Yoga Kere

Wanted to let everybody who is interested know that I wrote a column that will be run in tomorrow's (Thursday's) Daily Tar Heel. I've been told every year of schooling that I am terribly wordy, poor with descriptions, and am never captivating enough; obviously writing an article for one of the best college newspapers in the country (me? biased?) is a logical step after not writing anything for the past 2 years.

Things at site have gone well. I am getting less "How you Musugun?" and more "Opolot, YOGA!!," which I am more than a little proud of. I am hopeful that after this weekend, there will be a charger in my hands that has capability to power my laptop, which I am more than a little excited about. Of course, I know my immediate family remembers the last time that I tried to have a replacement charger power my laptop (cue flashback to Will's creation of a charger being plugged in and, subsequently, my computer smoking and going black for all eternity)...so I admit to being...more than a little nervous about trying it.

I have also had some connections that I've made start to bear fruit. I biked over to CDC (Child Development Center) on a whim that I might be able to help with a survey that I had heard they were conducting in the area regarding water and sanitation. As it turns out, they had already completed the surveys of over 300 households (which, in Uganda life, means over 2500 residents) and were about to send the surveys in order to be summarized by people in Kampala. Would they let me steal the said surveys, then for the 2 days before they are shipped out? Sure! Two days of exceling later, I have some pretty good information and, for a philosophy major, not too bad of a spreadsheet with which to work off of.

I feel like I'm only showing the greener side of the pastures when writing the blog. I purposefully only write when I'm in a good mood, and things are going well, just so I don't start ranting and, in the process, freaking out Mother Boddie; with that said, things aren't always fantastic. I had my carabiner stolen (which is much more crippling than I would have thought)and I currently have no PC-allowed way to get into a town with actual supplies (PC doesn't allow the riding of boda-bodas, which are the motorcycle taxis. It's dangerous, and I agree with their policy...but it means a 22 KM minimum bike ride just to get mail, yoghurt, or a hammer and nails). I've gotten food poisoning twice now, and have started to think that the mefloquine I'm taking is affecting my ability to sleep. Being stared at by everyone you know, and being so obviously different than everyone in town, definitely takes it's toll as well. When working so hard to make a place so different a home, it's frustrating to know deep down you will never actually 'belong' to this area. Even if I live in Ngora for the rest of my life, it is simply the option that I have of leaving that could separate myself from the rest of my neighbors, neverminding the difference in education, language, and skin color.

So anyway. That stuff is in the back of my head, and sometimes it does get to me; for the most part, though, I'm really happy. The greatest part about living here is the simple potential that it possesses for me and the community. We both have so much to learn from one another. It is impossible, after really thinking, to feel like there is nothing for me to do. It's the question of how that I'll keep working on, and the question of what that will keep emerging itself to me with each passing day that I put myself in a position to see it.