Two weeks left

“There came a time, he realized, when the strangeness of everything made it increasingly difficult to realize the strangeness of anything.”

-James Hilton, Lost Horizon

I came across this quote when I was leafing through a book Olivia gave me for some light reading.  It’s called The Geography of Bliss and is about a pessimistic man traveling the world to see how different cultures perceive happiness, and what actually makes someone happy.  Although most of the book wasn’t necessarily agreeable with me, I enjoyed reading his outtake and some of the points he focused on.  This particular quote made me think.  I first read it back in September, when everything was new to me.  I mean, it wasn’t like I was walking around saying “this is so strange” but I definitely noticed the difference in things more than I do now.  But when I came across this quote again just the other day, I thought about it differently.

Yesterday, I had a typical day.  But maybe I wouldn’t have thought it so typical three months ago.  I was walking through the market to say hello to my friend Christine at her tailoring shop when some women showed me some funky bracelets.  I decided to get a few for Rita (my mentee at home) but only had big bills.  So while one of the women went to break my money, I stayed and chatted with the other women for the next 45 minutes, and of course played with baby Lakisa.  They were all plating each others hair and almost convinced me I should let them do mine…  It was a casual interaction, but I think maybe this is just something normal now.  Also realizing that its impossible to just go to the market to get what I need is impossible because just greeting people adds so much (good) time to the trip.

Later, I was with Simprosa.  She had gotten into a bad boda boda accident earlier that day and had cuts and bruises all over her.  While I was waiting for her to gather her things, I played with the babies.  There are always so many babies in the workshop.  This day, there were two little twin boys, but they were hesitant around me.  Even the little baby Abbu still cries when she sees me, but one of the little boys, Opio (the younger twin) really took a liking to me! I even got him to stop crying when he fell on his face!  It was a win in my book that a baby didn’t cry because of my glowing complexion.

Our house celebrated Thanksgiving to the extreme.  Cooking for 2 days straight, we finally sat down with our friends from the area at 9:30 Thursday evening.  It was a big success with plenty of food to feed all the guests, estimated at at least 30!  A combination of traditional Acoli and normal Thanksgiving foods made the day a perfect Ugandan Thanksgiving.

When Simprosa and I were on our walk from the workshop to her stand, we stopped in a small village a little off the path to visit her uncle for some medical remedies.  When we got there, a very, very old woman greeted us.  Her eyes were swollen shut and thus she had to feel my arms to get a sense of who I am.  Not strange right?  I didn’t think anything of it.  I also didn’t really think anything of it that she wouldn’t talk to me further if I wasn’t “saved,” and then she brought me into her cooking hut to sing to me and play her trumpet while Simprosa went to see a doctor.  It was a nice way to spend an hour and a half I suppose; I really wouldn’t expect anything different on a Wednesday afternoon.

I also have had to balance my time with VISO.   Today we went out to Alero at 10:45 AM, when we were scheduled to leave at 9.  Typical.  I went in a CARE car and we ended up going all the way out to Anaka, about a two and a half hour drive out.  We dropped a woman there, then headed back to Alero for a community meeting on by-laws for improving education standards.  So getting there 3 1/2 hours after it started, I wouldn’t have expected them to be less than half-way through.  It was funny that I introduced myself in Acholi and thus they all assumed I was fluent, so told the translator it wasn’t necessary to help me.  Also, not random at all that I casually ran into Sarah, my friend who wanted to save me at the training two weeks ago in Gulu.  We’re only about an hour away in a rural community standing outside a latrine…. Casual to see her there I guess.

Just thought I'd share this one.  Last weekend, Jon, Elliot, Francesca and I rented boda bodas (local motorbikes) and rode out to Fort Patiko.  Since it hadn't rained in a month, the dust really got to us...  Another thing I don't realize so much anymore is the bodas.  Sometimes I'll see a whole family, including goats and chickens piled on, or yesterday Simprosa and I saw a whole couch settled somehow on the back...

But as “strange” as things may be, there is such a comfort in the way things work.  Relationships mean so much here.  I think my patience may have gotten better here because of how long everything takes to evolve.  When Simprosa asked me what I’m going to miss I told her one thing would be the greetings.  They mean everything here; you just don’t not greet someone.  Its genuine and maybe different, but I guess the strangeness in everything makes me forget about the strangeness in anything and just appreciate it for what it is.