My Scrubbed Shoes

... are on my feet and I am ready to leave for the airport in a few hours time.

Yesterday, I almost skipped writing my blog because I couldn't bear to sully the stories out here with such a miserable one to boot.  The friction moments, for want of a better way of putting it, of arrival and departure are so heightened.  It is almost as though I am teetering on the threshold of the two cultures, neither fully in one nor the other.  The discomfort and awkwardness twists your insides.  Your expectations collide and disappoint.  Your senses are confused and at sea.  I awoke this morning and saw the nightmare yesterday for what it really was, as plainly as the nose on my face.

So the time has come to log off now and to leave my Ugandan story here.  Family have already asked if I would do this kind of thing again.  I don't really know.  Probably not.  I think I have new chapters in our life back home which I want to throw myself into and enjoy.  There are also a great many challenges and upsets which I've struggled with in Uganda and which I chose not to write about.  But I do know for certain that travelling like this allows you to know yourself in a whole new way.

I am, more than ever, critically aware of my shortcomings and of my stress points... and, on the flip side, of some of the positives too... I can now complete a laundry handwash in under two hours!  But seriously, not only has it been a journey around Uganda, it has been a journey within me.  The blog has helped to make me reflect each day and given me a structured focus.  A big thank you to my reader-friends and family and I hope that you've enjoyed the stories too.