Much ado about EVERYTHING!

So, this will be my attempt on catching up on what has occurred in the last, well since Africa, months of my life.  I got back from Africa, started work at MiLa again, attended Jazz Fest (a most incredible music festival…come check it out), got jacked by MiLa and my schedule conflicting with my commitments with Communitas (had been an ongoing problem) and decided to leave MiLa and the restaurant industry.  I left May 9th, just before Mother’s Day, phew, missed out on the craziness of brunch! 🙂  Celebrated Amanda’s 21st birthday, took a day away to go to the beach, said goodbye to all my Jamaican friends who were here on work visa, busy taking pictures, hung out with Amanda’s parents (they came to visit) and went on an airboat swamp tour (felt like I was in the Rescuers!)  I’ve spent lots of time by the pool, hanging with friends and my community.  Looking for jobs (currently looking at student life/affairs at a university, non profit doing community development and got head hunted just last week to be a wine sales rep.), celebrated Adam’s birthday at the Bulldog (our favorite pub), Jill’s birthday in her back yard (made cheesecakes and had wine), watched the movie “UP” in 3D…last time I did that was Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker video at Disneyland in the 80’s (bummed that we lost a great musician even if he was messed up).  Spend the day with Amanda at the Frerret Market where she sold bags and things that she designed and screen printed herself (great stuff, let me know if you want to check out her work!), went on a personal retreat to spend time with God and hear from him.  I went camping by myself and took Baxter (the Chapman’s lab) in central Louisiana at Chicot State park for a couple days.  It was so great to be by myself and in nature.  LOVED IT!!!  Welcomed Jennie from Auckland, New Zealand who is here on a 5 month placement program that is a bit like NieuCommunities (which I did in Scotland) and YWAM’s DTS.  I’m coaching/mentoring her and really enjoying it.  She’s 26 and a very smart cookie…we’re both learning from each other and having fun!!  We had a 3 week project at Rona’s (she’s our redheaded Jewish grandmother from Manhattan – and the boy’s teacher) revamping her yard.  It was a CRAZY, BIG project, but very rewarding.  We worked during the hottest weeks of the summer and had multiple record breaking days…but we survived.  We prepared everything in her front and back yard, built a deck, repaired porch steps, sanded and painted side of her house.  We then had a team from Seattle come in (from Bear Creek Church) who helped plant everything (400 plants/flowers) and landscape and finish the project.  It’s amazing to see where it started and where it ended up.  So much)  fun!  Check out this link to pictures-(http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=135283&id=513007183&ref=mf).  Celebrated Matt and Craig’s birthday.

Amanda’s 21st!

Sand and Sky

Feather and Hair

Airboat Swamp Tour

Pensive

UP! 3D with Logan and Jordan

Jill’s B Day

Chillin in the dark

Amanda’s booth

Deer! personal retreat

Nature…love it!

Campsite

Movie set for Expendables

Lower 9th Ward

Yes they do!

Me and Jennie

We’ve had loads of visitors during this time, Bear Creek Team here for a week, Dirk and Stephi from Germany (really cool people), others…sorry to those I’m forgetting!!  Most recently have had Susanne’s family from NZ as she had a significant birthday.  Her brother Gavin, his wife Jill and their kids Andrea (16) and Joel (12) and then Morris and Judy her parents all came out.  It’s been a blast having them here.  We celebrated 4th of July by the riverfront (I made homemade ice cream which is a Kehn tradition).  Said goodbye to the Chapman’s (the family I live with – Matt, Amy and Nolan) for 6 weeks 😦 started running again with Jennie (it’s been ages and needing a workout since I don’t ride my bike to work and back anymore!)  Working on figuring out what job will look like and life on top of that, organizing my room and reading some great books.  Joy of Y’at Catholicism is all about New Orleans and the influence of Catholicism in everything…very funny book and helps you really “get” New Orleans and why the culture here is the way it is.  Also, read Hard Times by Charles Dickens, just started Great Expectations, re-ready Darcy’s Story, the other side of the classic Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin (HIGHLY recommend it if you like P&P-great work!), reading through Proverbs, read Ruth, now on to Genesis.  That was a really LONG post, but at least you’re caught up…if you didn’t tire and decide you couldn’t be bothered reading on!  See y’all soon!!

Kampala

Matt and I had a fabulous trip to Kampala and hung out around the city my very last day in Uganda.  I got to go to the African Craft Village for gifts and we watched the Aston Villa vs. Man U soccer match at a cool old hotel.  For dinner we went to this AMAZING Mexican place and crashed for the night.  Got up early, got to the airport, my flight was delayed but hung out in this fantastic lobby area that you only had to pay $20 for free wi-fi, food, drinks (alcohol included), comfy chairs, nice bathrooms for as long as you wanted.  So I stayed there till my flight left.  I got to London and hung out with my friends Darren and Pam Prince who are with InnerChange (an order amongst the poor-also a part of CRM and we are so much like them!) in the East Side of London.  My flight to Chicago was also great, got upgraded to Economy Plus and then even more…to Business class…man THAT’s the life!  It was a great blessing from God to have such a long flight like that seem effortless and with good food!  My time in Chicago was good.  Hung out with my parents for the afternoon and then off to New Orleans.  My bags got lost from London to Chicago and actually didn’t arrive in NOLA till 4 days later, but they did arrive and all was well!  It was an incredible trip and so blessed to be able to go visit.

Me at the Equator

The Prince Kiddos and Me

Last Day and Wedding

The Family

The Wedding

The last day with my family was good, bitter-sweet. I packed all my things and Asher helped me…sort of. He played with some of my gifts and he had formed a habit of coming into my room, opening up my makeup bag, taking out all the makeup brushes and counting them, using them on his face and parading them around. It made me laugh and Crystal said he’s going to be an expert in putting on makeup because he always watches her when she puts it on.  It was sad to know I was leaving soon, but have enjoyed myself so very much.  We got to go to a wedding today of one of Matt’s friends and it was amazing!!  It was at Lakeside Hotel where Crystal and I ate lunch and where the US Ambassador came to talk to us.  There were many typical Ugandan things but there was also the western flair…with lots of money behind it.  How amazing to experience a wedding, and also one on this scale.  I met many more of Matt and Crystal’s Ugandan friends, had tasty Ugandan food and watched singin, dancing and speeches.  Asher at one point decided to get up on the stage and dance along with two other girls who were a part of the wedding party.  Matt gave a speech and everyone loved him.  It is always amazing to see how he can capture a crowd in such little time with such little effort.  We stayed for cake and FIREWORKS…these people know how to throw a party!  By then the kiddos were pretty done and ready for bed.  I could have stayed and enjoyed the party well into the night as I’m sure most other people did.  But Matt and I had to get up early the next morning to take the trip back to Kampala so we could hang out there and I could catch my flight home.  Maybe I’ll get lucky next time I visit to be able to experience another wedding…we’ll see! 🙂

US Ambassador

Tonight all American’s in Mbarara were able to go to Lakeview hotel and meet the US Ambassador to Uganda. It was really interesting to hear him talk, hear other Americans state their concerns, ask questions and then listen to his response. It was just another level of understanding this country, what is going on, what things are changing and what is going to change, what is good, what is bad, what could potentially be an issue, etc. He and his wife were fabulous people and I really enjoyed meeting them. They knew I was only in town for a short time as we all introduced ourselves and so asked me where I was living and what I was doing there. They gave me great encouragement when they heard I was in New Orleans. It is interesting though, all ambassadors only have a three year assignment and then they are done. It doesn’t seem like enough time to truly get to know the country, the people, your people living in it to make a difference. But who am I to challenged the policies of the US Government. I do know however, that it is a pretty cool job and I wouldn’t mind taking it on one day…hmmm, where should I be ambassador to? Suggestions?!

The University Hospital

What an experience to see a hospital in action in a third world country. I had the privilege once before going to a hospital in India, but this was more intense. Lydia has been working with the hospital in OB-GYN ward and just switched to the Surgery ward. She invited me to come along and observe with her knowing that I majored in Bio Pre-Med. We took a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) to the hospital, I met the head nurse, dawned a white doctors coat and stethescope and we were on our way. Our duty was to clean the wounds of the patients in the ward. Let me tell you something, what we think of as sterile is not the same as what is in the hospital. Not that things are dirty, but we in America take so many more precautions that Ugandans done have the luxury of doing. It is a good place and they do a good job, but the conditions are so different. Starting in the men’s ward the first patient had been hit in the leg by a boda, fracturing his tibia and fibula…an open fracture at that so you could see the bones. There were other unbelievable things…a young man who had been sitting on the back of a truck and a trailor hit him and took off the lower part of his back and one of his butt cheeks was almost severed. I could see the guys vertebrate, some of his pelvic bone and the top of one femur. As we were cleaning him, he cried and cried, evidentally they stopped giving him morphine one week after he was admitted because he was becoming addicted. So this guy has been copping with the pain of this accident for months. There were old men, young men, young boys in the ward, some in really bad shape, some in good spirits, all in some sort of pain. It is however a cultural thing to not show pain or express noise when in pain so it was silent while the cleaning occurred. The women’s ward was next to care for the women and children who were there. Again things that would have been treated much more aggressively in the States was not the case here. Some of it has to do with the people who are injured, either they wait for a long time to even go to the hospital and thus the damage is much more severe, or there is no money to go to the hospital. And some of it is difference in quality of life. Either way my heart hurt for those women and children. One lady had a ten year history of breast cancer and was just now coming in to get a masectomy. Another lady had an acid burn on her hand, she didn’t come in for treatment straight away and her pinky had to be removed. The top of her hand was fully exposed and I saw muscles, tissue and her bones. We walked through the Pediatrics ward when we were leaving and saw some itty bitty babies, kiddos with massive tumors on their heads, and other kids sick with a variety of things. It made me want to know all things associated with medicine and care for them all.

Central Market and an Ultra Sound

Today Crystal and I picked up Amina, a neighborhood shopkeeper and friend, to take her for an ultrasound. This is her third child, she is 8 mths pregnant and has never had an ultrasound. Crystal had told her she would pay for one so she could have the experience of seeing the baby in the womb. I asked Amina if she preferred a boy or a girl. She said a boy, but that it didn’t matter too much. They dropped me off at the Central Market so I could do a little shopping for friends and headed to the imaging center. I walked around for a bit, looking a different shops, bought a few things and then it started to pour. I sought shelter under a tarp with many male shopkeepers attempting to get me to take respit in their shops…all in vain. I waited it out for a while and then braved the rain and made my way to the imaging center. I didn’t see them, so went to a hotel next door and had some tea while waiting. It was nice to sit outside, sheltered, drinking tea and pondering my time in Uganda and that I would be in America one week from that day. Eventually I went back in as I never saw them come out only to find that they were still waiting to be seen. Ugandan time…everything takes longer. So we sat and chatted. There was a funny African animal/nature video on that was looped, so it played over and over. I probably saw it three times and they saw it six. At last the wait ended and they went into see the technician. She came out beaming and announced that she was having a boy. What fun to be a part of this in her life, for Crystal to love on her friend this way and continue to develop a deeper friendship with her.

Sleepover!

I hung out with my friends John and Lydia Young (in UG short term from Georgia) and Zilla Whitehouse (in UG longterm from Manchester) tonight at another friends house that John and Lydia were housesitting for a few days. John made dinner, a fantastic curry, I made naan and we ate and hung out, talking about life, what we all want to do, what we are doing and getting to a deeper level of friendships. The four of us went to the porch, to enjoy some fresh air and a little gift from a friend and then went inside and watched Juno. After the movie was over, Lydia invited me to stay the night and so we had an adult sleepover. Good times. We had breakfast together in the morning and all went our separate ways.

Girls Lunch and Slashing Grass

Crystal and I went to lunch at this beautiful hotel called Lakeview. We sat by the pool and ordered our lunch, chatted casually and then got into some wonderful talks. Tears were shed, we laughed as well and enjoyed the warmth of the sun shielded by the clouds. It started to sprinkle just a bit so we moved to the bar/gazebo to eat. We sat down and the counter was much higher than normal…almost to our chins. My mind flashed back to Pippen in Lord of the Rings shouting, “They come in PINTS?!” and then sitting at the bar that was WAY too big for his hobbit size. Our food came and we realized this would not work so we moved to a bit more leveled out area of the bar. It was so fun to be with my sister, share our thoughts, enjoy each other and spend some quality time together.

We got home and Asher was in the buck (as he usually was since he was potty training) and out helping Dennis slash the grass. That’s what they do in Uganda, take a scythe and slash or cut the grass. Asher took a long branch bent over started slashing the grass in perfect slashing form. Any Ugandan would be proud. I laughed so much…then he started running around, slashing and yelling, “I’m running! I’m running!” Ah to be two and do things that make others laugh and you can enjoy the innocence of it. He cracks me up!

A haircut and a walk

This morning I walked into the play room and saw a vision of hair flying into a basin and Matt leaned over buzzing his own hair. So I sat down on a cushion and watched the show. A little later Asher toddled in and was roped into getting a haircut as well. Bribed might be better, he got to watch Cars while the deed was being done. I shed a little tear as his ultra cool faux hawk was slowly shorn into a buzz. We all decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood and get some tomatoes for lunch. We went to the burial grounds for the Kings, Queens and Princes of the area. It was quite nondescript considering this was the place to hold the dead of royalty, but it was cool to see. We got to the shop, bought what we needed and chatted with the keeper and headed home to make lunch, fun outing!

One week left

I can’t believe I only have one week left. Time has flown by, I have experienced so much and know this week will be more to experience. After our adventure in Kishanje we just chilled as a family. Matt got a little sick and so stayed home from teaching and we had good family time.