First, let me
apologize for the very boring blog – as you can imagine, an international move,
new job, and two young children have been keeping us quite busy lately! Since we left almost two weeks ago, I thought
it would be good to at least post to let you know we’ve arrived and are
settling in, and then hopefully I can work on editing the blog layout soon.
We’ve been in
Kampala for almost two weeks now, and in the past two weeks I’ve had plenty of
mixed emotions. I’ve had many “I am so
grateful for this amazing opportunity” moments, as well as many “why in the
world did we think that moving to another continent with two young children was
even a remotely good idea” moments.
Some “I am so
grateful for this amazing opportunity” moments:
Meeting some incredible people at our MCC orientation in
Pennsylvania, and learning more about the great work that MCC is doing around
the world that we will be able to participate in.
Being warmly welcomed by our MCC Uganda staff, and having
the opportunity to begin to get to know them – we will be working with a great
team of people.
Seeing Natalie’s excitement about our dog, Daisy (she came
with the house) and going to pick up her new kitten last Saturday. Since we’ve been living on a university
campus for the past 4 years we haven’t had any animals, and we promised Natalie
we would get her a kitten when we arrived in Uganda. She was beyond excited to get to pick out her
own kitten and named her “Skittles Sweet Pea Muigai”.
Eating all of the delicious, fresh, locally grown Ugandan
foods.
Learning that several of our Kenyan friends travel to
Kampala for business or are planning to visit us here – we are really looking
forward to reconnecting with old friends.
Our first flight from DC to Addis Ababa – it was really fun
to see air travel through the eyes of a three year old. Natalie was fascinated and excited about
every detail – the trains that brought us to the right terminal, being able to
chew gum, take-off and landing (“It feels like a roller coaster!”), and the
video screens. Nathan slept a lot of the
flight and I actually really enjoyed the 12 1/2 hour flight.
And some “why in the world did we think that moving to another
continent with two young children was even a remotely good idea” moments:
The last leg of our travel to Uganda when I decided
traveling with young children was no longer fun – when sleep deprivation hit
all of us, our plane out of Addis Ababa was delayed, Nathan was fussy on the
plane, and Natalie fell asleep in my baby carrier on my back once we arrived in
Kampala and I had to carry around that extra 40 pounds on my back for an hour while
trying to keep track of our 8 50-pound suitcases, 2 carseats, 6 pieces of carry
on luggage, a stroller, and a baby!
Saying good bye to my family and having Natalie constantly
ask when her grandparents, cousins, and aunts are coming to visit. Between living internationally for 4 years in
the past and dating Muigai long distance for a year, I’ve had my share of
difficult good byes. But having young
children adds a whole new dimension of difficulty to good byes.
Watching a Clifford DVD with Natalie at 3am under our “tent”
(mosquito net) and wondering how I would be able to function normally until all
of us adjusted to the new time zone.
Being in the house all day yesterday with the kids with no
way to go anywhere (Muigai had the car in the office all day), missing family
and friends, and wishing I had someone to call to come hang out with us for a
while.
Despite these moments, we are still feeling optimistic about
our life in Kampala and are mostly excited to be here!
