Celebration and Laughter

Things are going great here in Budaka!  This week has been mostly made up of adjusting to the new time zone (no more jet lag, yahoo!), adjusting to the culture here, and building relationships with the children at Cornerstone.  The little boy, Moses, who I am working with to learn to talk, can now say the names of 3 colors, a major breakthrough for someone who has said nothing except "mama" prior to this week.  Moses is also doing great at learning to walk and almost took an independent step this past Friday.  Yeah!  

I love being here and I wanted to share with you a few little things that brought me tears of laughter this week:

• I made a discovery this week while bathing (think cement room, a basin of water, a cup and a drain to the outside).  I was looking down at the design printed on the bottom of the washbasin.  There are flowers, butterflies, and star-shaped dots printed on a blue background.  Here are the words around the pictures: “Little flower: Let’s feel the clean cosmos; let’s feel urgently the fresh family’s atmosphere.”  Anyone else confused as to what this message means? 
• On a box of pots and pans, the company boasts that they have “30 years of excellecne.”  I had to think twice before buying the pans: do I really want a company that boasts of excellence or excellecne?  Hmmm.
• After buying a small gas stove for the house, I pulled out the manual to ensure I put it together correctly.  After referencing the front cover, I opened to the appropriate page, only to find that the rest of the manual was in Arabic, save for the front and back covers.  How helpful…not!  Anyone want to come over and read Arabic for me?
• While reading over an inventory list of new clothes that my mom and I had given out (donated from the States for the kids here), something caught my eye: “Ronald- 2 shirts, 1 pair of shorts; Charles: 2 _____…” Wait a minute!  Instead of writing that Charles had 2 shirts, the author accidentally left out a very important consonant, turning an ordinary word into a swear word.  Oh, Uganda…

Let me end by saying I would not be able to be here working with the children, without the financial, spiritual and emotional support I am receiving from all of you.  Thank you so much!! 

 Until next week,

-Abby