Reflections A Year Later

So I wrote this for BestSemester but thought I would put it up here as well...it just represents a little summary of where I feel I am at right now. It makes it seem like I have more figured out than I really do...this is just alot of what I have been processing for the last year.

"Here is a glimpse of some of what I learned while living in Mukono, Uganda. And I say “living” instead of “studying abroad” because it was living; it became home. I have a family, a home, a community in Uganda just as real to me as the chair I’m sitting in right now.

I learned that our cultures shape who we are. Our cultures create a picture of where we come from and what we are about. They also can create stereotypes and walls that divide us. My culture is not perfect, yet there are aspects I appreciate – my freedoms and the opportunities it has given me. There are also aspects that frustrate me and spur me to change – our consumerist way of life, our belief that we have a “right” to live with such excessive wealth. We are so distanced (and I do not mean geographically) from the suffering of this world that we live prosperous, comfortable lives with not a moment’s thought for the hardships others endure.

I learned that I can love people, and make an impact on their lives without being a full-time missionary. While in Uganda I was motivated to return to the US to pursue my doctoral degree in environmental chemistry so that when I go back to Uganda I will have valuable skills to offer, in addition to my heart for the people there.

I discovered that it is completely possible to take a shower with less than a gallon of water. I also learned that it is only too easy to come back to the US and take a hot shower for 15 minutes without thinking twice about how privileged I am to have that, or how much water that uses.

I have learned what it means to ask questions, and never find the answers.

I realized that in the US we are constantly bombarded with media. Everywhere we go there are TVs, radios, advertisements, and people telling us what we should buy and how we should dress to be socially acceptable. It’s too easy to go through the day without stopping to think or to be still before the Lord. I have learned that moments like the ones I spent sitting out on the back porch at my host family’s house can exist here even amidst the craziness of college life. I have learned that turning off the TV, closing ITunes, and creating those quiet moments is essential for maintaining the perspective and lifestyle I want to live.

I am continuing to learn to run my schedule based on the people I’m with rather than by the clock on the wall.

I learned that I love sitting for hours and drinking tea with people, and that the people in my life are more important and more worthy of my time and energy than anything else.

I learned that there are more ways to live out a belief in God than what I have grown up seeing in the US. Ugandan Christians painted a beautiful picture for me of what it looks like to live faithfully and be obedient to God. Their picture is very different from the one my parents drew and I am learning now to paint my own, drawing from what I have seen and experienced. I have a new canvas, and each day I paint a new line, color in something I was not sure of before, or scratch something out that doesn’t fit anymore."