Back again
on Thea's Blog (Uganda), 24/Jul/2010 18:05, 34 days ago
Back to school after a lovely, long, lazy break in the UK. Suddenly panicked at the thought of a twelve-month stint without another trip home, I was a bit overzealous with my victualling: 5kg of porridge, 12 tins of tuna, 2kg of chocolate, 1kg raisins, marmite, custard powder (odd craving I agree), olive oil, 1kg of mixed nuts and 4 boxes of lasagne sheets. As I lugged half my own body weight on to two cars, a train, two taxis, two planes and two buses, I had one or two moments of regret (particularly when I ran over my sandaled foot with my suitcase) for my earlier provisioning enthusiasm. But now, once more installed in the Lodge in Fort Portal, I am very happy with my cupboard of goodies. Several times over the last few days I have opened the door just to take a little peek at all the pretty, shiny packets and be filled with a warm sense of contentment.As I clambered on to the sun-beaten tarmac at Entebbe, a young Ugandan guy next to me grinned,‘home at last.’ In a funny way, I sort of agreed with him. The overloaded bodas whizzing by, the marabou storks peering down their noses like self-important judges, the sweet scent of woodsmoke all had a cosy sense of familiarity. I think it would be overdoing it to say it felt like a homecoming. But yes, it’s good to be back.The university is in a bit of a state of dormancy at the moment, it being the holidays. I don’t think I missed much while I was away apart from the installation of my very smart new computer (hooray) in my new office (hooray). But the new term is just around the corner and with a record number of new enrolments, things promise to become a bit busier soon.