Some Help from My Friends

Wow! I am amazed - and then again, not - at how little I've posted this year. I'll blame poor internet connection/ service and my own laziness. To be fair, from January to March all I could think about was my impending wedding (ceremony), which was pretty awesome. (Most of you probably know that it was the one-year anniversary for Seth and me, but we were married in a courthouse - to the knowledge of no one - and wanted an actual ceremony to commemorate our union.)

Notice something (or someone) else in the picture? Yes, it's my best friend, Kerry, who came out to officiate the service and otherwise join in drunken debauchery like only the Sergeant and I can achieve. Per our request she brought not only one, but two bottles of Crown (unfortunately impossible to find anywhere this side of the Atlantic.) Can't you just feel my happiness?

Pssst - I've already been drinking!

Whiskey-induced euphoria aside, however, having the Nomi to my Malone (and Seth's Penny) along for the ride reminded me just how amazing it is to have close friends in new places. It doesn't matter where you are or what you are doing, because your own personal world is the same.

Literally.

True, it's not the best way to explore due to the fact that you are permanently insulated from overexposure, but to someone who lives in a distant place by herself (me!) it offers a wonderful breathe of comfort and familiarity. Not to say that when Seth visits (or I visit Seth) there is not also a sense of comfortable familiarity, but it's different: Seth brings love and passion and protection; Seth brings himself. And when he leaves, or I leave, I miss him, period.

Kerry's visit, on the other hand, was a piece of home brought to Uganda. And when she flew back to the States, she left me with an intense longing for home that I didn't realize existed. I enjoyed Kerry's company not only because she's my best friend, but also because of what she represented. Her departure left a deep hole in me, worsened by Seth's departure a few days later. I had both love and home with me for two weeks and when those went away I never felt more alone in this country.

After I returned to Uganda following the Christmas holidays, I spoke with Solveigh (a German volunteer working with Edirisa crafts; also my awesome wedding photographer) about how difficult it was to leave my life in Uganda for a short time, then return. Everything is so different, even in Kuwait, not to mention how easily I become accustomed to living with Seth; then with constant readjustment being frustrating and incredibly exhausting: wouldn't it have been better not to have left at all? Is deprivation the key to overcoming loneliness?

My pictures tell me, "No."