Hello all!

Chris and I have safely arrived at New Hope in Uganda and are getting settled in. We were greeted at the airport by Jay and Vicki Dangers and one of our fellow students, Devon from South Dakota. We ran errands most of the day which was fun because we got to see a lot of local places within Kampala which we had never seen before. Chris and I did fall asleep for about an hour in the car as Jay and Devon were finding some much needed items in a market. Vicki watched over us closely as we took naps that were desperately needed!

Upon our arrival at New Hope, we were shown our living quarters and then walked up the road to the Vogt family home for dinner. We ate Indian food here in Uganda and we had never had it before but it was delicious! Another student joined us that night for dinner, Rachel from England. She and I have become fast friends between being the only girls here so far and our trips to the cockroach infested latrines. More on that later.

It is nice to be back here at New Hope. Anyone who has been here would say that coming back is like coming back to a kind of home. The people are so welcoming and so kind and just love that we are back. Since we have arrived we have used the pit latrines, had our first bucket baths, eaten a few Ugandan meals that were super yummy, attended church this morning, and I even did my first load of laundry, hand washed and on the line as we speak!

Our first day of school is tomorrow so that will be fun to get started with our studies. I'm so glad we came a few days early though as it was nice to be able to adjust and take time to settle into our new home for the next 5 months.

A prayer request: the 4 of us who have been here the last few days have been struggling with the latrines. We have ones that are assigned to us and because they've been sitting for a couple of months since the last Institute students graduated, cockroaches have taken up residence. We have been given cans of Doom and have been spraying and sending many a cockroach to Heaven, but a few of us still feel fear and anxiety every time we have to go to the bathroom.

My husband is awesome and has sprayed and cleaned and swept dead ones out for me to try to help. We have been told they will go away once we have been using the latrine more frequently and dooming them, and it is much better just within a few days of attacking them.. But I'm not the only one who has had a rough go of it. All 4 of us have had some yuck/fear moments. Part of the adventure, but a real obstacle we have had to overcome.  Who knew you could bond with other people so much over bathroom talk?

Anyway, things are going well here, and oh!  My parents home in Colorado is still standing!  Thank you for your prayers!

Love you all,
Aimee