Just the beginning!

As my time here really begins to dwindle, I’m trying to reflect on all that I’ve experienced here, but I find myself overwhelmed. I’ve experienced and learned so much, I really don’t know how to sort out all my thoughts and feelings! I’m not sure that I will ever truly have a full grasp on how I feel about everything that has happened here, but I am really looking forward to sharing experiences with the other Sarlo interns while we finish up our research papers in the Fall. I think that talking about it with others who had similar experiences will help me digest a lot of what has happened here. I miss our Nica girls! (half of the Sarlo Scholars crew is doing the same program, just in Nicaragua).

My birthday was a rollercoaster! Ha not, really, just filled with lots of fun, some food poisoning and good people. On Saturday night we went back out to the beautiful NRE campsite. I decided to get a rollex (eggs and cabbage rolled up in chapatti) from a chapatti stand on the street and that's what did me in, I was sick for awhile after that. But, Bethany and Caroline cooked us an amazing dinner on Sunday night and we had a delicious cake from Ozzie’s. Yeah, wasn’t expecting the food poisoning, but hey it happens and I still managed to eat the birthday dinner and make it to the pool yesterday (tough life I know).

Now, it’s SERIOUS go time. I just realized that my draft final report is due tomorrow (with all the birthday celebratin’ it must have slipped my mind…) and next week is my last week to implement my workplan. On next Tuesday I have my final interview when my workplan and all the messy budget stuff is due, along with our final dinner with our host families! So crazy how fast it is all going. The group is currently going through their business management training and I’ll still be working with and visiting the Twezimbe PHA Group during my last week, but only part of our FSD intern group will still be here. I can’t believe it’s almost over…so surreal. I don’t know what I am going to do with myself in the States, but over this past weekend I was finally able to accept(and begin to appreciate) my return on August 14^th. I have definitely been in denial, but writing my final report and saying goodbye to the interns with shorter programs is forcing me to acknowledge the fact of the matter, that all good things must come to an end.

But, really that saying does not entirely apply to my situation because me leaving Uganda isn’t really an end at all-it’s just a beginning. The group’s business will just be officially opening during my last week and I’ll get to hear about its progress from the States. And as far as me leaving Uganda..well yes for the time being-but I will be coming back! This trip is just a beginning to many years of the Twezimbe group’s soap business and to my future travels and work. Plus there is still 16 days left-plenty of time to continue enjoying “being here now.”