Uganda has a way of putting people in their place, especially regarding attitudes. There is not a day that goes by without the guilt of feeling like you've complained too much, or weren't thankful enough for the people that served you, and so on. Comparision is so easy, and in a sense, difficult to avoid here. Our team has been so bad about comparing food from Uganda to food back home. We're constantly saying "Oh I miss this…", "Have you had this", or "Oh I really wish/hope I could have some of that right now." It got so bad, that we had to make a rule that we were only allowed to talk about food from back home on a certain day. Of course we never make it that far, and constantly have to remind each other "It's not Monday, we can't talk about that today," But why is it so hard? Why do we long for the things back home, the things that make us comfortable, when we came here to be completly thrown out of our comfort zones? We have been fed so well here, like EXTREMELY well, but still we sometimes long for something better. Why though? We HAVE food and don't have to ever wonder about if we're getting our next meal. We don't have to worry if our water is contaminated because it's always bottled. We don't go to bed hungry. We control our portion size. We have access to go the the store if we want something extra. Our options are limitless, but hunger is not really one of them. That definitely puts me in my place and makes me rethink things. There's not a day that goes by here where I don't see a little kid, maybe 3 years old, with a bloated belly because of lack of food. It's heartbreaking, eye opening, and attitude adjusting. Of course it's easy to get an attitude about little things here because everything is so different, but it's also really easy to be put back in your place when you look into the eyes of a little child and are able to see their hurt and pain, and realize your "problems" aren't so big after all.
