Traveling

Bodas

Originally uploaded by bethanygrace2

Kampala always surprises me. I forget the noise, and the busyness, and amount of time it takes to get one thing done. When I leave Kampala, I remember the tasty restaurants, and the prevalence of English speakers, and the availability of a movie theater and hot showers. But for some reason, I always forget how busy and hectic it is, and how that sometime makes me cranky.

I spent the last couple of days in Kampala, trying to set up a bank account and apply for a work permit, and spending time with my friend Pat. The work permit was an interesting experience, as I rode all over town on motorcycle taxis called boda-bodas. I went to immigration, interpol, the police training school, back to interpol, back to immigration, to a meeting with the NGO secretary within immigration, and back to the regular immigration office where I finally handed in all my paperwork. So, hopefully all the running around will mean I have a work permit approved when I go back to the office in January.

After all of that, it was the middle of rush hour, and I decided to stay in town and watch a movie rather than sit in traffic trying to get to the guesthouse where I was staying. Pat was on her way back to Bundibugyo, and the next day I was heading to Mundri and away from movie theaters for several months, so the movie theater seemed like the best way to spend my last night in the big city.

In the car after the movie, the power went out in Kampala. This is not uncommon, but can cause difficulty if it means a traffic light goes out. There were some traffic jams, which frustrated my taxi driver, but the slowness gave me a moment to pause and notice Kampala in a new way.

With the lights out, hundreds of dukas and shops were lit with small candles and kerosene lanterns. People bought vegetables and meat on their way home, and kids laughed and danced around in the lamp light. For a moment, after a long day of focusing on what I thought I needed to do, I was able to see the beauty of Kampala. So many families, so many stories within the light of those lanterns.

Earlier, while I waited to speak with the NGO secretary, the man in front of me said he was like a stone. That while others would get annoyed, and want to rush and not be still; he was steady and solid like a stone and able to wait without getting flustered. I kind of laughed at this because it seemed directed at my obvious impatience.

We listened to a sermon in Bundibugyo this week that mentioned I Peter 2:5, which says that we as Christians are living stones being built into a spiritual house. So, maybe my days in Kampala were making me a little more stone-like, more able to wait and be patient in the face of annoying paperwork and lots of running around. I hope I can more readily see the light and beauty of wherever I am, rather than getting caught up in impatience about the task at hand. And, I hope to have more of a vision for the building work that God is doing in my life and in the world.