I'M HERE!

I am alive. I am safe. Oh yeah, and I climbed a tree today.

So much has happened over the past couple days that it feels like I've been here for several weeks.

The plane rides were long and crazy...and I was ridiculously tired, making everything a lot more funny. Rachael was too, which is why she joked about "spotting Ay-rabs" when we went over the Sahara desert.

[ps.--the team is nine people: me, Rachael, Josh, Josiah, Davey, Christina, Katie, Lauren, and Janessa]

When we landed, I got scared. I think the fear carried over a few days because I was just so overwhelmed. We stayed at Dr. K's house for a night, which was about 45 minutes from the airport, and went on a six-hour van ride to Mbarara. We even stopped at the equator, which was two signs and a lot of shops. We also told a lot of stories and corny jokes. It was a...bumpy ride.

When we got to Mbarara, we ate dinner with the mission team here, which is actually pretty sizeable. I had my first fried grasshopper (tasted like crunchy bacon fat with sardines, and the tail got stuck in my teeth. I still get teased for that). Then Rachael, Christina, and I went back to the Hollenbeck's house where we will be staying for the rest of the time here (though Christina will leave after four weeks).

Today we slept in til...um, noon...that's twleve hours in one night.....and then we had team orientation with everyone at the house. Katie, Christina, and I got to go out on the town, which was a little bit scary, but I've got ten weeks to get used to it. Then Rachael and I made some new little friends--which leads back to me climbing a tree.

Random things:

• I will gain weight here. The food is delicious. Except for grasshoppers.
• There are a lot of cows here. There are also a lot of bananas. I have yet to do a banana-cow ratio.
• Everything is green. Like, alien planet green. However, the dirt is red, both when it's on the ground and when it's covering me.
• I have allergies here.
• Mosquito nets look like clouds and make me feel like I have a canopy bed.
• Did I mention that they have a lot of bananas here?
• I want a flock of Ugandan children.
• The traffic is crazy, but not as bad as it was in Ukraine. They drive on the left side of the road and honk a lot. 
• Cereal is expensive. Fried tortillas, aka Chipati, is not. This is bad for the growth of my lower pooch-sack, also known as my baby belly, also known as Laura is growing in the wrong places.
• We begin language training soon. I learned about seven words tonight from my new little friends.
• I like the music better here.
• The vision for this team--for the whole trip--is awesome.
• Missionary life is surprisingly like and surprisingly unlike life at home.
• I don't know how to spell the name of my neighborhood, but it is pronounced "N-coke-une-jero". This language is going to be hard to learn.
• They used shillings here. 2,000 shillings equals...either ten cents or a dollar, I don't remember. Yay inflation!
• I have been called "Mzungu" more times than I can count. This is the word for white person. They are not politcally correct here.
• I will not be posting many pictures. The internet is expensive.
• Ugandan people stare at you anywhere you go, but they are really friendly.
• I expect daily marriage proposals.
• And there's so much more....but I need to get off so everyone can go to bed.
• Did I mention that I'm excited?!?!?!
• Oh! They're watching The Office in the living room! BYE!