6 Months in Country

Today is the half year mark since I arrived in Uganda. Wow! Where has the time gone?

On the one hand it doesn’t feel like I’ve already been gone from home for that long. On the other, it feels like I’ve been here much longer than only 6 months. So much has happened in such a short amount of time!

I’ve met so many amazing people and made some great friends. I’ve traveled and seen some cultural differences around the country. I’ve seen life through a different perspective and gained a great appreciation for how lucky mine has been.

After being shoved 12 people into a 5 passenger car and weaving in and out of an almost nonexistent road that takes 3x as long to travel on as that same distance in America, never again will I complain about long car trips.

I don’t consider going four days to a week without washing my hair, finding bugs in my food but still eating it, and wearing the same outfit 5 days in a row gross.

It’s not weird to see police men with AK47s on the street nor do I give a second thought to10 year olds slashing grass with a machete.

These people can make anything fit anywhere no problem. They’re also like McGyver when it comes to fixing things. And carrying things on your head? Forget about it.

Don’t know if I’ll ever understand why no one bats an eye at exposed breasts, but if a woman’s knee is showing everyone loses it. Also how the traffic cops keep their uniforms so white when they’re standing on a dusty road all day when I can’t even keep mud off my ankles for more than a few hours.

A typical day of a villager might be: cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a fire in the outside kitchen, sitting in their very small duka (shop) waiting for someone to buy some small item from them, or waking up at dawn to go dig on their plantation and returning home to sleep at dusk.

The highlight of that villager’s day might be: cooking something slightly different than the usual matooke, earning more than a few thousand shillings at the duka, or it being slightly cloudy so they suffer less from the sun.

If there’s a reason to party, a Ugandan knows how to throw a big one.

I’ve learned that privacy is a privilege that you don’t really have when you’re a celebrity or a mzungu. I now know for sure that I do not want to ever be famous.

Whoever said that milk, butter, cheese, eggs, yogurt, or anything for that matter, needed to be refrigerated?

Important rule: Be sure to keep your electronics charged in case of random power outages.

Weird to think about how I’ll be able to drink from the tap without having to boil the water first when I go back. Nice to think about how I won’t have to worry about bargaining on prices when I go back.

Will I buy a washing machine/dryer back home? What about a hair dryer?

Just realized I won’t be able to use “It was raining” as an excuse for being late to work because I’ll have a car and roads are paved instead of walking in the mud.

I feel super behind with what’s happening in the pop/trendy part of the world thanks to lack of Youtube, radio, and fast internet to look up memes.

Living here really can change a person. I definitely think it’s changed me in my short time here and not only by making me look more and more like a tomato from sunburns. There are a lot of things I miss from the states. Certain foods, convinces, cultural norms, etc., but I really have enjoyed these last 6 months and I’m very glad I’ve been placed in this country. I’ve been very lucky to have had such a great first ¼ of my service. I know it won’t always be so easy and challenges will come, but I have a great support system from family and friends, both here and back home. With that I know that every day can be better than the last and I’m looking forward to see how this experience plays out :)