From Mityana house

Greetings, from Mityana,

Arrived in Entebbe, Uganda, at 10pm on December 31 after a very pleasant and comfortable flight. I spent the night in the Entebbe Guest House, and although the manager, a Dutch man,
had champagne cooling in the drink machine, I declined the offer to sit out with the guests and staff to usher in 2009. I opted for a good shower, an Ambien, and nine hours of sleep.

Ernest, the driver, I have known for several years, met me for breakfast before heading to Kampala. One of the guests staying at the guest house was a Phd professor from Illinois and was going to western Uganda to a national park where she has been conducting research on
chimpanzees. I offfered her a ride as far as Mityana, and she gratefully accepted. She had planned to take a bus or taxi van. We all stopped in Kampala which was unusually quiet b/c of the New Year holiday, did some grocery shopping and exchanged money. When we arrived in Mityana, we spotted the bus to Fort Portal, where the professor was headed; Ernest flagged it down, and she was boarded within minutes. Perfect timing. Ernest can manage anything!

New Year’s evening was quiet as most of the town people were still celebrating at their
churches and villages. Mityana Baptist Church had a big meal including a goat and pig which they had slaughtered and cooked. I chose not to go, so I could begin to unpack! Celebration of Christmas and New Years in Uganda means an opportunity to eat much meat, which they normally cannot afford; therefore, having meat is one of the things they enjoy most about the
holidays.

I have visited many friends, shopped in the market, and settled in. In some ways it seems that I have not even been away. The house is in good shape. It is dry season now and I am somewhat worried about the possibility of running out of water since my water source is a cistern of rainwater. I am already trying to conserve just in case. ( I will only shower when really necessary and will try to wear clothes more often before washing!!) Now I understand why everyone here is happy for it to be rainy season. It is also warmer and dustier than Sept. and October.

There is a fuel shortage here and many stations have no gas. Those that do have are charging much higher prices. No one seems to know the reason and conditions are expected to change by mid month.

Timo and Peter and I went to Kiraku, a village that is about a 20 minute car drive from my house, to have a Bible study. We will continue to go there on Saturday afternoons and I am hoping the group will grow. We only had two today, but we had a good time of sharing and praying. Timo and Peter had brought some food for the lady because she was alone and had no way to get food. She was so grateful. She gave us several pieces of sugar cane before we left.

I am cooking beans and as soon as they are ready, I will put them in the refrigerator and go to bed. Hopefully, next week, we will begin scheduling what I will be doing while here.