So Much to Say. So Little Time.

It has only been a week since I last updated, but it feels as if at least a month's worth of activity has occurred. I think this is due to the incredible amount of change I've experienced in such a short period of time coupled with the fact that my internal clock is totally out of whack. I'll try to give you a brief summary.

We arrived in Uganda on Friday night at 10:10 pm local time, but due to 4 students losing their luggage and having to deal with the British Airways people, we didn't end up leaving the airport until after 1 am. Then it was an hour ride from Entebbe, where the airport is located, to Mukono, where Uganda Christian University (UCU) campus is located. Then we had to unload and find our dorm rooms, which put us finally getting to sleep at about 3:30 am. It was a very surreal experience because it was dark and so we couldn't actually see this new environment around us.

Saturday Orientation began at 8 am. We dragged our very confused bodies out of bed and down to the Uganda Studies Program (USP) classrooms for several hours of talk on health, classes, emergency cellphones, gumboot sizes (rain boots), and cultural do's and dont's. Don't sit on the ground. Don't walk while eating. Don't carry your toilet paper around in plain view.

Sunday was campus church. I had no idea what to expect but it was a very, very good experience. The service was very much like that of Trinity in the traditional order. Call to worship with some songs. Then we are reminded of our sinfulness and called to confess our sins which we do corporately and then silently. As we confess silently we are interrupted with the assurance of our forgiveness found in scripture. Then we greet those around us and engage in more worship with song. Then the Word is read and at the end we are told "This is the Word of the Lord" to which we respond "Thanks be to God", just like at JBU. It made me smile. We also say the Apostle's creed. A lot of similarities. The teaching was very, very good. The Vice-Chancellor of UCU spoke. He's pretty cool. Anyway, most Ugandans in this area are Anglican, which explains the liturgical similarities. So church was good.

Then some of the US students wanted to go into Mukono and check out the town, which we did. My friend Elizabeth and I went together and stopped and talked with a lot of the locals, which was really cool. Then we heard some loud Jesus music and stopped to investigate. We stumbled upon this church and the greeter, who took her job very seriously, literally ran like 20 yards across a field to come and tell us how welcome we are and how glad she was to see us. So we ended up staying, for about 2 more hours. It happened to be on a day when the pastor was literally anointing others to be ministers in the church so that was cool to see. The Ugandans are incredibly fervent and passionate in their worship, whether that be in praying or in preaching or in singing or in dancing or in clapping. It was unlike anything I've ever remotely experienced. Then in the middle of the service two Ugandans grabbed Elizabeth and I and told us to run. So we did. We started running back to campus and in the middle of our run it started raining, hard. They got us safely on campus to a shelter. That's one example of how caring and thoughtful Ugandans are. They, unlike us, were watching the sky, noted the oncoming rain, saw we had no transportation and no umbrellas, and got us back home before we were stuck for several hours in Mukono with no way to return. I spent the rest of the day with Halima and the other friends I had made at that church and it was so good. Halima asked me, "Rachel how do they dance at your church?" To which I responded "Uh........." She then asked about clapping and vocalizing and was completely aghast when I tried to explain my church practices. She said, "So you don't dance, you don't clap, you don't yell, do you just stand?" She said she wouldn't like to go to church in America then and I tried to explain that every church was different but that was lost on her.

I need to cut this short, but I'll just say that since Sunday I have been going to class, going to more orientation, but mostly hanging out with my Ugandan friends. They are incredibly nice and a huge blessing. They are eager to talk to mzungu (white people) and help us when we fail utterly at being culturally adept. I have a lot to learn. But the people here never cease to astonish me with their generosity and sensitivity. If you walk into their dorm room the Ugandan students immediately greet you with your name, grab a chair and force you to sit, and offer you whatever food they have, whether that be porridge or biscuits (cookies) or water. One of my friends went and collected newspapers from around campus with which to line my dresser and helped me organize my whole closet. Helped is really not an appropriate term. Essentially I sat while she unpacked and hung everything neatly, making sure every item I brought had a place. She saw that I had put my clothes directly onto the wooden shelves, which were apparently not clean enough, and immediately said "Oh Rachel! Oh no. Let me do it for you. Here. You sit." The newspaper lining was for cleanliness of my clothes. Cleanliness is HUGE here. We are encouraged to shower multiple times a day. The Ugandans hand wash and then iron all of their clothing to ensure they look pristine at all items. The cultural rule "dont sit on the ground" is simply because the ground is dirty and not for sitting. They carry around a hankerchief and constantly wipe their faces free of oil and sweat, as well as wiping every chair they sit in before sitting to make sure they do not dirty their skirts or trousers. Anyway. More culture later.

It has been incredible so far. I'll keep you updated.