i live in a zoo...

Some of the animals that I interact with daily...

This cat is surprisingly aloof for how friendly she appears...

Baby goat. On a tire swing. I've officially seen it all.

how to bath a dog...Ugandan style

A few weeks ago, I came home from school to discover my neighbor in the yard giving the dog a bath. So obviously, I ran for my camera, because it's not every day that you see a dog bathing in Uganda.

The question is, will the double basins work?

Jerrycans & washbasins : good for anything! 

This was a truly international dog-washing crew: a Brit, several Ugandans, and an American dog.

In case you're wondering, dog-bathing is pretty similar the world over.

And dogs seem to feel the same way about bathing around the world:

my favorite washroom sign of all time

I saw this sign over two years ago when visiting Uganda for the first time, and every bathroom sign I've seen since has been compared to it. I finally nabbed a picture of this extremely memorable sign the last time I was there because I simply had to share with you.

I will grant you that this sign is somewhat vulgar...but it just CRACKS me up. Hopefully it will provide you with a mid-week laugh as well.

something you probably won't find in america...

In honor of my arrival in the States, a picture of something you probably won't find in America...

If I'm completely honest, this one stumped me for a few minutes...but it is definitely a brilliant mixture of African and Western...

Life in Uganda: "Gloomy" Days

To my northwestern and Canadian readers: I'm sorry in advance. This post will likely evoke one of three responses: (1) You'll be jealous and depressed. (2) You'll laugh your head off at my equatorial sense of 'gloomy' and be thankful for your true fall weather. (3) You'll immediately purchase a ticket to Uganda, leaving tomorrow. If you're wavering, I'd vote for response #3.  

A funny fact of life is how quickly one acclimates to the local climate. For example, my roommate and I were just commenting over dinner how today was such a gloomy, overcast day...despite the fact that there was blazing sun for about 50% of the day. If there is less than 75% sun in a day, it's considered a 'gloomy' day. 

NOT a gloomy day...but sweet clouds nonetheless!

The chilliness of the day (that means the average temperature was about 73 degrees F) was evidenced by the abundance of sweaters. One girl who was at our house today even pulled out a turtleneck sweater for her walk back home (I was inclined to agree with her assessment of the weather...but it still made me laugh on the inside).

So there's a taste of life in Uganda: we have gloomy days too. But on our gloomy days, we still get an overabundance of vitamin D. No worries about S.A.D. here... ;)

Random weather question: Uganda's climate feels pretty similar to Alabama's summers, but there are no tornadoes. Why is that??

a quarter

For those of you who don't know, I turned 25 this week.

I am excited about this for one main reason: 25 is the age when you can rent a car without additional fees.

It's a big milestone because people will give you any size and type of car, thinking you're a mature adult. Really, though, you feel like this: I just graduated from college...wait, was that really 3 years ago? But I don't really know anything, in fact, I know less than I did in college. Why didn't anyone ever tell me that I'll feel stupider as I get older?? Wait, this person thinks that I can pay multiple hundreds of dollars in rent every month? When did I reach the age when hundreds of dollars wasn't a big deal? It was just a few years ago when I thought $100 was like a million!! And why do these people think I can handle all these responsibilities because I definitely haven't reached adulthood!! Don't they say you're as old as you feel? I feel 14, not 25!


I'm also thrilled about age 25 because of the exciting things I'll be doing during this year of my life, such as becoming a hobo on April 30, working at an adventure camp all summer, seeing one of my best friends get married, moving to Uganda, spending a week at the beach with my adopted family, watching my brother graduate from college, learning a new culture simultaneously with a new job, and renting a car without paying underage fees.

Also, some tidbits for you on how the world has changed during the past quarter century:
-"Salad-in-a-bag" was invented in 1989 (age 2)
-Electronic tolls (think EZ Pass) began in 1989 (age 2)
-Dopplar radar started its TV run in 1990 and is still going strong (age 3)
-Powerpoint was unveiled in 1990! (age 3)
-Debit card transactions became popular in 1995 (age 8)
-Disposable contacts arrived in 1995 (age 8)
-DVDs were introduced in 1995 (age 8)
-Blackberries started accepting email in 1999 (when I was age 12)
-iPods were developed in 2001 (age 14)
-speaking of 2001...9/11 was a life changing event for my generation (age 14)

To avoid ending on a downer, here's a shout-out to my friend JenniMarie: on my birthday in 1888, Eastman Kodak was formed.

having survived natural disaster week

You probably thought I'd gone missing after all those natural disasters we've had in Virginia this week: earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding.

Nope. I just didn't find time to post pictures of the hurricane damage. Hopefully tomorrow you can see those.

In the meanwhile, I arrived at our row of townhomes last night to find this in our neighbor's yard:

The signs say "please pick up after your dog." And it has a picture of a dog with a pooper-scooper.

As if one wasn't enough, they decided to post two.

This really makes me laugh.

Brilliant

I found this new phenomenon on Runner's World today: Home Run London.

It combines some of my favorite words (Run. London.), so I had to take a closer look.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant! Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?? A service that picks up your bags and leads you on a 3-5 mile run after work? This could be the newest fad since pictures in red telephone booths!

And the video! Matching shirts, even a "Home Run London" backpack! It almost makes me desirous of wearing orange. Plus, that music is super inspiring.

I'm so moving to London someday. And when I do, I'm "leaving the Tube behind..."