6 Months Worth of Life Lessons

Six months ago, Jon and I got on a plane and headed to Uganda. We had never been to Uganda, or any part of Africa. For my part, I had no idea what to expect. The first night, when we finally landed, I realized we were in a whole new ballpark (probably something about the guy with an AK-47 telling me I couldn’t go through the door I had just left). The next day taught me something new, as has every day since we arrived. To give you a taste, we are going to list just a few of the lessons we have learned:
• Always have the name of the hotel you are supposed to go to (because sometimes the driver sent to get you doesn’t show up)
• Bugs are not going to hurt you, necessarily (unless they sting, bite or suck, then they will hurt a lot. Lookin at you, assassin bugs)
• Speaking of bugs, they can get like really really big
• Time your pit latrine visits carefully to maximize light while minimizing visitors (bugs)
• Don’t pick up angry chameleons, they bite
• A big smile is the key to helpful people
• We spend way too much time on tasks and not enough on people
• How to greet properly
• You are never too old for water fights or pranks
• MarioKart is way more fun/terrifying in real life
• Playing tag is a universal language
• Someone may look angry until you greet them, then it’s all smiles
• How to wear a skirt and still do normal life
• If you want an in, learn to play someone’s card game
• People appreciate you learning their heart language
• … But will still laugh at you when you say ‘rabbit’ instead of ‘thank you’
• How much my faith and perceptions were colored by my culture
• Texting is better than phone calls when you have different accents and languages
• An average motorcycle can transport: 3 adults; or 2 adults and a baby and bag of sugar; or 1 adult and a couch; or 2 adults and 2 children and 2 chickens and a bushel of bananas; or approximately 17 chickens and 2 adults.
• It is exhausting to be outside your comfort zone 24/7
• It is also extremely rewarding
• People are people are people
• There is more to life than a career and a 9-5
• This is true, EVEN if you aren’t a missionary in Africa
• Time is relative and patience is key
• You don’t know how much you believe something until you are forced to ask yourself if it is really the solution you want to offer to someone in poverty, sickness or death
• A proper gift to someone is a chicken or bushel of bananas
• Taking a step of faith can be scary, but can also be really fun
• Sometimes you will wait 10 minutes for your food, sometimes 2 hours
• Sometimes what you order turns out to not be what you ordered, flexibility is key
• It is good to make time for family (even having Indian food in Uganda win your cousin from Colorado)
All of that to say: we have loved our time in Uganda. God has used these 6 months to shape and grow us in ways I never expected. It has become home to us in ways we never expected. We are continually awed and inspired by the people we have gotten to know here. There is no way we could tell you all the things God has shown us in these 6 months. But this list is a start. We return to Colorado this month for our first furlough, and we are excited. But we are also sad. Because, as another missionary here put it, “now we are homesick for two places”.