It's Hot on the Equator

1 February 2010

Uganda entry: 4

It’s oppressively hot outside. I spend most of my time in front of a fan, or drinking water. Perhaps it is good for my health, detoxification and whatnot, but I’ve never been a sweat-er (I almost wrote “sweater,” but then I realized that that was obvious). I realized the other day that I’m actually in the northern hemisphere, which actually makes no difference other than that the toilet water goes the right way and I found some abstract comfort in it. Kampala sits just slightly north of the equator, explaining the oppressive heat, and I walk an average of 2 miles a day to and from class, up and down a massive hill, paved with concrete and garbage. Kigali is at a much higher altitude, and the promise of cool breezes entices me. I’ve been thinking about what it will be like when I return to the States in 5 months or so, where I can drive everywhere (and there are rules of the road) and walking more than 3 blocks is a rarity. I’ll be used to walking by then. Perhaps I’ll even enjoy it. But that’s just a thought in the abstract. I’ve started to appreciate my morning and afternoon walks here, talking with Morgan and Rachel the whole way, stopping at Ciao Ciao’s for $0.50 ice cream in the afternoon. It’s too much like summer here, and I feel far too lackadaisical.

Per my last note titled “Leviathan,” I’ve begun to push myself into routine and rigor at a slow, but sure pace. Obviously, I’m still distracting myself from homework by writing blogs, going to Las Vegas (our newest favorite club), and lethargically eating fruit, but I’m attempting to develop, in myself, a deeper interest in my studies here. I wrote an essay for a class last night, relating our cultural visit to a dialectic I’ve been thinking about for another project. Most likely, it will be way over the head of my professor who stumbles to find words like “hollow.” But it was a small triumph for me to know that I still had the ability to produce something like that. I won’t know my grade for another week or so, and I suppose that will be an indication of my success or failure. Whether that success or failure relates to my academic ability, or my ability to know what my professor wants is another issue entirely.

I’ve found solace in the aforementioned project that I’ve been working on. My last post is related. Traveling to Eastern Europe with Neil has been the focus of most of my thoughts and excitement for the past few weeks, but now I have something to look forward to in addition to site-seeing and being a nihilist. I’m thinking about this dialectic of historical memorialization. Milan Kundera writes about it in “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting.” Neil got it for me a while ago and I never read it. While doing research for this project, I ran into an article that focuses on what he called “the Kundera paradigm,” the struggle between those who attempt to control or retell the past. I’m currently submitting my proposal to get Odyssey credit and funding.

But now it is time that I begin to actualize my goals. I’m turning on the fan, I’m picking up my book, I’m hoping for success.