It's Been a While

I’ve been slightly MIA lately. I haven’t felt like blogging, not even here. But I’m back!

It took a little reflection and a chat with my mom to adjust my attitude and start loving Uganda again.

I finally realized that all of the problems I felt I’d been having recently actually have very simple solutions. If you’re bored at work, find something to do! Go on a field visit, even if it will be in all Acholi and you won’t actually understand – at least you’re there. If you’re getting bitten by mosquitoes, start using the mosquito net. If you can’t sleep because it’s hot, deal with it and realize you’ll have the most beautiful, fulfilling sleep the next night when the fan is working again. When you get a cold while in Uganda, laugh it off because it’s bizarre enough to be funny.

My expectations for Africa were too high. Before I left, Africa was this magical, foreign place full of excitement and endless entertainment. Now, I realize that, as different as Gulu is from home, it’s in many ways the exact same. Maybe that’s why I feel so comfortable here, despite the language and cultural barriers. When it comes down to it, all humans are the same. All they want in the end is to be happy and healthy.

This morning, the munus got to meet our friend Emma’s new baby boy, Jonathan. The hospital room had 8 women with their newborns and family crowded in it, the moms were eating fried bread and bananas while breast-feeding their babies openly, the babies were wrapped in traditional fabrics, and everyone was speaking Acholi. Despite the differences between Lacor Catholic Hospital and say, the hospital I was born in at home, the most apparent thing to me this morning was the love everyone felt for newborns and for each other. It made me happy, clearly.

I would post a picture of my favorite new baby, but his dad is not here to ask, so I won't. But I promise he's quite beautiful. A 'latin aber', as they would say in Acholi.