I AMsterdam

I'm back in Uganda! Fresh off a relaxing week in fantastically beautiful, delicious, cold, and rainy Amsterdam! I actually feel physically healthier for having spent the week there. Crazy how that happens.

Amsterdam was wonderful. I got to spend some quality time with my Pops and take in the sites and culture. We rented bikes and rode them over just about every canal and back alley in Amsterdam. We ate fantastic food and way too many delicious deserts but made up for it with afternoon runs every day. We relaxed in the hotel room with our favorite TV shows or took in the comedy and sin of Amsterdam nightlife in the evenings. Overall, it was a very successful holiday.

After being in the land of affluence for a few days, my perspective remains mostly unchanged. I had a good week and now it is back to the grind. Like any real job I guess. I did find that I have become a little more patient and laid back when it comes to the hustle and bustle of the day's activities. I may have already been pretty laid back I guess, but it has shifted that way a little more.

We have our massive, complex, dynamic, punctual, safe, secure, clean, comfortable (relatively speaking) and efficient transportation system to get me from Uganda to London Heathrow to Amsterdam Schipol. To get me from Amsterdam Schipol to Amsterdam Central. To get me from Amsterdam Central to Leidsplein. And from Leidsplein to my hotel. All within about 12 hours time. And I'm one of the hundreds of thousands or millions that must be accommodated each and every day in this world. This is affluence. This is accomplishment.

Now we have our All Volunteer Conference which began last night. This is a chance for all the volunteers in Uganda to get together and share their experiences and ideas with each other. Ideally, this will help us become more effective and productive volunteers in our work at our respective sites. I'm anxious to get home. However, there appears to be a lot of value that can be extracted from these two days. I'll just have to wait until the weekend.

Being gone from site for almost three weeks now, my return to Kamuge will bring with it a stronger sense of internal and external purpose. Maybe not so much purpose, but reason. Reasons for why I am here. In this tiny village, in this tiny country, on this gigantic continent. Reasons why I should do some things I have not yet done. Reasons why I should continue not to do certain things. And motivation to do some things I've been meaning to do but not yet done.