Back in the Vill(age)

Back to real life.

Today I was gifted a cabbage, 2 bananas, a carrot and a lemon for coming back to Pajule. I guess the locals realized that it'd be a challenge to let my sister get on that plane to paradise without me following closely behind.

I spent the whole morning washing my unmentionables and sweeping my house. I went into the office for a bit, had a last-minute meeting with an NGO from Gulu, and then had an impromptu dinner guest before bucket bathing under the stars and now getting ready to turn off the lights (yes, there's power!!!).

PTU met with the Refugee Law Project researchers today to discuss the increasing suicide rate in Northern Uganda and its possible causes. We discussed PTSD, the lack of psycho-social services available, domestic violence, alcoholism and the like... all current issues in the area. Then somehow the conversation turned to the issue of the wild dogs biting people in Pajule. Whaaaaaat!?!?!?! was that???? Yes, I heard it correctly- wild dogs... rabid African wild dogs at that. So now there's a curfew from midnight until sunrise and all stray dogs found during those hours will be killed on site. Great. Looks like I won't be catching that 5 am bus to Gulu/Kampala anytime soon.

It's a good thing that I'm heading to Kitgum on Thursday to spend Thanksgiving with friends, and then to Gulu for another Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday. After that, I'll be in Kampala for my mid-service medical check-up before coming back up to Pajule for three weeks before taking off for Zanzibar for Christmas and New Year's. Hopefully they can take care of this dog problem before I come back. And while they're at it, they could eradicate this new Ebola outbreak in Luwero. Oh Uganda, never a dull moment.

I hope that everyone stateside is gearing up to spend a glorious, gluttonous Thanksgiving with family and friends. We all have so much to be thankful for- our health, our government, our sanity, one another- just to name a few. Don't forget to take a break from preparing a feast or watching football to appreciate how lucky we are to have all the things that are truly important, whether big or small.