The Up-Country!

I am posting twice in the same day, so I can get caught up on my days, so this one will be short.  Today we went to the up-country!  It was exactly what I thought Africa would look like!  Beautiful green scenery, traditional villages, animals....  I must admit that for the first time since I have been here I got a little scared when we arrived.  It was the true elements - mosquitoes, ants the size of your head, snakes....I wasn't quite sure how I was going to handle it, but God continues to show up.

Now I am not an outside type of girl and I have probably spent more time outside here, than I have in all my life.  I am not one for runny-nosed children, holding naked babies, sitting on the ground, going to the restroom in a dirt hole, and purposely walking in the rain, but I will have you know that I have done it all in Uganda - especially today and with no complaints! 

The village we were at today was about an hour away and it was a miserable ride for me.  It was the first time I have been really sick since I got here.  It was just motion sickness, but the warmth of the bus and the rocky terrain of Uganda made me a little unsure of how I was going to be today.  However, I shortly got over it when we reached our destination.  When we arrived and got off the bus, the children came and bowed to us - that broke my heart.  No one has ever bowed to me and I certainly didn't feel right with them doing it.  However, it is a tradition for them that was most likely instilled in them through British influence.

We had a welcome service in the church (four posts and a tarp, with a few wooden benches) and got right into the ministry classes.  The women's class was successful again and these women also had plenty of questions.  They wanted to talk a lot about marriage and their relationships with their husbands and they were also very open discussing their bodies and health.

What was really special today was that the women in the village prepared us an incredible lunch!  Now, for the past several months I have been worried about becoming ill from the food and water here, but it is something how God just took that all away so I could be more effective during this trip.  We had pinto beans and rice, cooked bananas, chicken, pork (I think...), cabbage, peppers, beef, and some kind of peanut dish.  There was more, but by the time I got most of that on my plate there was no more room for me to add anything else...so I just went back for seconds!  It was all so delicious and we had no choice but to eat it because they stand their and watch you eat (Reminds me of my grandmother..).  We were comfortable eating in the village because the women had previously been taught to boil their plates and utensils and cook the food thoroughly.  We ate in a little mud house (which is where I taught my lesson) and just enjoyed a wonderful meal.  I definitely had another "I can't believe I am in Africa" moment.  I was doing what I have always thought I would only experience through the television - I was sitting in a dark, wet mud hut, in the jungle, after a hard rain, eating lunch with an African village....perhaps the best dining experience of my life.