We have arrived!

       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!