The beginning of nostalgia

I’m finding that I don’t have that much to write. It doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. More so it means that I am having trouble gathering my thoughts. The month of February went by very quickly. The students did home stays in Kapchrowa, which is in the eastern part of Uganda. The area also borders Kenya. I spent the majority of my February reading. I believe I read around 5 books. I also thought about home a lot. Whom I am going to visit? What are the new things I am going to buy? Am I going to find a job back in Seattle? All of these questions and more ran through my mind during the month of February. Yet towards the end of the month I realized that the amount of days I have left are in the double digits. By the time I post this I will have 80 days left in Uganda. This realization has changed the way I view the month of March.

The month of March has caused everything around me to slow down, except for time. Time has sped up this month and all I want to do is to tell it to slow down. I feel as though my senses have become heighten. The sunset has never looked more beautiful. The sound of the birds early in the morning has never been as loud as they have now. And the smell of popcorn venders make on the streets has never smelled as good as it has lately. I think these past few months I have forgotten that I live in Uganda. Everything has felt so normal to me. I instantly know how to shake my head in a certain way to refuse the boda-boda’s offer to give me ride. I know how to navigate the busy streets of Kampala. I also know the correct prices to pay for food, clothes, and taxis. At times, I’m amazed by how much I can understand social cues and gestures from people who approach me speaking Luganda. I wasn’t aware of surrounding until time told me that my time here is almost up.

There is this episode of The Office where Pam and Jim are getting married. Jim tells Pam that he heard that the best memories people keep of their wedding day are mental images. Eventually Pam takes a mental picture of Jim by forming hands to look like a camera taking a picture. Ever since that episode I have developed a habit of taking mental pictures. I have a mental picture of the sun setting in Mukono, the moon shinning through a lone tree with no leaves, and one of the scenery in Kapchrowa after my camera failed to capture what I deemed to be beautiful. I guess I’ve done this so much that my friend Ron asked me if I own a camera. The question made me laugh because I carry a camera on me at all times. Yet cameras don’t capture what I see. Since my time is running out here, I’m starting to feel like I have a mental video camera instead.

I’m starting to feel nostalgic and I haven’t even left yet. I am going to miss it here. I know I have my own way of life in the States, and especially Seattle, but I’m starting to forget what that life looked like. I only know the routine I do here in Uganda. Even though I am anxious to head home, I know I’m going to long for my life in Uganda. I have to readjust again to another culture. Not sure how I feel about that. I guess in the end everything is kind of bitter sweet.