Christmas

It's interesting how much less thought goes into planning for the holidays especially when one is away from home. Unless invited it's pretty straight forward, you do your own thing, what ever that may be. Travel to another city, do mega shopping and have a feast at home, check in at a hotel or in the case of a student without much color just chill in your apartment and try to keep warm.
The challenge comes when people are getting ready to travel home to be with their families. They are all excited, you can see the sparkle in their eyes, they are cracking their heads for what presents to buy for family members and then they ask, " so what plans do you have for Christmas?", you smile and say " uh well, we haven't thought about that yet" in other words, we don't have any plans. This is a week before Christmas. All over sudden they wish they hadn't asked the question because they can't exactly say, come on over to my parents house.

When Uncle Enoka was here, he made contact with a distant relative who lives in Hershey Pennsylvania. They didn't know each other but Chris invited him to his house for a few days. I admire Uncle Enock for his courage, he just has a way of making things work and he is very friendly.
When he came back from that visit, he encouraged Sam and I to keep in touch with Chris, he said he was a nice guy, they had established the relationship and he had a nice family.

So Sam sent him an email and Chris invited us over for Christmas. We had originally planned to rent a car for the journey so that we could leave at our convenience but Chris offered to pay for our ride. We got a reply from Chris the night of the 23rd saying he had booked the tickets and made all the arrangements.

On the train ride I wondered how we would know who Chris was when we finally got to the station. We walked out and then I saw a man holding up a piece of paper with the name Ongwen boldly printed. I almost bust out laughing because it was really a strange situation. This guy doesn't know us from Adam but he has paid for our train ride to his home. By the way I didn't tell you how he mentioned in his email that after we got there we could decide when we want to come back. What??! this is such an open invitation, it was too good to be true. I thought tell him we will be there for a week, you know Christmas into the new year (obviously I'm kidding about that). We said we would stay two nights.

The time at Chris place was fantastic, his wife Sandra is Jamaican and they have two girls Mugisha and Mutoya who are 17 and 13 respectively.



Plenty of love to go around, as usual Mich got a triple portion. Food was exquisite and all home made (by the way that is a big blessing in this place where people want already made meals).
We had oxtail, goat, salmon, mac & cheese, rice & beans, lots of veggies, it was food heaven and that is not mentioning the desert Jamaican Ram cake, easy orange-cranberry trifle, cookies and many other snacks you wouldn't click from me just explaining. You needed to be there and we had all this yummy food for two days running man!!!


Sandra had invited two other families, a Chinese couple and their 5 year old daughter and a black American couple with their 13 year old daughter, as you can see Mich was in business. We had a wonderful time.

On the 26th we took a trip to Hershey town, we visited the Hershey Chocolate World http://www.hersheys.com/chocolateworld/, Mich nearly got a darker skin tan from all the chocolate that he ate. We visited the Hershey Hotel, saw the Hershey schools and ended the day by visiting Penn State hospital where Chris is a researcher and Sandra is a nurse.

On 27th we said our good byes and Chris gave us a ride home.
About an hour after we arrived home and were settling in I got a call, some one called Chrispen was at the door to see us. He said he was Sam's cousin, we couldn't believe it, we knew that he was in the Philly area but since we never got responses to our emails we forgot all about him. Now he was at the door without any prior notice, what a pleasant surprise. He came with his two children, one just finished college and the other is just starting.
He has invited us over for New years day, how nice, one less occasion to worry about. God is just the bomb!!!!

Lets see how this one goes.

Only in America

I never felt so important like I did about a month ago.

This is how it all begun, I walked into the big supermarket four blocks away from home and guess what I saw??. Hawaii Maya plantains, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, that is just another name for 'matooke'. I couldn't believe it!
I was so excited I bought as much as I could, and we enjoyed some nice home cooked meals of matooke and binyebwa, mm mm mm.
I run out of stock and unfortunately so did the store, I'm assuming that I was the only one who was buying it anyway.
I kept checking from time to time and there was no sign that they would restock it in the near future.

I decided to ask, I walked in and approached a guy who looked like he would certainly be of help. I tried to explain to him what I was looking for and for a while he wasn't getting it. Then I remembered the name 'Hawaii Maya plantain" and immediately he knew what I was talking about. He asked me to hold on while he went to check in the store, came back and told me that unfortunately there was nothing. Then he asked me to hold on while he made a call to the dispatchers, unfortunately they were out of stock too. He then told me, it would probably take one or two weeks before they got a new batch. He advised me to keep checking.

Talk about good customer service, I was impressed that he stopped what he was doing to attend to me. Now even though I didn't get the food immediately I walked out really happy that he had taken the extra effort.

Two weeks later I walk back into the store and there it is, my matooke, specifically ordered for me.

On this good day

On this good day, some hours ago, my brother Peter took a bride.
I wish I could have been there, but that was not for me to decide.
I can't wait to hear all the stories about how the day went
But one thing I know is it didn't rain and so the reception venue wasn't wet.

It's funny, when I was much younger I thought people married their siblings and Peter had been my choice. I realised later that the whole sibling thing was not a good idea.
We have always been good friends growing up, I looked up to him for guidance and approval for decisions I made.
I kind of feel cheated not being their to see him take his bride but I know all is well.

Congrats to you Peter, on this your special day.

It's not safe anymore

So what have I been up to lately?
Playing scrabble on the Internet, and uhh, playing more scrabble. It's so much fun and very addictive too, before I know it, an hour is gone. Then I have to clean the house, shower, read the news, check mail and it's time to pick Mich up from school.

Mich is a whole story on his own, he has been up to lots of mischief lately, at some points I'm tempted to ask him "do I know you?".
We have had a wonderful time hosting uncle Enoch, Mich loved playing with him and there was lots of laughter and tears ofcourse. It was sad to see him go but he has a family of his own and work and a life... but that will be for another post, for now I want to focus on Mich.

He wakes up the night after uncle Enoch left at around 2am, (maybe two days ago). Knocks on our door saying he couldn't get to sleep and that he was hungry, he wanted to eat bread. Sam told him to pick a slice from the fridge and then go back to bed, he quickly agreed. Then for the next 5 or so minutes I heard drawers opening and closing, loud bangs, anyway lots of nagging noise. I knew at this point it wasn't just about getting a slice of bread. It would subside and start all over again, I decided to check out what was going on.
I found Mich in the kitchen, all the lights in the house were on, he had turned on the microwave fan and the microwave was giving a beeping sound like something was being warmed and had timed out. Turns out the young man was not ready to have just a slice of bread, he had gotten a bowl, poured in some milk and weetabix and was ready to have something substantial. I was speechless, the weetabix is way up in one of the cupboards out of reach, he had to have climbed on the counter to get it (that explains all the loud banging). That he was able to put the stuff in the microwave was one thing, it's out of reach too, the kind that are built above the cooker. He had to have climbed to do that as well, how he managed to press the timer and know which buttons to press, beat me, no wonder lots of other functions were running at the same time.
But I have to give it to him because he didn't spill anything, he got adequate potions of what he needed and warmed it to just the right temperature.
I just thought, after this nothing is safe anymore. I need to be extremely careful what I put where because he can get to it and that is scary. I know he is growing to be independent but with all the ideas in that little head there is no limit to what he will do.
I need to find a balance between giving the freedom to do certain things but keeping him dependent as well. These days if you insist that he doesn't have something, he will go get it himself. I miss the days when I was totally in control, no cookie until I get it for you, kind of thing.
It's not safe.

Birthday Parties

October had lots of birthday parties for Mich to attend, looks like many kids we know were born in this month.


One thing that amazed me about these birthdays is that Mich always came home with presents. Wait a minute, isn't it supposed to be the other way round, it's some one's birthday, so you take them a present?. My friend Andrew used to say, your birthday should be the day you buy all your friends presents, and when I asked him why he said, because we have put up with you for so long, I found that funny.

Back home, birthday time?!, we get ready to busk in endless numbers of gifts and hope that many people come because that means more presents. I'm talking about the kids here, but then again half the time all the kids are thinking about is playing and eating cake and sweets.

I don't think this whole giving presents thing would work for adults because, eh! it can be very tricky.


Anyway, I'm thinking this is an American thing (for kids) where the celebrant's parents buy little presents for all the kids that have been invited, so that every one goes home happy. It certainly works otherwise we would have Mich and Co. fighting for peoples presents. It has been a pleasant experience seeing him light up when he is handed his own little gift, that is apart from the times when his face is literally in the cake trying to blow out someone elses' candles.

I'm certainly looking forward to more invitations, that way he is able to get some of the presents he has been dreaming about.



But ... what happens when it's his birthday?? should we celebrate it in a quiet way or what? quite honestly this business of buying your guests presents is a high calling on my pocket but I certainly like the idea.

Madea

So, after all that crazy stuff, I'm moving around with sullen eyes, pouted mouth and all, feeling sorry for myself. I go to the library and I find just the book I needed to cheer me up, this must have been a divine appointment. "Don't make a black woman take off her earrings" by tylerperry, my my! I had some good belly laughs.

Madea is something else I tell you. She is one of the main characters in many of Perry's works. She is an elderly lady, in simple terms a granny who speaks her mind and is often full of drama. I just found out that Madea is short for 'Mother dear'. She had some really good advice.
She said, it's not good to be stressed out, there is always something to laugh about, for example when you turn on the TV and you see the President of US of A, that in itself is funny.

Here are some excerpts from the book and advice from Madea herself.

MADEA on being natural.
"Have you been to a pool party where a whole bunch of black women are standing around looking cute? At the pool they put their fit in and their legs in, but not their heads. Then, if they get into to water, their hair will never get wet. Now, I understand that. Of course you want to look your best. Black women ain't going to get their hair done, and then have to go right back to the hair dresser. It ain't like a white woman, who can just wash it and get up and shake it and go out the door. No, it takes preparation and chemicals and glue and saturation and hours and hours to get that hair lay down and look like it does. There ain't nothing wrong with it. I’m proud of it if that is what you want to do.

But what I don’t understand is this hair-weave thing. They take this strip of hair from a horse or something and put it in the head. They glue it and they try to blend in their hair with the horse hair. Nine times out of ten, their hair is rougher and more coarse than the horse hair they done put in. So what you get is a really rough spot at the top, and the further down it goes, the longer and the smoother it gets. Now that’s crazy as hell.
My thing is “be natural”. If you want to get it permed, go get it permed. If it’s hair that’s an inch off your head and you want to perm it, perm it. But it’s something else when you go and put all that other stuff on".



MADEA on Jheri Curl
"When a white man begins to go bald, they freak out. They call the Hair Club for men. I understand that but let nature take it’s course, because those comb overs look like hell. But don’t blame them for trying, because they don’t necessarily look right without their hair.
But black men in the same situation, they just say, “oh well”, and they cut it all off. When the hair line starts to go back and it’s looking funny, they just shave it all off and they walk around bald. I like that. ….

Some men ain’t going bald but they have what we call ‘waves’. They wear these do-rags. The problem I have with do-rags is that they have the audacity to wear them out in public. I’m so sick of seeing these do-rags. It’s today's version of that plastic bag that men and women had with the jheri curls. You know that plastic bag? There would be steam coming off the top of their heads when they’d take it off. They’d be walking around in public with that thing on. Take that off your damned head!
Speaking of plastic bags, lets talk about the Jheri curl for a minute. I have lived with all kinds of devastation in my life. I’ve lived through a man who had a perm in the ‘50s, Afro in the ‘70s, and Jheri curls in the ‘80s. Hazardous! Just like asbestos is killing a whole bunch of people- and they just found out-you just wait until they find out the effects of Jheri curl".



The miracle of Vaseline
"Vaseline. I could write a book about Vaseline alone….
Vaseline is a miracle. Vaseline petroleum Jelly was created by God for black people. People waste all that money on all that stuff to tighten their skin and firm it, lift it and separate it. All you need is some Vaseline…"

I can only relay so much, other wise I would have to just copy the whole book, it's really funny stuff. It would be nice if you got to read the book or watch Tyler Perry's shows and movies. There is a lot to laugh about and a lot to learn.

Encounter with the law

The lowest point in my stay here, happened a few weeks back. Now for this one you need to sit back and relax, I hope you do relax because I'm really going to vent my frustrations and everything just to get it out of the way. I hope you understand that I need to do this because I'm not in a hurry to get cancer from having bad toxins build up in my body, I need to let it go.

Anyway so it's been about two months since we moved into our apartment and in the first few weeks everyone was trying to get used to the new environment and all. Mich in particular was excited about more space in the house and in the hall way. Once or twice he run out the door and got stuck between the two doors that lead out of the building. The good or bad thing about these doors is that once you get passed the first door going out, you can't make it back in the same direction without using the key. On these occasions we found him with someone in the apartment trying to explain where he was coming from.
On one of these occasions Sam found a lady trying to help him, a few days later he was confronted by some dude who accused him of having attitude towards his wife while she was trying to help Mich. Sam told him there was certainly some kind of misunderstanding because there is no way he would have attitude when some one was helping his son. The guy calls his wife and asks her if indeed Sam was the guy, she was a little embarrassed that her man had taken things that far.
When Sam told me I was really baffled because "Sam" and "attitude" can not be used in the same sentence. That was the end of that.

About two weeks after that I receive a call from a lady who says she is from DHS and that she was at my door to see me. I thought, DHS? what's that?, at my door? okay ... in my mind I'm thinking this lady is lost, is looking for someone, let me go and see if I can help her find her way or just tell her she got the wrong number.
I get to the front door and let this lady in, she is holding some files and then she states again that she is from DHS, still doesn't ring a bell. She asks me if I have a four year old son, I'm like well not exactly, he is three and a half. So she tells me how some anonymous person put in a complaint about a little boy who is left running in the hall way and gets trapped in between the doors while trying to make his way out, he is not attended and usually is left crying for over 45 minutes until someone passing by comes to his aid. The whole time I'm looking at this lady speechless, still trying to figure out what is going on. She asks me how old I am, tells me from just looking at me and our conversation I seem very intelligent ... aha??! (what is that supposed to mean?).
She then tells me she would like to see the little boy, at this point I thinking, oh oh! I'm in big trouble, I still can't get my words together to tell her it's crazy this whole thing. He is a little boy, he bound to get into stuff, Sam and I look after him the best we can, it's not like this happens everyday, we have hardly been in the apartment a month. I didn't say any of that, I was still taking the whole thing in and also trying to keep my cool and be polite, you know?! ... you don't? oh well that's life.
I'm hoping that this lady will figure out that Mich isn't in any kind of danger and that all is well.
She meets Mich who doesn't seem to mind the lady, she asks him questions and he answers them, and goes on with what he was doing.
So we sit down and the lady tells me like 5 horror stories of things that have happened to kids in Philly, yeah! like I needed to hear that.
I'm already feeling horrible that she had invaded my privacy and that some crazy person in the apartment had reported to DHS, which by the way stands for Department of Human Services.
She then writes some things on her papers and asks me to sign, to show she came to the premises and advised me. Honestly I don't remember when I last used the signature that I put on those papers but it certainly wasn't eligible by any standards.
But that is not the end, she had to make sure that there was enough food in the fridge, that there was running water in the toilet and that Mich had a room and bed to sleep on, talk about crazy stuff. By the way I'm not making this up, it actually happened, sad isn't it?!
Still, that was not the end of it, she said she couldn't make a decision, her supervisor was going to come by too, to assess the situation and make a verdict, but she thought the case would be closed.
I miss home, what ever happened to children running in the compound (safe area) and knowing that all is well and incase you miss something, the neighbour is sure to notice and help out or advise you if something is wrong?.

These people don't waste time, a week later I received a phone call from the "supervisor". I thought shoot!!! these guys just won't let this small incident go. The guy was nice on the phone, explained why he needed to come over, asked what time would be most convenient and said it would be nice if we were all at home. Before he hang up he asked me if I thought I needed parenting skills, I almost said WHAT??!!, but thought it wise to be a little polite, so I said no thank you. We made a date for that very evening, he later called to say that he didn't have a phone but that he would be at the door at 6:30pm.
At 6:30 I went to the door and he seemed to have been waiting a few minutes, that wasn't the worst of it. The guy was heavily built (not exactly short), marine crew hair cut and to crown it all he was in an army trouser with the boots too. I was humbled if you know what I mean.
Of course I fained a smile, meanwhile I'm trying to catch my breath, this was not what I expected to see. We get into the house and Mich was acting like he was on a sugar high, he couldn't sit still, he was really excited about having the guy in the house.
He was indeed a nice guy, he started by telling us how from the conversation we had on the phone and just walking into our home he didn't think it was necessary to waste his time and ours over this. (I'm beginning to think that they expected to find a woman high on something and whose speech isn't coherent). He acknowledged that kids have energy that they need to burn and that they do get into stuff. His conclusion was that, someone was just not amused about the little boy running around and put in his complaint.
He also had to write stuff down and said, well I'm closing this case and really don't see why the person who came here before me, didn't do just that, I almost said tell me about it.
Aaaah!!! the taste of raising a child in this individualistic environment. It's already hard as it is, I didn't need this because I honestly feel Sam and I are doing our best.

That was a really lousy experience, I have certainly learned my lesson to be more careful with Mich and extremely careful about the people around me. People have issues and you don't want to get in their way, but alas you will sometimes and you can get burned in the process. That is keeping me in check, I also know that God takes us through some of this rough patches for our own good, there is something to learn.

But you know?! even Joseph and Mary also had issues when Jesus went MIA on their journey back home from Jerusalem. They found him days later in the temple jazzing with the high priests. He is lucky it was then otherwise he would have been put in foster care or something, and Jo and Mary would have been labelled careless parents.

Family visit

Then a week after handover I had the beautiful privilege of hosting my brother Andrew, his wife Amanda, my niece Iridi and Sam's uncle Enock.

Andrew and his family live in Denmark while Uncle Enock lives in South Africa.


It was a wonderful reunion on many fronts, I hadn't seen them in about two years, they had never met Mich and Mich and Iridi were meeting for the first time too.

We had a wonderful week together, shopping, taking walks, eating out and going on the Duck tour phillyducks.

Mich and Iridi couldn't get over each other, there was constant fighting for toys and crying. The battles would start early in the morning when Mich excitedly run into her room to check if she was still there. (He didn't attend school that week because he had a bad cold)


The only time they were peaceful was when they were watching a cartoon, immediately after that it was battling again for this toy or that thing, if Iridi held something Mich wanted to have it.
It was all fun and laughter in the evening when the day was over and it was almost time for bed, then they would play, run around and laugh only to start the whole process all over the next day.

Friday night was real full house, that's when uncle Enock arrived, he is around for conference. We stayed up and talked for a bit and then turned in for the night.

Kids Club Handover

Hum hum humm!!! I know what you are thinking, 'girl, whatsup?, you have more time to your self now that Mich is in school and look, you haven't posted anything for a while, whats going on???'
I know, I know, well I will tell you all about it in bits and pieces. As usual the best place to start is at the beginning.

It's a new school year, well not so new anymore and with that comes handing over of responsibilities. So much of the past weeks have been about meetings, nominations and handing over files.
I was officer in charge of the Welcome Weekend, I couldn't have been given a better post because I had fun fun fun! I enjoyed working with the students and administration, late nights corresponding with prospective students with partners and kids and attending endless meetings but it was all good.
The first year moms are here so we threw a welcome party for families just so we could put faces to some of the names and chat a little bit. Then the next week or so we had a meeting, old officers describing their duties in the various posts and having the new members deciding which positions they were comfortable taking up.

All the post were taken up except mine, can you imagine?! I don't whether it's because I didn't do a good job selling my position or I sold it so well that they freaked out with how much time one had to put in. Unfortunately I can't carry the post two years in a row so by the time we met again, they had found someone. The lady seemed worried about taking on the task but I put her fears to rest when I told her I would be there to help out and that it's not nuclear physics or anything.

We ( the out going officers) had fun working as a team and decided it was only fitting to treat ourselves to a dinner while the guys took a turn looking after the kids.

Independence day(s) celebration

It's the end of September and the beginning of October, looks like lots of African countries got their independence around this time.
So the Africans at Wharton threw a joint party today, to celebrate anniversaries gone by and those yet to come (like Uganda's which is in about 9 days time).

We had lots of fun, African music, plenty of dancing, African food of course and a movie "The Last King of Scotland" (there couldn't have been a better choice).

Preschool??!!

So, Mich is having fun at preschool, he has made friends and he likes his teachers.
But with school comes the baggage of viral illnesses and strange behavior.
Last week he didn't go to school for two days because he was down with a cold.
I have also noticed that he cries a lot more these days, even over really petty issues and I was wondering what was happening, I'm thinking it might be because he sees other children crying at school but many of them are younger than he is.
Then just this weekend he said something that I know he definitely heard from somewhere else, he said "I don't like grownups", now that was a shocker and we are trying to deal with it.
Even as he grows, learns and gets more independent, we continue to trim off the rough edges.

Sam in Quantico

Last week Sam came to a point where he thought it was time to change careers apparently school is doing things to him. He decided life as a marine might just work better.




















I hope by now you have realised that I'm just pulling your leg.

On a serious note, Sam and a few other Wharton students had the opportunity to experience life as a marine for a day. They went to quantico the camping and training base for the marines and this is what happened.



































And lastly the writing on the wall.

Mich starts preschool

We all looked forward to Mich's first day at school, he was excited, so was I and Sam was busy getting ready to head back to school too.
On the morning of the first day Mich wasn't too keen on taking his bath or getting dressed, we had to keep reminding him of what exciting things lay ahead, that got him going.
















It's preschool or should I say play school so we didn't have to get him much, just a school bag and some decent clothes.
When we got to school and entered the class room Mich let go off my hand and went off to play with the toys. There were a few kids here and there crying because their parents had left them and one was throwing a serious tantrum. Mich looked at the boy with a bewildered look of "what's the matter dude, we are in school that should be exciting".
Sam and I hang around to speak with the teacher and see how Mich settled in but honestly he couldn't have been bothered with us.















The teacher was nice, she said we should give him time to settle in, that the first day was usually excited but when they get to realise its a daily thing then they get weary and don't look forward to school anymore, we took that to heart.
We said bye to Mich but really he was more concerned with other things.



















Sam and I went to run a few errands and before long it was time to pick him up.
As we got into the school a little girl came up to me and told me how she spent the morning playing with Mich and then she asked if we came from Africa. I said well, yes, then she said " I come from Africa too", I said "oh really?!, which part of Africa?" then she said " somewhere in the jungle" I didn't pursue the conversation any further partly because she had run along by this point.
Mich loved his first day of school, we got there and found the teacher just finishing a story. The little girl told him we had arrived and when the story was over he came out and we went home.

The next day was a little different, when I went to pick him up he wasn't too excited to see me, he said he was still enjoying school and that I should go back. I'm thinking this is the effect of spending all our time together, poor boy can't stand me anymore. Actually on the third day, when he saw me he begun to cry, the teacher was reading a story and he immediately stopped, "Mich why are you crying?", then his little girl friend moved over from where she was sitting stumbling over other kids to get to him and ask him the same question. I was a little embarrassed to say "it's okay, hehe, he just doesn't want to go home yet".
I'm hoping the teachers don't begin to wonder what goes on at home seeing as the young man doesn't really look forward to leaving and is glad when we drop him in the morning.
Well the other issue is, most kids stay at school the whole day and Mich is only there for 3 hours 9am to 12pm, I guess that makes him feel like he is leaving before he should. I'm not convincing my self, it's the truth.

















I like the free time while Mich is at school, it just flies by so fast that by the time I seriously thinking of using it, it's over and I have to go pick him up.

The bigger thing for me now is praying that Mich doesn't pick up any weird or bad habits at school, that he would be learn and grow, make good friends and keep healthy.

We are back!

Yee! It's great to be back, no, not to Uganda but back to Philly.
We took the 12:00pm flight from Dallas, took about 3 hours to get here and thankfully my dear friend Brent and his wife Diane picked us up from the airport.
We spent the first night in a hotel because we couldn't get the keys to our apartment until 12:00pm of the next day (1st September)
My my! west Philadelphia especially the areas surrounding the University was jammed with cars, roads were blocked off, basically that whole part of town looked like back to school day in a boarding school. Students carrying suitcases, furniture, the whole works, but that is because many students especially under grads rent housing close to the compass.

Interestingly it's good to be back, feels more like home than ever (I can't believe I just said that), I guess because everything is familiar. Nothing much has changed.
It's nice to meet up with friends, who were more less acquaintances last semester, there is a lot more in common. Every one is talking about their summer experiences, where they went, and whether or not they are going back at the end of the course.
Gosh! it's wonderful to be a second year, certainly feel more in control and familiar with the school schedule and life in Philly generally. The best part is telling the first year moms "it's tough but you will make it through seeing as some of us lived to tell the story".
Our new apartment is much nicer, at least we can all breathe freely without thoughts of suffocating. Ok may be I have over stated it but our first place was really for survival and not much else. Mich likes the new place and that is a good sign.

What's the plan for the next few weeks?, well, party party party, we are now the matures and hopefully school is going to be less stressful, at least that's what the second year moms' told us last year.
By the way the party's are purposeful, it's not out of control. There has got to be a come-back party, house warming party's, we-made-it-through-the-summer party, before-we-get-back into-intense-reading party's, welcome parties for the first year moms in the kids club ... so you see these parties are all necessary.

Six Flags Over Texas

It feels like a pretty long time since I last posted on my blog but you know, life happens, laziness, buziness, nothing-to-write-aboutness and so on.
Last Saturday was an interesting one, we decided to go to Six Flags Over Texas with the Lubwama girls, that was something else. The place gave roller coasters a whole new meaning in my view.

Ok first of all the only roller coasters I had been on were the really mild ones in UG and the ones that we go through in life, (you know how we always say "our lives are like roller coasters") complete understatements I tell you.
The girls had been there several times before so they knew the rides like the back of their palms, Sam, Mich and I were new at this so we only had them as a guide, absolute bad idea.
I knew we were in real trouble when we got onto our first ride and the words of caution were something like this " For safety precaution please keep all parts of your body inside the vehicle" aaaaaaahhhh!!!!, what does that mean? that our body parts are going to be falling all over the place?


I was sitting next to Sam and the entire ride he was quiet, I didn't see him during the ride because my eyes were shut and I was screaming the entire time, he could have fallen out and I wouldn't know. Turns out that it was an 'everyman for himself and God for us all" time, he was gritting his teeth and waiting for everything to be over.
The experience?! well it's hard to explain but how about going through emotions of laughing, crying, fear,shouting, screaming, the sense of loosing balance, falling endlessly all at once, then just when you think it's over you go through the same thing with these emotions interchanged, and all in about a minute and a half. I got off the ride feeling fresh and relieved of all the bad toxins in my body, well, not exactly but you know how they say screaming is healthy once in a while.

For this ride Mich stayed with Jackie who took him on the kiddie rides, I should have known why she was so eager to stay with him while the rest of us went eagerly to "spill our guts".

You know I was actually thinking that one of these roller coaster rides would serve well to solve some court cases. Get the accused on one of those intense rides with a tape recorder attached and by the time they come off, you would have all the facts of the case in question, it's cheaper than hiring a lawyer.

It was all crazy but so much fun, we took a ride that went through the water and we got soaked, Mich certainly loved that one.


Interestingly while some of us closed our eyes for even the milder rides Mich kept his eyes wide open, no fear at all, he only said it was quite fast but that was about all, he was having fun fun fun.
We went in for a 3D Sponge Bob movie and that startled him abit, but nothing else.


Then we had some time to walk around, there is one roller coaster ride that I'm not yet ready for (and may never be in this life time) and that's the Superman Tower of Power, where people rise to the top of this tall escalator and are let down in a hurry.




As we walked around we bumped into one of the little pigs and later Shaggy and Scooby doo, for some reason everyone was shy.



People do some really daring things, like swinging back and forth in the air, in this picture they actually look like a small plane but I'm sure you can tell the difference, you can't? well look a little closer. (Double click the picture)

The news

Yesterday I was watching a program on TV and the topic was gays and lesbians, earlier in the day someone else was talking about the same thing over the radio. I thought, eh! this issue is huge, it's really crazy out here, these guys are just gone and the way they justify their cause. At the back of my mind I thought (anti that's why I think Mich should grow up in UG at least co...)
Today I was checking out news in Uganda and there it was on the front page "Kampala Homosexuals speak out", ouch!! that hurts, it hit close to home, my people! ( I became patriotic after leaving the country you know). I've known for a while that these people are there but I guess it's different now because I'm looking at it from another angle. I probably don't know these people personally but they are fellow Ugandans, my heart goes out to gays and lesbians around the world but it especially goes out to my country men and women. Just reading how passionate they are about their lifestyle and the persecution they are facing makes me very sad.
Sad not because of what they are going through but sad that they could be so deceived.
They say “Don’t lay a hand on us, we are the homosexual children of God. God created us this way and all we ask is let us live in peace.”
I believe God loves these people more than we could ever imagine, actually there is nothing we as humans could ever do to thwart God's love for us, it's there, we are stuck with it and it's not going to change. The problem comes when we start blaming God for the way we are or the things we do. Kind of reminds me how this blame game runs in the family, it started with our greatest grand father and mother, Adam and Eve. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, when as a matter of fact the sin was born in her very heart but she didn't want to take responsibility for it.
Like wise we all have issues, having "beef" for people, forging documents, corruption, sleeping with people we are not married to, telling lies, whatever the case. We always find something or someone to blame but ultimately the blame is ours because we thought about these things, we imagined how things would be better if we did them and finally after building the picture in our minds we went a head and carried out the did, justifying our actions.
Blaming someone else for our wrong doing is bad enough, but blaming God for our wickedness I think is the ultimate, that is a bit too much.
Obviously many would not see it that way because we have no idea how desperately wicked we are, we can do the worst things all by ourselves, there is no need for help because our nature as human beings is absolutely corrupt.
There is completely nothing good in us, I know people come to mind whom we think "so and so could never do wrong he/she couldn't harm a fly, they always have holy thoughts", well sorry to burst your bubble but there is no such person, not even Mother Theresa on her own would fit that mould. The fact is we are wicked period.
That is why we ALL NEED Jesus.

I imagine if Jesus was in Uganda at the present time, He would be hanging out with these guys, going to the gay joints and basically loving them. Listening to their pleas and issues and sharing with them the good news of what He had come to do.
So my focus is directed toward the Christians, I don't really mind what people brand themselves, born again, charismatic, protestant, baptist... those titles are endless. I'm talking to those who call themselves Christians, those who say they are followers of Christ, those who profess that Jesus is the son of God and accept what He did on the cross. What are we doing about it? are we being the "salt", the preservative we are meant to be?
Are we praying? asking God to soften the harden hearts that have been given over to confused lifestyles that they don't even know if they are male or female anymore.
Are we making them our friends so that we can influence them, or better still are we keeping the friendships going even after we were told they were gay/lesbian?
What are we doing?

24-25So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get." It wasn't long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!

26-27Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn't know how to be human either—women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it—emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.
28-32Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!
Romans 1:24-32

Praying for the Boys

Wow wow! it's blazing hot down here in D we are at a constant of 100 degrees but it should cool down towards the end of the week.
I'm constantly grateful for house AC because I don't know how else we would make it through. A radio presenter gave a friend some sound advice, in case she was lazy to cook dinner that day all she had to do was put the ingredients for the meal in a sauce pan and carry it with her to work. Then leave it in the car and by the time she was ready to head home in the evening it would be ready to serve having marinated and boiled/roasted/baked on steady heat. I found that funny.

Mich likes to read, no let me rephrase that, Mich likes it when stories are read to him and then when the story is over he says "thiii end". The other day he wasn't feeling too good but he lead the prayer before he went to bed and it went something like, " Dear Jesus, thank you for today, I pray that you take away the pain in my stomach and throw it in the water and I pray that I sleep well" and then there was some silence and he begun to say "thiii.." he stopped and then said "In Jesus name Amen". I couldn't wait to get out of his room because I was struggling to keep a straight face. Boy! that was funny.

Ok, what I really wanted to say is that God has made me realise that one of my other duties as a wife and mother is to pray for my family. I know that may sound obvious but some of us are slow and sometimes it's not until you have an encounter with God that the scales fall off one's eyes.
That's not to say I never used to pray for them but now more than ever I realise that it's my role to cover my family in prayer.
Just like a pastor needs the prayers of his congregation to keep refreshed and renewed, the same applies to the priest of the home. He is the head and therefore the target of Satan's evil schemes so he needs the covering and prayer of his wife, his partner and the person closest to him. I know more about Sam than anybody else (or at least I should) and for that very reason I should know how to lift him up to God in prayer.
Watching Mich grow, I realise the responsibility of a mother is awesome and I should influence him the most because we spend all our hours together. I have been concerned about him growing up in the states, the exposure, wondering what kind of kids he will interact with at school and what influence they will have on him. Originally it was out of fear that I would pray, but God is showing me that He is the one ultimately in charge of Mich's life. All I need to do is ask him to guide me and grant me wisdom and trust God that He will take care of what is His own. These relationships are dear to me but they should not cloud my vision of whose they are.
In that I find my peace knowing that God will take care of them but my duty is to lift them up in prayer and cover them in Jesus blood.
It makes the burden so much lighter, that said I pray that God would help me do my part. For example with Mich I have to be careful to check out the programs he watches and that can be tough, I have slipped quite a few times on this one.
Some time last week he insisted that wanted to watch scooby doo, I was trying to prepare dinner so I got it for him. I watched scooby doo growing up so I thought eer! why not?!, I had forgotten about the spooky parts, at some point he said "mummy I'm scared". I don't plan on doing scooby doo again even if he cries for it, he didn't have a good night that night.
Then another time I put for him Tom and Jerry, there couldn't be a more innocent cartoon right?!. After a while I noticed a disturbed look on his face, one that was between "I'm confused and I want to cry". Apparently Tom was getting beat up as usual and I found it hard to explain how that was supposed to be funny.

It's complicated!!

Houses in D