Back to Matugga

A few short hours of sleep was not enough, but the time was great, so it’s all worth it. Today, I went to coffee with the guys and then said goodbye as we took our own paths of the day. I decided to help out a lady who works at Cornerstone and let her do my laundry J Then, I headed over to a clinic close to Cornerstone (never thought I’d be going to the doctors this much while I’m here.. but hey, at least it’s cheap). This weekend I was talking to the guys and they mentioned how you are suppose to take a pill after going into The Nile due to a parasite that can live and ruin your body for about 20 years. You’re suppose to take the pill 6 weeks after contact… I was hoping 7 months was okay too. I took the test as while I waited for the results, went back to Cornerstone for their fellowship meeting on Mondays. On my way into the meeting, I called Dennis, my boda driver, to have him pick me up after the meeting was over and was SO excited to hear his voice and see him in just a couple hours. The meeting ended and I walked over to the clinic…sure enough… I’ve got a live parasite making it’s home and families inside me, so I’ll be taking a pretty rough dosage of a pill in the next week to clear my system out (I’m debating about waiting till after I visit Jinja bc.. you never know, I may get in the water again J ) I didn’t seem to really notice the systems (given 2 weeks after I left I was exhausted from my new job… but maybe there was more to the exhaustion). Would’ve been nice to know earlier, but at least I caught it. (Can you tell I’m not so nervous)

I was walking back from the clinic when I heart “eh, BOSS!!!”. I turned to see Dennis driving up to my pick up spot! I got SO excited to see him. He was truly one of my closest friends here last time and he is a JOY to drive with. We talk the entire time, he is so protective of me and I really care about him. So, we had a great meeting embrace and then headed out on the town. I had a list of “to do’s” and allowed him to set the pace and the route. We were non stop chatter for hours as we ran the errands, bargained for prices and ate a good ‘ol rolex (chipatee with egg, tomatoes and onions). We headed back to the office and I chatted with Rose and Joyce (2 ladies who help keep up the property and cook food). They wanted to see pictures of my family and simply get to know me… since I’m always in and out “Deb, you move a lot”… haha they have NO idea!

David and I headed to Matugga with pastor and another male teacher headed to the boys school. As we drove, my eyes got extremely heavy and I knew it was going to be a long night. On the drive, I did witness my first “Mob Justice” where a thief was caught and half the town runs after him (while the other line the streets and yell), catches him and beats him until… well, most often death. David explained the entire thing as we drove. Can you imagine?!

Entering the school was another grand welcome as the girls and I were so excited to see each other. It’s nice because I know this week, I get to be still, get back into a somewhat routine and hang out. The s5 girls are done with all their exams and they literally look different as a weight has been lifted and they are on HOLIDAY! (reminds me of my summer days…kinda miss those!) Sarah’s kids made me into a live jungle gym: jumping, tickeling, and talking non stop movement as they chatted endlessly “auntie Deb… do ______” from the moment I arrived. The girsl were all sorts of questions about how I feeling, my journey and how Fort Portal was.  I loved it, but had to keep praying for strength as my body was literally exhausted. We have this entire week for hang out time so I didn’t feel so bad to slip away to have more of a calmer one on one chat with Sarah as she made dinner and I played with her kids. They kept saying how much they missed me because I am “part of the family” now. Melts my heart. I played with the kids for about an hour and then we sat down for a DELCIOUS dinner! Then, the kids were off to sleep and Sarah, David and I did what we do best: sat around the table in low lighting and simply talk.

Tonight’s convos were incredibly interesting

1.       I found out David was a herdsman (starting at age 5) and lived in a hut his entire school life. I had SO many questions!!! I found out some incredible facts: dung huts have walls of mud and floors of dung b/c it’s “softer”, it usually takes a family a day to build a hut and they move about once a year. David actually loves that life and would love to go back, I literally said “REALLY?!” without thinking and both he and Sarah cracked up laughing… I’m so glad I can’t offend them by  my All American comments/reactions sometimes.

2.       There are SNAKEs at the property we are going to for graduation (the boys school)… Like pythons and cobras. Yea… TOTALLY freeked out about that!

3.       David was chased by a leopard when he was 6 and shepherding cows… literally ran away from a leopard by hiding between his cows as the they all fled the scene. He said the leopard locked eyes on him and charged. I saw a leopard in TZ and I would pee my pants if he charged me!

4.       I continue to be amazed at how much fun they have together, how in love they are and how they aren’t afraid to show it (so not African!)

I was supposed to go to bed early, and we ended up talking till 11:20.. oops. So, as I wait for my water to heat up, I figured I’d write out my thoughts of the day.

I love this place! Love these people! And am so excited for a great couple weeks with them!