Uganda
Lugala

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    • Day 6

      My God in the mosque

      November 9, 2019 in Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

      Today was my 'day off' so I was keen to see some of Kampala. I had the morning at the guest house just reading and relaxing before Aggrey picked me up at around 12:30. We drove to the national mosque which is the second largest mosque in Africa. I was given a kind of tunic to wear for the tour. Aggrey waited in the car while I was shown around by a tour guide, she took me into the main mosque, but first removing my shoes, and explained the history of it being built, originally started by Idi Amin and then knocked down and completely built by Gaddafi, opening in 2008. The mosque itself is very beautiful, with the materials coming from all over the world- carpet from Libya, windows and doors from Italy- it has stain glass windows and a huge chandelier in the middle. She shows me the Quran and tells me the story of how it was written, to which I politely nod along. She told me to walk up to the balcony where the women are allowed to pray, while she waited down the stairs to collect our shoes. We then walked to the minaret, and she I climbed to the very top alone, while she waited at the bottom! I'm not usually scared of heights but this was a bit different, the concrete steps were slightly uneven and my tunic meant that I couldn't step as I usually would. I prayed the whole way up (hence the title!), so God definitely got me to the top. Once I reached the top the view of Kampala was incredible, looking down at all the busyness of the city. After I reached the top a man and his son joined me, but he spoke very limited English and didn't understand any of my questions so just told me how great Kampala is! The way down was still pretty scary so I prayed the whole way down too! I reached the bottom of the 50m tall minaret and greeted by my tour guide asking about the Queen and thinking the Queen's great great great great grandson, or something like that! She takes me back to Aggrey, and on the way people are greeting me in Arabic, there were lots of people visiting as it was Muhammad's birthday.

      We then went to lunch and I then had a hair cut at the salon. They thought my hair was very soft and even washed it for me after, which they don’t do for me at home! Then a quick stop at the craft market again and then to church for the Saturday evening service at Downtown. Which was of course loud and full of dancing. Then back to the guest house and met the new girl who is staying there from Japan.

      Quite a busy day!
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    • Day 7

      African timing!

      November 10, 2019 in Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

      After going to Watoto Downtown last night I didn't need to go this morning as it's the same service. So I decided to go to Judith's church which starts at around 11:30. So Judith said meet her at 11:15 so we can drive the 2 minutes it takes to get there! I get there on time, as usual 😉, and she said she'd be ready in 5 minutes, so we left at 11:45! Once we get there I realise I'm not the only Mzungu at the service as there 2 Americans preaching and visiting that day. We were singing for a while and then the Pastor invites one of the Americans up to speak. He starts his sermon and then asks if anyone has anything encouraging for the pastor and his wife, to this call around 8 people all stand up and queue up to say something! The first guy spoke for about 10/15 minutes, really setting the tone for how long everyone else spent, even giving them a 30 second limit they still all spoke for nearly 5 minutes! Everytime 1 person finished and sat down another one would stand up and join the back, so it wasn't going to end very quickly! In the end it took up all the time for the talk, so he didn't give it! But it was obvious to see how much the Pastor's family put into the church and the congregation, I think it was a much needed encouragement for them both. Judith drove me back to the guest house and I had some lunch on my own.

      Felisha got back just as I was finishing lunch and we decided to go for a walk to the supermarket to buy a couple of things. We then came back, dropped the things off and went for an explore of the area. Walking towards the church and then just walking down roads we thought looked fun! We saw some children filling up 20 litre containers with water and carrying them on their head, so Felisha asked if she can try, I think it was a lot heavier than it looked, but she did manage to carry it to their house, making it look slightly more difficult than the 8 year old was! We carried on our walk and maybe get slightly lost when we were on our way back, but we did make it in the end, just in time for the evening service at the church opposite the guest house, where we had to introduce ourselves just as we were about to leave. Back for dinner and chatting with everyone. Finally off to bed to rest for the week at Bbira.
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    • Day 13

      Allllllllll on my own

      November 16, 2019 in Uganda ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

      Saturday was my only day I was the only one at the guest house. I set off quite early to go to the craft market and had a quick city tour to see the sights of Kampala. I quickly went to a supermarket before heading back to pack for leaving.

      On Sunday I went to Watoto Ntinda, which is in the north of the city, I went to the midday service. It follows the same series as all the other Watoto churches and the pastor seemed very good. I grabbed some food for lunch on the way home and then packed for the afternoon.

      That evening a family of missionaries and the two Americans I met at church last week arrived at the guest house, so I had dinner with them before going to bed.
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