Trip to Cleveland, Ohio

Last week I went to visit the friends in Cleveland Ohio. I was a little panicked because I was going with the main man Mich and if my last flight with him was anything to go by I knew we were in for some good drama. This was going to be his second flight in an aeroplane since our trip from Kampala, so I begged Sam to come with us to the airport and make sure we had checked in before he could head back home and do his reading.

I couldn't get a flight out of the Philly airport because of the crazy rates, the cheapest was leaving from Baltimore which is about 2 hours away. We were blessed to have our navigator friends offer to drive us there especially.

We got to the Baltimore airport in good time and Sam escorted me to the check in point. Things were really smooth because he had done all the paper work for me, I had an eticket and we were also able to book sits and everything off the Internet (sophistication I tell you). After checking in I said bye to Sam and Mich and I headed off to our departure gate. Interestingly this time round Mich was filled with calm curiosity more than anything else, he stayed close to mummy and wasn't any trouble at all.

When we got on to the plane he was directed by the steward towards the pilot sit and he walked confidently without looking behind, started small talk with the pilot while I looked on. It was not until the steward laughed and said it's this way that he turned around and noticed he was not in the right place, he was given one of the airline badges and after that we went to our sit. He rushed to sit down and put on his sit belt and later asked me if he could help me put mine on I almost said do I know you?. Thanks to the educative cartoons on TV that show his favourite characters travelling and what they need to do to have safe trips.

We got to Cleveland and Hannington was there to pick us up, then we took the train all the way to our stop and walked home. I thought Cleveland was a bit like Philly, run down buildings but having it's own sophistication. The people are definitely more friendly and the neighborhood we lived in was above average.
It was nice to see Julie again, baby Ainza is all grown now she sits, and Tendo is a ball of energy. For the first hour or so Mich and Tendo looked at each other and played in silence, that was funny, like they needed time to check each other out, that was all the silence we had for the next four days. The rest of the time was filled with 'Mich, stop that', 'stop pushing', 'Mich you have to share' 'guys you are making a lot of noise', 'it's time to sleep', 'don't run in the house', 'don't push the baby'.....

Julie had a wonderful plan for the week, we went places, met people, watched a movie and like they say a picture is worth a thousand words so ...






After four days we had to head back to Philly, hopefully Sam had got enough alone time to read. There were no hitches on the flight back, Mich slept right through but was miserable the next day because he left his buddy in Cleveland.

Year 1 down

I'm really excited and privileged to say we are about to say goodbye to year 1 at Wharton. Classes are over at the school, that means no more lectures for the 1st years and 2nd years are wrapping up and waiting for graduation.
It feels great to say 1st year is over, I kind of feel like the student here and in many ways I have been a student. There has been a lot I got to learn in this year, it's not to say I will not be learning any more but I can say that I'm a little bit on top of things. I can talk with authority when sharing my views with the new admits soon to be 1st year students.
With all of the intensity that was wrapped up in the first year I can say it was great. Culture shock, finding my way around, making new friends, realising abilities I never knew I had, seeing Mich grow, exposing him to greater learning, ... there is a lot.
Getting to experience God in a whole new and intimate way, giving of my time unreservedly in ministry, seeing another dimension to my relationship with Sam, appreciating my country, friends and family more, like I said there is a lot.
Realising I don't have to be employed to make life meaningful, that the small things of life like seeing Mich make friends, being there to answer the many questions he asks (some of which leave Sam and I speechless at times), listening day by day as he begins to adopt the accent of the kids around, they make all the difference. Daily routines of giving him a bath, making breakfast, finding fun things for him to do, sitting and watching his favourite cartoons with him, seeing his personality get molded and praying to God for wisdom on how to raise him right ... there is a lot.
Now the challenge a head, moving to a new city (Dallas) for Sam's internship, having to make new friends, finding a church to attend for the three months we will be out there. Looking out for the playgrounds, shopping centers, hoping I can get some local foods (Matooke, Cassava, Gonja ...) to keep me going. Experiencing summer in a whole new way, I'm told it gets really hot in Dallas and if the heat of Philly when I had just come is anything to go by, it's really for praying. Mmhhmm it's a lot.
Thank God He has always shown me that I can find all the answers I need in Him even when I don't see how.

Wharton Welcome Weekend

Finally I can say I'm through with the Welcome weekend, it's been busy, it's been fun, it's been great! For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, sometime last year I was nominated to represent the kids club at the schools "new admits week". Here are some of the students I was working with clubs.wharton.upenn.edu/welcome/students.html
When we got our ID cards the other day I was impressed with my title, Mary Ongwen, Committee Chair, '08. The last three weeks involved attending meetings once every week, there were times I wasn't up to it but knew I had to be there especially considering that we received emails the day before reminding us how mandatory these meetings were.
I made some good friends through out this period, especially colleagues in the Partners Club. See, the Kids Club and Partners Club are separate the basic difference being we have children and they don't. It was a nice time to exchange ideas and work together






We had a Q and A panel session where we could share our experiences moving to Philly and life as parents and partners to students. Then we had time for the admits to ask questions.
We also had a club expo, where we talked more about our clubs, what we did, membership e.t.c
It's been intense but now that it's over I'm kind of missing the action. Hopefully I will find something else to keep me occupied and challenged.

Easter

OK, so either Ugandans love holidays too much or America is just less spiritual. Easter as I remember it back home is like the longest holiday of the year. We have Holy Thursday (some people skip work), then Good Friday is a public holiday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, another holiday, I don't get why but it is a holiday.
May be it's the States as a whole or just Philly but the only day that is recognised is Easter Sunday. Lets not talk about the Easter Bunny and the eggs because I still have no clue how these things are related to Easter.

Sam once had an Easter egg, the contents of the egg were, a nail, a sponge, a stone and a tiny scroll with the words "Christ the King". When the buzz of Easter eggs started here I thought yeee! some more reminders of Jesus death and resurrection, only this time it seemed geared towards the kids. Sam, Mich and I were invited for lunch in Delaware, with some Ugandans the host being a Wharton alumni. We had never met but we received a very warm welcome, met lots of other Ugandans and had a great time together. Mich found some Easter eggs and from that point he became very scarce, later I found out that the Easter eggs were filled with sweets and candy.

It was nice hanging out with the Ugandan community, lots of local music playing and wonderful food ; Fish, gonja (plantain), sweet potatoes, chicken, chapati, meat, rice, dodo (greens) mmmm! very yummy. Reminded me of the sumptuous meals we had at moms place only not at tasty, the one thing I really missed was butunda (passion fruit juice), no one makes it better.

Back to the Easter theme, it's by far the most exciting Christian celebration of the year for me. I get so excited I want to dance, in my mind I borrow some of Michael Jackson's moves.
Make a sharp turn to the side, give a kick with one leg and sing,
" Alleluia (wooo) Jesus is alive, death has lost it's victory and the grave has been denied, Jesus lives forever, He's alive!"
Do a spin, then stand on my toes "He's the alpha and Omega, the first and last is He, the curse of sin is broken and we have perfect liberty, the lamb of God is risen, He's alive, He's alive!!
Now we have a new beginning, and a Kingdom that has no end, alleluia, alleluia", then I wouldn't miss to include the backslide and the finger snapping.
There is so much freedom that comes from Christ dying on the cross, wooo!!