Changes

Exactly two years ago yesterday (as proven by the last post on this blog) I was standing in the backyard of my Ugandan home with my guard David burning trash and trying to figure out development, my life, and where I wanted to be in the world.  

Maybe some things never change. 

Two years later, I'm not sure how far I've come on figuring out conclusions to any of those ideas, but I sure have learned a lot. I guess sometimes learning only leads to more questions though, cuz boy do I sure have a bunch of those right now. One of the minor ones being: do I really want to blog? I started this blog to keep people updated on what I was doing abroad, but it ended quickly for a bunch of reasons. In the past Ive blogged about specific internships and experiences in a very private, few person audience, but after countless people telling me they cant keep track of me and no one ever able to figure out where I am or what I am doing, I've consented.  
I didn't want to start a new blog. Two years ago I liked the idea of trying to show people what the third world was really like, hence the title 'The Real Third World'. And of course 20 people living in the same house in Africa seemed like the next sequence in the TV show The Real World. So I've decided I'm keeping this one since 1) I'm actually leaving the country tomorrow to visit two development teams with HELP International. (They are who I was with in Uganda two years ago, and now I do a lot of their marketing) and 2) I really appreciate things that are real and will probably continue to do my best to blog about them after I return. Or at least present my life and thoughts as real as I can.  

You know what's real about thinking back to exactly two years ago?

I really miss Uganda. I miss the people that I love there and the huge bags of mangos you can buy and the way everything shuts down when it rains and the waterfall hikes and the Mbale LDS branch and boda rides and the African sun and children yelling mzungu and the shades of green so vibrant you cant capture them in crayons. But mostly the people. I've never met people so full of joy and love and laughter as a general whole. But the individual friends I made that impacted me and made me question how I viewed life and who taught me so much - that's who I'm grateful for and what I miss the most about Uganda. 

 I'm excited to go see a new place tomorrow full of new people to meet and learn from.  I know that if I pay attention and listen I will learn more than I ever imagined, but of course I guess that means I'll probably come back with even more questions. At least I know they will be questions that are worth asking and worth spending time figuring out. And I guess I'm okay with the more I learn the more questions I have. Who wants a boring life where they know everything anyways? Not me. People say adventure is dangerous, but routine is lethal. (thanks for that deep quote pinterest - that's real). But seriously. I hope my life is always full of adventure and questions and people who love me that will spend time with me both adventuring and questioning.    

Mbale, Uganda 2011- The road I came home on every single day.