Back in Uganda!

a view mt. wanali from the road between my new and old site

it's been a pretty busy month and i feel like the smoke is just now beginning to clear a bit. somewhere around the middle of june, peace corps called me to say that i was finally all set to return to uganda and my old house in the village. after receiving this very exciting news, i immediately arranged my flight, giving myself about a week to prepare and pack.

i arrived in kampala on june 22nd with every expectation of being re-settled in my old house by the end of the week. i guess i'd been away long enough to forget that one really should not assume or make serious expectations about anything happening in peace corps. i suppose i felt a little untrusting of the promise that i'd be returning to my old home and knew i wouldn't really believe it until i was back. in one brief phone conversation on the day before i was supposed to move in, i learned that my housing situation at the school would be impossible to work out. i can't really blame anyone, but it is really disappointing and i wish i hadn't been promised my old house without having any assurances. an alternate plan was quickly made and i am in the process of making a fresh start. it is unexpected and challenging, but i suppose that is why i am here. i promise to post more about my new home once i have time to process it more completely.

anyway, i thought i would share some of my thoughts from "moving day":

"um, where did the taxi go?"

[upon arrival in tororo, i hired a car to help me move my many things to my new home. before leaving town, i needed to stop by a friend's place to collect some belongings i had left here in october. the car brought us there and parked outside the gate. as we brought the last of my stuff out of the house and through the gate, i noticed the car (containing everything i own in this country) was gone. apparently, another vehicle had come down the road and the driver needed to move. at any rate, it was kinda scary.]

"ok, just eat everything except the head."

[that's all you get, haha!]

"man, i wish i was living here"

[this was all that went through my head as i picked up my old bed from the house where i used to live. peace corps told me prior to my return that i would be able to move back into the very same house i had before, which ended up being just a tiny bit false. i am now about an hour away and missing my old village - one of the reasons i came back to uganda. but it is a fresh start and quite honestly may offer more opportunities in the way of meaningful work. so. moving onward...]

"did we just hit a cow...AGAIN?"

[you may recall a previous post in which i was in a college vehicle, moving to site after training, when we t-boned a cow. well, this time, i was in a college vehicle, moving to site after reinstatement, and BAM, we plowed right into another cow. wtf??? if there are any cows reading this, STAY OUT OF THE ROAD! THEY WON'T STOP FOR YOU!]

"so when exactly is the shouting and conversation outside my window going to stop?"

[it's 11pm and i am sitting inside my new home (essentially a studio apartment). it is small, clean, and has a plenty of potential. however, there is an unreasonable amount of commotion coming from a group of students outside. in fact, because of the acoustics of the veranda, it sounds as if they are all inside. i am hoping it will not be a regular occurrence. this muzungu is gonna need some sleep...]