Church and Ndere troups

We got up and got ready for our first day of church with our assistants. Charles was at the guest house at 9am to get us. He seemed to be in a bad mood when Morgan decided not to go with our group. (She isn't Christian, and doesn't feel comfortable going). So Charles was quiet and seemed kind of angry on the walk to find a ride. We got a matatu into downtown Kampala and walked to church.

My high school friends will get a kick out of this: One thing I am learning to do in Uganda is walk SLOW! I normally like to be at the front of a group and I am told I walk very fast. Here I make sure that I am behind our Ugandan guide so that I can pace myself (which means about a fourth of the speed I am accustomed to). Africans walk so slow!

Church was awesome. We went to Kampala Pentecostal Church. It reminded me of the church I attend at college. We sung lots of songs that I knew and it was great. They had a fantastic gospel choir and we were all moving and clapping. One song really hit home and made me get teary -"..when we see you we find strength to face the day. In your presence all our fears are washed away..". I really needed to hear those words AND put them into practice. The service was about being ready for the Lord when he comes. It was really warm inside and I felt faint, so I downed my water bottle.

Charles brought us to see his university. We walked around as saw the craziest huge birds just walking around. I'll put pics up later. Then we went to lunch at this little restaurant. I had fried chicken and french fries. Of course I had to go to the bathroom again. The little boy that was our waiter took me out back to my second meeting with the "squatty potties". The door didnt lock so while i was squatting, I was also holding the door in place with my head. haha. Then the boy told me to wash my hands with a gross piece of soap and brown water. You can imagine how I felt about that, since I am such a germaphobe! Charles had us take charge of the matatu riding on the way home.

I took a nap and then we had a quick dinner before heading to watch the Ndere Troup. We rode a bus to the theatre. The Ndere troup were a bunch of really talented musicians and dancers that dressed up and danced and played for us for FOUR hours! They were amazing!! The guy who ran the show was a really funny man who described everything to us and made funny jokes. the funniest part was when he had members of the audience come down front. He arranged them from darkest skin to lightest. The man with the darkest skin was from the troup and he was from Northern Uganda. The point was demonstrating how God meant for us all to be black, but he started with Northern Uganda and ran out of paint. He used a little bit less on other Africans and Middle Easterners. When he got to Asia, God noticed that the people liked to bow when they greeted each other, so while they were greeting him he painted the top of their heads with the rest of his paint (which is why they have black hair). God was out of paint when he reached the Europeans and Americans but "don't fear USA, Jesus will return one day and you will finally get to be the right color!" . haha I got a kick out of that story. He made fun of the US a lot but it was very funny. It was like he was talking to me when he said "You can tell who is from a developed country by how fast they walk. They look like they are training for the Olympics!". It was a very fun night.

Now it is late and I need to get some sleep before school tomorrow. I feel myself adjusting more every day! It helps that the guest house feels like home!