Going back and forth between Uganda and America always brings its own quirky challenges. When we return back to our Uganda home, it is always an adjustment to get our house back in order, reconnect with ministry relationships, remembering how to hear / speak Ugandan English again, and just settling back into a different culture. Because we are fully American but live fully in Uganda, sometimes when we travel to and from our two different “homes” we get a bit confused and make the simplest of mistakes. This year coming back to Uganda has brought with it some funny re-learning stories that I shared in a previous blog: Always Learning. After I wrote that blog, I had another funny and humbling experience:

Leland and I were traveling to Kampala to pick up a visitor. On the way, we were stopped by a police officer. This is a common occurrence, not because of our driving, but because the police officers are often looking for a “reason” to give someone a ticket or to discuss another option…

So when we were stopped, the officer looked at our car insurance. Right before this trip, Leland asked me to check our car insurance to see if it needed to be renewed, and I had confirmed that it didn’t expire until November. It was the end of September, so we were good on insurance, and I was confident when the officer looked at the sticker. He told us that the insurance was expired and I confidently said it didn’t expire until November. The officer then said…“Now see in this country, we read dates with the day first, then the month, and the year.” I scoffed and Leland told the officer we had lived in Uganda for many years and that “My wife knows the date system.” Leland then requested to step out of the vehicle to look at the insurance sticker and this is where I was humbled. I had read the date wrong. <face palm emoji here> The date of expiration was 11/9/2024, hence me thinking it didn’t expire until November! I read it like an American and not a Ugandan. Leland, the officer, and I laughed about the whole situation. The officer was very kind and let us go, but we might have made his day with our ridiculousness.

These humbling experiences are a reminder that we are always learning, no matter where we live or what culture we’re in. We have to laugh at ourselves and continue to keep learning. I hope you can laugh at yourself and learn something new today.