"Mzugu, Mzugu!"

first full day in Mbale:)
soo much i have to say, but i'm going to try and condense it as much as possible. its during the wet season here right now and the weather is beautiful - a much welcome change from the 100+ weather back home. its stayed mostly in the 70's, getting cooler as rain comes and goes throughout the day.
its a whole nother world here in uganda but one that fascinates me incredibly.
some of the customs ive already learned about include:
shaking hands at the wrist
hugging and touching cheek-to-cheek on both sides of the face
men hold hands as a sign of friendship but men and women never hold hands
the children bow to their elders as a sign of respect
the children are not allowed to speak at meal times to one another until they are finished eating, and no one begins their meal until everyone has been served
the children in the home (for that is what they are insistent on it being -- "how can this be an orphanage when the children have a father; i am their father, and there dorm mothers are their mothers"- Edward (head master at lluwanda childrens home)), are immensely respectful, grateful, joyful and loving.
the first classrooms we visited on our tour when we first arrived were of the youngest classes. after having welcomed us as a whole into their class, they left their seats to come hug us and tell us their names. a small group of them announced to me that i would be their friend and proceeded to ask me my name and tell me all of theirs - they were so incredibly happy!
later on in the day, one of the beautiful little girls, Faith Grace, gave me a note sharing how happy she was that i was here and how much she loved me and how God had called us all to love one another. i hope later to maybe post a picture of it. i was so amazed by their genuine joy and compassion.
as well as their fascination with these "mzugu" (which is lugandan for white foreigner, haha.).
working today to sort all of the books was a monumental task. the books that we organized today were just the easy readers, and it was surprisingly tiring - by the end of the day i was practically falling asleep at the table, waiting for the rest of the men to finish packing up for the day. they had had an even more difficult task than we did building shelves. they had technical issues with some of the supplies they were using as well as difficulty working with the immensely hard mahogony wood. but in the end they were finally getting a handle on things thanks to the Lord's grace and should (hopefully) be able to move even quicker tomorrow.
the food here has been different, but its been fun tasting all these new flavors and combinations. i might make a seperate entry later on just about all the food ive even tasted thus far. (haha i laughed - when we were on our drive to Mbale the first day we got here, where did we stop for lunch but a chinese restaurant - Ling Ling's lol).
the animals we've seen thus far have been a variety all the way from goats to huge 3 feet tall storks. goats, cows and chickens roam free through the cities and rural areas. some of the cows are in better shape than others but can be constantly seen grazing all over the place. there is even a sort of long-horn type cattle with insanely immense horns. there were 2 bats in the cactus-tree outside our hotel too - ha, Edward and Bella flew down to Africa;). ive yet to see the national bird but i've heard they're even bigger than the storks.
well i hope to post again soon with even more tidbits and pictures! please keep praying that everything flows smoothly!