Day 78 - Gulu

I’m sitting right now in a primary school classroom while Amber and Trent give a business training. We are in a city called Ojulu in the District of Gulu teaching a group of 15 people. Honorable Betty from the Ugandan Parliament has set up these groups that we may come in a teach business basics.

The bus ride yesterday was anything but comfortable. These bus drivers here are absolutely nuts, insane, and probably on drugs. Luckily I was able to get buried a book, Deception Point by Dan Brown. I read for quite some time while I endured the bumps, the many many bumps. The bus ride was around 5 hours long and we actually had pretty good seats, I was pleased. Amber and I sat together on the second to last row in the back, just two seats together. We had window which made it nice to be able to breath a little and even buy some refreshments when we came to certain stops. When we arrived in Gulu I was stunned to see that conditions were worse even than Lugazi, I was instantly apprehensive about being in a new place. It was as if I had been dropped in Africa again for the first time and I was supposed to figure things out, it was a bit overwhelming. We arrived at Betty’s home which was very humble. We saw the girl’s and boy’s quarters, a little scary. Luckily I was able to stay with Mike for one night in the hotel that was actually pretty nice. I found out today however that I will be staying with the guys because the price of the hotel didn’t work with HELP’s budget like it had when we called in advance. This of course was a surprise but I’m willing to make things work for a couple of days, as hard as it will be.

They have now been explaining the BEST game for at least 45 minutes, maybe an hour. It’s going to take at least another hour or so to play the game. Thankfully the group is attentive and even taking notes. This training is much harder than any of us ever expected or imagined. We have a translator and everything has to be translated which doubles the amount of time it takes to teach the lesson. When my turn comes around later in the evening I’m going to have to cut down on my lesson, something I’m very fine doing. My lesson is on Advertising, I’m kind of excited to teach about it. It should be easier than most topics, at least for me.

I’m going a little bit crazy. Here I am only 4 1/2 days away from catching a plane to NY and I can’t concentrate worth a darn. All I can think about is getting home, seeing my Mom, visiting my people in NY, and just getting back to life. I really feel done here. I came, I did, I conquered, and now it’s time to go home. Because I wasn't to go home so bad the time is going pretty slow. I only pray that I can forget about going home and just focus on what we are doing right here.

I talked to Mom last night for about 35 minutes, it was really good, absolute perfect timing (I just killed a fly, they’re everywhere). I swear, a mother’s intuition is definitely a force I believe in, and Mom sure has it. Just hearing hear voice helped give me the strength I need to be able to last. We talked a little bit about plans in NY. We were trying to figure out what we were going to do the first night we got there, whether to call Maria to pick us up, stay in the airport for the night, or just go to a motel. We talked about some things she’s going to bring for me and most importantly what I want to eat when we get there. I want a FATTY slice of New York pizza, oh my gosh, it’s hard to even talk about it. She assured me that this was only a moment in time and it will be as if it never happened, I believe her. It’s just the here and now that’s hard to deal with. I appreciate my Mom so much, she is my best friend and has the ability to make anything in life better.

Being here has only increased my gratefulness for what I have, especially for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have SO MUCH! I don’t know why I’ve been blessed with so many things! These people have nothing, and I mean nothing. The clothes and their backs and maybe a change or two, enough food to stay alive, a roof over their heads, and that’s it! They don’t have cars, huge houses that are incredibly comfortable, iPhones, amazing food, clean water, good education, NOTHING! All they have is hope. Hope that things will someday get easier or better, something that most likely won’t happen during their lifetime. Why were they dealt the hand they were? Why did I get the better end of the deal? The FAR better end of the deal. After all is said and done, I realize it won’t matter what I had in this life, only what I learned and the relationships I formed.

It’s night now and I’m in my bed. Like I said, I got kicked out of the hotel because they quoted us the wrong amount and it was out of HELP’s budget to keep me there with Mike, I’m okay with it. Now I’m living with the girls believe it or not. There was an issue where there wasn’t an extra mattress where the boys were staying. That’s when one of the girls piped up and said that I could stay in the single room with the mattress, I agreed. So, here I am, but not in the single room. I’m on the top bunk with Amber and Heidi below me. The paint fumes are pretty outrageous and I just hope I don’t wait up dead....er....not at all. I’m using the Deception Point book, my MacBook neoprene case, Seren’s blanket, and an airplane pillow to make one big pillow. The book is mostly to prop me up while I type, I’ll remove it when I go to bed.

Well, I survived one day, it was eternity, but it’s over. I’ve got three more days and then I get back on the bus and head back for Kampala, I can’t wait. I’ve been meditating and thinking positive in order to settle down and focus a little more. 3 days really isn’t anything, unless of course it’s 3 days before you leave home from Africa, go to NY, and meet your Mom there after 83 days; it sort of makes it a little harder. Tomorrow is Sunday and we’ll be meeting in a small branch here in Gulu. I guess they meet in a Coffee shop ironically enough, and there aren’t very many of them. It should be a great meeting, I’m excited to go. Stephanie and I want to prepare something to sing, we haven't decided yet and it may never happen, but I hope it does. We didn’t get to sing last week in Jinja because it was fast Sunday. Hey! That’s how I have to look at this time. Last Sunday seems like yesterday, which means 3 days will FLY by.

The fumes are driving me crazy, I hope I can forget about them and go to bed. I wonder if they are worse up here! Grandma would be freaking out right about now. I’m sure I’ll loose some number of brain cells tonight, hopefully not the ones I need. Time to read scriptures and hit the sack. It’s been a great day of teaching, I can make it.