After another fabulous weekend spent staying about the Nile River and kayaking through the rapids...I had my first negative Ugandan (although it could have happened anywhere) experience on Monday: my Nikon D-40 camera (with 130 pictures from the river, the camp party that night and kampala) was stolen from my bag during the bus ride from Kampala to Lyantonde. I was devastated when I realized it. My heart literally sank. That was the one thing that I did not want to lose…ever. It was my baby. It was the only REAL gift I’d ever given myself (well, besides my travelling adventures). And here in Uganda, it has been my life, my heart. I have captured so many faces and places and animals and sunsets and moments. The pictures were my way of documenting this experience. I’ve absolutely LOVED working on my photography in this gorgeous environment, with all of the amazing people I have met and places I’ve seen. I have almost 1500 pictures already and I had so many plans and hopes for the photos that I was going to take over the next two months. But the world gathered a bunch of random coincidences together yesterday and at the end of a long bus journey, my camera was gone.
(You can skip this next paragraph if you don’t want to hear the story of how it happened)…
It had been a torturous, hot, sweaty hour sitting on the bus before it finally departed the bus park in Uganda’s capital. And then another 30 minutes sitting at a gas station for some kind of maintenance. Then, a cold 3 hours later we were about 20 minutes from Lyantonde when we came to a truck that had hit a pothole the wrong way and was stuck blocking the entire road. Our big passenger bus decided to proceed through the hills and rural side roads to by-pass the accident. Unfortunately, the very steep and unpaved first hill was too much for the weight of our bus so we were asked to get out and walk up the hill. I left my locked, although not completely secure, backpack on the bus since it’d only be a few minutes (it was only about 20 yards to the top from where were) and everyone was getting off empty handed. However, rather than waiting for us at the top of that hill, the bus continued for what ended up being about 2 or 3 kilometers. So when I finally reached the bus 30 minutes later on the main road, I noticed my bag had been moved, but it was still locked and I felt certain no one could get anything out of it. When we started driving away without the two gentlemen that had been seated beside me, I spoke up to the people around me and tried to get the conductor’s attention because I worried we were leaving them behind and maybe they had bags on the bus; they all said not to worry about it. But about 10 minutes later when I realized how strange it was that the 2 men were no longer on the bus, I decided to investigate my bag closer. And that’s when my heart sank. They had been able to open the bag enough to reach in, unzip my camera bag and take out my gorgeous, precious, beloved Nikon. The same man that had slept on my shoulder and breathed on me; the same man for whom I worried we were leaving behind with his things on the bus…had taken the camera that has captured so much of my Uganda. I immediately called to the conductor and started spitting out emotional words expressing how important it was to me and that the men had taken it! Had anyone seen this happen? Why wasn’t anyone watching our bags as we hiked through the hills??? The bus wouldn’t stop of course; they insisted there was nothing we could do now…it was too late. Upon arriving in Lyantonde just minutes later, a crowd of boda boda drivers (motorbike/motorcycle taxis) listened sympathetically to me and the conductor talk. Peter, my regular boda driver (such a sweetheart!), came to the front of the group and asked what happened and when I started to tell the story, the tears came. If we hadn’t come to that random truck in the middle of the road…those men would never have had a moment to even look in my bag. Sometimes the world works for us…sometimes, it works against us; but it’s all part of the universe and we learn from it. I wrote my statement on some random piece of paper that was then filed with thousands of other pieces of paper on a dresser in one of the small round offices of Lyantonde's Police "Station". I don't expect to see my camera again, but there's no harm in trying!
I consciously decided on Monday afternoon that I would only allow myself to be angry and upset about it that day. I don’t know if I was/am inspired by Liz Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love and her time in India (the part I just finished reading on that same bus ride)…but after the initial shock wore off, I knew that I wanted to center all of my energy on positive thoughts after a night’s rest (albeit a night of tossing and turning and a 4 am phone call home because I couldn’t sleep!). Yes, something very important and special to me (and my time here) was wrongfully taken from me, but life will go on. The pictures that I lost with the camera were memories that no one can ever take from me. I don’t have any pictures from my first weekend on the river, but that doesn’t take away from how truly amazing it was! And as I sit here and listen to No One, by Alicia Keys (I love you so much, Meam, for putting that on one of the mixes!)…I smile as I hear words from her love song that remind me exactly why I had to purge my soul of the angry, bitter, upset feelings I initially felt…she’s singing “no one can get in the way of what I’m feeling…” And she is so right! No one can take away the happiness that being in Uganda has given me. No one can take the calmness out of my spirit. No one can steal the peace that I have found in my soul. I won’t let them.
I know I’ve talked a lot about happiness recently; but since I don’t have many field stories to share…this is what is on my mind. This is what I’m constantly thinking and feeling. This is my life right now. I am in one of the world’s poorer countries and I am having truly one of the richest experiences of my life. I’m seeing the world through the eyes of an innocent child discovering everything for the first time. Not fully understanding all around me; not able to communicate well, although doing my best to learn some of the language. Learning the food, the music, the way of life; meeting lots of new people, seeing a lot of new and peculiar things. Each day completely full of curiosity about the world I have found myself in. Just like a baby discovering the world around him or her. It’s amazing to have the opportunity to see the world through such eyes of innocence. It’s beautiful. It’s life changing.
Before I got to Uganda, I was feeling really lost and stressed and overwhelmed. I couldn’t see myself anymore; It was hard for me to feel/find real happiness. And now I’ve found myself and my happiness again and don’t plan to allow anyone to take it away so easily. They may have my camera, but that’s all they can have. I will buy a new, less fancy camera this weekend; but the beauty, peace, calm, love and happiness that I feel daily in my heart and soul…you can’t find that in any corner store!
(You can skip this next paragraph if you don’t want to hear the story of how it happened)…
It had been a torturous, hot, sweaty hour sitting on the bus before it finally departed the bus park in Uganda’s capital. And then another 30 minutes sitting at a gas station for some kind of maintenance. Then, a cold 3 hours later we were about 20 minutes from Lyantonde when we came to a truck that had hit a pothole the wrong way and was stuck blocking the entire road. Our big passenger bus decided to proceed through the hills and rural side roads to by-pass the accident. Unfortunately, the very steep and unpaved first hill was too much for the weight of our bus so we were asked to get out and walk up the hill. I left my locked, although not completely secure, backpack on the bus since it’d only be a few minutes (it was only about 20 yards to the top from where were) and everyone was getting off empty handed. However, rather than waiting for us at the top of that hill, the bus continued for what ended up being about 2 or 3 kilometers. So when I finally reached the bus 30 minutes later on the main road, I noticed my bag had been moved, but it was still locked and I felt certain no one could get anything out of it. When we started driving away without the two gentlemen that had been seated beside me, I spoke up to the people around me and tried to get the conductor’s attention because I worried we were leaving them behind and maybe they had bags on the bus; they all said not to worry about it. But about 10 minutes later when I realized how strange it was that the 2 men were no longer on the bus, I decided to investigate my bag closer. And that’s when my heart sank. They had been able to open the bag enough to reach in, unzip my camera bag and take out my gorgeous, precious, beloved Nikon. The same man that had slept on my shoulder and breathed on me; the same man for whom I worried we were leaving behind with his things on the bus…had taken the camera that has captured so much of my Uganda. I immediately called to the conductor and started spitting out emotional words expressing how important it was to me and that the men had taken it! Had anyone seen this happen? Why wasn’t anyone watching our bags as we hiked through the hills??? The bus wouldn’t stop of course; they insisted there was nothing we could do now…it was too late. Upon arriving in Lyantonde just minutes later, a crowd of boda boda drivers (motorbike/motorcycle taxis) listened sympathetically to me and the conductor talk. Peter, my regular boda driver (such a sweetheart!), came to the front of the group and asked what happened and when I started to tell the story, the tears came. If we hadn’t come to that random truck in the middle of the road…those men would never have had a moment to even look in my bag. Sometimes the world works for us…sometimes, it works against us; but it’s all part of the universe and we learn from it. I wrote my statement on some random piece of paper that was then filed with thousands of other pieces of paper on a dresser in one of the small round offices of Lyantonde's Police "Station". I don't expect to see my camera again, but there's no harm in trying!
I consciously decided on Monday afternoon that I would only allow myself to be angry and upset about it that day. I don’t know if I was/am inspired by Liz Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love and her time in India (the part I just finished reading on that same bus ride)…but after the initial shock wore off, I knew that I wanted to center all of my energy on positive thoughts after a night’s rest (albeit a night of tossing and turning and a 4 am phone call home because I couldn’t sleep!). Yes, something very important and special to me (and my time here) was wrongfully taken from me, but life will go on. The pictures that I lost with the camera were memories that no one can ever take from me. I don’t have any pictures from my first weekend on the river, but that doesn’t take away from how truly amazing it was! And as I sit here and listen to No One, by Alicia Keys (I love you so much, Meam, for putting that on one of the mixes!)…I smile as I hear words from her love song that remind me exactly why I had to purge my soul of the angry, bitter, upset feelings I initially felt…she’s singing “no one can get in the way of what I’m feeling…” And she is so right! No one can take away the happiness that being in Uganda has given me. No one can take the calmness out of my spirit. No one can steal the peace that I have found in my soul. I won’t let them.
I know I’ve talked a lot about happiness recently; but since I don’t have many field stories to share…this is what is on my mind. This is what I’m constantly thinking and feeling. This is my life right now. I am in one of the world’s poorer countries and I am having truly one of the richest experiences of my life. I’m seeing the world through the eyes of an innocent child discovering everything for the first time. Not fully understanding all around me; not able to communicate well, although doing my best to learn some of the language. Learning the food, the music, the way of life; meeting lots of new people, seeing a lot of new and peculiar things. Each day completely full of curiosity about the world I have found myself in. Just like a baby discovering the world around him or her. It’s amazing to have the opportunity to see the world through such eyes of innocence. It’s beautiful. It’s life changing.
Before I got to Uganda, I was feeling really lost and stressed and overwhelmed. I couldn’t see myself anymore; It was hard for me to feel/find real happiness. And now I’ve found myself and my happiness again and don’t plan to allow anyone to take it away so easily. They may have my camera, but that’s all they can have. I will buy a new, less fancy camera this weekend; but the beauty, peace, calm, love and happiness that I feel daily in my heart and soul…you can’t find that in any corner store!
2 comments:
Hey Marci! I just spent my morning (at work) reading your blog and I'm sooo glad to hear that you are happy in Uganda. It is amazing that so little can do so much good in a place like Uganda. You are an ispiration!
With love,
Allison
Marci you are amazing! Ted and I are catching up on your blog and my heart is filled with your experiences...i can only imagine how you feel. Your attitude about the camera is strong- Ted, as a photographer, feels your pain.
Is mail reliable there? He wants to send you a camera. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!
Jaclyn & Ted
Post a Comment