Taking It All In

I wish I could bottle up the sights, sounds, and smells of Uganda for all of you reading this blog in the US. I would share the perpetual smell of dust and cooking fires and the blue sky above red roads, green grass, and traffic jams. I would share the sounds of babies crying, kids shouting, horns blasting, motors back firing, birds singing, and African music. I wish I could capture this place for you.

This place.

This place I love so much.

This country that became home.

These people -- FRIENDS -- I love so much.

We take boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) to work each morning and since I wear skirts, I ride like a lady, aka side saddle. Sitting sideways and wizzing and bumping by people, traffic, shops, markets, chaos, and beauty makes me contemplative. I love watching the world on a boda...seeing snatches of life here and there. I catch glimpses of friends talking, women cooking, men washing cars and buses, children walking to school, and babies toddling. There is so much beauty in these moments amidst the chaos that is Kampala.

The other day we had a boda driver tell us that everyone here dreams of going to America. And I told him how I dreamed of coming here, to Uganda. He said, "But I don't know why. There is nothing here." And I wanted to wave my arms and say, because of all of THIS!

I guess I'm trying to take everything in and hold it all in my heart. And I guess, these words, from my heart, are my bottle home, capturing this place for all of you.