I'm going there in...um...24 days. WAIT! Come again??? Yeah, 24 days. I actually just figured out it was that close. So many things are happening right now that I haven't thought about it all that much. This is a big deal.
What has happened since I last updated?
- Airplane tickets were ordered. If I remember correctly, we will be flying out of Chattnooga at 8:35 am on May 10th. From there, we'll stop in Atlanta, Detroit, and Amsterdam, and finally get to Entebbe at 7:30 pm. on May 11th, from which we'll drive about 4 hours to Mbarara. Hoo boy.
- I got my Yellow Fever and Typhoid shots. This time around, I didn't have a freak-out session when they put the needles in my arm, but it hurt for a couple days afterward. It was worth it, however, for the HUGE milkshake I got afterwards.
- I've been getting to know my teammates better in the last two weeks and I'm SO excited to be spending the summer with them! This is a great group!
- I've been in touch with an intern did this last year, which has been a blessing because she doesn't mind my asking a million and one questions. She said that, while they told her she would be "observing" the classroom for the summer, on the second day of class the teacher handed her a piece of chalk and told her what time the kids were supposed to get out. Then she spent the rest of the summer teaching the class. There is a big possibility I will be doing this as well, because Africans love asking guests to teach.
- I have just about all the clothes I need. I still have to figure out what's happening with shoes...we tried to buy Chacos, but there have been some sizing problems and the ones we bought hurt my feet.
- As far as learning goes: Dr. Ward gave us a lot of readings to do on culture, cross-cultural ministry, and the history of Christianity in Uganda. Fascinating stuff. I also had the opportunity to listen to a Ugandan man give the history of the war at Move for Uganda, a big fundraising event in Coolidge Park, which was awesome. And I discovered I will have to read approximately 5-6 books this summer, half of them before the end of May (yikes). I plan on owning those readings, though, because I'm basically the fastest reader I've ever met. Maybe.
- Malaria medicine is a problem. It ends up that it's a lot more expensive than I thought it would be (no matter which type dad decides to prescribe) and it wasn't incorporated into the original budget.
- I guess, naturally, the next point would be finances. I know that I need at least $500 or so more to fulfill the intended budget, as well as a few extra hundred dollars on top of that for my visa and medicine. I would like to ask for prayer in that area, that God would provide more money so that my parents won't have to strain so much to get me there. I would pay for it myself, but babysitting isn't exactly the highest paying job in the world...
- Actually, I would just like to ask for prayer in general: for finances, the preparation of my heart, and so on. Honestly, it still hasn't quite hit me that this is coming--and coming fast. Dr. Ward wants us to find ten people who will pray for us daily while we are there. If anyone would like to dedicate to do this, I would greatly appreciate it and it would provide a greater partnership for you in the ministry that God will be doing through me this summer. Emphasis on God, because anything that happens there is His fault...I mean, providence.
- WOOHOO!!
