This in not an official U.S. Department of State (DOS) blog and the views and information presented are my own and do not represent the Fulbright Program or the DOS.

Although I kept busy this weekend working on the OCSE scenarios for the final assessment for the Pharmaceutical Care Skills Lab that will take place this week on Thursday and Friday, there was also time for fun. My friend, Vicky, who is a Pharmacist at China-Uganda Friendship Hospital- Naguru, took me grocery shopping and out to lunch. It was so nice to catch up with her. In the late afternoon, Professor Odoi’s daughter came to take me to the tailor to pick up the dress I had made from fabric I bought in Jinja during my last visit here.

This is the dress I had made by the tailor, David. The fabric was from my trip to Jinja, Uganda back in September.

On Sunday morning, my housemate, Monty, and I headed down to a big field on campus at 9:30am to attend a special Family Day outdoor worship service for the Church of Uganda. They had put up tents with many chairs- maybe a thousand. When we got there a little early, there were plenty of seats left but it did eventually fill up and even require more seating to be set out. We ended up staying an hour for the opening music and dancing but then when the introductions started and were taking quite long and the program said the service wouldn’t be over until 1pm, we decided to bail and go to St. Augustine, the Catholic church.

Russ shows me the deck at their new apartment

After a quick lunch at a local Ugandan foods canteen, we headed back to Edgehouse where I spent part of the afternoon preparing a beef stew with noodles dish for a potluck supper with the Fulbrighters in Kampala. Russ and Kiran, are anthropologists who were supposed to be doing work this year as Fulbright Scholars in Sierra Leone but due to the Ebola Outbreak, they were reassigned to Kampala where they are very welcome and are working with the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE). Initially they were staying in a guesthouse but recently they found an apartment to rent and invited the Fulbrighters of Uganda to come over for a party.

A gathering of new friends on the deck at Russ and Kiran’s new apartment

I believe there were 8 of us total, including, Dorothy, the Ugandan woman who manages the Fulbright Programs from the US Embassy in Kampala. It was a lovely evening and you can see from the pictures that Russ and Kiran found a really great spot. We spent the evening on the deck and if I lived here, I bet that is where I would spend most of my time, too.

Dorothy manages the Fulbright Program at the US Embassy in Kampala

Monty and Kiran heat up the grasshoppers for nice and crispy munching

Lots of delicious food!

This is the view of the other apartments from the deck of Russ and Kiran’s place- a nice oasis from the hustle and bustle of Kampala