MONDAY 17th December 2012
We have eaten too much!
Oh my goodness! What an experience!Stanley has been well and truly enthroned!
Yesterday started with breakfast at The Adonai Guesthouse st 7:30 am with Mansoor arriving dead on 8am ready to drive us to Namirembe Cathedral for the service. We weren't allowed to take cameras because security was very tight as President Museveni was due to attend. Which he did arriving  half an hour after the Service had started and leaving immediately after he had made a speech - all about AIDS  and Homosexuality which I felt was out of place but was obviously intended to please the large group of Bishops from America and especially the Bishop  who gave the sermon. The Americans are very generous donors to several projects close to Archbishop Stanley's heart.......
The service lasted over SIX hours but we had been warned to take a snack and a bottle of water! Baz ate all the biscuits! The pews were very hard but I am becoming an expert at lengthy church services viz The Royal Wedding!
When the service ended - and it was very colourful indeed - we've never seen so many bishops in one place. Archbishop of York  John Sentamu spoke beautifully. Interestingly, in his sermon, Bishop Bob Nash mentioned The Uganda Martyrs and The death of Bishop Luwum who spoke against Idi Amin and was also martyred........We walked down to the Reception at Mengo  School. A wonderful spectacle of traditional dancers and drummers were performing against a background of marquees and we were directed to a marquee labelled International Visitors. We found ourselves seated behind Archbishop Stanley and Archbishop Sentamu amongst tables full of bishops from Overseas. We manage to find Bishop George Kasangaki in an adjoining  marquee and greeted him and Joyce. The we lined up to collect our food - loads of matooke and sweet potatoes and millet and 2 kinds of rice  with goat stew  and  chicken and beef cooked with veggies and peanut sauce with coleslaw plus a choice of soda and fresh pineapple, watermelon and paw paw!
We sat with Janine and Sallie  and The Collors. I met the Bishop of Bristol who reminded me that Keynsham is in the Diocese of Bath and Wells!!!!!
The speeches were kept to  minimum and we were royally entertained by the  dancers and drummmers.Finally the cake was cut and Beatrice and Stanley served us all in our tent and finally finally the big black 4x4 donated by President Museveni was driven on to the lawn and Archbishop Stanley drove it  briefly.It all finished at 4pm and Mansoor miraculously found us and drove back to our Guesthouse where Baz had a lay down and I attempted to write up Fridays exploits (I  found the draft I'd lost!) BEFORE GOING OUT AGAIN AT 7PM to attend the Reception for Overseas visitors at the Archbishops place,! Wow! More food and very few speeches. I didn't take any photoes as it was in marquees again all lit up by fairy lights. Very atmospheric with different groups or choirs  singing  Christian songs to beautiful African melodies This time the food included fried bits of fish  so Baz ate a bit of protein!This party  ended at   9:30 pm and again Mansoor found us and drove back to the Adonai. I must say that the organisation has been superb and Canon Alison  and SAMS Missionary Susan have been more than helpful. Absolutely fantastic hospitality and timekeeping. I feel a bit of a fraud being classed as an Overseas Visitor but then Baz did make the flight specifically to attend George's Consecration and Stanley's enthronement.