The bottom of my feet are black. This confuses me since the roads are all red with clay and dust. The same clay and dust we spent the day digging up in order to form a trench for the new fence at the Kingdom Hall to be built in.
This morning I woke to the sing song of Arabic prayers and I feared I might still be stuck in the UAE, but it didn't take long for me to realize I was now in Uganda. The sound of the monkeys singing on the roof tops and the brightly colored birds in the trees quickly remind me that I have been here now for three days.
I'm still adjusting to the altitude and the heat. I don't quite know if I should blame my fatigue on this or on the fact that I have been very busy since my arrival on Wednesday night. Thursday we spent the day cooking for the pioneer school at a Kingdom Hall not too far from here (though I have no clue which one it was since the names and places are still so foreign to me). When I was told that the Kingdom Hall used to serve as the Bethel here in Kampala, I grew excited with expectations of an African bethel complex to cook in. Most of our day was spent boiling beans on a makeshift charcoal stove in an open air structure while tropical rains drowned the world outside. It was the most fun I have ever had cooking with a group of people! We laughed all morning and served the most simple of meals. For breakfast this included scrambled eggs and two slices of white bread smashed together with margarine and served with a glass of warm milk (I had mangoes and coffee since this would most likely kill me with my food allergies to dairy, milk, and eggs). For lunch and dinner, we made rice and beans with ground beef and peppers and tomato served with a local spinach-like green called Nukutu (my spelling of the Lugandan language will be strictly based on pronunciation for obvious reasons) and finished with fried sweet plantains. No cakes or cookies or fancy dishes. In fact, we didn't even have chairs or tables for use, but everyone was so happy and so thankful for the food. It's amazing to see people so appreciative for the most simple of things.
Yesterday, while assisting a sister on a bible study (I must also warn you now that it is against the law here for those who are not Ugandan citizens to preach without someone who has residency) I finally had my first cry; which is amazing considering that I'm sleep deprived and completely out of my elements with people that I've never met before. For the student, the sister began to play a video featuring experiences from international conventions around the world. Her face lit up brightly as she watched thousands gathered from all cultures and colors and backgrounds as if they had known each other their entire lives.
"I've never seen so many brothers and sisters so different together", she expressed as the video ended, "thank you for coming", she said as she looked at me.
Earlier that day, a brother had told me that for the Bukoto English Congregation, I would be the first single sister to come from another land; and that there was only a French couple, a single brother from England and a single brother from France that made up the population of the congregation. He told me they were so thankful to have me here, but I didn't think much of it until this moment; the true blessing it is to be part of such a worldwide brotherhood.
So today, I sit here with my dirty feet, the ones that walked down a garbage lined red road to fetch some water whilst eyes stared and voices called, "Buzungo, Buzungo" (white person) and I feel very thankful for the friends I have in the congregation. The ones who don't care for color, who love me even though we just met; the ones who don't mind working side by side with me, and who hug me tightly as they ask my name for the first time and welcome me to my new home, Bukoto, Uganda.
