Homeward Bound

In less than 24 hours I'll be boarding a plane back to the US. I feel
that in some respects my transition home from Uganda will be easier
than the one from Rwanda, since the purpose of this trip wasn't to
study genocide and visit massacre sites. But my time here has been challenging
in other ways most notably, searching and struggling to find my place
in the world. I know that life has gone on without me back home and part of the challenge of returning to the U.S. is reinserting myself into a life that I have not been a part of in so long.

When I think that I won't experience culture shock, though, I look around me and realize that this Ugandan life has become somewhat normal to me over the past few months. I expect to find fruit and vegetables being sold every couple of feet on the side of the road. I expect to see women carrying food, jerry cans, or luggage atop their heads. I greet automatically and sometimes even kneel for elders. The dirt roads and potholes are no longer a shock, nor a disturbance. And some days, I actually crave mashed plantains. I already struggled to readjust from the village to the city following my research, so who knows how it will be readjusting from an African city to an American one.

As my departure time approaches, I realize how significant this experience has been for my personal growth. Although not academically rigorous it has forced me to ask and answer tough questions and subsequently grow intellectually, spiritually and emotionally. I will forever be grateful for the people who guided me and supported me throughout this adventure, for the families who embraced me and cared for me, and for the friends who kept me company along the way.

Things I will miss from Uganda:

10 cent mangoes
5 cent bananas
20 cent avocados (that are double the size of those in America)
Lantern lit dinners
Hand games
The sunsets
Organic food at every meal
The hospitality
Boda bodas (motorcycle transportation)
The pace
Mosquito nets (but not the mosquitoes)
Tea time
My friends
My families
The villages I lived in
The challenges which force me to grow