Throwback Thursday!

Since coming to country, I have tried my best to keep up with pop culture and trends, from music and celebrities to fashion crazes and hashtags.

Apparently #TBT, throwback Thursday, is a thing… Meant for social media users to post, usually a picture, on various sites to remember a past event.

I am still confused as to why Tuesday cannot be throwback.

Well I am not here to post a picture but rather reminiscence about how often times my current life in Uganda reminds me of my 14-year-old self.

Thus the throwback.

Since being in the UG, and more so living in Kampala, I feel like I am reliving my teenage years.  The majority of the youth I work with are aged between 14 and 18 years and while I am more like their older sister, I often find myself in situations that remind me of a typical Friday night in middle school…

Hanging out with friends, talking about who likes who, setting up forts where we can all snuggle, watching our favorite films, making up dance routines to our favorite songs, and cooking our favorite meals.

Now I never claimed to be the coolest kid but let’s be honest… Isn’t this how many 11 and 12 year olds pass the weekend?!

My favorite moments are when we are all sitting in the house in pajamas having candid conversations.  I chuckle and love when I see the girls get embarrassed when they say the name of the boy they think is cute… Simply because I can relate… Even at 27.

Even sitting under the mosquito net with my kids, I get déjà vu.  I am taken back to the days in Hamilton where Allison, Amanda, Angeline, Samm, and I would talk about the same things. 

I guess no matter where in the world one may be, if you put a bunch of youth together, many of the conversations can trace their way back to our own childhood and teenage days.

It doesn’t matter the hemisphere. 

It doesn’t matter the time zone.

What does matter is that youth will be youth, and what a wonderful thing to be apart of when you begin to question how quickly life is passing by!