Uganda bound

I am still amazed at just how exhausted I still am from the whole ILF experience. It’s incredible how the body can push off draining effects until you have time to be tired. The first thing my boss said to me when he saw me the Tuesday I got back to the office was “what on earth did ILF do to you? I want my Rojack back” Apparently I was quiet, subdued, rambling and slow…I guess that’s not normal for me.

I allowed myself a few days of 9-6 work days with appropriate tv viewing and laziness in the evening. Labor day weekend I tried to get in one last good ride in rural Maryland but my knee was so bad that I couldn’t make it past 5 miles before it completely gave out. My two friends who had gone the 1hour up north with me were beyond kind and understanding and we decided to go peach picking instead…not all was lost, but I was certainly frustrated.

By Wednesday however I had to acknowledge that I would be leaving in a few days for Uganda and Tunisia. Magically my exhaustion disappeared enough for me to run all my errands, catch up with friends, complete my 6am swims, organize my work materials, and busily prepare for 5.5 weeks out of the country. Not even a tropical storm/hurricane could stop the insane errand running that was taking place!

I write this as I am sitting on a plane to Amsterdam, fully drained, and trying not to physically harm the two people in front of me who have not stopped loudly talking for the entire flight…I may or may not have passively aggressively kicked the man’s seat a few times to send the message that I would greatly appreciate it if he could kindly shut up long enough for me to fall asleep. But that’s just the cranky tiredness talking.

Turns out my colleague is on the same flight so when we land in Amsterdam we can enjoy an early breakfast together, use the internet, and wait for our connecting flights. She’s heading to Kenya so we’ll say good bye then.

After this post I will be getting on another 8.5 hour flight for Entebbe where I land at 8:15pm. The next morning I’ll head to the office in Kampala and then be shuttled off to a staff retreat followed by a dinner with the whips of the opposition parties. The following day my country director will leave the country and I’ll be on my own to a degree. I’ll try to post at some point before then. In the meantime I will have e-mail access so please update me on your lives since I have been so preoccupied with mine.