The Little things

It's really all about the little things. Moving to a foreign country to live and work was sporadic and thrilling. Actually buckling down to business has been scary and overwhelming. In a good way.  Recognizing the little moments and taking them as small victories has made my days here balanced and oh so happy. 

Weight Requirements 

I was able to check two bags for free as long as they weighed 50 pounds or less. The first one was filled with prenatal care packages and the second with my life for the next three months. I pride myself in being a light packer but had a few extra heavy things I wanted to bring along this time around. We didn't have a scale at home that worked correctly so it was more of an estimation with the final weight. I held my breath and waited for this golden number to pop up on the scream. Boo ya. 

Travel

 I am a pretty chill person when it comes to travel. I just assume things will work out. BUT HOLY Delta Airlines had me pretty nervous. I arrived at SLC and found out that my flight itinerary was completely changed. They had me staying in the Nairobi, Kenya airport overnight and without my co-director. After an hour they had hesitantly rescheduled my entire itinerary. I gave them my bags with very little confidence that I would ever see them again. hah. My flight to Portland was delayed, and I did not want to miss my flight to Amsterdam. We landed and I was that person... sprinting through the airport. I saw my gate around the corner and all the seats were empty. My heart sank. Then I rounded the corner and the flight attendant asked if I was Rachel. I said I sure hoped I was the Rachel they were looking for. They were going to wait five more minutes for me and then close the gate. Phew. The same thing happened in Amsterdam. Still, barely making my flights made all the difference and I was so grateful to find myself AND my bags in Uganda. 

Hiking

My co-director and I decided to go exploring/hiking on our day off. We asked a boda driver to take us to the Wanalle trail head. He took us to a trail head, but it was not the official one. It was made by locals and swerved in and out of a village to the top of the mountain. We decided to not try and hike the official one and took the local path. 

As we neared the top I started feeling weird about continuing on. I didn't know why, but I told Brad I thought we should turn around. It was strange for me because I always go to the top. There was no reason why we wouldn't have. Later that night we found out that four people had been attacked by a leopard at the top around the same time that we were hiking. They were all in the hospital in serious condition. And the officials had not been able to track down the leopard! Nothing probably would have happened... but still haha, whoever was praying for my safety that day I owe ya one. 

 African sunsets 

Technology

One night we stayed at someones house in one of the villages we were visiting. They didn't have electricity, and brads cell phone became their miracle as he showed them music videos from his phone. They were mesmerized and it was sweet. Later that night I pulled out my book light so that everyone could have some more light. The father of the house commented on how he was astounded by the technology these day. Over a book light. And it was from like 1999. I should have brought an ipad. The reaction to that would have been classic.

Elder Halladay

Saturday was my day off. I didn't know what I was going to do, but kept feeling like I should go to Mt. Elgon hotel. So I did. About an hour I looked up to see a familiar face. Elder Halladay! Kole and I grew up next door to each other. His older sister Alex and I were the best of friends. I love his family and it was like having a little part of home in Uganda... for both of us. And the cool thing was that it was his birthday! We sat down for lunch with him and afterwards cake and ice cream at their house. I just kept thinking about how things like this don't just happen. So glad to have a God that makes little things like this happen. 

Potholes and dirt roads

Our taxi making it around that broken down car. Pretty funny stuff. 

The internets

Facetiming the best family and friends. Em, Jos, Kait, and my fam all took time out to talk with me on Sunday. I am very thankful for such an extensive support system. 

 Beating Michael Jepp in QuizUp. So satisfactory. 

Rachel Wade: expert packer, pro sunset watcher, master wi-fi gettter, quizup champion