Wow... One month left!

Oh my goodness, I just realized this is my last week in Karamoja. That is insane! So here’s the plan… as I’m sure you can assume by now, that doesn’t mean it’s what will actually happen… it’s just what is kind of laid out to make the mzungu in me feel better. Need some sort of schedule! I’ve gotten used to them not actually meaning anything, but I still want it for some reason. So it looks like next week we’ll be in Soroti. Some guys have been building a shelter at our house there to keep the turkeys in while they’re in transit before making their way to the peace villages. They need to stay for a couple weeks and be treated to make sure they’re healthy before moving on. While we’re down there, Val and I are going to go around to the different markets and pick up what turkeys we can find… possibly 20 by 20 or so until we get to 800!!! Could take a while… but there are a few places we should be able to get a couple hundred at once and we know God will provide! So that project is moving along… the communities are SO excited about it. In our last meeting with them, one of the men said that “even the insects can’t wait!” (some saying around here I guess :-P) He also was talking about how he had never tasted the meat or eggs of a turkey and so he said – ‘bring them quickly!!!’.
After a week or so in Soroti, we will head down to Kampala for a conference for lady missionaries. Actually, it is yet to be determined whether or not I will be going to that because of registration issues. Please pray about it… I think it would be a great opportunity to debrief and hear from other missionary ladies before I leave… I would love to be able to attend! But we’ll see what God has in mind :-) If not, I may stay in Soroti for a while or hang with Val in Kampala and attend whatever I can sneak in to :-P
Then… the next part is SO exciting. Val and Jennifer and I are going to KENYA!!! There, we’re going to see one of the most amazing people ever who is going to suffocate me with her hugs, but I will forgive her because it’s going to be SO much fun. We head to Nairobi on the 8th, where we will meet up with Nielly! and then take a train to Mombasa. We will spend a few days in Mombasa which is right on the Indian Ocean and we will get to go SWIMMING! Jennifer’s training for a triathlon at the end of March so we’re going to work on her swimming skills :-P I also hear the water’s warm… which is nice :-) I’m basically going straight from there to the airport, which is a bit unfortunate because it may be essentially three days of straight traveling, but it’ll be worth it! I’m very excited to get home to the family and all, so that will be nice :-) I feel a little bad that I’m actually going to be in semi-real civilization before I come home. It would have been funny to go straight from Karamoja to NY but maybe it’s good to have a little transition to decrease the culture shock. Though it still is… a liiiiitle bit different. And I still haven’t worn anything but a skirt in seven months. So I’m looking forward to that… and to food that I don’t need to wonder what it is and forks and people and not speaking with an African accent and a hot shower… and many many other things!

So I didn’t really update you on recent activities. Many of you may have seen on Facebook some of our adventures. Last week we had a rat roast! Jennifer had hunted one gigantic pack-rat down in her house and killed it with a mop. So when Val and I discovered this and as one of her cats began to play with it (it was MUCH bigger than the small cat) we quickly intervened and told her to put it in her fridge for the next day. She hesitantly agreed to the idea and we organized to roast it up with a couple of our Teso friends. I unfortunately have to admit to actually really enjoying the rat! I couldn’t believe it. But seriously… they did a very good job of roasting it – they skinned it first which is different from the Karamojong style and is the reason it was even edible… but it was actually good! I think maybe it was a bit like a mixture of chicken and pork taste. Very tender and we even used McCormick’s Grillmates that we had gotten from a vet doctor in America while Val was there. There are plenty of fun pictures, so I think you’ll enjoy those!
I have also become a surgeon as of late. After we roasted the rat, Jennifer brought her cat over to be neutered. I got to be the surgeon with Val as my assistant watching and guiding and Jennifer as the scrub nurse. She’s normally a human nurse, but lately she’s become a vet one too! And even an anesthesiologist! Jennifer came up to Karamoja with us after we were done with meetings and obligations in Soroti. I have continued to be a surgeon here. We neutered one of our dogs, Obed, yesterday. Dog neuters are a bit more complicated (though still not at all for a real vet! :-P) and there is stitching involved and things. I did one a while ago and this one was a lot smoother even! I have gotten down some of the knots and how to suture in different ways, so that’s improvement! And even before attending vet school! We were supposed to do a spay yesterday also. It was for a local vet, but vet school here is a bachelor’s degree and they don’t exactly even learn surgeries. So we were going to do it for him but when we went to pick up the dog, we found out she has seven adorable little puppies… a variety of interesting colors (from about 3 different fathers :-P). Unfortunately this meant we couldn’t do the surgery yet, but we did take the pups and mother back to the office to clean them up and deworm them. We bathed them all, gave them some milk and cookies, and then brought them back home in the afternoon. I carried the seven puppies in a basin on my head, which was fun. I’ve taken to carrying things on my head recently (like a mattress last night and this morning)… I find it a very nice method and may take it up in the US too… though I will possibly get even funnier looks there.

Can’t wait to see you guys again! God is working around here and I am so excited to share it all with you once I get home. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers!