auspicious day

 I love New Year’s Eve, though more for the excuse to reflect, ponder, and process life than for the opportunity to lose sleep over a robotic glittering ball. 

This year, I wasn’t able to spend much time pondering on New Year’s Eve because I was busy renewing friendships, creating memories, and anticipating the future (which, by the way, is another perfectly legit way to spend that holiday). Plus also, I wasn’t much in the mood for reflecting, since 2012 held a lot of good-but-really-hard changes for me.

Today, however, provides an excellent position from which to reflect on the past year. It’s an auspicious day: on April 24, 1154BC, the Greeks invaded Troy via the Trojan Horse, and on this day in 1969, Paul McCartney uttered his famous phrase, “There is no truth in the rumor that I am dead.” 

thanks Meg! 

Today is also my birthday. 

So as I am pondering, here is a list of the significant things I have accomplished, experienced, or learned (though not completely!) during the past year of life:

• I quit a job after 3.5 years.
• I worked at an adventure camp.
• I found my passion.
• I became homeless (almost a year to the day!).
• I battled fear.
• I watched a DEAR friend get married.
• I cried for the first time at a wedding.
• I moved to Africa.
• I learned to live day-by-day, moment-by-moment.
• I toured Uganda with one of my favorite persons.
• I developed a new community from scratch. 
• I gave up my passion.
• I choose to put others ahead of myself.
• I started a 1,000 gifts list. 
• I learned contentment.

my awesome housies & psuedo-housies who threw me a surprise party! 

when there is no electricity...

The only dishwashers are the two attached to every body:

a common sight at our house...it seems like we only do dishes when we need them for the next meal...but really, it's just that there's no dishwasher to hide them! 

Blending requires a little more effort:

Manual chopper (which can also be a blender) from Pampered Chef...best invention ever! 

Cooking is done by headlamp: 

thankfully our stove/oven runs on propane, not electricity...there's a reason for that! 

And gourmet coffee is the norm:

French Press: no electricity required.
FYI, drip coffee also requires no electricity.
What can I say, I'm a coffee snob now...

No electricity? 

No problem! 

a ka-crash*

So the other day, I crashed my bike. 

It’s a hazard I’ve managed to avoid for the past 6 months, but one that hovers daily since I’m riding dirt paths full of potholes, mud, and pedestrians. 

Thankfully, my crash wasn’t terrible, and the bike is fine. I’ll be fine too, thanks to my nurse-housemate.

the worst injury...

The crash was entirely my own fault: I was riding toward the roundabout, on the lookout for a rumored football game, and had completely forgotten about the new rain ditches that now exist between the path and the roundabout. By the time I looked down and remembered the ditches, I was 3 feet away...and hitting my brakes hard, I skidded on the gravel, somehow jumping sideways off the bike. I landed on my right hand and left knee, then rolled to my shoulder. I picked myself up, dusted myself off, checked my bike, and then noticed three unknown guys just standing there, gaping at the recent events. Another guy walking up (whom I knew) asked with evident concern if I was ok. Embarrassed, I assured him I was fine and joked about how nice it was to live with an omusawo (nurse)...and then hopped back on my bike to find her. 

the second worst injury...

The story is pretty short, the crash wasn’t anything spectacular (well, maybe it was for the guys watching!), and the injuries weren’t anything to write home about. But for some reason, as Kimberly patched me up, I had to cry...and not just a few teardrops of pain but a full-on cry session! 

I actually find it hard to admit here that I cried over a bike crash. It stings my pride. I mean, I’m an adult, I like to think myself a somewhat tough cookie, and I used to pride myself on coping through humor, not tears. 

Of course, I’m sure the tears came from more than just the crash: living in a foreign culture brings lots of little stresses, and some incidents that would pass unnoticed or with a joke in my home culture can provoke a flood of tears in this one. 

all fixed up...

But my bike crash triggered a deeper question: why am I so ashamed of tears? Why do I view them as something to be hidden? Is this idea part of American culture? Why is toughing out a situation with humor better than showing pain (whether physical or emotional)? Maybe I’m ashamed of crying because public tears show vulnerability. They show that I’m weak, that I can’t handle life at that moment...and acknowledging that weakness is antithetical to my individualistic American worldview. 

According to the Bible, though, weakness is to be welcomed, celebrated, and revered. John says that Jesus wept. Job shows a depth of pain and mourning that I hope never to experience. Lamentations 3 reveals some seriously painful emotions from Jeremiah--you can almost see the tears on the page. In God’s kingdom, those who have sorrow now will receive joy in the future; the deepest heartaches will bring the highest joys. 

Who would have thought that a simple bike crash could expose such a serious worldview conflict? 

So the question remains: to cry or not to cry? I doubt I’ll be displaying tears publicly anytime soon...but maybe next time they bubble forth, I won’t be so ashamed. 

*note: in Luganda, "ka-" preceding a word means 'small.' so a 'ka-crash' is a small crash. welcome to Ameri-ganda. 

family ice cream, family vacation

While here at NHU teaching, I'm also involved with a family group -- a group of about 15 children who live on-site, headed by a Ugandan couple and their biological children. I typically visit the family a couple times a week, and last week, I thought it would be fun to have an ice cream party! One of the IY students (a gap-year program required for all NHU high school students) has developed an ice-cream business, so I ordered 5 tubs of ice cream from him. 

half of the family group

The kids loved it! 

They also loved my camera...kids on a sugar-high + camera loaned to a 7th grader leads to some pretty funny pictures.

the youngest members of the family

Even the older kids got into the high spirits of the evening. Arm-wrestling is a popular sport in our mostly-boy family, aided by the daily time they spend in the garden: 

Most of the students at NHU's primary and secondary schools live off-site with mothers or extended family, but when that's not possible, they live in one of 7 family groups. The family parents and individual mentors work with the kids, pointing them to Jesus and the healing found only in Him. 

helllllooo friends! 

But just like in America, the routine of daily life can make it easy for kids (and adults!) to take things for granted and to ignore important lessons. We are planning as a family group to vacation at NHU's camp at the end of April, and our hope/prayer is that this weeklong camp would function to break through to some of the kids, bringing healing and furthering restoration that has already begun. And also that this vacation would provide some fun family time together!

So, although Uganda is half-a-world away, here's a way for you to be part of our family! First, you can join us in praying for the kids in the family group. Second, we are in need of some additional funds for our vacation (transport for 25+ people is very expensive!). If you would like to donate, please contact me and I can give you details! 

some girls and a grill

You might have seen on my Facebook page the other night that we had a good old-fashioned American grill party. Betsy, an amazing cook, sometimes decides to cook an entire, multi-course meal...and we usually benefit from these spontaneous inclinations! 

Betsy put Kimberly in charge of the grill...and of course, I couldn't stay away from a fire. So we started as Betsy was finishing her preparations and everything was ready to cook. 

Attempt 1: notice the kerosene.

However, we hadn't planned for the fact that neither of us really knows anything about lighting charcoal fires. Kimberly had borrowed kerosene from a friend...but we quickly discovered the veracity of the saying that 'a kerosene fire is a fake fire.' 

Soon Betsy came out to check on the commotion...and we pulled her into the grill-lighting attempt.

Attempt 2. Notice Betsy's candle...we had run out of matches, so we were lighting pieces of paper on fire to tempt the charcoal with a flame. 

Betsy soon returned the grill responsibilities to Kimberly and I. She was ready to fire up the oven, but Kimberly wasn't quite convinced that the grill was completely donzo. So we tried again.

Attempt 3. Notice the determination in our posture...

Attempt 3 was actually successful! But it did require an intervention to remain so. Kimberly pulled out all the stops and started pouring kerosene on the fire by the jarful.

Fire! 

The grill was finally lit, the charcoal burning, and the hamburgers cooking. It only took us about an hour, some kerosene, a call for advice to the single guys' house, and Kimberly's determination to have American-grilled hamburgers! 

Once the burgers were on, we kept a close eye on the grill for two reasons: to keep the fire going and to keep the cats away! 

The final result? 

Hannah & I stoking the fire

The most amazing hamburgers ever cooked in Uganda! 

small world

Last week, I stopped at our resident Canadians' household to help their oldest daughter start studying for her science final. Being that I hadn't had my morning cup o'joe yet, I asked to borrow a mug and some hot water for my (cough cough Jennifer's awesome! cough cough) Starbucks Via packet.

Lo and behold, I was presented with this lovely reminder of Canada:

Tim Horton...a Canadian classic

The funny story about this mug, though, is that this family didn't bring it from Canada, as a warm, friendly, daily reminder of home. 

Nope. 

They bought this mug in the local market a few months ago. And now it serves as a reminder of home...but it also begs the question: 

How small is our world if a limited edition Tim Hortons' mug is for sale in a rural Ugandan market???