Soaked In

It had been three years. A lifetime and a flash. Most of the faces at the hospital and the hotel were the same but not all. Some had moved on, replaced by others. Some had died. The stories were sad and familiar. Lost love, difficult times. In the short days I was present, I soaked it all in.

Literally.

Replacing the contents of my cells with fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Bananas, avocado and pineapple. Groundnuts and sesame seeds. Honey, tea and milk. Cane sugar dried on the shores of Lake Victoria. Oranges and passion fruit. Eggs, flour and potatoes. Fish from the Nile and the Lake. Uganda seems to have it all. Higher elevation, temperate weather, dark orange soil and plenty of rain create conditions that create nearly everything you can imagine. Cassava and millet and sweet potatoes. Nile beer.

It didn’t take long for the feeling to return. Certainly the burning trash and charcoal and the fuzzy orange moon. The afternoon thunderstorms and constant exposure to outside air. Inside is never really inside. There aren’t bright lights or central air in Northern Uganda.

But I tend to think it’s the food that causes the sense of immersion. The act of eating. From the first hotel buffet in Entebbe to the Churchill Hotel samosas to tea at Lacor, eating is what makes us a part of Uganda.

This trip marked my eleventh time to the country. The first after a three year gap. And although some cells turn over quickly, others have a long life. And they remember. There are fat cells that remain from 2014. Stem cells from 2017. Skeletal muscle cells that I formed that first trip in 2012 that are still a part of me. Others are formed with each visit. Like pancreas and liver. I wonder what percent of my body was formed in Uganda. What percent of my memory.

It’s a good habit to get into on any trip. To immerse oneself into the local nutrients. Diversity always makes us stronger. It’s a fact. Opinions, cultures, religions, ages, socioeconomic status- a diverse and varied intellectual, emotional and biological composition makes us more empathetic, healthy and wise

A couple days back in Gulu and I truly felt home. And now that I’m back in my usual environment, I’ll be carrying the place around with me for years. And if I am able to return to Uganda, I’ll change just a little bit more. Continuing to grow and evolve into something new.

It’s a remarkable process.