This Week, on Peace Corps Uganda...

• Started the return to village life with my computer being stolen from the bus. Thanks to my good friends in Kitgum, I have a loaner laptop for the time being. For some reason, internet has become significantly slower since I got back... like, dial-up/email loading only in html slow.
• As a result of the internet situation, I've watched the entire first season of 'Homeland' in a mere 4 days. Safe to say I'm hooked.
• Had a beer with my landlord to celebrate the fact that I'm alive. He'd called me while I was in Jinja to confirm that I was among the living. Apparently, there's a rumor going around Pader town that 'Aber got ill and died.' Glad to dispel this rumor and enjoy my free 'glad you're still alive' beer. Weird to say the least.
• I've been spending lots of quality time with my namesake, Lamaro Erin Shalyn. She's perfect. I took her to church last Sunday for what ended up being a 5 hour mass, all in Acholi. It was some sort of holiday, which involved fish and eggs and fire... although I haven't the least idea what it all meant. Important thing is, the baby got blessed by the Priest and that's what we came for. I think I'll plan to sleep in this Sunday.
• Today I fell in the mud. Again. In front of a lot of people.... who pretended that they didn't see me, and politely turned around to laugh. Thankfully, a nice lady sorting her corn offered me a basin of water to wash my muddy hands and legs. I hope this chronic mud-puddle wallowing I've been doing here doesn't follow me back to America. Super embarrassing and inconvenient. Especially when I have to handwash all my muddy clothes and shoes :(
• The veggies in my garden are starting to come in. My radishes are too spicy, but they're still a nice change. I think that my turnips are ready but can't tell and haven't had the patience to google turnip recipes, so I haven't picked them yet. Something ate all of my cucumbers but spared my baby watermelons. It's nice to have the collard greens and quail grass spinach back for something healthy and green to eat. My cilantro finally came in (this is my 3rd attempt at growing it) although it's struggling. I had enough today to make a good black bean/corn salsa that I wrapped in homemade tortillas. YUM!
• Tomorrow we'll have our quarterly board meeting for PTU and Friday I'll do the monthly mat collection with the women's group. Both 'programs' will be all-day events. This weekend I plan to tackle the mountain of dirty clothes I've accumulated during my travels and do a deep clean of the house.
• It's less than 2 weeks until we take off for Cairo and Ethiopia. It'll be a nice change from Uganda and my last trip out of the country until AMERICA! It'll be a challenge to pack for the range of weather we may experience (from 60 degrees in Ethiopia to 120 degrees in Egypt in one backpack!?!). When we get back from vacation, I'll attend my COS (Close of Service) conference where I'll find out my departure date. Crazy that this adventure is coming to an end!