Miller Family Kisumu, Kenya: Bible Study In Ng'ia, Uganda Trip Details And Pictures, Another Funeral....

(Saturday June 3rd)

Bible Study At Dean Miller's ...

Today we got back from our Uganda trip around 4am. so needless to say I dove into bed, an didn't regain conciseness till around 12:45pm. yeah. I was really tired! (I wanna tell a little bit about that trip later on, if I my blog post isn't too long otherwise.)
I didn't do a whole lot today other then unpack, an try to wash the red Ugandan dirt out of a white dress, an jacket. I have no idea why I wore my white dress the one day, a very unsmart thing to do!

In the evening we invited Joe an Glenda an Stacy an Rhoda to our house for pizza.
It was a great evening.
Stan an I randomly decided to go to church with Stacy, which is Jake an Janice's church.
(Sunday June 4th)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RHODA!!

Miss Rhoda...

Today Stan an I went to church with Jakes family an Stacy.

We had a good time, an it was nice to be in another church for a change.

I really enjoyed choir practice they had afterwards.

We got home around 2pm. an the rest were not yet home, so Stan an I ate a quick lunch an retired to our naps.
In the evening us youth (which now only consist of my brothers an I, Stacy an Rhoda.) decided to go to the lake for Rhoda's birthday...I made pop corn. an Stacy brought some amazing pizza pockets, an bars an chia, we had a lovely time, however it was so cold, an we wrapped ourselves in laso's an blankets...then we look over an see two guys swimming in the lake, enjoying the big waves that the strong breeze was blowing in.
(Monday June 5th)
Today was not the best day ever...I wasn't able to sleep till around 5am. so I was pretty much worth nothing today...I felt sick, an stayed in bed most of the day.
In the evening Steve, (who was also not feeling well, an had been in bed the last two days too.) drove me down to the lake...we were both so sick of being in the house, so we just sat in our vehicle an enjoyed the view of the lake, chatting, an enjoying the refreshing breeze.
(Tuesday June 6th)
Today was really uneventful...
We were all just around home today....Dad was out an about.
The brothers an I went walking on ring road tonight for a while.
(Wednesday June 7th)
Today Dad an Mom went to Bible study...the rest of us stayed at home, mostly cooking, cleaning, an working on my blog...the boys were out working in the shop.
In the evening I met up with my friends Victor an Winnie, who are getting married in Dec.
We went to a local place that is very pretty, peaceful, an quiet, an just drank some amazing passion juice, an chatted for the longest time, it was a lovely evening.
(Thursday June 8th)
Today we were all around home...Dad was working in his office preparing to preach at a non-cbf funeral on Saturday, so he was in his study most of the day.
the boys were working on odd jobs...
Mom was cooking an sewing...I did some baking, an worked on the blog...then made a trip to town to pick up some things for mom...an so on.
We had our unit prayer meeting at Jakes tonight.
(Friday June 9th)
Dad an Mom went to the place where the funeral will be on Saturday...since they had to help get the body from the mortuary to the families house...which can be quite an experience with all the wailing an lamenting that goes on...they were there till late this evening.
Us youth all went out to Ng'ia where Deans live, an had Bible study out there, since their family is leaving in several months, after serving here for around 4-5years
We got back from Deans around 7:00pm. we had left around 1:30pm. so it wouldn't get as late, its about an hour drive out there, anyway we had a good discussion on relationships, an enjoyed Barbra Jeans good cooking.
We then had some spike ball from 8-10pm.
An that's about all that happened this week!
~Now For A Little Run Through About My Trip To Uganda~

The gate to our resort...

So Stacy an Rhoda had this whole Uganda trip planned out, an decided last minute that they were going to invite me too, actually the whole trip was rather last minute...but turned out to be as amazing as if we had taken months to plan every detail! it was just a really fun time...
Okay, so on Wednesday night we got Steve to drop us off at the bus station in Kisumu...around midnight, since that is when the bus was leaving, we got our tickets an waited several minutes till the bus arrived.
We couldn't believe that us three were actually doing this on our own, an felt kinda nervous, excited, an scared all at the same time...the bus finally came in, an surprisingly enough it was a big nice bus, an we had gotten first class seats, so we had nice big chairs that reclined, it was pretty amazing! so we got settled in, an tried to get some sleep...which is one thing I was alittle worried about, since getting my sleep is so vital for me, especially with just having had another seizure.

The view from our cabin...that is the Nile river.

Anyway, I think we all slept for a while off an on...I was amazed how the bus just glided over those awful speed bumps along the way! you could actually continue sleeping even though you went over them.
So around 3am. the lights inside the bus flicked off an on, an we were awakened, with, "At the border! At the border! get your passport, bus ticket, an yellow fever papers, an head to the building! hurry! hurry! more buses are coming, lets get through as fast as possible an get back on the road! hurry up!" okay, so I pulled myself from my warm blankets, an blindly grabbing for the needed paperwork.
I was glad at that point that we had decided to all three of us only take a backpack, with all our belongings in it....although they were crazy heavy, it was nice to have everything in one place.
Anyway, it was 3am. an I was grabbing my wallet, my passport, an blindly stumbling out of my chair into the already packed bus aisle, I saw Rhoda an Stacy bounce down the stairs an out of sight, as I tried to bully my way through the other Kenyans, trying to get to the station before the rest.

The lodge dining area where we ate our meals...

We got in line, an soon were up at the desk, scanning finger prints, an doing all the nessicary paperwork, to allow us to enter Uganda. I stood in line, wondering if I was even okay, to wanna come on this trip, everyone in line looked like I felt...tired. I marveled at the people behind the counters....who even is at work at 3am. helping get all the paperwork through for this tired group of people!? I hope they get paid well! There were money changers everywhere... trying to get us to change our Kenyan money to Ugandan, thankfully we had already done that in Kisumu before we left.
We got back on the bus, as 3-4 more buses were coming in, an the line was already winding way out of the building an across the parking lot outside...we were so grateful that we were through, an on our way! We had been the first bus to come.

Our little cabin...

We got back on the way, an several more hours of traveling....at around 5:30am. we hear, "Arriving at Jinga! passenger's for Jinga!?" we thought we were not going to be arriving till closer to 6-7am. so once again, Stacy said, "girls! this is it! get your stuff an lets go!" I tried quickly tying up my blanket an pillow in a small bundle again, an slid into my shoes, grabbing my huge backpack, half falling, half stepping down the steep bus steps to the ground below...it was still dark, an there were piki drivers everywhere, waiting with their motor bikes to take people to their destinations.....we tried telling the piki drivers which resort we were staying at, they seemed to know where we were talking of, so after getting a price that we thought was fair, we got on, my backpack was so heavy, it dug into my shoulders, an threatened to throw me off balance when I swung on the back of the motor bike...then we sped through the darkness, I had no idea where we were going...all I knew it was cold an dark, an I hoped these drivers knew where they were going...after about a 15-20min. ride we arrived at our resort, way back in, an paid our piki drivers.

Two boats floating on the Nile...

Everyone in the tiny, quiet, little resort was still sleeping, but soon three ladies came out, looking fresh out of bed, an blankets wrapped around them... an gave us our directions to our little cabin, overlooking the Nile river...we went trooping to our cabin with all our things...and I plopped my backpack at the foot of my bed, an climbed through my mosquito net, an under the blankets, an my world went dark! finally no more getting off, getting on, buses, piki's an border crossings...we were here!! Rhoda an I slept for several hours, till around 9-10am. Stacy was up an around checking everything out, an I think maybe went on a walk...? not sure what all she was doing...

Then we all, got ready an decided we had enough sleep, an that it was time to make the most of our 48hr. trip to Uganda! So first we went shopping, imagine that! we walked along the streets, buying all kinds of cool Ugandan things, feeling like the real tourists that we were! We found the Money very, very difficult to deal with...it was so different then our Kenyan shillings, for a Ugandan dress, or a pair of flappy trousers, (Popular in Uganda) was like, 23,000 Uganda which would be around 700shillings Kenyan, an around 7-8 American Dollars....it was all confusing for a while, but Rhoda had remembered to print off a chart that gave the money rates, so that helped a lot!

Piki ride after piki ride, here there, an everywhere...

We then found this cute little coffee shop, where we ate our lunch, the food was amazing! an very much like coffee shop foods in America would be like, just with a different twist.

Going to town...

Street shopping...a painting booth....

After that we did some more shopping...then we went to check out the place we had reserved to go four wheeling at the next day, we got everything figured out there, making sure the plans were still in place, then headed back to our resort, we had to do all our traveling everywhere with piki-piki's so that was kinda cool, an we sure got our fill of motor bike rides! but sometimes it was hard to tell them where to go, when all we had was a name of the place we wanted to go to, but it usually ended up okay...except for the one time, when I was actually really worried...I don't know why this kind of stuff always happens to me...but we were going from the four wheeling place, back to our resort, an my piki guy, was puttering up a hill, suddenly his bike sputtered, an stopped! I got off, as he told me, an he had to lay the bike on its side for a while, since he was out of fuel! I saw the rest speeding on over the next hill an disappear, but I wasn't worried because I thought this guy knows where we are going...I sure didn't know! so finally he started the piki up again, an I got back on with my backpack an all my things I had bought that day, soon we found a small stand beside the road that was selling a few stray carrots an tomatoes, an thankfully they had an old plastic pop bottle with some fuel in it, so he bought that, an we were soon speeding down the winding dirt roads again, red dust everywhere! we kept going an going...finally I was like, where are the others?! we should be at the resort by now! Then we came to a tee in the road, an he looked at me an grunted pointed one way, then they other, all the while looking expectantly at me...I just stared blankly back at him, trying to look like the naïve, dehydrated, dust-covered tourist that I was...finally, I just threw both my hands up, since I didn't know what else to do, I figured throwing up both my hands is surely a cross-cultural sign, for "I have no idea" he started going down another road, very obviously looking for our resort an not finding it...all I could tell him was the name of our resort over an over, he probably thought I was making up a song about our vacation or something...I simply couldn't talk with him, he was an older man who didn't know English, I couldn't speak luo to him, an we both knew very little Swahili...it was devastating, an our conversation consisted mostly of me saying, the name of our resort then, "...but am not knowing the way..." an him decidedly saying "....oooohh....mmmm...yes." I think yes was the only English word he knew...because when your lost, "Yes" only goes that far.

The Café we ate lunch at....

So now it was thundering, an getting more windy an dusty, an looked like rain, an I had no idea where in God's great creation I was...I wondered if the other two girls had already reached our resort, an probably wondering where I was...I had short thoughts of...."What if I never see anyone I know again." or "what if he decided to kidnap me" or "if only my mom knew where I was right now" but soon we found a lady beside the road, an he stopped to ask her some directions, an thank Almighty Providence! she knew English! I could have given her a hug! so I told her the name of the place we were staying at, an she rambled a row in Ugandan to him, an pointed, this way an that way, an rambled some more...he seemed to get what she was saying, an soon we turned around an sped down another red dirt road...an then a piki driver was coming from the other direction, an it was one of the other girls piki drivers...he pulled up, an didn't look too happy, an rambled a whole line to him pointing in the direction we were going, he clicked his tongue at him the way they do when they get upset, an shook his head, rambling more words to him, we sped off, arriving at the resort several minutes later! Thank God!
We were just at the resort that evening, enjoying a nice candle light supper, enjoying the sights of the Nile, the fishing boats, an fish leaping out of the water. It was a good evening.
We all slept very very well, tonight.

going four wheeling..

An woke up to a very yummy, warm, breakfast, of scrambled eggs, smokies, pancakes, an waffles! We had a feast!
Today is a bit of a blur to me as its been a little while back now....but of course the four wheeling was the main thing, it was so awesome, riding through villages, taking pictures with children, driving through fields, woods, an corn fields, an right down to the river! it was a 2 hour tour, so we enjoyed a lot of time spent there. Our tour guide was pretty awesome! he showed off some of his four wheeler riding skills, going airborne over bumps in the trail, an in an open field, he tipped his four-wheeler on one side an drove along on one side using only two wheels...it was funny the look on his face when he turned around an saw us trying it too! he freaked out! telling us, No! that was only for him to do! haha okay then, whatever!

Stacy Byler...

After that we had to clean up an change, as we were covered in dirt, after changing we got back on piki's an went to a place called the "Source of the Nile" it is the point where Lake Victoria an The Nile River meet, so we took a boat ride out there....we had also done some more last minute shopping...an since we had packed up all our stuff that morning, an just carried it with us all day, we now had everything with us, so with our over stuffed back packs, strapped to us, we left the Source, an headed to Java House in Jinga, where we all had supper, since we were so hungry! then we had several hours to wait till it was time to go to the bus station...we had a great time, an with being extremely tired an sun burnt, everything was terribly funny, an three girls together makes everything twice as funny, so all I remember is we laughed an laughed...I don't even remember about what, I just remember laughing till my sides ached! the Java house there had an amazing lounge area, with couches so we had a nice place to hang out, while waiting.
A random thing that happened was, I sitting there at Java looking out the window, when I suddenly see someone waving outside, an calling my name. here is was my dentist from Kisumu! I had no idea she was traveling to Uganda, an she didn't know I was going there, an here we accidently met up.

Stacy an I having a blast...

Anyway, we finally left for the bus station, giving the piki drivers the last of our Ugandan money, we arrived at the station, just to find out the bus was delayed a hour an a half...oh well! it was late anyway, so what's abit later going to hurt anyone...so we waited an waited...an finally started the trip back home, in much the same manor as when we came, it was only I couldn't sleep, mostly due to the loud rap music playing most of the way....of course the border crossing half way through again...we had to pay to use the toilets there, then back on the bus, arriving in Kisumu around 3:30am. we grabbed our things, an got on motor bikes one last time, arriving at the compound tired, but happy! amazed at how amazing our trip was, it seemed every little thing we had wanted to do or see, we got done, an everything just went smoothly, we had taken just perfectly enough money along, an our plans just went great!
So anyway this Ugandan update got a lot longer then I had hoped for, but there you have it!

Our tour guide was pretty crazy guy! we laughed a lot...

Thanks To Stacy an Rhoda for getting it all together! I really enjoyed it.

~Sylvia
For the Miller's

Taking a break, an having some water...

Always children, everywhere you go...

Getting a cold drink, since we were basically coughing dust...

The Three Musketeer's

My pictures are not in order. This was taken later at the source of the Nile...

hiking back up to the road to catch 3 piki's ...

The boats, waiting to take us out to the Source...

This was finally back at Java house after running all day...we were tired!

But as always, cheese cake put us back into our right frame of mind...

Ugandan beauty....

Saying good-bye to our little cabin...

Back at the four wheeling...in those unflattering suits! I hated them!

But the memories made with these two step-sisters was so worth it all!!

Headed down the trails...

We stopped at some of the villages along the way....

Helmets are even worse then they seem...

Some where in our busy day, eating snacks on a park bench...Rhoda's look, an me laughing my brains out was basically our mood all afternoon. we had so much fun though!!