The next part of my nomadic journey was my stay in Lubowa at the apartment of an EMI couple who was away in the US on home leave. I was very thankful to have some certainty of where I would be for the next three weeks, to have some time alone, and have an opportunity to cook for myself again. Another blessing is that the apartment was close to where Larry and another couple live and so several days a week I would carpool with them to the EMI office to have a different space to do some work. The first week I went almost every day and in the proceeding weeks went less and less as I had more outings that I needed to do for wedding preparations and calls to take for E4C. A few days into my time in the new apartment, Othy and I came to the difficult decision to move the location of the wedding from Butembo to Kampala. This meant that there would be a lot of work ahead in making/changing travel and accommodation arrangements for family members, and planning the wedding in a new place with few people around to help. During those same days I injured my back while walking up some stairs. It was probably caused by a combination of sleeping for the last month on mattresses my back didn’t like, the lack of usual exercise, and increased stress. Healing probably took longer than it should have because I was often having to take matatus and bodas to get around town which are not so gentle on the body! My first big outing was the following Saturday to search for a wedding venue. I am planning to write about it in my next post because I saw some beautiful spots around the city! Another outing was to go and buy fabric for my wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses which I planned to get made.
- Apartment in Lubowa
Wedding fabrics matching the fabric we found in Kinshasa on the left
A view from when I walked up to the top of the hill in Lubowa to see the sunset. A Ugandan family decided to come out and watch me watch the sunset.
After the three weeks were over I made arrangements to move to the house of Paul and Sandra in Konge which is a neighbourhood closer to town. They are a Ugandan couple who hosted me through Couchsurfing two years earlier and this time were willing to host me like an Airbnb. They have two daughters who have grown so much since I last saw them! I stayed with them for two and a half weeks. I was glad to be closer to town because by that point I had many more errands to do such as go to a chiropractor, visit the seamstress, find wedding shoes, visit the Congolese embassy, you name it! Along with these tasks I was working to wrap up my work for E4C. I was thankful that Sandra always made enough food for me to be able to join them for dinner in the evenings. Othy arrived from Beni and was around for a few days, then went to a conference in South Africa for a week, and then came back a few days before both our families would arrive one week before the big day! Few! What a month!
Street in Konge near where Paul and Sandra live
Food tasting! A mix of Ugandan and Congolese fare.
Table setting demo
Life Section 
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