Life in Kampala feels so easy. You run out of milk, you go down to the corner grocery and buy some - yes, it’s in a bag, fresh but pasteurized; or in a can, dried; or in a box, heat treated. But there you go, milk for the buying, moments away.

We made pizza for dinner tonight and despite the lack of sauce (canned sauce is available here in the city but at almost five dollars a jar we opted to make ours the bundi way, with tomatoes!) and the need to homemake the dough, it felt so quick and easy. We had cans of mushrooms and olives from the grocery store and plenty of cheese, no need to ration to make it all last three months. Add to that store bought ice cream stored in the deep freeze and you have a pretty perfect evening. (even if the deep freeze is starting to thaw a bit now that the power’s gone out for the evening - we’ll run the generator if we have to but fuel is hard to come by with the Kenya crisis affecting us here. Long lines for petrol and armed guards at our gas stations bring it home to us. Fuel prices have risen astronomically.)

JD and Kevin (they and their children are our team mates and current house mates) have just left for an evening out together, another marvel of Kampala life. We have places to go! There are lovely little restaurants in Kampala that when living here, provide wonderful evenings away for us as we trade off couple time with kid time for each other. Normally during our short stock-ups in Kampala we are too busy eating, sleeping and buying groceries for the next months ahead to think about dates. And in Bundibugyo the idea is just silly. We stay up later than the kids and eat a second dinner alone while watching the latest season of Alias . . . . . Or something.

There is a movie theater in Kampala -the movies are a bit old and the popcorn not so good, but still! There is a mall in Kampala where we recently discovered several fun family places to eat. And last but certainly not least, the American Club (ARA) where we swim each afternoon. N and Q are also taking tennis lessons there with Master Godfrey who is gentle, loving and respectful - a beautiful new African relationship to help build their trust.

We have internet here all day as long as the power is on, and speaking of power, there is no rationing of that either. If it’s on, it’s on and everything we own can be plugged in and charging. The kids are enjoying free video time, we’re enjoying surfing the web and late night movies together.

Yes, we’re roughing it here in East Africa - and thought you’d want to know.
We’ve had a few get togethers with staff from the school and are excited to report that the staff seems ready to return to Bundibugyo for the start of the new school year, around February 4th. We’ll likely return a couple weeks before that, maybe around the 21st but we are waiting to firm up our dates. Ebola in the district continues to improve with Kikyo isolation ward closed (or so we hear) and Bundi with no new admissions for some time. If it stays quiet Bundi could be declared Ebola-free before February 4th!!

I’m thankful for your prayers, sustaining our hearts as we face the beginning of many new things, the end of others, and the constant reality of this life we live. The first week back brought many doubts and fears for all of us. Pray that we keep choosing to bring all our cares and concerns to God and be real with what they are, who we are, and where we’re at.