Leaving the Fort

Preparing to leave Fort Portal hasn’t been too difficult for me, which I mainly attribute to my ability to block out certain things that I don’t want to deal with yet. Fort Portal has become a home to me and I am very interested to see what it is like to have a home in different places. I know it will be difficult to have friends in such far away and different places.

 

My last few weeks here have been very low-key, as I scramble to finish my work. Last Wednesday I finally got to see the big local market that takes place on Saturdays and Wednesdays about 20 km from town. Though I mainly went for fabric, you could get just about anything you might want (except the kitchen sink, which is at Azatex: the little grocery store in town). Overall, the trip was a success. I filled my bag with fabric, did some interesting people-watching, searched to no avail for a men’s African shirt and even got to meet the local crazy-man. I’m not sure what to call the change in me, but I noticed a difference in myself after the market. If I had been in such a crowded, noisy, dirty place a few years (or even months, I suppose) ago, I would  have become quite tense and unhappy. As I walked through the narrow, muddy paths between the make-shift shops and took in all of the clutter with my eyes, and bargaining and chicken calls with my ears, I felt happy and comfortable. I enjoyed the hunt for pretty fabric, feared the suggestion of bargaining, and felt at ease taking in the lively scene nestled into the huge mountains. I won’t write 1,000 words more …. Here is a photo:

Tonight is my going away party. We have invited the office, some friends, the Sisters of the Holy Cross, and a few other people. I had two dresses made from local fabric (one in the local fashion and the other in a more American style). Unfortunately, I found myself swimming in both and can’t wear them to the party. Besides that little bit, the night should be a lot of fun. We have organized a ping-pong tourney featuring a battle between Johnny and Lemmy (team leader of CRS Fort Portal). Both of them are supposed to be good so it should be an excellent battle: Europe vs. Africa!

 

Tomorrow I leave for Kampala around midday. I will stay there for a few short days and fly out on Wednesday. I cannot believe that my time here in Africa has gone by so quickly. I haven’t quite sorted out my emotions yet, but I am experiencing the strangest mixture of sadness and relief. I feel relief to be going home where I feel comfortable and everything is familiar; where I don’t have to ask others about every single action, look and sound so that I know what it means; where if I embarrass myself, I will know why and how badly (actually, it’s kind of nice to not know when I embarrass myself!). I feel sad though, too. There is so much goodness here. Sometimes it seems like I can feel it radiating towards me from the sun and the earth. I will deeply miss the people that I have connected with and the beauty of the land. But I can’t think about that right now because I have  party to go to!