145 feet down....
HOLD ON!
Too late.... we're doomed!
Ahhh, rafting and bungee jumping in the Nile River....quite the experience! It was definitely an awesome adventure, but one I'm not sure I'll ever try again :-)
Well, it's now been exactly two weeks since I arrived back from Uganda, and I must say, America sure is quite different, but then again, I guess I knew that. I missed my flight from DC to Indy and ended up getting home around 12am Sunday morning. The reverse culture shock grew more real each day. In Amsterdam, my first purchase was an $8 happy meal from McDonalds. I thought it was pretty ridiculous to pay that much, but it was the cheapest food I could find (even just a slice of pizza was $10) and I figured not eating for the 7 hours we were there might not be the best idea. During my extra 7 hours in DC, I began to realize how slowly I walk now as I watched person after person fly by me, most of them walking quickly while talking on their cell phone, and definitely not talking to other people (relationships were HUGE in Uganda....people would never just fly by you without stopping to have a conversation). The first headline I heard in the airport on CNN was "Americans use 400 million gallons of gas per day" and then the newscaster continued to complain about high gas prices. I thought about prices in Uganda and wondered why we think we have any right to complain here. At church on Sunday I found myself quite disappointed during the upbeat songs when most people didn't even clap, let alone jump up and down or dance! I found myself laughing out loud when my pastor used the phrase, "give above the what? the tithe," (a classic Ugandan phrase is to ask "the what? the....." and fill in the .... with whatever they're talking about. It might not seem funny to you, but we laughed every time!) and expected that everyone around me would laugh as well, but then I realized no one in my church would have any idea why that would be funny, and that I just looked stupid for laughing at something obviously not funny to anyone else.
After arriving home Sunday, I unpacked/repacked all of my things and moved back to Olivet on Monday afternoon. Now, if any of you ever have the chance to leave the country for an extended period of time, I would strongly suggest NOT starting school 36 hours after arriving back in the States! I was still quite tired from jet lag, didn't know any of the three roommates I moved in with, could hardly focus in class, and felt completely overwhelmed by the amount of work I now had to do! School here is nothing like school in Uganda. I was lucky enough to have Mom send me back with all sorts of leftover home-cooked food, but we had no microwave, pots, or pans, so I enjoyed cold leftovers all week (which I think are great, but some people might frown upon). I think the hardest part of all, though, was realizing that all of my friends have already gone home for the summer, meaning that there really wasn't anyone here to share my experience with. When all I wanted to do was tell story after story, I ended up sitting in silence in an apartment full of people I'd never met instead. Luckily within the first week I had the opportunity to talk with several profs and share my experiences with them, which helped immensely! I am quite thankful to have profs I know well and can share with.
Now that week two is over, I am feeling much more "normal" again. School and grading keep me busy, but not nearly to the overwhelming extent they did last week. My roommates and I are still pretty silent in the apartment for the most part, but things have definitely gotten better there as well. We've actually talked quite a bit in the evenings this week, which is nice. We now have a microwave, pots, and pans, but no television, which is fine, just different, considering all my family ever did in Uganda was watch tv! I'm excited to go back to College Church for the first time today, though I know it obviously won't be quite like the church I grew to love in Uganda.
I'm sure there is much more I could write about, such as my first experience at an American mall yesterday, but it is time to get ready for church and move on with the day. I don't know how many people will even still check this now that I'm back, but for those of you who might actually still be reading this thing, I'll try to update it every now and then. We'll see what happens.
Well, it's now been exactly two weeks since I arrived back from Uganda, and I must say, America sure is quite different, but then again, I guess I knew that. I missed my flight from DC to Indy and ended up getting home around 12am Sunday morning. The reverse culture shock grew more real each day. In Amsterdam, my first purchase was an $8 happy meal from McDonalds. I thought it was pretty ridiculous to pay that much, but it was the cheapest food I could find (even just a slice of pizza was $10) and I figured not eating for the 7 hours we were there might not be the best idea. During my extra 7 hours in DC, I began to realize how slowly I walk now as I watched person after person fly by me, most of them walking quickly while talking on their cell phone, and definitely not talking to other people (relationships were HUGE in Uganda....people would never just fly by you without stopping to have a conversation). The first headline I heard in the airport on CNN was "Americans use 400 million gallons of gas per day" and then the newscaster continued to complain about high gas prices. I thought about prices in Uganda and wondered why we think we have any right to complain here. At church on Sunday I found myself quite disappointed during the upbeat songs when most people didn't even clap, let alone jump up and down or dance! I found myself laughing out loud when my pastor used the phrase, "give above the what? the tithe," (a classic Ugandan phrase is to ask "the what? the....." and fill in the .... with whatever they're talking about. It might not seem funny to you, but we laughed every time!) and expected that everyone around me would laugh as well, but then I realized no one in my church would have any idea why that would be funny, and that I just looked stupid for laughing at something obviously not funny to anyone else.
After arriving home Sunday, I unpacked/repacked all of my things and moved back to Olivet on Monday afternoon. Now, if any of you ever have the chance to leave the country for an extended period of time, I would strongly suggest NOT starting school 36 hours after arriving back in the States! I was still quite tired from jet lag, didn't know any of the three roommates I moved in with, could hardly focus in class, and felt completely overwhelmed by the amount of work I now had to do! School here is nothing like school in Uganda. I was lucky enough to have Mom send me back with all sorts of leftover home-cooked food, but we had no microwave, pots, or pans, so I enjoyed cold leftovers all week (which I think are great, but some people might frown upon). I think the hardest part of all, though, was realizing that all of my friends have already gone home for the summer, meaning that there really wasn't anyone here to share my experience with. When all I wanted to do was tell story after story, I ended up sitting in silence in an apartment full of people I'd never met instead. Luckily within the first week I had the opportunity to talk with several profs and share my experiences with them, which helped immensely! I am quite thankful to have profs I know well and can share with.
Now that week two is over, I am feeling much more "normal" again. School and grading keep me busy, but not nearly to the overwhelming extent they did last week. My roommates and I are still pretty silent in the apartment for the most part, but things have definitely gotten better there as well. We've actually talked quite a bit in the evenings this week, which is nice. We now have a microwave, pots, and pans, but no television, which is fine, just different, considering all my family ever did in Uganda was watch tv! I'm excited to go back to College Church for the first time today, though I know it obviously won't be quite like the church I grew to love in Uganda.
I'm sure there is much more I could write about, such as my first experience at an American mall yesterday, but it is time to get ready for church and move on with the day. I don't know how many people will even still check this now that I'm back, but for those of you who might actually still be reading this thing, I'll try to update it every now and then. We'll see what happens.
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