New Diggs...

I have been silent… but I’ve been busy. My world has gone Topsy Turvy really… Mid-June(ish) I was offered a job. In Uganda. I accepted it and began unraveling of life as it had been for the last year (or ten years?)… Back down to the basement to unpack, sort and pile my already compacted ‘stuff' from Baltimore. I made lists of what I needed to do and get, and had many a long email conversation about what was and wasn’t in my soon-to-be beautiful new mostly furnished apartment… we suffered through various odds and ends shopping trips... And then the packing. Oh the agony. And then the worry. Too much? Too little? Impractical? Will all my precious pots make the transatlantic travel, and then survive the subsequent Kenyan/Ugandan roads and boarder crossings?? Oh me. (And should I really be attempting to carry my pots with me??) (Don’t be silly, Of COURSE. They are sweet pieces of my life and my dear dear friends. I'm not leaving them behind…!)

Believe it or not, the most traumatic part of the whole trip was at O’Hare, where the woman at the baggage counter essentially told me, ‘sorry, your trunks are too heavy you can’t take them.’ SLIGHT mis-communication—we could, we later (and thankfully) figured out, we just had to reorder some of the poundage and then pay dearly. BUT… we managed, with the help of some blood, lots of sweat and a few tears, to get that sorted out and on our flight in good time. To Kenya. (or Amsterdam then Nairobi) Where I have to say going back felt a little like I was just there. But fun to be with my parents this go around, meeting up with my brother (sadly missing Kara). We had a few chilly days in Nairobi, reconnecting with friends, going back out to where we had lived 20 years etc. Which was all special. And THEN… the 7 most glorious warm, sunny, sandy, Indian Ocean, pool, henna, swahili seafood, passion fruit juice and coconut filled days spent at the coast… I have to say, dear friends, the Kenyan coast is one of the most spectacular places ON EARTH. (at least that I have had the great good fortune of exploring...) It was glorious I tell you. Glorious. A few photos for your drooling pleasure...

Then back to Nairobi for a few more days and a few more delightful reconnections with old friends. And then the journey west to Uganda. We stayed one night en rout in the Kakamega Forest at a little retreat center called Rondo. It is a rain-forest very much like the one my mom grew up in in Congo, with tall tall old trees FILLED with noisy monkeys and birds, colorful flowers and bright, floaty dancing butterflies. It felt intensely familiar and happy. The following day Than drove us on in his speeding silver bullet to the border, and through the border, and we were met by Vincent, a fellow who works for the program I now work for. He brought us on home. To my new home that is, in Mukono, Uganda. A small (?) town between Jinja and Kampala. We stopped, changed money, picked up a few groceries- namely milk and sugar for that oh-so-necessary life force: tea. (We’d brought the tea from Kenya. Of course). And up the hill to my new home. Up Up Up the bumpy red dirt hill… to a spot that overlooks the town, and the best part… THE best part EVER…?? The tree that will be watching over me while I'm here… Oh it is magnificent. It is a tall old forest tree. Think Avatar tree. Ok, maybe not QUITE… shes sinewy, lankier, but you look up into the underbelly of her branches, which are a way way up there, and it is a spectacular criss-crossing map of places I’d SO like to go... And this old ent is home to raucous clans of turacos, hornbills, parrots and who knows what else… The mornings and evenings are filled with the most delightful cacophony of squabblily, giddy bird chatter you ever heard. This picture does not, simply does not do it justice. I will keep trying to capture it, but for now... and remember it is VERY tall.

So I am slowly unpacking my stuff… Actually, I unpacked pretty quickly and have since been finding the perfect spots for everything. My apartment is spacious and colorful. It seems a little extravagant, honestly. But I'm getting used to the idea of it. I have a living/room dining room space, a kitchen and laundry room, two bedrooms one full bathroom and a half bath. (Did I mention TWO bedrooms? That’s right, and with such delights as I have abovementioned, aren’t you all clamoring to buy your plane tickets?? Yeah, I should THINK so.) My apartment is the on the ground level, my coworker, Gwyn lives above me.

My travels have been wonderful, but after a year of not knowing quite what I was doing, and these last weeks/months of go-go-go it is good to finally stop moving and start finding home again. And yes, I’ve felt guilty and embarrassed at my luggages as I’ve carted them here and there, and dear folk have had to hoist them gently(!) on to and off of roof racks and into pickup beds... (And oh my, what WAS all this nonsense I brought??) But I am thankful. Oh SO thankful for it, because it is pieces of you that I carry with me. And I am so delightfully home in this new place as I pull out my Rita placemats and french press cozy, and my Molly prints, and my Mary Mugs and Ann plate, my Matt seeds, my Kara angel, my Alice knives and bread board, my beautiful Elizabeth Wye Oak piece (which made it!), Auntie Eileen dish towels, Katie necklace, Juan salt and pepper shakers, Allison bag, Marti photo frame, Annie bowl and Raha dudu that has been with me since 10th grade I think... And photos! My fridge was fully adorned the first night with photos of your smiling faces and many a good good time… Zephyr with his mama and papa on his first birthday, Lucia sitting in her sling, Nisha loving the sunshine, mom and dad and the Chicago skyline, Dexter House, my grandparents 3, Hear no evil, see no evil, and what smell no evil?? (hahaha) Yah. I carry all this goodness with me. All these BRILLIANT shining people in my life.

And I feel overwhelmed. And I feel sad to be far away from so many people I love. And I’ll feel super sad when my parents leave (how nice to have them help me move in). And I feel a bit nervous about my new job and all the unknowns, and unsure of myself. But I am excited and grateful too. And ready. For more brilliant shining people… For new places and new things, different things. For Uganda. And eating endless bananas and pineapples, and walks up and down this mighty hill with all my fresh goodies and bags of milk from the market… And for perfectly warm weather 365 days a year.