Lazy Wednesday Afternoon

Am having a lazy afternoon - after yesteday it feels pretty good....spent the a.m. today washing the walls in my new place in preparation for painting. I'm SO glad I'm having someone paint it....standing on the top step of the bakery ladder reaching for the top of the walls was pretty scary!! Took the curtains home and washed them a couple of times but they disintegrated......will have to try to find some new ones. Went to town,but no enough of any one kind of fabric at any of the tailors....will have to try elsewhere. My trip to Kampala last Friday was pretty successful....we can't write any grant applications till we've been at site for 6 months (which makes sense) but I got some info on raising chickens in Uganda and raising pigs in the tropics and got some grant forms....so I'll be ready!!! Did some shopping for painting supplies and had a great lunch. Trip home was wild....there is a "conductor" on the matatu who opens the sliding door and collects money and he mashed so many people on some actually protested and got off w/o paying!!! When Ugandans argue they get VERY animated!!! Stopped at the P.O. in Mukono and got some great packages - thanks all!! Holly got one that got here in 8 days from Michigan - not bad!! Saturday I washed all my dirty, dusty clothes and sheets - quite a project. Have three buckets...one wash, two rinse. Reminds me of the old days when we did them w. the wringer washer and the tubs....minus the washer and the wringer! In the afternoon there was a going away party for Theresa (the hospital volunteer)....great food and lots of speeches! I left before it was over because the swing set (Holland gift) was coming - that was quite the event! It's HUGE. Truck driver was very nervous about police, wires, and unloading! Sunday after church I helped the kids "sweep" the grass. A guy mowed on Saturday - the whole place w. a weed whip - took 9 hours!! They use twig brooms to "rake" up all the cut grass..a project. Sisters Veronica and Juliete were gone and Sister Betty was alone running the bakery and PH all weekend - she was running at super speed. I tried to help, but it's hard.... The power went out before they sliced the bread and the generator wouldn't work.....fortunately, the power went back on before night! Monday, Shari and I had our ABC class - the kids are getting used to it and it's really fun. Will just have one more and then school break will be over. I think they like anything to do and if they do well they get a hard candy (maybe that's the draw). Tuesday was so hectic. The shoe making teacher had gotten the leather Monday in Kampala and we went over his bills....took awhile. Then it was CBR day and we had several difficult clients - one very severe hydrocephaic baby with a young mom and no resources....did get a referral for her - hope she keeps it. Met with the new tailoring teacher and the guy who's going to paint my apartment. Then the Holland visitors came (Evenlyn's parents and two teen age siblings). They are really nice people and lots of fun.....I hosted them at "tea"....sisters were all running around after being gone all day....their impressions of Kampala and the matatu ride out to Nkoko were hilarious. It all seems sort of "normal" to us.....fun to see it from new eyes! Sister Juliet went to Kampala Tuesday to attend a meeting and to see off Christine and Theresa....wonder how I'll feel after two years. They were both sad and excited! They both put a lot into their experiences and it's hard to let go I think.....hope it helps that Holly and I are taking over tho' it will be different. The driver was able to get my cans of paint and get a new gas tank for my stove for which I am eternally grateful....two things you don't want to lug on a matatu....he's a peach!!! Sisters Veronica and Juliete took the Holland group to Sippe Falls today, but things appear to be going O.K. Actually, I haven't spent much time in the compound today....had a real run in with some kids yesterday about washing their lunch bowls.....they were just sitting around and I told them to get busy....everyone pointed fingers at someone else. Took their soccer ball away and wouldn't give it back till they got the dishes done. This morning I saw three little girls wasing the supper dishes and I gave them some Rice Krispie treats (got in a package - thanks!) as a random reward for doing some work. They opened them and looked at them and took a tiny bite...but they liked them!! Really funny expressions! Days are going fast - most feel like a roller coaster ride....up and down. But as long as they end up it's O.K. It's hard getting used to the Ugandan way of life.....very unstructured, work is slow, "whenever" must have been invented here. Had a neat discussion w. the shoemaking instructor this a.m. about it...he laughs at my lists, my breakdown of cost/item, setting a price....but he understands. He said "that's how you run a business"..... The painter wanted me to find him a "friend in America" so he could go there and make lots of $$. I told him he wouldn't like America....it's rushed, time is money, it's expensive, he'd miss family AND, there's no matoke! I also said that in places in America they aren't nice to black people. He said "Why?"....no answer! "Because they are differenet???" So life goes on.....am going Friday afternoon to Masaka...have to change taxis in Kampala at the dreaded taxi park....meeting Maria and celebrating Mother's Day together. I'm glad she suggested it.....probably should be getting my apt. settled, but that will come. She's making reservations at a hotel with HOT SHOWERS! Hope they work. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers...continue to do well despite some downward moments....then an upper comes. It works. Holly and Shari are a great help - a quick power walk w. Holly does me a world of good. Can't wait till we all get bikes....a project I'm postponing till the room is completed - can only handle so much.