Firstly, apologies for the length of time it has taken me to write another blog post. My only excuse is that the heat makes me tire more quickly….possibly….

I have been very busy since the last blog so this may also turn into a medium length novel.

We now have a new house mate who is here till Christmas. Áine (which for those who do not come from Ireland, is pronounced On-yah) is really nice and has fitted into our little group very well.

I finished actual teaching on Friday till after the Christmas break, however I still have to help supervise and mark exams over the next two weeks before we officially finish. Teaching has been going pretty well recently and I think I'm finally getting into the swing of things. My kids have been coming into class with grasshoppers recently as it is grasshopper season and they want to take them home to fry and eat. So picture half my class sitting doing their work with a de-legged grasshopper in their hand... We have also been going to the orphanage (Home Again) which is really fun and the kids seem to love the attention from the mzungus!!! The younger kids seem to really enjoy round and round the garden and going on our knees on the swings. The slightly older ones really like to play slaps and enjoy it even more when they win (and not for a lack of trying, they are really good!!!) We also watched some cartoons with the kids a couple of weeks ago which we got from Eilis, our Irish next door neighbor's, hard drive. They found Tom and Jerry absolutely hilarious.

We have been to a Ugandan wedding which was really nice however it did involve 3 hours of speeches in Rutooro. The person sitting next to us translated all the important parts which was really kind however we still didn't really understand much of what is happening.

We have also found swimming to be a very pleasant pastime. There is a swimming pool just down the road in Kyenjojo and it is absolutely lovely. We managed to break our record for the number of people in a mataatu/taxi. 24 in 15 seats. I had the 'conductor' on my knee whilst Cat had Meghan and Áine on hers and Beth was crammed in the seats behind. Ugandan transport is always interesting.

We have also recently made our way to Kampala for our 5 week induction at our representative Ian's house. It was really nice to meet up with everyone again. We also had a hilarious talk from Dr. Stockley who told us about the dangers in Uganda. He is possibly the most blunt person I have ever met which makes him very funny.

Whilst in Kampala we picked up some bilharzia tablets for after we've been swimming in the crater lakes near Fort Portal. We now have lots of tablets to take in a few weeks to kill any nasty parasites. Poor Meghan though actually had bilharzia already from Malawi two years ago so has taken a dose of the tablets already. Her doctor in the UK said she was just being silly, but I bet he feels silly now….

The crater lake we went to was beautiful and the water was lovely and warm. It was great! We went with two American preachers that we've met in Fort Portal a few times and are really nice. It was a good day out.

The next time we went to Fort Portal, we got a lift in the back of a UN truck. This crazy nun was driving, she kept going really fast and on the wrong side of the road, which isn't that unusual but because we were in the back with no roof etc. it was more noticeable. It was really fun though!!! A lovely breeze on a warm day (and it was free!!!) Transport is always so interesting here….

We also had the girls from Mubende (about 2 hours away) over for a weekend and we went to Fort Portal with them for Saturday night. It was really good apart from our journey as we drove past a boda boda accident where the driver looked seriously injured and possibly dead. Not the best start to our night but after finding a hotel and a grabbing a pizza and a few drinks it turned out to be really good.

The next weekend was absolutely fantastic as we went to Queen Elizabeth National park. We saw loads of animals such as elephants, hippos, cobs, crocodiles and even a family lions which was really lucky. We also drove past the equator which was cool. We did end up getting about a thousand pictures with some random school kids who were also at the equator simply because we were 'mzungus'. I was also very overwhelmed at dinner when I looked around the restaurant and pretty much everyone was white. So many mzungus!!!!

Unfortunately I hurt my ankle last week and was really worried about it for a while as it looked like I had a tennis ball on one side. However after a few days of lying with my leg up, it finally went down a bit and I could walk on it again!! It is still looking rather purple at the moment though….

I'm getting excited for our Christmas holidays and the travelling. We will be spending Christmas on the Ssese Island's in lake Victoria which look absolutely lovely and are having a new year's party at our house with all the other volunteers. We are also going to be going white water rafting on the Nile!!!! So exciting!!!!

Anyway, I'd better go. I'll try and update you all a bit more frequently so that you don't have a novel to read but I probably can't promise anything, haha. Miss everyone lots. xxxxxx