Being Present: Life as a Mzungu in Africa.

As time is flying by and I am becoming more and more comfortable with my surroundings, I am beginning to realize how much I will miss this place when I leave. Lately I have been working on being Present in every situation and soaking in the beauty of Uganda. One of the main themes of the semester has been learning to be present—to be a learner at all times. As an outsider in Uganda, it is my job to listen, observe, ask questions, be silent, and take everything in. often times, westerners will come into places, such as Uganda, and try and impose their culture and ideals on the people. God has been teaching me that the best way to love on people is just to be present with them. To be okay just being. sitting, listening, eating, walking-- whatever it may be. By learning to just be present, I am also learning to practice humility. I am no better than Ugandans because I am from America, take warm showers, drive a car, own more than three shirts, eat a variety of foods every day, have clean water to drink, and have white skin. My traditions, sense of humor, taste in music, etc. are not better than any Ugandan’s. I know this is a simple statement, even an obvious idea, but becoming a learner has been much more difficult than I had anticipated. I have felt very humbled by the fact that although our world consists of a diversity of cultures and people, we are all human beings—people who desire to love, be loved and experience the richness of life.

Here are some beautiful things about Uganda that I never hope to forget:

-       - the large variety of birds

-       -people saying “sorry” every time I trip, drop something, etc.

-       - the slow pace of life: people sitting all day on their verandas

-       - music being played in public at all times

-       - adorable naked babies

-       -brightly painted buildings

-       - lush, green, trees, big rain drops, huge sunsets and sunrises, big puffy white clouds, bright blue skies, bright orange and pink skies, thousands of bright stars

-       - having to repeat myself at least 3 times in every conversation

-       -my lumpy pillows

-       - little shops everywhere full of random things

-       - bright red mud

and the list continues…..missing you all in Uganda! I would love to hear how your lives at home are going as well! At times it is hard being so separated from all of you and life at home. So keep me posted!!!!!!