Thursday, January 22, 2015

Mud or Dust

The climate in Uganda does not drastically change over the course of the year.  According to the World Factbook on Uganda, the climate is "tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August)."  While it can be hot during the day, reaching about 30 Celsius (though the average annual temperature is 26 Celsius), thankfully it cools down to a comfortable temperature in the evening to around 15 to 17 Celsius.

But as stated above, there are two seasons:  Rainy and Dry.

Rain and Mud

 Some of the side roads have rivers flowing alongside.


 Going into town, you drive through large puddles (or ponds) as some of the drains are blocked.


 One morning, school started late as the students waited in the gazebo for the rain to let up.  Run in this rain and you are instantly soaked.


 The school doesn't have an indoor hallway where one can walk from class to class and stay dry.


 A glimpse of the fabulous cloud formations preceding a downpour.



Dry and Dusty

 Driving along the dusty road from Word of Life towards the main Entebbe Road.


 A closer look at the red, dusty road.


 Driving brings a dust-screen.  The businesses beside the road suffer in this constant dust brought on by the regular traffic.  It's also difficult for people to walk in it. 


 A closer look...



 The following 2 photos were taken in the same location.

 When it's wet and muddy, it is very slippery.  It feels more slippery than driving in snow!


 Dry and dusty.


When it has been dry and dusty, we long for the rain to return.  When it has rained a lot, we long for the dry, hot sun again to dry up the land.  We aren't ever satisfied, are we?

We've had a dry, dusty spell now since the turn of the year.  I woke up last night to rain... so refreshing!




Saturday, January 3, 2015

Christmas and New Year's in Uganda

We are a few days into 2015 now, but thought we would give you a glimpse into our first Christmas in Uganda.  To be honest, it was quiet.  Not a lot of glitz and glamour that we are used to in Canada... not a lot of busy-ness.  Just us... for the most part.

We ended the school year with a fun Christmas concert done by the students.



Driving around, one would not notice that it's Christmas because of the lack of the twinkling lights on display.  The malls tell a different story.  This is one of the last pictures we took with Emily, who stayed with us for three months.  (We miss her!)


I did manage to make some Christmas cookies.  Yum.


We did have a barbecue at our place a couple of days before Christmas with some friends.  I took pictures of the food, but forgot pictures of the friends!!  We don't have a barbecue yet, but we managed with some bricks, charcoal and the baking rack from the oven.


On Christmas Eve we went into town and saw a wonderful Christmas cantata at Watoto Church.  It was well done and we thoroughly enjoyed it!


On our drive home from the Christmas cantata... we finally managed to see some lights!  This was at a very busy roundabout.


I take a picture of the kids with the Christmas tree every year... here's to Christmas 2014!


Christmas morning was quiet, spent at home.  We had a couple over for the afternoon and dinner. They are students attending the Word of Life Africa Bible Institute, and could not return to their home in Ethiopia -- so they joined us.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them!  We had a nice time and watched The Sound of Music together.  It rained that day, which made Christmas Day a cool day.  Nice.


Many Ugandans travel upcountry to their home areas for holidays.  We therefore decided to not have a Christmas service at Word of Life.  On the Sunday after Christmas, the Sunday School kids had a small Christmas presentation for the church.


On the day of New Year's Eve, we went out to a beautiful garden/park in Entebbe.  It sits along Lake Victoria.  We had a nice picnic and enjoyed spending time with some friends for the day.  We rang in the new year at home as a family.



And so now it's 2015.  We definitely have missed our family and friends back in Canada during this holiday season.  But we are thankful that though we are far apart, we all celebrate for the same reason:  the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who came to save us from our sins!