Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Pieces of the Puzzle

2 months in. Uganda is comfortable to me now, but I miss home if I slow down long enough to let the sadness in. Its a good sadness. Sadness that comes from having something really good in life. Something really good to miss. I miss friends, family, my cat, my home, Portland, food I can really get full from. Fresh air, mountains, clean water you can drink.... just like that, right out of the tap.

I'm in Gulu these days. Its 95+ everyday. Dust storms stir by. You don't want to be out much in peak hours. Peak hours being 10 am to 5 pm. You'll exhaust yourself. Dawn is almost cool enough to remind me of home. Dusk is brilliant. Smoke hangs so thick it makes L.A. look like a model green city. Bats swarm this one tree near my street, near the police barracks. I don't think anyone notices them much.

I meet expats here and there. Some seem... so oblivious to the culture their in. As if it didn't even matter where they do their work. I see many Westerners frustrated. It makes me laugh. I get frustrated, but for the same reasons I usually get frustrated. I'm hungry, or I'm not getting my way in my personal life. =) That's not culturally specific. That's just me. I feel fortunate.

You know there is nothing better than putting in a cd you haven't heard for a really long time? It brings you back to another time and place. A whole different era in ones life. Yet, the lyrics are still relevant.

I'm looking for work. You should see how Ugandans laugh when I tell them that. Ok wait, you're American and you came to Uganda to look for work? I have nothing so far. Somehow, it's ok. I know it will come eventually. It has to. I've been to a born again church, a Catholic church, AND a mosque in the last 2 weeks so I've got a couple different versions of God working on my side. Plus it looks like due to some financial help from my mom and her friends, 4 kids I've met will get to attend school this term who otherwise could not afford it. I'm so thankful to them. These kids were going to have to stay home if they were not sponsored.

Maybe the variety of churches made one of the gods angry though, because I got food poisoning and malaria in the same day. Talk about hell! Let's just say I let out a yelp at the clinic which could be heard across the street when they pricked my finger. I'm that much of a wimp. Then after being instructed to take my medication with food, I proceeded to a cafe. Only, the sudden movement crossing the street made my stomach turn, so as I sat down and the server greeted me, I had no choice but to empty my paper bag of medicine and promptly vomit in it in front of the other guests. It was one of my classier moments for sure! I'm all better now.

That pretty much gets us caught up.