Today marked a bit of a break from my routine and research, as I ventured away from Nabugoye and the Mbale area to visit Ramogi, the village I lived in last year as an AJWS volunteer. Going back was an amazing and surreal experience--from meeting this year's Volunteer Summer group to reuniting with old friends, returning to a place and a community I thought I'd never see again was quite the experience. It also really made me appreciate the ability I've had to get to know two very different groups of people, and made me appreciate each of them in very different ways. I worked with some amazing individuals last summer, and having spent more time in Uganda now, in a different environment, I am able to see how truly unique some of these people are.
After I returned home from the trip, beat and caked in dirt, I met the family who's holding their son's bar mitzvah here on Thursday. Three whole muzungus (the word used for white foreigners all over Africa) from south Florida was certainly a change, and it was interesting to here about their decision to make a bar mitzvah here and forgo the fancy U.S. party. Mostly, though, just the feeling of having a solid group of Americans here after a few weeks of quiet brings an interesting change in dynamic, and I'm curious how this will affect the coming week (though also excited for Thursday's affair!)
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