i'm here!

getting here was a little pre-adventure, adventure :) i had a 6 hour layover in London, so i decided to get on a bus and tour the city for a while. i went to Windsor Castle, which is where the Queen lives when she's there, and that's also where they do the Changing of the Guards, which i missed by a couple hours. i walked around, took some pictures, really just wanting to see one of those cute little red telephone booths. i turned the last corner and there it was! i was so stoked. then i took the bus back just in time to catch my flight.

i landed in Uganda about 8 am their time. it was one of the greenest places i had ever seen...so beautiful! the trees looked like little broccoli stocks haha. the clouds looked as if they were touching the ground. it was like Nahum 1:3: like the Lord woke up and decided to take a stroll across Africa and left cloud puffs from His footprints. haha (E.C. that's for you) i stepped out of the plane, got my visa, and was greeted by my house mom that i'll be staying with for the first couple weeks that i'm here. she's super sweet and it was so nice to have someone to talk to. the weather here was in the 80's and not that humid, a nice change from California. they drive on the opposite side of the road and you sit on the opposite side of the car, just like in Europe, which was really weird for me to get used to.

driving here is crazy! people pass on small streets, don't necessarily stay in their lanes, go whenever they want to, pass when cars are only ten feet away coming in the opposite direction (which looks like it's going to be a head on collision). for me it's weird. for them, it's normal. they have "boda boda's" here, which are like motorcycles that they use to transport different things, from people to animals haha to food, tires, etc. you can see them riding around with chickens, goats, dogs, cows, everything and anything on the back, and they are the craziest drivers ever!

there are baby goats and chickens everywhere!!! we also saw a boy herding cattle down the middle of the street! haha

women really carry baskets of banana's on their heads! it's so crazy! they'll have tons of stuff on their heads and also be carrying their baby on their backs. some of the women will have their kids stand by the street and put their hands out begging for food, and they'll go hide and watch them, and then come back later and get them. these are like the kids you see on tv with the big stomachs. :(

many of the houses are like what you think you would see. it's very dirty here. i'm staying in one of the nice parts of town. it's very protected with a gate and security. they live relatively close to the restaurant that got bombed a couple months ago. we drove by it today. so crazy! they say there are still eight bombs here in Kampala that they are looking for, so when you go to public places, like restaurants, security checks you and your cars. you see government military and security all over on the streets and in churches and any other public places with big guns, like it's nothing. there is also going to be a preisdential election here in February, so the months leading up to it can be kind of crazy, with riots and stuff.

a lot of the cars here have stickers about Jesus on them. almost everyone here has heard of Jesus, but doesn't have a relationship with Him. i went to church tonight, which was cool: there's two different Calvary Chapel locations here. there are about 200 people that come Wednesday nights and about 1,100 that come on Sundays. i'm so stoked to start working with the kids! they're having an outreach Friday that i'm hoping to be a part of, talking to and teaching the kids that are living on the streets.

i'm in AFRICA!!! i can't believe i'm here! i feel like everyday will be such an adventure and i'm looking forward to it.

thank you to everyone who put something in my box! those letters were so encouraging and really blessed me :) i love you all very much!

prayer requests: the women and children i'll be ministering to.
                         safety, as it's kind of crazy over here right now.
                         that Jesus would continually be working on and changing my heart to have an eternal perspective.

thank you so much! love you!