Rafting the Nile

Well it has been an eventful last few weeks here in Africa. I was invited last minuet to go rafting with a group out in Uganda. I found out I was going on Monday, and had to be back in the city by Tuesday to catch the bus. We all headed out early Wednesday and took the 10 hour bus ride to Jinja, Uganda. I was not sure what to expect, other than what my friend Clayton was telling me (terrifying me). Clayton has rafted the Nile something like 18 times, so he gets cheap entertainment from terrifying those who have never been. I have rafted before, but never have I been dodging class six rapids. We stayed at this place called "nile river explorers." What a fantastic place. The man that started it is from South Africa and has been running the place for over 14 years. The staff there was also great. We spent a week there, so got to know some of them well. There was Josh from New Zealand, Jessie from Australia, Jack from South Africa, Adam from Scotland....ect..just people from all over the globe that has a passion for kayaking. So, they decided that they would just move out there and live it everyday. They were a blast! Rafting takes all day, so we woke up early Thursday morning and rafted the Nile. I have never has so much fun. My adrenaline was pumping faster than it has ever before, I was shaking before every rapid, and it did not help having Clayton trying to freak me out either. We flipped a few times, but non of the falls were too bad...well, non after Bujigali Falls.....we flipped on this class five and non of us came up for a good 5 or 6 sec.. now this sounds like nothing, but when you did not catch a breath on your way under and keep hitting the raft when you try to come up for air, it feels like eternity. I was pretty freaked out, but I was not going to let it stop me. So, we continued down the nile. We got done around 5:30 ish and they had this great barbecue waiting for us. We spent the rest of the week relaxing and doing absolutely nothing...it was fantastic. Uganda is such a beautiful place. Everything is so green and lush. There were these wonderful tea farms on the way in that stretched for miles and miles. It was a site watching the workers with their baskets picking the leaves, it was beautiful. It rained at some point everyday..which if you were in Kenya, you would understand why it was such a big deal. Our roofs were made out of tin, so i was rocked to sleep every night. We made our way back to Nairobi on Monday and this time the ride was a bit longer..12 ours or so, but still not bad. Most of us had been up all night hanging out, that we slept most of the way back. I am not in the city staying with a family here and headed out to Kamulu either Friday or Monday...we will see. I hope all is well back home and that Fall has started a new season full or love and energy in each of your lives. 

Catch up with writing

Learned to make chapatti

Got attacked by bugs

Bathed three times

Found more bugs

Tried to go to the Dr. because of the bugs

Cleaned my house

Washed and dried my clothes

Almost started a fire trying to dry my clothes

Slept all day

Watched “big momma Jack”

Hated “big momma jack”

Caught up on emails

Changed a diaper

Learned that they use toilet paper in Africa rather than wet-ones to change diapers

Drew the line at changing diapers 

Trimmed banana trees

Checked on the orchard

Learned all about drip water irrigation

Let the girls paint my nails

Hated my nails painted

Took the nail polish off

Braided my hair….again

Called Sarah

Finished a book

Started a new book

Walked at Windsor Country Club

Watched the Jetsons

Watched the news

Walked around Nairobi city

Ate some incredible Indian food

Played with children

Worked on the pre-school plans

Discussed security after yet another break-in

Looked into safari’s

Took pictures

Met some pretty cool YOUNG people

Got rest

Had quiet time

Going to bed

Love you all!!

Being in a place where I do not speak the language has really been an eye opener for me. I have been frustrated for the last week with people not understanding what I am saying. I hate repeating myself two or three times in order for someone to get me, I hate doing it even once. Yesterday morning Irene called me to tell me that there had been a break in teahouse and I needed to wake the other dorm mother and have her go get the girls that were down there working. I did as I was told and waited at the gate for her to come out. 3 min later I realized that she has no idea what I was talking about. I called Holley to ask if it would be ok for me to go and get the girls on my own, she advised me not to and Larry translated for me. Not only did I feel helpless, but I also felt like a complete idiot for not being able to convey the message. This got me to thinking about myself, and how I deal with communication. Well, what I came to realize it that words fail. Sometimes we can let all our feelings and emotions out on words and they simply fail. I have realized how much this happens in my life. How my words fail me so many times. But I think the true concern is not about how they fail me, but how they fail those receiving the message. What kind of damage is MY inability to communicate causing those around me, even worse, those that I truly care about? A simple message of “I love you” or “I will miss you” can turn into “I regret knowing you and I am glad you are finally out of my life.” I realized that the problem is fear; fear of being made a fool or the fear being hurt. I have noticed that fear has held me back from saying so many things that I have wanted to say and instead of just keeping silent, the opposite words come out. I guess that is why God calls us to be silent a lot. It allows us to think through our emotions before speaking them out loud, before completely ripping apart the ones we love due to our own inability to be honest about the way we feel, let fear go, and be raw before them. He asks us to find Him in the silence because it allows us to hear His voice, to spend intimate time with Him. So why is it that we find no time to question our own emotions? To take the time and let ourselves get to know…well ourselves..by asking questions and being truly honest with our emotions. This is probably one of those blogs that speaks truth into what I am writing because my words are probably failing me now. I am not good with being raw and open before a lot of people.. but I think God is working on me…or at least I hope He is. I hope my communication skills will improve so that I can be sure and honest about things when I say them and not have to apologize later..after all the damage has been done. 

Summary

Got sick
Spend the weekend in Nairobi
Went to “easy church”
Played with babies at the inner city center
Had a Mountain Dew
Bought cereal
Drank real milk
Called some friends
Failed at calling friends
Almost threw my computer for not allowing me to call friends
Got sick
Taught class
Laughed really hard I almost fell off the toilet when I read the label on the toilet paper- wrapper.. it completely lies, it really feels like sandpaper
Thought of a really funny line in a Joe purdy song about the toilet and almost fell again.
Played with babies
Found rat poop all over my house
Got sick
Listened to Lightning 100’s top 20
Got home sick
Ate chocolate to help with the homesickness
Realized I still hate chocolate
Craved satco.
Thought about just coming home, calling britt and having her meet me at satco
Danced with the girls
Watched Kenyan tv all night
Realized I really need to learn Swahili
Irene and I practiced dancing in front of the mirror ..failed
Taught class
Took my kids on a walk
Cleaned my house
Found dead rats while cleaning
Laughed out loud while reading Caroline’s notes for the third time
Had quiet time
Called Britt
And now I am ready for bed.. Sorry its short but its all I can do for now. I will update later. LOVE!