"I'm Coming Home"
Leaving Uganda was much more bitter than sweet. I want to stay there for a few more weeks...if only the World Food Prize could extend my trip. :)On the travel home, we saw BABOONS! Like monkeys. It was so cool! They sit on the road and near the edges waiting for cars to give them bananas. They were cute and had bare bottoms (literally) so they were a funny sight to see. I will post photos when I can -- I still haven't figured out how to fix the problems I have been having with my phone and uploading!
We also (plot twist) got to go to the Equator. Contrary to what I had expected, there was no line in middle of the Earth (haha) but there was this fancy marker sponsored by the Lions Club of Kisumu, Kenya! I'm laughing in this photo and after the week in Uganda, my mouth hurt from smiling so much, my back hurt from holding the children, and my feet hurt from walking from place to place -- but nothing hurt more than my heart as I left Uganda. I definitely had a "love affair" with Uganda and when I arrived in Kenya it was the only thing I wanted to talk about. I told Joey that I was coming back here (soon, people, I promise) and he didn't sound too happy. I want to bring my family, my friends, my cats....everyone! I left a piece of my heart in Uganda, folks. You should too.
We also (plot twist) got to go to the Equator. Contrary to what I had expected, there was no line in middle of the Earth (haha) but there was this fancy marker sponsored by the Lions Club of Kisumu, Kenya! I'm laughing in this photo and after the week in Uganda, my mouth hurt from smiling so much, my back hurt from holding the children, and my feet hurt from walking from place to place -- but nothing hurt more than my heart as I left Uganda. I definitely had a "love affair" with Uganda and when I arrived in Kenya it was the only thing I wanted to talk about. I told Joey that I was coming back here (soon, people, I promise) and he didn't sound too happy. I want to bring my family, my friends, my cats....everyone! I left a piece of my heart in Uganda, folks. You should too.
I mentioned in a previous post how writing "PO BOX 30, Mbita, Kenya" as my home address in the farmers' guest books seems crazy to me. My home, essentially, for two months is KENYA. I'm not a tourist, I'm not someone here doing work for a week...I've been here for so long! As crazy as it may sound, I love it here. It feels like home now. I know people, I know what to expect for meals, I know how to prepare my laundry for washing, I know how long it takes to walk from my room to the office, I know what to do at the group workout class, I know how to log-on to the internet. At the beginning of the trip, I was skeptical of two months away from home (and Joey) and skeptical of what could happen over two months and if I would go through this "change" everyone speaks of. Now, as my trip is coming closer and closer to an end, I assure you that (1) change has happened and (2) I'm not really ready to come home. There are things I miss about America and there are things I realized that I can do without. I don't want to get emotional yet, but I am definitely taking advantage of the next two weeks to soak up my home here in Kenya.Whenever we returned home, I had the opportunity to go on a short excursion to Rusinga Island and Rusinga Lodge with a fellow icipe colleague, Deena from California. Deena had already made plans to go and had room for one more person and Professor Khan had helped to arrange for me to go for a few hours. Isaac and I are trying to decide what we would like to fill our "last weekends" with and the purpose of the trip was to see what there was to do at Rusinga and if we would like to go back (which YES, I do!!). While the trip was very short, it was such a joy to join Deena and I am looking forward to going for a longer time with Isaac over the weekend!Hope you're enjoying my photos and my adventures so far!