Reentry Blues

     I’ve experienced culture shock before, but this reentry period is much rougher than any others I’ve experienced. Part of it is that this has been my worst ever case of jet lag. It doesn’t help that it’s about 80 degrees colder here in western Pennsylvania than it was in Uganda!
     The first culture shock experience that really hit home was in Newark airport on Wednesday. I went to buy a bottle of water from a convenience stand, and it cost the equivalent of 6000 Ugandan shillings – several days’ pay for most of my neighbors in Karamoja. For WATER! I was appalled. I wished I hadn’t bought it.
     My friends took me out to dinner when I arrived in Pittsburgh, which was wonderful. American food! The next day I made the mistake of having a Pop Tart for breakfast. Too sweet. When I got to my best friend Jenny’s house, she gave me a pile of hoodies, sweatpants and blankets, and I hunkered down for a few days. I’m just now beginning to acclimate to this dreary weather!
     The only shopping I’ve done since I got back was in WalMart. It makes me laugh to think that we call the little general store in Namalu (probably about the size of your kitchen) “WalMart”. In Nakaale, going to one store in town that has everything – milk, juice, oil, laundry soap, yarn, jewelry, biscuits, shoes, tools – is a real shopping experience. We really could get much of what we needed for day to day life in that little hole in the wall store, plus the fruits and vegetables and clothing we’d buy out in the market. The whole American advertising scheme telling you that you NEED this or that is really disturbing. I promise you, you don’t.
     I’m also discovering that my sensitivity to germs, bugs, etc. has changed quite a bit. I have to remind myself that, generally speaking, it’s not normal in America to pull a bug out of your food and keep eating (but throwing away perfectly good food? What a waste!). “Disgusting” bathrooms here are five-star establishments. Why? They have flush toilets (as opposed to a hole in the ground), toilet paper, running water, and soap. What else do you need?