Getting to know Mbale

Today was a pretty good day. Last night I couldn't sleep at all so I snuck off to the kitchen and facetimed  with my family and then with Sammi. It was super fun to hear familiar voices. So there was a silver lining to my insomnia. Then I got up at 9 and got ready for the day. 

                           

                              (This is Katie, she just got here too and is adorable!) 

One of the girls, Katie (different than mentioned above) took us to Mbale downtown. We walked around and tried to get a feel for the city. It is pretty big city and there are so many people all standing around chatting. There are security guards outside of many of the establishments. So when you go into the grocery store you have to get scanned and your bags are checked.  The best things is that the security guards are so nice. They always wave and chat with us. They are the friendliness people I have met so far! 

We went to the new and improved market. The old market was on the side of the road and there were stalls all over the place. It was really dirty and not very sanitary. The new market is in a huge cement four story building. The vendors rent space and they set up shop with whatever. Food, clothes, shoes, and tons more. There are so many vendors. This new market is so much better than the old because the vendors can leave all their product locked up over night. Plus it is much more clean because it is inside and not on a dusty road. 

After the market we walked around, went to the bank, and headed home. 

      

        

                                                (This is our road! Isn't it beautiful!!!!) 

After some training with Jess, lunch, and a nap I went with Whitney to a soccer league that HELP is assisting with. It was amazing. They introduced me to all the kids, but they could not say my name at all. It was so funny, they all yelled out different things. Haha They only have two soccer balls and tons of children, so we split into boys and girls and started drills. We practiced heading, kicking, weaving, and just having fun! All the kids were so excited to play and most of them were WAY better than me. Haha I wish that Sterling was here to hep me out! ;) 

     

I just love the children! They are so sweet and they love to hold my hand while we walk. I started running while holding two girls hands then I stopped suddenly. They giggled and giggled! I love how much joy they find in the simple fun things in life. They are so joyful! It is so humbling! 

We headed home on botas and had dinner. Tonight we had chicken stew. You might not think this is as interesting as I do, but you have to read it anyway. Chicken stew is chicken and sweet potatoes in a broth. But here is the thing...African sweet potatoes are actually potatoes that are sweet. They are not at all like sweet potatoes in America. I love them, because they are actually what I always thought sweet potatoes should be! It tasted sooooo good to me probably because I am hungry all the time. ;)

 

     

After dinner we had to dishes in a bucket because the water was out.