Blind-Sided

So completely out of nowhere I decided to get horribly Uganda-sick today. I honestly wasn't expecting to miss it as much as I do, and I'm a little bit blind-sided. I thought the best thing for me to do would be just to compile a little list of my favorite memories and just general things that I miss. So, in no particular order:

1. TALA! (This was a girl who lived on my hall, and I don't think it's too far fetched to say that she totally became my adopted Ugandan little sister. Half the time she drove me crazy, but I totally miss her crazy screaming down the halls and her general tomboyish personality. She was probably one of my best friends on the trip, if not the best and I love her dearly.)
2. Ugandans loved the song "Live Your Life" with Rihanna and T.I. and it was playing on repeat all throughout the semester. One of the other USP girls made the mistake of showing one of the Honors College students, Eddie, the Numa Numa kid video and he played it consecutively EVERY night. It drove me nuts!
3. The night of my rural homestay when I had to bathe after dinner in complete darkness. I was basically just standing there naked in the middle of an African plain under the most brilliant and breathtaking starry sky I've ever seen. There are no words to express the feeling that night.
4. Another similar experience happened in Rwanda. As we were leaving the Christian Hope Village where the children of genocide victims are given housing (which was amazing enough as it was), but it started to rain and we just watched this gorgeous powerful rainstorm come over the mountain and through the valley we were in until I just stood and let it soak me. It was like the most amazing high I've ever felt.
5. Teaching Isaac and my other little Ugandan nieces and nephews how to play "Patty Cake". Every time I'd get to the end Issac would scream "FOR ISAAC AND ME!" He was my favorite child in the world, and it breaks my heart thinking about him now.
6. Sitting on the edge of the window of our matatu on our safari trip speeding through the plains at like 90 miles an hour with the wind whipping through my hair, elephants walking by in the distance and the gorgeous orange sun setting over the horizon.
7. The night I had dinner with Walter and he shared his story with me about his life, his involvement with IJM and his future career aspirations. We were one of the last groups of people to leave the Dining Hall, and then he walked me back to my dorm holding my hand and completely just blessing me with his presence.
8. The rush of running on the red dirt track to the setting sun every night and following it up with a delicious dinner of cow peas and rice.
9. *sigh* I MISS THE FOOD! I ate cow peas and rice nearly every night and never really got sick of it. Cabbage was also always a treat, as was pineapple. And if I ever needed a break, I just walked across the street from campus to get a chapati or a hamburger and chips (fries) from Sam's stand.
10. Creative writing! I may have lost my sanity without this class as an outlet for all the stress and stuff I was going through. My teacher was probably my favorite teacher of all time, and I truly hope he gets published soon, because he deserves it more than anyone I know.

So yeah, those are definitely the top 10. I have to say- this didn't help my nostalgia in the least. Man, do I miss this stuff. I can't wait to go back someday!