Homesick again

Yup. I miss Uganda more than I thought I would. I was ready to leave but the last week was great, only making me miss Uganda more. Sure, Kampala was miserable most of the time. But I loved the rest of the country that I got to see. I especially miss all of the great people that I was there with. We had some fantastic times together. Especially memorable was the sloshball game and matooke ball on our last night on the island. Now there is no one to complain to about my transportation issues or to understand how crazy it is that I have so many choices for meals. I walked into Kroger the other day and was slightly overwhelmed, just like the time I walked into Kohl's and into Target. I just feel like things here are too easy. I don't know. I'm just a little lost trying to fit back into the life I lived here for so long.

I feel slightly disgusted with myself looking in my closet and seeing all of the clothes I have that I only wear once a month or so after seeing people who wear one set of clothing over and over again though it is clearly worn out. I know I learned a lot and changed a lot in Uganda and it will be interesting to see how this will manifest itself in my everyday life. I think of Uganda all the time now. I saw a commercial on the internet that had a reference to jackfruit in it, a fruit that I have only seen in Uganda. I really don't like the fruit itself but hearing about it on this Thai commercial made my day. Then later that day I saw the video for Keep Bleeding, a song that is now popular here but that I became familiar with in Uganda, hearing a great rendition by Dylan and Maribel during the matooke ball. And then my sister's concert band played highlights from The Lion King for their concert yesterday. I think these signs all point to the fact that I should have stayed a little while longer. But I am moving away from home yet again next weekend to start an internship in Washington D.C. that will take most of the summer. Hopefully once I'm busy again I won't feel this melancholy and nostalgia for times just a few weeks ago. This feeling of being overwhelmed that I get everywhere will likely go away sooner or later, as will the strange urge to drive on the left side of the road. Meanwhile, hopefully the jetlag will end and I won't feel sleepy all of the time anymore. Perhaps I just have sleeping sickness.

Mvudeyo

I am sitting in a hotel room near JFK and it's so weird. I really miss Uganda now as well as the great group of people I got to know there. And tomorrow evening I head home. I am really looking forward to seeing my family again. I think the culture shock from this semester will be much worse than coming home from Ecuador. It's just so different here. Just sitting in Heathrow was overwhelming. We were surrounded by muzungus, for one thing. Everyone was nicely dressed and was carrying fancy electronics. In New York, it's amazing how efficient the airtram system is-the tranpsortation at the airport here is much better than the transportation system in all of Kampala. There are no bodas weaving in and out of traffic, people complain about everything and move much more quickly and I blend in so easily in the crowd. I miss hearing muzungu and walking slowly once in a while. I should probably get some sleep because I'm heading over to the airport early tomorrow to spend some time shopping for books and eating Wendy's junior bacon chesseburgers. Mvudeyo-I have returned.

Almost there

I am so over this place. This is probably my stressed-out self talking, but I am very ready to go home. This week has been slightly crazy. Other than finishing up my research paper, and not really having much to go from with it, I have had some interviews and tomorrow promises to be a hectic day, running around town trying to return materials from where I borrowed them. Everyone is slowly trickling back into the city and it's good to see everyone again. We will all be together starting Saturday night so it will be nice to hear everyone's stories.

A few interesting things have happened so far this week. On Sunday, there was a rabid dog running around and since then, it's been lying dead on our street. It's right by a school and no one has moved it yet. It's getting pretty gross. This just adds to my desire to leave, as does my experience two days ago. I was crossing the road and a boda driver was nice and stopped for me to cross because I had been standing there for a while. However, another boda driver wasn't so nice and drove around the stopped boda and ran over my left foot. Luckily, he stopped to yell at me so only one of the wheels went over my foot. No damage done-just a little bruising. It just added to my general feelings of misery regarding Kampala. Boy has this semester been long. There are so many things I am looking forward to, the first of which is finishing this dumb paper and the second of which is boarding that plane on Monday morning (May 12, not May 5-I wish). I'm kind of past the point caring how well I do on this project because I really don't think it will turn out well, but everyone seems to be in the same boat. Now we all know why the practicums we read at the beginning of the year were so bad-and ours will be comparable. Oh well. It was nice to get on the internet and do a bit of procrastination, but I should probably go back to work now. I am really looking forward to May 12-it couldn't come soon enough!