I guess I could be saying something different pretty soon. They say the rainy season is yet to come and its non stop pouring for days! Right now we have been getting afternoon showers and they are heavy and warm and I love them. It cools things off and I love walking in the rain, I have yet to carry an umbrella…you can get totally soaked and then either go home to change or if you are still out when it stops..you dry off. I also like taking a nap when it rains…its like having a giant white noise machine! Its raining right now and I am struggling to stay awake…

Anyway, so many things have happened in just the last 10 days…a week ago Saturday…I was hit by a bota bota in Kiwoko…in case you have not been following along…that is a motorcycle …..thankfully I am fine…a little sore still but still kickin! I went to the market with John, Jenessa and we kidnapped two members of a small team…I was with Helen (Theresa Mizers cousin by the way) and we were crossing the street when bam…I was knocked off my feet and the bota went into the ditch…I was a little shaken up and went into the nearest supermarket to have a seat for a minute. On the way home we piled in the car that John and Jenessa just bought and went about 1/2 mile down the road when it died….they thought they had run out of gas since the gauge doesnt work….but it was already 5:15 and I needed to be serving a meal at the guesthouse by 5:45…so Helen and I jumped out of the car and flagged down a bota bota and went back to New Hope. About 1/2 hour later…Jenessa shows up on a bota bota wanting a gas can and some cash…she takes off….an hour or so later… Dan (other team member) shows up and needs rope to tow the car..it was not gas but the rotors….then they come back about 8:40 at night and said while they were checking out the car, a couple of other cars stopped to help but one of the drivers didnt put it in park and scraped past two other cars and then landed in the ditch. (This is true….talk about the land of adventures) Then the next morning I realized I had lost my phone..when we called it, someone in Luweero had it and wanted to hold it ransom!. After much pleading with a couple other *Mazungu” guys from New Hope…the guy just kept hanging up…so I asked Uncle Simon (Ugandan) to call and it was much more successful…he got the ransom down and agreed to meet the guy in Kiwoko and saved me some money in getting my phone back. Turns out the guy watched me get knocked over by the bota bota and grabbed my phone for ransom….nice huh! The rest of the week flew by as the team from Calvery Chapel left, on Sunday I catered to a group at the Dangers home and another team showed up with 14 people…busy busy time…..

This Saturday, I planted a couple of fields of maize with my Pacific family..all 16 of the older kids and Rokundo went to the fields. It was an incredible process how they marked out the fields with rope tied to a stick and marks on the rope etc…We dug with big hoes and put three seeds and fertilizer in each hole….there was a team of oxen plowing the field next to us. I was there barefoot and enjoying evey bit of the rich earth…then one of the kids started running zig zag and screaming…Tata…papa..mercy something or another…and I realized he was dodging a snake. A couple of the other boys ran and chased it off…I said aren’t you going to kill it?? They laughed and said it was the nice kind, I let them know that I didnt believe any snake was nice. We worked hard for several hours and then it was time for me to go check on the girls in the kitchen preparing lunch…as I walked out of the fields I was on the edge of our property and there was some kids ahead of me on the trail from the near village, they had just fetched water…..when they looked back they took off running..leaving a very little girl behind carrying a small jerry can…she was struggling to carry the water and keep up…so I started running toward her to help carry the water can for her….as I got closer she dropped the can and ran screaming. I thought “Boy that was not nice of those boys to leave her behind”…so I carried the water can further up the trail. I was soon met by an older boy looking for the water can. I tried to explain why I had his can and he laughed….the kids that were running and screaming had not seen a white person before and they were freaked out by me running toward them…..sorry…,

Let’s see….on Tuesday last week I was at the barn getting some paint with Jenessa to paint a family banda…I met a young man that offered to help us so he could earn money for his University fees. We didnt need the help but I thought since paint was only $11 a gallon, I would love him to paint my livingroom, it hasnt been painted in years and its chipping off the concrete walls. I said I would get the paint and some sand paper etc and let him know a good day. On wednesday I got home to find out I had not locked my door so he thought I had left it open for him to paint…..there he was sanding everything with dust all over….I crawled past the mess and got my clothes off the rack (in the livingroom next to bathroom) and threw them on my bed in the next room. When I returned later, it was late and I was tired so I pushed past everything and found a tiny spot to lay down…a rough night. On Thursday afternoon I returned to a full blown mess and the paint fumes were toxic. Then I received a text that Helen was coming to visit me from Kampala (her team left monday but she was staying an extra 2 weeks) and she was on her way….so I panicked and grabbed some clothes and moved into room 5 at the guesthouse..making two beds and preparing for a guest to arrive…..that was five days ago…Helen has come and gone and I am still in exile in room 5 of the guesthouse. He was about a quart short in covering the walls with one coat, however if he had not painted part of the ceiling It probably would have been enough. He didnt seem to think that there was any problem with that. It turns out that Kiwoko and Luweero (the only two near towns) have 5 hardware stores…nobody has another gallon of cream color paint until Tuesday when the truck comes from Kampala. So tommorrow, I am going into Luweero to get vegetables and stopping in Kiwoko to buy another gallon of paint!

I have to mention the vegetable stand…you get 5 or 6 huge avacados for 1,000 shillings (about 50 cents total ) and full super sweet fresh pineapples are less than 50 cents each…..mangos fall off the trees…so today..while in exile without a cooker…I took out my pocket knife and ate an avacado, two mangos, couple tiny bananas and a handful of g-nuts….I was full and satisfied but felt somewhat primal as I scanned the refuge at my feet. I better go dig a hole before the rats come… You can eat fairly cheaply if you eat rice and beans and fruit…however a can of pringles is very expensive. Speaking of rice and beans…I was having dinner with my family the other night and one of them said…Auntie I think you are turning black….I laughed and made reference to the fact that I eat my rice and beans like they do with their hands….but then found out she was referring to the black spot on my neck!! I had finally broke down and colored my hair the other day without a mirror…and that night I had worn my hair up in a bun…..I guess I had a huge black spot on my neck!! LOL…we laughed really hard when I had to explain how I was turning black….this caused 22 kids to start digging through my hair in amazement that the gray was not there….again I had a slight primal feeling of being groomed by my family members…..I am not sure if I am becoming an ape or an african…maybe I need a nap.

Well, I could go on and on but will choose to go bury my peels and take a nap…the current team has gone on safari and I have a little break today…they will be home for dinner tmo and then leave on Friday. We do not have guests in September, so I am trying to figure out where to take my holiday. I am suppose to leave every 6 weeks or so for a break and I have been here since first of June and have not left other than to shop in Kampala for supplies. My plans to go to Victoria falls is not going to happen, so please keep me in prayer about what I am suppose to do. I am not sure where to go, how far or what I can afford but I will be leaving in about 10 days. I will not bring my laptop so I will probably update before I go and then when I get back.

PS…just as I was about to send this at 3:30 this afternoon, my computer ran out of battery and crashed…so I took a nap, took a shower and headed out for a walk to take pictures…on the trail I ran into Josh headed out of bounds..so I asked him where he was headed and he invited me to follow. We walked about 15 minutes out into the bush on a trail, it was amazingly beautiful and we came into property that Uncle Sam owns where he is milking two cows and raising chickens, clearing land and making coal…quite industrious…I got to see a calf that was just 8 days old and we were there till the sun was setting and then we walked back. Power came back on with the generator tonight so I had a chance to get back on and send this…see another adventure yet today!

God Bless you all..I love to hear from you either by comments on my blog or you can send me a personal email at desiree@desired2b.com — until next time!

Desiree’