Random Thursday thoughts

FYI- Stan and Pam Wafler are my supervisors. They have 3 kids: Jacob, Jack, and Joanna. In addition to my partner, Kelli, and myself, there are 2 other guys on our team, Evan and Trevor.

Jack's 12th birthday is tomorrow, and he wanted ribs for lunch, so Kelli and I went to the village with Stan to get pig. And I do mean PIG. Hanging on the hook at the butcher's. Take out a machete and hack out the ribs... and a leg while you're at it... While we were there, Pam had asked us to get a few things from the village market. Stan was talking to the women in Lugbara, which thrilled them, and then they looked at me and Kelli and started talking to us, too! I'm thinking, "I know all of 5 words in Lugbara... how can I even begin to understand them?" Then I remembered part of a sentence we learned yesterday: "only a little Lugbara." So I'm trying to get my fragment out, and even my "lu Lugbara ti were" brought a huge grin to their face. Okay, so they were laughing at me at the same time... but at least I'm trying! They can speak enough English to get by and sell things to the 3 mundus (white people) who come into the market on a rare occasion (like today), but now they have something to talk and laugh about for the rest of the day! :)

It's "dry season" right now and crazy hot... okay, so it's rained some the past 2 days... they say this isn't normal. But it's really dusty and hot most days. Still no power... it's been a week. Stan & Pam have a generator and solar power, so it's not a huge horrible deal... just a pain in the sweaty tail. Windows and doors open during the day, so there's a decent breeze. We keep the lights turned off as long as possible. Everything's staying charged, and we plug in when the generator's on at night. We'll have a generator and battery backup at our house, too, so we'll be fine. Kelli and I have decided to call our house "The Castle" because there's a massive wall around it... and because of the 2 princesses who will live there! :) The boys' house is "Fort Knox" because they have 4 huge padlocks on the gate and the front door, and Stan & Pam's is the "Waffle House".