Today was the first day we got to spend in Uganda after our long travels. I woke up around 5 AM, so I had plenty of time to get ready for the day. I didn’t sleep all that much, but I felt very energized when I woke up, full of excitement and anticipation for the upcoming events. I wasn’t too sure what the day was going to involve, but I was going to be ready for whatever the Lord had planned for us. I read my Bible, and did the group devotional we have going, today’s was talking about making disciples. It was a good reminder that whenever we share the gospel, it’s important that we connect the people we’ve talked to with a church so they can grow more in their faith and grow into disciples.
At 6:00 AM the group met downstairs for breakfast. They had all sorts of food out: omelets, many different pastries, assorted meats, and some stuff I didn’t recognize. They also had coffee, thankfully. I got some food and sat with my close friend Josiah, and we spent the time we had there discussing some interesting biblical topics, different interpretations of words, thoughts on certain morals, and such.
After the group had finished eating, at around 7, we all stepped outside and awaited our bus to come. It took a good 15 minutes or so, but it was nice weather, so we didn’t mind. Cloudy, but felt good nonetheless. The bus got here, and I boarded first, along with my new friend Ryan. We sat way in the back. I had the window seat, and he had the aisle seat. Although with all the luggage we had, there wasn’t much of an aisle that far back. I also happened to have a wheel well at my feet, which took up most of my foot space. Despite that, it was actually pretty comfortable, so I didn’t mind at all.
It was a long ride between Entebbe and the Nabisere hotel. I don’t remember the exact number, but it was somewhere around 4 hours. Just Ryan and I were in the very back; the rows normally hold 5 people, but since the luggage was also stored in the back, it took up the other seats in the very back. I’ve made it a goal to learn everyone’s favorite verse by the end of this trip, so I spent some of this time learning about Ryan’s favorite. There were 5 people in front of Ryan and me, however. They kept the trip rather entertaining. No matter how far we went, they never ceased to have some joke going around. We stopped at the equator along the way, about 2 hours in, and we all got a picture there. We also met up with some Christian locals and got to look through their shop that they set up. Lots of cool stuff in there, paintings, carvings, instruments, clothing, all sorts.
After the equator, we finished out the remaining 2 or so hours of our drive. The roads got significantly worse the farther away from the big city we got. I already thought the roads weren’t amazing when we were in the city, lots of people crammed into small lanes. I was proven wrong. The roads out in the country are quite a bit rougher. That was ok though, it was kind of fun sometimes.
At about noon, we arrived at the hotel, unloaded our stuff, and had lunch. The lunch food was quite good, and it was very nice to have, especially after a long drive. After lunch, we all went out on the grassy knoll and were able to hear some of the story of The MasterCares, and got to know the kind people who are going to be guiding us on this trip. I was very pleased to meet them. We picked out some clothes that we could wear later on the trip; they were very colorful and quite comfortable. I got to choose a nice green and orange shirt. Everyone picked out their favorite of the options given to us, which there were many of. All are unique and dazzling with color.
After this, I know a lot of us, myself included, went and took a nap before dinner time. After waking up from my nap, I went down for dinner. Dinner was supposed to be at 6:15, or so I was told. We stared closer to 6:45, though, since so many people were still sleeping! Eventually, we all made it, except for my friend Josiah, who wasn’t feeling all that well. I also had some allergies going on, nothing too bad, though. Will definitely be praying for Josiah to get better though!
We had some chicken, rice, and mashed potatoes for dinner. It was quite good. After we all finished, Drew gave us a rundown of how the Ebola situation has been going, along with an itinerary for the next day.
Afterward, we all went to bed for the night. It was a very good day, even if a large portion was still traveling, it’s always fun to simply be part of a group that has a common interest as you, especially if that particular interest is in sharing the gospel.
