TIA: This is Africa

My first trip to South Sudan was more than I had imagined it would be. With it being my first time to Africa ever, I tried very hard to go into it without any expectations. This proved to be very beneficial but at the same time everything I experienced was a huge overload mentally and physically.
At first, I was going to try to get the entire trip down on paper before posting it on the blog. However, it is just shy of two weeks since I have been back, and I have only completed the first 3 days... So I am just going to post the days as I complete them.

Day 1 Arriving in Africa: Upon arrival to Uganda, we had been traveling for about 24 hours and it was 1am when we stepped off the plane into the Entebbe airport. Humidity, buzzing of gnats and mosquitoes, and intense smells I had never experienced before bombarded my senses as I entered the airport. Welcome to Africa. I began to think "what I have gotten myself into". My fear of not being cut out to live in Africa quickly invaded my thoughts. This is just the airport, there is electricity and plumbing, there is no way I can survive in South Sudan if this is too much for me now. The ride to the guest house and the rest of the night was a blur as these thoughts kept floating around my head. As I crawled into bed under my claustrophobic mosquito net, with a little fan blowing air on me, I was about ready to cry. The only thing I knew to do was to pray. I told God there was no possible way that I could do this by myself. It was going to have to be all Him if I am already feeling this way. I asked for His strength to carry me through and for Him to give me His joy throughout the time, in preparation me for what I am going to be doing in the next few years. Purely exhausted, I soon fell fast asleep.

 Mosquito Net!

Day 2, Kampala, Uganda: After only a few hours of sleep, I awoke surprisingly refreshed with a sense of peace, so thankful that God had been faithful and had answered my prayer. The rest of the day was spent obtaining our South Sudan visas and getting accustomed to African time/culture, as well as exploring the different markets to see what all we would be able to get during our restocking breaks in Kampala. There was so much more available than I thought there would be, which was a huge relief. Another comforting factor was that Kampala is a beautiful city. It is right on Lake Victoria and the weather is between 75-80 degrees most of the time, so this will be a wonderful place to get some R&R every few months.

City of Kampala with Lake Victoria in the background

Ugandan Market

Day 3, Bus Ride: Bright and early Tuesday morning, we hopped on a bus and began our bumpy 8 hour drive to Arua (a town in Northern Uganda). Along the drive, we ran across a herd of elephants, a clan of baboons, a warthog, and some sort of deer-like creatures. The Africans who were driving us said that it was very rare to see so many animals not in a game park, this made us very excited and livened up the trip quite a bit. Traveling across Uganda proved to be an extreme blessing as the scenery slowly transitioned from city life to village life, enabling me to somewhat ease into the reality of what I was going to be living in, even before arriving in South Sudan. That evening we were able to talk with some missionaries in Arua about their struggles and challenges as well as their  very helpful advice about the realities of living in Africa. Back at the guest house that night, the attendant informed us to be careful while showering if using hot water. Apparently the shower head had a built in water heater that was known for electrocuting people. And of course the infamous electrocution power of the shower head took its toll on me within a few seconds of stepping into the water. Needless to say, I opted to take a cold shower that night.

Children on the side of the road in a village on the way to Arua;

Elephants and Baboons

Some things I learned in these 3 days about Africa/African culture:

-No one is in a hurry
-Smell is relevant
-Baboons are not as nice as Rafiki in The Lion King makes them look
-Guests are highly honored and are expected to sit
-Be careful that you do not get electrocuted while showering
-Best pineapple and bananas EVER
-Everything is pronounced phonetically clothes=cloth-es  mosquitoes=mos-quitoes
-There is no Diet Coke but Coke Light


To be continued....