A bit of disappointment and a lot of excitement.

It finally occurred to me that I should just write a blog post from work, where there is (almost) always power; President Museveni lives in Nakasero, the hill/neighbourhood where our office is, so the power almost never cuts out here. Most foreign embassies are also in Nakasero. Sometimes our internet goes down -- in fact, more and more often -- but right now, everything is fine.

My trip to Kenya this weekend was canceled, which is the "bit of disappointment" referenced to above. I have planned this trip on three separate occasions -- a friend of a friend lives in Kisumu, right across the border, and works at an HIV clinic (obvious interest), so I was going to go by myself one weekend. Then, a friend expressed interest in going with me, so I postponed. Then the forecast was for rain, so we postponed again. This weekend, Emily and her boyfriend were supposed to come with me, but they managed their time really badly and are in Rwanda until Saturday, so they canceled on me. Olivia (the new third flatmate; also one of my bosses at work) expressed some interest in going last night, but she came home from dinner after I had already gone to bed, so we never actually talked about it. My best friend Erin, who is coming in eight days (a lot of excitement!!) would love to go to see the clinic, but Marisa is leaving Kisumu around the time Erin arrives. Sigh.

However, I have a few really exciting weeks ahead of me. My last day at work is on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday morning, I get on a plane to Johannesburg, South Africa. For those who don't know, I'm on the board of Penn Law International Human Rights Advocates this year, a student-run pro bono group that provides research support to NGOs doing international human rights work. I'm a project manager, meaning that I pick the NGO I want to work with and arrange for a project that our student researchers can work on throughout the year. Most project managers pick NGOs they've worked with in the past; I chose an NGO I want to work for next summer. The organisation does health and human rights work based on the South African constitution, with a focus on HIV and TB management. They are, for all intents and purposes, my dream NGO. I would love to work for them for a while after I graduate from law school.

Anyway, since I've never met any of them, I suggested that I fly down to see the office and get to know the team a little bit before the work begins. So that's why I'm going to South Africa. I may also attend an experts conference on TB management in the South African context; it's taking place on the day I arrive, but I get there pretty early in the morning, so I may be able to make it to some of the sessions. My old boss from when I worked at the Treatment Action Campaign in Cape Town will be presenting, and it would be great to see him again -- I don't know if he remembers me, but I definitely remember him. He was a really fantastic boss.

I'll spend two and a half days in Johannesburg, mostly at the NGO's office hammering out details of a Memorandum of Understanding and getting a feel for how the place is run. I'm really looking forward to it, and I'm hoping that I dazzle them with my competence and brilliance. I'm absolutely planning to apply for an internship with them for next summer, and I hope the fact that I'll already know them and have a sense of how the office works will give me a leg up in the application process.

I get back from South Africa on Saturday, 13th August, at around 7pm. Erin, my best friend, comes in on the 10:20pm KLM flight, so I'll sit around in the airport and read my book until she arrives. Then we'll go into Kampala together. I am so, so excited for her to get here. All summer, I've been thinking about how much she would love it here. I'm also excited to be the knowledgeable one for once; for most of the summer, I've followed Emily's lead and felt a bit inexperienced, but I know that I can stand on my own two feet here and manage to show Erin around. I'm looking forward to feeling that empowered. Also, I haven't seen Erin since April, which is far too long to go without seeing my best friend. She's moving back to LA at the end of August, so this is our "last hurrah" for a while. Bittersweet, but mostly very, very exciting. We'll stay in Kampala for most of the 10 days she's here, although we're going to go to Lake Bunyonyi in western Uganda for at least a day or two. If I can figure out how to get us there.

Sam and I have been brainstorming things to do with Erin when she's here; I think he's going to stick with us for much of the time, as he obviously knows Kampala better than I do. I also have this very real fear that Erin is going to come to Kampala to see me and get killed in a boda boda accident -- but I trust Sam, and he's a really safe driver, so I'm going to ask him to drive us. That way, if we die, I at least did my best.

Erin leaves on 23rd August, and I leave on 26th August. I'm going back to Florida for about a week, which I'm very pleased about. The original plan was to head straight back to Philadelphia to do Penn Law's on-campus interviews -- but I decided to skip that (it's all firms anyway, and who wants to work at a firm?) and give myself some extra time here and some time at home to ease back into American life. I remember being surprised at how little culture shock I experienced coming back from South Africa, but I think it's going to be pretty bad this time around. I'm also looking forward to seeing my parents, who I have missed all summer. I usually talk to them every day (or thereabouts) when I'm in Philadelphia, but I only talk to them about once a week from here.

Then, in just over four weeks, I'll be back in Philadelphia. Back to law school. I found out my schedule today: I'm enrolled in a seminar on the enforcement of international law, a class on international human rights, and constitutional litigation. I'm also taking a four-week seminar on transitional justice, taught by the judge who prosecuted Pinochet. I didn't get into my first choice class -- a seminar on global governance taught by a very well-known human rights lawyer, but I guess that's just how it goes. He was on leave this past year, so his seminar was in really high demand, I'm sure. So I'm only in three full-semester classes, which isn't actually enough credits to be considered a full-time student; however, my journal can give me anywhere from 1 to 3 credits for the semester, so I think I'll take it easy and use up my journal credits instead of finding another class to take.

It's really bizarre to be thinking about school. I feel as though I've been in Uganda forever. As challenging as it is here, I have a routine and things are so much easier than when I first got here. I have friends, I know my way around (some parts of the city), and I've figured out how to make a life for myself here. It's insane that all that has happened in just three months. I've really gotten used to my office, and they keep me busy with interesting, important work. The idea of going back to a classroom is strange. On the upside, a partner organisation here wants me to keep doing work for them once I go back to school (just a few hours a week) on submissions to the African Commission for Human and Peoples' Rights. I think my boss at my own organisation also wants to keep me involved on at least one of the cases I've been working on. It's really nice to be wanted -- it's a confirmation that I've done good work here, and it will give me a way to keep making a tangible difference, even from the quasi-ivory tower of law school.

Okay, sorry for the somewhat random, ruminating blog post. I feel like I'm in the final stretch here, and it's making me melancholy -- even though I still have so much to look forward to.