A Whole New World

Dogs barking loudly, squawking birds, loud cars, and the conversation of our guards at the guest house...this is what I hear when I take out my ear plugs out at 7am, feeling ready to start the day!

I stare up at the mosquito net above our bed, and when i look out the window i am greeted by red dirt, palm trees and pouring rain. It is fresh and beautiful, yet so so different from home.

We're spending the day exchanging money, going to the market, and getting acquainted with Kampala. We are thankful for this slow day since we only slept 4 hours last night and not much as we flew.

I just met some lovely ladies from Tennessee who are here adopting three children from Uganda (and between the two families have already adopted three from Uganda!) they were so kind and friendly and very willing to answer my questions and share their experiences. They were very respectful of the culture and the process here, even though it is taking them a bit longer than they were anticipating. I hope to get some good connections through them for what orphan homes to visit and they also recommended that we talk with a Ugandan lawyer to hear about the adoption process and what the steps are to adopt from America. (It is one of our biggest desires to adopt someday and when we are able to save up and God provides the money we need, we hope to make it happen. I have so much more I want to say about adoption but I think that will be another post for another time :-)

Here is a quick summary of our first day in Uganda:

1. Driving through Kampala and seeing many new and interesting sights.

2. Eating Italian food for lunch (we were surprised to find out that you can get a number of different ethnic foods here!)

3. Grocery store in the morning and outdoor craft market in the afternoon.

4. Visiting the Turners, one of the dear missionary couples who we are working with. They are so wise and so hospitable. Andrew and I are very much looking forward to staying with them our last week here and learning from them.