Farewell to Uganda...

This will probably be my final blog post while I am in Uganda.
The internet has been incredibly slow here lately, so pictures from my source of the Nile/white water rafting/bungee jumping adventure a couple weeks ago will have to wait until I am back on American soil (and American high-speed internet). It was my last exciting sightseeing trip around Uganda, and I had such a great time. I will write an entry about my experience and post photos once I get home.

Yesterday I reluctantly spent the day saying goodbye to all of my friends in the village. I had not at all expected this process to be as difficult as it was. It was the toughest leaving my peer educators. Many of them came by my house to talk individually as I was packing. I had not realized how much of a relationship I have actually formed with some of these kids until I had to tell them goodbye. I think the most dispiriting thing is that I most likely will never see them again; I may travel through Uganda again one day, but the chances of me returning to Kiwangala are slim. And although I have given my email address to many people in the community, I am fully cognizant of the fact that most of them will not have the opportunity to open an email account or pay for the internet time to use it. However, I have wonderful memories of the people I met, so that is what’s most important.

It has been a week of “lasts”—last training with my peer educators, last meal of beans, last taste of street food, last scenic run, last sunrise over the village, and last crowded, hot taxi ride (hooray for that one). The final month here has gone by so quickly, and I can honestly say I am not quite ready to leave. Although I am excited to come home, I will greatly miss my life here. I never imagined it would be this difficult to say goodbye.

So, farewell from Uganda! I am off to Kampala for the weekend to do some craft shopping. I fly home next week and will write more then. I appreciate everyone who has been reading and following my experience. Thank you!

Funny Story:
As I packed my things, I was purging as much as possible to make room in my luggage for souvenirs. All day I had been coming out of my room with exciting gifts for my family (if you consider empty vitamin bottles and pencils exciting). I think my host mother was beginning to feel like she should give me something.
She appeared at my bedroom door with a large metal teapot, saying “From me, to you.” It was a lovely gesture, but all I could think was “Ummm—I am so tight on space that I just spent the last 10 minutes trying to squeeze all of my prescription medications into one pill bottle. Where am I going to put a giant teapot?!?”