Here!!! Finallyyyyy

We are finally here! We arrived a couple days ago after our two day journey over from good ol' SF. I only have 15 minutes left, so I'll type as much as I can, sorry for any typos. Our first exciting outting was in Dubai with Shohan and his wife. They were incredibly kind and generous. They hired us a private taxi and took us all around the city to see some of its most famous landmarks. We saw the building that looks like a sail, the tallest building in the world and the Palm, a man-made island with The Atlantis Hotel on it. Even though we were all practically falling asleep at the dinner table, it was still a lot of fun to see such a spectacular city.

We got on our next flight the next morning, and upon arrival in Kampala, the six us drove to Jinja with FSD PC Jonan, and the two other interns, Bianca and Patrick. We arrived in Jinja late at night, and had dinner with the other interns and FSD staff. We're now staying at the Bilkon Hotel during orientation until we move in with our host families on Friday. Our days have been jam packed with workshops on culture shock, saftey and security and Luganda language classes (which are really good, but difficult). Today was the first day we walked all through Jinja Town, exchanged currency and got cell phones. I'm currently sitting in The Source Cafe which I can tell will be one of my favorite spots! The market here is amazing, it has anything you could need. The taxi park is intimidating right now because the roads here are really hectic, but I know I will get used to it eventually.

Yesterday was the first day we ate traditional Ugandan cuisine. The beans and rice are delicious. The matooke and posho may take some getting used to, but I think a little ground nut sauce will make them even more interesting. I'm already getting used to being called mzungu and getting chased by little kids. I'm really diggin Jinja so far, but I still have so so so much to learn. Bucket baths are awesome. They feel amazing.

Kale (okay) I better get going. I will try to write again soon and post some Dubai pics once we get them from Shohan.

Jinja State of Mind

HEllO BlogWorld! I have started this blog to keep a web-account of my experiences in Jinja Town, Uganda this summer. I'll be writing in a paper journal as well, but this nifty little blog allows my family and friends to see what I am up to. I just finished my junior year today and let me tell you, I never thought being a senior would feel so good! I am happy to be done for the obvious reasons (no more homework or tests) but I finally feel as though I can put all of my energy towards my summer travel, work, and research, hence the title of this blog- I have been looking forward to this for a while.

So, what are the flight details? Well, exactly a week from today, I will be meeting up with all of the other wonderful Sarlo Scholars in SFO and heading out on the first leg of our trip to Dubai. We have a 13 hour layover in Dubai, which may sound horrific, but I am actually really excited about it. Our program director/coordinator Julie has a student who lives there now, so he offered to pick us up and show around the city for a bit. The game plan is to check into the hotel after we land, and then head out to dinner. After our evening in Dubai, well head back to the airport to finish our flight through Ethiopia and finally to Kampala, Uganda.

I am still in disbelief that the trip is only a week away. I am going on this trip through an amazing organization, and with a great group of girls. I have already learned so much and I cannot wait to dive in and learn more. It is impossible to fully express how excited and grateful I am for being able to have this experience, but I hope to convey it throughout my experiences on this trip.

The next post I write will be from Uganda-watch for it! haha-madflo