HELLO!

Have quite a bit to fill you in on so bare with me!

To start with, our last weekend before we left we spent in Entebbe. We stayed from Saturday to Monday when we flew home, it was a nice weekend to end on. On the day we arrived in Entebbe we just relaxed at Backpackers before going out for something to eat. We found a Chinese place which was quite expensive but was so good! I would say one of the best Chinese meals i've had but this could just be in comparison to the posho and beans we'd eaten for 3 months before! On the Sunday, we went to Entebbe Zoo. Quite similar to Zoos in the UK, with some of the animals being different (unsurprisingly a lack of penguins and polar bears!). Later on we went to the Botanical Gardens wasn't the most enthralling afternoon but there were monkeys freely running around which made it a bit more exciting. That night we just went to a local African restaurant for dinner, saved us a shed load of money! On our final day we spent the morning walking around parts of Entebbe (didn't take long at all, we hadn't bargained on it being so small!). About lunchtime we went to one of the local hotels (very posh, especially for us!) and paid to use their pool and gym facilities. Needless to say, when sunbathing and lounging by the pool was an option, the gym didn't get a second look. We were able to leave out luggage at the hotel while we went and got some pizza for tea. When we went back we were lucky enough to be offered a free airport transfer by the hotel, usually only offered to guests, we gladly accepted!

The first and second part of our flight home went smoothly (despite spending $20 on water and cake at Istanbul Airport!). When I reached London it became decidedly more 'exciting'. Roxanne was staying with her aunt for a night so left Heathrow by train, but I still had to fly back up to Edinburgh. I'd been told it had been snowing 'a lot' but everyone over exaggerates when it snows, don't they?! Well not on this occasion! All the previous flights that day to Edinburgh had been cancelled  (even the one an hour before mine) due to the airport being closed for the morning. So Mum was on the phone ready to reserve train tickets while I waited in the re-ticketing queue. Maybe I could fly to Glasgow?! Queued until the last minute, with my flight still not cancelled, I had to check in. After an anxious few hours in the departure lounge and at 37 000 feet my flight did manage to land. Hurrah! Turns out it was one of only a handful of flights that were able to land that day and the airport was closed the following day. I was incredibly lucky!

I won't bore you with the details of everything I did at home but as you can imagine it involved copious amounts of eating, drinking, tv watching and catching up with friends!

We flew back out in January, spending a night in Istanbul - all paid for by the airline since our flight was postponed. We arrived in Uganda at 2am so didn't fancy travelling into Kampala at that time! We waited until it was light and took a taxi to Kampala Backpackers. The other volunteers were there already so it was really good to hear their stories and gossip from the holidays. We also went to Jinja for a night as it was Benny (another volunteer)'s birthday. We went for dinner and then out afterwards. It was a good week to relax and get used to Uganda again before we went back to teaching!

We started teaching on 31st January back at Hooe For Youth Uganda PS. There is now a P5 class but unfortunately no classroom to teach them in.. However, this isn't a huge problem in Africa. Just another class being taught under a tree! We have been assure though that another classroom will be built. But a time frame for this has yet so be mentioned...

This term I'm teaching P3 and P4 English. I also teach P1 PE once a week which is.. interesting.. haha the language barrier still proving to be an issue! Apart from that teaching hasn't changed, same old same old!

On the weekend of the 5th/6th Feb we went to visit Becky and Naomi at their (luxury) project in Mubende for a party. But this wasn't just any party, this event was to celebrate Sister Immaculate being a Nun for 25 years. Haha I'm not even kidding! I did laugh when Dad text asking if I was out clubbing in Kampala this weekend haha no Dad, not quite.

On 18th Feb the Elections are taking place. Due to Ugandas past this obviously a very important and anxious time for everyone! It can be dangerous, especially if your in Kampala and especially if you're white! So as you can imagine, we've been banished to our Projects while the election and results take place and until any trouble has blown over. We could be stuck in our projects for up to a month! Eeks! (and yes that would mean my birthday would be a wild night in the village..)

So since this weekend is our last weekend before lockdown we're spending it Kampala, where else?! Just relaxing at the backpackers and making good use of the free internet! Think that's just about everything, but will update you all again soon!

Missing everyone already! :( xxxxxx