Living in the Pearl: Life with Mom and Dad in Uganda

Hey Everyone!

Its 5:30 pm here, and I just realized I have a few minutes before I need to head down to the guest house for supper with Mom and Dad, so I decided to do a little update.

Life is pretty great right now I will have to say. We truly love having my parents here with us. They have already been here for a month, and I know this next month is going to go by even faster. They have settled into life here so well. I was a little anxious at first because I didn’t know how they were going to like living here, but they love all of the parts that we love about it, and they just roll with the rest. It’s always really fun too to see people’s 1^st impressions and observations. It kind of refreshes Newman and me and reminds us of what we first loved about this place when we moved here over a year ago. Mom and Dad quickly caught on to the “Ugandan English” and they have found comedy in the cultural differences that we too have laughed about. Dad has eaten more local food than Newman and I have probably combined. He spends his days with locals, and is at their mercy for meals, and his stomach has proved to be strong. The food really isn’t bad, but it is different from what he is used to. Mom learned very quickly how to cook here and how to clean produce properly. None of us are going hungry, that’s for sure. We have started a little bible study/supper club which has been really fun. We share 5 out of 7 suppers a week together probably. I will miss our evening get togethers very much. I love hearing Dad tell us what he saw/did that day with Reverend Francis. There is always something interesting to recount.

Newman is busy with work between the clinic and the house, but he has been very pleased with how our administration has been handling things. He is able to step away and know that everything will continue to run smoothly until he returns, which is a great feeling. We were able to step away briefly this week, and we took my parents up to Murchison Falls National Park. We stayed at Paraa Lodge like we always do. We had some time by the pool; Mom got a massage, we went on a game drive, and we did a river boat safari. They got to see lots of animals close up for the 1^st time (a little too close to a certain very large crocodile if you ask Mom). We had perfect weather, and we all really enjoyed relaxing together. The only downside to the whole excursion was a little scare that we had with Newman. On the ride to the lodge and on the ride back to Masindi, Newman began to break out into a terrible rash all over his body. We didn’t know what was going on or how bad it was going to get. I was running scenarios in my head of what I was going to do if he began having trouble breathing. Praise God he did not. Mom luckily had some antihistamines in her bag as well as some hydrocortisone cream. After 2 tablets both times, he began to have some relief and within a couple of hours was back to normal. We think that he is allergic to the saliva of the tsetse fly which are annoying and painful flies that we inevitably get bitten by on the ride through the park every time. He has probably been having small reactions all along, but he always thought it was just heat rash or sun poisoning. We are going to begin carrying medications with us everywhere in case it happens again and the reactions continue to worsen. Please keep him in your prayers. We pray that it doesn’t happen again and that we are right about the cause so that we know what to avoid as best we can.

So, for the next few weeks, we will be around Masindi, working and enjoying each other’s company. We miss everyone at home very much. We have really enjoyed getting updates from my sister Liza and her husband Jamie about the baby they are expecting. The pregnancy is coming along great, so please keep them in your prayers as well.

That’s all for now!

Love,

Trish