Back on track! Yea soap makin'

It was the month anniversary since we left home yesterday! In some ways it feels as though I’ve been here longer, but in even more ways it feels as though I’ve been here shorter.

My project is back on track-even still on schedule! Things seem to be working out beautifully and I hope they continue to go this way. This week is by far my busiest week since I’ve been here. I have to get all the materials for our soap making training and for our first batch of soap! The training is tomorrow and on Wednesday we will be making our first batch of herbal soap. It should be interesting and fun. Then Thursday I will be working to put the finals touches on my grant (turned in the draft last Friday) and turning in my final draft this Friday.

I am unfortunately starting out this week exhausted from a long day yesterday, but I’m going to try to get a lot of rest tonight after collecting all the materials today.

Last week was also busy, but I got everything done that I needed to which was nice. I treated myself by going with a bunch of the other interns to the amazing swimming pool at the Nile Resort all day Saturday. It is so beautiful there! Poolside food service, swim up bar, tiled pool, comfy lounge chairs all over-looking the Nile-I was in heaven. We all got burnt, which we’re blaming on the Doxy medicine that we’re taking as malaria prevention (definitely not because we didn’t wear sunscreen),but it was lovely. I was also happy about Ghana’s win!

Sunday (yesterday), I went to a baptism and a baptism party in Kampala with my mom. It was Jap’s mom’s granddaughter’s baptism. They know how to throw some parties here! Complete with DJ’s, bounce houses for the kids and more food and drink than you could ever imagine. It was fun-I was just tired after getting up at 6am to leave for Kampala and not returning home until 10:30pm last night.

Oh! Last Wednesday night we had the opportunity to go see traditional Ugandan dancing by the Ndere Group. It was a blast. The dancing was insane, I have no idea how they can move their bodies the way they do.

All of the other Northwestern interns got here yesterday (26 of them!) so it’ll be fun to meet the new interns and have some new faces around the TASO office (4 are working there).

Okay well, I need to finish up this work on my grant, eat some lunch then head back to TASO to meet up with another one of the Ugandan interns who is coming with me to buy stuff from the market (otherwise I’d be getting the Mzungu price for everything which is no good from my tight budget!)

I'll post a few pics later since it doesn't seem to want to work today.