Update on Ella’s sleep issues

I blogged a week or so ago about Ella’s sleep issues, and how she has nightmares and will scream and cry in her sleep, so I thought I’d give an update on that.

She has been sleeping with me in my bed for almost two weeks now and this seems to have really helped. I can feel her body tense and she starts to kick wildly (ouch for the sleeping companion but at least she doesn’t wear cowboy boots to bed…) so I’m able to wake her up before she gets into a full blown nightmare. What hasn’t helped is the cold she got this week, but that issue (runny nose and snorting, sneezing, coughing and breathing through her mouth all over me) aside, she has been getting better rest. Her naps dropped from 1.5 or 2 hours to just 1 hour every day and she’s not cranky in the evenings. Mind you the cold has changed these statistics somewhat, but cold aside she seems to be sleeping a lot better.

Yes, this is probably just a symptom of something else and yes, I should be dealing with the root of the problem, but no, I haven’t yet. I really think this is related to grief and I should be taking her to Sanyus to help her start to deal with some of it. But it’s easier for me to deal with the symptom and not the root right now. I just haven’t had the extra emotional energy to get my butt in gear, take a day off of work and take her into Kampala. I need to JUST DO IT, even if it's not totally regular and both teachers aren’t there (they will each be taking their leaves in November). They are going to move Jorum soon so I should probably get her up there before he leaves.

On a lighter note! I have mentioned before that Ella has a unique twist to her play. As in, pushing a Tonka truck in a tiara, playing with toy trucks and having them talk to each other, and here’s a new one - pushing her stroller filled with babies in her high heels while pretending that the stroller is a lawn mower!! Hee hee. She “mowed” the entire front of our house yesterday in her high heels with the assistance of her dolls, Lillypie and Ninnypikkins.

Over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder? No way! Ella has an over-the-shoulder-stuffed-lamb-holder! (I do not take any responsibility for this, by the way. The blame fully rests upon the shoulders of a sister, who shall remain nameless ;)

I VOTED!!

Even living far away in a foreign land, I was able to successfully cast my vote last Friday! I’m so glad that my county in Montana excepts Federal Write-In Ballots by email and that Sally was so helpful in assisting me! It actually took myself, Sally and my Mom to get things all sorted out and I’m so glad that we did.

In my family, if you don’t vote then you aren’t allowed to complain about the outcome. Couple that with the extreme guilt I’d feel if Obama won and I hadn’t voted and I was really getting desperate! In addition to the presidential and vice presidential candidates, I also voted for Montana’s Senator, Representative, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Auditor , State Superintendent, and some others.

I’m praying that once again, the U.S doesn’t get what they deserve in regards to a new president. Ugandans, like those from many other countries, are watching our elections with bated breath. The Christians especially are extremely nervous about anyone who thinks they can “negotiate” with Islamic terrorists, becoming the next American president. Islamic influence and terrorism is very real here and it’s sad that the average Ugandan citizen is more concerned about it than the average American citizen! Probably because they will be affected by it more. I never realized before how our choices and decisions as American voters affects the rest of the world.

Some modes of Ella's transportation

By car...

(Ella giving her coyote-howling-at-the-moon imitation, while sleeping in the car :)

By bicycle...

(nothing like hitching a ride on the back of Uncle Gift's new bike, with your trusty hounds in tow)

and by far her favorite - by boda!

(note the helmet. Safety is the key!)

The Day of The Hog

We live in a very dog oriented household and I realize that Spike gets very little hog or blog time. So this weekend I tried to rectify that and captured a little bit of “hog time” that was going on, with my camera.

Spike trying to make an exit over the hood of his truck

Ella is following in her mothers footsteps as a serious hedgehog researcher. Oh the fun the two of us could have in Juba, running hedgehog safaris and conducting research!

The little researcher watching her hog spit on himself. Charming!!

A scientific shot of Spike "anointing" himself (with bright green spit from the grass)

Hedgehogs really make great pets. Every kid needs one. Now Spike is kind of an abnormal exception. Maybe not every kid needs a grumpy, huffy hog like Spike but Ella and I still have fun with him just the same. Maybe because I am just a die hard hedgehog fan and have passed that unusual trait onto my daughter. He really is cute and interesting and I sort of like his grumpy personality. I sure miss Pokey though. Ella would have loved her and it would have been nice for Ella to know that hogs actually can be huggable and friendly. I still miss my little Pokes. There will never be another hog like her.

Ella and her Hog

A Hog and His Car Freshener

Here’s a really interesting little story about my extremely observant hedgehog, Spike. Now most people don’t think Spikes necessarily all that observant and think that all he does is sleep, but this true story will prove them very, very wrong (pay attention, Becky!)!

Stinky Spike

We’ve had a LOT of rain lately, making it impossible for me to clean his cage (I need dry dirt to replace it). The house was sort of getting a Spike odor (not nice) and since I couldn’t clean his cage I did the next best thing. I took an air freshener that his Granny sent him, and hung it over his cage.

You wouldn’t believe Spikes response! He came out of his little house, waddled through the pipe over to his water bowl which is directly under the air freshener, stopped and started sniffing the air. It was at this point that Ella called me over. Then Spike started slobbering and spitting on himself – something that hedgehogs do whenever they taste or touch something new. I’ve never seen a hog do this simply because of new smell before! An amazing hog, my Spike.

When I came home from work and was relating this amazing story to Sarah, she added to the story (and both of our amazement) by saying that he’d been waddling around in his cage all day, which was unusual because she rarely ever sees him out!

Who would of thought that an air freshener could cause such a change in the life of a hog?

A Girl and Her Dogs

These two are working on mutual respect. I have to say, Ella has plenty of respect for Bridger, it’s the other way around that needs some work. As in, we do not step on Ella, sit on Ella, lay on top of Ella, walk across and through the toys Ella is playing with, simply take a toy Ella is playing with or food that she is eating, or growl at Ella when we are snoozing on the couch and she starts playing “too close.” He is NOT aggressive with her and I have never felt that he would ever bight her, it’s just that he doesn’t respect her at all. He is a pretty vocal type dog so growling isn’t necessarily a sign that he’s about to attack. It’s just a way he “expresses himself.” But still, it’s not polite. It’s a constant control battle between Bridger and Ella over the Kong. As if she didn’t have enough toys of her own… But I have to say, when it comes to taking sides over the Kong I’m usually always on Ella’s. Bridger seems to think that sharing and taking turns applies to everyone except him. He is such a great dog though (loyal, smart and very, very protective, which is really nice in our context) that no one really minds these “less than ideal” personality quirks. They’re just him.

Love this picture of the dogs. Bridger is sporting a rather bored expression while Sanyu looks like she's smiling! She has her Grannies squinty smiley eyes and everything!

Sanyu is just Sanyu and we pray that maybe someday she will get a brain. As of yet, she is still operating on a “puppy brain” which isn’t equivalent to much. She certainly lives up to her name though, and is constantly happy and full of joy. Everyone likes her and she is a favorite with all the kids and especially the Russian neighbor. As nice as she is though, Bridger is training her to follow in his steps as a top rate guard dog. She’ll be a good one too because she is not afraid of people, at all. Where Bridger is a bit high strung, Sanyu is not. They make a perfect pair of guard dogs and have quite the reputation.

Ella is so cute with her dogs. She loves to play with them and talk to them. She still finds it amazing that they can't talk.She told me again this weekend, “Mom. Bridger and Sanyu can’t talk!” We’d be lost without our dogs. I’m afraid that if we ever had to move back to Montana, these two would have to come with us. Ella loves them so much and has lost so much in her short life, that I couldn’t bear to separate her from her dogs. Not that Bridger is the type of dog you could leave anyway, but with Sanyu’s disposition she’d be fine. Only I couldn’t do that to poor little Ella. But hopefully that will never have to happen. I can just imagine Bridger in cold Montana and it's not a pretty thought! Although Sanyu with my Mom's Corgi puppy is fun thought - but maybe not if I had to live with them!

Stamp Saga is at an end

Yesterday Prossy, Ella and I were able to get the last of the signatures and stamps needed to complete L’s passport application. Wahoo! All we’re waiting for now is the recommendation letter from the LC1 with signatures from five of the council members. Then a letter from the High Commissioner (took my friend weeks to get this as the guy seemed to be endlessly out of town) and we can turn the sucker in. So it’s not the end but definitely a beginning to the end.

Tuesday we went and got the stamp and sig from the LC3. The LC2 and below are just common, ordinary people but the ones above are government folks which means you need to go before 5pm when their offices close. Prossy is amazing and her help has been absolutely invaluable. Seriously, all I pretty much have to do with her around is hold papers and nod and smile dumbly. She does the rest.

It seems to be an unwritten rule that people initially must give you a token hassle, then don’t have a problem helping you get done what you need. This was the case with the LC3. First off, the guy has satellite tv in his office! I am serious my friend. Satellite tv. Glad to see all Prossies taxes at work ;). The LC2, an unpaid civilian, lives in a falling down mud brick house while the guy above him not only has an office but satellite tv in it! Such is Africa…

The LC3 and his secretary were happy to help us. There was a skinny, pissy little fellow (no idea who exactly he was and just why he had so much to say about our business) who tried getting everyone worked up by the whole “these people are trying to take our children!” monologue but the secretaries diatribe against Ellas poor birth mom pretty much squelched that argument. As was the fact that Prossy made it very clear that The Child had been left in an orphanage for three years. It’s obvious that I’m not ripping her from the loving arms of anybody. So, since no one would listen to him about that, he started haranguing Prossy, telling her that she spelled her name wrong and that she could go to jail for it (um, right. And my dad can beat up your dad…). Then, since she signed as the recommender “Ugandan citizen of some standing”, he tried telling her that if “anything” happened to Ella that she could go to jail for that. So, sadly, Prossy’s future looks pretty bleak right now. I told her we’d visit her in jail and bring her food, good friends that we were J. Prossy really knows how to work people though. When she left everyone was fast friends with her and they were all laughing merrily. Maybe they’ll visit her in jail too! Go figure…

Yesterday’s experience with the RDC and District Security Officer was very different. We didn’t end up getting there until 5pm because I got stuck making a bunch of copies and fighting with the printer at work and well, offices close at 5pm. Especially government offices! For some reason I was simply oozing tension, nervousness and fear, which then started making Prossy nervous too! It was SO weird. I was so extremely petrified that I could barely hold my papers, smile and/or nod dumbly. Which was weird because, short of serving us coffee and donuts, these people couldn’t have possibly been nicer or more helpful!

The District Security Officer carefully went through all of the copies that we’d brought – the application, Ella’s birth certificate, the Legal Guardianship form, my passport and work permit and a letter from my organization saying that I work for them. Usually if you give someone a wad of papers like that they look through it hurriedly, then request something that isn’t there and often has nothing to do with what you’re doing. I was SO expecting to have to come back the next day either to bring something or to pick something up. Not so. After checking everything quite thoroughly, asking me a few SIMPLE questions (which was a good thing because I was having trouble even breathing!), he stamped it and sent us to the RDC. Prossy and I then slunk back into the RDC’s office, like a couple of scared refugees seeking asylum, where she had been waiting for us! And by this time it was 5:45pm!! She signed and stamped it, told me “God bless you” and we were on our way. Gave all the copies to the District Security Officers secretary who was also waiting for us, and then we fled! Ella was so good during all of this it was just amazing. I was so worried that she’d start talking about poop or something else totally inappropriate, but she was a perfect angel. I think she must have picked up on Prossy and my extreme nervousness and tension.

So this evening we will try to chase down the LC1 with the recommendation letter. I'm not too worried about that. Just glad that we have the rest of the stamps and signatures that we needed!

Ella and Baby James

Gift just sent me some pictures of "the compound kids" and I just had to post them. They are pretty darned cute!

Baby James is ONE MONTH old today!

James actually had his eyes open and was looking at Ella, making faces. She loved it!

James has still got quite a bit of growing to do in order to catch up with Ella, despite what his dad thinks! Can you believe that I caught myself actually saying, "MINE'S still bigger, Gift!" There is no way that James is half as tall as Ella already. Nope, nothing competitive about me... ;)

We are all really getting a kick out of our kids. I'm so glad that Gift and Kathryn have one now! Kathryn, Ella and I took baby James to the post office in his stroller on Monday. That was interesting! Ugandan roads (even in Entebbe) and strollers were just not meant to go together. Little James' cheeks were really jiggling! Even without the dogs we were quite the circus. Ella and I don't do anything quietly anyway and taking baby James to the post office was no exception.

In only ONE MORE MONTH our new neighbors move in. That will mean MORE compound kids!! They have three little girls and one three month old baby girl, so James will really be outnumbered. It will be really nice for Ella to have some nice playmates (that speak American English!) so close and the entire family will be a fun new addition to the compound. We are all looking forward to it. I just hope that Bridger doesn't take it upon himself to eat their white kids...

Gone to the dogs...

Since Becky’s departure last week, the Uganda Halland household has once again gone to the dogs…

Bridger’s back to his place at the table, which he generously relinquished to his Auntie since she had traveled a long way to come and see him.

He enjoyed his Auntie’s visit but she just didn’t quite get the hierarchical order around here. She mistakenly seemed to think that she was near the top! To be quite frank, she could be down right bossy with him. He graciously put up with quite a bit of injustice because of her blood relations and the fact that, over the years, she has spent quite a bit of money on buying and sending him stuff. Then Ella came, which kind of quenched the flow of doggie gifts, but he doesn’t begrudge her that. Family’s family, whether they’re bossy and don’t give you as many gifts or not.

Sanyu has reestablished her place back on the couch…

…Bridger his chair (and book)

And, because they are exemplary dogs, they will even resort to sharing if the need arises

Ella told me the other day that Bridger couldn’t read to her because of the fact that he couldn’t talk. It didn’t seem to occur to her that he might not be able to read either – just that he couldn’t talk!

Sanyu was driving everyone (but Ella) bonkers yesterday. I tried sending her home with Sarah but it didn’t work. Maybe next time…

Back to the books… how to help a three year old deal with loss and suppressed grief?

Well, it was back to the adoption books over the weekend. This time gleaning all I could on loss and grief. Little Ellster is doing great – she’s a happy child who is a real joy to be around. She seems to have a healthy attachment with me – not anxious or anything. She doesn’t appear to be worried that she’ll be abandoned again and seems very secure that her old Mom will always come back home and won’t leave her anyplace. She’s like a totally different child than what came home 7.5 months ago. So why am I back to the books?

Ella has nightmares and thrashes, screams and cries in her sleep, just about every night. Her pillow will be soaked in the mornings with her tears and sweat. She started this in August after my Mom left and she started sleeping in her own room. I would wake up to her cries of “Mommy! Mommy!” and I’d rush into her room only to find her fast asleep, sobbing. I honestly believe that she was subconsciously crying for her birth mother.

She quit screaming “Mommy” at night and we had several weeks of reprieve the first several weeks of September. Either that or I simply didn’t hear her crying. I slept on the top bunk in her room while Becky was here and she would wake me up at least once a night thrashing around crying.

Our trip to Sanyu’s revealed what I had thought in the first place – that Ella has experienced a tremendous amount of loss in her short life and that she hasn’t allowed herself to properly grieve. She’s so young she might not even know how to. Everyone else just sees Ella as a happy, chipper little girl, which she is. Sometimes I question myself if I’m crazy and if I should just leave well enough alone. But my sister Becky noticed Ella’s nightmares too (Ella even had one during a nap in the car once) and was concerned. Becky has problems sleeping and with nightmares since her husband died in Feb, so she understands. They’ve both experienced loss and grief and have nightmares and cry and thrash in their sleep. So, this has urged me to do some more reading, focusing mainly on how children grieve and how as a parent, you can help them.

My findings have been interesting. Several things that popped out to me were that a) children will often grieve more for lost siblings than they will for their parents and b) children will be reluctant to talk about or mention former families with their adoptive parents, for fear of hurting them, or simply because it makes them feel too sad or because they want to “forget” their former life (denial).

These jumped out at me because Ella STILL, eight months later, prays for little Jorum every night. She doesn’t pray for any of the “mamas” that took care of her, nor Harriet – it’s always Jorum. Also, she refuses to talk about living at Sanyu’s at all. It’s like she’s pretending that she never lived there. I asked her if she used to live at Sanyu’s and she answered, after a hesitation and nervous laugh, “yes” but then said “I don’t know” when I asked what or who she remembered about the place. I don’t know if she’s trying to protect me or herself. I’m thinking its herself. I know that she hasn’t forgotten because she is an extremely perceptive little kid and remembers friends we knew that left in July, as well as other extremely random people.

So, what to do? I’d rather Ella deal with the loss of all the previous people in her life sooner, rather than later. To do this I think I’ll take my mothers suggestion and start taking Ella to Sanyu’s regularly. I’ve hesitated to make this much of a priority because last time we visited it triggered so much grief that I could barely handle it. But I think it’s what she needs to do so that she just doesn’t continue repressing it. Becky said that it really helped her to have to travel past the place twice a day, for a month or so, where her husband was killed. You simply have to deal with it.

My sister suggested waking Ella up from these nightmares - something which I haven’t been doing. I guess I just figured that she’d go back to sleep easier if I didn’t wake her up but Becky says no. Ella does require a LOT of sleep for an almost-four-year-old – probably because she’s not getting much sleep at night. She sleeps an eleven hour night, then takes a 1.5 to 2 hour nap everyday. She doesn’t always want to sleep with me but when we do share a bed it is a lot easier to calm her down at night because I don’t have to be totally awake to do it.

Gosh. And I thought helping her deal with institutionalization for the first six months was wearing! We’ll see how this works. Let the experiments begin!! And please be praying for us.

I have done some more thinking about older child adoption and if I’d do it again. I was a bit ambivalent before. After seeing other mothers with infants (both biological and adopted) and babies my answer is now, “you bet!” Now I would NEVER intentionally leave my child in an orphanage if I could help it, until they were the “right” age, but if I ever were to adopt again I’d go back with a three year old in mind. Maybe even older. Getting adopted at an older age beats never getting adopted at all.

Ella and Sanyu playing on their bike

Officially a Halland!

On our way back from Nakasongola the 8th, we were able to battle our way through traffic and pick up Ella's birth certificate! IT IS FINISHED (well, at least the birth certificate part!)!!!

The newest little Halland proudly displaying her birth certificate bearing her new last name

So she is officially Ella Monica Mukondooli Halland now :). They spelled her Ugandan name, Mukondoli wrong but I was just glad that they got the Halland part right. We will drop the Mukondoli after her adoption is finalized anyway, since it doesn't really mean anything. My name is also on her birth certificate, as her guardian, so that is comforting.

We had no problems at all, what so ever getting this child's birth certificate. No one ever asked to see my legal guardianship papers nor the police report. I could have been getting a birth certificate for Bridger or Sanyu for all they cared!! Praise God that He made this easy for us.

Trip to Nagongera to see Janet

Last Sunday (12th), Becky, Ella and I loaded up the car and headed east to visit Becky's second Compassion child, Janet, in Nagongera. Nagongera is located only 12 km from one of the Bible translation and literacy projects (the Lunyole) that we work with, in Mugulu. I have been to Mugulu many times and the place is just beautiful. I have been greatly blessed with amazing colleagues so it is always nice to see them.

The Lunyole Language Committee is trying to start a guest house there in Mugulu at the offices, so that is where we stayed. Mugulu is just a village and the translation and literacy offices are set out in a field so it is quiet, there are no people, and it's just like being in the country again. Something I REALLY miss after living in an urban setting for so darned long. I am a farmer at heart :).

It was really neat though to be able to take my daughter and sister to one of the language projects and meet some of the people who I work with, which is the reason why I came and have stayed in Uganda in the first place! The work that is done by each of our language projects is the only thing that has kept me going at times. And now Ella has been to two of these projects (the Lugwere in September for their office dedication, and now the Lunyole project) and that makes me happy :). All the translators know her because she attended the last afternoon of the finance meetings this April, and snoozed on the couch in the back of the room. For some odd reason it is important to me that Ella knows what I'm doing. Although at three years old, I don't think she cares much!!

Some of the beautiful tea fields that you pass along the way

The nice thing about Uganda is that there's lots of foliage, making pit stops quite comfortable, allowing you to take your time. I grew up squatting behind sagebrush in Wyoming and Montana so this is a bit of a luxury for the likes of me!

Once again, I was a little concerned about the roads getting into Mugulu and Nagongera. It is a nice road until you reach Namatumba, but then you have to turn off onto a dirt road for about an hour or so until you reach Mugulu. Fortunately for us it was dry season and the roads were GREAT!! And I didn't even get lost, which is pretty good considering I took a "shortcut" and you just never know about finding your way through one of those!

Our good, dry road that my little Toyota Corona sped along

Typical mud/dung huts that the majority of villager dwellers live in

Some of the gorgeous scenery (and cows. We saw several BLUE cows that I just love)

The railroad bridge that you get to cross when heading to Mugulu and Busolwe

We were warmly welcomed at the Compassion project in Nagongera. The school where the project is, is a Christian school run by a Deliverance Church. 250 students are enrolled in the school and 232 have Compassion Sponsors. The school is four years old and the Compassion project is two years old. It was really neat to see the church and Compassion working together so closely. Mom's and Becky's other sponsored children are both in projects associated with government, public schools. This was the first Christian, church run school that I'd been to.

The majority of the children in this school are in nursery or P1 (first grade). Surprisingly (and encouragingly!) there seemed to be and equal number of boys and girls enrolled. Very unusual in village schools. Usually there are far more boys enrolled than girls, as most families don't see any advantages to sending their girls to school.

Becky (sponsor), Florence (in charge of communications with Sponsors), Margret (project director), Peace (head of finance), Janet (sponsor child) and Ella (sponsors niece)

When we showed up, Janet was waiting for us clutching a picture of Becky. In the picture Becky had her hair down and when we arrived Becky had her hair back in a pony tail. This picture is of Peace (the administrator of finance for the project) trying to convince little Janet that Becky was the same one as in the picture! You could tell that she wasn't totally convinced until Beck let her hair down :)

Janet, clutching her picture of Becky, and Ella

The children gathered together and sang several songs for us

The celebrity shaking hands with the children

Becky and Janet, standing in front of the classrooms. They were made of mud and dung. Not as nice as public schools (usually made of falling apart bricks).

Janet's class, P1 A

I was impressed with the teacher to student ratio here. Compared to US standards it wasn't great but compared to Ugandan standards, it was pretty darned good

We went to Janet's house to meet her family. They also welcomed us with songs and dancing.

As with Grace, Becky brought some gifts for Janet, as well as a picture book. The entire family gathered around and greatly enjoyed Janet opening her gifts!

All smiles :)

The family had erected a nice shade for us to sit under, complete with flowers hanging on it!

Janet proudly showing off one of the dresses that Becky had brought for her. Both the dresses fit perfectly!

Janet and her family. Her father died early this year so she lives with her mother, an uncle, several older brothers, baby sister and her orphaned cousin. She comes from a polygamist family so there was also another co-wife and half siblings that also lived nearby.

Janet's mud and dung home

The really cool stove that was in their kitchen hut. Apparently it takes very little fire wood to use

The granary where food and grain is stored

Janet, Becky and Ella with the goat that Janet bought with the money Becky sent for the family

Once again, the family gave Becky gifts. This time a bag of pumpkins and a live chicken! I was mildly jealous of the live chicken as I have lived here THREE AND A HALF STINKIN' YEARS and NO ONE has ever given ME a chicken!! Maybe because I've never given anyone a reason to...;)

After getting some chicken handling techniques from her Grand Champion Chicken Showman mother (two years in a row at the MT fair, then a Reserve Champion Chicken Showman one year), Ella was finally brave enough to sit alone beside the chicken. No idea why this child is so freaked out over poultry. She can handle large dogs and even enormous pigs but ducks and chickens totally freak her out. Nothing her Chicken Showman Mommy can't handle though!

This fine hen of Becky's was left at the Lunyole Bible Translation and Literacy offices in Mugulu.

So we had an awesome visit to see little Janet. She is a DARLING little girl! Now, I see a LOT of children ALL THE TIME and this kid really stood out. She was just too cute. I am very thankful that my family sponsors these kids and that I have the privilege of escorting them to and from the projects when they come to Uganda. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND anyone to sponsor a child through Compassion International. If you pick a child in Uganda then you have your own chauffeur and travel guide, too! I've gotten quite hooked on going and visiting these kids :).

Tuesday we came home, after stopping by the St. Philomena's Iganga Babies Home in Iganga, which my friend, Sister Elizabeth, runs. She wasn't there but we were warmly received and shown around the place. I was really glad that I was able to take Becky to an orphanage before she left, as they have been a big part of my experiences here in Uganda in the last three and a half years. And her nieces too! Who would have thought! Afterwords we headed to Jinja where we had lunch and bought a few gifts for friends. Then we headed home. Ella slept the ENTIRE way to Kampala - about an hour and a half. The traffic was amazingly good and it didn't even take us forever to get through Kampala. All in all, it was an awesome trip and quite the grand finale to Beck's stay.