Birthday in Africa

I'm pretty sure the greatest way to celebrate a birthday is in the bush of Africa.  Particularly if that exact location is Zaipe, Uganda. 

We woke up early on Thursday morning and left for Adjumani (a district in the far north of Uganda that is about 15 minutes from Sudan border).  We drove FOREVER before coming to a stop in the road because about 200 tractor trailer trucks were stuck in the mud.  We saw that it was going to be a long wait, so we all piled out of the vehicle (btw, thank you Sheaves for Christ!) and Tonney went to see if he could find us a way around.  In the States I would hate being stuck in such a jam, but here I actually really enjoyed it.  It was especially funny to see heads jerk around for a double take when they saw a muzungu leaning against the car, haha.  I chatted with the people as they walked by until finally Tonney convinced some young men to pile dirt up so we could use it as a ramp and drive around through the bush.  So two hours later we were past the 200 trucks and back on the rediculously bumpy road to the village.  We arrived, checked in to our hotel rooms, and went to bed.  The next morning we got up and drove to the community building where we were to have service.  We met the local pastors and we had service all day.  They fed us at midday of rice, beans, posho, and millet.  Their worship is amazing!  I forgot how wonderful the village is :).  They never see white people up close and so the children all stood in a circle around me, staring silently for almost the entire day.  It was so funny!  I would smile at them and they would grin back and jerk their heads away shyly, but never get close enough to touch me.  The most amazing part of the day was that we had planned to have an outdoor service at night, but we got rained out.  At first they just kept having service and they were doing a victory dance/march around their yard area and invited me to join.  So we danced and sang in the pouring rain, splashing through the puddles until everyone was soaked.  Finally we went inside, but after sitting in the building for about 30 minutes I noticed that every few minutes I would see heads run by the window.  The girls from the youth choir were still outside, singing and praying, running laps around the building.  Around and around and around they ran, their Ma'di worship songs drowinging out the rainstorm as they worshiped and prayed for revival. 

Saturday was the same, except we didn't get rained out.  Because of that, it was HOT!  And that morning I had found a bat hanging from my bedroom curtain, calmly stretching his wings.  When I got back on Saturday night, I couldn't find him.  At dinner Bro. Tolstad just said, "As long as you stay under your mosquito net, you'll be fine."  But when I got back to my room, that's exactly where I found the disgusting little thing...in my mosquito net.  So I took the drawstring from my dress and tied him in there.  Then I cut the mosquito net from the ceiling and threw it in the bathroom.  The next day I took him outside and when one of the workers came over, I said, "I trapped at bat in this net," and he stared at me in amazement.  "You are a brave lady!"  I let the bat go and as soon as I got back in to my room, guess what I found?  Another  bat!  This one was on my curtain, so I crept over and rolled her up in the curtain, then had to take down the entire curtain rod to get her outside.  I must have rolled her too tightly, because when I tried to release her she was dead.  Oops.  At dinner, Tonney and Pastor Christia both found it hilarous that I had managed to trap two bats without screaming for help, but that for the life of me I couldn't manage to rehang my curtains.