Gulu Town, Revisited

And I'm back.

It's odd just how familiar it all feels.  Truth be told, I was a bit apprehensive coming back.  There were things I was starting to forget.  Things that were so familiar to my day to day life here in Gulu, that when I was in the States and would finally remember, I couldn't believe I had forgotten.  And that made me nervous.  But stepping off the bus into Gulu was like coming home.  I've moved a lot in my life and home has many definitions for me, and I was very happy to realize Gulu fits the description.

It's hot, my ankles and feet were swollen like a pregnant woman's, my bicycle has a broken seat, flat tire, and no brakes, I have ridiculous jet lag (I'll sleep a full night one night and not a wink the next) I have mosquito bites again, and my awesome parasites are having a joyous reunion with the local flora inside me..... But it has been positively glorious walking the streets of town, re-acquainting myself with everything and running into my old Ugandan friends. I was probably most excited when I ran into one of the young women from my church youth organization that I was in charge of last year - Carol.  Her and her sister Faith were my favorites, so when I was unassumingly sitting outside eating breakfast at a cafe one morning and she walked by, we did plenty of girly squealing and hugging.  Oh, and my old motorcycle-taxi driver, Ray.  He was riding his bike down the street and stopped at an intersection.  I was waiting to cross the street, and we saw each other.  White girl running into the middle of the road to bear hug a boda driver......  Everyone around certainly thought I had lost it.  He finally pushed his bike out of the middle of the road and we had a nice long chat.  I love that kid.

This is me and my Young Women my last week in 2011.  Aren't they so beautiful??  Carol is the second from the right, standing.  

One not-so-lovely reminder of Uganda I've had this week is just how long it takes to do anything here.  So my Recycling for Hope to-do list for weeks one and two has been slightly altered.  I thought I'd be heading to Kampala on Monday to get the recycling boxes cut, but after interviewing literally every bank in town and finally deciding on one with the least amount of absurd fees (who charges a fee for depositing money??!!  No wonder no one puts their money in a bank around here!)  I opened the account, only to be told it won't be active until next Thursday.  Without access to money there is not much I can do about the boxes.
Thus, K'la is being put off a week.  But this will give me some time to do a bit of research/observation I need to do here anyway.  I did have productive and encouraging meetings with the organizations I'll be working with this year, which of course got me very excited to get started despite everything.

The living quarters.  You can't see the gardens here, but you can see the hanging herb garden!

The most exciting - and certainly the best thing I could have done RFH productivity-wise  - was to procure housing.  Housing in Gulu is hard to come by and can sometimes take several weeks to find.  I luckily only had to spend two nights in a very classy joint called Sunrise Guest House - which barely fit my suitcase and had a shower that didn't work and a toilet without a seat (my favorite) - before moving into what is now home.  The house is a bit ghetto - it's owned by a British woman named Daniella who is my age and is fixing it up.  So it has tons of nice amenities - an inverter and a generator for when the power goes, an extra water tank and pump for when the water goes, and with my rent money a solar-powered water-heater is being purchased for the shower.  And walls are being patched and painted next week, so I'll post photos of my room once I get everything situated.  The absolute best thing about the house though, is that Daniella is trying her hand at gardening and has tons of space to do so.  She said I'm welcome to join them, and I can't even tell you how happy that makes me!  I have been yearning to garden for a good six years now and am thrilled I finally get to satisfy that yearning.

So overall it was a great week.  Maybe not quite as productive as I had hoped, but I count it as successful nonetheless.  I can say I miss home and having family around all the time and friends just a phone call away.  So don't hesitate to email, skype, or send a letter!  (My address is still P.O. Box 993, Gulu, Uganda.)  Thanks for following my blog and for all your support and encouragement.  Here's to another great year in Gulu Town!