ok so our internet situation is slightly unpredictable but i will keep trying to post as much as i can. thank you so much for all of the encouragement! you are all such blessings to me and i really appreciate you taking the time to read up on me.

i forgot to tell this story from the plane on my last post. it was CRAZY! ok, so Chris Tomlin used an African children's choir called Watoto on his CD for the song "Love" and when hannah and i went to his concert a little while back, he talked a lot about it, and we obviously got excited as we ALWAYS do when something comes up about africa. we then found out that Watoto is actually not only in Uganda, but specifically Kampala! we were so excited. We talked to Chris about getting involved there, and he directed us to the website, where i was disappointed to find that they only accepted short term workers for longer than 3 months. i was disappointed but knew God had plenty in store here in Kampala. so, on our flight from amsterdam, a lady sitting next to me started asking what i would be doing in Kampala as far as ministries go. i told her what i knew and then told me that she worked at a children's home called Watoto. i practically hugged her and started freaking out about how badly i wanted to work there but couldn't. she said that she would love to help get involved and take me all around, so she gave me her phone number and we are going to get to go visit Watoto next Monday most likely! God is so faithful!

yesterday we woke up and went to one of our church leader's houses. His name is Isaac and he is very kind. We had some DELICIOUS new york pizza (go figure!) and pineapple that is truly fresh on another level. we went around the city and got a better look in the day time and that was great. after that we went back to the house and relaxed , and had an awesome spaghetti dinner made by darla. we then had some great conversation and finished it up talking all about our Myers-Briggs personality types. It was really interesting! Darla is very interested in all of that too so i was so thrilled to talk about it.

Today we woke up and the missionaries decided it was time for us to learn how to navigate public transportation. this is a very interesting process, and kind of scary! we still don't quite have the hang of it but we're trying! we took a taxi bus to the taxi park and then walked from there to the BLRC (Better Living Resource Center) where we met up with Mark, Jamie, and Darla, who drove. We got our first language lesson in Lugandan which is the language of most people here. Peter, who is a 23 year old guy who works with the missionaries gave us some basic phrases and words to work on. Little did i know how much i would be using them later on! we then had lunch at the BLRC which was VERY traditional african food, which i am still getting used to. somehow i have become the group treasurer, and with my math skills, converting to shillings has been a little difficult. From there, Jake and Mandy went to go on a high school visit with Darla, and Jarron, Tommy, Hannah, and I went with Peter and his friend Aurora to go to Owino Market. I could use every single word i know to describe this place and you still couldn't possibly understand. culture shock hit me like a ton of bricks. i was in no way prepared to see what i saw. it is exactly what you would imagine a slum to be, except worse. the smell alone is enough to knock someone over. you see lame men crawling on the ground and begging and you wonder if they have ever walked higher than someone's knee. there are animal parts and raw meat with flies everywhere. small ditches run through the middle of the path and waste flows down them by your feet. foods i have never seen and used shoes and clothing are on sale everywhere. people shout out "Muzungu! Muzungu!" which is the word for white person. They will grab your arm and won't let go and you don't know whether you should be rude and forceful or kind a warm. i was scared. our group was the only group of white people i saw, and it was evident from the attention we drew. At one point, Peter stopped to look at some jeans and Hannah and i were completely surrounded by men shaking our hands and asking our names and rubbing up against up saying "hello how are you?!" One man asked Jarron if he could have one of "jarron's women." Jarron said no. and the man said, "Well there are two! are they both yours?" Jarron said yes thankfully, but he considered it funny to say that he would have sacrificed me first. haha thanks man. I was proposed to twice and men would grab me and say, "my wife?!" one even smacked me on the butt.  i almost had a breakdown at some points but it was definitely a good experience and i know how to handle myself better now. plus i got a lot of Lugandan language use in! We had a great dinner tonight with Darla, and now I am headed to sleep to see what tomorrow holds. Every day is an adventure! keep praying! i love you all!

For His Glory,

heidi alise