Week 8

Whoa-oa-oa! Listen to the music. (All the Time!)

Kids fetching water way out in the bush

Hey everybody!

A guy buying Grasshoppers to eat

I am so happy to say that the internet is actually working half decent this week! I seriously love being in Uganda, it is such a great place to serve! I got to eat Grasshoppers this week! They taste kind of like potato chips!

I think I've briefly mentioned this before, but something I have found surprising about Uganda (at least Kampala and the surrounding areas) is the constant blaring music! Almost every little street stand has a great big speaker system complete with some booming sub-woofers. About 60% of it is American Pop/Hip-Hop (Justin Bieber is Huge here), and the other 40% is a very interesting Ugandan local music I will describe later, with the occasional exception of a local American Country Music station weaving through the air. 

You would think that this would be heaven for a music-lover like me, but the sad thing is that I have never been a fan of the very stuff people adore here! I am learning to tolerate it though. I'll admit that hearing Justin Bieber sing Despacito for the millionth time almost made me happy for a minute! Boy am I going to appreciate my Record Collection when I get back! If I am really lucky I'll hear one of my old favorites, not very often though. Rock is really rare here.

A Boda loaded up with Jackfruits. 

Now as for that special Ugandan breed of music:

There is really no description... It is like a strange mix of Reggae/island music, Hip-Hop, and Dubstep. Sometimes it is rapping/singing in the local language of Luganda. Now they like to throw in weird elements of other music at random. I even heard some Pedal Steel guitar thrown in one! It's weird.

Eating pork with brother Evander

The work out here is pretty routine. I see so many miracles every day, I could never fit them all into an email each week. One highlight for me this week (while we are on the fitting topic of music) was as follows:

There is a little shop across the street from our compound. As we headed out the other morning I saw a guy sitting on the bench in front of it playing a guitar. He was the brother of the shop owner, and he gladly let me play it for a minute. I grabbed a used Air-Tel Airtime card off the ground to use as a guitar pick. It made me super happy to just take a minute and strum away. The guy was amazed, he acted like he had never heard the blues! (He probably hadn't)

Anyway, It's been a really good week for me. Time is flying by so fast! I hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving! I am truly grateful for all the blessings I have both here in Uganda, and at home in the US. I am especially grateful for the relationships I have with all of you. 

Have a spectacular week!