An Unexpected Journey

The view from the front porch. “This is it.   If I take one more step, it’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been,” says Samwise to Frodo as they venture towards an unfamiliar land.   I love this part in the LOTR fellowship movie because it reveals Sam’s willingness to go beyond the borders of the Shire to remain faithful to his calling.   I am sharing this quote with you because I had a moment similar to Samwise:   Yesterday marked the longest time period I have ever lived outside of the country.   It is a strange feeling knowing that this is only the beginning of my journey, yet it is already one of the biggest journeys I have ever taken away from home. I have successfully completed two weeks of living with my first home stay family in Mukono.   This home stay experience is usually referred to as our “urban” experience, but you would be wrong to think that my “neighborhood” looked like an American suburb.   The location of my ho...

The darkness of early morning greets me as I wake up in order to prepare for the day at my internship site.   I have a long day ahead of me and I am anxious with excitement for what tasks the day will hold.   The drive to my site is bumpy, ( very ) dusty, and, at times, pulse-raising.   Although I have been driving on these roads for a couple weeks, I still am in awe at how individuals are able to drive in such conditions.   Coworker after coworker piles into our vehicle along the way and soon the small space is full of conversation.   There really is no “typical” work day for me, but my mornings have become pretty consistent and familiar. It has been a challenge to figure out “my place” at my internship site.   I was expecting challenges, as with any internship, but the difficulties that I am having here are not at all what I had in mind.   One of the most difficult obstacles to overcome at my internship site is the language barrier between m...

I have been in Uganda for slightly over one week now.   Slowly but surely (the mantra of my life) I am adjusting to the country that will keep me until the end of April.   My first few days were filled with orientation.   Orientation days are exciting and comforting because they remind me of starting college at home and allow me to become more acclimated to Uganda Christian University (UCU).   I have yet to maintain a consistent schedule, especially starting my first home-stay this past Saturday, but I have faith that by the end of the month my life will seem a little bit more normal. It is bizarre to think that anything in this unfamiliar territory will become normal to me in such a short time frame.   In a sense, I have no other way to survive and make the most of my time here than to adapt.   I am terrible at making huge life changes; hence, I am predicting it is going to take me longer than some of my fellow sojourners to become acclimated to U...