Good People

Uganda is full of wonderful people!  Acholi, Buganda, Wazungu, they’re all great.  I’m enjoying making new friends here and am learning to appreciate never having a moment alone.  Last night I went with a friend to his friend’s house to celebrate his birthday.  He’s 25 and it’s the first time he has ever celebrated.  After presents and cake, he gave a short speech and it made me realize how special birthdays really are, even though often taken as just something we “just do” in the U.S.  All his life, his birthday was just another day, but this time it was actually celebrating that he is alive and doing things with his life.  It was an acknowledgment of his presence.   Its funny how the little things make you see the big picture so differently.

    On Monday, Francesca, Elliot, his friend Hillary, and I went to our friend Jimmy’s house to cook dinner.  He definitely has a nice place and we enjoyed cooking veggie fried rice for dinner in the fancy kitchen.  Again, bonding over food.  Jimmy had invited a couple wazungus into his house to cook a meal and hang out.  There is such a sincerity of the culture here, when normally I may feel I am imposing on someone if I had done this.  Instead, Jimmy was more than happy to invite us into his home and share food with us!