Tuesday August 10th

August 10^th 2010

I have been eating food!!! J I can’t tell you how many people I have had e-mails from saying “Mark you look skinny eat some food” and then this lady that I am in Bible study with here told me yesterday that I looked like I have lost weight. I guess I just don’t notice. I eat more food and drink more water here than I ever did at home. I think it’s just my daily routine. I am out walking and doing work in the HOT sun every day. So…I will try to put some more food down.

Guess what I get to stay until Oct. like planned. Rwanda allows Americans 3 months in the country free of charge until and then you either have to leave or get a VISA. So instead of going to get a VISA which I kind of wanted to get because I wanted a Rwandan VISA stamp in my passport, I spent last Thursday in Uganda with a couple of friends. We left Kigali at 7am to head north. We ended up taking a taxi bus up there which ended up being a two hour drive. They dropped us off at the border; we cleared customs in Rwanda and then had to walk a good quarter of a mile to Uganda. We then bought our VISA to get into Uganda which nobody checked. I didn’t understand that, but I did get a cool Ugandan stamp in my passport. We then hired a taxi to take us to town. Uganda was very dusty, I mean it is dusty in Rwanda but I thought it was so much dirtier in Uganda. I ended up getting so much dirt in my eyes that day that my left eye ended up getting scratched. I’m ok. I just haven’t but my contact in for a couple of days. We had a few cold drinks and some lunch at this resort type place on a lake and then headed back to Rwanda. We cleared both customs and got back on a taxi headed for Kigali. It was the worst taxi ride I have had here yet. It was high speeds around sharp corners; I thought I was going to meet the maker. They had tied this one woman’s stuff to the top of the van and at one point we hit this bump and the stuff started to fall off. I was sitting by one of the window and was able to catch one of the bags before it hit the ground. I felt like that guy who has a mattress tired to the top of his car and driving with one arm out the window in case the wind takes it, like he is going to be able to hold on to the thing. The driver stopped and retied the stuff to the top. It was a long day.

I then spent most of the next 5 days just sort of hanging low. The presidential elections happened yesterday and just to be safe I just hung around the house and spent some time reading and watching a few movies and SLEEPING. I have been so tired lately.

Oh yeah our books did not arrive last week. Surprise Surprise!!! Hopefully soon. Hope everyone is well. Also Jean who is the woman I live with here will be traveling back to Seattle/Bellevue on September 7^th and I won’t see here before I leave. She is coming home to visit some friends and family. So if you could be praying for her as she prepares to come back to the states that would be great. The picture of me on the trampoline is from Uganda.

Prayer request: The students from the Center who are still on break.

AEE leadership.

Jean as she travels and visits the states.

CFC leadership.

FPCB team as they prepare to come in Sept.

FPCB High School mission team in Costa Rica.

The people of Rwanda.

My taxi rides.

In Him,

Mark