impromptu cycling
Casey and I have run out of internet on our dongle, so I apologize for the lack of posts recently.
Today is our last day at TASO, and I can honestly say that I am incredibly sad to leave. It has been an amazing, eye opening experience that I will carry with me my whole life. I came here looking for a research idea, but I am leaving with more questions. I’ve realized that life here is not something that can be written down as a thesis. Still, I will try to give the graduate schools what they want, and hopefully I will have the opportunity to return for a longer period to carry out my accepted research proposal.
In 4 days Casey and I will be in England, visiting my aunt for a few days. Until then I have to say goodbye to everyone I’ve spent the last 2 1/2 months with (except Casey). I absolutely hate goodbyes. There was an intern at TASO in September who said “The reason I have to leave is because I arrived.” Rarely will people live and work in the same place their entire lives, and for me, I feel the desire to keep moving and to keep learning. A problem with arriving somewhere is that one day you’ll have to leave, as is the case with TASO. This morning I had my final report presentation. I included lessons I’ve learned and recommendations I have, as well as pictures I’ve taken throughout my time at TASO. Casey and I also splurged and bought two cakes as a thank-you. I think it acted as a good incentive to come to my meeting because within 5 minutes of ending the meeting the cakes had disappeared.
The rest of the week we were kept fairly busy. We finished and printed our reports, we had another hospital visit, and we biked 65 kilometres in the blazing heat. I’ll say now that I haven’t as much as sat on a bike in almost 3 years. Casey and I were persuaded into riding with other TASO staff around Uganda to support prof. Wolfgang Lenzen (A German National) in riding across Uganda to raise money for TASO. His team started early again this morning. They’ll ride 105 kilometres today. I was asked if I wanted to join again. hell no. By the end of yesterday my butt hurt so much I felt like I was sitting on razors and my legs didn’t work when I tried to get off. I just fell over onto the dusty road. I also came within inches of two transport trucks and a coach bus as they sped past, driving me off the already patchy road. At least I was wearing a helmet. Besides almost getting killed, the scenery was beautiful and it was quite peaceful when I wasn’t suffering trying to pedal my one-gear bike up a hill. The children were cute enough and I thought I was going to be overrun as I road past a school just as the bell was ringing and hundreds of children ran towards me from all sides. The day’s lesson: I need to exercise.
-Sarah
