Goodbye Kampala

Here's a good trick we learned tonight: when you're stuck in a traffic jam- literally bumper to bumper, cars on every side of you- someone will come up behind the driver's side door and pound on the car. This of course causes the people in the car to jump and turn around to look, at which point someone else can open the door or slip a hand through a window on the opposite side of the car and grab a bag of a purse. Luckily, about one minute before this happened to us, a nice man in the car next to us warned that this was about to happen and we had time to lock our doors and roll up the windows. Neat trick, huh?

I'm having mixed feelings about leaving Uganda tomorrow. I am simultaneously feeling that I've only just gotten here and that I've been here forever. I've met some wonderful people here and seen and experienced things I will never forget and that will shape my perspectives and my worldview from now on. And it's funny too that things that so fascinated and surprised me now seem commonplace. Like seeing people walking down the street with rifles. Or driving in the crazy traffic on Boda bodas, weaving in and out of what seem impossible spaces to pass through. Seeing all the things people are trying to sell on the side of the road- flip flops, coffee mugs, car mats, fruits and vegetables, furniture, Tupperware, clothing, maps, phone accessories, meat from the butcher... You name it, you can probably find it on the side of the road somewhere in Kampala. Or even things like the concept of time, and patience, and flexibility. Time runs differently in Africa and you just have to go with it or be perpetually punctual but frustrated. And then there's the stark contrast between the rich and the poor. It is never more clear than it is here in Kampala. You can travel from the slums to the malls and the fancy restaurants in a matter of minutes. You can see children wearing rags, or nothing at all, and walk down the road and see private boarding schools and shops with new clothes and shoes, toys and games.. 

I have so much processing to do about this experience and the things I've seen, and I don't think I'll be able to fully start that decompression until I get back home. And I don't know what that will even look like yet. But I hope I'm able to fully comprehend what this experience has meant to me, how it has changed me, and what actions I will now take in my life because of it.