Embassy and Onto Gulu Day 2

After a long day on Monday, Shawn and Joseph retired to their room. Suzanne graciously let me bunk up with her in her "suite" (ha, ha). We both ended up not being able to sleep and talking for much of the night. Shawn, Joseph and I headed to the US embassy very early and as luck would have it, we were number one in line to meet with the consular. Our intentions were to get Joseph a visa so that he could come and visit, meet the family and in general see how he liked life in our family and the US. From there, we would then make decisions based off the visit. The consular called our small group up, Joseph, Mama Dorothy (the women Joseph lives with), Susan (the women who helped me get Joseph's passport) and Shawn and I. The consular, Sahara immediately asked us to leave. I was severely disappointed as I had been told by Susan that we should be with Joseph when he applied otherwise his chances would be slim on receiving a visa. To our dismay, he walked out of the office 10 minutes later with no visa. I protested to a clerk, then another one and she would not let me in to find out why they denied him. The paper he received said, "No strong ties", meaning he didn't have anything in Uganda that would prove he would come back. "Help, wait, please"! I wanted to shout. "I promise I'll bring him back, I'm an honest girl"! I had to face the fact that he was denied. As we walked out outside I turned to Joseph and asked how he was feeling and he replied, "It's in God's hands, I still have hope". What, come on Joseph! I'm madder than h@$ll! How can you have hope? I learned a big lesson from him that day and continue to think about it now that I'm home. I have since talked to the consular on the phone and understand pretty clearly why they said no, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt.

After the embassy we headed back to the Red Chili to pick up the rest of the group and took off for the long ride to Gulu. Our van had seats that faced each other so we had lots of fun goofing off and doing stupid things to entertain ourselves. We had a nice big sunroof and several times stood on the seats with our bodies popping out of the top of the van so that we could get photos and enjoy the scenery. The van had very dark tinted windows so it was hard to see out of them which was kind of a bummer when you are trying to soak in every scene. We did make a stop at the Nile River for a photo op, see the funny man in the fur hat!

We arrived in Gulu around 4PM and didn't wait 2 minutes to start working, that is why we were there right? We drove to small village where a group of child mother's were waiting for us. They greeted us with clapping and a traditional high pitched yell. Their enthusiasm was contagious. We inspected and purchased their beads until dark finally forced us back to the hotel. Oh, did I say hotel? I think I misspoke when I told the group that we would be staying in one of the nicest hotels in Gulu, the Boma. To me, it was quite nice, but to the group that was misleading. Suzanne faced the week in a room that was tomb-like sleeping with roaches the size of her hand! Shawn and I lucked out, our room actually had functioning air conditioning and was quite nice. The group was quite jealous when we woke up in the morning and I said our room got cold! I think for Joseph this was certainly a first. He had never felt air conditioning and Uganda never gets cold! One of my favorite parts about the trip was tucking in Joseph at night. Although he is almost 15, I would say he is more like a 12 year old and really craved that mommy attention. He was such a joy to have with us throughout the week. The whole group quickly became attached to him and as we dragged him around from IDP camp to IDP camp throughout the week even he saw the contrast in poverty between the north and the south. Some things the group quickly learned: Dinner takes about 3 hours start to finish, when you order, it is likely that the food you want is "finished", and then the next item on the menu, and the next. There is never going to be syrup in the morning, even though someone was sent to the market on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.............Electricity is never a guarantee. You are camping, even though you are in the nicest hotel in Gulu. Suzy does not like lizards! Joseph has never flossed.

More to come.....................