Bush flight, Soap Making, and Plans to Fort Portal

    So second week down...crazy. I went on a bush flight with Simon on Friday into upper Uganda. I rode in the co pilot seat and it was fun wearing the headphones and talking to Simon through the mics. We flew from Kajjunsi to Lira, to Kaabong to Maroto, to Amudat and back to Kajjunsi. On the way back we flew over Sipi Falls, the three waterfalls flowing from the dormant volcano between Kenya and Uganda. They were beautiful, as was upper Uganda. I so enjoyed getting to see some of the places Simon would fly into and also more of the country, outside of the city. It's gorgeous upland. :)

   Yesterday I went downtown to Kampala again with Luan and we went to watch soap be made by a soap merchant. So...the men on the streets and in the shops are super creepy. We were everyone's "friend" and the conversations they try to start are completely ignored. When we were on the taxi, which should hold 12 people but normal hold 20, we had just paid when the man sitting next to me asked how much we paid because he thought we paid too much. He was genuinely asking, and it was a nice change. We saw a botabota taxing a man carrying a calf and on the way home I sat beside a man holding a rooster. It's very interesting with the women here. Those that maintain eye contact seek to make you smile...which in turn makes them smile and say hi. It's really funny but endearing too.
    At the soap merchant's we had an appointment at 9:00am and didn't get started till 10 or 1030...lol. We went through the entire process and left at noon. It was very interesting to watch the soap process as it was heated soap. Luan told me that the previous times she had watched him make it, the directions he gave her and the info she had gained from the phone were all different every time and this time while he was making it, it was a different process as well. Basically...the soap process is infallible unless you have bad palm oil. So Luan and I are going to try to make the soap once we get to Fort Portal and if we can get it perfected, we'll teach the women Luan does ministry with.
 
     Along with the soap, we're going to do some cake decorating with the women who are trying to start selling cakes mainly for birthdays and graduations. So I've been learning and researching SO much cake decorating stuff. haha...I feel like icing is coming out my ears. I am enjoying it though...and have a renewed desire to work at a bakery. Luan and I have been discussing the different ministries she has going on and one of them will be going to Bwera in a few weeks to do some baking, bible study and hopefully soap making with the women. We found out today that the pastor is expecting at least 100 women...which will probably be more! So we'll spend almost a week in Bwera. So I'm excited to learn and work with Luan, but I'm really going to miss Simon, Pam and the kids.

   It's been hard this past week as I'm really missing family and friends and am starting to experience more violence within the supposedly "peaceful and loving culture". God is ever faithful and I am looking to Him for guidance and strength this summer. He knows best and loves these people here. I'm so thankful that I'm here, even though it's been hard seeing some of the stuff I've seen.
   I head to Fort Portal on Thursday at like...6:30am. So I don't know when my next post will be as I don't have really any internet.