in miraculous ways.
I could not contain my enthusiasm at all. Ever since I found out the exact date that they would be coming out to Uganda, I would not keep quiet about it. "Naomi, is is 10 weeks!!" "9 weeks!" "3 weeks!" "I leave tomorrow to pick them up!!" I am pretty sure everyone on base knew about y parents arrival. So, I had planned on surprising them by actually making the 4 hour journey to pick them up from their hotel. Sad part is that the car broke down on the way there… to make it even more cliche, it started to pour rain followed by immense thunder and lightning. My dad called me and asked when the taxi was going to arrive, and it was at that point that I had to ruin my secret of me being so close to them ( less than 20km, I wanted to walk). So, after my taxi driver called his brother who was about any our away, who brought a spare car did we get on our way. I was getting so mad and had my first feeling of homesickness since I had been in Uganda, at that very moment. We arrived at the hotel and my heart was racing so much. We parked that car, and I saw my mom standing there. I ran as fast as I could and gave her a hug, that I had only dreamed of. My tear ducts were trying to hold in the tears but it wasn't working that well. I then saw my dad appear, oh man so surreal. It all seemed like a dream. We piled ALL of their suitcases into the car and my dad got the front seat ( leg room) and me and mom sat in the back, and somehow caught up on life. It was amazing. We then arrived in Jinja after the journey. And then before I could believe it, we were home. We got to the guest home that they were staying at ( which was conveniently just across the way from where I'm staying). I was on such a high just knowing that after the long wait, they were here. I then gave them the tour of base, and introduced them to the people who have made up my family whilst I have been here. And they were well received. My dad carried his camera wherever we went and would fall behind because he was taking pictures.( right now I am more than glad that he did that :) ) It became dinner time before we knew it. I was quite excited to see what dinner would be, since i never eat on base. The dinner consisted of rice, sweet potatoes, posh and g-nut sauce. Before I continue, I want to mention that the sweet potatoes that I mentioned are not like the ones you may get at Boston Market, you know with all the flavorings and brown sugar. no way. But yes, that was dinner… first and final meal on base for my parents ( can't blame them), the preparations of the food was very mediocre. I would introduce them to anyone who would pass by even if they didn't notice the new muzungus on base. I was definitely bragging. After dinner, we went back to their room, and they asked me if I wanted to open the suitcase of stuff for me…. do you even have to ask?? I felt loved so much at that very moment, yes the attention was to die for …BUT also just seeing people who had sent cards out, or packages, or just told my parents to tell me they loved me was such a fantastic feeling. Our following time in Jinja consisted of taking a day trip with my roommate( Judith) to King Fisher Resort to swim and have lunch, and then we went out to dinner, it was such a day of leisure. My parents also treated all of my fellow year for God'ers and Judith to a necklace with the outline of Africa on it. We had all had our eyes on it since we had arrived here but had not gotten it. Now we all never take it off. EVER. We then returned to base and socialized! woo. And I think it was day later that we left to go to Entebbe to fly to Nairobi. On our journey there, I got my hair cut!!!!! You don't understand what 8 months of being in Africa without treating your hair does to you, until you enter a salon. So nice to have that situation taken care of. :) Arrived at the hotel, which was top of the line, I was in paradise. It still felt so surreal that my parents were sitting right by my side. We then flew out of Uganda the next morning and then arrived in Nairobi that afternoon. I had been through nairobi once since I have been here but not like this. I arrive in styyyyyle. Got picked up from the airport the wonderful Sharna and John Coors :). The rest of our time in Kenya consisted of this: 5 planes rides ( the size of these planes was ridiculous), seeing every possible animal imaginable with the exception of the leopard, but I'll let that one slide, having my picture taken with a Maasai warrior!, visiting the Children of Hope children's home located in Kitale, Kenya and having the time of my life with my parents. Then came the time for the 2nd round of goodbyes, I said goodbye at the hotel and got a taxi to the airport. It was hard, but not even close to the goodbye I had made in Denver last July. Couldn't have planed a better trip to take place.
I got picked up from the Airport in Uganda by my friends, Franco and Judith. Such an amazing feeling to actually have friendly facing there for me to arrive back to.
When I returned, my parents were famous around base, everyone came up to me asking if my parents had reached safely and that they thoroughly enjoyed them. Made me proud to have amazing parents that people loved.
The transition from being with my parents was quite difficult but it was good. I came back and started my routine yet again. I felt great after a couple days.
Then it was my Grammas funeral, I had told my dad from the time I heard about it, If i could Skype in for the funeral and my dad assured me that he would do all he could to have that arranged. Then came the time for the service and no one was on Skype!! I started to get worried that maybe they had forgotten about me. And before long Sarah ( my sister ) signed on and that made me jump in joy. But Skype wasn't working on her computer, I was on my dad's iPhone. I honestly felt as if I was there with my family. Then the service actually started and my friends, Judith and Franco, wanted to be there with me for it. So I was sitting, with no power, watching my Grammas funeral, quite difficult. Especially when my dad shared what I has written. It was closure, I think that is what I had feared most. After the service, I was held up on the phone while people came up and said hi ( half of them I had no clue who they were) until it got very weird. So, I then said my goodbyes and that was it.
After my parents had returned safely home, I started hearing God in telling me I had to remove something from my life, and that this was a Year For God nothing else should be in front of Him. It was very hard, but after a week of praying, I knew that I had to obey God on this one. It hurt me immensely to do this, but after long God started to work in a variety of different ways to bring me peace and comfort. I am in such awe of what the LORD is capable of doing.
OH! I started to go to the Rugby Club in Jinja, with my leader Masiu. He plays on the team there and me and Naomi were bored, so we went to the tournament! I had never watched rugby in my life and seeing how brutal they are, made it obvious why I hadn't. ( sorry to all the rugby lovers out there) But it was an experience I will not forget, how I felt like a famous celebrity there just because I am white. Guy came up to us and took out either their phones or their cameras and snapped a picture in our faces. "umm gee thanks bud for invading my space' but I guess the whole saying "take a picture it lasts longer" comes into play here right??
Love always,
Tess
p.s. fun fact. I have exactly 12 weeks left in Uganda starting from tomorrow 4/20.
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