Archives for January 2009

Well, today is a new day as our friends on the West coast end theirs.

Yesterday we went to the city to see the judge. Now we go back next week to get a ruling. Then it’s off to the Embassy for paperwork and visas and passports and then home. Feels like forever. We have had another family here with us and Andrew is headed home today. So it’s hard for our kids to understand that his time is now, and our time is later. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Regarding my post yesterday, I had further confirmation of the Obama craziness on this continent. Here are three pics to prove my point:

• this sign on the road was in like 100 places.

• this was a bumper sticker on a local car that has been in support of Obama for quite some time. Yes, he’s a local hero of sorts around here.

• all three local newspapers here had his picture on the entire front page. This is the government sponsored one and has reactions from around the world, commentary from people on the street, and even the entire text of the speech. Crazy. I’ll post some of the local opinions in it soon. But we’re off to go swimming and have lunch.

Oh.. and while in town I found more floor puzzles for my son. The kid is a puzzle maniac. I couldn’t bear to watch him do the same puzzle for the 100th time. We now have like 10ish options, one of which is numbers to 25 and is 16 feet long!!! I think I might need to find more as we have still several weeks to go and these are done like 10 times a day in the morning and early evening.

Watching Obama be inaugurated was historic all around the globe.  Watching it from Africa has been quite the experience.  We have the speech DVR’d at home to watch again upon our return to the U.S.  But for what it’s worth, here’s one American’s observations from this part of the African continent.

• OBAMA CAN DO NO WRONG… YET:  So far, Obama has done nothing other than get elected and he’s already the best president we’ve ever had from the street level East African viewpoint. 

• THE NEWS ANCHORS ARE FULL OF WHOOPS:  Just after President Obama was elected, the local news congratulated the 34th president of the United States.  Whoops.  They regularly mispronounce names and get their statistics a little screwy, but it’s kinda funny actually. 

• HE MIGHT BE PRESIDENT OF AFRICA ACTUALLY:  His face is on billboards, painted on the side of buildings and t-shirts, and he is a household name. Passing by on the street, it is not uncommon to hear two phrases tossed my way:  “hey muzungu” or “obama!”.  When my brother-in-law and I went through the market this summer in Kampala, virtually everyone we talked to asked us about Obama.  I think the average person on the streets thinks Obama will cure the ills of Africa single handedly.   The day he was elected and his inauguration were both declared National Holidays in KENYA!!!!  There is even a parade and concert here in town on the 23rd called the “Obama Concert”.   I fear they will be sorely disappointed 4 years from now.  I also pray that president Obama knows that money alone cannot solve the problems of this continent or any other for that matter.

• HISTORICALLY, THIS IS SURREAL FOR ME:  It is crazy to watch Obama’s speech in the presence of my two African kids.  I praise God for what this means for them growing up in the U.S.  Add to that the fact that I was watching it in a guest house with both African and American adults in front of a t.v. tuned to the Aljazeera network (showing the CNN feed) and you get a crazy soup of ideals and opinions and a very cool opportunity for my family and our country.  These are epic days we are living in.  I pray the future is one of unity amidst our diversity.  I pray that those who follow Jesus will lead the charge of change that is rooted in the leading of the Holy Spirit.

• NEWS IS BIASED EVERYWHERE:  Watching on Aljazeera is funny cuz you get to see what quotes the Muslim press highlights in a speech.  There is no such thing as unbiased reporting- in the U.S or otherwise. 

• WE LIVE IN A GLOBAL COMMUNITY: I had several posts about the fact that I voted for Obama and some back and forth comments on this blog as a result.  But regardless of who you voted for or why, it is crystal clear to me from this vantage point that who we elect to be the president of the United States is no longer merely a North American issue.  It’s a global decision and I voted intentionally in this regard.  Time will tell if that was the right decision, but regardless of the outcome of the future, I have no reservations saying that the actions of the U.S presidency have HUGE global effects.  I cannot ignore this in my influence on the democratic voting process.  I’m praying that we as a people have a global influence that honors God and respects all of His creation. 

I have tried for a while now to focus on supporting the things that are locally owned and made around me. At home, I can’t do this with a lot of things. I can try to avoid big box stories, hit up the farmers market, eat at locally owned and operated restaurants, or support my local coffee shop as much as possible. But sometimes time and money make my efforts fall short of my intentions.

In a small town in Africa, this gets a little easier. Here are some of our local hang outs and some pics I can post.

ACCOMMODATIONS: We are staying at a local guest house run by a local pastor. We went to church with he and his family on Sunday. Their church is in a village not far from here. It was 60 or so people in a building made of sticks, wooded slats with a tin roof and a dirt floor. It was great to support the work they are doing.

FOOD: There’s not much imported around here anyway and there are no restaurant chains. So eating local is our only option. But it’s tons of fun anyway.

• Breakfasts: We eat all our breakfasts in our guest house.

• Lunches, coffee, and an occasional ice cream: We have enjoyed revisting a coffee/lunch stop called “the Source” which is run as a ministry to the community by a local church. We are known by name and face here- and were recognized again on day one back in town. We almost can order “the usual”. Give us another week and I’m sure we can. We also have enjoyed two new stops: Indulge and Flavours, both of which have good food, java, and local cooks and staff.

• Dinners: We do about 60/40- home cooked at the guest house and eating out. Lots of places close pretty early for dinner, but we have 3 spots we like. The Nile Resort (too expensive for normal day stuff, but a nice treat once a week while we are here). The King Fisher and 2 Friends. All good eats, all local, and all worth the boda ride to get there.

ART: We have purchased some art from the artists locally here. It’s been fun to get to know the local talent and support their efforts.

We have contracted two pieces- one for our stairway (in progress below) and one for our daughter’s room from Angelo.

I bought a carved bowl in the shape of a local fish from a carver named Hassan.

I bought another painting from a local artist, Gerald- for our youngest boy’s room.

We are having classic African shirts made for our first “family photo” from a seamstress named Maureen.

BASIC SERVICES: I have been getting around via local boda boda (and have the cell of a driver named David saved), buying some supplies from the local market, hiring some local help for laundry, and doing what we can to help those who live in this community daily to get a head a little by supporting their efforts to make a living.

ONE FINAL NOTE ON LOCAL TRANSPORTATION: you see a lot of stuff tied to motorcycles and carried on top of one’s head to get it from point a to b. There is no age (young or old) or size (big object or small one) that evidently determines any limitations. It no longer surprises me or shocks me to see the creative enginuity of the African people to get around. I have seen couches, a HUGE live pig, entire stores, piles of people, 20 ft long boards, and much much more tied to a motorcycle or bike. Today I saw an entire family of 5 on one glorified moped. Mom was sitting side saddle in a skirt behind dad who was driving. She had a suitcase behind her and a small child on her lap. Between dad and the handle bars were two more boys, probably age 5 and 3 I’d guess, the last of which had a bungee cord seat belt that kept him firmly on the handlebars and pressed back into Dad and his brother. As I passed them getting ready to drive ahead, I really wished I had taken a pic, but I didn’t have the guts to ask permission and I didn’t want to be rude. But it was still awesome. If it weren’t for US laws, I could evidently fit my whole family of 7 on a harley.

On some level. Kids are kids are kids. Here’s where my African black kids and my American white kids are the same.

• FARTING: it’s funny no matter what continent you were raised on. You might say it’s gross and not funny, but it’s still funny. (Want clinical proof? The “ifart” app for the iphone was the number one most downloaded program a week ago. Yes, of course I already own it. There are like 20 other options to choose from too. Cuz farting is funny.)

• TOUCH AND TICKLING: kids like to be touched and tickled. Because black skin does not hold oil like white skin, we have to put lotion on our kids from head to toe each night so their skin stays nices and doesn’t grey or crack. It is officially impossible to put on lotion without causing the giggles. Suntan lotion on our white boys produces similiar fun and funny moments if we do it ourselves verses them doing it.

• ICE CREAM: they’d eat nothing but ice cream if you’d let them. My newest son is so skinny, we just might give it to him in an iv. He is 5 1/2 and wears “pants” as shorts that are designed for a 24 month old so the waist is the correct size. We’re feeding him fast and furious and praying he porks up. No more rib counting would be good. TJ, Tyler, and Jake all have a layer of ice cream nicely on them already 🙂

• GIGGLES: sometimes kids get the giggles. when this train starts rolling, no amount of parental influence can stop it. Especially my boys Ty and B share the giggles factor. They are going to laugh a lot together.

• COMPARISON: all kids see what other kids have and believe theirs should be the same. Teaching them that “fair and just” does not always mean “equal portions and privileges” is a parental uphill battle in both cultures.

• IMITATION: It’s super scary, but all kids want to be like their Dad when they are young. They say you have attachment when kids start to imitate you. Well if that’s the case, we are attached. Whatever I do, my African children- especially my son- will imitate to a tee. My kids in the states have similar needs and desires to be “like their dad.” That’s a huge weight and a great privelege.

• PICTURES: I love taking pictures of both sets.

• BEDTIME CHIT CHAT: Try this: put any 2 kids in a bunk bed, tell them it’s time to go to sleep and stop talking, turn off the lights, close the door and walk away. I don’t care what part of the planet you are from, this will not result in silence and snoring. Giggles, laughter, whispers, and chit chat will commence the moment you leave. If you’re lucky, they might actually stay in bed.

Here’s a few places where their similarities stop:

• SHOWER TIME: our African kids have never taken a bath with hot water. They have been bathed with a hose since day one. They prefer to shower in room temperature water (what comes from the hose here at the equator) in something like 60 seconds total. My American kids use hot water and have to be kicked out they want to take so long.

• PATIENCE: at some level, kids are kids are kids. They all have short attention spans. However my daughter will sit for hours without moving while you braid her hair and today, both of them sat quitely through a 2 1/2 hour adult-focused service in a village church in the heat without one complaint. Yeah…. I’d have had to take my white kids out back and duct tape their limbs and mouth first.

• SWIMMING AND BIKE RIDING: my kids could swim and ride a bike without aid or fear by this age. We took them swimming for the first time in Kampala the other day. These are creating great trust building excercises, but it is still a reality of the orphanage limitations. You just don’t have the time, space, resources, or opportunity to teach them to do either of these activities. You need a mom and a dad for that stuff.

WANT TO SEE THE PICTURES? be sure to hit up my facebook account link in my blog sidebar. There are something like 100 up there now. At this pace, there will be 400 by the time I’m home with our new additions. They are “friend only” viewable, so hit me up with a request if you’re out of the loop my friends 🙂

Well, this is my second trip to Uganda in 6 months and I’m starting to get it.   Here’s why I feel a little bit like a local lately.

• FRIENDS:  I have friends downtown and around town.  Artists we’ve bought work from, drivers we’ve hired, places we eat, people we’ve worked with in the villages and orphanages, tried and true freinds I’ve done some life with for weeks on end.  I’m being stopped and noticed by name.  It’s kinda fun to live in a small townish context. 

• BODA CONFIDENCE:  One of the modes of transportation around Uganda is a sea of moped/motorcycles that will take you anywhere you want to go for a fee.  They are constantly asking if you want a ride.  I now know how to tell them no and how to get one via a simple glance of the eye or tip of my hand if the answer is yes.  My claim to fame is today I got a man to bring us 4 boda’s to take all 8 of us to dinner without saying a word to him while he was going the opposite way at 20 mph.  He left, went out of sight around the corner and then came back with 3 friends a couple of minutes later.  So each adult piled on and then sandwiched a kid between us and the driver- just like the locals do- and off we went to dinner.  So much fun.  I even got my driver’s cell phone # so that I could get him to come back for us when dinner was over.  Woo hoo!

• BARTERING:  I’ve begun to barter better.  Sometimes I just pay the full price to be nice or because I want to make an impression after I haggle with them and tell them I’m going to let them win.  But today, when I landed the boda rides, I haggled for the price first.  I was stoked that we payed more than the locals but less than the gullable tourist.  Score.

• LANGUAGE:  Because this time 50% of my roommates speak Lugandan, I’m learning the language more out of necesity.  I’m enjoying myself and can tell my kids several key phrases or words.  I’m still not anything close to fluent and constantly wish Uganda’s national language was Spanish, but I’m scraping away at it.

• PARENTING:  Being the parent of two local kids who are also known around the community through school and orphanage workers and such has been fun too. They are loved and noticed as we go by stores and shops.   Shannon met their teacher one day.  We’ve met classmates and neighbors and more.   (Side note:  My daughter lost a tooth today her brother fell and bonked his head while running.  Both were a little tramatic for a few minutes for them and gave us a random chance to comfort them and help them get back to a state of normalcy.  That too makes you feel like you really are the parent these kids need.)

Tomorrow we go to my sisters in Kampala for a day to hang out and get the lay of the land.  We’re going to be staying at their house an using their friendship network for the last 2 weeks here- starting the middle of next week.   Should be fun.   Maybe by the time we leave there, we’ll be “locals” in two cities in Uganda :).