there's always someone at home who never forgets who you are.

Being away from home for Thanksgiving, and the holidays in general, is so much harder than I anticipated. But it has given me a lot of time to think about what I'm thankful for - much more so than usual, when everything's busy and fun and a blur. So, even though I hate "Thanksgiving-thankful" blog posts, I do love making lists, and the list lover/time on my hands won out.

• I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to take a year off from medical school. I like the science I'm doing and I think it's important, but I also think I just needed a break. Room to breathe, to read a book, to walk to work, to hug a three year old every day, exercise, etc...I just had too much tunnel vision back home. Training to be a doctor really does feel like this one-way express train to MORE and I just needed to jump off the train and hobo around on the old slow ones that run between Jinja and Tororo and slooooow down. 
• I'm thankful that the people that love me, and that I love the most, have been generally supportive of my leaving for a year. It's not been easy for me either. I can't wait to come home to errybody.
• I love coming home to two kids every day. It's so fun. Even though they scream bloody murder half the time and steal my candy, what would our exercise videos every AM be without them getting in the way while mimicking us? How else would I get to hold a 3 year old every day? So worth it.
• I'm hopeful that Brandon might get to come visit! We're gonna climb Mt. Elgon. Woo wooo so exciting.
• Living here has made me conscious of all the things that I've never had to do without, that I take for granted 100% of the time in the US. Water, power, food. I mean, you should see me when we can't get internet in the US. It's kinda ridiculous. And it goes above and beyond that - I've never had to want for anything, really. Katie and I have talked about this in relation to the Occupy movement going on in the States. It's hard to get really excited about that when, honestly, those protestors might be the 99% in the US, but they are in the top 1% of the world. Maybe they should think about how they have access to water, sanitation, and healthcare. I understand that they're angry, I just maybe think there are other things worth directing that energy at. But I've always felt that way. Anyway, I want to do better at keeping everything in perspective, and being here has certainly taught me some lessons. 

Mosquitoes are literally buzzing in my ear and I can feel the 15 new bites my feet have (I wonder how many sporozoites were just injected into me?? gross) so I should probably get under my bed net. I miss you US peeps and I can't wait to come home. Eat some deep fried turkey/brisket/honey baked ham/pie for me!! =D