Back Home

Hello! So it has been a while since I last wrote, and I have now been home for a week, but I suppose I should provide some closure. So let's see... the last week of our travels, after Victoria Falls, was a whole lot of traveling back to where we started, so basically a repeat on all the taxis, buses, and trains we took before. Everything was going as planned until we woke up after our first night on the train to go through customs to reenter Tanzania. It turns out that someone had entered our cabin during the night and stolen some things, including Ariela's passport. Meaning, she needed to run off the train to get a police report so they would let us into Tanzania. However, to get into Uganda and then back into the US, she was going to need a temporary passport from the US Embassy in Dar. Of course, the train got in just a liiiitle too late for us to make it to the embassy that day, thus making it impossible for Ariela, and I who had agreed to stay with her, to take the bus for which we had tickets the following afternoon, which in turn meant we would have very little time in Kampala before we left for the states. However, at the last minute, Ariela's parents got us PLANE TICKETS, so we were able to fly from Dar to Kampala, giving us time to get her passport and then get back to Uganda with plenty of time to spare. To boot, we were able to see Mt. Kilimanjaro from the plane, which we hadn't seen yet and I was too embarrased to tell anyone that we went all the way to Moshi, Tanzania, but didn't see Kili.

It was really nice to be back in Kampala and not feel all touristy, since we all feel at home there. We all ran around and did last minute things. I had said goodbye to my family before and didn't really want to open that door again, so I went with Arie to say goodbye to her family, which was really sad even for me, and they weren't even my family.

Leaving on the plane was very bittersweet, but I was glad we were all together, at least for the first flight to London, and the plane food and movies more than made up for it....we were very excited for these things. Once we entered the Entebbe airport, it already felt like we were already leaving, with all the shiny electronic contraptions that are inherient to airports. Obviously, Heathrow was even more of a shock.

Since being home, I wouldn't say I've experienced "culture shock"...in fact, everything feels very familiar, almost too familiar, like I never even left and nothing ever happened. I do miss being around people that did all these crazy things with me, but I know that I'll see them again eventually, hopefully soon. Being back home is hectic, more than anything else. Not the sort of hecticness that comes from trying not to miss busses and having stuff stolen and trying to evade sketchy people, but the hecticness that comes from unpacking and working and appointments and writing assignments and thinking about next year and thesis...an unfamilar hacticness but one I assume I had better get used to.

In conclusion, I am uber-glad I decided to stay in travel, because it was a good finale to the whole experience, and really cemented relationships with the friends that I went with. It's nice to have it to look back on as the last thing I did in Africa. And now I am already itching to go travel somewhere else...but I suppose that will have to wait until I have more than $5 to my name...woops.