Personal Reflections

Today’s date, the 8th, marks the two month anniversary of my departure from the United States. I find it funny that as I write this it is almost eight AM central time, approximately the time I boarded a bus in downtown Milwaukee that brisk morning in early June. I started writing in a journal after my first full day here in Uganda, I would have liked to have had a detailed account of the flight over, but I had no writing utensils until I arrived in the capital (you’d be surprised how much trouble that gave me during my three flights).

In many ways the experience thus far has been completely different from the way I pictured it when I initially concocted this crazy idea.

I guess we should go back even further than my departure from the US; over a year ago I was wandering around Kampala with the rest of the group from Wisconsin. I was still quite jetlagged, having only been about 24 hours off of the plane, and frankly just wanted to go back to our guest house and lie down. It was during a stop in the main post office that I was approached by a white gentleman who plainly asked “are you guys from Wisconsin too?”. He explained that he was the CEO of an NGO called We International based out of Madison.

Seven months later, I shared my idea of returning to Uganda with David while eating lunch at a Madison diner. Sitting in that booth with snow blanketing the scenery and bitter cold temperatures blowing through the cracks in the door made Uganda feel like more than a world away. With a full semester of school left this journey seemed more like a vacation to look forward too rather than an extended project.
Another half a year goes by; I rub my eyes as the EgyptAir plane (which was older than I am), descends into Entebbe international airport. As step from the plane, the equatorial heat (even at 4 AM) that I remember so well covers me like a blanket. Am I really going to be here for five months?

After a month in Jinja, I marvel at how fast my time is going, but an still daunted by the fact that it will be another 120 days until I taste anything that even resembles a cheeseburger. I continue to struggle with the local language and culture, I’ve realized at this point that the dose of Ugandan culture that I received last time was a fraction of the amount I’ve been handed. Am I going to make it another four months?

August 8, 2009: As I finish the last of my sandwich at the muzungu frequented coffee house and down the last of my coke, I realize that real Heinz ketchup the most widely distributed soda in the world are all I need to feel at home.

So what do I think of my time here thus far? The following is a list of things I feel that I’ve gotten significantly better at since getting here: Drawing blood, speaking Luganda, and playing pool (thanks British volunteers).

As the “summer” begins to wind down, the groups of westerners seen during the high season begin to show with less frequency. In my short time here I’ve seen a slew of other volunteers come and go; I’ve had the unpleasant task as of late of saying goodbye to many of the other long term volunteers. By the time October rolls around, almost all of the friends I’ve made thus far will have returned to their countries of origin. I remind myself that I have not even reached the halfway point of this journey and there is still quite a bit of work ahead of me, both here and in the US. The most recent development is that I am looking to spend some time in Rwanda, not sure how long, but I would leave sometime in mid September. Given that August seems to be speeding along, it won’t be long before I’m constantly refreshing ESPN.com to keep track of Badger games or writing letters back to my Mom’s class.

Am I really going home in just twelve weeks?