Updates from this month.
1. The first weekend in May I went with my girls to a concert on the lawn at the National Museum. They set up a stage at the bottom of the hill and people spread out blankets and picnic baskets all over and make an afternoon of it. Of course there are plenty of local vendors on hand too in case you didn't pack enough food in your picnic basket.
*Rant* All the Ugandans that want to dress "western" come out of the woodwork and you start seeing all kinds of scandalous short shorts and things. This one chic had a dress that looked like it was made out of packing foam. I think she was trying to give Lady Gaga a run for her money. I sat back in my completely conservative maxi dress and laughed.
*Rant2* Selfie sticks?? Like really people?? First of all, this totally looks like something that should be in SkyMall magazine. You know the one that you find in the back of the airline seat and you flip through cause you are super bored. They always have crazy things, like a end table that looks like Chewbacca or a giant inflatable pool complete with inflatable diving board... You know, that sort of thing. I thought we already made enough fun of people who take selfies... now we are giving them tools to be able to do it better?? What kind of world am I living in?? Secondly... you are in public. Have you no dignity at all?
2. My family (#SO) gave me a bunch of letters and cards to come back to Uganda with. Every Sunday I have a new one to open. This month, being my birthday month, most of them were in that theme. My favorite so far? One from my very dear friend which was first of all pink, (to annoy me, she said) then has a picture of a unicorn and says something about how you are just like a unicorn: unique, beautiful, and poop rainbows! I feel like this card is indicative of our entire friendship. Slightly sweet, slightly trying to friendly irritate each other, with plenty of random references to poop. Oh, the people in my life! Love them!
3. My birthday fell the second weekend in May. The things I had originally wanted to do required a bit more cash than my budget allowed for this month, so I had to scale down my celebrations. However, this is the last year that I will still be in my 20's, so I had to do something special. Every year for my birthday my mom asks me what I want to have for dinner. Sometimes I cook it myself (cause its fun for me), but it almost always... in fact I can't remember the last time it wasn't... is Mexican food. Tacos, burritos, enchiladas, SantaFe burgers, rice caliente,... you name it. Interestingly enough, Ugandan food is very similar to Mexican food. Some things are almost the same. They have great avocados for guac, perfectly ripe tomatoes and peppers (or mangoes... or pineapples) for pico de galo, chapatti are a more oily version of a tortilla... rice, beans, cilantro (dania)... its all too perfect. So for my birthday I decided to make Chipotle style (or as close as I could get) burritos. Now of course no one likes to cook for just themselves, so I got together a group of the guys that I usually hang out with and I cooked up my food and brought it to their place. They supplied the movies, music, and drinks. We spread out newspapers as our picnic blanket on the floor and sat around Japaneese style and dug in. You know you cooked well when the room goes super quiet. :) Very satisfying indeed for a cook like me! I spent that night hanging out with movies and music including an impromptu dance circle that they insisted I had to be the middle of since I was the "birthday girl".
The next day it was hanging out with my best friend for burgers and conversation... and naps. Because I didn't get any younger apparently! hehehe
4. Minor setbacks 1: My small computer stopped charging... again... This bums me out a lot cause usually if I have paperwork or scheduling to do for work, I use it. Not to mention, my movies and music libraries are stored/accessed through it. Currently its being worked on and I am hoping and praying that its back up and running again soon.
Minor setback 2: I was supposed to move to a new apartment at the beginning of the month. Of course I was thrilled with this prospect seeing as I don't feel wonderful in my current neighborhood following the unfortunate events the other time... However, the new apartment was being re-finished and it wasn't complete, (still isn't) so I've had to remain in my old place for this month. Which is fine... its just that I had packed all of my stuff up in bags boxes and suitcases and taken everything off the walls because I didn't find out that I WASN'T moving until the day of. Yeah, that could have worked out a bit better... But all things considered its okay. Hopefully it'll be done by the end of this month and I can move!
Minor setback 3: Interpersonal communication between me and people at work hasn't been great lately. I was sick last month and missed a few days of work. Running short staffed is no fun for anyone and some of the nurses are feeling rather peeved with me. Its hard enough being the only non-Ugandan on staff... the only one who was trained in another country... and one of the few who wasn't hired by the administration but brought in by the country director instead. There has already been a weird power struggle around my position for some time as people felt jealous of me being hired, clashed with my nursing style and training, and had enough language, cultural, and personality differences to go around. For this one I have nothing much to say except I have been praying about it. Interestingly enough I know exactly who has said what about me. (They still think that I don't understand any Luganda) But God is giving me grace to handle the situation without feeling emotionally hurt. I'm still not sure how this is happening, but I am glad it is and am going to keep praying for it to continue! I've confronted nearly every single person regarding if they have personal problems with me and the result is very interesting. I guess my straightforward American style of conflict resolution is not normal for them. *snickers quietly to self and feels like she got the last laugh*
5. At the end of the day, God is still good! I have randomly got the opportunity to be blessed by and be a blessing to so many people over this month already, from the patients who bring their kid back just to me, to the nervous pregnant mother that I got to sit and counsel the other day, to just doing little things unexpected things for the people at work, or telling a funny story to brighten someone's day. Encouraged by a conversation with a friend where we went deep into some questions about spiritual gifts and I was able to point out the scriptures clearly to him. Blessed by the meeting and befriending of a missionary through facebook who was in Uganda for a while and is travelling about with no clear plan, but following where God leads; her love and fire for God is contagious. Strangely encouraged by a conversation from almost a year ago which came to mind this week as I was watching a movie and I saw so many parallels to what God is doing in my life. Its not all orderly or planned out in my head, so I guess I'm just glad I'm not the one in charge. Its still a crazy adventure here at times, but life is. I'm just glad that I have my faithful Jesus to walk with me through it all.
