Short But Sweet

7-26-12
Right now I am lying in my bed in the volunteers’ apartment in Gulu, a city miles away from Kampala. But before I tell you about all the things that have happened in the past few days.
I found out that I was going to be coming to Gulu on th 21^st (last Saturday). Ever since then I’ve been so excited to finally come to Gulu; I’ve wanted to volunteer in Gulu since I applied to Watoto because of the Trauma Rehabilitation center they have here. I soon found out, however, that leaving Kampala/Buziga wouldn’t be as easy as I thought. Monday morning when I went in to Bulrushes and started working with my boys in the special needs room it hit me that in just a few days I wouldn’t be getting to spend every day with them. I wouldn’t be able to make sure they were okay and I wouldn’t be able to shower them with love. It broke my heart knowing I would have to say goodbye to them soon. I said goodbye to my boys on Wednesday late morning because that was the day of our volunteers meeting and I wouldn’t get to see them (or so I thought) before I left for Gulu. I kissed each one of them goodbye and had my picture taken with each of them, and then I had to walk out of Baby Watoto to go to the meeting. I tried so hard not to think about my boys, but I couldn’t help it. Even as early as Monday, before I said goodbye to the boys, I was getting upset so to distract myself I packed all of my stuff up Monday night…even though I wasn’t leaving until Thursday afternoon.
It was also really hard to say goodbye to the roommates I left behind in Buziga. Although I know one of the volunteers here in Gulu it was hard leaving the people I’d spent a month with, and some people I’ve spent my whole time here with. It was even hard leaving the home in Buziga because it’s the only home I’ve known here in Uganda, and leaving that comfort and consistency was a little scary. Plus, there are so many memories I have in that house. But this morning and afternoon (even last night) I said goodbye to my roommates who trickled out of the house to go to work at various times throughout the day. I hate goodbyes. I can’t imagine what I’m going to be like once I actually leave Uganda…ugh, I’m getting emotional just thinking about it. Anyway, I said goodbye to my roommates and the house and then headed to Gulu, but before we headed off we needed to stop at the Babies Home in Kampala to pick some things up to drop off at the Babies Home here in Gulu. I was SO excited for another chance to see my boys!! It was great seeing them again, but it was also torture; knowing that I needed to put my baby Justin down for the last time and say goodbye was SO SO hard!! Part of me wished I hadn’t gone in to see them today, but I couldn’t miss a chance to love on them.
The ride to Gulu took…5-6 hours. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be which I was very grateful for. On the way here we saw monkeys in the trees on the side of the road, and a huge waterfall (I think it was Kumara falls or something like that). I also saw a patch of sunflowers, something I haven’t seen at all during my time in Uganda. The sunflowers made me think instantly of one of my best friends Sarina—sunflowers are her favorite. I also saw the “special tree” that the other volunteers riding with me and Fred (the volunteer host…he basically looks after us and makes sure we’re ok) were telling me about throughout the drive. From the distance you see this huge tree on top of a hill on the right side of the road. Everyone just kept telling me to look at the tree, I didn’t know what to expect. Was the thing going to shoot off fireworks, were hundreds of monkeys living in it? I had no idea, so I just kept looking at this tree as it grew closer and closer. When we got a few yards away I started to see that this tree that looked so huge and enormous a miles down the road was actually two smaller trees that were so close to each other you didn’t know there were two until you went right past the trees. We all looked at it through the rear window too, and I got to see the trees twist back into one huge one as we drove off, it was actually pretty cool.
It’s a little weird, and I have to admit, a bit sad not spending the night sleeping in Buziga like I have for the past two months. There are so many things that are different about Gulu, and I am sure I’m going to grow to love it here, but right now I’m still trying to adjust. I’m so excited to be here, but I’m also sad to be out of Kampala/Buziga because I knew what life was like there, I was comfortable there. But it’s pretty cool to see how God is working; a couple weeks ago I started realizing that I was getting more and more comfortable in Kampala and was therefore not relying on God as much as I was in the beginning. Maybe making this switch to Gulu is exactly what I needed in my walk with the Lord. Plus, I need to keep things in perspective; being in Gulu is what I’ve wanted since I applied to volunteer with Watoto and God has given fulfilled that dream, just like He fulfilled my dream of coming to Africa to help the little babies here. I was scared and nervous when I first got to Uganda, but after a few weeks I was in love and SO thankful the Lord brought me here; I’m hoping and praying (and part of me knows) it will be the same with Gulu.

7-27-12
Being in Gulu is already getting easier. Today my roommates and I went to the Babies Home (where I actually got to play with the kids for a little bit), got the schedule for the month (which always helps me feel grounded), went to the market to buy some food, which helped me get a better sense of the feel of the city. We took bodas (motorcycles) everywhere we went, which was really great. Just getting in the city and seeing what the atmosphere is like made me feel more comfortable. Tonight one of my roommates (Rebecca) made a rice stir fry. Anyone who knows me knows that I eat very few, if any, vegetables…I have a feeling that’s going to be very different once I get back from Uganda. Last night we had pizza which had onions, and green and red peppers on it, and tonight our stir fry had carrots, green beans, cucumbers, onions and green peppers all fried together with the rice. It was SO good! I was honestly shocked by how much I enjoyed it, I even had seconds.
I have my schedule for the Babies Home for the entire time I’ll be in Gulu; I’m on the morning shift for the first two weeks, the third week I’m on the afternoon shift, and on the morning shift my last week. My days off are Wednesdays and Thursdays, and on Saturday and Sunday we work half days. Morning shift is from 7am-3:30pm, and afternoon shift is 11am-6pm; weekend morning shift is from 7am-1pm and weekend afternoon shift is from 11am-4pm. I have a feeling my time is Gulu is going to FLY by. Going on safari won’t make the time seem to go any slower. Rebecca and I are the only ones from our apartment going on safari and we decided that the week of the 12^th would probably work best; that week will be about the halfway point of my time in Gulu. Looking at a calendar at how many weeks/days I have left here seems so weird; it looks like it’s such a short time, but at times I feel like I’m going to be here for what seems like forever.

7-28-12
Today was my first day actually working in the Babies Home in Gulu. It was so good! I spent the whole day taking care of a four day old baby called Dennis. It was a pretty easy day; all I had to do was feed him, change him, and watch him sleep J. I worked from 7-1. Right now I’m at Coffee Hut, a coffee shop in downtown Gulu. It’s so calm in Gulu, so different from Kampala. I walked all the way from the Babies Home to the Coffee Hut by myself today and it was great. I wasn’t nervous or freaked out, plus the distance from one point to another in Gulu isn’t that far. I’ve been sitting in this coffee shop for like 2.5 hours; I’ve been able to video skype w/ my parents which was great! Being able to use the free internet here is awesome! I’m going to skype as much as I can and upload my photos and videos to my blog whenever I’m at the Coffee Hut, that way my internet stick should last a long time!