SNE. Today two surprising things happened, but one of them shouldn't have surprised me because it wasn't that new. Firstly, I went to meet my superior about the fact that I'm supposed to preach at church tomorrow.. and he post-poned it until January. Shouldn't have been too surprised about that one ;) BUT, while I was in his office, I got stung by a bee! Twice! First time getting stung by an African bee, coooool!

Monday November 18 
Finally got my VISA extended (take 3!) Also, pretty sure this is the first time ever that I've gotten a tan while Christmas shopping! ;)

Sunday November 17
Back-to-back episodes of sermons with Norm Miller! Had home church today and worked on my preparations for my first ever sermon preaching later this week. Also back-to-back episodes and season finale of Korra, one week before it airs in Canada, ooooh!

Saturday November 16
Whew! Today had a handful of surprises. Here's the full list:

1) 2 Great Blue Turacos in the yard this morning, cool!
2) finally got our car trunk open
3) rising anticipation for November Christmas party (tonight!)
4) someone discarded a dog carcass outside our gate... not cool.
5) went to a Christmas bazaar in town... apparently we aren't the only ones who are early...
6) made Christmas cookies! in November!
7) Didn't actually make it to the Christmas party.. we tried... Got a little lost. Then a little more, and after 2 hours decided to go back home, which took another hour indulged in coca cola and Christmas cookies and picked a movie at random to console ourselves, turns out it was actually a Christmas movie!

all in all, a mysterious day filled with Christmas miracles. sort of.

Friday November 15
Our day off in Fort Portal. We visited the sights, saw the caves named after breasts (because of the stalagmites and -tites), saw the Rwenzori mountains, and also, for the first time ever, saw crater lakes formed by ancient volcanic activity. cool!

Thursday November 14
SNE. I spoke at another primary school this morning and then proceeded to take my first official sick day working with Power to Change. I got food poisoning.. and it was my own fault... I just really liked the pizza we ordered the other day, but I guess it wasn't meant to be enjoyed over the course of a few days. oops. haha. I couldn't hold ANY food down today, I tried.. but then I puked. :)

Wednesday November 13
WOW! We've been speaking to University students thus far, but today we got to visit primary schools too. I had the amazing opportunity to speak to over a THOUSAND kids today about the love of Jesus! Never done that before!

Tuesday November 12
We returned to UPU today and got to meet lot of lovely new people, students and teachers alike. We began teaching and speaking to the interested student leaders and got a taste of what ministry is like in Western Uganda :)

Monday November 11
And we're off! First time ever visiting the wonderful city of Fort Portal. Wow, western Uganda has mountains and is quite a bit cooler than Kampala temperatures, and it's very pretty! We made it to campus in the evening and met the students of Uganda Pentecostal University for the first time ever. Something New Everyday!

Something New Everyday. I found tortilla chips at the store! That's right, with some expensive cheese, some tomatoes, and salsa spices we had a nacho party! Also tried out the new-and-improved (sharpened) hedge trimmers on the bushes today.

Saturday Nov 9
Wandered around the neighbourhood again today and discovered a cheap place for eggs and bananas, time for baking! First time making Mama's Famous Krispie Cookies.. though I tweaked the recipe slightly due to lack of chocolate chips.. TIA. Also first guys night at the house (don't worry, I hid and watched a movie in my room).

Friday Nov 8

I made sure not to post this one on facebook.. it's the first time I've ever intentionally, purposely, and independently listened to One Direction....SHHhhh don't tell!

Thursday Nov 7
Something New Everyday. Learned some new Luganda phrases today, just the basics, of course, simply phrases that I'm likely to use a lot. "It's raining. Bim is cold. Julie is sick. I am dirty. See you later." The basics. ;)

Also, I wore my "aladdin" pants in public today... Wasn't sure if it was socially acceptable, but no one stared or laughed any more than usual, so I may yet do it again!

Wednesday Nov 6
SNE. I saw two Brown Parrots today! And we had our first team.. "party".. in honour of Jamie's birthday..? Maybe! Who knows? Our music and games sure weren't as fun as they would've been if Hom Jom planned it tho... 

Tuesday Nov 5
Something New Everyday. I saw THREE woodpeckers on the same telephone pole today! I've never seen more than one at a time before, cooool! Also, 'twas my first time leading bible study with the expats tonight.

Monday Nov 4

Sunday Nov 3

Saturday Nov 2
 

Happy November! It seems my body is pretending it's in Canada and has decided to come down with a cold. Never caught a cold in Africa before.... SNE.

October 31
SNE. First ever "Halloween" in Uganda.. except it's not really a thing here. Nonetheless, we had a fake jack-o-lanturn and some candy!

October 30
I made REAL chocolate chip cookies, with REAL chocolate chips. First time for that here in Africa!

October 29
Today we ventured to the other side of Kampala, further than we'd gone yet! Took us an hour to persevere through traffic and find our new bible study location, and under 20 minutes to get back home. Good ol' Kampala traffic!

Also, I burnt the roof of my mouth on food today.. I've never done that before.. and I don't plan on doing it again.

October 28
Walked through my neighbourhood and made my way to a coffee shop for a date with God. It went well, he's pretty romantic

October 27SNE. Just attended my first ever formal Ugandan dinner party! Thanks to the Life Ministry ladies for putting it together.

October 26
A Saturday event?? First time I've been up at the crack of dawn and getting to campus on a Saturday, eager for our international speakers to present. Although it's not the first time that I've expected something to start on time... and it started 2 hours late.. TIA.

October 25
Today I met a handful of important people! First time I'd met Judy Douglass, wife of president of campus crusade international, and some African women leaders too. Really excited for the seminars they are leading tomorrow at MUK!

October 24
Definitely had a new experience today working with the ministry. We had a speaker come in and talk about social evils. It was an interesting "conflict of cultures", where the Ugandans loved every word he said, but we Canadians felt quite awkward and uncomfortable. In a nutshell.

October 23
SNE. First time I'd seen pastor Bim take the stage, well done!

October 22
Something New Everyday. Today I met some new neighbours. Wow. They are refugees fleeing persecution from their country for being Christian. God keeps opening my eyes to the freedoms and wealth we have in North America, we take so much for granted.