BACK TO UGANDA WE GO

Let's talk for a hot second about how absolutely, ridiculously, obscenely thrilled I am to be back in Uganda.  FINALLY!

(Don't get me wrong... I loved Rwanda.  But crossing the border into Uganda felt somehow like coming home, and Gulu is more welcoming, manageable, and comfortable than anywhere I've been.  Beat that, Kigali.)


ISP is upon us.  In other words, for the next 4-5 weeks (basically all the time I have left here until I head back to the U.S. on December 16th) I'M ON MY OWN IN NORTHERN UGANDA.  I'll be living in Gulu in a house with 11 of my classmates, most of whom I only know from orientation and a weekend in Mbarara a month ago (our group split into two at the beginning of the program... my group went to Gulu first while the other started in Kigali) but I'm excited to be with new people and get to know them all.  That being said, those coming to Gulu with me from my group (Sarah, Zuri, Luke, and Jason) have become a happy little family, and it'll be good to have familiar faces around all the time.

I'll ideally be spending some time in the coming weeks in an IDP camp, examining the situation created by foreign aid and how NGOs have created dependent communities.  Whew.  I'm excited.  Hopefully all goes according to plan.

Currently we're in Kampala (my most-hated city on the planet) writing our final essays for Rwanda and getting ready to head to Gulu early tomorrow morning.  I can;t wait to see my family again be back in a town I'm familiar with.  And I really can;t wait to be able to take a boda-boda wherever I want to go instead of having to throw elbows to push my way onto a matatu.  The moral of the story is I love boda-bodas.

That's all for now!  Hopefully I'll have some interesting things to report as I delve into my ISP.  Wish me luck!


...oh, and HEY... its picture time!

picnic in Nyanza.

terraced hills of Rwanda.

view of Kigali from the backyard of my homestay.

vacation to Lake Kivu.

Lake Kivu.  that's the DR Congo out there in the distance.

three-day-old goat?

HIV/AIDS clinic.

life goal: carry a baby on her back -- check.

traditional Rwandan warrior dance.

my Rwandan homestay sister, Vicky.

my Rwandan homestay siblings, Winny, Ezra, and Enoch.

best friends :)