Uganda, Africa | 1st day in Soroti

Sunday was our first day in Soroti. After more than 26 hours of traveling without sleeping - the last three being on horrible roads - you would think I would have slept in. But my body was still on U.S. time and I woke up at 3 am after just four hours of sleep. I lay in bed for sometime, listening to the noises of a town starting a new day {the average person only sleeps 4 hours a night and is up by 4am}. Then as the sun rose, I moved to the sitting room to journal and have my Bible time. 

We had a pretty lazy morning of breakfast, unpacking, more journaling, exploring the house and visiting with Papa Alfred, Mama Carney and Evelyn who we were to staying with during our visit & who are a huge part of the Hands In Service team.

 {our room- more photos of the house coming later}

 {El & I had been told we'd have lots of time on our hands so we lugged all sorts of books and things to do to Uganda... only to let almost all of it sit because we were so busy!}

 {Anytime you went out a door for the first time each day, it was a whole ordeal! Multiple padlocks and slide locks to wade through!}

 {A peek into our courtyard... more pictures of the house coming later}

 Around mid-morning, Beatrice - a girl Eleanna and I were to get to know well over the two weeks- stopped in to have Evelyn look over her Senior 5 & 6 application {more on how their school system works later}. Then Uncle Meredith thought it would be great if Beatrice would show us girls around town. So we set out on foot to explore Soroti town. {Before confusion sets in, I should clarify why I refer to Mr. Flautt as Uncle Meredith. No one uses Mr. or Mrs. in Uganda-- elders are all Mama/Papa for married/ older people or Uncle/Aunt for unmarried young adults. Obviously according to Ugandan standards I should have called him Papa Meredith but following in American fashion, he decided I should call him Uncle Meredith. After all, he and my dad are best friends and brothers in Christ... so he kind of is an uncle:)}

 Beatrice was a great guide. She explained many things about the culture, kept us from getting run over by boda-bodas, pikis and cars and answered our never-ending stream of questions!  Soroti is really very small and walkable so we covered everything pretty quickly. Main street, the “garden”, and the markets. Of course El and I had no sense of direction on that first day so we were very glad that Bea kept us straight! 

As we talked to Bea about the clothing styles and such, she told us that our simple and chic maxi dresses/skirts we had brought were considered “old school”! haha The thing El and I grew to love most of all was how everywhere we went, beauty was SO much deeper than what people were wearing or how they looked! Though many did care about their appearance {saying “you look smart” is the biggest compliment you can give or receive}, it wasn’t a huge deal. We didn’t worry about great outfits or make-up the entire trip! Each morning we’d throw on something clean, toss up our hair that hadn’t been washed in a few days and not think twice about it. 

 

 

We stopped at the Landmark Hotel to quench our thirst with Fanta and grab a snack. Fanta became our “Africa drink”. Neither El or I are typically soda drinkers but during our two weeks, we had a soda {usually Fanta or Marinda} with almost every meal. How can you resist those glass bottles with a straw poking out of the mouth?! 

 

 

School is such a huge thing for kids and young adults in Uganda so we heard much about it every time we met a new person. Since they were telling us so much about what they did and asking us all the time where we were in school, we quickly learned how to bridge the gap between cultures and explain in their terms where we were. Primary 1-10, Uganda = Kindergarten- 9th grade- America

Senior 1-4, Uganda = Freshman, Sophmore, Junior, Senior-- America

Senior 5-6, Uganda = misc. college prep years that aren’t common in the U.S. since we typically go straight to College from Highschool

University, Uganda = College, America  

Becoming a lawyer is the longest University course in Uganda, taking 7 years of study!

 

 

We got quite the African education that first day... but so much of it is a blur since there was SO much to take in and try to remember! More of it came into focus and became the norm as our visit progressed.