I'm ready to go,
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake...
Errr... Ok well the bags are packed and I've already got the vivid dreams and insomnia from my malaria medication, so I guess I'm as ready to go as I'll ever be. I'm anxious (possibly another side-effect of the drug) and excited to just go and get started. This extended break has been too long!
Still, I'm hesitant. My experience this past summer in Tamale, Ghana left me a little jaded as far as living abroad. I know this a completely different country, city and organization, but Ghana is my only other experience of being abroad an extended amount of time. I never again want to be so desperate to go home that I miss out on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. I don't want to be relieved when I get malaria and nearly starve to death because I have an excuse to sleep all day.
Overall, Ghana was amazing. (Especially Khalfani and Erica!)
We were, um... completely professional the whole time...
Two months in Ghana honestly changed so much of how I view the world. I do not regret going. I can say all that and still recognize that I did not use my time there to its full potential. I don't want to make that same mistake in Uganda. I chose this country to push myself out of my comfort zone and it would be a waste to not embrace that.
I have my ideas about what I would like to learn, observe and experience in Uganda, but I'd like a little perspective. So now I'm going ask for some audience participation. I would like this blog to be interactive, so hopefully this can kindle discussions to be continued.
What would you do if you were in Uganda?
Observe mountain gorillas? See the source of the great Nile? Investigate the issues surrounding homosexuality? (that's a fun one)
I doubt that everyone who reads this blog will get the chance to go to Uganda. I'm writing this so that more people will feel like they have. Try to think of something you would like to hear about.
Weefeko - "look after yourself"
Seeing Lake Victoria, learning about the history of the people there, learning about their art and music, and learning a little bit of their language.
ReplyDeleteSince I cannot go, I would watch "Mountains of the Moon" and trace the source of the Nile.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100196/
Make friends there that can tell you the dreams they have for the future of their country.
ReplyDeleteLet them get to know you as an American that is quite different from the stereotype.
Make a list of what you want to take with you when you return to Uganda.
Make art that you leave behind.