Back in Uganda! It’s Kody’s first time here, and I’m feeling a little guilty that I have to work….and take him to functions to meet work people. Jan and Leslie gave the Lake Victoria tour from Corabelle, and I think he had a pretty good time visiting her land while I was sitting behind a computer. Evidence here on flickr.

Kody and I spent the weekend in Amsterdam before heading (home) to Uganda. I’ve only been once (during last year’s AIDS Vaccines Conference), so I hadn't seen much of the city aside from the area near our hotel. I think we walked every canal in the city on Friday (and then biked them all again on Saturday).

After arriving in Seattle for the AIDS Vaccines Conference, I made my way to my hotel and spent a few hours working on my presentation. Of course, my computer decides it won’t cooperate at the critical moment when I’m trying to send my slides to the conference organizers. Had to call in Starr reinforcements to get things settled. All in all, my talk went pretty well, even though the power went out during my presentation, and the ‘poster discussion’ format essentially meant I was trying to present in the middle of a cocktail party. After sitting through that at so many meetings in Kampala, it didn’t really phase me. Had some good questions from the audience and some interest in the poster afterwards. It’s a relief to be done!

Gian’s in town for the meeting, too, so we walked around Seattle a bit in the afternoon and took in possibly the world’s most boring music museum. It’s a little strange to see the music you heard in high school catalogued and preserved in with such reverence. I’m really not old enough for that yet…

My last day of summer in the city. After a disappointing brunch (Kody would say that all brunches are disappointing) we biked over to PS1 for their DJ and beach party. Great people-watching, music, and hanging out in the sunshine. Again, should have been doing this every summer. Idiot!

We borrowed bikes from Jordan for a long bike ride around Brooklyn today. First we went to the pool at Red Hook. I can’t believe that after 6 summers in the city, my first trip to the pool happened after I left. They’re pretty strict about what you can bring in (no clothes, only white t-shirts in the pool, etc) so I had to strip down to my swim suit in the lobby. We’d only brought one padlock, so Kody took my things and proceeded to the locker room. The pool itself was nice and not overwhelmingly crowded, although the security was pretty gruff and the lifeguards loved using those whistles.

After toweling off we headed across the street to the soccer fields. On the weekends, people come and set up stands selling all kinds of Latin food. After drinking agua frescas (half watermelon, half lime), we proceeded to the main event. Quesadillas loaded down with steak, onions, cheese, sauce, tomatoes….delicious. We digested while watching some soccer and biked back home across Brooklyn to Williamsburg.

In the evening, we went to La Vie at the Spiegeltent, a beer garden/performance space set up at the Seaport in the summer. The olives were surprisingly salty and the drinks came in acrylic glasses, but the show (a more “adult” Cirque du Soleil) was pretty good.

Back in the US for work (again). It hasn’t been long enough for me to really miss NY yet (only 7 weeks, I think, since I was last here), but it was nice to spend my birthday with Kodiak and a few friends. We rode around Brooklyn and had a b-day bbq at Jake’s place.

On the road again....

I'm off to the US again tonight for work. Back at the end of the month!

Yay! I finally got my work permit today, so no more long customs lines at the Entebbe airport, no more visas that take up a whole passport page, and most importantly, legal status to stay here. Now if only my things would arrive. Maybe by the time I'm back at the end of August!

I finally took a swim in the pool at my house today. As soon as Brian and Alex (the two little boys who live here) saw me get the pool strainer thing out, they disappeared. <30 seconds later, they're back wearing swim trunks.

Good thing we got the swim in, because it poured down rain for the rest of the day. I trudged through the mud to buy beds from some furniture makers – their shops are set out on the roadside, so you can watch furniture being made and window shop while driving. My place should look a little more lived-in once my mattress is off of the floor!

My final accomplishment of the day was finding a good smoothie shop in my neighborhood - first smoothie in months. I promised Susan, the smoothie lady, that I would bring Kody by when he comes. With all the great tropical fruit around, I can't wait until my blender arrives. The latest is that my container *might* leave Mombassa at the end of the week - just in time for me to leave for the US again!