Back to School

Today went a little different than I had planned. We ate breakfast, packed Perez's lunch and dropped him off at school for the first day back after Spring Break (and for us...the first day after a long trip). A month ago, I had envisioned this day with another participant. I would get both the kids up, we would all eat breakfast together, we would have the excitement of Maggie's first day, I would pack two lunches, I would walk both kids into class and introduce Maggie to her new teacher. Okay, okay. I know this is a little too angelic for the first day back to school with two jet-lagged kids, one of which isn't feeling much like going back and one of which has never even been there in the first place, but please, just give a mom a moment to dream.

After letting Perez out of the car my heart sank a little. I watched my son walk in to school alone. Only a few weeks ago I pictured this exact situation with Perez walking past the gate holding Maggie's hand. Life has a way of painting new pictures for us. We can't help but think of what the future holds. We can't help but envision what may happen. If only we could truly live in the present, than maybe the future wouldn't look so good that we wished we were already there.

Standing in direct opposition to this train of thought is one that suggest the future breathes hope into the present. I would probably agree, but ask me on a different day.

I have resolved, for however long or short of a time this lasts, to play the cards as they come. That's not to say that I'm not still thinking about tomorrow, but more so that I will also still think about today.

From San Diego with Love,

Ali

Home Again

After over 24hours of travel, we have made it back to San Diego. Thanks to all who have spent the last month praying for us. Our journey isn't over, it's possibly just getting started again!!

From San Diego with Love,

Ali

Lessons Learned from the past month

(in random order)

• never stop giving you all, even when you are frustrated or tired or disenchanted with the whole thing
• always greet everyone you see respectfully, meaning stop what you are doing, look them in the eye and give them a moment of your time
• always accept invitations to people’s homes. It is their way of honoring you and your way of honoring them
• always give second chances
• always treat your children with dignity and respect
• always treat other children the same way you would treat your own
• never doubt God’s ability to change anything regarding character and relationships
• always trust that bonds can be made with anyone, no matter how far away they may seem at first
• never believe that things will go as planned
• always remain flexible
• never get discouraged by unmet expectations. Sometimes, those expectations are outside the realm of God’s plan
• always allow room in your heart for more love
• never refuse a gift
• always carry your camera, even when you least want to stand out
• always dance when music is playing
• always kiss your children goodnight, even if they are already asleep
• always eat a hearty breakfast, it may be your only meal for the whole day
• never hang your laundry out to dry at night, thunderstorms rain and wind force you to do it all again the next morning
• never assume people are a certain way just because they hold a certain position
• never assume people are unfriendly because they don’t smile at you
• always indulge your childrens’ playfullness, even if it means you will be cleaning up the rest of the day

Easter Sunday Stitches

What’s Easter without a trip to the ER? Or should I say a trip to a local Ugandan clinic! Our Easter went from a calm lunch at a Pastor’s house eating matooke and meat and chatting about Ugandan traditions to wrapping Perez’s forearm in a ripped sheet and running up the hill to catch a boda boda while trying to apply pressure and keep his arm above his heart.

I’ve never had this experience before in a foreign country, but I didn’t have much choice. After a quick dousing with water and getting a good look at his cut, it was VERY obvious that he was going to need stitches ASAP. I squeezed the cut together, wrapped it as tight as I could and off we went. I told the pastor to take me to the best clinic they have in this town. We didn’t have time to arrange transport to another town. So you get what you get. We do have travel insurance, but I didn’t have the card on me and, to be honest, I don’t even really know exactly how it works. At the time, none of that mattered.

Can’t say much about how impressed I was with the clinic (those details are probably better shared in a not so public sanction) but I can say how impressed I was with Perez. The kid is amazing. He cried a little when it first happened, calmed down, then cried a tiny bit more when they injected the anesthetic. That’s it. By crying, I mean tears rolled down his cheeks. Nothing else. He didn’t make any noise and he didn’t resist at all. He sat on my lap, took a couple deep breaths and clenched his teeth down, determined to be strong. He watched the whole thing.

It’s not the prettiest stitching job I’ve seen and I’ve got a hunch the scar won’t be that pretty either, but it was necessary. I’m praying for no infection!

We returned to the Pastor’s house to share the news with all that were there and say thank you for being so kind. Of course, Perez wanted to stay and play, but being the mean mom that I am sometimes I said it would be better for us to go back home. So now, we’re home. He and Maggie are currently performing “surgery” on another friend while he lays on the coffee table wrapped in a towel with his head covered in a shower cap and his feet restrained with one of my headbands. Looks more like an abduction than a surgery, but they are all laughing, so I guess all is well.

From Uganda on Easter Sunday,

Ali

Good Friday

On a rainy Good Friday in Uganda, I’ve immersed myself in what I call “laundry therapy”. I woke up this morning feeling a little mopey. I know, I only have a few more days in Uganda, I should make the most of it by spending time with kids and staff and shooting pictures and walking around the community. But this morning, that motivation just wasn’t there. I spied the bucket of dirty clothes that I have been putting off washing for the last few days and decided it was finally time.

Washing clothes by hand takes time, especially when you have your own and two other kids clothes to do. On most days I would wish I hadn’t brought so many clothes. Not today. Hand washing is a sort of therapy for days when you just want to be alone with your thoughts. By alone in this context I mean, standing alone in the bathroom while 9 or 10 kids kick each other on the furniture, draw on whatever they can find, pick ice off the freezer drawers with knives, and bounce around a large exercise ball left over from a previous occupant. Today was not the day for me to police this. I really couldn’t care less what they were doing. I was washing. That was all that mattered.

There is a physical nature to washing by hand that makes you feel like you are doing something worth while. The cold water, the detergent eating into your skin, the roughness you build up on your knuckles, the pain you feel in your back and hamstrings while bending over a large plastic bucket. In all honesty, it is the kind of therapy where you work yourself out of a bad mood. The task is just mundane and monotonous enough that it allows you to escape mentally and process things.

After 2 1/2 hours of this, and a short break in the rain, I feel sane enough to exit my apartment and enter the world around me. Today we had planned to swim at the pool at a local hotel. If the sun shows up, we just might still do that. A little downtime by the pool with a soda in hand might also be a helpful therapy.

From Uganda with love,

Ali

The Rat: part 4

Not sure which of the family members I was just introduced to, but one thing is for sure: no rat trap works near as good as a gang of Ugandan boys armed with brooms, a dust pan, a long piece of sugar cane and an old wiffle ball bat.

Say goodnight to another night dweller.

From Uganda with ALOT of love for Ugandan boys,

Ali

It's Going to Nairobi

For many of you involved in this process either currently or in the past, you understand the title of this post. Our visa request has been denied, as of now, and our file will be sent to the USCIS office in Nairobi. That office will look over our case and decide if they want to issue the visa. This can take many months and there is still no guarantee the visa will be issued. Just so you don't have to read between the lines on this one, Maggie will not be coming home with us this trip.

It's slightly difficult to process this all right now, being that the decision happened only a few hours ago. I can say that things went well at the interview, the consular wasn't a jerk and I really wasn't shocked by his decision. I wasn't pleased by it, but it didn't come out of nowhere. We new well in advance that our case didn't fit the bill. We were asking him to make an exception to the law. He didn't.

Disappointed, yes. Hopeless, no. Honestly, right now, I'm praying that whatever plan God has for this little girl over the next season doesn't involve anymore pain, either physical or emotional. I am praying that God strengthens their family. I am praying that God restores the mom's health. I am praying that somehow, Maggie, the two siblings and her mom are all provided for. I know that God is the giver of every good thing and I pray that he would pour out blessings on their family. They have been gracious and giving and selfless. May God honor their character by multiplying it ten-fold on their behalf.

I'm sure more of the emotions of this whole thing will spill into the pages of future posts, but for tonight, this is all we can handle.

From Uganda with Love,

Ali

Moving Forward

We have a passport, ladies and gentlemen!

[APPLAUSE]

Now, on to the Embassy! We will drop papers Wednesday morning, and have our interview Wednesday afternoon. I am suprisingly at peace with the whole thing. I trust and believe that God is going ahead of us. Instead of making a list of requests for you all to pray for, please just spend time thanking God for being good and thanking him for allowing us the opportunity to be a part Maggie's second chapter.

From Uganda with love,

Ali

Mirinda Fruities on the Roof

We had a calm and relaxed day yesterday. After spending the morning in church celebrating Palm Sunday, we received a last minute invitation to visit our friend Richard's house for lunch. We were extremely grateful for the invitation and enjoyed every bit of our conversations with the people who came and also enjoyed every bit of the meal! Beef stew, rice, avocado, pineapple, chapat...the works! Thank you, Richard, for your hospitality.

Played baseball with our little friend Mulego Moses and about 25 other kids. It is obvious that baseball is not the sport of choice in Uganda. Few kids at the school even knew how to hold the bat, much less run the bases in any sort of organized game-type fashion. Granted, our bases were just kids shoes and pieces of trash, but it was still a very foreign concept to them. These kids are quick learners, though, and by the third or fourth time batting they were picking it up.

Bought a few sodas and enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the roof with the kids. They were drinking a kind of soda here called Mirinda Fruity (many of you Ugandan travelers know this drink). The amount of dye and sugar in this soda is probably toxic, but the kids love them.

Back to work on sponsorship update photos and letters today. Should receive passport tomorrow and be off to the embassy on Wednesday for interview!

From Uganda with Love,

Ali