I spilled my malaria pills in my backpack.

The longer I go without blogging…the more overwhelming it is to blog. Too much happens here. 

I love Africa. In a lot of ways I feel like I was in some ways made to be here – my very early obsession with the Lion King, an affinity for disorganization, my tendency to be incredibly laid back… disdain for personal hygiene… not that Africans aren't clean. They are exceptionally so. But this climate isn't conducive to being clean. And I'm fine with that. 

God has given me so many joyful moments over the past 2 weeks. Because He's so awesome and loves me enough to give me these while I'm struggling with silly stuff back home. I've been blessed with so much…

Like baby ducks. Yep. I'm a mother. Despite John and Jordan's repeated attempts to steal primary caregiver responsibilities. 

I've experienced an unearthly increase in compassion for a sketchy thief named Tony as who was severely beat up because he slept with some guy's wife.

I've been given awesome, sweet African friends like the ladies who work at our compound and whisper to me about finding me an African man to marry and tell me that I'm African strong. And like Joel…my 12 year old friend who saved my life by pulling me out of the way of some quickly moving vehicle (cause pedestrians DONT have the right of way here) and who told me he had to hold my hand in the marketplace because else I would get lost. haha. which is very true. 

I was almost given a baby yesterday. Actually…I was given a baby…I just couldn't take him with me because I didn't know how to get him past customs. 

The thing about Africa is that it isn't a huge culture shock being here. I've heard that it's so different here that readjusting to America is almost impossible…and I'm seeing how difficult that will be, every single day that I spend here, but actually being here seems more like real life than in America. It isn't a culture shock to be here because I've gotten so used to being here that it just seems like what life really is. 

Here's my cheesy movie analogy – …it's like Avatar. haha. It's exactly how…Sully or whatever…feels like after spending so much time as a blue long-eared thing. That his life as..the blue thing…starts to seem like reality and his life as a human starts to seem like a fantasy. 

The thought of life in America seems fictional. People being able to eat whatever they want, when they want. People treasuring their children. A place where you don't have to be TOO concerned about wearing gloves so you don't contract HIV. Not having overwhelming numbers of homeless, starving, orphaned kids. Good health care – regardless of your stance on the health care in America…It's fantastic and great and amazingly awesome in comparison to here. 

Words don't stand a chance at fully explaining what last night was like. I know that the KONY2012 video has exploded in America…but with the internet here we haven't been able to watch it. And neither has anyone who lives here. But last night there was a screening of it in the Mayor's Garden…a field-like thing in the middle of Lira…and our team was able to go. CNN was here reporting as thousands of Ugandans flooded into the field and we found ourselves watching this American-made video as Americans…but it was a completely different experience than watching any invisible children movie or any documentary on the LRA that I've ever seen before in my life. Cause we were with the people who knew about it, not because they'd seen a film…but because every day of their life has been a reminder of this war…because this is their life. Mary decided to ask the guy standing next to us- "have you been affected by the war?" "Yes." "Oh…were you abducted?" "Yes."  Which isn't shocking whatsoever. It seems that almost everyone we talk to has in some, intimate way, been affected by this. Because they were born in Uganda. Not because of anything else. And because I was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan instead of Lira, Uganda my life has been completely, utterly different. 

I don't know. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that this is happening now. While I'm in Uganda. That finally people are starting to hear about this. I've known all along that my God has huge plans for me in Uganda this semester. I am soo blessed. And excited…and in awe…that I praise a God who is bigger than me…and bigger than my life and bigger than the LRA and bigger than the pain and war and crap that has been happening to these people. I'm blessed that my God has put desires for life and adventure and radical, raw, emotion into who He has made me. I'm beyond blessed that He lead and provided me the way to get here. I'm blessed that I was born to a family who knows him and has taught me to know him. I'm forever thankful to know and praise and love him so that I can live the extraordinary life I believe He has called me to. So that I can live alongside and maybe help to bring hope to people who break and hurt but who are loved by the same God that loves me. 

I know I have 8 weeks left here. But they're going to go by too quickly. And it's terrifying to think. Tomorrow my team leaves for Amolotar …a village about 2 hours away..where we'll live for 4 days to get a more…villagey…living experience. oh boy. Then next week we leave for Nairobi..and when we get back..we'll only have about a month left here. I love America. But we'll see how I do upon actually returning. Whoop. 

Hope everyone's Spring Break is going suuuuper great! 
We'll be celebrating our spring break next week in KENYA!  Yep. 🙂