It's too damn hot for a penguin to be just walkin around here!

It has been another busy week for Ann and I. First and foremost we now have (relatively) fast internet at our apartment! Ann ran into a very nice neighbor who apparently gave us access to his wireless network for the sole reason that we are American. The exchange went something like this. "Are you American?" "Yes." "I have been there. I have internet for you." Strange yet awesome.

We have been busy arranging our holiday trip to Zanzibar. Tickets have been booked for December 20th through January 4th. Fly into Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on the 20th where we will be staying at a friend's place until the 23rd when we will take a ferry to Zanzibar. (And if I hear another utterance of the med school phrase "to zanzibar by motorcar" I may spontaneously combust.) Ann and I will be staying in Stone Town on the 23rd. On the 24th we will be joined by some classmates and their significant others for another night in Stone Town. From there we will be traveling to the SouthEast part of the island (Jambiani and Paje) until January 1st. Not sure where we're going from there as everything cheap in the North, where we had wanted to stay, is booked. So it's either splurge on a nice resort or find something else. We'll see.

Friday night we had a going away "party" for our friends Elena and Sheida who will be returning to the states this week. Went to Mama Ashanti's (West African) for dinner, Emin Pasha (fancy hotel) for jazz and drinks/dessert, Casablanca (bar) for "indie pop" (some white guy from the UK playing indie music, basically so he could posture as the dj) and Bubbles (expat hangout) for more drinks. Ann and I called it a night fairly early (3am) and the others stayed out until 5am. Needless to say they didn't feel so well the next day.


Grant, Elena (contemplating her life post Uganda), Ann, Sheida and Glen (Ann's friend and an internist from Winnipeg) post meal at Mama Ashanti's.

Saturday we met the Dutch medical students we had met in Fort Portal for brunch and afterwards enjoyed the availability of the internets (and the google) from our humble abode. That night we had the Southern African Women's Association Christmas Ball at the Protea Hotel. Good food. Lots of Christmas decorations. We didn't really expect to need formal attire so we are lucky that a few friends were able to borrow us some attire. Ann looked amazing and we had a great time.


Ann having her hair and makeup done by Mar-Louise.


I can't remember the last time I wore a suit.


Half of our table at the ball...Grant, Ann, Glen, Claudia.


Although we had to leave the ball somewhat early (1:30ish) as Ann had a big morning on Sunday running a 10k at the Kampala marathon! She claims that she'll do a separate post regarding the event, so I won't say anything about it which makes sense considering I stayed in bed while she ran. Watching people start and finish a race on 4-5 hours of sleep didn't make much sense to me. Plus having "watched" Ann compete in a half ironman triathlon for 6 hours gives me a pass, right?

It sure is nice to know so many fun people having been here for a somewhat short period of time. We frequently are invited to various functions and honestly it seems like we have something going on every night, especially during the weekends. It becomes quite exhausting and I'm starting to cherish quiet nights at home...


...especially when I get to do laundry!