so much has happened since my last post.
so many amazing things, and difficult things and all that jazz.
last night i received some really bad news about somebody at home which has definitely put a damper in my outlook these past couple hours, but thankfully today is a day off so i can sulk and relax. fun.
anyways.....

last monday, bright and early, we left Kampala (in the south) for Gulu (in the north). 7 hours, 25 people crammed into 2 matatu's and not enough water to make it through the trip. all in all it was still rather enjoyable, minus the spider bites from squating in the bush (yea, that was fun). Driving through the countryside was so far disconected from what we had become accustomed to in terms of lifestyle in kampala. poverty to an extent i have never seen. constantly being called "Mazungu" (white people).
on tuesday we had a quasi-scavenger hunt of the town, which had us going around and finding local businesses and various locations off the beaten trail. the entire group was shocked at truly how large gulu really is. we walked around for hours in a heat that i have never experienced in my life. and the lack of trees did not help. but it was still quite fabulous (3 liters of water later of course..).
the past couple of days we've visited the SOS village here in Gulu as well as its medical clinic and have had many many presentations by various ngo and local organization workers, including an intensive Community Development training program which was led by one of the most dynamic and inspiring individuals, danny, that i have ever met. he truly changed my outlook on so many development-related issues.

ill update soon with more of my own experiences and feelings (yay for cheese), but for now im going to go eat a mango and then lie outside under a tree and take a little nap!