I am more than halfway

So i believe sometime last week was the halfway mark for my internship.  I cannot believe it, it has gone by so fast! This week has been very interesting.  Last week i had a huge deadline and so up until then i had been working on one project.  This week i have been able to get out of the office twice and visit two different project sites.  the first one was an hour and a half away in Entebbe.  It is another major city in Uganda on the shores of Lake Victoria.  The ministry we were visiting has worked with us before, they have already built some of the buildings we designed and now they are wanting to build more of the buildings.  So we are coming in to re-evaluate the site.  to make sure what we initially recommended still makes sense. I went out there to essentially take measurements.  But it was really great to go to a site were EMI designed buildings were actually built!  It gave me a great sense of purpose being here.  They were classroom buildings, that now children can safely go to school. 

Today we went to one of the slums in Kampala.  It is up on the side of a hill.  the hill is covered in mud huts with tin roofs, with only about two people width between each hut.  We were visiting a church in the slum.  it was a very humbling experience, to see how these people live.  How they cannot afford to pay a fee of 200 shillings (about 7 cents) for a jerry can of clean water.  the kids were adorable (as they always are).  And we met some really cool people.  It is amazing listening to all the things God has done in that area since the pastor has been there.  One of the projects the church does is help women make paper bead necklaces and then they sell the beads.  The pastors wife gave me a set of beads for free!! i felt very honored. 

God has shown me a lot this week.  he has really humbled me.  He has also kept encouraging me to pray more everyday.  I hope to have a much better prayer life once i leave Uganda.  God is such a beautiful God.  This past weekend we woke up early to see the sunrise and it was amazing.  Part of it was blocked but it was still really neat to see Gods peace and beauty in it.   It is just so amazing that God would give me this opportunity to come to Uganda and help people.  I am really not worthy to be here.

I rafted the Nile!

Last weekend we traveled two hours to Jinga to go white water rafting on the Nile River!  It was amazing!!  We left our place at 630 in the morning.  They provided transportation from Kampala to Jinga (2 hour bus ride).  So we had to be in downtown Kampala at 715, unfortunately we are still new to public transportation, so we did not arrive until 745! Luckily they waited for us!! They do not take a deposit and we did not have to prepay, so I think they waited because otherwise they would have be out 6 peoples worth of money! Praise God for no deposit! Haha.

The bus was nice, and i sat next to a girl from Finland who was really cool.  When we got there they rushed us onto the next bus (because we were so late).  They gave us a bowl of fruit and a rolex for breakfast! (more then what i typically eat for breakfast!)  It was about a 20 minute bus ride to the drop in site.  Once we got there they went over the rules, then we walked around the guides saying we wanted to go crazy!  2 guides told us to get out of their boats, becuase they did not want the crazy group, and pointed us to Geofrey.  We got on the water and we practiced flipping!! (that was not a good sign).  First rapid we concurred, no problem.  It was only a Class 3.  We then did a Class 4 and flipped,it was crazy! but so fun!!  The next rapid was a class 6, so we got out the boat and walked around it to the Class 5.  The class 5 was called the bad place, and we lasted about 8 seconds before we flipped. That one was pretty ferocious, we all ended at different places on the river (usually when you flip you can remain holding onto the raft, but on this one you were supposed to let go).  Then the rest of the rapids, there were 4 (the same one twice) we flipped 3 times!!  No one else flipped that much!  They weren't kidding when they said we had the craziest guide!!!

Then we arrived at a picnic area where we could change into dry clothes and then they had a BBQ. it was delicious!! 

It was definetly the most intense rafting i have ever done, but it was sweet!!

That night we stayed at the house of the EMI construction manager (he is located out of Jinga).  He was actually in the states, but a Long term volunteer was staying at his house and we stayed with the volunteer.  He had a bunch of friends over for a campfire, unfortunately i was sooo exhausted i did not last very long, haha. 

The next morning we went to church with him.  I was in a guys backyard.  He was a preacher from Virginia, so i felt right at home!!  He talked about the suffering of Christ, how he was beaten and bruised and mocked and how he took it all for us.  It was incredible, my soul started hurting, i just fell to my knees during worship because i could not handle it.  After that we went out to lunch and then took the Rafting Company's bus back to Kampala.  We bought groceries, and i realllly did not want to cook this week, so i bought macaroni and cheese ( an knock off Kraft version).  And let me say it was delicious!! Ironically it was more expensive then if i bought ingredients and made spaghetti sauce and spaghetti.

This weekend we just hung out, really our first weekend off since we got here.  It was nice to have a restful weekend.  We had a game night at the Greene's house on Saturday and on Sunday we went to a pool. 

We Gooooo Uganda Cranes We Go!

So Saturday we went to a Uganda Cranes Vs Kenya soccer match, it was crazy! people we dressed up in yellow, black red and white and wearing crazy things!  The craziest part was we got there at 1130, and the game did not start till 5! The stadium was full by about 130.  So we waited for the game for 5 hours and watched the game which was 2 hours.  Everyone was going crazy when they first arrived, but by the game started it seemed as though everyone was tired (including myself).  The game ended in a 0-0 tie, so we did not get to cheer for a goal.  Also, they did not allow water bottles into the stadium, so we did not have water for 7 hours and were sitting in the African sun all that time.  Definitely a great experience but i do not think i could do it again.  Only if we could show up at like an hour or 2 before the game, then i would be all ready to cheer for the game. 

We are doing an Intern bible study on 2 timothy.  This week I lead and we talked about characteristics for a teacher of the truth should have.  It was 2 Tim 2:14-26.  It really challenged me to pursue holiness.  Paul mentions to Timothy to be "an instrument for noble purposes, mad holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work."   A lot of times i feel like God is calling me to do something however since i am not pursuing holiness i am not prepared to do his work.  I could miss out on something truly awesome.  But pursuing holiness is no easy task, i will be pursuing it for the rest of my life. 

Sorry for the infrequent blogs. I need to be better.  This weekend we are going white water rifting on the Nile River!! i am super excited!!!

weekend in the bush

so they call the bush, the areas in Africa that are in the "country".  The place we went was definetley in the middle of nowhere, but not quite as in the middle of nowehere as Ti Peligre (Haiti).  We went to an orphanage called New Hope.  They have a unique set up.  They have 8 families of about 25 kids. Each family lives in a cluster of huts on the new hope property.  There is also a school, fields, admin buildings, and staff housing.  It was nice to get out of the city for a weekend. We were visiting friends of  Jake(one of the interns).  Jake had been to this orphanage before and his friends are a part of the staff. We hung out them and played catch phrase! i love that game!   On Saturday we played volleyball with some of the kids, and then went to the local market where i bought a Uganda football jersey!  Sunday they had a great church service.  The preacher did a skit about Galatians, and the freedom from the law that we have.  I do not know how to describe it in writing but it was awesome! Jesus showed me that he has freed me from the burden of my sin, and if i walk with him, day by day, he will be me through everything.

Then we got a special hire to drive us back, however he could only take 7 of us (there were 8 of us including Jakes friends) .  So Aaron and i took public taxis back, we got a little lost, but made it back, with groceries, and had fun!

We will see where tomorrow will take us !