Enjoying the Journey

I realize just about every day how I am never going to feel settled here. This is not my home; I’m only here a couple months. Just about the time when I feel that maybe things are beginning to get comfortable….something happens. Usually those events are in the form of culture-shock and unexpected cross-cultural experiences. In any case, I can rest assured that there will be some consistency in this very inconsistent semester. For example, the dining hall will always serve matooke (mashed green banana), posho (not sure if it’s spelled right, but that is a hard mixture of corn flour and water), rice, and beans for every meal. There will always be tea time twice a day. I can go to the canteen for cold sodas, but other than that nothing is refrigerated. Those seem to be the only consistencies in my life.
However, I am enjoying the randomness to the fullest. I find peace in retreating to my room every once in a while to read and catch up on classes. I have stopped relying on the internet…it just never works when I need it to. I have found a lot of enjoyment of grabbing some homework and joining the crowd of people who watch football practice. The group of American students have found the weekend to be the perfect time to get away on random adventures. Two weeks ago we went to a resort on the Nile on a retreat with Ugandan students. Amazing food, pool, hot showers…the works. Then last weekend we went back to Jinja and went rafting down the Nile! Class 5 rapids are so intense! We ended up rafting down an actual waterfall! I never thought that would ever happen! It was incredible! My rafting group worked together extremely well so we only completely tipped once, but we lost people a couple of times and were submerged in water multiple times. I cannot even explain how intense it was. That night we were able to watch video footage of it and we were all amazing at what we accomplished. I would do it again in a heartbeat…so much fun! And no worries, we did not get eaten by crocodiles. Yet, there was a cobra on one of the rocks on the island that we stopped at for lunch, and another swimming underneath our raft. Sweet. But now that the weekend is over we are trying to adjust back to classes and the semi-routine….only to realize that in two weeks we will be headed to Soroti to each live with a separate family in the rural villages for a little over a week.
Clearly I have been experiencing a lot. I have fully realized that right now I am exactly where I need to be. That does not mean I am meant to stay in Africa forever, but right now this is where God wants me. He is continuing to work on me every day and through every experience. I am completely aware that God could have accomplished what He wants with me in the states, but for some reason He decided to displace me for a semester. And again, this is not a missionary trip, so hopefully you are not disappointed reading this thinking “where is all the missionary work?” I have said it clearly before, I am not here to spread the gospel. God is already at work here. I am here because that is where God wants me to be right now….and with a purpose that I am not completely aware of yet. That does not mean to stop your prayers, prayers are always accepted. I am just asking you not to have expectations of what God is going to do on this trip. Expectations most often lead to disappointment. So, I am just going to enjoy this season of my life, be ready for anything, and allow God to move in ways that no one could ever predict.
P.S. I love you all.