Uganda do what?

The first day of working with Imprint Hope finally arrived. Although I wasn’t totally sure of what to expect, my general expectations are that it will be an amazing experience. I will be spending a lot of time shadowing Pius, the Operations Manager, and Maria, title to be determined. Clare said that Pius is critical for keeping things running and could use some help, which means that I will get a great overview of things from him – in terms of Imprint Hope, Jinja, the surrounding cities, Ugandan culture, and who knows what else. The training/experience with him is something that I would pay for, so I feel extremely blessed to have that be part of my job description. One of the biggest benefits is that he will be taking me to the best vendors and teaching me the right prices to pay for various items. Prices aren’t posted and it’s well-known that the “muzungu price” is at least twice as high for most items. A Ugandan shopping with a muzungu will get charged more because it’s assumed that...

I didn’t wake up until about 0400 Friday night, which is a new record. It took me a bit to fall back asleep, but then I slept until 0730. Another record! I'm feeling hopeful that I'll adjust sooner than the 1-3 week estimate that many people have mentioned. Saturday morning I went to The Hangout with the Barcelonans (from Argentina and Chile originally) before they left for the airport. The Hangout is where my meals have been coming from and it’s basically a small slice of western life for people who miss aspects of home like burgers, tacos, and pizza. I was very amused to see that the coffee stand offers pumpkin spice lattes. They should sell uggs next door to complete the package. Then we walked back to the hostel and I was excited to find Ashraf waiting there to drive them to the airport. I chatted with him a bit while they finished packing and we made plans to get together this week for a "tour" of the city and some Luganda lessons. When they finished packing an...

     Woke up 3 times last night. Not sure if I’m waking up because of the various animals in the area or if it’s the 7-hour time difference. My guess is that it's the 6-7 dogs across the neighborhood that spend the night yelling "hey! I'm a dog! I'm a dog! hey!". I also had my first night-time mosquito encounter, though thankfully I seemed to have killed it with my blind flail-clapping.      I spent most of the day socializing with other guests and reading “The Whole-Brain Child”. You know you’ve got a lot of free time when you can start and finish a book in two days. I was surprised to get some gluten free bread with my dinner - they are “trying to make gluten free foods and want to know if it’s good.” It was good and definitely a nice surprise.       Met another guest staying at the “hostel” and got an opportunity to talk to her and her friends for a while. Her friends have both been in Uganda for 4 years and she has been here for ...

       I was hoping Reagan (the person running the hostel) was wrong when she told me that I would wake up in the middle of the night. She was not. 3am and I’m suddenly wide awake like an alarm went off, despite being painfully tired. C’mon body, you’re better than this.        I fell back asleep after about an hour and slept until 6ish, when it started getting bright. I woke up to noises I’m pretty sure were wild monkeys, but apparently there is a bird in the area that sounds just like a monkey. I choose to believe it was monkeys making the “ooh ooh ah ah” noises. Discovery of the day (as of 9am): not all eggs have bright yellow/orange yolks. They delivered a jug of (drinking) water for me to keep in my room with an attached pump – definitely going to need that to keep up with the heat. Most of the day was spent reading “The Whole-Brain Child” with a few naps when I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. The weather was beautiful, as I expect...

     On January 27th, I received a very clear call to go Uganda. Less than two months later, on March 22nd, I was dropped off at O’Hare (by my wonderful sister-in-law) with a backpack of my stuff and two 40-lb duffel bags filled with items for Imprint Hope . If Nathan of early 2020 saw Nathan of early 2021, there would be a lot of questions. I talked to a few people while waiting for my flight, but mostly prayed that the first (14h) flight would go well. Somehow, I made it through two separate security/bag checks with a bag that was twice the allowed weight, twice the allowed size, and had twice the allowed batteries. When I boarded and finally got to my seat in the second to last row (47), I was dismayed to see that I had an aisle seat that would make sleeping difficult. I started talking to the woman sitting next to me as we waited more than an hour for the plane to start moving. A few minutes after take-off, a flight attendant asked me if we were traveling together. I ...