Our Uganda Trip

Uganda - Day Nineteen

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 02:13:39 -0800

We woke up this morning around 7AM. My mother went downstairs to check her email and I stayed in the room and watched some soccer highlights. We had breakfast again in the hotel restaurant, and we caught a taxi to Heathrow Airport. We were able to confirm our exit row seating, and were secretly hoping to be upgraded to better seats. The guest relations manager at the Marriott requested it due to all of our trouble trying to use online check-in.

We made it through security with no problems, although we were at the airport too early and had to wait around for about an hour until we could check-in our bags. We ate lunch at Burger King (bleh), and I picked up some English candy for the kids.

The flight home took 11 hours, but it was relatively peaceful. On landing, a young girl in the center of the plane barfed all over the floor. Wow! Jennafer and the kids picked me up and Dad, Spencer, and Jelissa picked up mom. What a trip. It was really good to get home. It was a great joy to see my kids, and Caedmon didn’t even give me the cold shoulder! Mukoma Yebazibwe!

Uganda - Day Eighteen

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 02:00:19 -0800

We woke up around 6:00 AM, and got cleaned up. We had breakfast at the hotel, and I was able to have some scottish bangers and some eggs and bacon, with tea and toast. We walked down Cromwell Road to catch the “Original Bus Tour.” I have never been on a bus tour like it. You can get off at any stop and get back on at any stop. The ticket is good for two days. The bus took us to all of the sights of Central London.

We first went to Picadilly Circus, where we got off to transfer to another tour route. Then we headed down to Trafalgar Square, followed by Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben. After that we saw Buckingham Palace, where my mother fell down while we were taking pictures. Her new middle name is “grace.” We then traveled parallel with the Thames River, seeing the big ferris wheel, the Aldwich (meaning “Old Town” in Old English) and the Tower Bridge. We stopped at the Tower of London and took some pictures. I was unsuccessful at finding the location of Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle. I must have asked a half a dozen tour guides, and none of them had heard of the Tabernacle nor of Charles Spurgeon. What is this world coming to?

After that we headed back toward Westminster Abbey. We got off near Charing Cross, and had lunch at a small cafe called the “Embankment Cafe.” It seemed really good, and there were all locals and no tourists in there except us. I had shepherd’s pie with tea and my mother had fish and chips again. After that we headed back to the hotel to do our online check-in for our flight. The British Airways web site was all messed up so we were unable to check-in, but the hotel Guest Services manager was very helpful. She also helped us find the location of the Metropolitan Tabernacle.

We took the tube over to Elephant and George circle, where the Tabernacle is located, and after some trouble crossing the street, we made it to the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Everything was closed up, but we met a deacon of the church named Bola who let us in and gave us a tour of the church and the sanctuary. I was close to heaven.

We took the tube back to the hotel, and went upstairs for a bit, and caught the beginning of the Ireland vs. England Rugby match. We headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant to eat dinner. It was an Italian restaurant, and I had some lamb with “wilted spinach,” aubergine (I still don’t know what it is, even though she said it was a vegetable), and one of the most creative way to serve potatoes I’ve ever seen. It was pretty good. We went back upstairs and caught the end of the Ireland vs. England Rugby match. I talked to Jen for a bit, and then went downstairs and checked my e-mail and got caught up on the news in the Executive Lounge. I went to bed around 11PM.

Uganda - Day Seventeen

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 04:10:45 -0800

We woke up at 6 AM with no power. We got cleaned up and Deacon Fred picked us up around 7:00 AM to head to the airport. We arrived at Entebbe airport at 7:30, and had no problem checking in for our flight. Thanks to my dad registering us online, we were bumped up to WorldTraveler Plus class with bigger, more comfortable seats, more legroom, and even a power plug for my laptop. Mukoma yebazibwe! (Praise the Lord!).

The flight was very smooth and we arrived in Heathrow Airport at 5:30PM London time. We checked into our hotel, and as we were checking in, Manchester United came into the hotel. It was sweet! Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were only about 10 feet from me. After checkin, we asked the concierge where a good place was located to eat fish and chips. He gave us the directions and we walked down to the Devonshire Arms, a little pub in Kensington. The fish and chips were “da bomb.” We also had mashed peas with it, which was good. I’ve never had mashed peas before. Since I was in an English pub, I had to wash it down with a pint of “6 nations,” a local brew.

We went back to the room and watched an Australian Football game. Sometime during the game my dad called and at some point later, I fell asleep.

Uganda - Day Sixteen

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:58:49 -0800

We woke up at 7:00 AM, so that we could have breakfast with Pastor Vanancio. It was good to see him one more time before we went home. Vanancio gave me an update from their ministry, and I gave him my teaching notes on Colossians. We headed down to the church, and Vanancio left to catch the bus back to Bundibugyo. At the clinic (eddwaliro), my mom and I were tested one more time for malaria, and we were both malaria free. At the church, we met David and Deacon Fred, and we traveled east to Jinja and the source of the Nile.

It was about a four hour trip, and on the drive we were able to see a wealthier part of Uganda. Near Jinja is where David grew up. Also, right before we got to Jinja we traveled through a national forest (jungle). For lunch, we had chicken-on-a-stick, roasted bananas, and water. It was grubbin’. On the drive over to Jinja, I also learned some more words in Lugandan. munene = fat; ddubu = bear, yesu ye mukona = Jesus is Lord.

We arrived in Jinja, and the first trip we took was to a place that had a beautiful location on the Nile, and the ability to take a small boat on the water. While we were waiting to catch the boat, there was a man who was lame, but could climb up a 15 foot stick. It was quite impressive, like a circus act. I gave him some money. Then we took a ride around the Nile between the sets of rapids upriver and the sets of rapids downriver. We stopped at a small island in the middle of the river and walked around checking out the view.

When we got back to the restaurant/hut on the shore, we had some of the best chips and salsa I have ever tasted (either that or two weeks is long enough to forget the taste of chips and salsa). Also, we had some french fries. I even had a Red Bull. I couldn’t believe the price in Uganda is also $2. What a cash cow.

We left there and headed to the source of the Nile. There we took some pictures, and David bought me a hat as a souvenir. From there we headed back home and spent quite a bit of time in traffic in Kampala.

That night, we had dinner with David, Bosco, Miriam, Joey, Allen (Pastor Emma’s wife) and their two sons, Joel and Joshua. It was quite a feast of fried rice, motoke, peanut sauce, sweet potatoes, chicken stew, pineapple, mango, chapate, and maybe a few other things. We then packed up to go home. Frank Griffith called Miriam, my dad called my mom, and my wife called me, and I was able to talk to Gavin before he went to school.

I tried to go to bed early at 10PM, but didn’t get to sleep until around midnight.

Uganda - Day Fifteen

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:48:45 -0800

This was the first morning I was able to sleep in, but I was only able to sleep in until 8:00 AM. I spent the morning, packing up some of my clothing, and organizing my notes, homework, and so forth. I went down to the church at 11:00 PM to meet David, and I transferred my pictures over to his computer. We went back over to the local Zzana restaurant and had lunch of motoke, rice, and beans. I also tried an Evervess tonic (it was okay). Bosco stopped by to have lunch also, and man can he put down some food.

Pastor Diphath picked us up at the Zzana roundabout, and we headed out to the seminar. I preached in the first seminar on worship regarding preaching. David preached on Biblical Counseling, and then I preached in the third seminar on worship with regard to evangelism. I then answered some questions for about a half a hour. Pastor Diphath’s wife came with us today, and so it was good to meet her. We took many pictures with the pastors who came. David drove back to Miriam’s house. He’s a pretty good driver.

I went to bed around 10:30 PM.