Quick (or not so quick) note

Happy New Year!! Someone mentioned that we are starting a new decade. I hadn't even thought about it that way. It seems pretty natural to be 2010.

Yes, I have many things to say about my holiday season. Unfortunately, I have to be up tomorrow decorating for the women's conference put on by Life Ministries (aka Campus Crusade in Uganda). Actually, I rent my living quarters from the family who work with LM. So the wife will likely call me early in the a.m. to make sure I'm ready to help. She called me at 7:00 this morning (when I only went to bed at 2). Once she called at 6:30 to invite me to breakfast. Oh well, I know doctors are called at all hours.

Christmas Day I spent with a beautiful Ugandan family. Rev. Charles M teaches at Uganda Bible Institute, and Lou and I met him during our homestay at his friend Johnson's house. When he learned of my studies and interests, he decided I should meet his eldest daughter Shelia. She's aspiring to be a neurosurgeon (!!) and also loves music. She's a great singer. In fact the whole family sings. Charles and his wife Escovia have 4 children--3 girls and 1 boy on the end--and are expecting another very soon.

Anyway, I arrived at their house by 9:30 Christmas morning and traveled to the village to hear Charles preach in the church of his childhood. We arrived there at maybe 10:30 and didn't head back for lunch until maybe 2:30. Going to a village church is a whole-day affair.

The 27th, I went on holiday (or vacation) with two other girls. We camped in Fort Portal. We saw many rare birds like turacos and hornbills, many monkeys, caves, waterfalls, hot springs, the northern foothills of the Rwenzori mountain range, and even the Semliki River that borders Congo. New Year's Eve, we biked around crater lakes and to some falls with a guide. That was supposed to be a 3 hour mtn biking excursion but it became a 4.5 hour marathon. Even the guide admitted he was tired. The whole way back was uphill. Whew, I'm out of shape but add the elevation, heat, and terrible roads to that and you get a bad combination. I have scars to prove it. But afterwards we cooled off with a swim in a crater lake.

That night, after returning to Mbarara, we joined a party at the New Zealander's (Kiwi) house. Everyone enjoyed playing the animal game and a similar one called signs. On their front porch, we watched fireworks set off by the Lakeview Hotel down below.