Sweet Revenge

So as you know...I got a car...partly because I was tired of bargaining, partly because I was tired of the added time it took to stop every 10 feet down the road in the taxi and partly because sitting squished in a taxi with 14 other people in rush hour traffic just isn't all that pleasant...

But today...I was back to public taxi...

My car needed some repairs, as well as the transfer paperwork done, so off I went...public transport style...

I have to say, it was probably one of my favorite taxi rides because I realized that I am not the only one in the taxi that doesn't like the conductor and the squished taxi's...the Ugandans don't like it all that much either...

How do I know this?

Well, as we all crammed into the taxi, and were ready to leave...the conductor continued to squish more and more people on...now usually we leave with 15 people, they are licensed for 14 plus the driver, its 3 to a row...5 rows...

Well...we had 15, then we had 16, then we had 17, then 18, then 19, then 20...3 in the front seat, 6 in the second seat, 5 in the third, and 3 in the fourth and fifth rows...there were so many people that there wasn't enough seat room, people were sitting on top of each other, and others were half sitting, half standing...

The Ugandans in the taxi were so humored by the conductor's behavior that they started laughing at him and calling him names, telling him he just wanted to be rich so he was cramming people in like animals...

So at this point I'm thinking...crazy conductors!! Here we go again...

UNTIL...my good ol' locals started up with their little game of revenge...

Because the taxi was so full, the conductor couldn't see who was requesting what, so about every 10 feet someone would yell "massow" which means stop, the conductor would stop, and open the door to let people off, but no one would get off, they just stayed in their seats and played stupid...

This happened about 6 times until the entire taxi let out a huge roar of laughter and the conductor finally realized he was the one that got played and that his attempt to get to kampala with 20 people and some extra money was going to cost him a lot more time than he had originally expected!

I loved the team effort of my fellow taxi riders and I also loved sharing some smiles and laughs with them as well...You gotta love the originality alone!

I call it...Sweet revenge!

My "New" Old Car

Haha...well being that this is my fourth car of my lifetime, you always think you are "moving up" with each one...

My first car...an 83 caddie...yeah...Im a dork!
My second car...a 2002 S10 pickup...
My third car...a 2002 VW Jetta...

and now...

My fourth car...a 1998 Rav 4

have to say...buying a car that was made the year I graduated high school felt very strange to me, but being that it I looked for months and it was nearly impossible to find even a 2000 model, I figured this was the best option...

SO with this car come some firsts...

1. This is my first ever SUV
2. This is the first car I've owned outside of the US
3. This is the first silver car I've owned
4. This is the first car I've "off-roaded" in
5. This is the first car I've owned that has lots of chrome
6. This is the first car I've owned where the driver seat is on the right side of the car
7. This is the first car I've owned that I drive on the opposite side of the road

and...

8. This is the first car I've owned that will only cost me about $15 in insurance every year...

SO here is to my "new" car...at least it's new to me... :)

Student Scholarships

Gaba Bible Institute from Jacob Lewis on Vimeo.

If you want to help GBI reach their goal of 50 new student sponsorships this year, please visit our website at: http://www.gbiuganda.org/

No words...

There are days when no words describe how you feel and no amount of tears say just how much it hurts...today was one of those days...one I wish could start over again...one that I wish was just a dream and in a few hours my alarm will go off, I would wake up and go to work like I do every other day...

But I know that when my puffy, tear ridden eyes close tonight...they will still be there waiting for me in the morning. And when I close my eyes, memories of a dear friend will flood in my mind reminding me that she is gone and that phone calls, emails, hugs, laughs and even sweet tears together will have to wait...

I know that she is dancing in heaven, I just wish I could be there dancing with her. I will miss you my dear friend Kylee...know that you are dearly loved...

I'm a dork...

SO I borrowed "Everyone Loves Raymond" from a friend of mine here and was enjoying some good chuckles when all of a sudden there are two episodes of Raymond and Deborah and the family on a vacation in Italy..

As I am watching this, chuckling that Raymond thinks Italy is a 3rd world country...I think to myself...

"Gee...I thought that in Italy they drove on the opposite side of the road...huh! I guess I was wrong!"

When all of a sudden it dawns on me...they are driving on the opposite side of the road if I was in America...but in Uganda, we drive on the same side of the road as Italians...

Gee...Does that mean I have adapted to our system of driving here or what!?

Enculturated in that area....check, plus!!

You know you live in Uganda when...

• You refer to the person standing next you as "this one"
• You feel ripped off if you are asked to pay 30 cents when you normally pay 20 cents
• You sit on a boda and they know where you without you telling them
• You greet the local council person and they already know who you are, and where you live
• You push in line and ignore personal space bubbles
• You are late to work when it rains
• You walk with or through a herd of cattle without thinking twice
• You greet people with "well done" rather than "what's up?"
• You go out, eat Ethiopian food, have a soda, and leave the waiter a tip all for less than 2 dollars
• You can't give people a physical address of where you live, because one doesnt exist
• You have to go into the bank if and sign a request to get a monthly bank statement
• You go 4 months without ever receiving an electricity bill, and then your power is shut off because you never went to pay the bills you never got in the first place
• You call your pants "trousers"
• And your underware your "pants"
• You don't think its weird to ride a motorcycle without a helmet
• Or ride in a car without your seat belt on
• You point with your lips, eyes or chin rather than your finger
• You tell people to come via a closed wave
• Your feet are permanently tanned but your legs and knees are whiter than snow
• Your heals look like a replica of the grand canyon
• Your friends bring you chocolate chips in their luggage
• You have 1 minute phone conversations and commonly hang up on people without saying goodbye
• You enjoy a good cold showers after a long, hot and sweaty day

and lastly...

• You think its normal to ask people to "flash" you...but its not an obscene request

shelves :)

Last week I had 1/2 a shelf of books

Then Larry came...and I had 1 1/2 shelves of books

Then Johnny came...and I had an office full of luggage

A hallway full of trash...

And 8 shelves full of books!


Thank you to everyone who has donated and purchased books on our behalf! The library is growing fast thanks to you!

Uganda's Ministry of Works and Transport

Part of me wonders why all of our government agencies are called "Ministries of...."

The Ministry of Internal Affairs...
The Ministry of Public Roads and Safety...
The Ministry of Works and Transport...
etc, etc, etc...

It seems like every time I go to one of these so called "ministries" I am anything BUT ministered too...haha!

The Ministry of Internal Affairs...was in charge of my visa which took 6 months of processing, multiple trips to the bank, the photo copier, ARM offices, etc...6 months and about 50 new gray hairs later, I had my work visa.

The Ministry of Public Roads and Safety...in charge of keeping our roads drivable...I think have overlooked the access road to my house...it seems like every time it rains our road resembles the grand canyon just a little bit more...My poor neighbors can no longer drive down the road in their sudans as they get stuck and bottom out each time they attempt to get out of their houses...

The Ministry of Works and Transport...the place to get a license seemed to be an exception to my "ministry" rule...I went in one day last week, and within 2 hours had paid and gotten the process started...come back in one week...Okay...this is easy!

Well...that's what I thought...so I came in a week later and took my photo...this was really easy!

Until the following day when my friend was looking at my permit and started laughing...what?? I know my picture is bad...no reason to laugh right?

Wrong...not only was my address typed in wrong, but so was my gender...Requiring yet another trip back to the office...which is about 45 minutes away in traffic...

I think I got it all sorted out yesterday on yet my 3rd trip but in 1 week I have to return to get the permanent one...I have to say...I'm leery of the outcome...I'll keep you posted!

USA Recipes...

I have discovered an important fact about US based recipes and recipe books...

They are BIAS !

What do I mean?

Well...Most recipes I can't make for the sheer fact that I dint have access to the ingredients or they will take 8 years longer in prep than what the recipe actually says...

Despite the trouble of these little recipes I decided I would try on anyway for the sheer fact that I have been craving it and found two of the most important ingredients...Besides..the recipe only had 5 ingredients...so how hard could it be right?

My Aunt makes this great "green goo"

That's what I have always called it...come to find out its called Watercress salad...which I don't understand because 1...it isn't salad, its desert, and 2 it doesn't have water crest in it...Maybe the name is supposed to make you feel good about eating it because it sounds healthy??

Who knows...I still think the name "green goo" suits it better!

So in my Super Supermarket...yes that really is the markets name...

I found a package of pistachio pudding....Ingredient #1
AND a package of dream whip...somehow supplementing for Ingredient #2 (cool-whip)

Then in a supermarket down the road I hit the mother load..real USA marshmallows...Ingredient #3...

I bought a pineapple from the woman on the side of the road...Ingredient #4

and my Aunt told me Ingredient #5 was optional...good thing because I can't find a walnut to save my life!

So there I have it...4 out of 5 Ingredients for the green goo...

I look on the box and it says 15 minute prep...All you need is a mixing bowl, a can opener, and a spoon...

The "can opener" should have cued me off that my prep wasn't going to be anywhere near 15 minutes but well...off I went...

Mix the pudding with a 20 oz can of crushed pineapple...humm how much is 20 oz if I don't actually have canned pineapple...out came a cookbook...I was happy to find can conversions to cup size so I now know that it is about 2 1/5 cups...

Off I go...Peel the pineapple, cut the pineapple, put the pineapple in a chopper, measure out the pineapple and ta-da...I have 20 oz of crushed pineapple...and a mess...

I mix it up...then the lovely recipe says to mix in an 11 oz pack of cool whip...humm...

Okay so I take out the dream whip, which also needs to be made...measure out the milk, the vanilla and the package and dump it into my concoction...which then needs to be whipped so that it actually starts to resemble cool whip...Out came the measuring cups and the wisk...

Step two...complete...

Step three - mix in 1 cup of mini marshmallows...easy? well...I was lucky to find large marshmallows...so yeah...it would be a miracle for me to have mini ones...out comes a measuring cup, a chopping board, a knife and I start cutting the big marshmallows into small ones...

One cup later, I finally had all 4 ingredients into the mixing bowl, mixed it and put it into the fridge to set...

Looked at my clock...my 15 min USA can opener "easy" recipe took about an hour...and left a sink full of dishes in its trail...

What I discovered during this whole process??

Pineapple can be crushed
Marshmallows can be cut

BUT

Coolwhip can never be replicated

Maybe someday I will find a good ol' tub of cool whip in a freezer near me :)

GBI Library Update

We went from have 4 Child Development books on Jan. 1st to having 412 child development books as of March 1st...!

That is 21% into our goal of 2000 books in just 2 short months!!!

Keep up the good work everyone!

Our goal is to hit 2000 books by September 1st!

You can purchase books on our behalf at:
https://www.amazon.com/wishlist/1JNZ4F9JDK89R/ref=cm_reg_rd-upd?_encoding=UTF8&msgid=updated

Thank you all for your help!!

What happens when...

You mix a dirt road

On a hill

with 12 hours of rain...?

You guessed it...

A very messy slip-n-slide

And unfortunately...my house is at the top of it!

It would be great to have a car at times like these!

Walking home...

So I had my camera with me today for work and decided that since it wasnt raining I was going to take a picture of my "lovely" road...

Partly so you could picture it when I tell stories of trying to walk/slide down it in the rain and partly so you would understand why I am looking for a rav 4 and not a sudan when I purchase a car here...

Well...let's just say I failed at getting you a picture of the road...not because I didnt have a camera OR because I wasn't on my road, but because it was cow herding day and you physically couldn't see the road through all the cows...

and yes...I walked up the hill with all the cows...

Good times :)