So what have I learned over the last couple of days (and not for the first time I might add)? Don’t set expectations. Now I know that often this sounds a bit pessimistic, but for now I’m sticking to it. I found myself disappointed in a variety of different ways over the weekend because I had certain expectations about how things were going to go. Today, zero expectations…and my day was great. I decided that I was going to get some computer stuff done in the morning but with no time frame in mind. I tried to call my boda driver, but he wasn’t around, but hey, I wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere, so I walked instead.
The first place I went to (flavours) was closed (I had forgotten they weren’t open on Monday’s) so I headed to Indulge instead. Again, I got there much later then planned, but then, I had nothing planned, so it was all good. Now at one point Henry and I had made arrangements to meet at Welcome Home at 10:30 so that we could go and look at apartments for me to live in, so I tried texting, calling and emailing him to let him know the change of plans. I didn’t hear anything for a couple of hours, so I gave up and decided that no matter what happened, I didn’t matter. (Assuming that Henry was unharmed.)
Anyways, I did a bunch of emailing and blogging and typing up some information, and then Henry DID show up. But again there was no plan. After some talking I found out that instead of 10:30 to look at apartments, I would be going at 5pm, perfect! We then went to a school to see if we could get more information about what is expected of children who graduate from p1, p2, etc. The teacher that we met with was actually one of Henry’s old teachers, and she was great. She gave us lists of books that she thought would be helpful for us to buy, and then suggested that we get copies of previous exams that students need to write to pass a grade. So off Henry and I went to find the office that sells exams, imagine that. We walked into a room with two shelves that had piles of papers stacked a foot high (full of exams I assume), with another table full of exams (from the current year). I should also mention that the shelves were not straight, oh no, the boards either hadn’t been put in properly, or they were missing something because each shelf was on a crazy tilt. We asked for a copy of each exam for each class, which is 4 exams for P1-P7, which he somehow managed to find in the midst of the chaos. And we got it all for the low price of 4200 shillings! (less than $2.50)!
Earlier we saw David and Hassan in town (which is not allowed if someone older is at the Sanctuary (which there was)) and they were asked to return home. We decided that it was be best to return home to make sure that they were there, and they were! Henry had to run into town to do some errands, so I spent some time with the boys…which was interesting to say the least. David was very mad at Hassan, and then because I was talking to Hassan, he became very mad at me. They boys are at times great friends, but more often than not, they are each other’s enemies…atleast for right now (I hope). I managed to get David to finally talk to me, but soon he was fighting with Hassan again. We decided that we would wait until Henry came home to try to work things out. Shortly after that Henry came back with a surprise visitor, Tevin! Henry took the boys to go and talk, and I got a chance to talk to Tevin (one of Henry’s good friends). It was great to finally meet him, and I enjoyed hearing of his travelling adventures.
That evening we went to see the apartment, and then I got to see where you buy Posho! I sure am glad Henry knows what he was doing, to me it just looked like chaos of people running around, boda(bicycle) drivers riding around with huge sacks of posho on the bikes, and vehicles moving this way and that way.
We then went back to the boys house and I decided to try the P1 exam on Hassen…and then David joined. Thankfully Michael joined as well, and he helped me by translating to the boys what the questions were asking. Oh, in this time I also got the privilege of helping to fetch water! They didn’t want to let me help, and then they gave me smallest bucket, which I promptly traded for one of the bigger ones, and then we proceeded to literally ‘walk up a hill to fetch a pail (well, a jerry can rather) of water’. I’m being serious when I say that the people I walked by laughed at seeing a mzungu girl carrying a jerry can full of water. Apparently this is not a common sight, and I think that they were surprised to see that we were actually capable. (Ok, to be honest, Ronnie was very nice to me and only filled it up about 4/5’s of the way…but they didn’t know that! Lol).
Anyways, I got a chance to see all of the boys for a bit before I headed home. Oh, did I mention that the power was out AGAIN!!! From about 11:30am-8:30pm, but thankfully it came back on about the time that I was wondering if I should just go to bed! We also had another HUGE thunderstorm tonite! My grandma called me (very lovely surprise!) and she could hear it through the phone! It was pretty fantastic, and it lasted for at least 2 hours! I love Ugandan thunderstorms! :)
So, praise:
- I am learning to be flexible
- We were able to get a copy of all the exams we wanted
- While we don’t have our own water back yet, we at least have access to water
- The power came back on!
- Henry being so great at handling the boys issues
Prayer:
- David and Hassan getting used to living with us, giving up the freedom of the streets
- I find a place to live come December
- I continue to be open to what God is calling me to do/wisdom to do it
- Henry continues to be patient with the boys, and has the wisdom to know what is best for them
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