Packed up and ready to go.

"Are we going home?"

"Yes," I answer, briefly, quietly.

"To the blue house? With KC?"

"No, we're moving to another home... the one in Durham."

And so here we are, making one last sweep through Nana and Pop-Pop's house, piling last minute items into yet another cardboard box. Kev rented the moving van this morning and now it is loaded and ready for an early morning departure. The packing of the last week reminding me more than ever of our usual "packing to go back to Uganda" routine. The emotions of transition, sorting through items to be left behind or given away. Carefully packing what seems like crucial stuff to various family members. Yet this time, I don't have a weight limit. I'm not packing and re-packing trunks to come as close to the golden 70 pounds as I can. I don't have to worry about making room for "comfort food" or a multitude of other things we just can't get in Uganda. Instead, I'm surrounded by a sea of cardboard boxes, various pieces of furniture and mundane everyday items like a kitchen trash can or a bucket of cleaning supplies. I can pack exactly what I need, and if I forget something I can run out to a nearby store on arrival. I don't need to worry about jet lag or travel hiccups at the airport. The trip to our home in Durham is slightly more than 2 hours (just long enough for a movie and a couple of songs). The road is familiar, smooth and well maintained. And best of all there is a host of family and friends waiting there to welcome us and help us adjust.
I remember well our first few years in Uganda, always living on the edge of what felt like a very surreal life. By the end of our time there, we had adjusted to the nature of life overseas, especially the life and culture in our little outpost of that part of the world. Now our home here is the place that feels surreal. Somewhat like a movie that you know you've seen before and really enjoyed, but can't quite remember. Just yesterday, I stood for an entire ten minutes in the cleaning section of our local Wal-mart trying to remember which products I needed to buy for which type of cleaning. After awhile my mom asked what was taking so long... I realized at that moment that I was looking for Vim (a bleach cleaning powder), Doom (a bug spray), Omo (clothes detergent), Jik (liquid bleach) and other familiar african brand products. With great kindness she put the right products in the buggy as I looked intently and thought "oh, yeah... Soft Scrub, Comet, All..." to myself. And today, as we made a quick stop at Lowe's for some gardening supplies, I stared in great disappointment at the wide selection of shovels and the pitiful selection of what I really wanted... a hoe. The two available were rather flimsy and small-headed with really long handles. "How am I going to dig with that?" I thought to myself. The thought of using a shovel to dig a hole seems unfamiliar and cumbersome after the powerful yet graceful swing of my Ugandan hoe.
We always say that our children are resilent. That they are flexible and tolerant of immense changes in their young lives. I'm praying for that same ability over the next few weeks and months. I am so thankful to be where we are right now, where we will be this next year. As much I as I felt called to Uganda and our life in Bundibugyo, I am rejoicing in returning home to Durham. If only I could remember the hundreds of little skills that help to make life in the States run smoothly... instead of the constant bombardment of those that made my life in Bundibugyo work.