i am sitting at my new desk in my new office in the city, about 20 minutes from my new apartment, :).

i am safe, healthy, rested, and with lindsey. i feel great, but she is still here, so we'll see how long that lasts.

it is so overwhelming to try to learn so much about the lifestyle in the next 9 months...i have no idea what to expect, what is normal/not normal, or what to avoid.

i arrived early yesterday morning and lindsey picked me up with another woman we work with, boba (she is sooo nice). we went to a little coffee shop and got some breakfast...i already found out how great the tea is here. we sat and chatted for a while, it was good to just sit and relax after traveling for so long.

then we went to lindsey's apartment, which will be mine starting monday. it is beautiful. it overlooks the whole city and it feels like i am living in a hotel suite. i have a really big bedroom with a queen size bed and my own bathroom connected to it. there is a dining room and a living room along with another bedroom/bathroom and kitchen. this is such a blessing and not the experience i was imagining (which, i promise you, was not pretty). me and lindsey talked for a long time again, just catching up with one another - it is so good to be with her again, i can't believe i won't see her for another 9 months!

she took me around the neighborhood and we bought fresh produce and rice for dinner that night - we bought an eggplant, three small onions, three carrots, and a couple cups of rice for about $1.00...not.too.shabby. we went back, showered up, and cooked dinner, i more or less watched lindsey cook dinner, and talked some more, :). then we watched a movie on my laptop before we went to bed - i already know that i will be doing this most nights. i fell asleep fairly easily...but i woke up a couple hours later - it was 7:30 p.m. at home - watched a couple episodes of friends, then went right back to sleep. i kind of like sleeping under a mosquito net, it's somewhat comforting, i don't know why.

i woke up around 11:00 a.m., uganda time, ate some eggs that lindsey graciously cooked for me and got ready to come into the city. we took two taxis, which are actually buses and instead of telling them where we want to go like in the states, you just go to wherever the taxi is headed, like a subway above ground. the first taxi driver tried to keep the change he owed us from what lindsey paid, but she was great and assertive and scolded him when we got out, holding out her hand for the money. i was impressed. also, scared because she is leaving and this will have to be me in a couple days.

we then went and got money out of the atm and then to a grocery store and then to get her favorite snack, which is now also mine, fried/dried bananas - they are deadly. then finally to the office. i am now waiting for my boss to get in so i can meet him for the first time.

so...after that novel. all is well with me and uganda, as far as i can tell, :). i will leave you with the following story for your amusement:

on our first taxi ride today a ugandan man got on and sat next to me (it was the only available seat on the bus). lindsey was on my right, the man on my left. he stared at me six inches away from my face for a good five minutes and i felt him inching closer and closer to me. not wanting to make an issue out of it, i did not move closer to lindsey for fear of offending him since i knew that personal space is much more valuable to americans. by the last couple minutes of the ride, his leg was smack up against mine and his (fisted) hand was resting on my thigh. again, not wanting to offend anyone on my first day, i said/did nothing. he got off at the next stop and i turned to lindsey and explained what happened. i said, "that's just part of the culture, right?" lindsey said no while laughing in my face.

welcome to uganda, riiiiiiight? :)