Ulcers or Alcers?

I have not written in a while because I have been so overly busy the past two weeks. I have wonderful missionary couples that are coming to Uganda to help me with the Joy House and they are going to cultivate land for a new children’s home! It is all coming together! Thank you all for your prayers! For the last two days I have been sick in bed with a dang bad stomach ulcer, or in Ug. Alcer. I’m listening to Rick Pino “mighty warrior” thinking that will help me to leave the house today! This past week I did a few renovations on The Joy House. I got new curtains made, cleaned a lot (I have a funny story about the cleaning…) , bought organizers, and we are having whicker furniture made now! Okay the funny story about cleaning… I was scrubbing the walls, the floor, washing furniture, cleaning windows, and then I started cleaning closets. They are not really closets they are little rooms that they just throw all of their junk and rubbish in. I was cleaning out one on my hands and knees and roaches kept crawling on me. These are not just regular cock roaches these are monster, no one has touched their home of rubbish in ten years, roaches. They are the ones that fly and bite. Lets just say I saw one and thought it was a rat. I kept running out of the house screaming. The house girls and mamma kept laughing at me but I was genuinely scared to death! I do not think I have ever been so groused out before! The Joy House is looking a lot better than normal and we are happy we are about to build a new home for the children.

I have not written a blog in a while, so I will try to get everything in.

Last weekend I went with a group of friends to North-West Uganda, Lake Albert for a day. We got lost for over two hours driving to the safari lodge. We were in three cars and we all got stuck on the bad roads at some point. We got to the lodge and there were HUGE lizards everywhere. The cabins were amazing. The only thing that sucked was that there were open outside showers. I do not do well bathing in the open even though the only thing that could see me were the lizards and fish in the lake. We went on a game drive and bush dinner. I was very disappointed because there were no elephants or giraffes. I just remembered I dreamt about giraffes last night. The bush dinner was fun. I went home before everyone else. I guess I was not to impressed because I grew up in the country, and wild hogs and deer in the woods is not that big to me. Of course we are in Africa so you have to say the Cobs and warthogs in the bush. Nothing new to me. Actually there were baboons and I am not used to that! The next morning we went back to Kampala and watched Harry Potter. I was immensely let down. I love the potter series but this one was just dumb. Sunday night I put this hair food in my hair and over a week later it is still not completely out. I washed it out three times at home, then I went to the salon and they washed it seven times. It was a jelly and actually worked as a sealant, like water-resistant. Haha.. I had water-proof hair! Every curly head's dream!

Hustle of getting everything done before I leave is leaving its mark on me. I need to stay here for a couple of years! It is a serious thought. I am really considering moving here. There have been some promises made to the Joy House and if they follow through then I will have to stay here.

This past weekend I went Saturday to meet with some future donors in Jinja. While I was there I went white water rafting. I had a blast besides I think I broke my toe. Its all swollen and bluish-purple. I had a lot of fun. There were people who seriously got hurt, so I was lucky. I expected it to be a little joy ride for naive tourist but wow was I wrong. They were grade 5 rapids on the Great White Nile. Just the name sounds intimidating. After that I went to the pool and met two girls. One was from Stockton, Ca… And she knows tons of my friends that I know from Austin! It really is a small world, I lived in small nothing going on Stockton and we have the same friends and we meet at a pool in the middle of nowhere! The campsite was nice I thought, until I settled into bed and heard a high squealing and this a scurrying noise all around my cabin. I was so scared only to find out a little while later it was rats. There were loud banging noises on the roof I was okay with that when I found out it was only the monkeys. When I see a rat I freak out, like really freak out. I have musophobia to a ridiculous extent. I have it to the extent of leaving everything I own, including my passport, in a New Delhi train terminal while I run the opposite direction of the rat I had just seen screaming at the top of my lungs. This time in the cabin, I did not have anyplace to run because I could hear them near the door, and worst of all I could do nothing. Where was I going to stay I was in the middle of no where with no transport or budget for anything higher than campsite? I had to sleep with my pillow over my head. I felt like my mosquito net was a protective bubble for me. Haha.. seriously I was afraid to raise the net. There were also snakes next to my cabin. It was tons of fun! I was scared but I went on a great adventure. Saturday night I had dinner with some friends and then tried to go salsa with no luck. Ended up hanging out with the girls for a bit then went home. Sunday was Watoto church, Joy House Church, Meetings, and then dinner. It is crazy how fast your body can put you down. I have this ulcer and I think I can handle it and it is kicking my butt. I have been forcing myself to rest. So that is what I am going to do now..