Travels

I realize I haven't written an update for quite some time, and that is largely because I have spent the last month outside of Uganda. It has been a month of seeing new sights, getting more stamps in my rapidly filling passport, enjoying the company of family and friends and preparing to return to Canada to a new job.

During the recent term break, I took a trip to Croatia where my sister met me and we had a wonderful time visiting a few towns on the beautiful Dalmatian Coast. We enjoyed listening to church bells on Easter Sunday, eating delicious sea food dishes, sipping coffee in outdoor cafes and marvelling at the clear, turquoise water of the Adriatic Sea. It was also very fun to watch the Royal Wedding in a hotel lounge in the company of some British tourists who were able to identify various personalities in the crowd at Westminster Abbey and provide the colour commentary on the festivities. It was a wonderfully relaxing holiday in a beautiful part of the world.

However, it seems that while you can take the girl out of Africa, you can't necessarily take Africa out of the girl. While enjoying the pleasures of a Mediterranean holiday, I came down with another case of malaria a few days before I was scheduled to leave Croatia. However, the hospital we visited was able to provide the necessary medication and I improved in time to continue my travels.

From Croatia, I travelled to Vancouver and had a brief visit to the West Coast. There are the obvious things to enjoy about visiting home--driving on wide, smoothly paved roads, eating familiar food, visiting with family and friends and taking advantage of all the inherent "conveniences" of life in the West. However, I also enjoyed some more subtle pleasures--the most significant was the fact that I was able to understand what people around me on the street, in the mall, on the radio, etc. were saying. So often, here in Uganda, I feel disconnected from situations since I don't speak the language; I'd sort of forgotten what it's like to be able to "eavesdrop" on conversations happening around you!

My travels in the last month also took me briefly to the "Merry Old Land of Oz" when I took in the London production of the musical "Wicked" during a long stopover en route to Uganda. The show was very entertaining, and, while I must admit to nodding off once or twice during the production, that was purely a result of jetlag and is definitely not a comment on the quality of the performances!

I'm glad to have arrived safely back in Uganda and these next few months will fly by, I'm sure.