Two Weeks and Counting

The countdown has begun. It's hard to believe, but we leave Uganda two weeks from today. Assuming all goes as planned, we'll be home in fifteen days.

Over the weekend we started some serious packing. We made our last trip to the equator for gifts which are now mostly packed.

It's more difficult to pack from this end. In Chicago, we packed most of our clothes well ahead of time and just wore other clothes. This time, the clothes we are packing are all the clothes we have. Some clothes we are giving away, but others we need for home. (It's hard to find jeans that fit Bry'Chell--she's thin and long legged.) Either way, we still have two weeks of wearing to do before the clothes can be packed.

While we are leaving many things here that we brought, we still have a lot of luggage. Fortunately, one of the things we are leaving is most of the books. They're heavy and would cost a fortune to ship. The Federal Government helps us ship them over here, but not home. It's not big deal because the reason we brought them was to leave them. The head librarian came over this morning to get the books. She was glad to see them. I'm hoping they provide some basis for the social science programs.

We're also leaving linens--sheets and towels. I brought some that have seen better days, although they are perfectly good. I will give them to St. Mary's Secondary School. Sr. Sanyu has many students who are orphans and show up without the necessary supplies. I know she'll put them to good use.

We've also used up a lot of stuff--toothpaste, shampoo, lotion, insect repellent, sunscreen and other personal type items. That's less to take back.

The only additional stuff we have is gifts. So far we have one footlocker full of gifts. Most of them aren't that big, but we have a lot of people to remember.

Hopefully, we will travel back with less than we had when we arrived. My goal is eight pieces of luggage. We arrived with thirteen pieces of luggage plus the four boxes of books we shipped.