Visit to Kenya

Last week I went to Kenya for a final African adventure.  It is a trip that has been in the works for a while and it was definitely a fun time.  I had great travel companions, Christi and Rachel, and we saw so much in one short week.  We ate delicious food, saw some amazing wildlife and visited friends and familiar places.  Here is one of my favorite pictures from the week, we are about to enjoy some excellent Ethiopian food:

As many of you reading this blog know I studied abroad in Kenya 12 years ago at Daystar University.  Much like the students I have been working with, I went to school in East Africa for 4 months while doing some travel, getting know both Africans and Americans during my time there.  Kenya was my first Africa experience and it holds a special place in my heart even though I have now lived in Uganda much longer.

Last week we went to Daystar for a few hours and it was a surreal experience to be back in a place that I have thought of so often.  Much of it looked the same and I got to see my old dorm and room, dining area, and other familiar sites.  Here are Christi and I in one of the classrooms where I actually had a class:

One thing that struck me was how rural Daystar is compared to UCU.  Living in Mukono we are right off a main road with shops, traffic, etc.  At Daystar you are really out there with the open plains surrounding the campus and more wildlife.  Here is the view from the library steps- on a clear day if you look to the left you can see Mt Kilimanjaro and if you look to the right you can see Mt Kenya.  I remember being awed by this view:

Going back to the place where I first encountered life in Africa seemed to be a fitting way to end my time here.  Also getting to see how Kenya, Nairobi, and Daystar have all changed and grown reminds me that nothing is completely static so whenever I get to come back and visit Uganda I will have to expect changes.

This week I am cleaning out my house and office, packing and saying more goodbyes.  Hoping to have more time to reflect on all this once it feels like I am ready to go and things aren't quite so scattered!

Final weeks

The past few weeks since students departed has been a mix of finishing up things at work, cleaning out and packing my house and saying goodbyes.  It is certainly a bittersweet time of feeling loved and appreciated while also preparing to leave.  

This morning, Rachel and I had an intern appreciation brunch to recognize all the hard work our interns do.  Check out those smiling faces and delicious food:

Jordan, Jones, Rachel, Brendah, Julie

 Over the weekend I went with some friends for a fancy lunch and celebration at Kampala's Serena Hotel, I ate myself silly for sure:

At the buffet I saw the largest round of cheese ever and had to take a picture!

Earlier this week was a goodbye dinner with staff, it was very sweet and our matching outfits got to be used a second time.  A few pictures were taken beforehand:

Once we got there the electricity was off most of the night so we ate by candlelight, we got a few group shots at the end with this being the best one:

Silly USP staff

I am headed out to dinner tonight with some friends for another goodbye time and then leaving this weekend for Kenya for a visit.  It certainly feels like my time here is ending quickly, just trying to appreciate all the special and normal moments in these final few weeks.

Couldn't resist....

Took this picture tonight while heading out to a goodbye dinner with staff (more on that later) but had to share this shot:

Monkey on the monkey bars

Full Circle

I am back in Mukono after the past few weeks of busyness and travel.  The Rwanda trip went well overall, and there was lots of good debriefing from the trip and the semester.  The students left Wednesday night and now I am resting and starting to think about things I need to do/ people I want to see this month.  More to come on that I think!

After the Rwanda trip we usually have 2 days of debrief time with the students at Lake Bunyonyi near Kabale, Uganda.  It is close to the Rwandan border and about 8-9 hours from Mukono.  We usually stay 2 nights and the place we prefer to stay is Bushara Island Camp, where we can rent out the whole island for our group.  It is rustic in a way- no electricity, water heated by fires, permanent tents but very beautiful and comfortable with good food and lodgings.  The students always love it for it's camping feel and it is a good place to talk about Rwanda and what was learned.

Lake Bunyonyi

Below is the group from this semester listening to some announcements upon arrival.  Behind them is the dining area.  We all arrive by boat, which makes the logistics even more interesting!

Bushara Island Camp

 For me, the place has even more significance.  When I studied abroad in Kenya 12 years ago (!!) I made a one week trip to Uganda.  I came with a big group to do rafting on the Nile and then stayed on with a friend, Melissa, to travel more.  Melissa knew a missionary in Kabale so we trekked down to southwest Uganda to visit.  I remember various things from that visit and one of them is visiting Bushara Island, which was just under construction.  We canoed out across the lake to this new place and checked out their new facilities.  Somewhere I have pictures of us in a dugout canoe making our way to Bushara, I remembering thinking it was a cool place then.

On the way to the island

Now I have come back to Bushara many times with groups of students, which I would never have expected back when I was a sophomore in college.   Kabale and Bushara will always hold a special place in my heart because they were one of my first experiences in Uganda, and now because of all the new memories with students and staff.   When we were leaving last week I was glad that I got to visit one more time.

While I don't have any digital pictures of that trip 12 years ago, I am still friends with the person I took that trip with.  One of the best things about studying abroad was the friends I made there, and Melissa and I have stayed friends over the years.  I am glad I can look back on that first trip and share it with someone!  Below is a picture of Melissa and I from one of our summer visits when I was visiting from Uganda.  

I'll end with this quote, given to me by a friend who I studied abroad with in Kenya:

So much happened in that part of the world where our paths first crossed that it's hard not to think of our time there, and of the time in which is was contained, as an island, now submerged.  Perhaps the same is true of any journey you begin to look back on.  But if comfort and distance have given this recollection of events the flavour of a tide-borne dream, the essential trouble remains.  Once snared, as you well know, one never fully leaves; a portion of ones heart is forever woven into the fabric of that place.

- Jason Elliot, An Unexpected Light