I was asked by a few of my sister Ugandans when I would be going back to the states. I said I didn't know, maybe sometime next year. Then they asked if I was going to stay there. Are we?
This is home to me now. I do want to go and visit the states again, to swim in the warm Atlantic, see Pikes Peak again and hike up it's side, walk the Pacific waters in my tennis shoes, and see old friends and family that I left behind.
But that's not home anymore. In fact, neither is Uganda. I have no home, no single home. My heart his in two places, and will always be.
The Luganda word for 'white person' is Muzungu. We were told by our good friend and Luganda teacher, Uncle Ronnie, "Muzungu doesn't actually mean 'white person'. It was, at first, representing the Arabs from the north, coming to Uganda. Muzungu means Wanderer."
That's the way I feel right now. The Peterson family has moved four times in the past six years, only to settle here for who knows how long. Wanderers might just fit us.
The past week has been hot, hot, hot. It's right now 94ºF outside, 16% humidity. Even mom was sweating just sitting in a plastic chair! Which is saying a lot. Walking outside in the sun is even worse, I've contented myself in a hot living room writing stories and drawing something for our family. I've put on a picture of what I've done so far.
We did a huge harvest of maize last week which was fun! It included all the good stuff, raw fingers, cuts, itchy legs, hot sun, black jacks, oh yeah. It was fun.
I've been taking care of my friend's cat for her while she's been gone with her family on furlough. There are officially two black cats that look exactly alike except one's bigger and male, the other is smaller and female. Ali is the one I'm taking care of. She is a friendly, loud cat that knows how to make herself heard. Amanda (I know I know. It's a girl's name but you can't really help that if you think that the cat's a girl in the first place right?) is our neighbor's cat. He's also friendly but not as loud.
Anyway, I should quit explaining about the cats and getting straight to the story. Thursday morning, I left home and rode over to primary around 8 o'clock. When I reached the house I heard meowing, the usual welcoming sound for Ali to be making. I walk into the house and there, on the bench straight across from the door is a black cat. Now one thing you have to know, Ali hardly ever gets up on anything except beds and couches, she's just trained that way. So here's this black cat up on a bench meowing at me. Well, of course you have to assume that Ali is here, it's just a once in a while thing, you know, her being up on the bench and all. Ok. "Hi Ali.... You've grown.... Are you Ali?" Yes, I talk to animals. I grab the food dish and put it up on the counter where the food is. Up on the counter goes the cat. One other thing about Ali. She's smart enough to not go poking her nose into her food before it's served. The food was open, and I saw that much of it had been devoured since the night before. "You're not Ali, are you? You're Ananda!" (I call the cat Ananda because it avoids further confusion of the gender) Sorry, ONE more other thing about Ali is if she has to go, she goes under the sink. There was stuff in the sink. So I pet the cat. "You aren't Ali, you don't react like she does." So I put the lid on the food and lock the door behind me. Time to visit Joel. Joel, Jensen, and Brevin like to tease me a lot for some reason, especially Joel. Joel is British by the way, I don't know if that makes any difference though.
"Ok Joel, have you guys been playing a trick on me?" Rash question, I thought as soon as I had asked it. They wouldn't have the keys.
"No. Why?" I progressed to tell him the story. So he said no, and I rode up to the Anderson's house, Brev. and Jensen's house.
"Where's Ananda?"
"Supposed to be at the Brown's (Joel's)."
"Oh, Ok. Had to check."
I'm guessing that Auntie Jill, the next door neighbor of my friend, had thought that Ananda was Ali and she put him inside the house instead of Ali. Ha. I still have to ask her and see if my theory is good. Oh, and Ananda did eventually get back to the Browns after much scratching and struggling.
Please pray for our furniture as we don't have any bookcases, drawers, or shelves yet. Pray that it will get done swiftly and well. We have had some people make things for us that were totally the opposite of what we asked for.
Also pray for me, I will probably be joining a worship team and am very very nervous. I will be meeting new people, which isn't my strongest area, and will probably eventually be singing and playing up front (maybe. I get stage fright sometimes so maybe.....)
And please pray for it to rain soon. It is just coming to the end of the dry season, but there could still be more months without rain.
Kara Peterson
