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Published: February 19th 2007
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Uganda Christian University (UCU)
This is one of the chapels at UCU; UCU is a beautiful campus located in Mukono. How did the time fly so quickly? African time is supposed to be slower than American time...and yet I find myself already on my last day here! I knew leaving would be hard...so, now I'm looking for a chance to come back...hopefully in July (as I have some friends who might be making the trip as well, so it would be good to travel w/them).
On my last day, I got up at 6am to try and catch the sunrise before I left Uganda...since, let's face it I didn't see it rise on any other morning, I should make time for it on my last day, right? Well, I sat outside (braving the mosquitos) for over 30 minutes, but I never saw the sun rise...it was a cloudy / rainy morning!!! This is what I get for not being a morning person...Bummer!!!
So, I went to church where my friend, Christopher, is the Lay-Reader (aka pastor). As usual, the service was in Lugandan, but Shannon was preaching so at least I could understand that part of the service. After the service we made one stop for Shannon and Christopher to take care of some church business, but since we
Lush Landscape
Another angle of the chapel at UCU. had a van full of orphans (several of them came w/us to Christopher's church) I opted to keep an eye on them...someone had to! 😉
The kids were playing and being funny, as they usually were, but this time several of them touched my heart so much that I wanted to cry! One of the girls sitting in the back of the van decided to bring up that it was my last day and that I would be leaving..."Auntie Dee, why do you have to leave? Can't you stay with us? Ok, how about this...since you want to come back, why don't I go with you to America until July and then I'll come back with you when you return?" It was so hard to refuse an offer like that, let me tell you...I think she must have had access to what I was feeling in my heart or something cause it sounded like such a great idea! Sadly, I had to tell her she could not come with me, but to keep the fondness for me in her heart and I would return someday...hopefully soon! Requests for me to stay overwhelmed me all day long...how was I to
Dorm Life
Bunkbeds are very popular in Uganda...even at the university level. get on a plane when so many were asking me to stay???
After lunch, Faith and I took a Boda Boda ride into Mukono for some last minute shopping (yep, that's right, I ended up riding on a Boda Boda!). We were in search of fabric...I wanted to bring back fabric from Uganda to make curtains for my room at home. Before we went shopping though, we made a stop at Uganda Christian University (UCU) to visit with our friends Christopher and Jotham. We spent a couple hours with them talking, laughing, taking pictures and we had a snack at one of the Cantinas on campus...I even tried Matoke (smashed, baked bananas - yeah, I don't like it, go figure!). Soon Christopher and Jotham had to attend a bible study at their church, so they left us, but promised to stop by before the end of the night to officially say good-bye.
After we left UCU we went looking for my fabric...I finally found the fabric, but the store only had a sample...supposedly they would be getting another shipment in a week, so I left money with Faith and she is going to send it back w/Fred (another
Good Friends
Jotham, Christopher, and Faith So. Californian who was visiting the Hurleys). After shopping we hopped on Boda Bodas again and returned home.
When we got back I decided to wash one last load of laundry before I packed...unfortunately, the power went out about 35 minutes into the wash cycle, so my clothes only got to the beginning of the rinse cycle. This was totally frustrating because we never know when the power is going to come back on, so I had to wring out the clothes (when was the last time you tried wringing out a pair of jeans?) and let them air-dry...the problem in Uganda is that it's often humid and NOTHING air-dries...especially when it only has about 9 hours to do so! I should have started the laundry before we went to Mukono...when will I ever learn NOT to procrastinate?????
Christopher and Jotham did return and we sat around with other friends talking and laughing for a good long while. Having all these great friends around is making it very hard for me to process the fact that I am leaving...I am having way too much fun to have to leave... In addition to spending my final moments with my
Boda Boda Ride
It's true...I actually rode on one of those crazy things! Oh, I was TERRIFIED, believe me! new friends, I was trying to enjoy my last minutes with the orphans. I wanted to take some final pictures with them, but with the power being out, this far more challenging to accomplish... I have learned that one way to get orphans to come out of the woodwork is to have a camera in your hands - the kids LOVE it when you take their "snap" and then show it to them.
Sadly the time passed too quickly...Christopher and Jotham needed to return to school (they had class at 7am), so Rogers drove them back (but Faith and I went with him). Now it was time to really say good-bye, but we all promised to remain in touch over the next few months and hopefully things would work out so that I could return in July...this is something that we all agreed to pray about.
When we got back to the house it was time to pack...aaauuuggghhh...I hate packing!!! Since 1/3 of my clothes were wet, I packed what I could and was just praying for the power to turn back on. Well, it did finally come back on, but not till about 2am and since Shannon
Bumpy Ride
Oh and the terror continues as we travel down the bumpy road to the Hurley house. and Danielle were sleeping I wasn't about to go and put my laundry back in the dryer (which was in their room). Sadly, I knew that I would be carrying wet clothes w/me back to London...luckily I knew there was a dryer at the hostel where I was staying.
I finished packing, took a quick shower and very late at night (or very early in the morning, depending how you look at things) I finally went to bed...only a few hours before I would be heading to the airport in Entebbee...how had it come to only a few hours left????
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