My time in Uganda has been marked by so many incredible experiences that I have a hard time believing it has all been real and not some elaborate, fantastic dream.
The safari dream: Our group spent the weekend at Lake Mburo National Park, in the midst of zebra, impala, bushbucks, Ankole-Watusi, and more bird species than I’ve ever seen in one place. We set out in the morning in a packed van of 9 people to go off the main road and explore the park. O
ur group also took a boat ride out onto Lake Mburo where we saw hippos, eagles, and a Nile crocodile. A curious water snake jumped into our boat to say hello, then slithered back out. Seeing these animals in their natural habitats felt right. This is the way nature should be.
The Somero dream: We spent a day at Somero, a local NGO that educates and empowers children and young women from the slums. Right away we were welcomed and embraced. We were tasked with preparing lunch for the entire group, a daunting task indeed. A young woman put a large knife in my right hand and a green banana in my left, and showed me how to pare it. I struggled. A lot. But with her and the other young women’s encouragement, the group managed to prepare what would turn out to be a delicious meal. We ate, danced, and played games with the children, and everyone left with full hearts. The day went by so fast, but it felt like these people at Somero were our lifelong fri
ends.
The rainy season dream: While out on a bike ride/hike, Maryam, Tobi and I were caught in a rainstorm. At first, the light sprinkling of rain was a welcome relief to our sweaty, hot, dirt-covered bodies. Not long after the rain began, it turned into a torrential downpour. We took shelter on the front porch of a small, unoccupied house, the dirt on our legs turning to mud and our hair and clothes becoming drenched. A group of young boys from the rural village we were passing through ran up to us and joined our shivering huddle. Something struck me that this would be one of those magical moments you can’t plan for or expect. I ran out from under the eave of the tin roof and started dancing in the rain, 
spinning and laughing and urging the rest to join in. The boys followed our dance moves and could not stop giggling. Eventually we decided to continue on our hike in the rain, saying goodbye to our new friends and wishing we could express exactly how their smiling faces were what really gave us respite from the storm.
So maybe it’s all been a dream, a heart-touching, eye-opening, world-changing dream. If it is a dream, I hope I never wake up from it.