Finally I have made it to an internet connection to give you updates on our trip to Uganda. For those who do not know my friends who are traveling me on the first leg of my journey, let me introduce them. First is my former boss and sister in Christ, Julie Dimas. Julie is the wife of David who previously traveled to Uganda with me in April. She and her husband oversee the day-to-day operations of Buyamba. It is her first trip outside of our blessed country. Accompanying her is her son, James who will be a senior at Oaks Christian High School. He was a student in my first class of 6th graders at Hillcrest back in 2001. Last but not least is Degna Horton. She was a former co-worker at Hillcrest and my sister/"mother" in Christ. Only she will really get that joke.
On Thursday morning, we made the trek to the airport in two vehicles containing 8 checked pieces of luggage and 8 carry-on items, three of which were guitars purchased for Pastor Dongo. No major obstacles getting checked in or during our flights except the nail marks left in the armrest of Julie’s chair during our first ascent into the sky. One highlight of our flight was that I noticed some familiar guys boarding our plane…Bobby and Laren of Invisible Children. I had a nice chat with Laren in the Amsterdam airport.
We finally arrived in Entebbe, Uganda at approximately 8:10 pm on Friday evening, cleared customs in about 45 minutes and were greeted merrily by our friend and brother in Christ, Pastor Dongo. It was a true reunion of family. It seems like so long ago that we last saw Dongo, but the reality is that it was only 2 months ago when he visited us in California. That night, Dongo took us to stay at a Guest House where we were warmly greeted by George and Peter and some special friends from California: Hilary, Heather and Amanda. However, we were so exhausted that we went straight to bed.
The next morning, we awoke for breakfast and chatted before Dongo came to bring us to our hotel. The feel of the hotel was much different from that of the Guest House so we are in limbo as to where to stay after tonight. However, it had a fan, which was pretty exciting for me as the night before I boiled!
Later we went to the school for lunch and met up with the team from Georgia. They are an energetic bunch of young adults, mostly teachers. We also met a young lady from Houston, Texas who is staying at our hotel. In addition, we were greeted by many students from God Cares as we arrived. It was great to see my friends from Uganda; I am looking forward to my time here and especially the last two weeks where I will be staying in the school with the students.
There haven’t really been any highlights other than watching James fall asleep quickly every chance he gets and Julie being a little freaked out on the plane. However, I know that there will be many stories as we begin our journey…next stop, worship services in the morning.
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