We have reached the end my friends

Greetings from Erie PA!!! I just finished up my first interview at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM); It's appropriate that the last post for this blog comes as I am traveling yet again. I've been back in the States for about a week now, I'm finding that gaining all the weight that I lost while over in Uganda is going to be pretty easy.

Obviously things have been a bit strange in the past few days, not standing out amongst a crowd, now having to speak a different language, even using money that is significantly smaller and all the same color. I still haven't completely processed all of what occurred in the last four months, and frankly it will probably be quite some time before I do. I want to thank everyone back here at home that took the time to read my blog and send countless messages of encouragement when I hit rough patches. I would like to extend a special thank you to all of my friends in Uganda, both local and foreign, who were such great contributors to me both professionally and personally. The main question that everyone has had for me has pertained as to whether or not I am going to return to Uganda at some point in the near future. I believe that fate will eventually bring me back to Uganda at some point in my medical career, but for the time being I'm looking forward to some time at home with my friends and family.

Would I recommend this type of experience for someone else? My answer would have to vary from person to person, there are many pros and cons of going into NGO work, especially in a developing country. Being away from people you know, in a strange environment, completely devoid of western comforts is no bed of roses. The last four months have been filled the most rewarding and heartbreaking experiences of my life, would I do it again? Yes

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." -Marie Curie

Almost

I'm due to check out of my "hotel" here in terminal 4 in about a half hour. I'm roughly twelve hours from McDonalds, hot showers, and all the fun gadgets I had to leave behind.

Last full day in Jinja

This morning I got on the coaster to Bugembe and did the last of my work here in Uganda. I'm headed to my favorite restaurant in about two hours to have one last dinner and say goodbye to the staff. I've been there so much in the last four months that I know most of them by name and the owner put some photos of me in the latest advertisement for the place. Tomorrow afternoon a vehicle sent by the University will pick me up and drive me three hours to Entebbe, the town next to the airport. At 9:05 on Monday morning British Air flight 62 will carry me off to merry old England, there's a good chance that my next post will be from Heathrow airport.

Floating on the nile again

Just got back from Nile River Explorers where I spent the day taking an introduction to whitewater kayaking course. We spent the morning in still water learning how to paddle, exit, and roll the kayak back over. After a quick luck we took about two hours running rapids on the Nile; a few of them really threw you around, but I managed to stay upright through all of them.

Last Medical Outreach Assignment

Yesterday I was asked to go out to a school and have a "quick look" at the students. I didn't find out till I arrived that there were over 180 students, and that I was going to be examining each one of them. Over the course of about four hours I managed to get a pretty good overview of the health of the student population. I gave each of the students a brief exam looking for any major problems, as well as dressing any small wounds that I found. After I was finished I gave a short talk on hygiene and basic health to the teachers, overall I was very impressed with the way the school was being run.