MBARARA!

WOW! Today was a busy day!

We woke up early in Kampala and had a little bit of breakfast. Mark, Jamie, and Darla said a prayer over us and we said our goodbyes and got on the road to Mbarara. I left my bigger suitcase at Darla's house and just brought my smaller duffel with me. Mandy and Jarron took the back row, Hannah and Tommy were in the middle captain chairs, and me and Jake took the front row. The road was relatively smooth for the first part of the drive. I fell asleep pretty easily, which is rare for me in a car. We were up really late packing so I guess I was just really tired. I spent the first part of the drive with my feet hanging out the window, until our driver told me to bring them inside because he would like for me to still have them upon arrival in Mbarara. I was happy to oblige. I would also like to keep them. I felt kind of bad because when they woke me up, I was taking up a TON of the row and Jake was pressed all the way up against the window. I got over that quick though because they were waking me up because we had just crossed over the EQUATOR! How awesome is that?! We stopped the car and we stood on either side of it and took lots of pictures. Did you know that the water really does twirl the opposite direction here in the southern hemisphere?! I was really excited about this. Basically everything we do, Tommy points out that it was the first time we had EVER done that activity in the southern hemisphere, so I suppose that this is my first ever blog post in the southern hemisphere! exciting, i know. We stopped at a cute cafe on the southern side of the equator and Hannah and I had chai smoothies. We were the only ones who liked them, but we were both very pleased. 100% of the proceeds went to orphans of HIV/AIDS so that was really awesome. After that we got back on to road, and our luck was not the same. The roads we TERRIBLE. we were swerving to avoid potholes and ended up playing chicken with drivers on the other side of the road. Some parts we not even paved. At one point we we driving on gravel and the dust was really really thick. We started to pass an 18-wheeler and literally couldn't see if anything was coming. We were just barreling full speed ahead. I made nervous eye contact with Jarron. Somehow, i fell asleep again and didn't wake up until we were pulling into the missionaries compound. Poor Jake. 

We picked up Sarah Hutton, the missionary we are staying with here, and their friend Anna, who just graduated high school. We met Sarah's husband Theron at a restaurant and had some good Ugandan food in the town. Mbarara is slightly smaller than Jinja with lots of villages surrounding it. It was cool to get to talk to them, and I love them already. They are such precious people. After lunch, we came back to the house and got Jake and Jarron settled into their guest house down the road, and Mark and Tommy in another guest house behind Sarah and Theron's house. The girls will be staying with them, and their 3 kids. Campbell (a sweet little girl, aged 4), Claire (precious, age 3) and Nolan (their baby boy, 18 months). They have another on the way and I just love their beautiful family already. We will be here until Monday when we head toward Kabale to meet Leya, my Compassion child. 

When we got back to the house, we got the tour of the house and yard and everything all around. The house is absolutely adorable. Sarah has done such a good job making it a home. Theron is a doctor and has some really unique beliefs about healthcare in Africa and it was so interesting to hear him talk about it. It is definitely a different experience than Darla's house, but I have loved hanging out with barefoot little girls who have brilliant imaginations. We played on the swing set in their back yard and I must have pushed them for hours. We talked about Disney princesses and space ships landing on other planets, and I just loved every second. I also loved seeing the sisters interact. It made me so much of Brooke and I and how much I miss her. We came in for dinner and Sarah made some great vegetable soup, rolls, and fresh pineapple, with brownies for dessert. It was great! After dinner, the girls and I played pretend some more and went swimming on the "pool" also know as the living room rug. It turned into an extensive story about swimming across the river with crocodiles and sharks. It was lots of fun. They are such cute girls. They whole family is cute, really. I love getting to be here with them. After the girls went to sleep, we played Nertz (our favorite!) and I came to blog. The boys and Mandy are waking up at 7 AM to play basketball on their basketball court, but I will not be joining. Apparently we are going bonding AGAIN tomorrow night. It should be a VERY different experience than last time, considering I will be in a mud hut this time around! Be praying! Thanks for the constant support and encouragement! Mbarara is great! 

for His glory,

heidi