Saturday, November 21, 2009

Grasshopper Season and Christmas Farewells



Cold, rainy November is almost through, US Thanksgiving is just around the corner and everyone is starting to get excited for the Christmas plans (especially me!!)  


I think I may have mentioned that last weekend I attended the USPA Shaggy Dog Show - some of you may know that I am not a dog person so I must admit on a hungover, stormy Sunday the whole experience was a little overwhelming.  There were some very nice dogs but then there were also ones that had signs saying "do not pet".  I stayed as far away from those as I possibly could.

Brenda, Alison & Zia (unfortunately Zia did not win any prizes!)


This week was a bit of a busy one - after having an empty office for 2 weeks we had a full house for a day or two. Wednesday I left the office early to head to yoga...it may have taken me two-weeks to plan to go back, but I was excited and ready to go!  Now one of the issues in Kampala is traffic - for me to get to a 6pm class on the other side of town I need to leave work by 4:45.  I have a RTP driver take me to Alison's house and then her driver, Elly, takes me the rest of the way.  This week Elly and I ended up in parking lot traffic.  We eventually heard that The President was in the area so traffic was at a standstill.  Unfortunately this meant that yoga was missed....by Alison and me.  I made it to her boss' house by 6:30 and there was a nice glass of wine waiting:)


Although we missed Yoga - Angela managed to get there and we met her for dinner after the class.  It was our Farewell Christmas Dinner before she and Phil head to Brazil!!


Phil & Angela

Angela, Me & Alison

AMAZING BEEF TERIYAKI


As you can see from my food picture - my dinner was amazing.  We went to a Japanese restaurant that satisfied my craving.  While I did not have sushi - the Vegetable Tempura and Beef were perfect and a great mid-week treat.


On Thursday my friend Jen arrived.  It was great to see someone from home and of course get a few treats - new Roots Canada RTP shirt, licorice, m&ms:)  We quickly realized that there were tons of grasshoppers around - I am not sure if this is related to the rain or its just the time of year.  But grasshoppers are a delicacy here.....not sure that I will be trying them any time soon.  Last night on my way home from dinner, just around the corner from my apartment there was a large crown of people - they had put of corrugated iron and were shining bright lights on it to attract them and then catch them.  When I did get home I found a few dead ones in my apartment.





They are pretty big, but I assume harmless.  Please excuse the chipped nail polish...I am off for a pedicure later today:)


Tomorrow I head to Soroti in Eastern Uganda to visit the projects and support our internal audit.  It should be interesting.  I will be back in Kampala by Wednesday night to plan my Gorilla trip and hopefully get some Thanksgiving cooked done (thanks to my dad I have recipes and key ingredients....the trick will be not screwing it up!)

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