this precious life.: see you another day, Soroti.

I took a much needed break from blogging over the weekend and now I'm ready to go again!
But before I move on to posts about our weekend Safari I want to share some miscellaneous images from Soroti.

These images didn't really fit into any of the categories I covered but I think they show a bit more of our day-to-day life & relationships while there. There are so many stories & pictures of precious people we spent time with and things that we did that I'm not able to cover on the blog... but I hope I've been able to give a little broader perspective of Uganda than you previously held! If you have any questions or just want to hear stories, feel free to get in touch with me! I could talk about Uganda for hours {as a few people have already found out;)}
And in return-- spending time on two different continents has made me even more excited to hear about my friends travels so send me the link if you're ever blogging about a road trip, cross country trip or international trip!

The longer I was there, the less I felt comfortable with raising my camera to take pictures of people around the town. They are individuals with souls & feelings. And just taking their picture without permission while they are working & in poverty... as if they are a novelty... was just something I couldn't bring myself to do the longer I was there. It meant that I shot from the hip a lot and it may have produced less artistic images but I don't regret doing it. {Kind of hard to explain but essentially it's out of respect for them as hard working people. And this is just in regards to street photography. Obviously those that I knew personally or worked with had no problem with us taking pictures of them}

Getting to experience Uganda {and later London} with my best friend was incredible and beyond my wildest dreams. Who would have *ever* thought we'd be in Africa together?! I am so thankful for Eleanna's optimism, laughter/teasing, encouragement & heart for Jesus. Not to mention, even though we seem pretty girly... we're rather adventurous. And getting to explore & try new things together was a blast!
One of the locals asked at one time if we liked the food and we responded, "we love it! the only thing we haven't been crazy about so far is the fish." To which they replied, "well, if you like the food- that means you can stay here always!" It was so much fun to dive into a culture, new to us, and find that other than being mzungus {white people}, we fit in pretty well!

When we first originally found out that we'd be spending a few days in London on our return trip, El & I spoke about whether knowing that would ruin our excitement for Uganda. We couldn't really know if it would until we got there but once we arrived, oh lolly, did we ever fall in love!! So much so that on our last night in Soroti, when we went up to the roof for the last time, we were praying that God would give us excitement about going to London! Granted, there was some excitement about it but we just didn't want to leave Soroti! Relationships had formed and a way of life quickly latched onto in just two short weeks. We hadn't been tourists. We had *lived* life with these people. And that was hard to let go of.

We're both so thankful for the weaning process we had while coming back to the states. Leaving Soroti, but still being in Africa for a few days. Then spending a few days in London which was a fully western/modernized culture but not home to us. And then going home. If we had flown straight from Uganda to the States... it would have been so much harder! **HUGE thanks to Uncle Meredith for planning it that way!!**

All of that said. Thanks to each one of you who lifted us up in prayer. We felt those prayers SO much and could see God working in many ways during our trip. We didn't even know how many of you were praying until we got home but looking back, it was so evident!! I know that to us, this trip will mean much more than it ever will to any of you, but thank you for listening to our ramblings & looking through pictures. You have no idea what it means to us!

{After putting this together, I realized that it's STILL a lot of pictures!! But I couldn't bring myself to cut any out... so sorry for the length! Many of these pictures are via Eleanna's camera-- I so love looking through her pictures and seeing Uganda through her eyes!!}

Beatrice, me & Eleanna {photo credit: El}

Fanta-- the drink of Africa!!! {photo credit: El}

Ugandan shillings 20,000 is about $8

many of the things we brought to do & ended up not having time for! That was a good problem though-- I'm so glad we had so many opportunities to connect & serve!

I just love this image so much. A 79 yr. old mzungu hand & 82 yr. old african hand.

all windows had bars on them for security

A friend of ours & Mama both sent along 14 days of encouraging notes for us. One to open each day. *SUCH* a blessing & definitely a huge source of encouragement!!

and of course they all got spots in our journals:) you can see that I wrote, "...and with the added notes, tickets, & such, this journal will be absolutely bulging by the end of the trip!!". Bulging is sort of an understatement. It's now a whole *process* to get it shut each time!! haha

Amunyo & her wheelchair!! Love her! {photo credit: El}

{photo credit: El}

The porch at YWAM/Amacet where we spent lots of time with babies{photo credit: El}

journaling on the front porch during some down time

Lots of journaling went on during those three weeks!! LOTS!

Many of you have asked if we got to see/work with Katie. Well, we drove right through Jinja where she lives on our way to Soroti. Then later, during our second week, we finally heard back from her team. They invited us to come & help with their Saturday ministry but by that time we already had set plans to be in Northern Uganda. So the answer is no, we didn't get to work with her. But it's still such fun reading her book now that I've experience so much of what she talks about! Plus the book is so full of encouragement & eye-opening thoughts. Read it if you haven't!!

Evelyn, Mama Carney, 3 bishops {can't remember all of their names}, Papa Alfred & Kay--- all friends for over 20 years!

TOMS & red african dirt = love!

I absolutely adore this image that Eleanna captured-- it's so powerful! This is Margaret holding the picture of Ethan treating a little girl in Afghanistan {photo credit: El}

{photo credit: from El's camera}

hanging out on the main street in Soroti {photo credit: El}

this picture took 7 tries, shooting from the hip, to get it right.

our friend Isaac owns Marisa fast foods & we ate their a few times. {and if you were wondering- fast foods is an oxi-moron. there is no such thing as a fast food restaurant there! remember what I said about them waiting to cook the food until you arrive? haha} {photo credit: El}

our bag of "supplies" as we drove 2 hours into the bush to see the school in Kapelebyong. sunscreen. nuts/fruit/m&ms. energy bars. kleenex. hand sanitizer. hairspray {for bug bites}. yep- we were set! {photo credit: El}

riding in a Ugandan taxi for the first time! {photo credit: El}

Uncle Meredith with curious chillens:) {photo credit: El}

Green Bay Packers made it all the way to the middle of Uganda! haha

on the way to Kapelebyong {photo credit: El}

this is *attempted* journaling on bumpy/rutted dirt roads. obviously it didn't work at all-- can you say "chicken scratch"? haha

beautiful Evelyn

one of the bishops, Deborah & Kay

on the way back from Kapelebyong we stopped at a little cafe for some of the group to eat. I tried making friends with all of these curious children but none of them knew any English because they don't learn that until they go to school. And the little Ateso that I knew meant nothing to them because they are of a different tribe and speak a completely different language! {the blue container on the stand is for washing hands outside the cafe} {photo credit: El}

helping Deborah make her fabulous chapatti!! {photo credit: El}

{photo credit: El}

Esther-- one of Deborah's sisters. She worked at the house and is such a sweet girl!! {photo credit: El}

Geoffrey, Deborah, Kay, Evelyn & Dan

saying by to Kay

gosh. I'm so blessed to call her friend.kindred spirit.sister in Christ!

our first {and only} time riding boda-bodas!! the truck wouldn't start one day so we had to hire the boda-bodas to take us to Amacet

slightly overwhelmed! we arrived at Amacet one day and Rose -one of the workers- said, "today we will sort toys" & proceeded to dump this huge bucket of legos out on the floor! Then we sorted through the entire pile & pulled out all the trash & misc. toys. {photo credit: El}

almost done! the pile by my feet is almost all trash & dirt-- they only sort the toys like this once a year. {photo credit: El}

{photo credit: El}

the giant pot they cook the rice, posho & beans in {all separately of course}

they were sorting the bugs & dirt out of the rice

Uncle Meredith speaking at church with Pastor Job-- Isaac is on the right translating {photo credit: El}

two of Pastor Job's children-- Dan & Eunice {photo credit: El}

Isaac showing me how he just looked me up on Facebook on his phone!! {not sure what my face is about} {photo credit: El}

Beatrice starting micro-braids on Eleanna

after swing dancing up on the roof one night. yes- swing dancing in AFRICA! that really happened!! {photo credit: El}

I think this one is Japheth {photo credit: El}

{photo credit: El}

El & I with Amunyo!! {from Eleanna's camera}

the road out of Soroti towards Mbale & Jinja

Beatrice shopping with us in the market {photo credit: El}

one of her friends who made us a CD of Ugandan/Africa music {photo credit: El}

and this is probably what I looked like the majority of the time we were walking!! haha though I did a whole lot of "hip shooting" to be more discreet. It's hard to take pictures of people without being rude when they are all STARING at you!! haha {photo credit: El}

{photo credit: El}

Margaret came to visit us one afternoon-- this is her with Evelyn

and with Eleanna & Uncle Meredith

and with Papa Alfred & Mama Carney

the children from the school down the street having P.E. in the field behind our house

geckos & lizards were EVERYWHERE! here's baby one {about three inches long} stuck in between the screens

just walking through Soroti! {photo credit: El}

with our friend Betty who worked at the Compassion offices

with our friends Irene & Ivan!

Bishop George-- a long time friend of the H.I.S. team

Bishop George & his wife Florence invited us over for dinner & also invited another mzungu couple-- Mike & Amy from England.

El & I were both so blessed by Mama Carney and all the wisdom she poured into our lives during those weeks. Love her!

the Colts also made it all the way to Uganda!

Milton:)

we'd usually have our individual Bible times while we ate breakfast... we'd also open our notes from Hannah & Mama and journal.

the breakfast Eleanna had every day we were in Soroti

and the breakfast I had everyday

Ivan showed us this fabulous little shop with all sorts of African crafts! {photo credit: Ivan}

{photo credit: Ivan}

El & I with Maggie, the owner of the shop who is a really sweet christian woman! {photo credit: El's camera}

chilling for a bit back at H.I.S. HQ {photo credit: El}

{photo credit: Eleanna}

opening the gate at Opai {photo credit: El}

Uncle Meredith & Pastor Job- brothers in Christ. One from Tennessee, one from Teso. Both have 7 children {3 boys & 4 girls} & both turn 60 this year:)

El & I doing laundry in the kitchen at night. Had to do that one night by the light of two flashlights hanging from the water pipes because the power was out! {photo credit: Uncle Meredith}