Countdown

We now have less than a week before we leave this tropical country where we have built a life, made great friends, learned so much, and had tremendous adventures for the past 8 months. And although we are both sad to leave, we are incredibly excited to see friends and family (and dogs). We have so much to look forward to back in Minnesota – I have a new niece Afton that was born in March in addition to Jaren and Pyper, whom I hadn’t realized would be so hard to be away from. Summer, weddings, baseball, good (cold) beer, the lakes – all to be enjoyed with family and good friends – awaiting us!

Afton Arlene Vogt - March 26, 2010

It is always easier to leave somewhere when you know you will be back, and I recently made the decision that I will come back to Uganda for 3 months in the fall. Grant says he will come back at some point, although when he returns to blazing fast internet and HDTV, he may never leave the US again :)

It has been awhile since we last blogged, and a lot has happened since our trip to Rwanda over Easter.

A couple other Minnesota medical students, Renee Donahue and Andrew Day, came and worked at Mulago Hospital as they finished up their last few months of medical school and are now MDs. I was fortunate enough to watch all my friends graduate live on the web, and was sad to be staying behind and missing all the graduation festivities.

Our landlord, Fred Kitutu, invited us over to his house one Sunday afternoon and we had a chance to see his home and meet his wife and daughter.

Our friend Karin had her housewarming, another epic house party in Kampala. The girls and I spent much of the night gossiping and taking pictures with ridiculous poses - it felt just like home!

The following day was ANZAC Day, an Australian holiday, that we celebrated in style. Above, Team America is taking down The Rest of the World in flip cup.

My birthday fell on a Sunday this year, which happened to be the last weekend in town for one of our close friends, Guy Brennan, and we did a good amount of celebrating among our friends. On Friday night we sang (screamed) out tunes in the private karaoke rooms of a Korean restaurant. Saturday included lounging in the garden of a boutique hotel before heading out to a mask party thrown by my basketball teammates. Sunday started with champagne brunch at another posh hotel, followed by pool-side wine-sipping in the afternoon, and dinner at a great Italian restaurant with good friends.

Unfortunately, we have said goodbye to some good friends already this year, as with spring comes a natural migration of the expatriates moving on to new jobs, other countries, or back to wherever they hail from. Fortunately, we seize each of these opportunities as a chance to throw a party and reminisce over the fun and frustration of Kampala and fantasize about things we miss from home.

Other fun events in the past month – sundowners on Acacia, Gareth’s birthday with an ‘interesting’ yet delicious cake, Sarah’s surprise birthday party at Mel’s, wedding planning meetings (I will be a bridesmaid in Sept!), Wii and beer pong at Adam and Gen’s, and Mar-Louise’s baby shower.

Grant has expanded his repertoire, and in addition to being a poker star has become a Kingpin! Who knew that he was such a bowling phenom?! Our friend Adam Williams started a weekly bowling league in Kampala, and Grant had the highest score two weeks in a row, including a 206. His team ‘Living on a Spare’ will be sad to see him leave.

Basketball has picked up and we are now playing 4-5 nights a week. We are undefeated in the national league and recently avenged our 2^nd place finish last year by beating the defending champions. It is such a great opportunity to be involved in the community here, and is a big reason why I am coming back in September. My teammates are all young, intelligent, successful women, who have taken me in and I will miss each and every one of the ‘glamour girls.’

Although we finished working over a week ago, I have still been at the IDI and Mulago a few days getting things finished up before we leave. As a study team, we have a couple big projects starting in the next few months, and it has been a challenge making sure everything will flow together. I have loved my work this past year and will continue to work on it when I come back in the fall, but I need a bit of a break from it all right now. It will be good to spend time working US hospitals for a few months and apply for the next step in our training – residency.

In the time we have had off from work we have been able to enjoy some of the great parts of Uganda. We went to a beautiful lodge in the Mabira Forest for a couple days, complements of a voucher we won at the Irish Ball. It was a relaxing vacation in which we relaxed, watched monkeys, butterflies, and lizards, and were gluttons in the presence of the delicious food.

The mother of our roommate Emma was recently here from Sweden for 10 days. It was great to have her stay with us, although it made me miss my own mom even more. She treated us to a night at the Ndere Cultural Center, home of the Ndere Dance Troupe. It was a night of traditional dancing, comedy, and audience involvement in an open-air ampitheatre.

We still have a lot of social activities left to pack into our final week here in Kampala, not the least of which will be Grant’s 30^th birthday celebration this Saturday. Then, in between our usual basketball practices and games, poker tournaments, and bowling leagues we have final lunches, dinners, and drinks at our favorite restaurants (and patios). And then before you know it, we will be back on the other side of the ocean repeating the events in Minnesota! We both leave Tuesday, June 1 and I arrive in MN June 2, while Grant is staying in Amsterdam for 5 days and returning on June 7. Grant promises to write his final reflections of our time here while he is in Amsterdam next week.