I made it!!!

I made it!!! I’m finally here, and finally semi-conscious. I apologize for the delay of an initial post, but the initial travel to get to this place I will call home for the next (nearly) six weeks was pretty intense. Let me explain. On Saturday, June 24^th, I had the privilege of marrying two of my best friends. It was ah-mahzing! On Sunday, I headed home from the hotel to pack up my apartment, pick up a last minute stash of Trident (how could I have forgotten this earlier?!?!), drive to my parents, then have them drive me back to the airport. I then embarked on this ridiculous travel itinerary: 

Milwaukee to Chicago (45 min flight, 4 hour layover, final phone calls and e-mails) to London (8 hour flight, 11 hour layover, viewed a plethora of hilarious tv shows, crappy flight food, several unsuccessful attempts at sleeping in multiple uncomfortable locations, decent airport and food) to Kampala, Uganda (8 hour flight, broken tv screen, slightly more decent flight food, a few hours of restless sleep), van and then taxi to the US Embassy (1 hour). I’m sure I made an awesome first impression on my group as I walked into the Embassy in scrubs, a track jacket, tennis shoes, and three day old disheveled plane hair.

Regardless, they seemed pumped to see I made it safely, I did the proper paperwork, met some important people, then hopped back into the Group two van to head to our city, Gulu (5 ½ hours away). On the way, we got to stop at an amazing local organization that supported local youth artists; from conscious hip hop rappers and dancers to graffiti artists, to t-shirt designers to videographers and painters. The artists opened up their home to us and shared their stories and art. It was so inspiring to see youth so passionate, talented, and making conscious decisions to make a positive impact on their local urban community. Bad ass.

On the drive, despite my now somewhat delusional state, I got to know my colleagues/roomies a lot better and took in  the scenery of a more urban Kampala, passed over the Nile River and spotted some baboons, then made it to our now humble abode.

*NOTE: Despite having the infamous affectionate nickname of paparazzi thanks to my friends, I (unfortunately) will not be able to post pics from every second of the adventures I am having. There are several areas here it is illegal to take pictures and with being a guest in this country unless I have explicit permission from a the people featured in my pics, I won’t be taken them of people. Just an FYI.

Jeff, Catherine, and Sharifa looking and Xuba's art. Xuba was all kinds of talented - seriously, she worked with a million different mediums and did it well. She especially spoke to empowering women and finding inspiration for her works in strong women.

DeStreet's personal portfolio

More artists' work in the back

First taste of Uganda food, a rolex - basically a thick tortilla or chapati with eggs and vegies rolled up in the inside.

DeStreet, me, and Luca Flow. Picked up a DVD of his with some videos on it.

The beautiful and inspiring Miss Lucy. She was born in Uganda, grew up in England, lived in Japan, and has now come back to Uganda. Got some sweet T's from her that she was adamant came from cotton grown in Uganda, made in Uganda, designed by Ugandans, empowered Ugandans, and marketed by Ugandans.

It’s been a whirlwind so far, but I am cannot even express how grateful I am to be here and experiencing ever second of it I am, sleep deprived or not :)