Hair Like God and the Beard of a Kidnapper

Quick disclaimer before I get too far into this, there are ants literally crawling out from under the keys of my keyboard, so if there are typos in this post, it means my finger strayed to kill one, so don't judge. I'm also writing this on Notepad, because I just discovered that I have the only computer in the world without a proper writing program

As I sit here writing, my feet are covered in dirt and blisters and blisters full of dirt, my face is encased in a thick layer of sweat and dust, my legs ache from miles of walking, and my body burns from an abundance of sun and a lack of sunscreen. I'm being serenaded by the constant chirping of a couple of mice frolicking under my bed, a lizard is eyeing me from up on the wall, and the carcasses of roaches, flies, mosquitoes, and ants that I've killed litter my concrete floor. My light is flickering, my toilet's dripping, and the sound of a Ugandan soap opera is blasting through my plywood walls. All of that being said, I couldn't be happier, because these things just mean I'm back where I belong.

Brief synopsis of my journey thus far: We had a 23 hour layover in Brussels on the way here, which was great as always. My former exchange student Olivier lives there, so we were able to spend the night with him and his family. We were treated to one last batch of great food, great beer, and great accommodations before hopping back on a plane to come here. We are staying in Jinja in a guest house, which by my Ugandan standards is very nice, although I think some of the other first time in Africa guests here might beg to differ. My room is huge, and I have a heated shower and sit down toilet contained within it, so no complaints. I've spent enough time here now that the transition from appreciating the comforts of home to appreciating the comforts of Africa has come quickly. I have to manually turn off the flow to my toilet after flushing to prevent it from flooding my room, but at least I have a toilet. My shower has two temperatures, glacier water or straight lava, but a heated shower is a luxury here that few get to experience. There are quite a few mice and lizards in my room at any given time, but at least that means less cockroaches and mosquitoes to deal with. My breakfast here is essentially the same bland eggs and fruit every morning, but it's a free breakfast. I'm making a intentional effort to be thankful for the little things, and I'm in awe of just how much God really has blessed me. I'm glad to be here, and I'm excited to see what comes of this trip.

My day to day here is slow going, as the school I'm working with is on holiday. I'm working on a fence project, which, apart from some heated meetings, hasn't really produced much yet. I'll update once it starts going. Basically I've spent the days playing with the usual hordes of children that seem to be everywhere and trying to speed up processes that I really have no control over. God grant me patience.

I'll leave you all with a fun story. Ally and I went to Musana on Sunday, but again, with it being holiday, the majority of the kids weren't there. It was still great to see the ones that were, though, and to see all the wonderful improvements they've made since I was there. One of the girls was shaving the other kids heads, so I sat down and let her take the clippers to my beautiful beard. Bad move. The kids enjoyed watching, but I was left with a mustache and soul patch, a look I'd never choose for myself. Fast forward a day to when Ally, a boy from HELP named Michael, and I are walking through a village right by the HELP school. There is a feeding program at another school there that feeds lunch to over 1,000 kids a day, so as we walked by there were children everywhere. Michael started laughing after some kids whispered when we walked by, then he told me, "They say you have hair like God and the beard of a kidnapper." Probably not the most winning combination in the world, but it certainly made my day. I may have a long way to go as I seek a heart like God's, but, hey, at least I have the hair down.