You Know You've Been In Uganda When...

Overheard in the car ride home from the airport:

• First question out of his mouth: "Who won the NBA finals?" That's my boy.

• "It's weird to driving in a car." Not only a car, but one that has the steering wheel on the "other" side.

• "I can't wait to take a shower. I haven't taken one for a long, long time." This is a miracle, considering I could hardly get Frack to take one regularly, even when the shower is about 6 steps from his bed. 

• "Are you hungry?" I asked him. "No, mom. The airplane food was so good!"

• "I wrote in my journal every day." You could have knocked me over with a feather. We had the biggest fight over including a small, wire bound notebook in his backpack. "I'll never use it," he said before he left.

• "The best part of the entire trip was when we got to play in an actual soccer game with the kids from the school we were at, against another team from another school. The entire village came to watch the match. We were like super stars." Frack reported that the people in the village they were in LOVE white people because they don't get to see them very often. "And I scored the only goal," he added with a smile. 

• "Yes, mom. I will get a buzz cut tomorrow." Again, shock. This kid is the same kid who could barely see out from under the shaggy bangs that covered his eyes. We had royal battles over hair cuts for picture day, his job and semi-formal dances. If I knew all I had to do was send him to Africa for three weeks...I will happily take him for the world's most expensive haircut today.

• "We talked a lot about our families. I told the group that my mom undoubtedly had our itinerary taped to the refrigerator door and was telling everyone what we were doing every day." he said. Well, it wasn't taped to the fridge...exactly. 

• "First thing I'm doing tomorrow is going to McDonald's and then to see Spiderman,"  he said. And it was then that I knew that my boy was home. Safe, and exactly where he belongs. 

I Freakin' Hate Bugs

So I just got finished reading my buddy Scope's post about spiders, and it got me to thinking about bugs and how much I hate them.

Sorry bugs, I hate you. All of you.

Then I got to thinking about Frack and about how my baby boy is leaving in 5 short days to travel to Uganda on a three and a half week mission. Going on a mission to help build a school in an impoverished country is a great opportunity for Frack. He will be seeing and doing things that most kids his age may never get the chance to do and learning important survival and life skills.

But they cautioned us about the bugs.

Mainly the mosquitoes, and in Uganda they carry diseases like Malaria. Frack has gotten all of the necessary shots for his trip abroad, but I'm SUPER paranoid about the mosquitoes. The kids have already start taking anti-malaria medications now, and will continue during their entire three and a half weeks there, then for a week after they return home. You have to know it's a concern when the packing list and itineraries all require a treated mosquito net for sleeping,  I started talking to all the other moms and we all decided that if we can treat the mosquito net for sleeping, then we can treat the clothes for wearing. And the sleeping bags, and their shoes and clothes and their back packs and whatever else is accompanying them on their journey. I just decided to treat the shit out of everything.

Cuz I freakin' hate bugs. And I especially hate mosquitoes. In Uganda.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate Uganda. Uganda was voted one of the best places to travel to in 2012, and I couldn't be happier that my son will get to experience this beautiful country on an exhibition, I just hate the Ugandan mosquitoes and bugs. And then there is a long laundry list of other things I am worried about. Of course the helicopter mom is worried about everything but despite my worries, I recognize that it's time for Frack to spread his 16 year-old wings and fly.

I just don't want him flying around with the bugs that carry disease.