Sitting on top of the world

Sitting on top of the world
Me and Bre at 3,000 feet

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Last Blog from Gulu

So in about 3 hours all 20 of us will be packing into a van and leaving Gulu for good. We'll be heading to Murchison Falls today and sleeping out in tents, and tomorrow we'll be going on a half day Safari and then making the 8 hour drive back down to Kampala. Basically I will be in a van for 14 hours tomorrow, yikes! Monday is rafting and Bungee jumping into the Nile, Tuesday is the market in Kampala, and Wednesday I'll be coming home (although I'll be arriving at JFK on Thursday). A totally sweet man in a uniform will be waiting for me at the airport with my name on a card and everything! I feel like such a grown-up, lol, I'll be going from boda rides in Gulu to a sweet Benz in NYC! I hate to say it but.....I deserve it! :)

This trip has been such an amazing experience because it has been, if anything, a hardcore kick in the teeth as far as reality is concerned. My perspective has totally changed, and I think for the better. I feel as if I was pushed to the limit  and past it in so many ways, and I definitley know a lot more about myself and what I'm capable of. Teaching in Africa is nothing like I thought it would be, but I feel as if that's a good thing. Sometimes I guess it takes travelling 12,000 miles to see how good of a teacher you can be. If anything, I now know that a budget means nothing. It doesn't matter how many sharpies, sentence strips or post-its you have, an education comes from the heart and minds of the students and teacher combined. I can't wait to how my new Kindergartners and First graders all of my pictures and videos, and they're totally going to love my giraffe skirt :)

A quick recap of some of the cultural differences here:

People will very often raise their eyebrows to say "yes"
Men hold hands (just friends)
People are really used to opening bottles with their teeth
Motorcycle helmets don't really happen, and you will often see a man on a motorcycle with 2 three year olds straddling the front and another child in the back
People don't give you change, they make "balance"
Time is measured not in a "little bit" but a "few some minutes"
Jeans are just starting to be ok for women to wear in public
I had to leave a restaurant the other night because the owner got drunk and closed himself in the kitchen

There are so many more, but I'm heading over to Kope to get one last sandwich, and in Uganda, waiting an hour or two for food is completely normal. 

I finished "The Things They Carried", and although I thought I forgot it at home, I just found "The Kite Runner", and I'll probably tear through that in the car.

I can't wait to get home, see my family, my roommate, my friends, and eat a bagel!

I think just out of habit I'm going to stand in my bathroom when I get home, fill the sink with water and throw cups of it onto myself to get clean, cold of course! Just kidding, I don't think they have enough hot water in Boonton to satisfy the shower I'm going to take!

Peace Out

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