...And We're Back!

I just found this post I wrote forever ago... I'm not quite sure why I never posted it, but... here it is.


Well, we have now been home from Africa for a full month, I can hardly believe it!  Now that we're back, and I am looking at our experience with a little distance between now and then, I am really missing it.

I didn't think I would miss Uganda  when I got back...at all.  I'm ashamed to say it, but I was so attached to "home" and wouldn't let myself forget it.  I compared everything with what I was used to in the states, and therefore I really struggled.  I knew that I needed to let myself become engrossed in the culture, and to some extent, I was able to do that.  But I still struggled.  So, when we started our journey home (2.5 days of raveling...lovely) I was sure that I would adjust immediately, and I wouldn't miss anything about Uganda.


 I was soooo ready to come home when we did.  I was ready to start showering regularly, feel clean on a daily basis, eat normal food, drink water from the tap and not worry about my health, exercise again, and live in my own house, among other things.  BUT.  Despite those things when I got on the plane to go home, I knew that I would miss Uganda, the fulfilling work I did every day, and the amazing, genuine, generous people I met.

And I was right.


The first few days, I was really really, happy.  I was overjoyed to see my family, who I had been missing dearly while we were away.  We got to spend an entire week with them, and it was great.  I love my family so much!  I feel like I can never take them for granted again, after being without contact (besides some emails) for 2.5 months.

The next week, when I realized that it was back to reality, and time to find a job (AKA lots of down-time).  I became very depressed.  I didn't know why, but everything was making me angry, and I was so unhappy and emotional.  Basically, I was a wreck.  I realize now that I was dealing with the change from a very busy and demanding (yet very fulfilling) life, to a very monotonous and event-less schedule (very unfulfilling).

I have to admit, I was soooo ready to come home when we did.  I was ready to start showering regularly, feel clean on a daily basis, eat normal food, drink water from the tap and not worry about my health, exercise again, and live in my own house, among others.  BUT.  Despite those things when I got on the plane to go home, I knew that I would miss Uganda, the fulfilling work I did every day, and the amazing, genuine, generous people I met.

And I was right.


Its weird because now that we are back in Utah again, it seems like Uganda was just a dream...almost like it didn't happen. But I know that it did happen because my perspective has changed, and I am so much more grateful for what I have (and I hope I'll always keep that with me).

 It is a world so different from ours.  It is different in every way imaginable.  And I miss it.