So Long

Tonight marked my very last night in Uganda, and it brings about a big mix of feelings to reckon with. I had dinner with friends out at some great place I'd never even heard of. The owner was a nice Indian man who explained his most recent book about spirituality after give us the lowdown on the pumpkin soup in front of us. It was the ginger that we couldn't put our finger on. The rest of the night just rolled and it was everything I love about Uganda in one fell swoop. 

I have been told I sugarcoat things on occasion, not telling the all of every experience and how I feel about things. Everyone probably is guilty of that to a point, in conversation, writing, or otherwise. But writing is a medium that suffers for its definition. All my thoughts may be focused on progress and never being truly comfortable with the current state of things, but if I try to capture it all in writing everything but the progress shines through. And my thinking about Uganda and Africa has certainly changed leaps and bounds over time, something not easily captured right here.

By and large, it's not all curtains but it is certainly close. There is no other way to say it. Africa faces a near and present doom is something doesn't give. That's not just cynical either. To live here with a thinking mind and an open heart is to become swept up in the tide of life that is everywhere at once, for good and for bad. Ugandians are truly the nicest folks you can ever come across. They put southern hospitality to shame with their huge smiles and genuine kindness. But the essence of humanity has two very obvious sides, something western culture blends and hides much more subtly. 

Somalia marks a low point in humanitarianism in the 1990's. While the United States was guilty of quite a few wrongdoings, people truly were not prepared for the situation they were faced. The same people that cried out for food and simple needs in turn killed the people trying their best to help them out. 

The only thing I'm sure of is that I don't know much at all. I know I don't like conflict and I'll do my best to solve it however possible. The biggest conflict I come across in Uganda is the general complaint towards a lack of money. That's no doubt true just about everywhere, but here especiall true. My biggest call at the moment is to somehow show the folks I speak, live, interact with every single day that they have the resources to do their best and succeed in business, it just takes a different vision in seeing each and every day. Africa is the best place for business in the world at the moment because the resources are everywhere and the markets simply are not at all. And who to best capitalize on the opportunity than the people that live amongst it all? The missing link, to me, is a proactive approach toward solving the problem. Instead of pointing fingers, get out and solve it yourself. My recognizing of all this is thanks to me learning the very same lesson. But I guess that I just don't know.

I was only suppose to spend maybe three weeks in Uganda. Ethiopia was the main focus and life at Cornerstone in Kampala was just en route to Ethiopia. But I never actually counted on falling in love with life here. I do hope to return in the future, by however means necessary. Year off deux.

Egypt comes tomorrow, where I finally get to see my dad for the first time in forever. We'll take off on some sugar free venture on the old folks cruise down the Nile, see camels, and figure out the deal about college. You know more than I do. Thanks for reading all this rambling on's, whoever you are. Its just me ironing out my thoughts. The nasty dreds are next. 

Cheers

I have been gone a long time. My six weeks or so venture around West Africa turned out to be the hardest doing I've ever signed up for, a feeling mutual held between me and the two others on the trip, Eric and Kristen. Life is full of struggle, so the wonder is why throw yourself out there to just make it worst? It wasn't at all that bad and I wasn't really making anything worst. While I'm happy to be back in Uganda, I'm just as happy for keeping cheer through out the whole ordeal. I might never want to go back to some of those places, and yet, still have hopes to visit others. We didn't stay very long anywhere, but long enough to get a broad feel of the local going on's. For places like Timbuktu, there wasn't much at all happening or worth seeing, but that certainly wasn't true of everywhere.

Ghana was a surprise and easily one of my favorite stops. It was the very first on the list of nine total countries and was the longest of our stays, a whole five days in one place. The whole country is rainforest and the coastline is said to be one of the best in West Africa. A series of old Dutch castles from the 1600's dot the coastline, which adds a romantic feel of old history to the view of white sand and palm trees. We only made it to the beach once though. 

Ivory Coast came next and it was just all trash. There was so much trash all over the place. I honestly didn't think much of it and it definitely did not live up to its exotic sounding name.

My lowest moment of the trip was Christmas morning in Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. We had just finished a monster three day trainride and pulled into town at around 4:00 AM. While the average marathon runner probably could crush the pace we set, the traveling circumstance wasn't nearly as bad as my own dilemmas. I was under the weather with a sinus infection and had just gotten my daypack stolen during my few winks of sleep. Fortunately, my passport or clothes weren't included but the Ipod, camera, journal, drumsticks and whatever else fancied my impulse were snatched up. There wasn't anything I could do about it, so I just kept blowing my nose and tried my best not to make it worst, mostly by writing a country song called "Somebody Owes Me A Christmas". You heard it here first.

The two day boat ride to Timbuktu was a deserved change of pace away from hustling across borders on buses, trains, and whatnot. We followed the Niger as it curled through the desert and seeing hippos backdropped by sprawls of sand dunes was a sight to behold. The Kings are right though, it is indeed cold in the desert. There wasn't a light in sight at night and the stars were gorgeous, it was just too cold to stay unsleepingbagged for very long. 

Apparently, there is a nightclub in New York that only lets you in if you have a stamp from Timbuktu in your passport.

Trekking through the Dogon country topped all other places in my book. We spent three days struggling our way over, under, and around this huge mesa in the middle of the desert. Not much has changed in the life of the Dogon people maybe since the invention of the wheel and it was neat to glimpse a true picture of a traditional culture. The huge rocks and brownish red tint to everything made you feel like you were on Mars. I loved it.

After a two day, no lie, two day bus ride we finally made it to our last stop. Dakar is the capital of Senegal and was a great place to calm down and find the strength to eventually make it back home. The beach is nearby and the buildings are all pastel coloured and sandwashed, which is a great feel, plus the french influence is huge so all the cafes and streetside trees made for a real Parisesque, Charleston South Carolina aura. We didn't stay long, but it would have been nice. Either way, I'm glad to be home.

There is definitely something liberating about traveling well below your means, on the level shared by the folks around you. On one bus ride in Mali, I didn't have a seat. For 8 or so hours, I just stood or sat on the steps. To get a gasp of breeeze meant rolling the window down and exposing yourself to the goats on top, which had no reservations about peeing on everything below.  Certainly no fun, but who was I to complain? The people nearby, breastfeeding, on stools drinking tea, they do this every week almost. There is definitely truth in the saying that once you're at the bottom, the only place to go is up. Even though I now fear buses, I might never complain about another long Getting There ever again. With that said, everyday is just another day closer to home. What I've discovered is that the beauty is in the process.

What cures malaria?

Beach Boys-Sloop John B