Liz Auntie and Weddings in Ug.

That’s right…. I’m going to be an Aunt! WOOHOO! Which makes my parents GRANDPARENTS. Mind-blowing. 

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In other, less exciting news, Gloria and I are resting in Kampala for a few days. We’ve been doing things like internet and coffee-drinking, and attending wedding meetings.

What’s a wedding meeting? Well, when people have weddings in Ug, they have two kinds- traditional and church. The bride’s family pays for the traditional, which is held at the bride’s home and combines the two traditions of “Introduction” and “Give-Away.” There’s lots of food, clothes, and speeches at this one. After that the bride/groom are technically married. Gloria’s brother Roy and sister-in-law Anita had their traditional wedding two years ago. At the end of August they’re having their “church wedding.” The church wedding will combine 800 of their closest friends for an all night extravaganza that makes normal American weddings look small. It has all the usual- decorations, cake, food- catered, good drinks, and lots of speeches and dancing. (Speeches are a very common phenomenon in Ug, inescapable.)

To prepare for a wedding, two months before the wedding the bride and groom and their families host weekly or bi-weekly ‘wedding meetings’ where 30-40 people at a time come to drink beer and give advice/counsel/input/more speeches about how and where and who should do the wedding. There is a chairman and various sub-committees and lots of laughter and talking. The groom’s family pays for the church wedding in Ug, but the way they do it is through these wedding meetings. At the meetings the people invited make pledges and donate money towards the overall budget of the wedding, so often the family ends up not having to pay anything out of pocket at all. Not bad! (Roy said not to be surprised if my name ends up on the invitations though, in the hopes that Mom and Dad Ivkovich will help pay for the wedding in true American tradition, haha.)

Last Sunday night was a wedding meeting…  I’ve noticed a trend here, it’s called “greeting.” You never enter a room without greeting every single person, and at these meetings we have to greet by standing up and saying something about ourselves. The unfortunate thing about being white at these meetings is that it’s really obvious when I start blushing from having to stand up and introduce myself. Fortunately though I can impress all my Aunties, Uncles and cousins by saying something like “Agandi, I’m called Kobusingye and I’m a daughter of this family.” My ten words of Runyankore really come in handy there. Phew!

I love this place and this family, all blushing and speeches aside.

Photos!

Home Sweet Kampala

- beginning days in Uganda

Sisters on the Road! 

- roadtripping out west for a few weeks

I adjusted these so I think you can see them even if you don’t have Facebook… and if you don’t have Facebook, I have to ask why not? If it’s a statement against the nature of the internet and the fact that it sort of makes us feel connected while actually destroying true social capital and meaningful relationships between people, I sympathize. If you get easily addicted to things and have seen the effect of Facebook on your friends’ social lives, I understand. At the same time though, you have at least one friend who lives in another country (me), and it’d be nice for us to easily stay in touch over Facebook. [Lisa, this means you!]

Sidenote: As I’m sitting in this hotel in Kampala, using their free internet and drinking a cup of real coffee (first in three weeks, can you believe it?!) “Omaha” by Counting Crows came on! It’s a confirmation of my call to Omaha! :) 

 

Peace friends.

Rally Driver.

Gloria and I just returned from a two week road trip in the Western part of Uganda. If you know me, you know I love road trips… I love riding in the car and driving; except when I fall asleep at the wheel and crash my sweet Maggie car. We faced a view challenges - 1) Gloria hates driving long distances and 2) Gloria’s driving permit was expired, and I obviously didn’t have one. We were not phased, we borrowed a car in spite of those challenges and off we went.

The first day I decided that yes! I could! Live up to the challenge! I took the wheel… and by wheel, I mean, of course the ‘wrong’ side of the car and the road. Plus, it’s a stick shift. So I began driving in the right hand side of the car, on the left side of the road, shifting with my left hand. Throw in about 2 million HUGE potholes, people and bicycles, small motorbikes, taxis, buses blowing past you at 120 kph, large curves, and a smattering of rain here and there. It was great, I love Uganda! Everything when it comes to traffic is a bit, um, fluid. Those lines on the road, the use of your indicator lights, speed limits, you know- just don’t hit anyone or anything and you’re good to go.

But, at the beginning all that freedom can be daunting… especially when you’re wet behind the ears. Still I took the wheel, determined to prove my worth as a world traveler and liberated woman. Ten minutes later I hear “stop, stop, STOP!” from Gloria. I quickly pull over and see two police officers running towards our car.

“How did you fail to stop?!” they ask. (Whoops…. those guys holding out their hands weren’t asking for a ride, they were telling me to pull over.) 

“It’s ok, it’s ok.” Gloria says. “Those ‘Zungus, you know, they don’t know what that hand motion means.” 

One of the two officers looks at me intensely and says “Permit please.” (Oh crap.)

So, I calmly look in his eyes… and get out my Michigan driver’s license. He takes it, a bit surprised.

Gloria keeps talking; “Oh, so you’re Muyankore?” (her tribe) ”Yes.” and they go on for a bit about where they’re from, she tells them we’re one our way to her village. I practice my two words of Ruyankore “Agandi!” “Nimirungi.” he replies. (Those language lessons really came in handy.)

After five minutes of conversation and license examination one of the officers looks at me “This one,” he says, “She’s a rally driver. She could have left us in the dust if she hadn’t stopped.” We all laugh, some of us more nervously than others.

They hand me my Michigan driver’s license, wish us a safe trip… and off we go.

Five minutes later we’re laughing hysterically… and that’s why you should never leave home without your drivers’ license, even if you’re going to a country where it isn’t valid.

Bits.

(I wrote this on Saturday- Day 2 of my time in Uganda, by the way, but never posted it.)

I’m in Uganda!

During the two flights and day-long layover in London I had a bit of time to reflect on the wedding of the year- Laura & Justin 08. Some of the best parts were:

 

These shoes Which, while gorgeous and matching our dresses so well, also caused me a severe (and bloody) blister on my heel. Still it makes a good picture, eh?

My favorite single moment was riding in the car with Best Man Kris, his ice cream cone, and the two newlyweds to the reception. We laughed. A lot. And they’re in love. 

 

 

 

 

 

Impromptu photo shoot at the church, while unbeknownst to us Laura’s poor computer was stolen, and other members of the wedding party were frantically downloading music for the ceremony. Haha! 

What a lovely babysitter and date… and this one wasn’t too bad either:

Joey and I were just rejoicing to finally have a good picture of our friendship. There was lots of dancing to be had, from line dancing, to square dancing, to just all around breaking it down… which was when this was taken: 

I’m sorry Amber, but those moves can not be ignored. Shortly after this it started raining? Coincidence? I doubt it. 

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An 11 hour layover in London?! Hmmm… I loved traveling at my own speed and style. I was hoping to see the Big Ben, but since I never actually looked on a map to find it, I ended up wandering around on the Tube to find likely looking stops. I took a nap in the rose garden at St. Paul’s Cathedral and then drank a cup of Starbucks while sitting and reading. I found the Thames! It was like I invented it or something I was so excited, and in the distance- could it be? Big Ben?! No, actually it was the Tower of London, but that too made me excited. So a few sites, a nap, some coffee, EuroCup 2008!, (and Wimbledon- Leah) and a lot of wandering later, I boarded my flight for the beautiful Uganda.

I cried when I saw my Kaalo sister; it was like coming home. We had a long and wonderful day yesterday. I liked my first two meals of matoke, and think I will be ruined for bananas from anywhere else after today, as the fruit here is the best I’ve ever had. Sorry India.

Last night we went with a friend, Douglas, to a house church in a slum community here in Kampala.  That was the perfect way to end my first day, meeting my brothers and sisters. They welcomed Gloria and I so much… except for two children who cried at the sight of my white skin and wouldn’t greet me. Gloria’s niece is also a bit apprehensive of me, but I’m hoping she gets used. We had the chance to pray with and for a few people, it was a gift for me. I’m still praying for specific direction for my time here in Uganda, even if the direction is “Rest.” So far I’ve done a good job of the rest bit… slept until 11 am today and I think effectively killed the last of my jet lag. I loved waking up and thinking “I’m in Uganda!” What a gift!

Thanks for the gift of reading this long post…  Looking forward to sharing more bits of the journey with you. Peace…

It’s happening… I think!

I’m on my way!

See you on the other side. 

 

the Zilla?

I always think that the world stops when I’m traveling or wedding-ing.

This weekend since I’m the maid-of-honor in my best friend Laura’s wedding, and getting ready to (hopefully) travel to see my African sister on Wednesday, I am a bit distant from the reality of everyday life. But the past week and a half at my parents’ house has been sweet and full of reconnections, from old high school and college friends to home church community.

It has also felt like a lot more time than a week and a half, which I realized a few days ago when some small travel fears turned into full-blown nuclear meltdowns. Too! Much! Free! Time! So I’ve decided to keep myself busy from now until Wednesday with slathering aloe on the sun burns I am constantly accumulating (shhh, don’t tell JZ) and wedding appointments because hey! what bride doesn’t want her maid of honor to accompany her on ALL the errands the week before her wedding? Laura, the most laid-back bride ever, has lovingly dubbed me “maid-of-honor-zilla” which should be funny, but actually really isn’t all that hilarious. I just want perfection, ok?! I keep telling her, “it’s not the wedding, it’s just my personality.” But since she’s not into the Enneagram, it’s hard to convince her of the truth in that statement.

And now, since I was given a camera by my wonderful GR family… welcome to the NEW [illustrated] lifeofliz!

Packing is going REALLY well, as you can see.

 

Had a wonderful goodbye date with my pastor’s family… this is Mary, doesn’t she look like my sister, seriously? I totally held her when she was in the hospital, just after being born. That makes me feel really old. 

 

Starting the decorations at the reception hall… it’s a small reception, only their 450+ closest friends, no big deal. And Laura’s family is cooking all the food.

 

Justin, the groom, is ready!

 

So is the bride! Haha, don’t hate me Laura… it was actually a sad night spent watching The Notebook, NOT pre-wedding jitters… I was laughing for the whole two hour breakdown, sorry to say.

 

At a family spaghetti fest with the ‘Okie’ half of Laura’s family. This picture is featuring my good friend and fellow bridal attendant/liberal Amber… she is great! I’m so glad to have some time with her. The 30 person spaghetti fest is not to be confused with the rehearsal dinner, which only 70 of the closest family members will be attending.

The Original Teranna.

I have a few really significant posts in my heart that are being slowly written down. In the meantime, for you impatient readers, feast on this…

This is the “Aquinas Sampler” I happened to have in my purse during my five day trek to ‘Teranna’ in May 2006. I wrote down funny quotes all weekend on this and then stuck it in a pile of papers, which I found during the massive move in May 2008. I laughed so hard that tears were coming out of my eyes. So I thought I’d share it with you.

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“Find me a man and I’ll make out with him!”  - Chester on love

“I put my interests on the wall. I like romance, I like… building things.” - Jason from Freetown (which I think was the restaurant we were eating at?)

“I don’t like it when people talk a lot / he totally sucks you in!” - Chester on listening

“I didn’t know if five days was too long to stay at Lisa’s place but then I thought ‘Who cares about Lisa? I’m staying til Wednesday!” - Liz as quoted by Andrew

 

And, of course, my preposterous number of Lisa quotes:

On Relationships:

“He’s very pale and skinny, I’m like ‘Here’s a donut.’”

“Maybe I should stop questioning you… but I can’t stop!” 

“I want to take my brain out of my head because you are so boring my head hurts.” 

On Faith:

“My toilet seat got stuck in the up position. ‘You should pray about that!’”

“Guitar- the Christian instrument.”

“Jesus, why don’t you treat me better?!”

Etc.:

“I ate some sort of weird testacle [sic], I can’t remember what animal it was.” - on international travel

“I slew 5 spiders!” - her feat of strength

“This is embarrassingly laborious.” - as she vacuumed cat hair off her rug

“Under my cheapness tutelage.” - on her mom

You can read Lisa’s tale of this visit here. We attempted a Toronto 2008 trip, but it didn’t quite happen… which is sad since we didn’t get to see Ches and Dave much during their, you know, wedding this Christmas. I’m holding out for 2009!

ABC’s by Nick.

Cc

“Church is mostly for Catholic people and First Communions.”

-The Facts of the ABC Book by Nick, age 8

Blessed.

I generally get my blogging material from people I meet or from my friends and funny things they say. Since starting to leave, there has been too much good stuff to blog!

This weekend I made a new friend in Chicago. I was spending the day downtown, getting my Indian visa. Well, there is something inherent in the government of India that I think is designed to kill your soul through frustration. Some would allege my soul wouldn’t be so frustrated if I planned a little bit, but to that I reply “details are for shmucks.” And, of course, India decided to outsource the visa application but they didn’t say clearly where one should go to get this visa application turned in. I did all the steps, but still found myself trying to figure out where to go, which pictures to have, etc. Somehow, two taxis and an hour of meandering later, I got my Indian visa! 

Afterward all I could think was one word, “COFFEE.” So I walked towards the nearest likely place- and on the way passed this guy, sitting, holding a sign: “Hungry. Thank you! God Bless!” I looked at him, and the Holy Spirit spoke; “Hey! Do you like coffee?” “Lots of sugar.” he replied. So I grabbed some Seattle’s Best, and walked back. Three sugar packets weren’t enough, he put in about 10 total. We sat under the Old Navy awning and talked for a couple hours. My friend has a daughter he can’t see, likes house music (which was born in Chicago apparently) and horror movies, lost his job and now ‘hustles’ for $18 a day so that he doesn’t have to sleep on the streets, but can stay in a hotel a few blocks up until he gets a job. He asked me where I lived and I told him “Grand Rapids.” He laughed. That’s where he says he’s from when he can’t get money and needs a ‘bus ticket home.’ He kept calling his life “my situation.” He said “you want to know what’s degrading- THIS is degrading” as he pointed to his sign. I hate that it’s so rare that someone sits with him, so rare that he gets 50 cents without people asking “what are you going to use my money for?! are you using drugs?!” I hate that as we sat no one looked us in the eyes. Worst of all I hated that he thanked me so much as I left, when I was the one who was given a gift. 

As we were talking another man who is homeless came up said to me “This isn’t a game, this is our lives.” Yeah it is… and that opened my eyes to something else. No one gave us any money in the whole time I was sitting there. My clean clothes and big purse kept him from earning even 50 cents in two hours. He sacrificed to sit and talk to me. We are blessed by our friends who sit and talk to us, giving up their time so that we can know Jesus among them. I always want to stay connected, not necessarily through a ‘ministry’ but by these true moments, to why I have chosen the life that I live…. because this life is a blessed life.

Pajamas at Pilgrim Manor.

This morning I got up for work, and really wanted to wear this dress. It’s all a part of one of my life goals, which is to wear everything in my closet. Problem: too short for a business office, even though we’re pretty casual. (Not quite Word Made Flesh casual) Solution: wear slacks underneath. Problem: blue slacks packed. Solution: pink linen pants that are sort of see through so also never get worn. Result:

I came into work and went to get a cup of coffee. Unfortunate timing, six or seven managers/peer employees were gathered around the office of the coffee maker. So I walked in, and she looks me up and down. “Wearing your jammies today?” hahaha. Hilarious. Well, then everyone jumps in “haha, nice pajamas!” The only thing I could come up with was “This is Nepali style!” “Oh is THAT what they call it now.” (I work with comedians apparently.)

So in a very rare moment of self-conscious fashion awareness, I went back to my office thinking “oh great, they think I would wear pajamas to work, this is too casual.” I almost went home to change but then figured “no big deal, no meetings, I’ll just make it through and never live this down.” I forewent my second cup of coffee and thought I’d hide out all day in my office working on some last minute projects.

Nope, I forgot, we had our monthly all-staff meeting with all our employees gathering together, housekeeping, laundry, nursing, etc. I came in and sat down, fully expecting a few more comments from the comedians. They didn’t fail me, but at least everyone was talking so hopefully none of the other employees who know me as the ‘Greenie’ noticed where I was sitting.

Next thing I know a powerpoint slide comes up “Liz is leaving us for the mission field! We’ll miss her!” and a CAKE. They bought a cake for all the employees in honor of me leaving. To the sound of applause, I had to stand up, walk across the dining room and cut the cake to serve to all the employees. My face was beat red. I mustered all my dignity and walked over to the cake, all of a sudden from behind me I hear my manager on the microphone:

“If you like what Liz is wearing, she’s starting a boutique. (hahahaha- collective laugh) Seriously though folks, pajamas are not appropriate work attire (hahahah- collective laugh).”

I slowly turned around, holding the knife for cake cutting, which I raised in the air and gave him the death stare.

“… and we tease because we (pause) love her!”

I was so moved, it was a really considerate and sweet thing to do. I’m sad to leave these wonderful people!

The moral of this story though is that you should never declare a “casual hippie day” for yourself a week before you leave your job.