Safari Adventures with Brucie

Seems like it’s that time of the month. Yeah, blog time. I don’t know what you were thinking, sick-o. Dang, it’s July and I’ve been here about 4 months. I can’t tell if feels like it’s been longer or shorter than that. I look back and it feels like I just got off that plane feeling completely lost and trying to figure out why the heck God wanted me in Uganda, arriving to Gulu and walking around not knowing a soul, showing up to Restore and not knowing what I would even be doing. On the other hand, I look back at all the friendships I’ve made, people I’ve gotten to be good friends with and have to say bye to, and all the time I’ve spent at the school working and it feels like 4 months isn’t enough time to fit that much life into. So averaging those two out, four months feels about right.

This last month has been packed! First of all, my dad came to visit which was a blast. This idea for him to come visit started when Emma mentioned her family was coming on June 9^th, my Dad’s birthday. Brucie is adventurous, but sometimes need a little prodding, so I temped him by the question, “How would you like to spend your next birthday in Uganda?!” which was the catalyst that got his gears turning, which turned into him going to see Brett in Austria for a handful of days before he made it down to East Africa! So, on June 9^th, Brucie landed in Entebbe on his birthday! We spent a relaxing day by a pool, eating some delicious food, trying local beers, and just catching up.

It was so great seeing him, and almost unbelievable at the same time. The fact that we were hanging out, talking about normal stuff about things back home, yet being halfway across the globe, was great to experience. It was fun hearing about his Sportclips shops, about how the step-siblings are doing, about old SNL skits, Arrested Development season 4, or how the Broncos are going to win the Superbowl. Even these casual conversations helped feel like I was back home for a bit. Emma’s Dad and Sister also got in that day. Brucie’s first full day here was pretty awesome. We got picked up by a private hire company in a super legit old land cruiser with 9 seats, a roof that pops up, and bars on the top that allow us to sit on top and feel the fresh African air flow by us as we pass baboons, giraf…sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. You’ll have to wait until that part of the story.  We drive to Murchison falls, and get to stand next to this amazingly powerful waterfall.

The waterfalls here are much less vertical than those in the northwest, but nonetheless it was a pretty amazing piece of nature to behold. After that we continue on and reach the Nile river and wait for a ferry to take us  across and get to see hippos swimming around and see some elephants upstream. We arrive to Paraa Safari Lodge, which is a super beautiful lodge on the Nile river and we all put on our bathing suits and hop into the pool complete with a swim-up bar where we of course order Nile beers, because you have to have a Nile on the Nile. A delicious dinner and some quality time later, we all head to bed and prepare for our morning safari. 

So yeah, that was a pretty awesome day. We then make it to Gulu. Over the next few days I show Brucie around my new home, the school, Sankofa (our favorite restaurant) and a little bit of everything that is part of the Gulu Life. We go Geocaching one afternoon and almost found our treasure, except that there was a nest of bees guarding it. Since hospital care is, well, not that great here, we decide that getting stung by a swarm of bees with a possible allergic reaction isn’t worth signing our name in a little book. Defeated, we climb back down the hill and ride back to Gulu and get home just a few minutes before a big storm hits us. Unfortunately, Hoke’s timing wasn’t as good as ours and he had to activate Jetski mode on his boda to get home. 

A few short days later, it’s time to take the dreaded bus back to Kampala and say bye to Dad. As terrible as taking the bus it, it’s sorta something you gotta experience while you’re in Uganda. It really makes you appreciate having your own car, being on paved roads without potholes, and not being in near-death experiences on the regular.  But, the redeeming factor of it all is that Kampala has good food, so we get a meal and then say goodbye. It was sad saying bye, but I felt so blessed that he even had the opportunity to come and see me and see what my life is like now. After the 6-hour ride back up to Gulu the next day, I decide that I’m going to avoid that bus ride whenever possible.

A few days later, Emma has a group of 4 guy friends from back home come and visit for 10 days. These guys were a blast. Hanging with them felt close to hanging with my bubs back home, and even had senses of humor like them. I’d say we got along pretty well, and hopefully they would say the same. Their time was filled with some fun adventures, riding 3-deep on Epona (my boda), some secret oaths, and plenty of children’s gifts for the boy-king. Don’t worry about it. They got to go to Ft. Patiko (it’s the location that they filmed the Lion King at) and even got to meet Rafiki. He’s aged quite a bit since the movie was filmed. I think Hoke’s favorite part of them being here was that they brought baseball gloves and a ball, so he got to toss the ol’ pigskin around with them. Wait, I mean, pass the rock. Or whatever sports analogy fits with baseball. Hoke was a happy camper after that though. After a few more days of Good Neighbor Stuff quotes, hanging out in Hammocks, and playing a few card games, it was time for them to return to America and back to their lives as they knew them. And on our side of things, it was back to focusing  on the projects we have going on at the school and keep things progressing. Well, for Hoke it was his last week before he went back home and got to surprise his Dad for his birthday. A group of us wanted to make it a special going away, so we planned a fun dinner night at Sankofa which consisted of his favorite meal here, Sam’s Pesto Pasta and some garlic bread. We made him a custom Menu from Sankofa which included the pizza he invented along with some other inside jokes scattered throughout. For his second gift, a group of us decided to put together a little calendar for him. I don’t think there’s a way to describe this without it sounding really awkward, because that’s what it was, but basically I did a few modeling shots for him and we added “Hey Girl” captions to each one. They’re basically bad pick-up lines (I would know, I’ve tried all of them and yet I’m still single.) for example, “Hey Girl, If I walked around you seven times would you fall for me?” If you want to have the full calendar, I’m thinking I’ll be doing a fundraiser sometime later this year. For all those special people in your lives, just save a little cash for the perfect Christmas present.

We had a little going-away deal for Hoke at the school with the construction workers where they got to share a bit and say goodbye. I think I’m learning about the culture because I knew that I should probably stop the speeches after the first handful or else all 50 of them would have said something. I’m glad I didn’t stop it before then because there were a few guys who really had some awesome, Godly wisdom and encouragement to share. After swearing to avoid Kampala just a couple weeks back, I find myself in the car with Hoke and the two John’s going back but first stopping at a guest house run by one of our partner organizations, Cornerstone. We shared one last night of debriefing, playing cards with some new friends, and some pillow talk after an amazing meal. One thing I’ve learned is to appreciate a good meal, because they don’t come around too often here. That next night we all got dinner at Hoke’s favorite spot in Kampala along with some fruity cocktails. We’re just getting back into the car and buckling up when Sarah looks over an says “Oh, look at that girl!” in a rather surprised voice. So I turn that way but before I see the girl she is talking about, I see a massive spider on the window, like probably 2-inch diameter including the legs. So I straight up mom-bar Hoke and Sarah into the seat and I look at the spider and try to see if it’s on the inside or the outside. John Niemeyer, who is in the passenger seat, doesn’t see the spider so he’s picturing some scene from The Exorcist of this girl having something terribly wrong with her. John Pfeil sees the spider and thinks it’s on the inside, so he rolls down the window to let it out. Turns out that the spider was on the outside, but starts moving really quickly once the window gets rolled down. I yell at John for him to roll it back up and by the time he does this the spider had crawled to the top of the car. John Niemeyer goes to turn on the light on the inside of the car and accidentally hits the moon-roof which starts to open. Niemeyer screams a little bit (but a super manly scream, more like a war cry) and then smashes the button the other way. A pretty hilarious series of events. We get back to the house and Niemeyer opens the door and runs away from the car as fast as possible to avoid any chance of a spider attack. Hoke, although not a fan of spiders, joins the crew of us surveying the vehicle to see if it lasted the car ride back. As we get to the back of the car, we see him, standing there all smugly on the back, taunting us with his large legs and venomous fangs.

 

But, despite his intimidation, he’s no match for the sole of my shoe. After that whole debacle, it’s time to say farewell to Hoke. Gulu and Uganda won’t be the same without him, what an awesome guy and follower of Christ. I could say a lot of other great things about him, but just take my word, he’s solid. It was sad saying bye, but at the same time I know we’ll continue to be friends as life goes on. As I’ve said before, it’s not goodbye, it’s a see-ya-in-a-bit.

We have a meeting while in Kampala with an engineering company about their design for a running water system at Restore, which the idea of that itself is a dream come true for so many! So I put on my engineering hat and get to be a part of this meeting with some amazing people about their vision to bring us running water. It reminded me a bit of my work with CH2M Hill, but on a much smaller scale. It’s honestly a bit hard thinking in the small scale of a school versus a chemical factory and trying to reduce my thinking to tens of gallons per minute rather than thousands. The prices would actually be comparable if you took away the conversion factors, like a valve here would cost 15,000 shillings rather than 60,000 dollars. Small differences. After feeling like an engineer again, it’s time to head back to Gulu. Home, sweet home. This last Friday the engineering contractors began their work at the school, so I’ve been doing some engineering with them and trying to direct some of the work and make a few decisions. It’s actually been a lot of fun being back involved in engineering stuff and being with the project from the beginning and hoping that I can help make it as awesome as possible!

July has been a bit uneventful for the most part, but good. I’ve been spending more time being an introvert and getting refreshed than I had the past few months which has been a healthy change. It’s been fun though, plenty of small things happening but I don’t want to bore you with them. We’ve been raising some kittens, playing some football, having Christmas in July parties, and other cool things with the community around here. Still, it doesn’t compare with my Oregon family and friends. Don’t think I’m replacing you all. I certainly feel like I’m in the groove of things here, now more than ever, and I’m so excited about what God is doing here in northern Uganda. I do miss you all and appreciate all the prayers, support, and encouragement! I’m pretty confident that I would have been in a handful of accidents if I didn’t have your prayers protecting me over here. Keep enjoying the beautiful Northwest summer, eat some delicious meals, drink a few microbrews, and enjoy the small things in life for me. Also, congrats to all my friends who are getting married, have already gotten married, or are celebrating their anniversaries this summer! I’ll be praying that God continues to be with you all. Love you all.