We've had 3 full days at the Village! It seems like a lot longer. It's been good, hanging out with the kids, and getting to know the American team from Texas who is here till next Tuesday. Our first night here, we were so exhausted from traveling that we slept 14 hours. We were quite surprised we could sleep for that long. It's kind of hard right now, to know exactly what we're supposed to do, how to interact with the kids, and how to spend our time. Our days are pretty much up to us how much time we want to spend with the kids, or resting, or helping out with random jobs. I'm looking forward to getting more comfortable here, and getting a routine down. This morning Kayla, Kari, Jenna and I got to help with the bead project. We took the beads off of a string that had been dipped in vinyl and then sorted out the good and bad beads. We even got to make a pattern and string a bracelet. Now people will buy a bracelet thinking it was made from Ugandan children. haha- not that one :)

The people here are so friendly and welcoming. Their common greeting is "You are welcome," or "We welcome you." I really like it. The kids are often smiling and laughing. The kids are so respectful. Whenever we walk by a couple kids walking the other direction, they will often kneel down until you pass. It's kind of strange. Almost like they're bowing down to you, but it's just a cultural thing to get used to. 

From what I've observed here, everything here seems long. Or it's at least done for longer periods of time. Like singing one song in church or doing a traditional Acholi dance. They don't seem to get bored with it. During church, especially, I was thinking of how in our western culture, a worship song will last for about 5 minutes, and even in the song there is variation of harmonies, rhythms, and intensity. Here the songs seem like the same level all the way through. Along with the dancing. The kids performed a dance for the rest of the village and us mizungoos (white people). I was expecting a 30min performance with different types of dancing. They did maybe 4 different dances over the course of 2 hours. I was thinking, "This is really nice and fun.. but it's kind of long.. they've been doing the same exact thing with the same drum rhythm for half an hour....okay, I cannot be getting bored. I'm in Africa. This is crazy!" So my thought process probably reflects a lot of western culture. We like variety. I think I can be learning to enjoy each moment no matter how short or long it lasts. 

Thanks to everyone for your prayers! I so appreciate them. It's really encouraging to know that people are thinking of me and caring about me. Some things you could pray for... getting to know the kids, good sleeps ( the roosters have been waking up Kayla and Kari at 5am), the kids here, and that I would take every opportunity I can to get to know people and really make the most of my time here. 2 months seems like a really long time. But pray that in our time here, God would be working through us and working in us. I miss you all!