Day two

I’m mortified to admit that on the second day of class, I’m heinously overwhelmed.  We met with the dean to make our plea to reduce the number of classes, and sadly, we lost that battle.  However, she’s going to meet with the lecturers for the Church Management and Stewardship and Entrepreneurship classes to see if they can merge them, thereby saving us four hours a week.  That would be absolutely stunning.

Two lecturers have given us a bye week and a half, so we can get cracking on what they’ve given us.  For ethics, I’m writing on euthanasia.  I should have asked if I could have traded with Paul, who had just war, but I doubt anyone would appreciate what I have to say on the matter – most Ugandans view the military with fierce distrust, often bordering on hatred.  Unfortunately, there is much history that justifies that position.  With the peace and stability that has been building, I think views are beginning to change, yet in the long African memory, many people still vividly remember loved ones who were killed in the internal atrocities.  One lecturer just buried a nephew, and the preface to his absence for the burial was “this weekend we lost our nephew [probably in his late teens, early twenties], who was an orphan; his father was killed by (a group I didn’t catch) when he was a boy; he was raised by my wife’s father-in-law.”   I should probably try to keep my mouth shut during that discussion in ethics if I want to maintain my friendships, but we’re tackling the issues from a Biblical perspective, and God does have a lot to say about war.  This will be quite interesting.

In other news, this crop of USPs seem pretty decent.  Many of them are engaging with Ugandans/Africans who are not in the Honours College (and are therefore reaching outside their comfort zone); I’m so proud of them!  

It’s really interesting; while I talk to the USPs and am kind and pleasant (my momma raised me right), I don’t go out of my way to fellowship with them because they didn’t come here to see me.  This semester, several of the girls have seen me and asked, “are you the one who’s in seminary?”  Apparently, my reputation precedes me.  A few have come asking for cultural advice, or an introduction to the music director (who had asked if anyone played instruments and wanted to volunteer), or practical advice (“are you a laundry expert?” “Umm… no.  How can I help?”).  It’s an interesting turn of events, but I’m honored that they consider me a trusted broker.

The mosquito bite count is still in the single digits, but that won’t last long at this rate.  Mercy.