It's not goodbye, it's tuzongera (see you later)!

So it is coming to the end of my time in East Africa. I know that I have not written a post in quite awhile, which I think means that I have actually been DOING more than I was before. Since we left Rwanda, for example, I have been to Lake Bunyoni (in Uganda) and stayed on a beautiful island (resort/hotel) with no electricity and enjoyed the views (lake, mountains, colorful little birds, and much more) with all the kids from the RW group.

The most interesting and taxing part of the last week was coming to the capitol city of Kampala and meeting up with the rest of the students from this semester that we hadn't seen in a month. It was great to see a lot of people that I had missed, and those I realized I did not enjoy that much I tried to avoid. This sounds bad, but this group is quite large and everyone has realized that there are some people you get along with better than others and we behave accordingly. Thankfully being in Kampala before the program officially ended left some time for Christmas/gift shopping at the many many craft markets and boutiques around the city. While I may not have become a master bargainer after over 3 months in East Africa, it was a fun challenge to try and bargain my way through the markets. When we had finished our time in Kampala and it was getting close to when students would be flying out, the program moved to Entebbe. Entebbe is a small city (or town?) on Lake Victoria where the airport is located. For our last night all together we relaxed on the “beach” of Lake Victoria and had a delicious dinner of pizza before taking our friends to the airport for tearful goodbyes. Saying so many goodbyes in the space of only a few days was tough for me. In fact thinking about them, as well as my own departure in 2 days, is making me quite sad while writing this. So in order to cheer up I will tell you about the most exciting part of my last week.... RAFTING!

Let me preface this by explaining the way I met my best friend on this trip, Taylor. Back in August, when almost all of the SIT students had found each other in the Amsterdam airport prior to our last departure into Africa, I was standing in line next to a cute girl with short brown hair and a flowy pink dress. She started asking me if I would be interested in going white water rafting in the (so-called) “outdoor capitol of East Africa” after the program ended. At the time I was unsure of rafting, but very sure that I liked the way this girl thought. Fast forward to a few months later, Taylor and I lived together (and slept in the same bed) in a Kigali house for a month and still wanted to travel to Jinja once the program was over to raft. It is in Taylor's nature to be adventurous and I think that she has passed that on to me a bit over the course of the last few months together. So two days after the program officially ended Taylor, Nancy (another of our roommates) and I travel to the Eastern part of Uganda (Jinja) to raft at the source of the Nile River. I remember learning about the Nile and it's influential role in African development in Middle School. I never in my life expected to be white water rafting down the Nile for fun. While these trips do cost a pretty penny and are quoted in US $'s (which means you know its expensive) it is a once in a lifetime chance!

Nancy, Taylor and I spent a full beautiful day out on the river going over some large, and some not so large rapids with our Zimbabwean guide Tobano. Since we were the only customers in our raft he said it was “our own private trip”. On this trip we stopped at the end of the rapids at an island called the Fuzzy Lemon. There is an adorable island guesthouse/resort there where travelers come for peace and relaxation. We, however, came to the island because Nile River Explorers (the company) pays for each rafter to have 2 drinks at the island (soda or beer depending on preference). Of course we choose the free beer and took over an hour at the island wading, playing volleyball, chatting and enjoying the company of the quite attractive rafting guides and kayakers. This is not at all the type of traveling I have gotten used to in East Africa, which you know from past posts. It was a very nice end to the semester. And believe it or not, I was not even that scarred on the river. Rafting is definitely catered to foreigners, because you get a barbeque dinner, two more drink tickets, and one free nights accommodation when you pay for the rafting trip. For the three of us this meant spending time with the people who went down the river with us and mingling with the other foreigners (Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, British and more) spending time at the campsite.

I actually kind of wished that I could have flown out when Nancy and Taylor had so that could have been my last experience in East Africa. Now I am traveling/staying in Uganda basically alone. To be honest I am quite ready to come home to America and see the people I have missed for so long. I think that spending so much time with my friends who were leaving made me mentally ready to leave. Currently I have come back North to Gulu were I lived for a month and a half at the beginning of the program. It is nice to see the “family” and people I spent so much time with, but it does not change the fact that Gulu is a very small town and there is not so much to do here. I am just relaxing and frequenting the places I used to enjoy in Gulu before I go back to Kampala tomorrow. My oldest host “sister” had triplets while I was in Rwanda, so tomorrow my “sister” Hilda and I are going to see her and the new ones in the city. Then on Tuesday I will head to Entebbe and fly home!!!! It will be a long trip; Uganda to Amsterdam, then to Detroit, then to DC, and then a few hours drive North to my grandmothers house in Delaware for the holiday. Please cross your fingers, or pray (whichever you do) that I do not get stuck in Detroit snow so I can make it home in time for X-Mas with the family! I know that I will miss East Africa and it will always hold a place in my heart, but I also know that being away for so long has made me very excited and ready to get back to my life in Va and Md. Other than the education and research, the best thing I got out of this trip is good friends and two new families on a different continent. I hope to see all of them again in the near near future. When people ask me about coming back to Rw and Ug, I tell them I will try after I graduate in 2011 so now I HAVE to come back! It is much easier to tell people see you in 2011 then goodbye forever. Who knows, maybe I will work in these countries one day?!