Back home

After two 8 hour flights and a 3 hour jaunt around Amsterdam, I got back home yesterday afternoon.  It's nice to be back in a place where I can cross the street while talking on the phone because there are traffic laws that are respected and the general rule is for cars to yield to pedestrians.  I still look both ways before crossing of course, but I can still do that while talking to someone on the cell phone.

Coming from one of the poorest countries in the world back to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the US emphasizes that a lot of the things we take for granted don't come out of nowhere.  I've always been a little amazed at how our country, and many others, manage to pave so much land and build such huge buildings.  Clearly that doesn't happen everywhere.  People who know more about economics and business probably have a better view of the flow of resources that allows all of this amazing infrastructure to develop and facilitate our lives.  My sense is that these great things are at built on the foundation of a strong social contract where people buy in to the idea that there are certain things that are in the common good, like education and clean water (and in some places health care) that lead to a better life for everyone in society.  I'm sure there are plenty of big books that talk about this in a much more informed way though so I'll stop before I just start ranting with my uninformed opinions.

In any event, it's great to be back in the US.  I hope I can visit Uganda again and spend more time with the great people of Mulago and also to see more of the country outside of Kampala.  I hear the gorilla trekking is incredible and the pictures of the Rwenzori mountains look amazing, so there are plenty more reasons to go back.