Places you don't usually find a three year old...

I’ve come up with quite a list of all the places that Ella has been since she came home 3 ½ months ago. These are the “odd” places where 3 year olds don’t normally end up.

Police station (filing a report on my missing drivers license)

Waiting at High Court for the judge to show up. Think busy, professional people like lawyers in suits bustling around, then Ella sitting in the midst of them eating a banana and playing with her hankie.

Judges chambers – think solemn looking judge and professional, pregnant lawyer presenting our case with Ella sitting on a couch playing with her hands

Lawyers office. Again, I just don’t put lawyers and children together in my mind!

Finance Management Course at work with about 20 adults, and Ella snoozing on a couch in the back, clutching her baby doll

UTODA offices in Kitoro, paying our parking fine (LONG story about that – material there for it’s own entire posting!)

Drivers license place in Kampala where we stood in various lines for 1 ½ hours while she amused herself by talking, dancing, playing with the zippers on my bag and of course, playing with her hanky.

Meetings with my supervisor in his office while Ella sits on my lap and plays with her hands or sleeps. So far I am the only one I know in our organization who does this to their child.

Meeting with three other folks from our organization and a spokesman for a Cultural Trust formed for a people group who want to work with us on translation and literacy, while Ella sits on a couch buried in pillows and reads her books

The offices of the New Vision (newspaper) where I was placing an add in the paper for my missing drivers license (Had to do this before I could file a police report)

A big Catholic Martyrs Shrine where a bunch of Christians were martyred in the 1800’s

( I have no idea why the bullets won't work on this thing!)

As you can see, Ella goes pretty much everywhere with me. She’s a pretty portable kid with a pretty strong bladder. Of course dehydration really helps foster the dry pants department. I should probably be a little more careful about that… Wouldn’t want her brain to dry and shrivel up or anything J. L’s a trooper!

The places where I have made “other arrangements” for her are when I went to the dentist and to the U.S Embassy. I would of taken her with me to the Embassy but I had a British friend who didn’t mind watching her. Interestingly enough, middle to upper class Ugandans, like you find in Kampala, don’t take their kids out much. You rarely see little kids at the big grocery stores in Kampala and especially any of the places mentioned above. Seems they are usually left home with nannies. Whole different lifestyle than we in Montana are used to!

To mark the anniversary of her 12 week home, Ella attended her 8th birthday party. Last Sunday they had a cake and candles for a little girl at Sunday School. Ella’s eyes just light up at the mention of cake or candy. It is pretty funny because she is such a chunky child and is always the first in line for cake or anything else sweet. She’s naturally not a very forceful person, unless cake is involved :).

Thus far Ella has been to Jinja three times, Mbale and Busiu once (both in eastern Uganda) and to western Uganda, by Queen Elizabeth Nat. Park, once. And people say that having a kid will tie you down?? Whatever!! Not a kid with a strong bladder...


Ella with the other participants of our organizations "Finance Management Course" which was held in May. Ella was the only kid. She's now in charge of managing the families money...

Ella with her Aunt Kathryn, Uncle Gift and Ms. Diana at the Martyrs Shrine in Kampala