writing a christmas list

I've been realizing the past couple of weeks that the biggest changes that have happened to me in Uganda wont be noticeable until I get home. There is so much that has become a part of everyday life here that is so abnormal in America, that I just know going back will be a shock, It will be good but shocking, and sudden.
I was just writing my Christmas list and it was a revealing experience- and honestly at least half of the list is stuff that 3 months ago I would of asked for or got for myself and it wouldn't of been special at all. Just stuff I "needed". Last Christmas I dreamed of a 400 dollar ski coat, and now I just felt so guilty just putting snow boots on my list because I have some, even though there starting to fall apart.
As I said in my last post Uganda has not given me a conviction that I need to sell everything I have and give it to the poor. I'll probably still shop at the stores I shop at. I don't feel guilty for owning a ski pass, actually I have less of a problem with spending the money for my pass now then I did in August. I am not condemning material things and planning to never spend money again. No instead I am more thankful, much more thankful and grateful. I have a new love for simplicity, and less.
Uganda has made me thankful for the simplest of things, I will never take hot showers and washers and dryers for granted again. It will be so weird to be able to drink water out of a bathroom sink, and not to be extra careful about swallowing while I brush my teeth. Life will seem different too, all the cars and lack of publicly available transportation. Driving to go to the grocery store in Lakewood will be weird because here it would be a short walk.

My life is never going to be quite the same in the Us, but this is not a bad thing. I'm excited. Excited to spend time with family and friend, excited to play in the mountains. I'm excited to be present in Colorado, not dreaming of the next big adventure, but soaking up the short time I have left at CCU. I'm excited to (hopefully) be in Upstate New York this summer, spending time there soaking in the familiarity, while having new experiences. I'm most excited though to spend time with family, something you become very thankful for when you are more then 8,127 miles from home.

For now though I'm going to be present in Uganda and soak up my last 5 weeks I have left.