It is just that: a journey. Both emotionally and physically, as I sit in the Enteebe Airport, I feel the weight of my trip about to travel through my body. I find a place in the waiting area with my backpack and rolly suitcase, watching the flight information board with so much anticipation that it freezes me. Friends that I've met here have told of African life hitting them only as they take off from the ground- erupting out of them as the plane engine roars under their seats. To be clear, I certainly have experienced culture shock; things about the life, society, even the small manerisms of the Ugandan people that hit me in the core several times over, sometimes without the slightest recognition from my mind until days after. But when the feelings come to a head, they are impossible to turn away from. It's like a force of emotion, and jolt to the body, that leaves you weak. And sitting in the airport, I can feel that those emotions are going to hit me...and not knowing when or how is certainly challenging. I don't want to forget- to return home to running water and air-conditioning and lose the experience. I want to hold onto everything- all the lives and memories, the discomfort and the beautiful connections that I've grown to love.
Love always,
Carly
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