I’m not sure how everyone does it–moving to another country–but we are very blessed to be able to move in stages. It goes like this…we get to ship a trunk to Uganda each time a short-term mission team goes over to South Sudan. Next week, a team leaves and so we get to ship our first two trunks of household goods. It’s exciting! We’re beginning the move!
That means we have spent the last four days shopping, gathering, and packing. It’s been quite a weekend! We’ve been to Nasir several times and we have some idea of what we’ll need; we’ve shopped in Kampala and we know a bit of what we can and cannot purchase there; and yet, it feels like we have absolutely no idea what we should take. We’ve prayed a lot for wisdom on which items are necessary, which items will provide some extra comfort, and which items would be excessive and therefore will not make the cut. Lots of wisdom.
And then there’s the issue of my Type A personality. I’ve made a Master List…color-coded and categorized. Then I made a shopping list (one for each store) and a gathering list (for items we already own). Then we went shopping. Then the packing nightmare began. How do you fit two years worth of household items into TWO TRUNKS?!?!?
Oh, right, this is just a start and we still have four more trunks when we move in September, as well as a couple more later. But still…it’s bizarre packing for TWO YEARS!!
Anyway, just a few minutes ago I taped the trunk inventory lists inside the trunk lids and shut them…they’re ready to go! Hopefully, the items inside are items we’ll be very thankful to have packed and taken. Hopefully we’ll get everything else into the next four trunks. Hopefully…
Here’s some of the packing mania that has been going on around here (don’t worry, this page is now FULL of color-coded lists)…
Then there was IKEA shopping for a LOT of the items we are taking to Nasir. It’s seriously the best place to find inexpensive, compact household goods. And shop we did!
So, my good friend Myraida is a pretty amazing cook…and the best part is that she cooks a lot of rice and beans. You know, our staple diet in Nasir. So, she’s my resource for all things spices, rice, and beans and she suggested two Hispanic spices to make arroz y frijoles taste good: adobo and sázon. I haven’t tried them yet (although I’ve had her cooking and it’s yummy), but she and I are going to do some cooking lessons before we leave and hopefully it will change the way I feel about frijoles.
Carefully packed, weighed, and inventoried, we will soon have two trunks on their way to Uganda!