I'M GOING BACK!!!

I’m going to UGANDA…in a few weeks!! You may know that it has been a dream for such a long time to be able to go to Uganda, so I can’t even tell you how excited I am!! This trip kind of came up at the last minute, but everything has worked out wonderfully and I leave on March 9^th!! I’m going with the organization I work for and it’s kind of a vision trip for Samaritan’s Feet. A group from Charlotte, NC contacted us after a trip they had planned to India fell through. They asked us if we could plan a trip for them for the same time they had planned to go to India. We recently hired a new girl to coordinate all of our international trips, she has been to Uganda several times and wanted to plan a trip at some point to take a team there, so this is it! With our hopes of adopting from Uganda, Scott and I both have decided that one or both of us should go to Uganda any chance we might get. Since I work for the organization I get a discount on our international trips, and it makes it very affordable for me to go. So I’m going to Uganda, I keep saying it over and over in my mind because it still doesn’t feel like it’s real!

I received my itinerary yesterday and it’s going to be a long flight, but it’s much more broken up than the last time I went to Africa. Fourteen hours straight on a plane is not something I’m really interested in doing again for a long time! This time though I’ll fly from here to NY, NY to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda. I don’t know for sure yet, but I think we’re staying one night in Entebbe then we’ll head out to Nebbi, Uganda which is where we’ll be for the duration of our trip. It’s a really long way from Entebbe to Nebbi and I don’t know if we’ll be driving or taking a small plane, but I would kind of like to drive even if it takes hours. I’ve seriously dreamed about what Uganda looks like so it would be cool to see if what I’ve seen in my dreams is real? I remember that being one of the coolest parts of being in Nigeria. When we all piled into the van to go somewhere I always made sure I got a seat by the window so that I could look outside and see everyone in their colorful dresses, the women carrying little babies strapped to their backs, vendors selling food and all sorts of crazy stuff. I so badly wanted to be in the mix of what was going on, but we always had to stay in the van. It was always busy though, and I loved it!! I think Uganda is going to be different, much more countryside where we’re going, but I just know it’s going to be so beautiful. It’s the Pearl of Africa after all!

So one of the coolest parts about this trip, well the whole trip will be AMAZING I’m sure, but one aspect of it that I am SOOOOOOO EXCITED about is that instead of staying in the hotel with the rest of the group; myself, Sara Beth (our International Coordinator), and two of her friends that are coming with us get to stay with a family in their home! I can’t even tell you how much I’m looking forward to this part of the trip! The guy (Geoffrey) that is our main contact in Nebbi is going to host the four of us in his home. Now, Nebbi is a pretty rural area and Geoffrey and his family don’t have electricity in their homes and just have an outhouse in the back. But this is going to be such an amazing experience and something I’ve only dreamed about. I know that sounds weird, but I’ve always thought of being able to stay with a family whenever I get the chance to travel to Africa. Anyway, I want to be able to take a gift for each person in Geoffrey’s house, he has a wife and 3 kids. Any ideas?

There’s so much I want to share about what’s running through my mind as I anticipate leaving for this trip, but I don’t know how to express it just yet. Hope to have a full report when I return and lots of great pictures to post. In the meantime I’ll try to post a little more frequently between now and March 9^th.