Random Musings

CHOGM
This acronym probably means nothing to you but to those of us in Uganda it has become a common term. They say it like a word with a long “o”. It stands for Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which was recently hosted by Uganda. It was quite an honor for them, and they took it very seriously. The Commonwealth is all of the countries that were once under British rule but now independent states. There are 53 countries in all and it includes much of Africa. Most Americans are familiar with the Commonwealth Games held each year, which is also based on the British Commonwealth. They hold this meeting once every two years and so for Uganda to host it was a really big deal. Each country sent their respective Head of State and many delegates. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles were also in attendance. Security was super tight for obvious reasons.

We were directly affected by CHOGM because the road that takes us to our neighborhood is the only route to the venue where the meetings were held. We were limited on our travel for several days due to road closures, brigades, and many practice runs. Some country (I think Britain) sent hundreds of new BMW motorcycles and cars for the police and dignitaries, respectively. I think that the officials were so excited about their new “toys” that they had extra practice runs, which involved driving up our main road at high rates of speed with sirens blaring. This is extra scary here because of the massive number of people on the road walking, riding bicycles, driving cars, and hauling goods with very slow trucks.

We were also affected by CHOGM because the resort where they held the meetings is also where we go swimming and I work out. We were entirely shut out for two weeks, and we also experienced limited access in the months leading up to the event. The whole place was under construction and a huge mess. I really doubted that they would be able to finish the work in time to properly host the event. They waited until the last possible moment to initiate much of the construction, which was really confusing since they had known that they would host the event for two years. Many hotels that were being built in anticipation of the event did not get completed while others were partially finished.

They did their best to clean up the city and improve the roads and did an admirable job, though much of it occurred at the expense of the public due to the many major inconveniences associated with construction and road detours. They removed garbage dumps and repaired roads. They installed streetlights and did landscaping. They completely renovated the airport and it looks amazingly different. The city looks much better. We are all just hoping that it will be maintained for the long term. It was a bit chaotic while the preparation was going on, but all is over now and we are glad to have it behind us. Now I have to get back to they gym and recover all that was lost during the layoff.




Thanksgiving
Well, we now have two African Thanksgivings under our belt. It is not a holiday that is celebrated by Ugandans, but we have American missionary friends here that we were able to feast with. In some ways Thanksgiving 2006 seems like it was last month, and it other ways it seems like it was years ago. During our missionary training, we were told that being a missionary was very paradoxical, and I think that how time passes is part of that paradox.

We had a very traditional meal with turkey, mashed potatoes (or smashed potatoes as they are called here), sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, dressing, and cranberry sauce. Most of those items are common here, though turkey is very expensive here and cranberry sauce imported only for the Americans. We had a very nice day and spent it with our friends at World Gospel Mission. They have taken very good care of us and allowed us to be part of their team and included in their events.


Christmas
Christmas in Africa is just plain weird to me. December is the hottest month of the year here, which is part of the oddness but only part of it. It is so strange to hear Christmas music in stores. They are songs that we know but sung by people that we have never heard of and they do not sound the same. The decorations are not as elaborate but they are there. It just does not feel right. Now, as a missionary, I am not supposed to be concerned with how it feels, and should be celebrating the Advent season. However, I have to be honest and admit that it just feels strange, and I don’t like the feeling. I really do not like hearing Christmas music, as it just reminds me of the weirdness. Last year Pamela was constantly playing Amy Grant’s Christmas album. So far, she has not yet played it this year and I hope that she can hold off for at least another week.

Last Christmas was pretty depressing. We were at the four-month point and had endured a lot of disappointment and frustration already. We had finally settled into our home and were in a lull in ministry because the students were on Christmas break. It was a very slow time, and there was too much time to think and analyze. We were homesick, lonely, and not feeling very effective in ministry at that point. A lot has changed in the past year. We are looking forward to a bit of a break after being VERY busy these recent months.

So, as we enter this Christmas season, I am hoping that it will be a time for family and reflection. We don’t have to worry about buying things because there really isn’t anything to buy, and if it is there, it is two or three times as expensive as it would be in the States. I am thankful to be away from all of the rampant materialism in America. I am thankful to be able to slow down for a couple of weeks. We are thankful for the many ministry opportunities that we had in the past year.


Scooby
Scooby is a 15-month old female German shepherd that will soon be ours. She currently belongs to a family from Sri Lanka that will be moving to Australia in January. We are buying her from them. She is a pretty dog and great with kids. We are all very excited about getting a second dog. It also really helps security to have more than one dog, which is the main reason that I am getting it. We have not had any problems while we have been here, but you just never know when it could happen.

Speaking of dogs…When we visited Kenya, I saw the biggest dog that I have ever seen. It was half Rottweiller and half Saint Bernard. Monstrous and scary looking dog and I would love to have one. We would never have to worry about robbers coming to our house with those dogs around.

Earl
Earl is our African Grey Parrot and he is very sick. I have taken him to two different vets and they are both very concerned about him. He had what appeared to be a sinus infection so we got him an antibiotic shot and he was getting better. However, yesterday he started acting really sick again. He is sleeping all the time and not eating well. We are hoping and praying that he will recover. The vet that I saw today said that it is very unusual for a parrot to get sick and that when they do they often die. We have no idea how he caught anything since he is not in contact with any other birds or animals.

Internet
Hopefully our internet problems are finally over. In July, we finally decided to pay for a good service. It was almost $100 per month, but we were so frustrated by everything else that we had tried (and those were around $50 a month) that we decided to bite the bullet and pay for the “good stuff”. You have to keep in mind that even the good stuff is very slow (about 16 kb/sec). We were having so many problems in communicating and especially sending or receiving attachments that we knew that we would have to pay for the more expensive service.

So, we paid over $300 to have it installed and signed up for the service. Two days later it quit working. I tried calling the company but no one would answer. I then found out that they went bankrupt and were being bought out. I could not believe our misfortune. Apparently, they went bankrupt the same day that we had it installed.

We recently found out who bought the bankrupt business and were able to reestablish internet in our home. So far, so good. It has worked every time we have tried it. It is reasonably fast for here and it is compatible with our Mac. All this for the low price of $90 per month.

If this keeps up, then I will begin regularly posting blogs again.